A World Worth Protecting

1

Prophetic! She was simply prescient!

Little Missy had said he would find out soon enough, and it hadn’t taken them the time of a dozen breaths before he did indeed find out. This was clear and unquestionable proof that the Dark Artifact did belong to Little Missy!

<em>Little Missy must have known that the three jerks were on their way, but she must have sent them somewhere else. Because I asked, she sent them over again. That’s why the three of them are in such a terrible state! That must be it! </em>The more Wang Baole thought about it, the more excited he became. He decided there and then that he was going to work harder at buttering Little Missy up.

A strong sense of confidence rose in Wang Baole’s heart, and he decided not to run anymore. He stood on the island of white bones and stared arrogantly at the three Nascent Soul realm cultivators. He raised his right hand and pointed his finger at them.

“The game ends now!” Wang Baole said coolly. An indescribable aura exuded from his person when he said that. It seemed as if this entire world was resonating with his words. The earth, the heavens, and the stars dazzled and shone as the sea of souls roared and rose in huge waves. The atmosphere was electrifying and terrifying.

The three extraterrestrial cultivators had been planning to attack, but caution rose in their eyes. They sensed that Wang Baole seemed different. They couldn’t help but grow wary and proceed with greater care.

Just as Wang Baole was becoming excited, Little Missy was once again bewildered. She didn’t expect this to happen right after she had spoken… the sight before her inspired a sense of guilt in her. She felt something wasn’t right and immediately pretended to feel weak.

“My spirit body has just awakened, Wang Baole. You’ll have to handle the rest. I… I…” Little Missy’s voice grew weaker. In the end, it seemed as if she was about to fall into a deep slumber.

“Ah?” Wang Baole was stunned. He hurriedly called after Little Missy. However, no matter how many times he called for her, Little Missy didn’t respond. Wang Baole froze. He began to feel sheepish as well and was almost howling deep in his heart.

The eyes of the three Nascent Souls in the sky flashed then. The square-faced cultivator struck suddenly, the red line on his forehead shining, and a red light shot out and headed straight for the island of bones that Wang Baole was on.

Before the red light could descend, the Spirit Sea started to stir violent all of a sudden. The countless souls within it started to howl as they dashed out and charged at the trio in the sky.

From afar, it looked as if the Spirit Sea had erupted. The seawater rose to the skies, and the ocean towered, sending both heaven and earth quaking. Large numbers of shrieking souls flung into the air. Many sped towards Wang Baole as well. They lunged at him and seemed like they wanted to tear him apart and swallow him alive.

The sight alarmed all three cultivators in the sky. They formed a hasty series of hand seals to prevent the sea of souls from approaching. On the island of bones, Wang Baole was equally shocked. He had no means of escape; he was trapped from all four corners. He couldn’t dodge or evade at all. He watched as countless souls leaped towards him. Unfortunately, his calls for Little Missy remained unanswered. Finally, Wang Baole gritted his teeth and yelled. He activated the Dark Art, and Dark Fire instantly appeared in his eyes!

A chilly aura surged outwards from his person. It seemed to be able to seal and freeze the souls wherever it passed, seeming to truly resonate with the heavens and earth. The fearsome souls around him seemed to be terrified and shocked, and they immediately shrank away from him and dared not approach.

A strange light appeared in Wang Baole’s eyes. The three extraterrestrial cultivators in the air were incredulous. They raged. Everything seemed bizarre and out of the ordinary. The fact that Wang Baole, a mere Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, had managed to ward them off for so long with mere tricks and deviousness injured their pride.

“We don’t need him alive. Just kill him and put his corpse up for sale!”

The trio immediately came to a decision, and murderous intent erupted from their persons. Just as they were about to drive the surrounding souls away from them and kill Wang Baole, suddenly, Wang Baole shuddered. He felt the calling once again!

This time, it came from beneath the Spirit Sea. It rang much more clearly than the previous two times and seemed like it was speaking right next to his ear. The voice was so much clearer.

“Dark Child… Dark Child…”

Wang Baole’s breathing quickened when the voice appeared. The Spirit Sea before him erupted once again as the seas parted before him, forming a path in the middle!

