A World Worth Protecting

1

Breaking through from a sixth-grade Dharmic Armament to become a seventh-grade Dharmic Armament!

The scabbard’s appearance had transformed drastically. It looked like it had been formed from crystal. One could even see thin golden strands seemingly swimming in it!

Besides Wang Baole, any other person would sense that the aura exuding from the scabbard far surpassed that of an ordinary seventh-grade Dharmic Armament. It could even rival a Divine Armament!

Only Wang Baole, its creator, knew that his scabbard was only at the seventh grade. In fact, it was just a germinal form that required the fusion of a soul to be complete.

There would be no oversight for that last step. He could even carry it out when he returned. Wang Baole needed to carefully consider his choice of soul. What he had decided earlier was no longer suitable, what with the scabbard’s unique refinement process.

Wang Baole’s eyes flashed at that thought. He raised his right hand and made a grab through the air. His scabbard came whistling by, landing right in his palm!

Wang Baole shivered when he closed his fist around the handle. It was as if he had in his hand a terrifying artifact that had the power to destroy the world. It was an intense feeling, one that terrified Wang Baole. He was about to examine the scabbard in closer detail when… suddenly, an aura—weaker than the scabbard’s and nowhere near as powerful as the stone tablet, but one still strong enough to overwhelm Wang Baole—descended from the heavens!

Little Missy spoke hastily as soon as the aura appeared.

“We’ve been discovered!” She said, then, with a step forward, cast a shadow over the stone tablet. The stone tablet seemed to melt instantaneously, fusing together with Little Missy’s form. She dashed towards Wang Baole, and as she disappeared into thin air, her voice rang out frantically in Wang Baole’s head.

“Quick, run!”

Wang Baole hardly needed Little Missy to tell him what to do. As soon as the aura appeared, his head began to ring, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. It felt as if his body might explode at any time.

He had no time to think. He immediately stored the scabbard and tried to escape the secret chamber. It was then that an icy snort rang out from the heavens outside the mountain, traveling in all directions. In the sky above the mountain gates of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace, a gigantic vortex appeared suddenly.

An enormous hand—made from something other than flesh and blood and larger than the entire mountain peak—reached out from the vortex and made a grab at the mountain gates!

The mountain was like tofu, smashed into bits wherever it came into contact with the hand. The enormous hand avoided the jackhammer-shaped Dharmic Artifact, heading instead for the secret chamber. It was a blur, breaking open the chamber’s roof in a split second. Amidst the rumbling and explosions of shattering rock and stone, it appeared right before Wang Baole’s eyes. The entire sky seemed to be blocked out by this gigantic hand!

Wang Baole was shaken to the core. The cultivation inside his body seemed to have frozen instantly. It was as if his body had been drained dry of everything at that instant. He lost the ability to run away and could only watch as the enormous hand came slamming downwards!

It was then that the scabbard, which Wang Baole had no time to inspect, suddenly emitted a crystalline light. The light shot out from Wang Baole’s body and raced towards the gigantic hand. The collision sparked a deafening, thunderous boom.

Blood spilled from Wang Baole’s lips. His mind cleared up immediately, but there was no time to be shocked. He drew back immediately, with great haste. A soft snort rang out above him in the sky. The enormous hand picked up speed, smashing through stone walls with ease. With a single grab, it enclosed half the mountain peak within its palm and yanked upwards. Inside the mountain, Wang Baole’s balance wavered as he, alongside the mountain he was in, was pulled into the sky!

It was life or death for them right now. Little Missy threw all caution to the wind. She appeared behind Wang Baole, her hands a blur as she formed a series of hand seals. Instantly, energy waves of a teleportation surged from her person and enveloped Wang Baole. It was clear that the risk of making an escape like that was too high. The chances of them being stopped were too great. It was a risky gamble.

Little Missy gritted her teeth. She released a breath of precious Soul Qi and pointed her finger at the gigantic hand. The entire Vast Expanse Dao Palace ruins began to quake. Strands of starlight shot out from the lands around them, drawn to the surface by Little Missy!

The starlight was the power of the Vast Expanse Laws. Now, they gathered and transformed into a huge sword woven from starlight. The sword swung at the gigantic hand. It was extremely fast. It was as if the will of this star had suddenly transformed into the sword. It slashed, separating the hand from the vortex!

