A World Worth Protecting

Horror filled the elder’s eyes as the blood-red flower printed itself over his face. He couldn’t stop his screams of terror and pain from piercing the air. Red mist started to rise from the imprint on his face, then more red mist began to stream out from his right hand.

It was a bizarre sight to behold. The two streams of mist flowed towards each other and formed a hideous-looking red dragon. It wasn’t huge, was three-legged, and had one horn. Its form and the scales on its body were clearly defined. The blood-red dragon opened its jaws and transformed into a red sword that went swinging straight at the Never-Ending Clan elder’s forehead.

It didn’t matter what kind of barriers or protection the elder had in place, it circumvented them all. Every defense that the elder had fell apart with the red dragon around. The curse weakened his cultivation, which allowed it to unleash its full power without obstruction!

As the sword came slashing at the elder, his right hand, which had been previously injured during his battle with Wang Baole, started to rot. The pain in his screams intensified as the rotting persisted. At the same time, his cultivation began to show signs of instability, and his spirit energy wavered. As the red sword slashed right through him, his cultivation… plunged from the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm to the mid-stage Spirit Immortal realm!

It felt as if his cultivation had been forcibly and violently robbed from him. As it happened, the heavens and earth themselves seemed to be affected. But if one were to look more closely, they would realize that the curse wasn’t as powerful as it appeared.

While the curse was indeed strong, the reason for its seeming prowess was the elder’s weakened right hand. It had been destroyed once. Even though he had regenerated the hand again, he didn’t have the luxury of time to heal it completely and had done so hastily. Even though it appeared fully healed, it was still suffering from its earlier injury.

Such an injury should have been insignificant, but the curse magnified the extent of the injury and fed on it. The result was the burst of power that allowed the spell to weaken the elder and drop his level of cultivation to the previous cultivation realm!

That wasn’t the end of the spell. The blood-red flower on the elder’s face exploded again amidst his screams of pain, spurting out thick clouds of red mist. Thicker clouds of mist began to stream out from other parts of the elder’s body. They fused together with the mist that had been released from the mask and transformed into a second blood dragon!

The second blood dragon looked more hideous than the first. It morphed into a second sword as it roared and sent its blade descending on the elder’s head!

The elder shuddered violently amidst a series of booming explosions. He couldn’t dodge or block the attack, only able to watch helplessly as the blade fell and went through his body. His organs began to rot alongside the skin across his body, and he seemed to have shriveled within an instant. After, rotting flesh fell off his body, bursting into black mist!

The black mist came from the poison that Wang Baole had lined his black daggers and attacked the elder repeatedly with. The elder had suppressed the poison and stopped it from spreading, but he hadn’t had the time to force it out of his body. The curse fed on the poison in his body now, erupting once again and sending his cultivation… plunging once more!

He went from the mid-stage Spirit Immortal realm to the early-stage Spirit Immortal realm, and an unprecedented wave of weakness washed over him. The feeling of his body being robbed of its strength and vitality made the elder shudder, while fear and horror filled his eyes.

An intense, unprecedented threat of death loomed over his head, and his trembling body retreated hurriedly. He no longer cared for anything except his escape, no longer having the will to fight.

But this was a battleground that Wang Baole had painstakingly set up. He had released the curse in the mask, the curse which could only be used once in the entire mission. He had brought out the biggest guns in his arsenal. How could he let his enemy escape so easily? He might have done that if his opponent were a late-stage Spirit Immortal realm cultivator. But he was now at the early-stage Spirit Immortal realm… He could win this fight!

In fact, he had to fight, and he had to win. He had to use everything that he had to kill his enemy. This was his only chance to do so. He knew very well that while the curse couldn’t be reversed while it was in effect, it didn’t mean that the outcome of the fight was set in stone. The curse only lasted for fifteen minutes.

Wang Baole wasn’t confident that the curse could suppress the elder’s extremely powerful cultivation for the full fifteen minutes. What he knew for sure was… that once his opponent recovered from the curse, he was going to be faced with a tough and deadly fight. He was going to be forced into a passive position. In fact, he might not be able to outrun his enemy and survive until the time for teleportation came.

That’s why… I have to kill this old man! Wang Baole’s eyes turned red as an aura of madness and murder erupted from his person and rose to the skies. He unleashed his full cultivation, not caring if he used up his full strength. The release of power sent winds whipping through the air as he leaped off the ground and dashed towards the elder, as swift as a lightning bolt.

