A World Worth Protecting

The Lightning Dao: First Volume was indeed impressive, but Wang Baole felt that Little Missy would definitely have something better. He eagerly pulled out the black mask and initiated the hallucination realm. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the hallucination realm.

He stood on a snowy plain. A biting wintry wind blew past, weeping. His present entry to the hallucination realm was different than his previous entries, as he didn’t have to call out to Little Missy. He could see her in the distance, a young woman of unearthly beauty, her long silky black hair adrift in the breeze and her white robes fluttering in the winter wind. She stood with her back towards Wang Baole, the wind in her face, her gaze seemingly out towards the distant horizon of the hallucination realm.

He couldn’t see her face, only her long flowing hair. He couldn’t discern the shape of her body, only her white robes swaying in the wind.

It was as if she wasn’t of this world. Such a feeling fell over the entire snowscape, and the land transformed into a fairyland of the immortals. Staring at her back, one was overcome by shame and a sense of sin. It was as if before her, all those tall and mighty would lower their heads and give everything up as tribute.

If this scene were immortalized in a painting, Little Missy would be an extraordinary beauty in the painting. She would have a distant beauty that was ethereal and would seem like a fairy who shouldn’t be of this world. She would vanish with the winds.

Wang Baole took in the scene before him and couldn’t control the stirring in his heart.

In reality… on Little Missy’s face, with its fair, delicate skin and its beauty that was of mythical proportions, was a look invisible to Wang Baole’s eyes. Her eyes seemingly gazed into the distant horizon but… actually contained a flicker of slyness and self-satisfaction.

This little fatty hasn’t been showing me much respect these days. Even his eyes look perverted. I’m going to make use of his gratitude for what I did for him in the Mystic Luna Realm and reinforce who’s holding the reins in this master-slave relationship!

At that thought, the woman in white robes raised her chin higher. The light in her eyes made her beauty even more intense. It was a beauty that would send hearts racing and minds spiraling into a foolish daze, one that would make one bow to her willingly.

Wang Baole’s breath quickened. He could feel an unearthly, ethereal air exuding from Little Missy. Curiosity rose in his heart. He thought back to the encounters in the Mystic Luna Realm and his narrow escape from the jaws of death. He thought how, without Little Missy, he wouldn’t have had the chance to return to Earth and to see the sun again. He would have bade farewell to this world.

These thoughts quieted Wang Baole’s earlier excitement. He stared at the back of the extraordinary figure and bowed slightly.

There was nothing more to be said. Everything was encompassed within that single bow. Silently, Wang Baole walked towards Little Missy and stopped beside her, standing next to her and gazing into the distant horizon.

Time seemed to stand still in the hallucination realm. Under the heavens of the hallucination realm, amidst the falling snow, Wang Baole and the young woman in white stood alone, gazing silently into the distant sky. Snowflakes landed in their hair, and remained there, frozen. Their hair would soon turn white this way.

It painted a beautiful scene. Wang Baole’s mind slowed to a calm. It was a calm he had never experienced before; it was as if he had been released from life’s burdens. The snowy landscape relaxed him. He studied Little Missy next to him, and his eyes glowed with a different sort of light.

Little Missy sneaked a glance at Wang Baole. She was extremely pleased with the effects she had engineered. She was about to amp it up when… Wang Baole let out a soft cough, lifted his right hand, and whipped out a bag of chips. He started munching noisily. The mood was instantly ruined…

The sounds of munching were especially piercing in the snowy realm. In an instant… the young woman in white turned around and gave Wang Baole a look.

Wang Baole seemed slightly embarrassed. He coughed softly and handed the snacks over.

“Do you want some too? I didn’t think that we could conjure up snacks in this realm. They taste exactly the same as the snacks in the real world… try some. This is barbeque flavored…”

“No thanks!” Little Missy sucked in a deep breath. She shoved down the growing rage inside her and forced herself to remain calm and maintain her composure. She leveled a cool gaze at Wang Baole. Her experience told her that this look of hers would make anyone feel ashamed of themselves.

That was indeed what happened. Under her gaze, Wang Baole started to feel sheepish. He kept his snacks and pulled out a bottle of Ice Spirit Water. He drank a small gulp, then kept looking at Little Missy as he continued drinking.

The woman in white instinctively lifted her hand to her forehead as she watched Wang Baole’s series of actions. She felt as if she had been playing the lyre to an unappreciative bull. A sense of resignation rose inside her. She lifted her right hand in a sudden wave, and an illusory jade slip appeared before Wang Baole.

“The Myriad Wood Ice Heart Art. This is the Foundation Establishment realm technique most suitable for you. That’s the reason you have come here, right? Just take it and leave.”

Wang Baole’s eyes flashed. He seemed slightly embarrassed. He wasted no time in grabbing the jade slip, though. After a quick glance, he realized that the method revolved around the wood element in the five elements. It seemed slightly convoluted and difficult to understand, and it didn’t feel as impressive as the Five Elements Unification Mystic Art. He was slightly disappointed. He looked at Little Missy and opened his mouth as if wanting to say something.

“What is it? Out with it!” The woman in white robes saw the look on Wang Baole’s face and raised her eyebrow.

Wang Baole perked up when he heard Little Missy ask him to speak up. He hurriedly voiced his request, adding an important last note.

