A World Worth Protecting

1

The entire cavern was flooded with power as the Thearch Collapse’s destructive shock waves collided with the force of Daoist You Ran’s self-destruction of his two heads. The clash created an incredible force. Regardless, it wouldn’t have resulted in such destruction if it had taken place elsewhere.

Within the pillar hanging over the cavern were vast quantities of flesh and blood that had been distilled and used to heal the injured Never-Ending Clan and the damaged Death Dao Battle Robes. However, that wasn’t its original function!

At the height of the Death Dao Battleship’s glory, the pillar and its numerous blood and flesh veins had been used to transport fuel, which had been formed from the endless crushing of skeletons and grinding down of bones into fuel. The fuel was then sent to the wielder of the battle robes, who would then make use of the fuel to power and steer the battleship!

The pillar was akin to an eternal engine!

The force of both Wang Baole’s Thearch Collapse and Daoist You Ran’s self-destruction of his heads had destroyed the pillar and in turn… blown up this eternal engine with endless power!

That had been the cause of this unimaginable, vast power. The power wasn’t contained within the cavern. It flowed up the pillar and spread throughout the numerous veins into the second level!

Countless blood and flesh veins exploded with the destruction of the pillar, causing the entire second level to quake. Cracks began to appear and widen, and eventually, the pillar collapsed.

A deafening explosion followed, rumbling in the air. The earth caved in, as a significant portion of the second level was affected by the explosion. The cultivators who had been engaged in fierce battles on the second level were all alarmed by the sight. Feng Qiuran, especially. She had exhausted herself while being pursued by her enemies and had suffered severe injuries that had almost caused her to pass out. Her strong will was the only thing keeping her on her feet right now.

At present, the lands caved in and shattered rock and stone spewed into the air. The entire world shook violently. Both Feng Qiuran and her pursuers were affected by the destruction around them, shock coloring their eyes as multiple explosions erupted around them at the same time.

The dozens of blood and flesh veins that were directly linked with the pillar came from the skies. They didn’t escape unscathed after the pillar’s collapse, allowing the destruction to spread to the first level.

The world was transformed drastically. Both sky and earth shattered, and the first level suffered a similar fate. Violent quakes shuddered through the worlds, with the sacrificial altars on the respective levels suffering the greatest damage!

All veins led back to these sacrificial altars. They rumbled as the veins suffered damage and collapsed, their grinding stuttering to a pause. The fearsome beasts that were pulling the handles were, in turn, yanked back violently.

As the tug-a-war of forces continued, numerous of the gigantic wooden handles began showing signs of splintering and cracking. Three handles snapped!

Handles cracked, beasts roared, and the earth shuddered. All three worlds on the first level shook. The entire Death Dao Battleship shook.

With the collapse of the pillar and its veins, and the quaking of the millstones, the interference given off by the battleship was severely weakened to the point that teleportation was now possible.

Zhao Yameng, who had been hiding on the second level and racing away from each cave-in, immediately sensed that. Panic flashed across her eyes. She looked around, but Wang Baole was nowhere in sight.

She had no idea where Wang Baole was at this moment, or what had happened to result in this series of catastrophic changes. She watched as the world collapsed around her. After a moment of silence, she clenched her jaw and twisted her teleportation talisman without hesitation.

The blinding light of teleportation flashed to life. Zhao Yameng vanished from the battleship in the next moment, reappearing outside the battleship, above the Sea of Fire in the region of the sword handle.

Zhao Yameng’s breathing stopped momentarily. She seemed dazed, but soon, she let loose a sudden burst of speed and began racing towards the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. She attempted to reach out to Federation cultivators on her way!

Zhao Yameng wasn’t the only one who had escaped successfully. There were many others, including Feng Qiuran. She wasn’t as lucky as Zhao Yameng though. She had reappeared in the sword body instead of the sword handle. She had been injured severely while on the battleship and spat out a mouthful of blood upon her reappearance outside the battleship, passing out and falling straight into the Sea of Fire.

Despite her serious injuries, she instinctively summoned a protective light barrier that prevented her from burning into mere ashes after sinking into the Sea of Fire.

The survivors made their escape when the opportunity had presented itself to them. As for Wang Baole, he had switched places with his avatar in the collapsing second level. He spat out a mouthful of blood upon reappearance. He too suffered grievous injuries. Fortunately, his physical resilience was extraordinary, and he also had the green lotus, which boosted his rate of recovery beyond that of an ordinary person’s. Even though he was extremely weak now, he didn’t lose consciousness. He immediately pulled out his teleportation talisman and attempted to escape after sensing the changes in this world.

He wasn’t sure if he was going to succeed, but this was his only hope. He wasn’t confident that his last attack had truly destroyed Daoist You Ran.

<em>There’s a great chance I only injured him seriously. There are still many Never-Ending Clan cultivators and enslaved Dao Palace cultivators on the battleship…</em> Wang Baole had a dark look on his face. He twisted the teleportation talisman, and a burst of light erupted from it. Wang Baole was overcome with excitement as he disappeared in a dazzling burst of light.

When he reappeared again, it was outside the Death Dao Battleship and… in the sword body of the ancient sword!

Others might consider this a dangerous region where death hid behind every corner, but it was heaven to Wang Baole, who was an adopted disciple. He forced down the blood in his mouth and took a handful of pills. After finding out where he was, he dashed out with the intention to leave the area. He intended to return to the Vast Expanse Dao Palace as soon as possible and make use of the teleportation array formation to escape the ancient sword and return to the Federation. Only then would he be safe, at least for the moment.

Things were clearly not going to go according to his plans. He had been right about Daoist You Ran, the latter hadn’t died. In addition, his hatred towards Wang Baole had exploded. There was no way he was going to allow Wang Baole to live. A furious howl rang out in what had been the cavern in the third level the moment Wang Baole teleported. A figure darted out amidst waves of spirit energy rippling outward and the explosion of shattered stone and rock.

The person was in a sorry state. Out of his six limbs, only three remained. Out of his three heads, only one remained. His body was covered in deep cracks that exposed blood and flesh and for some, bone as well.

It was… Daoist You Ran, who had narrowly escaped death!

He panted, chest heaving heavily as he watched everything fall down around him. He lifted his head and stared at the cracked and shattering passageway made of blood and flesh. His eyes turned red at the sight of it all. It wasn’t irreparable, but the damage was going to cost him time. Even if he managed to restore everything, the battleship would still not be the same as it had been before. He howled furiously, his anger ringing out in the air!

“Wang Baole!” Daoist You Ran’s hatred towards Wang Baole had grown so strong it was immeasurable. With red eyes, he appeared at the spot where Wang Baole had teleported away. Without hesitation, he formed a series of hand seals with his right hand and grabbed, expending his life essence decisively to look back in time!

Illusory figures appeared before him instantly. He saw Wang Baole shatter his teleportation talisman and teleport himself away. Daoist You Ran tugged one of his arms and shattered it without hesitation. The vitality contained within the arm materialized into a large hand formed of fog. It grabbed at Wang Baole’s illusory figure!

It wasn’t possible to capture Wang Baole’s true form since he was long gone. What was left were mere traces, but they were sufficient for Daoist You Ran’s use. What he intended to capture was the rippled strand that had been formed the exact moment of the teleportation. By tracing the strand, he would be able to perform his spell and teleport himself over!

A fierce light flashed across Daoist You Ran’s eyes the instant his hand of vitality grasped Wang Baole’s illusory figure.

“Found you!”

Daoist You Ran took a step forward and vanished!