A World Worth Protecting

The State Preceptor looked his usual cunning self and the young boy his creepy self as well. Their translucent forms looked as if they might disappear at any moment.

The burly man’s greeting had been the loudest. Out of the three Artifact Souls, he was the most loyal.

They hadn’t changed a single bit, while Wang Baole was no longer the same Wang Baole. He had been at the Core Formation realm when he had left them. Now, he had returned with his cultivation at the Nascent Soul realm and his battle capabilities rivaling that of a Soul Conduit realm cultivator. In fact, with the combined forces of his Thearch Armor and his Stellar Nascent Soul, killing an early-stage Soul Conduit realm cultivator was almost a cakewalk for him!

His dark demonic eye was another boost to his power. It brought him closer to the level of a late-stage Soul Conduit realm cultivator. At present, even without the Dark Artifact’s explicit acknowledgment of him as their master, he could still easily overpower the three Artifact Souls and make them do his bidding.

That was why he hadn’t hesitated when the three souls had greeted him. He summoned the Thearch Armor and unleashed the full extent of his cultivation. An incredible power erupted from his person. The three souls had suspected Wang Baole’s actual power earlier, but the sudden display left them dumbstruck.

The expression on the State Preceptor’s face shifted. The young boy widened his eyes. The burly man, too, stood rooted to the spot. They had sustained great injuries due to the damage to the Dark Artifact. As a result, they hadn’t been able to accurately gauge Wang Baole’s level of cultivation. The sudden surge of his cultivation that formed an overwhelming blanket of pressure weighing down on them instantly sent them reeling back.

“Come on, get up. How has the Dark Artifact been during my absence?” Wang Baole stored his Thearch Armor and then asked casually.

As the souls recovered from their initial shock, they hastily replied to Wang Baole. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened while he had been gone. However, due to the lack of materials, repairs of the Dark Artifact had progressed with great difficulty.

Wang Baole nodded. With a wave of his right hand, hordes of materials poured out from his storage bag. There was everything. Perhaps not enough of each material required for the Dark Artifact’s repairs, but it was almost there.

Small mountains of materials formed out of the varied types of materials. The Spirit Qi in the air thickened instantly. After Wang Baole pulled out the spirit liquid and stellar source, the Spirit Qi in the air almost transformed into liquid form.

Shock rippled through the three souls again, and their eyes widened. That wasn’t the end of it… a greater surprise came in the end!

Wang Baole laid out the items he had gathered on the main Vast Expanse star as well as other planets. The souls grew agitated with excitement when they saw the Supreme Fire Ore that he had gotten in the Mi Luo Forest.

“Supreme Fire Ore!”

“My god, the ore will speed up the repairs. In fact, they’re a necessary material for repairing the Dark Artifact, a key component that can’t be substituted by any other material!”

“A pity that there’s so little of it…” The souls sighed. Wang Baole seemed unfazed when he heard what the State Preceptor had said. He glanced at the latter, then pulled out another storage bracelet. This time, instead of pulling out materials, he pulled out… dozens of storage bags from the storage bracelet. He opened everything, and countless pieces of Supreme Fire Ore flowed out of the bags, piling into a small mountain next to Wang Baole.

The souls staggered with shock. Before they could say anything, Wang Baole hummed in contemplation, then pulled out two beast corpses!

They were the corpses of the Spirit Immortal realm Star Fang Beasts that he had met during his two days in the Mi Luo Forest. His senior brother had forced them to charge each other, and the collision had injured them fatally. Before they had died, they had even saved Wang Baole the trouble of extracting their beast cores by digging the cores out themselves!

“Apply the Dark Artifact’s power on these two Star Fang Beasts and resurrect their corpses. I have something important for them to do. Also… begin the repairs on the Dark Artifact immediately. You have ten days. Ten days… to restore the Dark Artifact to the state… where I can take it out of this cave and lead it into space for battle!” The firm tone of Wang Baole’s voice allowed no room for disagreement. He knew he hadn’t much time left.

The three souls had clearly been sneaking out during his absence, so they were aware of the war between the Federation and the Dao Palace. The State Preceptor had somehow gotten his hands on a receiver that had allowed them to watch the news being broadcast by the Federation. They had been kept abreast of ongoing events outside the cave and knew the severity of the matter at hand. They dared not play the fool, nodding their heads solemnly and immediately going to work.

Wang Baole watched the souls vanish into thin air. He could sense them hard at work repairing the Dark Artifact. He narrowed his eyes. The former Wang Baole wouldn’t have easily allowed the souls to start repairs. That was despite his master using the Dark Dream Mystic Art to get them to acknowledge him as their master in the Dark Dream. The reason being was that the Dark Artifact had been severely damaged, weakening the souls considerably. The restoration of the Dark Artifact would also naturally lead to the three souls’ recovery.

