A World Worth Protecting

1

With the breaking down of the Fire God Cannons, the stronghold camp was obviously at a disadvantage in both aerial and land battles. They were pushed back steadily and at the verge of defeat.

The watchful beasts surged forward as soon as the cannons broke down. They dashed onto the platforms and towards the warriors standing atop, sparking another round of slaughter!

Mangled flesh littered the ground while blood stained the earth. The clashing sounds of battle drowned out the screams of agony and raging howls, but they didn’t need to travel far; clinging onto the wall, Wang Baole could hear every sound and see everything clearly!

He watched the bloodbath on the platforms; his warrior friends were torn apart one after another.

Some of them were tossed into the sky by the beasts, then ripped into pieces by the beast flock.

Wang Baole watched as it all happened. Red veins appeared in his eyes as he saw another strong, built man caught by a beast. He was about to rescue him when the beast’s huge beak cracked and pierced the man’s forehead!

The man was the one who had lost to Wang Baole at arm wrestling, ate his snacks, and said he would matchmake him with his sister!

Yet, he was dead; his body ripped into halves by the beast.

Wang Baole let loose a pained howl, and his right hand shot up and swept to one side. In an instant, a blast of Cloud Finger exploded from his hand, snaking forward swiftly and skewering the beast that murdered the muscular man. The beast’s body quivered. As it died, Wang Baole looked at the platforms drenched in blood with rage and agony. He leapt into the air onto one of the sharp spikes outside the stronghold walls, and from that spike jumped onto the next, racing towards the few functioning Fire God Cannons the stronghold still had.

He wanted vengeance!

Beasts flew towards him mid-way and tried to surround him, but Wang Baole’s rage was beyond control. He struck brutally, seal after seal exploding. Wang Baole forced his way out, a trail of bodies in his wake, and blood staining his lips. He was swift, and finally, he stepped onto a Fire God Cannon platform.

Following the mass breakdown of Fire God Cannons, only thirteen cannons in the stronghold remained functioning. One of the thirteen was under Wang Baole’s care. The cannon sat on the platform he approached and was the only surviving cannon out of the ten he had been charged with!

Beasts approached at that very moment. The number of warriors present was great, and they were all fighting with all they had. Alongside the cannon firings, they managed to hold the attacks at bay for the moment. However, the quaking Fire God Cannon was clearly on the verge of collapse and would break down at any time.

Wang Baole arrived just in the nick of time. The warriors parted for him, and he rushed to the Fire God Cannon and pressed his right hand against it. Spirit Qi surged into the cannon instantly and started the repairs. Despite the tremors traveling through the cannon, it was still able to fire shots. The cannon swerved into position and fired straight at the beasts leaping about—the ones who had slaughtered their way through platform after platform.

“Die!” Wang Baole howled. Four consecutive shots shook the heavens and earth, thunderous booms resounding throughout the battlefield. Four beams of light pierced through the skies, blowing four gigantic holes in the swarming sea of beasts. Pained shrieks rose into the air, and countless beasts were decimated!

The remaining Fire God Cannons fired continuously as well. Under their attacks, thunderous explosions shook the lands. The stronghold began to hold its ground again on the battlefields in the sky and on land.

In the skies, as the beasts fell back, Wang Baole’s target for vengeance shifted and locked onto the Foundation Establishment realm unicorn. With rage in his heart, he fired six rounds of shots.

Boom, boom, boom—the six cannon shots didn’t land a hit in the aerial battlefield, but they still made an impact. The Divine Armament-wielding cultivator seized the opportunity and beheaded the unicorn with one broad sweep of his sword!

The beast let loose cries of agony and rage as it died, and blood fell to the earth like a torrent of rain.

The Fire God Cannon couldn’t hold for too long, though, as every few rounds of shots required repairs. With the dwindling number of targets and only thirteen cannons surviving, the beasts in the air roared and swooped down upon seeing a pause in the cannon firings—intent on destroying every single one of the remaining cannons.

In the moment of crisis, Wang Baole flung out all the Golden Bell Shields he had without thinking. Thunderous booms resounded in the air. The golden shield that had been erected on the platform was significantly reinforced within the blink of an eye. Together with the thousand-odd warriors on the platform, they held off the attacks from the beasts!

Wang Baole panted as he started repairing the Fire God Cannon. Soon, he fired the cannon again, a grim look on his face.

Explosions rang through the air, and shots of cannon beams rang from where Wang Baole stood. It was his nature to be vengeful. He no long targeted the beasts on land but the Foundation Establishment realm beasts in the sky.

At that time, with the battle escalating to such a state, there was no longer anyone left in command. Even Big Beard had charged into battle. His clothes stained with blood, he was unrecognizable at first glance. Big Beard pushed forward on land, diving deep into the Beast Tide and moved steadily towards the hurricane.

“I’ll wipe you all out!” Wang Baole cursed, yearning to send a blast of cannon beam at the bat in the eye of the hurricane. He could tell that the bat was the key to ending the battle, but it was too far away and protected within the hurricane. Wang Baole tried firing a shot but realized that he couldn’t reach his target. After firing a few shots into the air, he turned the cannon on the beasts on land.

