A World Worth Protecting

1

The glory enjoyed by the original Vast Expanse Star System, which was the Vast Expanse Dao Planet of yesteryear, became a tale of the past with the arrival of the Never-Ending Clan many years ago. The bustling star had also turned into an area of barren land.

Looking from a distance, the skies were no longer clear and were instead gray and cloudy. If one had the ability to examine the skies in detail, he would realize that within the gray-colored fog lay countless tiny gray-colored beetles. Those beetles were so small that they couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. They were now scattered in the skies of the Vast Expanse Dao Planet and covered a vast and seemingly unlimited area.

Any form of life that tried to enter or leave the area without a special identity token would be faced with those beetles wriggling into their bodies. Even if their cultivation had reached the Planet realm, it wouldn’t be of any help to their survival as they would be devoured thoroughly to the state where no trace would be left behind.

After all, this was formed by the remnant auras from one of the Divine Kings of the Never-Ending Clan. Despite the collapse of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace and the departure of that Divine King, his aura still remained like a form of resistive existence.

At the same time, the greenery and water bodies on land had turned bald and stagnant. Both the forests and the ponds had become wastelands. Countless mutated ferocious beasts scattered by the Never-Ending Clan ravaged the area, and a gigantic jackhammer-shaped Dharmic Artifact, which also seemed like a Divine Armament, was giving out an aura that seemed capable of destroying the heavens and earth. The aura was so strong that it appeared to be piercing into the mountain entrance of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace!

It broke the huge mountain apart directly. Resting amongst the countless mountainous rocks and the ruins, the giant jackhammer-shaped Dharmic Artifact shone with a continuous evil glow.

There were nine such Dharmic Artifacts on this planet!

They were all pierced into the ground, centered around this main star, sucking out the essence from the Vast Expanse Star System.

As the Vast Expanse Star System was once an array formation, it made the entire galactic system seem like a large net. The main star was the center of it and was acting like a pumping heart. Therefore, the suction process centered around the main star that was taking place would affect the entire galactic system.

Surrounding the giant jackhammer-shaped Dharmic Artifact were numerous cultivators of the Never-Ending Clan. Many of them were patrolling the area, and their task was to destroy the remaining evil existences of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace.

At the same time, in the skies, antique-looking combat vehicles could be seen zooming past occasionally. Elites of the Never-Ending Clan were standing on the vehicles and looking at the land with a chilly gaze.

It could be said that desolation, indifference, and cruelty had become the theme of this world. Even though there were still people from the Dao Palace who were trying to resist this way of life, their efforts were insignificant. They could only watch as the star, and the galactic system, slowly withered and died, eventually becoming a specimen kept by that Divine King of the Never-Ending Clan.

The only wish of those resistors left on the Vast Expanse main planet was to use their remaining life to fight and resist despite having no power to change anything…

Right now, on the dull Vast Expanse main planet, teleportation waves suddenly appeared at a ruined area a distance away from the entrance to the Vast Expanse Dao Palace’s mountain. Those waves formed and disappeared extremely quickly, such that Wang Baole appeared without anyone from the Never-Ending Clan noticing.

The moment Wang Baole appeared, even before he could get used to the environment, Little Missy’s nervous and hurried voice was heard in his mind.

“Prone down quickly!”

Wang Baole was taken aback and instinctively laid down quickly. At the same time, Little Missy’s figure also swiftly appeared. Sealing her hands and pointing, both Little Missy and Wang Baole were instantly shrouded in a fog, blending in with the surroundings.

Immediately after that, a combat vehicle arrived at high speed in the sky and stopped in mid-air. There was an Never-Ending Clan cultivator on the combat vehicle. The cultivator was young and had six arms and three heads. He was clad in gray-colored armor that was damaged in many areas, but there was still a look of indifference in his eyes.

He was clearly an Never-Ending Clan cultivator with extremely rich combat experience. Right now, his six eyes were looking at the land. He then inspected the area in detail for a long time and even extended the inspection to the surrounding nothingness before leaving.

Wang Baole didn’t dare to move a single bit until that cultivator had left. In reality, even though Little Missy had covered him with the fog, his field of vision wasn’t obstructed, and he could see everything in the sky clearly. Without a doubt, he could also see that an aura stronger than that of Feng Qiuran was emanating from that Never-Ending Clan cultivator. It was an aura on the level of… the Soul Conduit realm!

