A World Worth Protecting

1

The activation of both Ten Thousand Tribulations and A Thousand Lives made Daoist You Ran feel unprecedented hostility coming from everywhere in the cavern!

Enmity radiated from the broken fingers streaming out from the pillar and from the rocks that always seemed to smash into him. It radiated from the battle robes’ overwhelming aura that didn’t seem to differentiate friend from foe.

Daoist You Ran was completely confounded. He could sense the exact opposite that was happening to Wang Baole. The entire cavern seemed to revolve around Wang Baole now. Be it the pillar, the golden lake, or even the battle robes—which had stopped resisting and began to release Spirit Qi and direct its Spirit Qi into Wang Baole’s Flame Snatch Thearch Armor. He found it all incredulous and bizarre.

That wasn’t the worst of it. Wang Baole had the nerve to give him a derogatory nickname that left a bad taste in his mouth. He had even called himself his daddy. Daoist You Ran’s eyes turned red. He was about to go crazy. He howled furiously, unleashed his full Soul Conduit realm cultivation, and crashed head-on with the surrounding hostile forces. He seemed fixed on battling the hostile will inside the cavern and charged towards Wang Baole again.

Daoist You Ran was of the Never-Ending Clan and possessed incredibly powerful cultivation. It was clear that he had been even more powerful in the past. The aura that exuded from his person grew murderous amidst the Ten Thousand Tribulations technique’s attacks.

Wang Baole’s pupils contracted. He formed a series of hand seals and pointed at Daoist You Ran again.

“Soul Guiding!”

Daoist You Ran had cleaved a path clear to Wang Baole, sweeping aside all obstacles and fighting against the resistance of the battle robes to arrive hundreds of feet before Wang Baole. Simmering with rage and frustration, he had raised his right hand with the full intention of turning Wang Baole into pulp. It was then that Wang Baole said those two words…

His voice echoed in the cavern. The Soul Guiding bead on his wrist shone brightly, and a wisp of black smoke emerged from the bead before it expanded to become a gigantic palm spanning hundreds of feet wide!

Five gruesome-looking demons were attached to the hand’s five fingers. They howled furiously as the hand snatched at Daoist You Ran. It went through empty air. However, Wang Baole could clearly see another shadow overlaid on Daoist You Ran’s person. It was his soul, the one that had been fused with his Nascent Soul!

It had remained fused with his Nascent Soul for countless years and seemed almost inseparable. The gigantic hand managed to pluck it out, separating it from Daoist You Ran’s body. For a few moments, it was torn half a human body’s length from Daoist You Ran!

His soul was a blur, but his facial features remained distinguishable. The look of shock on his face was clear for all to see. He hadn’t expected Wang Baole to possess such an incredible and shocking mystic technique!

If Wang Baole’s cultivation had been at a higher level, and he didn’t require the beads to unleash these techniques but had instead activated them with his own will, he would without a doubt pose a threat to You Ran. He would be dangerous even if his cultivation wasn’t as powerful as You Ran’s.

Now though… he still had some way to go. With danger looming over his head, Daoist You Ran ignored the injury caused to himself as he fought to move his body and bite his own tongue. His eyes shone a blood-red as he used the pain and the blood in his mouth to unleash some form of mystic technique.

His entire body turned red, and fearsome waves of spirit energy erupted from his body as a huge vortex materialized inside his body. It tugged at and gradually dragged his soul back into his body.

Just as his soul was about to return to his body and achieve a somewhat unstable fusion with his Nascent Soul and physical body, a murderous glint flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes. He howled and formed a series of hand seals!

“Dream Spinning!”

Soul Guiding to shock one’s soul and Dream Spinning to draw one’s spirit!

The final star-shaped bead around his wrist began to spark brightly as soon as he shouted the two words. A force that seemed all-encompassing, that was present all around them in the universe, suddenly stirred!