Nothing might come out of that. Alternatively… he might be consumed by these souls. That had been a source of hesitation when Wang Baole had scavenged for materials.

Things had changed. Wang Baole didn’t have the luxury of time now. He couldn’t wait any longer. In addition, he had become more powerful, which had strengthened his resolve and resulted in his decision to make this gamble. Besides, he had done his calculations. He had gathered plenty of materials, but they were still a long way away from fully restoring the Dark Artifact.

We should be able to restore it to fifty percent of its full functionality… my current level of cultivation should be sufficient to activate another function of the Dark Artifact.

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes and extended his spiritual senses. They enveloped the entire Dark Artifact, extending over the Dark Robe, the Dark Sampan, and both the staff and lantern of the Lantern Oar. He relaxed and allowed his mind to maintain a constant state of fusion with these three Dark Artifacts.

That would speed up the souls’ repair of the Dark Artifact. In addition, based on what he remembered from the Dark Dream, Wang Baole knew that he should be able to form an avatar of his own consciousness.

That had been beyond his abilities in the past. Now though, Wang Baole felt it was something he should be capable of achieving.

Amidst Wang Baole’s furious formation of hand seals, an illusory figure gradually materialized before him. His eyes were shut, and he looked like the exact twin of Wang Baole. What differentiated them was their attire.

The avatar was dressed in black robes. Beneath his feet was a Dark Sampan, in his hand a Dark Staff, at the end of which hung a Dark Lantern. The avatar wasn’t exactly an illusion, yet he wasn’t real either. He appeared as if formed from a cloud of black mist that exuded a chilly aura in waves. He was like a messenger of death who had descended upon the living world.

His eyes suddenly opened. Twin ghostly lights flickered in those eyes, making Wang Baole’s avatar look inhuman. Wang Baole extended his senses and assessed his avatar’s level of fighting capability, then sighed.

Next to none. It’s a more convenient way of controlling the Dark Artifact though, at least when compared to using my own true form. Wang Baole fell into a bout of contemplation. Then, his avatar suddenly lifted his right hand and raised his Dark Staff. A vortex suddenly appeared where the two Star Fang Beast corpses had been placed, swallowing the two corpses. Vast Dark Qi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and entered the corpses.

The Dark Artifact will be my go-to weapon. Next, I still have to use the power of the Dark Artifact to refine the two beast corpses into puppets. They will become my second go-to weapon. Determination flashed in Wang Baole’s eyes. He steered his avatar into maneuvering the Dark Artifact and began refining the beast corpses.

Puppets were another type of Dharmic treasure, and Wang Baole had a talent that surpassed the ordinary cultivator in this particular area. The experiences he had accumulated in his early years had led to his realization that he had a gift when it came to refining puppets.

During his time as the Grand Supreme Elder in the Dao Palace, he had gone through volumes of Dao Palace records and documents. That had helped him in refining Dharmic Armaments and strengthened his overall mastery of puppets.

Besides puppets, I’ll also have to refine and enhance some Dharmic Armaments. With a wave of his hand, Wang Baole summoned a huge black bow. It entered the vortex. His hands came together in a flurry of hand seals as he began the urgent business of refining Dharmic Armaments.

While he was busy with refinement, Mars was also busy preparing for war after the mass teleportation had ended. The Martian Colony Governor’s instructions were being carried out dutifully. Time… passed steadily.

Seven days went by. There was an inspection of the Solar System Array Formation, an alarm system was set up across the entire planet, and all Dharmic Artifacts were activated. Then, the Martian Colony Governor gave the orders. The Dharmic Artifacts unleashed their powers simultaneously, transforming into countless beams of light that blasted into the cosmos beyond Mars.

An enormous vortex appeared in space at that exact moment, and the Never-Ending Clan battleship charged out from within!

The Dharmic Artifacts’ attacks landed directly on the battleship, but they barely caused a scratch. As the Dharmic Artifacts disintegrated amidst their self-destructive attacks, a figure appeared on the battleship. It was… Daoist You Ran.

“Wang Baole!” There was a stormy look on Daoist You Ran’s face, and murder colored his eyes. His right hand rose, then pointed at Mars. The vast fleet of Dao Palace battleships appeared behind him. The remaining survivors of the Dao Palace and a hundred thousand Never-Ending Clan puppets appeared as well and made a charge towards the planet.

The Martian Colony Governor barked out her orders decisively, without any hesitation!

“Deploy the Solar System Array Formation’s first wave of offense!”