A World Worth Protecting

In the Pond Cloud Rainforest, the ground was wet and marshy. There were foot-long centipedes and countless venomous snakes. Other than that, there were even more beasts that lurked.

It could be said that just being in the forest’s periphery was an intense moment at every turn.

Although Wang Baole had not truly entered the forest, the initial Hallucination realm test had been made to imitate this forest, including many details that had been made to mirror the true scenes from inside. So, on some level, Wang Baole could be said to be familiar with the Pond Cloud Rainforest.

At that moment, he had sunk into the mud. He had an antidote pill in his mouth and was motionless, tolerating the discomfort he felt in the mud. Only one eye and one nostril was outside, his eye narrowed to observe the situation.

Soon, Wang Baole’s heart began beating faster. A man in black appeared before him. This man was moving fast, running at full speed while searching, and he held a circular Dharmic artifact in his hand.

Wang Baole squinted after noticing the Dharmic artifact in the man’s hands. Although he did not know what it was for, with his position as a student of the Dharmic Armament faculty and as triple Head Prefect, he could tell from its appearance that it was a searching Dharmic artifact that utilized fluctuations.

After all, the moment one reached the Physical Seal Realm, they could seal their body. Thermal imaging would lose all effectiveness. Only Dharmic artifacts that relied on fluctuations to search would work in such an environment.

The moment he saw the Dharmic artifact, Wang Baole felt that something was amiss. However, he did not have much time to think and flew out from the mud with a bang. Just as he emerged, the man in black—who seemed to have no inkling of Wang Baole’s position—suddenly reacted at the same time as Wang Baole. He moved toward Wang Baole’s previous position!

With a bang, Wang Baole’s previous hiding spot exploded, with mud flying in all directions. If he had been a little bit slower, he would been completely injured.

Wang Baole had escaped by a hair’s breadth. His eyes showed panic, and he turned to escape.

“Wang Baole!” Seeing that Wang Baole had missed, the man sneered as he took large steps toward the fleeing Wang Baole. Releasing his Pulse Enrichment cultivation powers, his speed grew explosively, and he caught up in an instant. He raised his right hand to grab Wang Baole.

But… just as he caught up to Wang Baole, there was a sudden alarming suction force behind Wang Baole. This suction force was so strong that it caused the expression of the man in black to change, and he was pulled forward till he staggered.

It was just one step, but it was enough for Wang Baole. His body suddenly moved, and his gaze no longer showing fear; instead, it was ferociousness and the killer instinct of someone being hunted.

“You want to kill me? I want you dead!”

As he roared, Wang Baole suddenly raised his right hand. As the man in black was trapped by the suction force, his body was unstable. In that instant, Wang Baole grabbed the man’s wrist, and with a snap, his bones broke.

Before the man in black could cry out, Wang Baole had already taken the opportunity to go behind the man and covered his mouth. With his veins protruded and his breathing rapid, Wang Baole twisted the man’s neck viciously!

With another snap, the man’s eyes widened, and he convulsed violently for a while before stopping.

The surroundings fell silent. Only Wang Baole’s breathing was heavy. Even though he had twisted the man’s neck, Wang Baole still covered the man’s mouth, only releasing him after more than ten breaths. His face had lost all color, and he looked blankly at the body of the man in black.

“I killed someone,” Wang Baole muttered to himself, his body beginning to shake. However, his gaze slowly showed… a sense of killer instinct after having a bloody experience. This killer instinct was different from his previous viciousness. To be accurate, his viciousness had been a youth’s bravado, but this was different!

After a long while, he raised his head. In the darkened forest, his gaze was bright, causing him to have a sort of deterrent force.

Wang Baole took out the man’s personal belongings after a long silence. He looked at the searching disk. It was completely black; clearly, it could only be opened with special methods, and a normal person would have no way of using it.

Some of these special methods relied on fingerprints, some on irises, others the smell of blood and the rising and falling of Spirit Qi. It was just like a password.

Wang Baole squinted as he looked at the searching Dharmic artifact. After placing it in his storage bracelet, he took out seven or eight Dharmic artifact seals, adjusted them, and placed them in the clothing of the corpse. He thought for a moment before hiding some flying swords in the surrounding mud and adjusting the Inscriptions to have a chain effect. Then he left, burrowing into the surrounding foliage, and disappeared.

Before long, three men in black approached in a hurry. The moment they arrived, they saw their dead companion, and their expressions changed. On high alert, they scanned the surroundings. Once they made sure there was no trace of Wang Baole, they approached the corpse with terrible expressions to check where the critical blow had been.

