A World Worth Protecting

Wang Baole’s heart began to race rapidly. He thought about how the Vast Expanse Dao Palace was amassing identity tokens. There must be some reason for that. He had intended to ask Little Missy about it when she woke up. Now that he was reminded of it again, he hastily inquired.

“The identity token represents one’s access rights. Many places are only accessible to disciples with the relevant access rights. I’ll help you look around if there’s a chance and see if we can locate the records belonging to the true Vast Expanse Dao Palace. You’ll be able to learn how to make use of those access rights after listing your name in the records. You can even make use of other people’s identity tokens and borrow their access rights. The three inner sect disciples must have the same intentions. Of course, your name must first be in the records for this to work,” Little Missy said casually as if he had just disturbed her for an extremely trivial matter.

Wang Baole couldn’t resist the temptation. Even though Little Missy didn’t provide many details, he still managed to piece together the big picture. He stared longingly at the corpse in the Blood Sea. The green smoke had finally left the region. It reformed and then left again, taking only Wang Baole with it. His thoughts, however, remained with the corpse that was worth two hundred thousand battle credits.

Days passed, and the green smoke grew thinner. It finally vanished completely when it approached the border that separated the sword handle and the sword body. The trio landed on a mountain peak free of hexes. Wang Baole continued to look back, longing and mixed feelings shining in his eyes.

“We’re… back…” Zhuo Yifan released a sigh. This trip had been filled with ups and downs. It had been an incredible adventure. Someone weak-hearted would have died of fright halfway through the journey.

Zhao Yameng took in a deep breath as well. Excitement shone in her eyes. She had gained much from this trip. The time she had spent at the Immortal Platform, especially, had given her much to think about. Enlightenment still evaded her, but she did get some inspiration.

Wang Baole was the only one who stared behind him, determination slowly lighting up his eyes.

“I’ve made up my mind. Just wait until my level of cultivation increases. I’ll get my hands on that Elder’s identity token. I remember the way back!” Wang Baole gritted his teeth. As soon as he said that, Zhuo Yifan’s eyes shone with respect and admiration. He patted Wang Baole on the shoulder.

“Baole, you’ve set yourself on the road to eventual death. There’s no turning back for you.”

Even Zhao Yameng shook her head after staring at Wang Baole. Wang Baole sighed at their reactions. He knew that it was quite impossible to retrieve the Elder’s identity token. However, he couldn’t get rid of the itch. He remained dazed the entire journey back.

Fortunately, they were near the borders. They could see the enormous defensive barrier in the distance when they raised their heads. It wasn’t as dangerous out here. They dashed ahead and soon stepped across the barrier, leaving the sword body behind them as they entered the region of the sword handle!

What could be considered as relatively cool winds greeted them. Wang Baole shook himself and cleared his mind. He did his best to shove aside his lust for the storage bag on the dead Elder’s corpse. They went through five rounds of teleportation and finally arrived inside the Vast Expanse Dao Palace.

Through the regional Spirit Internet shared by all Federation Seedlings, they found that they had been gone for six months. It wasn’t a long time for a cultivator. In fact, this was a typical duration to be away for any cultivator entering the sword body to complete a mission. Some would be gone for a far longer period. However, they had gone through a lot during these six months.

In fact, no one would believe what they had experienced if they told them. They weren’t foolish enough to share such information recklessly. Zhao Yameng and Zhuo Yifan left immediately after returning to the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. They had reaped a bountiful return and needed to retreat into seclusion and deal with what they had found.

Wang Baole finally managed to set aside his greed for the battle credits he could be earning by stealing from the dead Elder. He headed straight for the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. The first thing he was going to do was to exchange the identity tokens he had gotten for battle credits.

He had reaped too bountiful a harvest this time. He was bound to attract attention. However, there was no way he was going to go unnoticed with a core disciple’s identity token in his possession. Wang Baole decided to throw caution to the wind and headed straight for the mission stone slab.

It seemed that there was never a moment when the place wouldn’t be crowded with people. Cultivators streamed around the stone slab. Wang Baole’s arrival didn’t draw too much attention. He approached the stone slab and was about to exchange his hard-earned gains for battle credits. Suddenly, the bustling around him grew faint. Everything suddenly seemed quieter.

Wang Baole froze. He turned and looked. Many people around him had stopped breathing as they stared into the distance, at an approaching figure!

It was a young man. He had a towering, sturdy build and long, flowing black hair. He wore the red robes that indicated he was a personal disciple of someone in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. A chilly aura flowed off him in waves, his eyes were devoid of emotion, and his handsome face was as cold as a glacier!

He showed no signs of arrogance or condescension, and there was no hint of spirit energy as he approached from the skies. Those who stood in front of him stepped away and opened up a path for him. They greeted him, lowering their heads, not daring to look into his eyes.

