A World Worth Protecting

The right-hand elder of the Heavenly Spirit Sect wasn’t the only person whose eyes had nearly popped out of his head. In fact… when Wang Baole had pulled out two hundred Dharmic Battleships and blown them up, the first legion of the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect and the disciples of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect had all been struck dumb. The latter, especially, had been moved beyond tears.

If they had been the ones mounting the rescue effort, they would have placed the preservation of their own lives as the top priority. They wouldn’t have risked their lives to rescue others. They wouldn’t have blown up their precious Dharmic Battleships either.

But Wang Baole had done all of that. His actions had moved them immensely. Some had originally disregarded the relatively weaker explosive force of the self-destructing Dharmic Battleships. Then… with a wave of his hand, Wang Baole had pulled out another forty Dharmic Battleships. The sight had sent waves of emotion rocking through every disciple. Everything had seemed so surreal at that moment.

After all… even if the three greater sects were to join forces, they would only be able to gather forty Dharmic Battleships at best. Wang Baole had pulled out forty Dharmic Battleships in a single go and had chosen to blow them up without batting an eye. The destructive force that had been unleashed hadn’t been as powerful as expected, but it had still been considerable… Regardless, this was a sight that everyone would find incredulous. They might think that they were hallucinating.

And just as they were wondering if they were hallucinating, Wang Baole had… pulled out another two hundred Dharmic Battleships. At that point, the surrealism of the moment had everyone confused and looking lost. Even those who were quick to recover, who realized that something was going on and that Wang Baole was up to something, were confounded. Because… even if the Dharmic Battleships’ self-destruct power was relatively weaker than expected, it didn’t discount the fact that he had pulled out more than two hundred Dharmic Battleships in a single go. This was something that was virtually unheard of.

The person who was the most dumbstruck, more so than the right-hand elder who was desperately retreating, was the patriarch of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect. His eyeballs were on the verge of popping out of their sockets. His mind buzzed with the loudness of thunder, and alarm colored his face as he dashed out and shouted.

“Stop, Long Nanzi…”

He had spoken too late. At that moment, the two hundred Dharmic Battleships that Wang Baole had whipped out had charged at the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s right-hand elder and exploded. The destructive force from their explosions was equivalent to an attack launched by twenty Dharmic Battleships. It didn’t matter that the right-hand elder was at the Planet realm, the attack still sent him shuddering violently and caused blood to spill from his mouth. Resentment and fury burned in his eyes as he unleashed blow after blow to weaken the force of the explosion, howling furiously as he retreated.

The patriarch approached swiftly as the right-hand elder fell back. The patriarch was secretly fuming as well. The thought of his promise to compensate Wang Baole and how the latter had pulled out an unimaginable number of Dharmic Battleships after that filled him with rage. He was still the patriarch of a sect, though. Now that an opportunity had presented itself, he suppressed the raging fury he was filling and seized it, unleashing his divine power and launching an attack at the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s right-hand elder.

He had decided to let the enemy go because he hadn’t wanted to prolong the battle and because he wasn’t confident in his ability to kill or inflict serious injury upon his enemy. Instead of dragging out the fight, he preferred to end it. But now… the situation had changed.

The cosmos thundered, lightning flashed, and winds howled as he attacked. The cornered right-hand elder spat out a mouthful of blood and suffered another blow. He raged internally. He hadn’t suffered such injury even when he had been battling the Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s patriarch earlier. Wang Baole’s arrival had led to his current injured state.

“I swear that I’ll kill you!” The right-hand elder howled furiously and almost uncontrollably, retreating desperately while aggravating his injuries. There was intense fury in his eyes. He held no personal hatred towards the patriarch of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect. His hatred was focused on Wang Baole.

“You want to kill me? Let’s see you try!” Wang Baole was instantly displeased when he heard that. He glared and stuck his right hand into the air. Then, with another wave… he sent the entire battlefield into momentary silence.

More than seven hundred Dharmic Battleships appeared suddenly and filled the cosmos, the awesome sight sending the entire battlefield into an uproar.

The retreating disciples from the Heavenly Spirit Sect were struck dumb. The cultivators in the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s first legion were stunned as well. Everyone, including the butler and Fairy Ling You, had a blank look on their faces. The Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s disciples were frozen in place, their eyes bulging…

Everyone was struck dumb by the sight of more than seven hundred Dharmic Battleships!

“These… these battleships… when you add them to the earlier fleet… that should make up nearly a thousand ships, right?”

“This must be a hallucination that the enemy has set up…”

“Is this a Dharmic Battleship?”