He was moving so fast that he left thunderous booms and after images of himself trailing in his wake. Numerous doppelgangers of Wang Baole popped up instantly and then merged into a single Wang Baole standing in front of the Never-Ending Clan elder, his fist flying out in a hard punch.

Wang Baole put the full power of his cultivation behind that punch. Behind that blow was every bit of energy and will he had in him. It was powerful enough to send the heavens and earth shifting, the winds howling, and the clouds rolling back. But… his enemy was no ordinary character. Even though his cultivation had been weakened to the level of an early-stage Spirit Immortal realm cultivator, his true cultivation was at the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm. Therefore, hidden within him were wells of power.

Furthermore, he was still at the Spirit Immortal realm. After the brief shock that he had felt at Wang Baole’s sudden charge at him, the elder suddenly thrust his left hand into the air. He stared at Wang Baole with eyes lined with red veins as he turned his left palm onto himself and smacked himself hard on his forehead.

A green light erupted from his forehead, enveloping the elder as Wang Baole approached and transforming into… a giant tree!

With its thick trunk and thick crown of leaves, the giant tree resembled the Japanese pagoda tree. An ancient aura surrounded the tree. Wang Baole’s astute senses told him that this was a Dharmic Battleship that the elder had hidden inside his body.

An incredible protective barrier, one that the curse couldn’t breach, formed around the elder as the Dharmic Battleship emerged. Wang Baole’s fist seemed to be hitting air. A loud thud sounded upon impact, but nothing budged.

“You wretched creature, your desperate actions are a timely reminder. I recall that the curse that you Descenders are equipped with comes with a time limit!”

“It won’t be long before the power of this curse fades away. When that happens, you’re going to be begging me to kill you. I’m going to strip you of your skin and bones, set your soul aflame, and make you suffer without rest. I’ll destroy your home planet and have you experience the pain of losing your entire clan!” Vengeance glimmered in the elder’s eyes as he hid within the protective embrace of the giant tree. He had never experienced such humiliation and defeat since he had risen to the Spirit Immortal realm.

Wang Baole had driven him to unleash the Dharmic Battleship that he had been cultivating inside his body. He had been nurturing this Dharmic Battleship for thirty years, and based on the mystic technique that he had used to groom the Dharmic Battleship, he only needed another thirty years to upgrade it to the next level. The upgraded Dharmic Battleship would’ve helped him tremendously in his breakthrough to the Planet realm. But he had just unleashed the Dharmic Battleship. That was thirty years’ effort down the drain. All that effort had gone to waste. How was he supposed to remain calm?

But his choice to unleash his Dharmic treasure had been a decisive one. He had other Dharmic treasures at his disposal, but he knew that they weren’t as powerful as the Dharmic Battleship. He wanted to cement his chances at winning the battle!

“You wretched creature, let’s see you try and break this!” The elder watched as the force of the attack sent Wang Baole stumbling back while the tree bark protecting his own body remained unharmed. He secretly released a sigh of relief. The resentment and hate in his eyes deepened. He began to activate the full power of his cultivation, planning to weaken the curse with attacks and end it prematurely.

He had underestimated the strength of Wang Baole’s will, though. A vicious, violent look had entered Wang Baole’s eyes the instant he had let loose those mocking words.

“You want to know how I’m going to break this? Let daddy show you how it’s done!” Wang Baole roared as he staggered back from the attack. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, raised his right hand to the sky, and pointed heavenward before shouting once more.

“Dharmic Battleship!”

Shock flashed across the elder’s face when he heard what Wang Baole had said. Wang Baole’s blood-red dragonfly Dharmic Battleship descended from the heavens and appeared above the giant tree. Wang Baole’s voice, tinged with madness, rang out in the air a second time.

“Self-destruct!”

The heavens quaked while the earth creaked and groaned. Wang Baole’s Dharmic Battleship burst into instant flames, sending waves of spirit energy surging outwards. It was like watching a meteorite hurling through space and entering the planet’s atmosphere, and now, it was headed right for the giant tree!

The force of the attack sent the heavens and earth shuddering. The clouds even began to boil as the planet rippled. Every cultivator from all corners of the planet was overwhelmed by awe and horror as their heads turned, unanimously, towards the region where the battle between Wang Baole and the elder was taking place!

