A World Worth Protecting

1

The avatar’s self-destruction caused an incredible force that blew a hole in space. A sizable vortex appeared in the heavens, sucking everything towards it. Despite his Soul Conduit realm cultivation, Mie Liezi had to slow down his pursuit in the face of the consecutive explosions caused by the black pike and Wang Baole’s avatar.

The shock waves from the self-destructions not only affected a wide area but the surrounding space as well. Short-distance teleportation couldn’t be performed. He had no choice but to physically retreat to avoid injury.

The glowing man had been the culmination of a hundred thousand minds. That might have given it the power of a Soul Conduit realm cultivator, but it was still formed from numerous minds. The explosion had also affected it. It barely evaded the attack. As it shuddered from residual shock waves, there were at least twenty thousand cultivators within the thousand-eye array formation on Mercury that spat out blood from their mouths concurrently. There were even many who died on the spot, their bodies exploding.

The terrifying backlash created a pause in the pursuit, earning Wang Baole precious time to escape!

He didn’t get a lot of time, though. After dodging the explosion of Wang Baole’s avatar, Mie Liezi continued the chase yet again. Daoist You Ran remained inside the Never-Ending Clan battleship, unable to leave and join the battle. However, his eyes never left the battlefield.

<em>Wang Baole, Feng Qiuran, you have nowhere to run!</em> Daoist You Ran narrowed his eyes and raised his right hand. A jade slip appeared in his palm, and he immediately barked out an order.

The order wasn’t for the Vast Expanse Dao Palace cultivators on Mercury but for his fellow Never-Ending Clan members, who had awakened and were hidden inside the host bodies of Vast Expanse Dao Palace cultivators!

Most of them were in space now, leading numerous Dao Palace cultivators inside Dao Palace space cruisers spread across space. They were preparing for the next battle with the Federation. The Never-Ending Clan cultivators’ eyes flashed with an icy light when they received Daoist You Ran’s orders.

The space cruisers floating outside Mercury quickly acted and surrounded the planet, preventing anyone from leaving.

While that was happening, a large group—upper echelons of the Federation—were gathered in a base on Venus, behind the planet’s line of defense. They were cultivators from the four Dao Colleges, the Senate, the Trilunaris Corporation, the Five Generation Sky Clan, and many other powerful political forces.

They were there by order of Duan Muque and Li Xingwen. These cultivators had shared in the Federation’s power and wealth. Now that the Federation was in danger, they were to fight and defend it!

The expressions on their faces were grave. They gathered in the command center, their eyes fixed on a large screen before them.

The screen projected a clear map of the Solar System. The Solar System Array Formation put in place meant that the map was being updated in real time. Mercury’s image on the map looked blurry, though. The fall of the planet to the enemy forces and the interference from the planet’s array formation prevented them from receiving any information from the planet.

The area around the planet had been pitch-black up until thirty minutes ago. It was then that a blurry image began to replace the initial blankness. Something seemed to have weakened the interference in the area.

“Something has happened to Mercury’s array formation. An unknown force seems to have inflicted some damage to it!”

“Based on the data we’ve gathered from the Solar System Array Formation, the Dao Palace space cruisers outside Mercury appear to have modified their formation…”

“We’ve received reports from the front line that the Dao Palace battleships stationed at the outer regions are withdrawing… They seem to be setting up some sort of blockade!”

“Based on all the information we have, it seems reasonable to conclude that… something has happened in the Dao Palace. Someone is attempting an escape. Based on the adjustments to the enemy battleships’ formation, we can ascertain that this unknown person is trying to escape from Mercury and enter space!”

Cultivators from the department in charge of the Federation’s military strategies, skilled in the art of war, stood before the large screen in the base and shared their findings with everyone. They explained their conclusions, which were based on the information that had been gathered in that half an hour.

A look of surprise flashed past everyone’s faces as they absorbed the information. They didn’t have time to discuss the matter. Li Xingwen, who had been standing next to Duan Muque, who had a faintly stormy expression on his face, coughed. Both of them stood before the crowd.

“As everyone can see, this is the situation that we are in now. Time is of the essence. I would like you to listen to this voice transmission.” As he said that, Li Xingwen turned on his voice transmission ring and played Wang Baole’s message out loud.

“Old man, your Baole is back! I brought your wife with me as well!”

The voice was filled with excitement and warmth. It resonated in the great hall where numerous upper echelons of the Federation were. Their eyes widened. Some of them even gasped out in shock.

“Wang Baole?”

“The guy who became the Grand Supreme Elder of the Dao Palace?”

“He’s still alive? The wife he’s speaking of…”

A myriad of emotions surged through the crowd when they finally identified the voice as Wang Baole’s. They were quickly drawn to what Wang Baole said at the end, and they soon realized whom he was referring to as Li Xingwen’s wife!

“Grand Supreme Elder Feng Qiuran of the Dao Palace!”