It seemed to originate from the essence of all life and came from a mysterious place hidden in the depths of one’s soul. Wang Baole didn’t really understand what was going on. The Federation had proven the mysterious power of dreams before the Spirit Inception Era. Since the beginning of time, many people had the same experience of deja vu, where he or she had felt as if something that had just happened had also taken place in their dreams.

They had only managed to arrive at a vague and indistinct answer to this mystery after they had entered the Spirit Inception Era. There was a mysterious power in this universe that was all around them. It resonated with a place deep inside every living creature’s soul and resulted in a strange echoic effect.

If someone were able to wield this power, he or she would be able to achieve Dao via dreams. He or she would be able to control the essence of dreams. He or she would be able to unleash a power similar to that of the Dark Dream!

Dream Spinning gave one similar power. It couldn’t compete on a macro-scale, but it had the edge on a micro-scale. Its principles revolved around drawing the mysterious power found within the dreamscape and circling the bespelled, forming a ring around the person’s body!

A single ring represented a dream, while two rings represented a dream within a dream. When fully unleashed, one could form nine rings, nine dreams within dreams. One could seize control of the essence of all dreams and kill someone within a dream!

However, with Wang Baole’s current level of cultivation, even if he were to channel all that vast Spirit Qi into the bead, he wouldn’t be able to unleash the full powers of Dream Spinning. He was only capable of summoning a single ring now!

As the technique was activated, countless shades of crystal appeared around Daoist You Ran soundlessly. They seemed illusory, yet upon closer look, appeared to possess physical form. They formed a ring around Daoist You Ran!

He didn’t seem to notice as the ring of shards closed around him. This was because he was struggling to regain his soul, and also because of how powerful the Dream Spinning technique was!

Within the blink of an eye, the crystal shards formed a complete circle around him. Daoist You Ran jerked suddenly, then fell limp. He hovered in mid-air, unmoving. His spell that was meant to stabilize his soul faded away. It was as if he had just been forcibly yanked into a dream.

Wang Baole had no idea what sort of dream it was, as he wasn’t yet capable of entering Daoist You Ran’s dream at this moment. But, he knew that this was his chance!

Wang Baole’s eyes flashed as he looked at the Death Dao Battle Robes. He had drained one of its arms dry, and now, its remaining arm was showing signs of drooping as the Thearch Armor continued to absorb its spirit energy.

Wang Baole could use the chance that the Dream Spinning had given him to continue draining the battle robes, but he wasn’t certain how long the Dream Spinning technique would last. He didn’t like leaving his fate to chance.

If he had a choice, he would rather be the master of his own fate!

There was a determined look in his eyes as he stopped draining the Death Dao Battle Robes decisively and leaped into the air. His Thearch Armor glimmered as his right hand tightened into a fist. As his cultivation churned, unimaginable power erupted from his skeletal Divine Armament and surged outwards. He blurred in the air with a sudden burst of speed and appeared next to Daoist You Ran, his fist headed straight for the latter’s head, which was held immobile in mid-air!

A flying sword with a lethal glint dashed out from the pillar, moving as swiftly as Wang Baole, and headed towards Daoist You Ran’s dantian!

Wang Baole had lost all connection with the sword when he had entered the third level and fallen inside the pillar. He had ached for the loss of the artifact despite his attempt at retrieving it.

The connection with the flying sword had been re-established after he had unleashed Ten Thousand Tribulations and A Thousand Lives, and after he had triggered a flood of broken fingers streaming out of the pillar. He hadn’t activated it then, waiting until now to unleash its full power!

“Die!”

Wang Baole gritted his teeth as he unleashed the full power of his Thearch Armor and channeled it into his Divine Armament. A blow from his Divine Armament would be enough to kill an early-stage or even mid-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator. Daoist You Ran might be at the Soul Conduit realm, but Wang Baole was confident of his ability to inflict a grievous injury on the former if he coupled the attack with his flying sword!

Wang Baole darted out. It was then that Daoist You Ran’s eyes began showing signs of struggle. He was about to awaken!