📖 Chapter 939 - Duty-Bound
From the looks of it, the paper human cutout really had been by his side all this time, just as he’d guessed. This made Wang Baole excited, but it also caused his vigilance to immediately increase.
After all, there was a difference between speculating it was there and knowing it was there. Moreover, this paper human cutout was extremely strange. The thought that it had been observing him all this time without his knowledge naturally caused Wang Baole’s guard to go up. However, after experiencing many things, he naturally was able to hide his true emotions, so he only displayed excitement on his face as clasped his fists and once again bowed deeply to the paper human cutout in front of him.
The paper human cutout looked Wang Baole up and down with a serene expression. Even though Wang Baole subtly observed the other party, he couldn’t tell just what it was thinking. However, he was confident that since the paper human cutout had followed him and revealed itself just now, it was obviously going to give him some sort of answer.
No matter what it was plotting, it had to say something. Otherwise, there was no way it would be so free to run all the way here to play with him.
Wang Baole’s guess was correct. After a serene light flashed in its eyes, the paper human cutout was silent for about ten breaths of time before it slowly spoke.
“You are indeed smarter than that Shan Ling Zi… This Seat will help you out, but there’s something I need from you!” The paper human cutout’s voice was sharp, like nails scratching on a chalkboard. When its words reverberated in Wang Baole’s ears, his cultivation base involuntarily fluctuated a little, but he quickly suppressed it and replied attentively.
"Senior, please speak!"
The paper human cutout didn’t reply immediately, glancing carefully at Wang Baole and seemingly thinking something over. After a while, it nodded slightly and continued speaking. However, it didn’t mention what it needed, only talking about the trial.
“What you’re facing now is nothing more than a preliminary trial. The main goal of this trial is to obtain an Illusion Crystal and enter the next trial!”
“If this Seat’s guess isn’t wrong, there, you will compete with other trial-takers over… ten Planet Guiding Drumsticks!”
"Planet Guiding Drumsticks?" Wang Baole narrowed his eyes.
“The Starfall Realm’s great opportunity is to allow cultivators from the Outer Domain to obtain high-grade Planets here. There are even Special Planets here that you can use to break through to the next realm. The method to get one is… to pound a drum and attract planets!”
“Strike the Starfall Heavenspan Drum with the Planet Guiding Drumstick until your potential is exhausted. Once the drumstick collapses, the Planets of countless worlds will manifest, and the most suitable Planets will be drawn out from among them!”
“However, the number of drumsticks is limited. The Starfall Realm will form ten Planet Guiding Drumsticks every few hundred years, and each time they form, it will automatically open up. Qualified people from the Outer Domain will be allowed to enter, and in the end… ten among them will be chosen for this great opportunity!”
“Thus, there is this series of trials. The first trial, crossing the sea, is to sift out the unworthy. This second trial on the Illusion Planet is the same. In the end, there will be only 30 people allowed to enter the third and final trial!” The paper human cutout’s words made Wang Baole’s breathing hasten. He finally had a clear understanding of this trip to the Starfall Realm. However, a doubt suddenly arose in his mind.
“Senior, this… why does the Starfall Empire allow this? This is basically giving opportunities away for free. Is it some agreement with the Outer Domain? Or… does the Starfall Empire itself have some reason that it needs to do things like this?” Seeing that the paper human cutout was willing to speak, Wang Baole didn’t hide his doubts and immediately asked.
If he got an answer, that would be good, and if he didn’t, he didn’t lose anything.
The serene light flashed in the paper human cutout’s eyes again, and it looked at Wang Baole a little more carefully. Wang Baole also stared back at the paper human cutout, and after the two stared at each other for a while, the paper human cutout suddenly let out that strange laugh.
“After you came here, didn’t you feel something off?” After laughing, the paper human cutout spoke slowly and meaningfully.
“Something off?” Wang Baole revealed a ponderous expression, recalling everything he had seen since arriving. After a dozen or so breaths of time, his pupils suddenly contracted. He thought of how this world was clearly divided into black and white, then opened his mouth and spoke in a low voice.
"Black sea, white paper?"
"That's right!" paper human cutout said lightly.
“For you, this is a so-called great opportunity. But for the Starfall Empire, it’s self-salvation!”
"The Starfall Empire is the guardian of the Starfall Realm, and its enemy is... the black paper sea!”
