A World Worth Protecting

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The beam of light was too swift; wherever it passed, beasts that stood before it were torn into shreds instantly. Even a slight brush from the blast’s rippling energy waves sent one frothing at the mouth, and the beasts were either slain or grievously wounded.

With night soon descending, the bright blue cannon beam shook and dazzled. It shot past with startling speed through the battlefield, With a thundering roar, it carried an intent to destroy, and approached the giant bat in the hurricane.

The giant bat had its mouth wide open, ready to release another wave of ultrasound interference at the Foundation Establishment realm-level fight. It was then that an icy shiver traveled through its body, and alarm flashed across its eyes. If it had hair, one imagined they would be standing at that moment. It snapped its mouth shut and dodged swiftly to one side. As it tried to move away, the beam of light, with a speed that far surpassed its own, came thundering forward and shot right… past its body…

It missed…

Despite missing its target, the rippling waves of energies that spread out sent quakes through the bat’s body. It spat blood out, and terror and shock rose in its heart. It had calculated the projectile range of the Fire God Cannon and stayed far away from the cannon; it would never have imagined being almost killed by the cannon’s blast!

The giant bat’s eyes turned red as it trembled, and it raised its head skyward and let loose a shrill scream. Its eyes locked onto Wang Baole, a murderous aura exploded in the air.

The prowess of Wang Baole’s Fire God Cannon was so immense that the bat felt death at its doorstep.

If it had moved a little bit too quickly earlier, it could have slammed headfirst into the cannon beam. The thought terrified the intelligent beast, and it unleashed a frantic, ear-piercing shriek. In an instant, the beasts surrounding Wang Baole’s Fire God Cannon platform spiraled into further madness. They lost all reason and charged mindlessly forward.

The two Foundation Establishment realm beasts in the sky grew agitated as well. However, they couldn’t leave. Instead, they roared as the giant bat screamed, driving the beasts and giants in the Beast Tide into descending madness. The beasts disregarded the cultivators and warriors around them and, with a leap into the air, rushed at Wang Baole.

The cannon shot of Wang Baole was like striking a wasp nest, sending the beasts into a raging madness. Chen Yutong and the surrounding warriors were momentarily overwhelmed.

Big Beard and the Foundation Establishment cultivators saw what happened, and were shaken to their core. They realized it was a golden opportunity. The giant bat was too caught up in the moment to interfere with their fight. The turn of the tide galvanized them, and as they pressed forward towards the two Foundation Establishment realm beasts, Big Beard’s voice rang across the battlefield.

“Everyone, protect the Fire God Cannon platform!”

“Wang Baole, as long as you can distract the giant bat, you’ll be the hero in this battle! If you manage to kill it, I’ll personally request a huge reward to be bestowed on you!”

As Big Beard’s words rang out, the warriors and cultivators on land sped towards the direction where Wang Baole’s Fire God Cannon platform stood. They fought with all their might, and Chen Yutong and the rest gave all they had as well, attacking madly.

The battle intensified around the Fire God Cannon platform in an instant!

As for the giant bat in the sky, its cultivation was clearly not of the Foundation Establishment realm level. Else, even accounting for its cautious nature, it could have struck multiple times. It was clear that it possessed an impressive talent at spellcasting, and its value was in supporting and commandeering the beasts.

Terrified, the giant bat dared not pause too long at any one spot. Its body swayed and flew from one place to another without rest, summoning tornadoes that spread out across the battlefield and obscured vision.

It dared not fly too close to Wang Baole. It was still shaken by the earlier cannon blast, and as a result, it continued dodging attacks in the distance with the intention of relying on the intensity of the Beast Tide to destroy the enemy.

That was slightly time-consuming, but to the bat, it was the safest way to victory.

That was indeed the reality. Slaughter overflowed all around Wang Baole, and he was going mad in his anxiety. The cannon blast that missed its target was through no fault of his. After all, there were too many uncertainties present in the revamped Fire God Cannon. It was near impossible to wield it as smoothly as before.

He had heard Big Beard’s words, but he had no time to fantasize further. Fierce battles occurred all around him, and death lurked at every corner. Wang Baole took a few deep breaths. He dared not lose his concentration as he injected all of his Spirit Qi into the cannon. The initial automated target lock-on mechanism was switched to manual mode. To eliminate all potential mishap, he released the mosquitoes that had already been destroyed many times.

The mosquitoes flew out instantly and headed speedily towards the giant bat. With the aid of their eyes, everything taking place in the air appeared within Wang Baole’s sight. An all-encompassing, three hundred and sixty-degree field of vision with no blind spots—in that moment, he saw everything with startling clarity.

The bat was too quick, though, and hidden by the hurricane. Wang Baole couldn’t firmly lock down his target with complete accuracy. He grew more agitated as he watched the bloodbath around him. He was going mad.

<em>Don’t rush it, don’t rush it!</em>

<em>What I need is an opportunity! </em>Wang Baole kept sucking in air and forcing himself to calm down. As the Fire God Cannon started its activation, the terrifying and violent energies in the air intensified. The surrounding Spirit Qi was sucked by abruptly. A sea of calm settled within Wang Baole gradually, and he only saw the distant skies and the ever-moving form of the giant bat.