But one of them was very careful. He pulled his companions aside and raised his right hand to summon a gust of wind. The wind blew open the corpse’s clothing, revealing a few Dharmic artifact seals that had turned scarlet.

Having been stimulated by the wind, the seals suddenly exploded, the force reducing the corpse into fragments.

“This is too sinister!”

“This Wang Baole is truly diabolical!”

The three of them inhaled, glad that they had not gone closer. Suddenly, about ten flying swords appeared from the surrounding mud, shooting out in all directions. As the speed was fast and the three men were still shocked by the explosion of the seals, they had no time to react. Their expressions changed, and they screamed pathetically.

The flying swords whizzed past and traveled through the bodies of the three men…

Their dying cries traveled all over in the quiet forest, causing many men in black to change their expressions, all of them looking in the direction of the cries.

Wang Baole also heard their screams. However, he did not pause and remained stuck to the grass on the ground. He carefully approached a middle-aged man in black in front of him.

Just as this man was startled by his colleagues’ screams and looked up, Wang Baole’s gaze turned cold, and he braced himself to attack. However, he then noticed that the surrounding grass and trees were distorted. His expression changed. He wanted to retreat, but it was too late.

“You b*stard, you were tricked!” The man grinned hideously. Immediately, from the surrounding foliage, six men in black seemed to appear out of thin air. They encircled Wang Baole, closing in on him. One of them held a pearl in his hand; it was this pearl that had created a sort of mirage, hiding the presence of these six men.

“Kill!” Including the middle-aged man in black, there was a total of seven people. Each of them pulled out a Dharmic artifact and released their Pulse Enrichment cultivation, making it seemed as though there was a small boundary of Blood Qi fluctuations within the area. They rushed at Wang Baole.

With danger so close, Wang Baole could only give it his all. His speed increased sharply, and he rushed at the middle-aged man in black; at the same time, he raised his right hand and immediately flung ten Dharmic artifact seals into his surroundings, causing the people around to shield themselves. Wang Baole’s gaze overflowed with brutality as the suction force of his devouring seed radiated in every direction. The moment the middle-aged man’s expression changed, Wang Baole caught his finger and bent it.

The man screamed. However, he was also a vicious person. He ignored his broken finger, using his head to hit Wang Baole. Wang Baole moved his body. Even though he had been hit on the shoulder, he caught the man’s wrist and pressed against the joint.

Under such continuous attacks, the man in black’s forehead began to sweat. He screamed and struggled, but Wang Baole’s speed was too fast, and his movements were too natural and smooth. He raised his foot and kicked the man’s crotch. The strength from his foot was so powerful that the man let out a scream even more tragic and flew several feet back. When he landed, his screams had even changed pitch. He rolled on the ground and moaned as though he was dying.

This scene caused the other six people to draw a gasp, struck dumb with amazement as they looked at Wang Baole. However, Wang Baole had not stopped. As he panted, he held a cold gaze. He raised his right hand, and it was as though he was controlling the seals that he had flung out. The seals flew toward one of the men and landed in a frenzy.

At the same time, Wang Baole swung his right hand again. This time, more than ten flying swords suddenly flew out toward the others. The flying swords were so fast and so numerous that they forced the men in black to dodge and hide. In that wave of attacks, the flying swords had penetrated two men; although they were not dead, they had been injured.

Using this chance, Wang Baole increased his speed and drew closer to another person. Bearing a blow that he had sustained from behind, with blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, he got closer and broke the man’s wrist. Similarly, he kicked the man’s crotch.

As the man screamed, the corner of Wang Baole’s mouth dripped blood. The person who had hit him from behind had a fearful expression and wanted to retreat. However, there was a huge suction force from Wang Baole’s back, causing the man to pause. In the blink of an eye, Wang Baole’s vicious expression appeared in front of the man’s eyes.

“Die!” Wang Baole roared and aimed a fist at the man’s chest. With a cracking sound, he killed another man!

This all happened too fast. From the time they had encircled Wang Baole to the time he attacked the third man, it had only taken a few seconds. The remaining four people were struck dumb with amazement. Clearly, they had never imagined that Wang Baole could be so ferocious.

Regardless, they were experienced operatives trained to be live on the edge of a blade. They all showed bloodthirsty expressions, took out their respective Dharmic artifacts, and rushed at Wang Baole.

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. When he waved his hand, all the seals and flying swords flew out loudly. At the same time, his body rushed out and clashed directly with the four men.

After five minutes, Wang Baole cradled his chest and spat out more blood. When he left the area, he left behind seven bodies, which sank slowly into the mud.