A World Worth Protecting

1

As soon as the words appeared, a series of chanting could be heard coming from inside the wall. The words seemed to be imbued with an immense power. It was as if the words written on the wall dictated the laws of the universe. It inspired an involuntary, intense anticipation, as if one was about to receive a priceless inheritance. It compelled one to approach.

Wang Baole was tempted. However, just as he was about to approach and take a closer look, the Dark Core inside him trembled suddenly. It was like an alarm that resonated inside Wang Baole’s head. He paused and suddenly felt an indistinct, indescribable sense of danger.

<em>That’s not right. It made sense if he died naturally and left his life’s work here, but the Vast Expanse Dao Palace was destroyed when the Never-Ending Clan attacked. Most of the sect’s disciples died in that battle with the Never-Ending Clan. If that’s the case, wouldn’t he be worried that his life’s work might fall into the hands of the Never-Ending Clan if he just left it here? </em>Wang Baole couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t hesitate and immediately retreated.

He knew very well that he had to be on constant high alert when he was in the sword body, where danger lurked around every corner. A mere distraction might just cost him his life.

That was why he immediately flew out of the cave abode and yelled. Zhao Yameng and Zhuo Yifan came rushing over. They had no time to speak. They immediately raced away from the mountain peak as quickly as they could.

A duration of twenty breaths had passed since they had entered the mountain. There was sufficient time for them to leave. With their sudden burst of speed, they were like sudden rainbows arcing across the heavens. They flew away from the mountain and were about to leave the hexed area.

The area outside the mountain peak was infused with spirit energies indicating a shift was about to take place. The backlash from the hex had sped up the teleportation of this area. The lands were about to shift again.

As they dashed out, they could feel waves of spirit energy surging outwards and the beginnings of teleportation about to occur.

“Make a run for it! We can make it!” Wang Baole roared. He unleashed his full cultivation and was about to charge out and leave this place.

It was then that a sudden, deafening explosion erupted from the mountain peak behind them. The loud thunderous boom reverberated in the air and surged in all directions. The cave abode at the top of the mountain peak began to warp. Its walls turned into blood and flesh, throbbing and pulsating. The cave abode seemed to have transformed into a large, gaping mouth!

An immense suction force erupted from the bloody mouth. It pulled everything towards it. The pavilions on the mountain peak began to collapse. They broke down into pieces and were sucked right in. The hex was torn into shreds and devoured by the gaping mouth as well.

One could almost see the other side of the mouth. It was the wall that Wang Baole had found problematic. The majestic aura that the wall had exuded earlier had vanished without a trace. In its place was a strange madness. The person who had left the line of words must have been furious. That was why a curse had been left here, ready to destroy and devour anyone who dared trespass.

The majesty, the supposed inheritance, had been a lie. This was a trap. This was an ambush set for a trespasser—one that would turn the cave into his final burial place!

The entire mountain peak turned a crimson color at that instant!

The sudden transformation sent the trio reeling back in alarm. Their cultivation was no match for the suction force, and blood began to spill from Zhuo Yifan’s and Zhao Yameng’s mouths. They staggered backward, involuntarily. The Spirit Qi inside their bodies seemed unable to withstand the suction force. It fled their bodies, transforming into a spiritual mist that spiraled towards the cave abode.

Wang Baole was at the Core Formation realm and could still fight back. However, he was powerless to stop their being drawn closer and closer towards the gaping mouth. He could guess their fates should they be sucked in. At that critical moment, Wang Baole hollered and unleashed the full power of the devouring seed inside him. While fighting back against the suction force, he grabbed hold of Zhao Yameng and Zhuo Yifan. Even so, he seemed to only be delaying the eventuality of them being devoured.

Even if he hadn’t come to Zhao Yameng and Zhuo Yifan’s aid, even if he had his devouring seed, the suction force was simply too great. He wouldn’t be able to escape it. They could sense death looming over them and approaching steadily. It was staring them right in the eye.

