A World Worth Protecting

During this period of collaboration between the black-robed man and Chen Mu, Wang Baole was also reaching a critical stage of his cultivation. At the moment, he was sitting cross-legged inside his secret chamber. His cultivation roared and rumbled inside his body, churning continuously inside him. The fourth Heavenly Thunder was about to be formed!

The Lightning Dao: First Volume allowed him to form the first Heavenly Thunder during the early-stage Foundation Establishment realm and second during the mid-stage. In the late-stage, he was able to form the third Heavenly Thunder. The formation of the fourth Heavenly Thunder meant that Wang Baole was able to reach the perfected Foundation Establishment realm!

If he continued to practice the Lightning Dao: First Volume, when he finally broke through the perfected Foundation Establishment realm, reached the Core Formation realm, and became a Core Formation realm cultivator, he would be able to form a Lightning Core!

The power of the Lightning Core would be immense. Besides being in possession of such power and strength, the Ethereal Dao College would also let him have the next mystic art, the Lightning Dao: Second Volume. This mystic art… could be practiced until one reached the Nascent Soul realm. However, in the few decades of the Spirit Inception Era, no one had managed to do that.

However… within the Ethereal Dao College, the Lightning Dao: First Volume was one of the most appropriate and best mystic arts to practice. Not everyone could master it and had access to it. Only those qualified were able to practice it. The mystic art could be considered one of the more complete mystic techniques. It could bring one towards the Nascent Soul realm!

That was why the Ethereal Dao College had this mystic technique prepared for Wang Baole. To a certain degree, they had placed great hopes in Wang Baole. They hoped that he would be able to travel far on that Dao path. They hoped that he wouldn’t only form a Lightning Core, but that he would also form a Lightning Soul!

Wang Baole’s speed of cultivation had resulted in his achieving the perfected Foundation Establishment realm within a short period of time. This might have drawn slight attention, but it wasn’t something too strange or shocking. The Spirit Inception Era might still be in its dawn, but it was filled with opportunities. There were others with an even more accelerated cultivation speed compared to Wang Baole.

However, to achieve the Nascent Soul realm within a few decades required almost a miracle as well as immense natural talents. Despite suspicions of many about the existence of Nascent Soul realm cultivators in this world, officially, there were none in the Federation.

There must be Nascent Soul realm cultivators in the Federation! Wang Baole opened his eyes abruptly. He could feel the continuous eruptions of cultivation inside his body. Pieces of a puzzle started surfacing in his mind, forming a blurry picture. However, with the increase of his cultivation and the elevation of his status, and with his increased understanding and knowledge of the inner workings of the Federation—especially after his trip to the Martian research facility—his belief regarding the presence of Nascent Soul realm cultivators in the Federation grew stronger.

This matter was still a distant concern to him. Wang Baole quickly set aside his distractions and focused fully on the impending breakthrough in his cultivation. His cultivation continued to churn, and he could feel the fourth Heavenly Thunder rapidly forming.

The path of the Lightning Dao must be taken… however, there’s another path that no one else knows about, one that I must travel as well! Wang Baole took a deep breath. At that moment, Dark Fire appeared in his eyes!

The path that no one else knew was… the Dark Art!

He had formed three Dark Fires now. The next step was to fuse the three fires together to create a Dark Core. That… was the Dark Art’s journey to the Core Formation realm!

Wang Baole could clearly see his path towards the Core Formation realm. He didn’t want only a single Core… he wanted to form Cores using both the Lightning Dao and the Dark Art. He wanted twin Cores!

His twin Cores would allow him to surpass others vastly in the Core Formation realm. His strength and power would surpass his peers in the same realm, like what had happened when he was at the Foundation Establishment realm!

This might prove to be an almost insurmountable challenge to others, but Wang Baole felt that the Divine Armament Catacombs beneath the new city provided him with the perfect environment to achieve his goal!

His spirits soaring and his mood merry, Wang Baole continued to let his cultivation churn inside his body for the next nine days. Finally, a loud roar rumbled inside his head. His cultivation erupted at that moment and reached a breakthrough!

At that moment, his aura, his energy, his cultivation—everything about him swiftly reached its height of power and strength. It was akin to someone wearing tightly-fitted attire that bound their body tightly, and then continuing to exert force and eat until their body grew fatter and their clothes finally reached their limits—exploding!

As soon as the first set of clothes exploded, they formed a looser set of long robes. Wang Baole felt unimaginably comfortable as he felt an endless source of cultivation inside him unfurling outwards.