The mountain, caught in the hand’s grip and held in mid-air, began to fall. A huge chunk of it disintegrated when it landed on the ground. Wang Baole spat out a mouthful of blood. He had sustained injuries previously and was in a worse state now. Fortunately, the teleportation had already been activated. Amidst the rumbling of the spell, a furious howl erupted from the skies above him. This time, three muscular arms shot out from the vortex, smashing the ground with the intention of destroying everything. Wang Baole’s body was crushed instantly.

One of the last things he heard was a loud explosion that seemed to signal the destruction of the star. Then, a third voice, from someone other than the owner of the three arms. He didn’t have time to catch what was being said before everything came to an abrupt standstill. The next moment… when his vision cleared again, he was back in the Worship Palace Pavilion on the ancient greenish-bronze sword!

He wasn’t in front of the fifth palace but before the grand halls of the sixth palace. Once he reappeared, Wang Baole spat out another mouthful of blood as he staggered, then fell to the ground.

It was a long while before he struggled to sit up again. His face was pale as he gulped in huge mouthfuls of air, and his organs appeared to be crushed. The extreme agony was torture. Even though his body was knitting everything back together and healing itself quickly, this did nothing to lessen the pain. It only made the pain worse.

Wang Baole was a vicious character though. Despite the agonizing pain, he pulled himself into a cross-legged position, pulled out some pills, and began to treat his injuries. The entire process took three days. His pain gradually faded as he slowly recovered. On the fourth day, Wang Baole opened his eyes and released a long sigh.

After making sure that he was indeed safe now, he began to recall everything that had happened on the Vast Expanse Dao Planet. Everything felt so surreal, as if it had all been a dream. It had been real though, frighteningly so. He was still recovering from the fright. An image of the enormous hand surfaced in his mind…

“The last guy. What’s his level of cultivation?” After a bout of silence, Wang Baole asked Little Missy.

“It’s all your fault, draining away the full power of the hex just to refine a scabbard… If not for that, we wouldn’t have been found out so quickly… So be it, I’m at fault too. We were unlucky as well. Who could’ve known that an Eternal Star realm cultivator was passing by right at that moment… We wouldn’t have fared so badly if it had been a Planet realm cultivator. Fortunately, the Eternal Star realm cultivator wasn’t that powerful. My mystic art triumphed and managed to create a distraction, which prevented him from pursuing us after we teleported away…” Little Missy sighed. She had been muttering all the way until the end when her tone became slightly pleased.

<em>The Eternal Star realm… </em>Wang Baole ignored the parts of Little Missy’s statements which weren’t to be trusted. He took in a deep breath. Then, he remembered his scabbard. Excitement overcame him as he slammed his right palm on his chest and tried to extract his scabbard. He froze. He couldn’t do it.

Wang Baole grew anxious, but he could still sense the strong connection with his scabbard, which eased his anxieties slightly. Then, an idea came to him. He infused his spiritual senses into the scabbard and inspected it. The mosquitoes in the scabbard had all vanished, leaving behind only the black and purple mosquitoes.

There were hundreds of golden lights in the scabbard—as many as the strands of light he had fused with the scabbard. They seemed as if they were gestating. The sight gave Wang Baole quite a few ideas. He wondered if they might transform into hundreds of golden mosquitoes…

While Wang Baole remained deep in thought, somewhere far away from the Solar System, in the Vast Expanse Star Domain, on the Vast Expanse Dao Planet, a middle-aged man was pinned to the ground. He had lost one arm and had his remaining five nailed to the ground with five blades of leaves. He was trembling, his eyes bright with terror and resentment. He stared ahead of him. Before him was an enormous rock. Leaning against it was a youth, drinking from a gourd in his hand, a green wooden sword beside him.

The middle-aged man was the powerful Eternal Star realm cultivator from the Never-Ending Clan who had attacked Wang Baole!

He didn’t know exactly who the youth was, but he could make an educated guess. The answer sent terror surging through him like a tsunami, and he opened his mouth hurriedly.

“My Lord, I’m under the command of the second Divine King…”

Before he could finish his words, a sword’s gleaming blade flew past, and his three heads flew into the air. A black, icy fire spread from the wounds, setting the heads on fire as well as burning the headless body. Within a flash, an Eternal Star realm cultivator was destroyed—in both body and soul!

“Dare hurt my junior brother? Who cares who you are. You can bite me,” the youth muttered. He raised his gourd and took another gulp. Turning his head, he gazed into the heavens. It was as if his eyes could pierce through space, and he could see the Solar System. His lips twitched into a smile.

<em>My dear junior brother, I’ve finally found you.</em>