“Baole, this place is filled with powers to teleport any second. Use your full power to attack the jade slips I’ll be throwing out. They will speed up the teleportation process. The resultant spirit energy will help us fight back against the suction force. If I’m right, the power of the curse and the suction force will disappear once the teleportation takes place. This is our only chance of survival!”

“Yifan, you do the same! We have to make sure they explode at the same time!” Zhao Yameng looked a mess, but she still managed to maintain her cool. As she spoke quickly, she pulled out more than a hundred jade slips from her storage bracelet and flung them into the air!

She might have had a way to make them all explode at the same time if this were some other time and place. At this moment though, her cultivation was rapidly being depleted by the suction force. Opening her storage bracelet was the limits of what she could do now.

The jade slips came in all colors. Each one of them had numerous array formation inscriptions inked on them. They were the result of Zhao Yameng’s years of honing her array formations, the product of her natural talents in array formations and her being a natural numinous being. They were array formation kernels. Once shattered, each one would form an array formation. When layered together, their power would amplify. This was her special attack.

Wang Baole knew they didn’t have much time left. As soon as Zhao Yameng threw those jade slips into the air, he gritted his teeth as Spirit Qi continued to flee his body and activated his Lightning Core. Bolts of lightning erupted from his body and raced towards the jade slips. His Dark Core shuddered at the same time, and icy Dark Fires surged and swept outwards, attacking the jade slips.

The suction force was simply too strong though. Even though Zhao Yameng had flung the jade slips in Wang Baole’s direction, she couldn’t prevent them from scattering and being pulled away by the suction force. They flew towards the cave abode. Similarly, Wang Baole couldn’t shatter all of them simultaneously with such a strong suction force attacking them.

As their only chance at survival faded away right before their eyes, Zhuo Yifan’s breathing quickened. His eyes reddened. A tinge of madness and grim determination flashed across his eyes. The veins in his body expanded, transforming his entire person into a terrifying form. He howled, and his forehead split open. An intense evil aura erupted from his forehead. It transformed into a blood-colored light that raced towards the jade slips that Wang Baole couldn’t manage to shatter!

Upon closer look, one could see a blood-colored flying sword inside the blood-colored light. It gave off a terrifying aura that was bathed in evil. It was… the War Soldier that had been cultivating inside Zhuo Yifan’s body all this while!

As soon as the War Soldier appeared, blood spilled from Zhuo Yifan’s lips. His pupils had been completely obscured, there was only blood. His body shuddered, then shriveled right before their eyes. The War Soldier was indeed powerful. Once unleashed, it joined forces with Wang Baole and blew almost all of the jade slips apart.

There were still a dozen of the jade slips that remained whole. As for those that had exploded, the power of an array formation erupted from them simultaneously. It was like blowing a hole in a dam that was holding back a flood. Their surrounding started to transform. The land began to quake. The spirit energies indicating teleportation was about to take place intensified, then erupted suddenly!

The Sea of Fire thundered, and deafening explosions resounded in the air. An unimaginable force transformed into a hurricane that swept through the air, blanketing thousands of miles. Even the strong suction force coming from the cave abode was distorted and began warping under the overwhelming powers of the incoming teleportation. Unable to withstand the latter, it began to creak under the pressure and showed signs of collapse.

The hurricane spun madly, and a deafening thunder rumbled from within. Waves of spirit energy surged outwards. Within the hurricane—the mountain peak, the cave abode, and everything else found within a thousand yards vanished suddenly!

Reappearing in their place was an enormous, deep crater in the Sea of Fire. It was soon flooded over by the Sea of Fire, making it seem that nothing had happened here. What remained were remnants of spirit energy that indicated that teleportation had occurred…

This might seem shocking. However, such transformations took place regularly on the sword body. Lands shifted and reappeared elsewhere every few days. There were no unchanging regions on the sword body. Save the Sea of Fire, everything was in constant flux!

No rules governed such shifts. The Vast Expanse Dao Palace on the sword handle had done research and found out quite some time ago that such teleportations might shift a given area dozens of miles away, or they might… shift to somewhere else and never again be seen by anyone.

Based on their guesses, when a given area was teleported, it could turn up anywhere on the sword body!