This wasn’t yet the end of his breakthrough. The moment his cultivation passed the stage of late-stage Foundation Establishment realm and arrived at the perfected Foundation Establishment realm, the green lotus inside his body started to quiver violently. It exuded waves of vitality that filled Wang Baole’s entire body. His physical body continued to strengthen. Every muscle, every bone, every meridian inside him seemed to be strengthened. Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. The sudden eruption sent his vitality and life energy surging, and they reached terrifying heights.

It was like a vast ocean!

Such a thick and robust wave of vitality meant that Wang Baole’s healing ability would be equally astonishing, and this was only a minor breakthrough in the Foundation Establishment realm. Wang Baole’s future strength and power when he reached the Core Formation realm, should he continue to practice and cultivate in this manner, would be unimaginable.

The perfected Foundation Establishment realm! Wang Baole burst out into laughter. He could feel the formation of the fourth Heavenly Thunder as well as the vast quantities of lightning bolts inside his body. He could also feel the three Dark Fires surging into life with the elevation of his cultivation, seeming to show signs of fusion.

This cheered Wang Baole up immensely. He was about to test his power and compare it with his past strength, but before he could get to his feet—a moment after he had reached a breakthrough in cultivation and just as his Dark Fires were on the verge of fusion—suddenly, alarm flashed across Wang Baole’s face. He lowered his head suddenly. He could hear distant, muffled murmurs. They seemed to be coming from deep beneath him, from deep inside the Divine Armament Catacombs!

“Dark Child… Dark Child…”

This was the first time Wang Baole had heard voices from the Divine Armament Catacombs during cultivation. It was clear that he was the only one who could hear the voice as nothing had changed around him. The entire new city remained as it was.

What made Wang Baole even more certain that he was the only one who could hear this voice was the implicit beckoning that seemed to accompany the voice rising from deep underground!

It was as if there was a presence deep inside the Divine Armament Catacombs that was beckoning Wang Baole, that longed-for Wang Baole to approach!

Wang Baole’s breathing grew heavier. He had previously ventured into the catacombs and had experienced a similar, indistinct feeling, but that feeling was incomparable to what he was feeling now. The voice echoed in his head, its beckoning ringing out clearly.

The voice and its beckoning didn’t persist. As the churning cultivation inside Wang Baole’s body settled down, and as the fusion of the Dark Fires reached a certain point and ceased, the voice gradually faded away.

However, this meant something important to Wang Baole.

Both Master Zhao’s prediction and my own gut feelings are saying that the Divine Armament lying below is likely a Dark Artifact. Little Missy also said that it used to belong to her… that means, maybe… this Dark Artifact could technically be seen as mine as well? Wang Baole blinked. He thought his analysis correct and his logic impeccable.

After all, this item belonged to Little Missy, and Little Missy belonged to him. That meant that this Dark Artifact naturally belonged to him as well.

At that thought, Wang Baole was instantly tempted, but he had a feeling that dangers lurked in the Divine Armament Catacombs. Even if he had mastered the Dark Art, he shouldn’t enter the catacombs carelessly. He decided to wait for the wall to be fully eroded and for the powerful cultivators of the Federation to enter the catacombs, then, he would tag along. By then, his cultivation would have reached a certain level as well. With Little Missy’s help, there was a great chance of him getting ahead of the rest and stealing the Dark Artifact away without anyone’s notice!

I’ll take the lion’s share then. They can split what remains amongst themselves. Sounds fine to me! Wang Baole thought himself rather generous. He wasn’t one to monopolize everything.

He got distracted by his wonderful character for a while before taking a deep breath and standing up. With a slight sway, he dashed out. There wasn’t even time for the roar of the sound barrier being broken to thunder before he stopped inches before the wall. He assessed his speed and grew excited.

Quicker by more than two times! He tightened his fists, wanting to test how much his strength had increased. However, he considered the fact that he was currently at home. He left the secret chamber and went outside. He found Chen Mu’s residence in the area, which Chen Mu had never visited, and sent a punch flying out!

A loud thunder rumbled in the skies. Array formations had protected Chen Mu’s residence, but one punch from Wang Baole sent most of them collapsing. The sound of the punch drew the attention of the guards in the residential area. They hurried over and were about to start their scolding when they saw that the perpetrator of the crime was their City Lord Wang Baole.

Every one of them sucked in a deep breath and hurried away. They pretended not to have seen anything and ignored Wang Baole’s loud laughter ringing out in the air behind them.