A World Worth Protecting

The flashing of the purple glow relayed a weird sense of evilness, but that quickly disappeared. Everything returned to normal, and Wang Baole, who had just woken up, was still in a daze. Without a mirror, he had not seen the change in his eyes.

However, very quickly, his breathing quickened. He lowered his head forcefully to inspect his own body, and upon realizing that everything was intact, he immediately stood up to take a few steps to make sure that there was nothing different, apart from being more agile, before heaving a sigh of relief.

It’s great that everything is fine, Wang Baole thought as he looked around. He had originally been in a valley surrounded by mountains, but the mountains had been completely ruined, and all that remained were rock debris scattered across the area. The mountain peak not far away from his cave had also been flattened.

What on earth was attacking me just now?

Everything that happened gave Wang Baole a huge headache, especially as he grew increasingly conscious. The memories of what had occurred resurfaced in his minds, and his facial expression turned awful.

His last memory was of himself sucking the purple glow into the devouring seed, causing his body to vibrate, as he gradually lost consciousness. His face changed thinking about that moment. He widened his eyes in shock when he suddenly realized that, within his body, the Spirit Root no longer existed, and his dantian had been replaced by the devouring seed black hole.

“Gosh, where’s my Spirit Root? My nine-inch Spirit Root is gone!” Wang Baole cried out pitifully as he remembered that the Spirit Root had been swallowed by the devouring seed during his battle with the purple glow.

Wang Baole felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was extremely agitated, wanting to cry but unable to do so.

“The nine-inch Spirit Root that I spent so much effort in obtaining!” Wang Baole was angry and indignant. He immediately checked his body thoroughly, and as he did, he suddenly froze, his breathing quickening.

“That’s not right…” Wang Baole sat down quickly and took a deep breath before rechecked the bodily changes that he had felt. Gradually, his gaze fell blank as he sat there dazedly.

“What’s going on…”

He noticed that even though there were no Spirit Roots in his body, all his meridians had already transformed into spirit meridians that he had felt when he was breaking through previously!

However, there were also differences. For one, the spirit meridians that he possessed now was purple and giving off a peculiar vibe that Wang Baole could not put his finger on.

This made Wang Baole confused. After a few moments, he tried to activate his cultivation to absorb the surrounding Spirit Qi. However, once he tried to do so, the surrounding Spirit Qi from all directions began spinning with him and doing so at speeds faster and sharper than usual, gathering all at once and surging into Wang Baole’s spirit meridians.

What made Wang Baole even more shocked was that even though the Spirit Qi rushed into his body when he previously used the devouring seed to absorb it, it had leaked out continuously. That was why the Qi Fostering Art had arisen, where the Spirit Qi was gathered in one’s hands to develop the cultivation technique of making Spirit Stones.

Drawing similarities to the Ancient Martial Arts, the Spirit Qi was a foreign object that was simply used to refine Spirit Stones. In another way, it could be seen as a way of cultivating one’s body through the constant flow in and out of the physical self.

It could not be permanently stored within one’s body. Wang Baole’s Spirit fat was able to store the Spirit Qi temporarily to a certain extent only after the Spirit Qi had been gathered due to a large scale release of the devouring seed’s suction force. After the Spirit fat had been digested, it merely strengthened Wang Baole’s body. In conclusion, there was not any spirit energy that truly belonged to Wang Baole within his body.

The only spirit energy present was the Spirit Qi absorbed from the external environment when it was needed!

Even if one had reached the Pulse Enrichment realm, they could only temporarily store the Spirit Qi within their body. It was never for long, and it never belonged to their physical body.

However, right now, the surging of Spirit Qi allowed Wang Baole to immediately notice that something was different. As the Spirit Qi entered his body along his meridians, not a single bit of it leaked out. It seemed to be transformed into a Spirit thread, sinking into the black hole formed by the devouring seed after circulating within his meridians.

Wang Baole tested it and realized that if he put his mind to it, he could release the Spirit threads from the devouring seed and circulate it all over its body. With every complete circulation through his meridians, it was like a cycle that absorbed the external Spirit Qi into his body, causing him to become stronger after it integrated into his body.

This hefty process was slow, but it felt completely different from the Ancient Martial Arts. It was as if these Spirit threads completely and thoroughly belonged to him!

The Spirit threads could be transformed and controlled at one’s will and thought, appearing like an inseparable part of one’s body!

This made Wang Baole hold his breath in shock. After pondering for a moment, his gaze shimmered as he manipulated the Spirit threads within his body to spread out. The moment that the Spirit thread emerged from his body, a suppressive force unique to the True Breath realm rippled into Wang Baole’s surroundings, forming a mini hurricane.

True Breath!

The emergence of the suppressive force hurricane immediately confirmed Wang Baole’s thoughts. He was agitated as he made the realization as to why the True Breath cultivator could suppress the Ancient Martial Arts.