The path began from the island of bones, where Wang Baole stood. Most importantly, it went deep into the unknown depths of the Spirit Sea!

The series of transformation shocked the three extraterrestrial cultivators in the air to the core. They stared at Wang Baole immediately, a strange light shining in their eyes. There was no doubt that Wang Baole had surprised and shocked them repeatedly. This was beyond anything they had encountered before.

“We can’t let him enter!” They panicked immediately, and their cultivation erupted in a mad frenzy. The centipede-faced cultivator released his centipede from his person. It expanded and grew in a blink of an eye, growing to the length of a hundred yards. It was a terrifying sight. The centipede roared and charged at the Spirit Sea. It appeared to be overpowering the souls, which allowed the trio to dash out.

The square-faced cultivator unleashed his killer attack as well. His hands pressed together in a series of hand seals, and a fire bull appeared behind him. It roared at the skies and appeared to step out of the illusion that had conjured it, assuming a real form. With fire under its hooves, it dashed out in a mad stampede.

As for the final cultivator, an eye appeared behind his back. It seemed to contain an endless abyss, and a single look would strike terror into one’s heart.

Wang Baole watched as the three cultivators’ cultivation erupted and their aura strengthened and intensified. Even the Spirit Sea seemed like it was going to be overpowered. They seemed like they might fight their way out of the ocean at any time. Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. He gritted his teeth, and with a single step, he stepped onto the path that the Spirit Sea had created for him—heading swiftly into the ocean.

“Damn it!” The leader of the trio, the one who had released the centipede, knew that there must be some incredible secret that Wang Baole was hiding. He wasn’t going to let Wang Baole escape. He gritted his teeth. His right hand formed a series of hand seals, and his ring finger immediately exploded!

With its explosion, a dozen fearsome lizard-like figures appeared. They started howling. The leader of the trio shoved down the ache he was feeling in his heart and said suddenly.

“I’m going to kill this Zhuo Yixian!”

As soon as he spoke, the dozen lizard-like fearsome figures howled and dashed towards the ocean of seals. Any souls that tried to stop them were knocked away. They went after Wang Baole relentlessly.

Each one of those lizard-like forms would rival a cultivator at the perfected Foundation Establishment realm. In fact, many of them were only a mere step away from the Core Formation realm!

<em>Zhuo Yixian, I’m going to earn back the full compensation from you! </em>The centipede-faced cultivator clenched his teeth. He had spent a great deal of effort collecting the lizards that he had been rearing in his ring. The beasts were a counter to aggressive souls, and they were rare. He had used his own secret mystic art and reared them for more than thirty years. They had grown to their current cultivation after so much hard work. He had wanted to rear them for another ten years or so, which was when they would reach the Core Formation realm. His efforts would then pay off as they would become a valuable asset for his deployment then.

Any single one of these lizards could become his clone. As a result, he appeared to possess many scapegoats that could die in his stead!

But now, in order to capture Wang Baole, he had to cease this rearing. This meant that whatever efforts he had put in would all be for nothing, and he would need to start all over again.

The results of his efforts were without doubt spectacular. As the trio tried to overpower the Spirit Sea, these dozen lizards dashed forward in a sudden burst of speed. They slammed and shattered a large number of souls surging forward to meet them. They followed the small path and chased after Wang Baole.

Their bodies were immensely strange and peculiar. They seemed weightless and hovered between the realm of reality and illusion. Their speed also surpassed the limits of a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, and they left afterimages of themselves as they raced forward. An observer wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the dozen lizards. They would have been deceived by their afterimages and instead seen hundreds and thousands of lizards!

They would leap into the air and seemingly teleport. Such a relentless pursuit made Wang Baole’s face grow dark. He didn’t know how far this path would take him, but he knew that if he did nothing to stop them, they would eventually catch up to him.

<em>Curse you… you’re all out to bully me, aren’t you? I may not be able to fight a Nascent Soul, but you think you slimy crawly creatures can simply push me around? </em>Violence shone in Wang Baole’s eyes. He had had enough. He shouted and raised his right hand, and with a sudden sweep, a giant red megaphone appeared. It exuded the strong aura of a Dharmic Armament. It appeared in his hand.

“Scram!”