A World Worth Protecting

1

Refining a pill required materials, heat, as well as the know-how. However, he was a master of refining artifacts. He trapped the elder with his lightning and continuously sent electricity into the Never-Ending Clan elder’s body. He was burning and refining his flesh and blood like he would an artifact!

The brutality of his method rivaled that of refining a living person into a pill.

Wang Baole was furious, but he had not yet lost his reason because of his anger. He was refining only the elder’s physical body. When the elder’s physical form had been turned to ashes by his terrifying lightning, Wang Baole’s right hand, formed from lightning, made a grab at the pile of ashes. It returned with a Nascent Soul in its grasp!

The Nascent Soul was the elder’s, severely weakened and infused with the elder’s soul, ready to dissipate any moment!

His current level of cultivation wasn’t powerful enough for him to search the soul. However, with the Dark Art’s secret techniques, he was confident of being able to force some information out of the soul. That being said, he would be doing so with his avatar instead of his true self, which posed a degree of difficulty.

The Never-Ending Clan elder might be weak, but the hatred and resignation in his eyes indicated clearly that he wasn’t going to spill anything to Wang Baole easily.

Wang Baole’s right hand crackled with lightning, and he conducted a round of interrogation without any results to show for it. After that, he didn’t waste any more time on the elder. He sealed the elder with his Lightning Immortal Transformation and flung the sealed soul to Zhao Yameng.

Zhao Yameng had recovered partially after taking a few pills and some rest. She formed a series of hand seals and imprinted a few runes on the soul before storing it away in her storage bag.

Then, they looked at each other. They could see the solemnity in each others’ eyes.

“I got separated from Elder Feng Qiuran and the others when the unexpected happened inside the millstone. I didn’t manage to locate them…” Zhao Yameng said softly. She looked at Wang Baole. She clearly had many questions on her mind, especially about why Wang Baole was only here in the form of an avatar.

“I was hidden inside one of the millstone’s cracks…” Wang Baole took a deep breath, looked around cautiously, then told Zhao Yameng everything that had happened to him as well as why his avatar was here.

Zhao Yameng listened to his discovery about the third level and the huge pillar that existed underground with a grave expression on her face. It was clear that she was reeling with shock. What was even more shocking was Wang Baole’s sharing of the Never-Ending Clan battle robes and his discovery that they were on a Death Dao Battleship!

The discovery was beyond anything Zhao Yameng had imagined. Her face turned pale, though her eye remained clear and untainted by confusion or bewilderment. She took a deep breath, and a flicker of light flashed across her eyes before words rushed out from her lips.

“Baole, you have to find Feng Qiuran and let her know the truth!

“It’s clear that there are Never-Ending Clan cultivators hidden in the Dao Palace. The elder was just one of them… this is an extremely serious matter. It’s going to affect the entire Dao Palace… as well as the Federation!”

“Baole, if my guess is correct, a war between the Never-Ending Clan and the Federation… is going to happen soon! The Federation is completely unaware of this threat. That will be its greatest disadvantage!” Zhao Yameng’s face was completely drained of color at that point. Wang Baole had a dark look on his face as well. He shared her views. In fact, his understanding of their situation might be more well-informed.

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes after hearing her out. Then, he said, “Yameng, you’re good with array formations. If I can weaken the interference that this place is transmitting, will you be able to make use of that and activate a teleportation?

“If you can do that, then we must immediately seize the opportunity and escape back to the Dao Palace. We have to inform Sect Lord Xu and the others and get them to return to the Federation as soon as possible. The Federation has to be notified immediately so that they can prepare themselves!”

Zhao Yameng knew the gravity of the situation. She considered his words, then nodded.

“I’ve inherited the Ecang Ancient Array Formation. I can use that and the teleportation talisman as the foundation of a short-distance teleportation array formation. Its ability to fight against interference will be boosted. However, you must be able to weaken the interference in the first place for me to do that!”

Wang Baole was confident in his ability to do that. His true form was now at the third level, and its progress with absorbing the battle robes’ energy was sluggish but steady. The steady weakening of the battle robes, which was the core of this Death Dao Battleship, would also result in the weakening of the battleship’s ability to disrupt any teleportations.

That being said, he needed some time before things progressed to a stage where Zhao Yameng could activate a teleportation.

They ironed out the details before setting off together in search of Feng Qiuran. They kept a lookout for Kong Dao as well. They needed to find Feng Qiuran to let her know what was going on, while they needed to find the latter so that the three of them could leave together.

The second level was a vast world, though. Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng searched for days without finding any trace of Feng Qiuran or any of the others. They couldn’t advertise their presence loudly either, as their earlier encounter with the Never-Ending Clan elder proved how dangerous this place was. They were wary of everyone else.

Even though there was little progress with their search, they were still blessed with good news in other areas. Wang Baole’s progress with absorbing the energy of the battle robes was proceeding well. The battleship’s ability to disrupt and interfere with teleportation was gradually weakening.

Zhao Yameng had been testing the effectiveness of her teleportation talisman every once in a while during the past few days. The talisman had been shining more brightly and emanating more powerful waves of energy.

“Based on my calculations, if things go smoothly, I’ll be able to forcibly activate the teleportation talisman in a week’s time and get us out of this place!” The shining teleportation talisman gave Zhao Yameng and Wang Baole hope. They had discussed earlier. If they still couldn’t manage to locate Feng Qiuran by then, they would hide and teleport themselves away once the interference had been sufficiently weakened.

If given a choice between the lives of those in the Dao Palace and the safety of the Federation, both of them would choose the latter.

Time passed steadily, and another three days went by. Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng found no traces of anyone else during those three days. They sighed and were prepared to give up. They were about to find a hiding place for themselves when suddenly… due to the gradual draining of energy or some other unknown reason, a loud rumbling thundered in the skies!

It rang across the vast world and was louder than thunder. It sounded like the heavens themselves were splitting apart. The roaring thunder resonated across the entire world. Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng were stunned by the unexpected sound. They lifted their faces skywards. In the distant skyline, as an even louder rumble shook the heavens, a sudden gaping rift appeared in the sky!

Black winds ripped through the rift and appeared in the second level. As the thundering continued, a second rift, followed by a third rift, appeared. The entire sky was ripped apart within a span of ten seconds!

Deafening rumbling shook the entire world. Earth and rock fell through the rifts, ripping the rifts wider. Large chunks of the sky began to collapse!

The sky formed the earth of the first level of this world. As it caved in and black winds emerged through the rifts, the howls of skeletons from the first level could also be heard ringing in the distance.

The sight sent Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng reeling back in shock. Alarm flashed across their faces. Wang Baole immediately caught the sudden flash of a figure darting through the collapsing sky in the distance. It sped past like a shooting star, as if fleeing from pursuit. It was… Mie Liezi!

He wasn’t headed towards Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng, he was heading somewhere near them. His clothes were tattered, and he seemed to be in a bad state, his face pale and eyes bright with fury. Blood flowed from his mouth without stop.

Another figure flew out from the same rift in close pursuit. He was dressed in a Daoist robe and emanating an ethereal aura. He was… Daoist You Ran!

“Mie Liezi, do you really think you can escape? You have only one option, and that is… to join us.” Daoist You Ran smiled. As he stepped out from the rift, a dozen figures dashed out behind him and descended upon this world!