A World Worth Protecting

1

It didn’t contain the presence of a Divine Armament. It was a mere finger emanating waves of energy that almost stopped Wang Baole’s breathing. It was as if a single touch from the broken finger could turn him into dust!

Wang Baole’s heart raced as worry gripped him. He sat there, deep in thought, a dark look in his eyes. He was prepared to open another hole and release his avatar.

The avatar started running as soon as it entered the pillar. It didn’t descend as its previous forms had, but ran upwards. It tried its best to keep to the center of the pillar while bathed in purple fluids. It created a centrifugal force, and purple fluids began to splash outwards.

The commotion quickly attracted those terrifying entities resting inside the pillar. A dozen golden beams charged towards the puppet.

<em>They’re not as reactive as I expected…</em> Wang Baole narrowed his eyes as he thought. The approaching golden beams that locked onto Wang Baole’s avatar reached the latter and pierced through its body instantly. Wang Baole was able to identify the beams with the help of the avatar before it was completely destroyed. They were all broken limbs and body parts!

They were all, without exception, golden!

They didn’t all originate from the same body. The beams of golden light were able to leave after destroying Wang Baole’s avatar. Wang Baole had been ready for this though and released another avatar into the pillar again without hesitation.

“Let’s try again and test their reaction time!” Wang Baole muttered to himself, then focused on his avatar.

As soon as his avatar sneaked into the pillar, it unleashed a sudden burst of speed and started running upwards. It attempted to create a greater commotion while keeping itself in the center of the pillar. It didn’t take long… before this avatar was destroyed as well.

<em>The golden limbs have no mind of their own. They’re attacking based on instinct… even though they’re powerful, they can be exploited.</em> After some thought, Wang Baole continued his attempts without stopping.

He continued trying. Once, twice, thrice… seven, eight, nine times… he had to consume multiple pills in order to keep up with the rate his cultivation was being expended. He released numerous avatars without rest. They were like a sacrificial tribute, racing to their deaths.

His avatars had become bait, attacking the same spot and luring his prey into gathering together in one place!

The purposeful luring got many more of those golden entities surging in from all directions. This went on for a long while, and a pale-faced Wang Baole witnessed his avatar destroyed yet another time. It was as if his body was being hollowed out. He released yet another avatar and, with a wave of his hand, summoned a flying sword and hid it inside the avatar. When the avatar entered the pillar this time, it didn’t race upwards. Instead, it charged downwards in the opposite direction!

It swiftly raced past the deepest part past avatars had reached. The golden entities had been gathered in the upper part of the pillar. That meant that the avatar had an easier time as it charged down the pillar.

The avatar went past the second level and arrived at an unknown area before the broken, golden body parts managed to realize what was going on!

Wang Baole thought he saw something shining outside the pillar. Before he had time to examine it further, broken golden body parts came racing towards him in the purple fluid. Just as they were about to swarm his avatar and destroy it yet again, his avatar opened its mouth, and out flew a red flying sword!

It was the most powerful of the tri-colored flying swords, which rivaled a ninth-grade Dharmic Armament, that Wang Baole had.

His avatar gave the sword a boost. Bolts of lightning appeared around the sword as it unleashed an incredible speed and power, charging at the walls of the pillar. The walls might be sturdy and might heal fast, but the attack still managed to create a tiny opening in the pillar!

The opening was no wider than an inch. It was barely a cut to such an enormous pillar. No man or puppet could have slipped through the opening, but the avatar was formed from lightning. It followed the sword, transformed itself into a bolt of lightning, and snaked through the opening within the blink of an eye!

The red flying sword couldn’t do that as easily though. The opening sealed up immediately after Wang Baole’s avatar escaped, and the sword was left trapped inside the pillar.

Wang Baole ached for the loss of his sword, but this was no time for mourning. His avatar stood outside the pillar and surveyed its surroundings.

The sight sent both his avatar and his true form reeling back and gasping in shock!

The space under the second level shouldn’t be described as another world. It wasn’t as big. It appeared less like a separate world and more like an enormous cavern!

The end of the pillar could finally be seen on the ceiling of the cavern. It hovered in the air instead of reaching all the way to the ground. It looked like a tunnel that had been drilled into the second level.

Countless tentacles grew on the pillar, some short and some long. They looked like whiskers swaying gently in the wind. What Wang Baole found extremely creepy were the heads that grew on the ends of the tentacles!

There were heads of both men and women, old and young. It was as if these heads had been chopped off then attached to the ends of the tentacles. It was a horrifying sight to behold. Wang Baole’s breathing stopped as he discovered, upon closer look, that their eyes were all shut. No matter how strongly the tentacles swayed, they showed no signs of waking up. Some of these tentacles had drooped to the ground and dipped into the lake!

It was a golden lake, and its surface was as calm as a mirror. In the center of the lake, which lay squarely below the pillar, sat someone!

He was from the Never-Ending Clan, with three heads and six arms. He looked strong and well-built, and he emanated an incredible power that blanketed the area.

The cultivator’s body seemed to contain an ocean of spirit energy. There was a gaping hole in his forehead, and it seemed to be healing as the lake nourished the body while tearing itself further apart. Its full recovery appeared to be impossible.

The eyes of Wang Baole’s avatar contracted at the sight. It stood, immobile, for a very long time. Nothing came at it though. That was when Wang Baole began to study the body in the middle of the lake carefully.

His brow furrowed after a while. He took a few steps forward, then continued watching from afar.

<em>No signs of life or death. They look like flesh and blood bodies, and yet they give off a feeling… that resembles a Dharmic treasure.</em> Wang Baole couldn’t pinpoint his exact feelings towards the body in the lake, but the more he observed it, the more it resembled a set of… clothes!

In fact, one might even call it… an armor!

“It seems to be a… Spirit Stone at the same time? Some sort of container for Spirit Qi?” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes as he muttered to himself. He was about to enter the lake and inspect it up close. He prepared for the worst. Should anything happen, he’d immediately terminate the connection between his avatar and his true form.

Just as Wang Baole was about to rush forward, suddenly… one of the heads attached to the tentacles hanging above him—one belonging to an old man—opened his eyes!

The elder had a head of white hair and a face lined with wrinkles. There was confusion in his eyes, and his voice was hoarse.

“Save me… save me…”

Wang Baole’s scalp went numb when he heard that voice. He retreated hurriedly, then lifted his head up. Shock gripped him. The elder who had spoken was clearly dead. There was a darkness in his eyes. However, his voice rang out clearly in the air. It seemed to possess a certain power, a clarity that pierced through the cavern and the battleship and resonated across space itself.

It was a voice that Wang Baole was familiar with. It had come drifting with the wind, echoing in the Dao Palace as it cried out for help. This was… the voice of Feng Qiuran’s father, whom she had been desperately seeking, the voice of Mie Liezi’s uncle master, who had once been a powerful cultivator of the Dao Palace!

<em>There’s nothing I can do here now… I need to let Elder Feng Qiuran and the others know what’s going on as soon as possible!</em> Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t yet given up on examining the body of the Never-Ending Clan member. His true form would leave this place and seek out Feng Qiuran and the others.

Just as Wang Baole was about to take action, suddenly… Little Missy, who had been silent all this while, spoke in his head!

“That’s what is controlling this battleship… the battle robes!”