He might have been raging and had his eyes on the Foundation Establishment realm beasts in the sky, but he knew that could draw too much attention and bring death to his doorstep. That was why he had a shot made into the air, another towards the land; he kept changing where he fired to keep his enemy from realizing it was being targeted.

The other Fire God Cannons did the same. As a result, the Foundation Establishment realm beasts, engaged fiercely in battle, weren’t immediately alerted to what Wang Baole was doing.

However, the Fire God Cannon, despite Wang Baole’s repairs, grew ever more unstable. A great extent of its inscriptions had been damaged and were in fragments, causing Wang Baole’s anxiety to grow. He was deliberating on how to repair the cannon and restore some semblance of stability to it when howls of rage came from the other Fire God Cannon platforms.

Wang Baole shuddered. He looked over and saw the swarms of beasts encircling the other Fire God Cannons. Under the massive attack, some of the cannons broke down, and beasts swarmed others. Injury and death abound, Wang Baole turned his cannon around quickly in a bid to help, but it was all for naught. Where Chen Yutong stood, two cannons collapsed. Amidst the sea of dying Armament Soldiers, with a grim smile on his face and fury heavy in his heart, Chen Yutong fought his way out and raced to where Wang Baole stood.

The entire stronghold was only left with three Fire God Cannons!

Chen Yutong’s arrival eased the burden on Wang Baole. The pair had no time for talk, but there was no need for Wang Baole to speak; Chen Yutong, looking ragged and wounded heavily, poured himself straight into repair work. The cannon held strong under their care, firing shot after shot.

It was a mere drop of water in the bucket, but as long as the Fire God Cannon remained standing on the battlefield—even if it was but one cannon—it would serve as a force to instill fear into the beasts’ hearts and hold them back!

After firing a few shots, the cannon shook violently. A dark look fell over Wang Baole’s face, and bitterness rose in his heart. The bat’s ultrasound wave attack had damaged the inscriptions, and their continual fragmentation was inevitable. This cannon was about to break down as well, causing despair to rise in Chen Yutong’s eyes. He muttered, “Baole, it’s beyond repair… there are two more cannons! Should we go?”

Wang Baole was silent. He turned and looked at the warriors around him.

The warriors within the Golden Bell Shield noticed the expressions on Wang Baole’s and Chen Yutong’s faces. Their faces grew pale, and they fell into a deathly silence. Their Dharmic Artifacts were damaged, and even those given by Wang Baole were severely fractured and cracked. Wang Baole had gone to the extent of depleting his entire stock of self-exploding beads, and they were at the brink of exhausting their ammunition and weaponry.

All of them knew that they could no longer defend the platform. As soon as the Golden Bell Shield shattered, as soon as the Fire God Cannon broke down, they would be faced with the tragic fate that had met the other Fire God Cannon platforms.

Outside the Golden Bell Shield, swarms of beasts circled. Mad with violence and blood lust, they slammed repeatedly into the Golden Bell Shield. Their numbers were countless, and amongst them were numerous True Breath realm beasts. The force of their attacks was powerful and overwhelming, causing the Golden Bell Shield to start warping under the force of the attacks. At any moment, it was going to shatter.

“Baole, Dharmic Armament Master Chen, go, quickly! We’ll hold the beasts back and fight for more time for you!”

“We may not have the aptitude to become cultivators, but we are still warriors. The day we joined the army, we swore to protect the Federation with our lives!”

“Baole, remember to visit my parents on my behalf—I’ve given you my address!”

“Baole, just go!”

After a brief silence, the warriors spoke almost at the same time, in near unison, raising their voices to Wang Baole. There was a steely resolve in their eyes, one that would only be broken by death. As their words rang out, a few warriors stepped forward, and gathered themselves around Wang Baole and Chen Yutong, ready to escort them away. More stood ready, prepared to use their own flesh and blood bodies as a shield against the beasts.

The sight utterly stunned Chen Yutong. Wang Baole’s eyes turned red and teary. The blood in his body seemed to have frozen, and his heart contracted. He stared at everyone around him, then at the approaching Beast Tide. He gazed skyward, at the beasts in the air, and the bloodbath that was the battlefield.

He thought back to when he had first arrived at the stronghold, and the special feeling he had then from being protected by Ancient Martial realm warriors when he was himself a cultivator…

Despite the brief time they had together, despite the suddenness of the Beast Tide and the unimaginable destruction it wrought, the memories they had together—the memories of arm wrestling with everyone, of sharing snacks with one another, of laughing and talking—surfaced before his eyes, one after another…

The countless scenes of death that had taken place within the span of not even one day on the battlefield were carved deep into his soul, a pain that stabbed deep at his heart…

And the scene of the tragic death of the man who had wanted to introduce his sister to Wang Baole…

Layer upon layer, those moments piled onto one another, transforming into what lay before him—the earnest eyes of those men, bright with anxiety as they prepared to sacrifice themselves for his and Chen Yutong’s escape.

“This might seem foolish, but I don’t wish to leave yet… I believe I can fix this cannon!” Wang Baole took in a deep breath. As he turned his head towards the Fire God Cannon, his eyes shone brightly. There was a fierce light in his eyes, and it burned like a determination that had never before been seen!

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