A World Worth Protecting

1

Everything was happening too quickly. Wang Baole had been prepared to fight with his life. He had been prepared to use his last resort and transform the entire city into the Eternal Fortress in order to hold the giant python back.

To do so required time. The new city was too big. Its transformation needed to be carried out in steps. After transforming into the Eternal Fortress, its power would increase tremendously. However, the transformation would also inflict great damage to the city.

There was no time at present for him to do that. Once he activated the process, the entire new city would be destroyed. This was better than being a sitting duck, though. Wang Baole had made up his mind to fight with all that he had!

However… he hadn’t yet realized his plan before the giant python’s strange behavior made him pause. Especially… the way the python had stuck its tongue out and licked its lips. It seemed like a perfectly ordinary action, but somehow, Wang Baole found it extremely familiar.

He wasn’t the only one who had frozen. Everyone around him had done the same. Even the black-robed man who had been standing nearby had done the same. Shock colored his eyes, and he seemed to be slightly bewildered.

As the crowd remained stunned by the giant python’s strange move, the struggle in the giant python’s eyes disappeared. It was replaced by a sudden bright light. It opened its mouth wide and let loose a piercing roar!

“Son!”

The sound exploded. It seemed to be able to pierce through one’s eardrums. It thundered in all directions. The giant python swerved aside, no longer heading for Wang Baole but towards the distant sky which, to everyone’s eyes, held nothing. It charged in that direction instead!

It was very, very fast—faster than it had been before. Its agility and speed surpassed what it had shown previously. It gave the crowd the feeling that it had been controlled by someone else previously and had now come alive!

Its astonishing speed, its sudden agility, and its roar all seemed incredible in the eyes of the black-robed man. He wasn’t able to escape in time. In the blink of an eye, the giant python approached and opened its wide, gaping mouth!

Shock overcame the black-robed man. He tried to fall back hastily, but it was too late. The giant python had clamped its mouth over his body and swallowed him whole!

At that moment, inside the Divine Armament Catacombs, behind the wall, in the unknown region where the Divine Armament rested, a howl that was immensely ancient, incredibly furious, and unbelievably disbelieving rang out.

“Impossible. This is impossible!”

“Why would the puppet go out of control? Damn it. How could it see me? How could it hurt my spirit body?”

“That’s wrong. Something must have gone wrong!”

Roaring and howling erupted in the deepest level of the Divine Armament Catacombs without pause. If Wang Baole had been there, he would have been able to hear them. The voice was filled with madness and disbelief. It was filled with incredulity. The true form of the black-robed man was unable to discern the reason why his clone had been devoured.

Everything had been going well. His plan had been moving along flawlessly. He had been about to reap the rewards when, at that precise moment… something unexpected had happened!

This might have been an accident. However, the black-robed man didn’t know that since the first day he had entered the new city, a donkey had sensed his presence and had been tracking his scent. It had been hunting him since then…

At present, inside the new city, the giant python had just swallowed the black-robed man, which nobody had been able to see. Then, it swung its tail in mid-air and turned around abruptly. Its eyes shone with satisfaction. Then, it noticed Wang Baole. It shrunk its neck back and displayed a look of innocence in its eyes instinctively. It seemed sheepish. It seemed afraid of Wang Baole finding out that it had just eaten something incredibly delicious.

Wang Baole had long gone into a dazed stupor. The earlier braying still rang in his ears. In his bewilderment, he saw the expression on the giant python’s face. The same sense of incredulity that the black-robed man had experienced flooded Wang Baole’s mind.

That cry and that expression were simply too familiar to Wang Baole. He couldn’t help his next words.

“Scram?”

As soon as Wang Baole said that, inside Chen Mu’s place of seclusion, blue veins popped out from Chen Mu’s face. He let loose a furious roar. Madness colored his eyes, and his hands formed a series of hand seals as he tried to wrestle control of the puppet back. Everything had been going well despite a few hiccups. However, he had suddenly lost control of the puppet. It was as if someone had snatched control away from him!