“I want something really powerful. It’d be great if it’s a technique that can strike fear into people’s hearts as soon as they see it!”

Her eyes sharpened into a glare when she heard what he said. She decided to teach the ambitious Wang Baole a lesson he would never forget. As a cultivator, he should be taught to be realistic about his potential and not to run before he could walk. How else would he be able to enter the league of the great and extraordinary? An imperceptible flicker flashed past her eyes, and she coughed.

“Is that so… let me think then… yes, I do have a legendary mystic technique with me. It is everything you’re asking for. Once it is unleashed, it’ll move heaven and earth. It’ll strike fear into the hearts of everyone who witnesses it. They’ll be scared out of their wits!”

“A legendary mystic technique?” Upon hearing those words, Wang Baole immediately perked up. He straightened up and listened carefully.

“That’s right, a legendary mystic technique that’s many times more powerful than the Myriad Wood Ice Heart Art. They’re leagues apart. If you can master it, you’ll be nearly invincible. It has a really nice name, called… Corpse Face!”

“Its full name is… the Dark Corpse Face Art! How’s that? Doesn’t it sound really powerful?” She whirled around and looked at Wang Baole with eyes bright with the light of encouragement.

“It sounds… really powerful. But why do I feel that the name sounds a bit scary?” Wang Baole froze for a moment before scratching his head.

“You may feel that, but your enemy’s going to be even more frightened when they see it in action!” she said firmly. The encouragement in her eyes grew brighter, and she even patted him on the shoulder.

“This… that seems to make sense…” Wang Baole stuttered. The woman in white didn’t give him time to think. She immediately explained in detail how the Dark Corpse Face Art worked.

The Dark Art involved a certain kind of substance found within the Spirit Qi. The woman in white explained to Wang Baole that humankind’s understanding of Spirit Qi was still lacking. Even though the typical cultivator could release Spirit Qi, he couldn’t fully absorb it. There always remained a small portion that resisted absorption and would be expelled naturally from the human body.

Ninety-nine percent of all cultivation techniques found on Earth possessed the ability to expel such substance during the cultivation process. That was how cultivation could continue without a hitch.

In actuality though, the expelled substance could also be used for cultivation. That was how the so-called Dark Arts were born!

Where she had come from, the expelled substance found in Spirit Qi was called the Dark Spirit Qi!

Practicing the Dark Art allowed one to absorb the Dark Spirit Qi, forming a wisp of Dark Fire inside one’s body, and the flame was capable of burning anything in the world. Its power was so great that it was beyond what words could describe. It was the opposite of ordinary Spirit Qi and of a greater caliber. That was why, to a certain extent, it could defeat all other types of cultivation!

When practicing the Dark Art, one would be able to form a wisp of Dark Fire inside one’s body during the early-stage Foundation Establishment realm. After reaching the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, another wisp of Dark Fire would be born. If one were able to generate a third wisp of Dark Fire, one would be able to ride on the creation of the third fire wisp and propel themselves from the mid-stage to the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm!

When the time came, the three wisps of Dark Fire would fuse into one and form a Baneful Flame. That was when the cultivator would advance to the perfected Foundation Establishment realm!

This Dark Art was also referred to as Corpse Face because of what the technique did. It shared the same name as its effects!

The cultivator would use the Dark Fire to paint on his opponent’s face. First the Corpse Eyebrows, then the Corpse Eyes, followed by the nose and lips, finally forming a… Corpse Face!

Once the Corpse Face was formed, it would explode and destroy everything!

After listening to Little Missy’s description, Wang Baole’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a sudden breath of air. He could feel a chill shivering up his spine, then spreading throughout his body. This Dark Corpse Face Art was simply too freaky.

“This is…” Wang Baole hesitated. He had a feeling that Little Missy was playing him for a fool.

The glow of encouragement in the young woman’s eyes grew brighter when she saw Wang Baole’s hesitation. She went on a bit longer about how impressive the Dark Art was. When she saw that Wang Baole still remained doubtful, she glared.

“Tell me, Wang Baole. Since the beginning, when you were at the Ancient Martial realm till this day, have I ever led you down the wrong path?”

Wang Baole thought about Little Missy’s words and was immediately assaulted by a sense of shame. It was true. Little Missy had treated him well since the beginning; she had never lied to him.

“I’ll learn it! Little Missy is right. You’ve never lied to me!” Wang Baole nodded resolutely.

The young woman in white was extremely happy when she heard that. Then, for some unknown reason, she started feeling despondent. She couldn’t remember the number of times she had played Wang Baole for a fool. Every time, she had been prepared to watch him make a fool of himself, but every time, the fatty had been able to exceed her expectations. She didn’t know if it was something in his blood or something else. She had almost begun to doubt herself…

This time, though, nothing like the Golden Body will happen. This is the legendary forbidden mystic technique. I had looked down on the Myriad Wood Ice Heart Art then too and didn’t want to practice it. This was how my mother taught me a lesson and made me see the reality of things. That was how I rose to join the league of the powerful and exceptional… even I didn’t manage to master the Dark Art. Not to mention the hardship I’d gone through trying to learn it. Finally, I’ll get to see someone else suffer. I don’t believe he can master it!