Chapter 822: Battling a Spirit Immortal Realm Cultivator!

Horror filled the elder’s eyes as the blood-red flower printed itself over his face. He couldn’t stop his screams of terror and pain from piercing the air. Red mist started to rise from the imprint on his face, then more red mist began to stream out from his right hand.

It was a bizarre sight to behold. The two streams of mist flowed towards each other and formed a hideous-looking red dragon. It wasn’t huge, was three-legged, and had one horn. Its form and the scales on its body were clearly defined. The blood-red dragon opened its jaws and transformed into a red sword that went swinging straight at the Never-Ending Clan elder’s forehead.

It didn’t matter what kind of barriers or protection the elder had in place, it circumvented them all. Every defense that the elder had fell apart with the red dragon around. The curse weakened his cultivation, which allowed it to unleash its full power without obstruction!

As the sword came slashing at the elder, his right hand, which had been previously injured during his battle with Wang Baole, started to rot. The pain in his screams intensified as the rotting persisted. At the same time, his cultivation began to show signs of instability, and his spirit energy wavered. As the red sword slashed right through him, his cultivation… plunged from the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm to the mid-stage Spirit Immortal realm!

It felt as if his cultivation had been forcibly and violently robbed from him. As it happened, the heavens and earth themselves seemed to be affected. But if one were to look more closely, they would realize that the curse wasn’t as powerful as it appeared.

While the curse was indeed strong, the reason for its seeming prowess was the elder’s weakened right hand. It had been destroyed once. Even though he had regenerated the hand again, he didn’t have the luxury of time to heal it completely and had done so hastily. Even though it appeared fully healed, it was still suffering from its earlier injury.

Such an injury should have been insignificant, but the curse magnified the extent of the injury and fed on it. The result was the burst of power that allowed the spell to weaken the elder and drop his level of cultivation to the previous cultivation realm!

That wasn’t the end of the spell. The blood-red flower on the elder’s face exploded again amidst his screams of pain, spurting out thick clouds of red mist. Thicker clouds of mist began to stream out from other parts of the elder’s body. They fused together with the mist that had been released from the mask and transformed into a second blood dragon!

The second blood dragon looked more hideous than the first. It morphed into a second sword as it roared and sent its blade descending on the elder’s head!

The elder shuddered violently amidst a series of booming explosions. He couldn’t dodge or block the attack, only able to watch helplessly as the blade fell and went through his body. His organs began to rot alongside the skin across his body, and he seemed to have shriveled within an instant. After, rotting flesh fell off his body, bursting into black mist!

The black mist came from the poison that Wang Baole had lined his black daggers and attacked the elder repeatedly with. The elder had suppressed the poison and stopped it from spreading, but he hadn’t had the time to force it out of his body. The curse fed on the poison in his body now, erupting once again and sending his cultivation… plunging once more!

He went from the mid-stage Spirit Immortal realm to the early-stage Spirit Immortal realm, and an unprecedented wave of weakness washed over him. The feeling of his body being robbed of its strength and vitality made the elder shudder, while fear and horror filled his eyes.

An intense, unprecedented threat of death loomed over his head, and his trembling body retreated hurriedly. He no longer cared for anything except his escape, no longer having the will to fight.

But this was a battleground that Wang Baole had painstakingly set up. He had released the curse in the mask, the curse which could only be used once in the entire mission. He had brought out the biggest guns in his arsenal. How could he let his enemy escape so easily? He might have done that if his opponent were a late-stage Spirit Immortal realm cultivator. But he was now at the early-stage Spirit Immortal realm… He could win this fight!

In fact, he had to fight, and he had to win. He had to use everything that he had to kill his enemy. This was his only chance to do so. He knew very well that while the curse couldn’t be reversed while it was in effect, it didn’t mean that the outcome of the fight was set in stone. The curse only lasted for fifteen minutes.

Wang Baole wasn’t confident that the curse could suppress the elder’s extremely powerful cultivation for the full fifteen minutes. What he knew for sure was… that once his opponent recovered from the curse, he was going to be faced with a tough and deadly fight. He was going to be forced into a passive position. In fact, he might not be able to outrun his enemy and survive until the time for teleportation came.

That’s why… I have to kill this old man! Wang Baole’s eyes turned red as an aura of madness and murder erupted from his person and rose to the skies. He unleashed his full cultivation, not caring if he used up his full strength. The release of power sent winds whipping through the air as he leaped off the ground and dashed towards the elder, as swift as a lightning bolt.