Li Xingwen didn’t seem embarrassed by the gasps of shock. He seemed rather smug, in fact. Duan Muque’s face still looked stormy. He had been surprised to find out that Li Xingwen had received Wang Baole’s voice transmission. But Li Xingwen had then mentioned the secession of his presidency. That had caused Duan Muque endless exasperation. His head throbbed at the thought. Even the war hadn’t caused him so much grief.

“Alright, my fellow Daoists. I propose that we bring Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran to safety immediately. I know you might be wondering if they are truly who they claim to be. Based on the information we have gotten, Mie Liezi is currently being controlled. There is also the matter of Never-Ending Clan members hiding themselves in host bodies. However, we cannot simply abandon these two because of our suspicions. I propose that we secure them first, then assess what to do next!” Li Xingwen said decisively. He might have put it across as a proposal, but the determination in his eyes was clear for all to see.

“I concur!”

“I have my doubts, but Wang Baole has done a lot for the Federation. It doesn’t matter that this might be a trap, we still have to try!”

The Federation was currently in the midst of a war that was going to dictate their fate, and the ugliness of human nature was exposed when war was concerned. Nevertheless, having a common enemy was enough to unite everyone and let them set aside their past conflicts. Even the Five Generation Sky Clan agreed with Li Xingwen’s decision.

Duan Muque quickly issued an order using his power as the Federation President, deploying Fleets of Federation cruisers. The line of defense on Venus was activated. It seemed like the Federation was going on the offensive. The Solar System Array Formation was fully activated as well, creating waves of interference that reached Mercury. The result was a disturbance that hindered the Dao Palace and Never-Ending Clan cultivators and prevented them from setting up a blockade.

As the military was deployed, Li Xingwen secretly led his own team towards Mercury. He made use of the Solar System’s array formation and rushed there at top speed.

The team included the giant tree and Sect Lord Xu of the Galactic Dusk Sect. There were also numerous Core Formation realm cultivators from various other political forces. On their own, they might not be a match for the enemy, but they had Federation technology on their side. Their joint study of technology and spirit energy had resulted in many methods to augment their powers. Amongst their arsenal of weapons was the Anti-Spirit Bomb!

The Federation’s military made their move on Venus while Li Xingwen started on his secret extraction. Meanwhile, in the skies above Mercury, Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran were busy running and trying to escape while battling the planet itself as it tried to drag them back to land!

Wang Baole’s heart was still aching because of the loss of his black pike. He didn’t feel a similar heartache for his avatar, though… The former was a unique artifact while the latter was something that had been formed from the vast stores of spirit fat housed inside his body. The avatar had simply been an expenditure of spirit energy.

In fact, one problem had been plaguing Wang Baole ever since he had exchanged places with his avatar and tried to escape to space.

<em>The explosive force from blowing up my avatar seems rather powerful… Why don’t I use this method to attack the Never-Ending Clan battleship? I could kill Daoist You Ran again. I’ll end the war on my own. I’ll be a hero!</em>

The idea was extremely tempting. Wang Baole’s heart raced at the thought of it. He quickly abandoned it, though. Daoist You Ran’s resurrection was surrounded by unknowns. Feng Qiuran, due to her personality, wasn’t someone he could exactly rely on. Besides, he remembered the Never-Ending Clan members he had found inside the battleship, asleep and healing. The power that they had emanated clearly hinted at how strong they were.

There was very little chance of him surviving and emerging as the hero for this occasion. There was a greater chance of him martyring himself.

Besides, he shouldn’t be using this trick so flagrantly. He wasn’t a one-trick pony. That might work against him. He decided against playing the hero.

<em>Besides, this isn’t a good habit to cultivate. I might get used to it and accidentally self-destruct my real form instead…</em> Wang Baole shuddered at the thought. He picked up speed once more, getting closer to leaving Mercury and entering space.

The heaviness pulling him disappeared in the next instant. He leaped and rose thousands of feet. An unimaginable feeling seeped out from his Stellar Nascent Soul.

A cultivator who had reached the Core Formation realm was able to survive temporarily in space. One at the Nascent Soul realm might not be able to exist in space like planets, but they could still cast spells and fly without difficulty. However, he couldn’t keep that up for long. A cultivator who had reached the Soul Conduit realm, on the other hand, had no such concerns.

Anything could be solved as long as one had sufficient Spirit Qi!

Of course, these were restrictions that bound the ordinary cultivator. Wang Baole was different. His body shuddered violently as soon as he stepped out of Mercury’s atmosphere and entered space. The Stellar Nascent Soul inside his body felt strange. It was as if… he had fallen into an ocean of stars, and the Stellar Nascent Soul was but one fish in the great ocean!

<em>I’ve always thought myself special, destined to become the Federation President and lead the Federation to conquer the rest of the galaxy. Seems like my Nascent Soul is proof of my uniqueness!</em> The special nature of his Stellar Nascent Soul cheered Wang Baole up. He threw a look at Feng Qiuran, who had also entered space, then turned towards the distant stars. With a burst of speed, he raced into the distance!