After fifteen minutes, Little Missy was about to move when a flash appeared across Wang Baole’s eyes, and he quickly spoke in his mind.

“Don’t move, let’s wait for another half an hour!”

Hearing those words, Little Missy kept silent again. Moments passed like that, and when almost half an hour had passed, the combat vehicle in the sky that had previously left suddenly returned. After inspecting the surroundings and the land, the Never-Ending Clan cultivator raised one of his hands and sealed it. Instantly, an illusory map appeared in front of him.

The map was a projection of the area. Only after juxtaposing it and confirming that there was nothing different from previously did the Never-Ending Clan cultivator turn and take his leave for real.

It could be imagined that had Wang Baole started to move previously and risked making a mistake that could create differences in the area that they had transformed to hide in, they would have been detected. If they were detected, the consequences would be severe…

Therefore, after waiting for a while more, Wang Baole finally heaved a sigh of relief and indicated to Little Missy that she could retract the cover that they were hiding under. At the same time, without Wang Baole even needing to say anything, Little Missy sealed her hands and put spells in place that ensured that there were no changes in the area that they were hiding in. After that, Wang Baole began to laugh bitterly.

“Little Missy, this place is too dangerous…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you with this task, and no mishaps will happen. Now, I want to use some of the remaining essence laws of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace on this planet and envelop you with them. This can allow your appearance to change and transform you to look like someone from the Never-Ending Clan. Due to the rules here, anyone below the level of Planet realm won’t be able to tell that there is anything unusual!” Little Missy spoke quickly. That was also one of the reasons why she was confident of successfully helping Wang Baole complete the task.

If they were on another planet, Little Missy wouldn’t be able to accomplish that in her current state. However, due to her status, that wasn’t the case on the Vast Expanse Dao Palace main planet. Furthermore, even though the area had turned into ruins, Little Missy still felt a sense of familiarity with it.

Now, as Little Missy spoke, she sealed both her hands without waiting for Wang Baole to say anything. She pressed her hands hard on the ground. It didn’t cause the ground to shake, but instead, slivers of light began to shine from underground. The source of light wasn’t brilliant, and as such, only a little bit of starlight could be extracted. After a while, only a fist-sized cluster was formed.

The moment Wang Baole looked towards the light cluster, he was gripped with surprise. He seemed to have seen countless cultivators, countless spells, and even numerous threads that connected everyone and every spell. Put more accurately, different spells were formed through arrangement by different threads.

As for the items on the deeper level, Wang Baole couldn’t see them. That glance was his limit and had caused his mind to buzz noisily. At the same time, Little Missy quickly pressed that cluster of light against Wang Baole’s glabella.

Immediately, Wang Baole’s body shook violently. His body became bloated instantly, and under the many transformations that happened in the time of a few breaths, he seemed to have grown taller. Two heads appeared on both sides of his neck, and four more arms grew from his torso.

That made Wang Baole feel incredulous. Little Missy disappeared as she returned to the mask, reminding Wang Baole in his mind.

“That is all I can do. React quickly, and don’t give yourself away. The Never-Ending Clan seldom converse amongst themselves. I can understand their language, and I will translate for you. Now, follow my guidance and move.

“Relax, I know that there is a secret path not far away from here. It leads to the bottom of the ruins of the Dao Palace’s mountain entrance. The item indicated in your task is there. At the same time, the place where you can refine your scabbard is also there!”

<em>Seems like she’s the one that wants the stone… </em>Wang Baole mumbled in his mind while laughing bitterly. If he couldn’t realize that right now, he wouldn’t be a Secondary Rank Two Noble of the Federation. It appeared that Little Missy had used some method to alter the task, such that the stone wasn’t a requirement of the trial of the fifth palace but something that Little Missy wanted instead.

That was why he could come and have the opportunity to refine his scabbard. However, since things had already turned out the way they did, Wang Baole took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. He felt that if he didn’t make use of this opportunity to curry Little Missy’s favor, he would let himself down. As such, he spoke with emotion to Little Missy in his mind.

“Little Missy, Baole is not silly… However, I am willing to do anything for you, even if I have to scale a treacherous mountain, go into a sea of fire, or even break my bones…”