“That’s Senior Brother Dugu Lin!”

“He’s the first personal disciple under Elder Mie Liezi…”

“I heard he spends most of his time traveling alone in the region of the sword body…”

People started whispering around him. Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. Others might have sensed a chilly aura exuding from this person, but Wang Baole could sense an immense fury surrounding Mie Liezi’s first personal disciple, Dugu Lin. They didn’t originate from Dugu Lin but were formed from countless killings, transformed into an aura that surrounded him!

Such a strong bloodlust! Wang Baole’s expression was calm. He had been living in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace for nearly a year. He had heard of Vast Expanse Dao Palace’s five prodigies from Yun Piaozi as well as through the regional Spirit Internet.

The five prodigies were all personal disciples of the three Elders, and Dugu Lin was one of them. He was Mie Liezi’s personal disciple. Out of the remaining four prodigies, two were Feng Qiuran’s personal disciples and the other two You Ran’s personal disciples.

They were all at the perfected Core Formation realm. They were extremely gifted, their talents incomparable. They rarely appeared in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace, and whenever they appeared, they would draw the attention of everyone around them.

An expressionless Dugu Lin walked towards the stone slab amidst the awed looks from the crowd. With a wave of his hand, he pulled out vast quantities of identity tokens and initiated the exchange immediately. The enormous stone slab began to shine with a brilliant light. The young man had submitted too many identity tokens, which necessitated some calculations on the stone slab’s part.

Heated discussions began to ring out once again after Dugu Lin handed over the identity tokens. Wang Baole observed the exchange with silent surprise. Even though Dugu Lin hadn’t presented any core disciple’s identity tokens for exchange, he had handed over thirteen identity tokens belonging to inner sect disciples and more than a hundred identity tokens belonging to outer sect disciples. The sheer number of identity tokens was astonishing.

Even though his exchange couldn’t rival what Wang Baole had, Wang Baole knew very well how dangerous the sword body was. To be able to get his hands on these tokens, he must have barged into forbidden areas. Wang Baole grew cautious of this man. He decided against exchanging his tokens now. There was no point trying to start a competition with someone he had no grudges against. It would be completely meaningless to do that.

He noticed how the stone slab would start shining if the number of tokens submitted exceeded a certain quantity. Wang Baole decided that he would split up his tokens and exchange them in batches, even though this might attract unwanted attention.

Wang Baole continued to linger in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace long after Dugu Lin had left. He returned to the stone slab and made his exchanges in batches. He left the identity token of the core disciple for last. The crowd gasped as the stone slab began to shine.

“Someone just exchanged for a large quantity of battle credits earlier… from the brightness level of the stone slab, the exchange must be for at least ten thousand credits!”

“Who the hell managed to do that?”

Due to Wang Baole’s prudence, no one realized that he had been the one making the exchanges. Wang Baole waited as the people around him began discussing heatedly again. He even pretended to be surprised. After some time, he finally shook his head and left.

He was beyond excited though. He saw the battle credits that he had got after the exchange, and immense satisfaction unfurled inside him.

He had accumulated more than forty thousand battle credits!

This was a considerable sum even for a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. Battle credits were a precious commodity in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. Save the missions demanding identity tokens, the battle credits awarded by other missions were pitiful. In addition, continuous cultivation meant a continuous expenditure of battle credits.

With his battle credits in his pocket, Wang Baole went to the Vast Expanse Techniques Chamber merrily. After some thought, he got fifteen sets of cultivation techniques worth a thousand battle credits each. He felt a slight sense of regret though. He had inherited numerous legacies at the Eye of Infinite Techniques, but they were all embedded in his mind. With his current level of cultivation, he wasn’t yet capable of replicating them into jade slips. He couldn’t send those over to the Federation.

As for the techniques they had gathered in the cave abode—Zhao Yameng and Zhuo Yifan were learning those techniques. As their friend, he wouldn’t easily share those techniques. That was why, after some thought, he had decided to primarily obtain new cultivation techniques via exchanging battle credits.

After all, I’m rich now. It’s just ten thousand battle credits. That’s like petty cash. I still have my Spirit Boats, which will fetch quite a sum of credits as well. Yun Piaozi’s been saying that he’s almost got a deal settled since six months ago. I’ll catch up with him after this. The earnings should be considerable. Wang Baole thought about how rich he was now. Brimming with self-satisfaction, he didn’t even frown when he exchanged his credits for fifteen sets of cultivation techniques. He headed straight for the teleportation array formation immediately.

Little Duanmu, your package is on its way! Wang Baole’s spirits soared. He could sense the Federation presidency within his reach.