This drove Chen Mu mad. He couldn’t simply take that lying down. He tried to fight back, but the will that had stolen the reins of the puppet was simply too strong. He couldn’t regain control. Chen Mu howled again.

“My puppet! No one is allowed to take it away from me!” Howling, he pulled out the small drum that controlled the puppet. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a fragment of blood that contained his cultivation and his vitality onto the drum. Blood stained the little drum, causing his control over it to surge.

Chen Mu saw his action taking effect and sent caution to the winds. He spat out another three mouthfuls of blood containing his very life energy and vitality. With every mouthful of blood, wrinkles appeared on his face. When he spat out the fourth mouthful, he was no longer the young man he was but had a headful of white hair and looked fifty years old!

The effects proved great. As blood stained the small drum, on the battlefield, the giant python, which had heard Wang Baole’s words and was about to respond, suddenly shuddered. The light in its eyes that belonged to the donkey dimmed. The crazed look that belonged to Chen Mu reappeared and replaced it!

The donkey didn’t give up though. It seemed unwilling to be shoved aside and tried to fight back. The giant python shuddered and trembled, seeming slightly mad. Clear signs of struggle appeared in its eyes.

Through its eyes, the crowd around it could see the inner world within the giant python. There were tens of thousands of blood-colored souls within. These blood-colored souls were weaving around a donkey that was clearly many times larger than them. They appeared to be suppressing it and trying to devour it!

The donkey seemed larger and stronger, but the blood-colored souls numbered too many. The donkey gradually slid towards the losing end…

The sight alarmed the surrounding people. There was no one to explain the situation to them, but they instantly knew that someone had used some form of means to either exploit or gather those souls to form the puppet. The donkey had been one of those victims.

The mastermind behind all this had used the souls to complete his control over the puppet and to achieve the earlier destruction and massacre. That had been until the donkey had awoken and begun the fight for control.

It was clear to them all that… they had to prevent the mastermind from regaining control over the puppet. Else, with the infallibility of the puppet, they had no means of fighting back and destroying it. They would all be killed!

As these thoughts flooded their minds, Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. He said quickly and without hesitation.

“Scram, if you lose this fight, you’ll never get to eat anything for the rest of your life!”

As soon as Wang Baole said that, the donkey clearly shuddered. It went mad and tried to fight itself free from the blood-colored souls’ stranglehold. It tried to wrestle control of the puppet back. Wang Baole saw the effect his words had and grew excited.

“Scram, give it your all! If you win, I’ll reward you with sumptuous meals for an entire month! For one entire month. You get to eat whatever you want to eat. You can eat to your heart’s content!”

This clearly provoked and excited the donkey more. The donkey, in its sudden excitement, intensified its struggling. It began to show signs of winning the battle. But Chen Mu appeared unwilling to give up. He spat out another mouthful of blood and turned the tide in his favor again.

No one could see what Chen Mu had done, but everyone could see that the donkey was being suppressed. At that moment, Kong Dao gritted his teeth. Decisiveness flashed across his eyes. He patted the beast bag on him. Instantly… White Phoenix appeared!

“Donkey, as long as you win this, from now on… from this moment on… what happens between you and White Phoenix… I… I won’t stand between the two of you anymore!”

His words were like the ultimate killer attack. The donkey’s eyes reddened, and its power erupted. It unleashed its full potential as it roared. It trampled over the blood-colored souls that were Chen Mu’s will and wiped them out. It overpowered them and once again took control over the puppet.

As soon as it took control, the small blood-colored drum before Chen Mu exploded, tearing into shreds. He suffered the backlash from the explosion as well. Chen Mu let out a pained cry. He spat out mouthfuls of blood, and his body shriveled. Only his eyes continued to shine with a fierce resentment and madness.

“No!”

He was resentful. He lost to a donkey. He was mad with regret. He shouldn’t have touched the donkey. He never expected the donkey to absorb tens of thousands of dandelions, to not only survive but become the master of the puppet!

“I can’t accept this!”