He was moving so fast that he left thunderous booms and after images of himself trailing in his wake. Numerous doppelgangers of Wang Baole popped up instantly and then merged into a single Wang Baole standing in front of the Never-Ending Clan elder, his fist flying out in a hard punch.

Wang Baole put the full power of his cultivation behind that punch. Behind that blow was every bit of energy and will he had in him. It was powerful enough to send the heavens and earth shifting, the winds howling, and the clouds rolling back. But… his enemy was no ordinary character. Even though his cultivation had been weakened to the level of an early-stage Spirit Immortal realm cultivator, his true cultivation was at the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm. Therefore, hidden within him were wells of power.

Furthermore, he was still at the Spirit Immortal realm. After the brief shock that he had felt at Wang Baole’s sudden charge at him, the elder suddenly thrust his left hand into the air. He stared at Wang Baole with eyes lined with red veins as he turned his left palm onto himself and smacked himself hard on his forehead.

A green light erupted from his forehead, enveloping the elder as Wang Baole approached and transforming into… a giant tree!

With its thick trunk and thick crown of leaves, the giant tree resembled the Japanese pagoda tree. An ancient aura surrounded the tree. Wang Baole’s astute senses told him that this was a Dharmic Battleship that the elder had hidden inside his body.

An incredible protective barrier, one that the curse couldn’t breach, formed around the elder as the Dharmic Battleship emerged. Wang Baole’s fist seemed to be hitting air. A loud thud sounded upon impact, but nothing budged.

“You wretched creature, your desperate actions are a timely reminder. I recall that the curse that you Descenders are equipped with comes with a time limit!”

“It won’t be long before the power of this curse fades away. When that happens, you’re going to be begging me to kill you. I’m going to strip you of your skin and bones, set your soul aflame, and make you suffer without rest. I’ll destroy your home planet and have you experience the pain of losing your entire clan!” Vengeance glimmered in the elder’s eyes as he hid within the protective embrace of the giant tree. He had never experienced such humiliation and defeat since he had risen to the Spirit Immortal realm.

Wang Baole had driven him to unleash the Dharmic Battleship that he had been cultivating inside his body. He had been nurturing this Dharmic Battleship for thirty years, and based on the mystic technique that he had used to groom the Dharmic Battleship, he only needed another thirty years to upgrade it to the next level. The upgraded Dharmic Battleship would’ve helped him tremendously in his breakthrough to the Planet realm. But he had just unleashed the Dharmic Battleship. That was thirty years’ effort down the drain. All that effort had gone to waste. How was he supposed to remain calm?

But his choice to unleash his Dharmic treasure had been a decisive one. He had other Dharmic treasures at his disposal, but he knew that they weren’t as powerful as the Dharmic Battleship. He wanted to cement his chances at winning the battle!

“You wretched creature, let’s see you try and break this!” The elder watched as the force of the attack sent Wang Baole stumbling back while the tree bark protecting his own body remained unharmed. He secretly released a sigh of relief. The resentment and hate in his eyes deepened. He began to activate the full power of his cultivation, planning to weaken the curse with attacks and end it prematurely.

He had underestimated the strength of Wang Baole’s will, though. A vicious, violent look had entered Wang Baole’s eyes the instant he had let loose those mocking words.

“You want to know how I’m going to break this? Let daddy show you how it’s done!” Wang Baole roared as he staggered back from the attack. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, raised his right hand to the sky, and pointed heavenward before shouting once more.

“Dharmic Battleship!”

Shock flashed across the elder’s face when he heard what Wang Baole had said. Wang Baole’s blood-red dragonfly Dharmic Battleship descended from the heavens and appeared above the giant tree. Wang Baole’s voice, tinged with madness, rang out in the air a second time.

“Self-destruct!”

The heavens quaked while the earth creaked and groaned. Wang Baole’s Dharmic Battleship burst into instant flames, sending waves of spirit energy surging outwards. It was like watching a meteorite hurling through space and entering the planet’s atmosphere, and now, it was headed right for the giant tree!

The force of the attack sent the heavens and earth shuddering. The clouds even began to boil as the planet rippled. Every cultivator from all corners of the planet was overwhelmed by awe and horror as their heads turned, unanimously, towards the region where the battle between Wang Baole and the elder was taking place!