That was because the Spirit Qi of the True Breath belonged to the cultivator. Even if only one thread of the Spirit Qi leaked out, it could somehow integrate with the surrounding Spirit Qi, injecting a fragment of one’s will in it to form a suppressive force that the Ancient Martial Arts had no means to resist.

This technique, though different in execution, was similar in theory to how the nine-inch Spirit Root could gather the Spirit Qi to form those waves. However, in terms of execution, it was obvious that the True Breath cultivator controlled the Spirit Qi from within, while the nine-inch Spirit Root guided the Spirit Qi from the outside.

In his exhilaration from feeling the True Breath suppressive force spreading, Wang Baole retrieved a flying sword from his storage bracelet, held it in his hands, and controlled the Spirit thread outside his body, directing it into the flying sword. As he waved the sword, it emitted Dharma rays that rushed forward, but under the will of Wang Baole, the flying sword immediately stopped moving.

It appeared as if an invisible thread was controlling it. Soon, the flying sword was under the control of Wang Baole, speeding up and slowing down according to his will, traveling straight or turning around according to his desire. Even though he was not very deft in his control, it felt like it was on a completely different level compared to the execution of the Ancient Martial Arts.

Before long, Wang Baole put his flying sword away and began laughing heartily and agitatedly toward the sky. He then assessed his physical strength again, and with just a slight movement, he was moving at an extreme speed. With the boost given by the Spirit thread, he was visibly much stronger compared to when his cultivation had been in the Ancient Martial Arts realm.

His strength had also increased significantly with the reinforcement given by the Spirit thread!

The present Wang Baole could be deemed as having experienced a metamorphic change, as he had improved in every aspect!

Hmm, how many inches is my Spirit Root now? All my meridians have become the spirit meridians, as if the purple glow evolved me, perhaps turning me into a ten-inch!

Wang Baole delightedly felt for the devouring seed in his dantian. As a ten-inch Spirit Root flashed across his mind, his devouring seed became blur and began morphing soon after. It was no longer a black hole but a ten-inch Spirit Root!

This caused Wang Baole to open his eyes wide. After a few moments, he blinked.

If I think about becoming ten-inch, it becomes ten-inch. What if I were to think about becoming nine-inch?

The thought had only just flashed across Wang Baole’s mind, but the devouring seed instantly blurred and transformed from the ten-inch Spirit Root into the nine-inch Spirit Root!

Twenty inches? Thirty inches? A hundred inches! Wang Baole was filled with amazement and laughed heartily as the devouring seed transformed continuously.

So, it can change at will! Wang Baole was excited. After changing it several times, he was delighted as he felt that the arrival of the purple glow had given him such a huge and beneficial transformation, and he could not help but become cocky.

No matter how capable you are, in front of me, your Grandpa Wang, you’ll still have to bow down in defeat! Wang Baole was in an elevated mood. After he swept away the depressing feelings that he had felt previously, he thought of the resistance toward becoming a True Breath that had been mentioned in the Dao College’s jade slip.

The time I can stay here after becoming a True Breath expert is determined by the Spirit Root. I have no idea how long I was unconscious and no idea how much longer I can stay…

With this thought, Wang Baole immediately raised his head, looking into the depths of the Spirit Breath Village, in the direction of the fragment mountain.

The Dao College has treated me very well. If I can bring more materials to them, I will! Wang Baole made his decision and turned around, dashing toward the fragment mountain at top speed.

Wang Baole was the first person to attain the eight-inch Spirit Root. However, he was not the first to step into the True Breath in this opening. In reality, during his battle with the nine-inch Spirit Root, and the subsequent incident of absorbing the purple glow before falling unconscious, numerous eight-inch Spirit Roots had appeared, and all of them had been captured by people.

At the same time, among the students from the four major Dao Colleges, there were already some who had broken through the Ancient Martial Arts realm and stepped into the True Breath realm. Most of them were below five inches, which meant that they could not stay for long. However, the mission from the Dao College still had to be completed, and they all began the process of breaking through in a location close to the fragment mountain, using their utmost effort to complete their task.

This way, they could rush straight into the fragment mountain the moment they managed to break through. After they had found the materials, they could use the resistive force to bring the materials with them.

However, there were also numerous people who were above five inches that had managed to break through. Some of them were seven-inch, and some of them were not hopeful of attaining Spirit Roots of longer lengths. Therefore, they made use of the time to collect materials from the fragment mountain, which allowed them to complete their task and simultaneously generate benefits for themselves.

Therefore, as Wang Baole neared the fragment mountain, he saw a rowdy scene with over a hundred True Breath cultivators from the four major Dao Colleges who had broken through the Ancient Martial Arts realm. They were either dashing into the fragment mountain or being quickly ejected from the mountains after being enveloped by a magnetic field!