Momentary silence descended upon the battlefield before it was overtaken by a sudden commotion. The right-hand elder of the Heavenly Spirit Sect could feel his scalp prickle, and white noise was buzzing in his head. It was as if a hundred thousand lightning bolts had suddenly struck him. Never in his wildest dreams had he come across something as outrageous as this…

There was only one thought in his mind now, and it was to run!

He knew very well that while each Dharmic Battleship might not be very powerful, in his current injured state, the combined strength of all seven hundred or so Dharmic Battleships might still lead to his destruction in both spirit and flesh if he weren’t careful. He also had the patriarch of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect to deal with. Alarm bells blared loudly in the right-hand elder’s head for the very first time since the battle had started. He shuddered. Disregarding the rest of the sect, he activated his full cultivation and fled.

“Trying to escape?” Wang Baole thought smugly and yelled out loud. He would’ve given chase if not for someone who was suffering from a shock greater than that of the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s right-hand elder and felt as if he had just been struck by a million lightning bolts. That someone was… the patriarch of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect. If not for his strong will, he would have collapsed in tears by now.

The Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s patriarch roared just as Wang Baole was about to strike.

“Long Nanzi, please, cease your pursuit. All legion commanders, protect… protect Long Nanzi!” The Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s patriarch barked out his orders, then unleashed his full speed and went after the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s right-hand elder like a mad man. He was truly worried that a moment’s delay on his part might result in Wang Baole blowing up his numerous Dharmic Battleships… Should that happen, he wouldn’t be able to compensate Wang Baole fully even if he were to put the entire Violet Gold New Dao Sect up for sale.

What has the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch sent over as reinforcement? Is he trying to sabotage me? The Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s patriarch cursed inwardly as he unleashed another sudden burst of speed and chased after the right-hand elder. He went to the extent of keeping himself in the path of Wang Baole and the right-hand elder so that Wang Baole would have no chance of going after the latter himself.

The Spirit Immortal realm cultivators from the Violet Gold New Dao Sect had recovered by then and, after their initial shock, surrounded Wang Baole hurriedly under the guise of protecting him. In truth, they were shuddering with fear and panic. The battle had been too brutal. A misstep on their part might lead to the complete annihilation or bankruptcy of their sect.

“Fellow Daoist Long Nanzi, calm down, please. I thank you for your aid!”

“The esteemed fellow Daoist is powerful indeed. The right-hand elder is but a mere defeated dog, retreating with his tail between his legs. We shouldn’t lower ourselves to his equal and go after him.”

“That’s right. Fellow Daoist Long Nanzi, we are indebted to you for what you have done for the Violet Gold New Dao Sect!”

Wang Baole felt slightly down and regretful as he listened to the people around him. He stared into the distance, at the Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s patriarch and the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s right-hand elder as they disappeared rapidly from his sight, and sighed. Then, amidst the crowd’s persuasions, he reluctantly put his Dharmic Battleships away.

“What a miser. It’s just a couple of Dharmic Battleships. What’s all the fuss about? I’m here to help, after all. Besides, I did help defeat the Heavenly Spirit Sect. I’ve done a huge service,” Wang Baole muttered to himself. The Spirit Immortal realm cultivators around him watched as he put his Dharmic Battleships away and as the right-hand elder of the Heavenly Spirit Sect fled into the distance. Only then did they finally release sighs of relief. Some of them cupped their fists and left. The battle was still ongoing, after all. Though, most of the Heavenly Spirit Sect had retreated. They were without a Planet realm cultivator at the helm, and they had lost all desire to fight. It was the perfect opportunity for the Violet Gold New Dao Sect to launch a counterattack as the Heavenly Spirit Sect made their retreat.

The battlefield became a killing field. The Heavenly Spirit Sect forces fell back in retreat as they were wounded and slaughtered in great numbers.

Wang Baole sighed and withdrew his attention from the Planet realm cultivator who had fled. His eyes flashed and narrowed as he eyed the retreating Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples on the battlefield. A murderous glint flickered in his eyes as he deliberated using the opportunity to cultivate his Demonic Eye Art. Suddenly, a look shone in his eyes. He turned his head abruptly and stared at a distant spot at the edge of the battlefield.

There were dozens of Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples at that location, both male and female, all injured, who were retreating desperately. Surrounding them were numerous Violet Gold New Dao Sect cultivators who were in close pursuit.

Amongst these Heavenly Spirit Sect disciples was a wisp of… spirit energy that was faint yet extremely familiar to Wang Baole!

It was… only at the Soul Conduit realm, but it shared a source similar to Wang Baole. It was… the Divine Will of his avatar, the one he had given to his friends before he had departed Earth and when they had left to carry out Project Dark Swallow!