The Fire God Cannon shook fiercely, but Wang Baole could no longer spare any effort to attend to it. His breathing steadied slowly, and the field of vision he had borrowed from his mosquitoes seemed to be shrinking…

He waited silently for a window of opportunity. If it didn’t arrive, Wang Baole didn’t know if he would choose to go ahead and fire the cannon. Not firing would pose a greater threat to the giant bat. The fight would determine the outcome of the aerial Foundation Establishment realm-grade battle. As long as Big Beard and his company emerged victorious, the tide of the battle would turn.

The price would be great.

It was then that suddenly, within Wang Baole’s line of vision in the distant sky, two light arcs rushed towards them. Following the arcs were seven to eight massive cruisers, speeding towards the battlefield at equally high speeds.

They were the rescue forces who had come to aid the seventh primary stronghold. There were two cultivators within the arcs; both were of Foundation Establishment realm cultivation. Their faces were pale, and both were clearly wounded, but they continued to rush forward resolutely. The teleportation array formation between strongholds had clearly been destroyed, and they could only hurry over on cruisers.

As they appeared over the horizon, Wang Baole’s eyes brightened.

<em>A window! </em>Wang Baole held his breath. His vision shrunk instantly.

Lock on!

Lock on!!

Lock on!!!

In a blink of an eye, as the giant bat witnessed rescue approaching from afar and started trembling uncontrollably, Wang Baole roared and chose at that moment… to fire the cannon!

A thunderous boom resounded, shaking the heavens and earth. A massive beam of light shot from the Fire God Cannon. As the blast surged forward, the Fire God Cannon started shattering into pieces. Finally, as the beam shot out from the cannon entirely, the cannon broke down completely and became a piece of junk. The inscriptions within shattered in unison!

As for Wang Baole, who had expended all his energies, blood splattered out from his mouth. He keeled over and was caught by the Armament Soldiers behind him. His eyes stared unblinkingly at the sky at the blast of light he had just fired.

The earth-shattering beam of light thundered and sped heavenward like an enormous blue dragon. It was swift, like a bolt of lightning, piercing the skies and appearing in an instant before the giant bat.

The giant bat let loose a howl of rage and tried to escape, but it was too slow. In the blink of an eye, the light surged past its body. Suddenly, the massive body started disintegrating before one’s eyes.

Its wings cracked and shattered piece by piece, and its gruesome mouth exploded under the force of the blast, splattering blood all around. Not a single hair remained. It was as if an invisible giant hand had wiped out all traces of the beast!

The sight sent a wave of shock across the battlefield. Chen Yutong and everyone on the platform buzzed with agitation and excitement. It felt like they had just had a dream. The warriors and cultivators from the four Dao Colleges on the battlefield were equally shaken, then overjoyed.

The Beast Tide was equally agitated, and fear appeared on many of the beasts’ faces. The tides had turned. The two Foundation Establishment realm beasts in the midst of battle with Big Beard froze. One screamed as it was beheaded, and the surviving beast retreated in mad haste.

It didn’t manage to escape. The two approaching Foundation Establishment realm cultivators who had rushed there in aid, amidst their shock and disbelief, struck. Together with Big Beard, they slew the last beast.

Terror overtook the entire Beast Tide on land. They howled and began to fall back, slamming into one another and escaping mindlessly. The battlefield was a scene of utter chaos.

The murderous aura exuding from Big Beard didn’t weaken in the chaos. He barked out orders amid the cacophony, commandeering the entire stronghold in a full-scale counter assault. The warriors and cultivators around Wang Baole charged out and joined the counterattack.

Despite his exhaustion, Wang Baole leaped into the air as well and joined the battle. He commanded his mosquitoes to follow him.

Under their counter assault, the Beast Tide scattered further and stampeded over one another. The death count of the beasts soared. Finally, worn out and exhausted, they stopped their pursuit and watched the Beast Tide flee into the distance.

Big Beard heaved heavily. He turned and saw Wang Baole, ragged and covered in blood. He laughed aloud and walked over, pulling Wang Baole into a hug and patting him on his back with great force. It was fortunate that Wang Baole was hardy with a thick skin and thicker flesh, else the pat would have sent him puking blood across the ground.

Despite his thick skin and even thicker flesh, he could still feel the pain. Not to be outdone, he hugged Big Beard back and gave a forceful slap that thudded loudly.

Big Beard felt something amiss and released Wang Baole immediately. He coughed awkwardly, then turned and pulled Wang Baole’s hand high into the air. He looked at the crowd around him, and the rescue troops, and shouted, “Tell me, who is he?”

“Wang Baole!” All around, the warriors who had escaped death cheered.

They had seen close-up with their own eyes the scene of the cannon blast blazing across the heavens and slaying the giant bat!

Wang Baole listened as the people around him shouting his name. Hot blood coursed through his veins, and his face grew warm. That emotion was something he felt for the first time. It was indescribable.

The thousand-odd warriors on the Fire God Cannon platform, especially, were overwhelmed with emotion. They rushed forward and started cheering, taking advantage of Wang Baole’s momentary shock and tossing him, again and again, into the air. Laughter rang and echoed across the battlefield from where they had emerged victorious.

The cultivators from the four Dao Colleges watched as the warriors flung Wang Baole into the air repeatedly, their eyes bright with fervor. The rescue forces couldn’t keep their calm either. The cannon blast that they had witnessed upon their arrival… the impact it left on them was too astounding!

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