“Originally, the black paper sea wasn’t black. But as time went by, something happened, and the sea gradually turned black. Moreover, its blackness continued to spread, and if left unchecked, it would gradually swallow the entire Starfall Empire!”
“The Starfall Empire made many attempts to stop the spread of the sea, but failed. Finally, an emperor who was already called a supreme existence thought of a way to manifest the natural laws of this place by sacrificing himself, turning his body into the Heavenspan Drum. Afterward, he separated his divine soul from his body, and ten strands of his divine soul descend once every few hundred years in the form of the Planet Guiding Drumsticks!”
“By beating the Heavenspan Drum with the drumsticks, the Planets of countless worlds will manifest, creating a suppressive force that can delay the spread of the black paper sea!”
“But due to the natural laws here, the Starfall Empire’s cultivators have no flesh and blood, and thus don’t qualify to strike the Heavenspan Drum. That’s why we made contact with the Outer Domain, and why we open our borders every few hundred years!” The paper human cutout’s voice was calm, without any fluctuations. But when it spoke about the ten strands of divine soul that the former Starfall Emperor had separated out, a flash of reminiscence appeared in its eyes.
But that reminiscence disappeared in an instant. If Wang Baole hadn’t been observing the paper human cutout from so close, he might not have caught it.
“Is there some connection between this paper human cutout and that Starfall Emperor?” Wang Baole suppressed this thought and analyzed the information contained in the other party’s words. They seemed logical enough, so he decided to believe it for the most part. At the same time, he had learned a bit more about the Starfall Realm.
“This junior still hasn’t heard what Senior needs me to do.” After thinking about it, Wang Baole couldn’t help but say.
But as soon as he spoke, the paper human cutout showed a hesitant expression. It was as if even it held doubts about what it wanted Wang Baole to do.
Wang Baole couldn’t help but feel suspicious about all this, but he didn’t say anything and waited patiently for the paper human cutout’s answer.
After a long while, the paper human cutout’s gaze fell on Wang Baole again. After looking at him for a long time, as if trying to see through him completely, it finally spoke in a hoarse voice.
“You... are strange!”
Wang Baole blinked.
“You’re clearly a cultivator of the Never-Ending Dao Domain, and your soul should be less than sixty years old, but there’s a sense of age on your body… If it’s just that, it’s fine, but there’s also an aura not from the Never-Ending Dao Domain on your body. Generally speaking, this aura only appears when someone’s in frequent close contact with an item from outside the Never-Ending Dao Domain, but you’re different!”
“I’ve observed you for a long time, and I can tell… The non-Never-Ending Dao Domain aura on your body doesn’t come from a certain item, but rather from one of your Daoist magics… This Daoist magic’s origin is too profound, and I can’t understand the words you say, but whenever you say them, the will that awakens from the depths of the starry sky… is the most powerful will I have ever seen!”
Wang Baole’s expression seemed unchanged when he heard these words, but his heart was pounding rapidly. He knew very well what the paper human cutout was talking about. It was his Dao Scripture!
The Dao Scripture was taught to him by the Little Missy inside the mask, and it had saved him many times over the years. However, every time he used it, he seemed to get closer and closer to awakening that aura that sent a terrifying will over. Thus, Wang Baole had never read it out to completion.
He would usually stop after reading the first few words.
The paper human cutout took a deep breath and continued speaking.
“What I need you to do is follow me to a certain place. There, I want you to… go all out and cast that Daoist magic with your full strength!”
“In return, I’ll help you get a drumstick, and I’ll even help you beat the drum at the end. With my help… you’ll be able to get at least a Special Planet containing natural laws!”
“You… do you agree?” After it finished speaking, the paper human cutout stared at Wang Baole with a deep gaze and waited for his reply.
Wang Baole gave a wry smile, and his thoughts spun rapidly. The other party’s condition wasn’t actually that difficult, but… he didn’t dare.
“If I go all out and really end up awakening that will completely, won’t it slap me to death like a mosquito?” When he thought of this, Wang Baole took a deep breath and was about to ask if he could change the condition. However, the paper human cutout suddenly spoke another sentence.
“If you refuse, I’ll kill you right now!”
Wang Baole’s expression turned serious, and dissatisfaction appeared in his eyes, as if he felt that he had been gravely insulted.
“Senior has underestimated me, Xie Dalu. This Xie will never cower to threats. If I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t agree even if I died. However, Senior has helped me a lot along the way, so this junior is naturally extremely grateful. Your request… naturally, I’m duty-bound to fulfill it!”