A World Worth Protecting

1

Wang Baole’s heart was still racing when the puppet he had released suddenly shattered without any warning. It was as if a sudden force had given it a squeeze, crushing it and turning it into dust!

Following that was a strange force that latched onto the connection between the puppet and Wang Baole and followed it back to Wang Baole, to his hiding place in the crack. Wang Baole retreated immediately. When the warmth in his body finally cooled down, and ‘A Thousand Lives’ effects finally faded away, Wang Baole had vanished into the distance and successfully evaded the pursuing destructive force.

It was only when he was sure that the destructive force had ceased pursuit that Wang Baole finally leaned against the wall. He was panting, his heart racing wildly. The danger here was beyond what he had expected. From the initial encounter with the hallucinogenic pollen to everything he had encountered, which included the most recent attack, he had been bombarded with danger at every corner!

<em>To think that I’m still only on the first level… this battleship is really impressive. It must be a piece of cake for it to destroy the current Dao Palace. But it doesn’t make sense as well… if it’s so powerful, why did it release a cry for help?</em> Wang Baole frowned. Feng Qiuran and the rest from the Dao Palace might have been fooled by that due to sentiment, but Wang Baole didn’t know the person who had called out for their help. After thinking through everything that had happened to them, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes thoughtfully.

<em>The cries for help are meant to draw others to it. In that case, it might be possible… that the battleship only appears to be incredibly powerful and able to commandeer extremely powerful monsters. However, in reality, many limitations restrict it as well. There’s a possibility that the creatures on the battleship are trapped inside this world and cannot leave. Another possibility is that the battleship requires certain special fuel to power it!</em> Wang Baole had limited information on hand. He could only guess so much. Even though these might be vague guesses, he had a feeling that he was on the right track.

<em>If it’s the former, then the mastermind drawing everyone to the battleship must be doing so in order to destroy the most powerful cultivators in the Dao Palace. If it’s the latter, then he’s using us for some sort of sacrifice. He means to kill us or to have us under his control!</em> The expression on Wang Baole’s face was dark. He was silent for a long while before he surveyed his surroundings.

He was now inside the millstone. The millstone must have been around for a very long time. Its unceasing grinding had resulted in many small cracks appearing across the entire millstone. The cracks were insignificant to the millstone’s continual grinding, but to Wang Baole, they were numerous passageways that led to the unknown.

Wang Baole forcibly set aside his worries over Zhao Yameng’s and Kong Dao’s safety and studied the passageway before him. He took a deep breath, then carefully inched forward amidst the deafening sounds of grinding around him. He was going to find out if the other end of the passageway was a way out.

Time passed steadily as Wang Baole walked down the passageway. He was met with a dead-end multiple times and had to turn back and attempt another passageway. He remained cautious throughout, releasing a puppet to survey the passageway ahead of him should he sense any potential danger. He eventually released a horde of puppets and got them to check out multiple passageways concurrently. That was how he managed to single out the best route to take.

Nearly a week passed by. It was noon when Wang Baole finally paused in his tracks. His pupils contracted, and his face turned pale. He had just glimpsed something through the eyes of one of his puppets.

The puppet was in a passageway not so far away from his. There was a huge lake at the end of that passageway. Above the lake was a large flower!

It was purple and grew from the ceiling. It hung downwards and was in full blossom, spanning a hundred feet and giving off an eerie, demonic glow. Purple fluid was slowly dripping from the flower into the lake beneath it!

Dozens of figures sat cross-legged on the lake. They had three heads and six arms and emanated a powerful aura. They were absent of any life, but they also showed no signs of being dead. It was as if they had been sealed in a void and were deep in slumber.

Terrifying injuries covered their bodies. The liquid in the lake seemed to possess certain healing properties though, as their injuries appeared to be healing slowly as their bodies remained soaked in the lake!

They were healing at a sluggish pace, but there was no doubt that they were indeed recovering!

Wang Baole was instantly seized by anxiety at the sight. His wariness grew after he sensed the powerful waves of spirit energy emanating from these Never-Ending Clan cultivators. Even the weakest of these cultivators was a match for Mie Liezi.

Wang Baole didn’t act rashly. Instead, he maneuvered his puppet into retreating carefully. He continued searching the other cracks nervously. A long time passed, and a solemn-looking Wang Baole discovered more than twenty such lakes inside the millstone!

Wang Baole had no idea how many more lakes remained undiscovered. He found that each lake would always have a huge purple flower hanging over it. Its fluids would drip into the lake and help heal the Never-Ending Clan cultivators!

Wang Baole’s heart began racing with fear. Fortunately, he had an army of puppets with him. He became more careful with his selection of passageways to explore as he grew more mindful of these flowers. His search led to his discovery of the flowers’ stems and branches!

The stem of each purple flower was buried deeply into the stone ceiling. In addition, they all led back to a huge vein!

Wang Baole continued to deploy his puppets in a wider search. After a few days, he finally located the huge vein at the end of a passageway. Its diameter was a thousand feet long. It was soft to the touch and had a translucent outer layer. Upon a closer look, one could see masses of blood and flesh—mushy like pulp—traveling down the vein!

Wang Baole gasped at the sight. His mind began conjuring images of a massive millstone crushing the skeletons into a fleshy pulp and sending said pulp into such veins. The veins would branch off into stems, which were connected to separate chambers. A purple flower would blossom in the ceiling of such a chamber and would produce fluids with healing properties.

<em>Based on the size of the millstone, we can conclude that there must be more than one such veins in the millstone. If there’s only one of them, we could simply locate its source and dump some poison in, killing this thing once and for all…</em> Wang Baole sighed as he stared at the vein before him. Of course, he wasn’t in possession of such a poison. In addition, trying to locate the source—even if there were only one vein—would be challenging. The slightest oversight might lead to these Never-Ending Clan members waking up. That would really be the end of him then.

Wang Baole sighed and abandoned the idea. He tried to ignore the discomfort he was feeling as he studied the vein before him. After a long moment, he clenched his jaw. He knew that the vein was likely his only chance of finding a way out.

He would be able to reach the deepest part of the millstone by traveling down the vein. Only then would he be able to find a way out of the battleship. This was the only solution he could come up with, having spent two weeks in this damned place.

Wang Baole’s eyes shone with grim determination. He approached the vein and slowly pressed his body into it. It was soft. He pressed harder and sank into the vein. His body was now buried inside its outer layer. He hadn’t yet crossed over and entered the vein, but he could feel the smashed up blood and flesh moving inside the vein, and he could smell the heavy stench of blood.

He wasn’t someone who was easily cowed though. Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. Without any hesitation, he began climbing down the vein, sinking further into the vein when he came across any protruding rocks. He moved carefully and steadily downwards without encountering any danger.

Wang Baole didn’t know how far he walked. He must have walked for three days before he finally saw the end of the tunnel. It seemed to lead into a new world—one that was lit.

Wang Baole grew excited when he saw the light. His breathing quickened as he picked up the pace. Just as he was about to reach the end of the tunnel, he slowed down and released a puppet to inspect the area first. He was able to clearly see the lit area that the tunnel led to through his puppet’s eyes!

Wang Baole’s eyes widened at the sight before him.

<em>What is this place?</em>