A World Worth Protecting

There’s no harm being cautious! The newly materialized form was Wang Baole’s true essence body. He hadn’t trusted Xie Haiyang completely. That had been why he had summoned a second avatar while keeping his true essence body safe in his storage bag.

He had his true form stowed away in his storage bag instead of having himself hidden far away. If his enemy had searched the area for him, he would discover his decoy first and not his true form, which had been hidden away safe and inside his storage bag.

It was akin to placing two spheres of light over one another. The first glowing sphere would hide the second sphere’s existence. In fact, Wang Baole had gone to the lengths of injecting half of his essence into his decoy so that it would appear more realistic. Naturally, it was also considerably powerful.

Of course, the setup hadn’t been entirely flawless. One would be able to sense that something was wrong upon closer scrutiny.

In order to prevent the right-hand elder from seeing through his deception, he had whipped out the Peace Token immediately in an attempt to draw his attention. He had run away to lure the right-hand elder into pursuing him, then activated his array formation in order to distract the right-hand elder from focusing on the authenticity of his form. That had been how he had managed to keep his true form hidden throughout the encounter.

In his original plan, if his decoy were to die in battle, he predicted that the right-hand elder would examine the contents of his storage bags. Wang Baole would have seized that opportunity and staged a sneak attack on the right-hand elder.

The difference in their cultivation levels meant that he wouldn’t be able to kill the right-hand elder with that sneak attack. Regardless, he would still have been able to injure him with the unexpected attack and win himself the chance to escape. He would gain more time!

That had been Wang Baole’s original plan. It wouldn’t have mattered even if Xie Haiyang’s Peace Token hadn’t worked. He would still have been able to create a situation where he had the upper hand.

But all those preparations were useless now.

Wang Baole lifted his right hand after appearing outside his storage bag. His decoy transformed into mist and merged with his essence body. The accessories that he had stored away in his storage bag flew out of storage and appeared on his person.

“Xie Haiyang, since you plan to showcase the extent of your abilities, I’ll wait for your good news then!” Wang Baole muttered to himself, sat down, and waited silently.

He didn’t have to wait for long… Just as he sat down, the right-hand elder, who had raced away into the cosmos, had returned to the man-made Eternal Star. Before he could contact his civilization’s patriarch through the man-made Eternal Star, waves of teleportation made their appearance without any warning and without his prior command.

Shock flashed across the right-hand elder’s face. He retreated swiftly, caution and wariness bright in his eyes. Caution transformed into shock in the next moment. He watched waves of teleportation ripple in the abyss before him, and a man slowly stepped out of the teleportation portal.

The man had short hair and appeared to be quite young. He was of average height, and his hair had clearly been styled with excessive hair wax. It gleamed brightly under the light and seemed to look like a source of light that drew everyone’s eyes towards it uncontrollably.

The young man looked around after he stepped out of the portal before his eyes finally landed on the right-hand elder, who had a look of wariness and unconcealed shock on his face.

“Greetings!”

“Who are you?” The right-hand elder’s breathing quickened. He could sense that the other man was at the Qi Refinement realm. He wasn’t even at the Foundation Establishment realm. However, that didn’t stop him from feeling fearful. Nothing made sense. A Qi Refinement realm cultivator shouldn’t have the ability to teleport.

He believed that he knew the answer to the young man’s appearance, but he didn’t want to believe it. He dared not.

Xie Haiyang appeared not to have noticed the fear in the right-hand elder’s eyes. He smiled faintly and then started speaking in a warm tone, sounding as if he were simply a businessman trying to sell his wares.

“Xie Haiyang, at your humble service. Fellow Daoist, would you like to consider becoming a valued customer of the Xie family? You simply have to pay a fee to become one. It doesn’t matter what trouble you meet in the future. The Xie family will be at your service as long as you’re able to pay for it.”

“A valued customer?” The right-hand elder’s face paled upon hearing the young man’s family name. The fear in his eyes intensified, and he took a few steps back. It appeared to be a subconscious reaction, but in reality, he was secretly forming hand seals with the right hand hidden behind his back, as well as attempting to send commands to the man-made Eternal Star.

“That’s right. It only costs ten million Red Crystals,” Xie Haiyang smiled and said.

“Could I have more time to get the money ready…” The right-hand elder grimaced as he asked hesitantly.

“Does that mean that you can’t afford the fees right now? That’ll make things a lot easier. Honestly speaking, I’m really bothered by the rules set up by my family. It’s clear that you’re dealing with a troublemaker, but you still have to go through the trouble of justifying your actions.” Xie Haiyang’s face had been warm and smiling up to this point. But now, after having spoken, his eyes started flashing dangerously. The look in his eyes was like daggers—gleaming and sharp.

“You can’t afford the fees of becoming a valued customer of the Xie family, and yet, when you saw the Peace Token of the Xie family, you still continued to attack the holder of the token instead of retreating a hundred light-years away from him.”

Those words were like a blast of lightning, and color fled from the right-hand elder’s face instantly. He stepped back once again, his right hand speeding through its hand seals as terror rose inside his heart. He tried to explain himself.

“I…”

“You have two hours to make arrangements for your funeral. After the two hours are up, kill yourself. Remember to have someone send your head to the Xie family,” Xie Haiyang said coolly as he ignored the right-hand elder’s attempts to explain himself. Xie Haiyang’s voice was firm and assertive. His words seemed final. He then turned towards the abyss and appeared ready to leave.

His words were like a million lightning bolts crashing upon the right-hand elder. The right-hand elder’s mind buzzed with shock and numbness as he shuddered violently. His eyes reddened instantly. The resentment that he had felt during his encounter with Wang Baole and the feeling of being forced into a corner had driven him to the edge of madness. He was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Violence and madness colored his eyes. He had re-established contact with the man-made Eternal Star and had confirmed that the young man had come alone. His low level of cultivation wasn’t some attempt at deception. It was real. This discovery emboldened the right-hand elder. Besides, he knew… that he was left with no other choice than death now that the Xie family had come knocking at his door. If that were indeed the case… he might as well try his luck and fight for his life!

Becoming a wanted man on the run was preferable to being driven to his death!

A murderous glint appeared in the right-hand elder’s eyes at that thought, and he roared.

“You’ve pushed me too far!” He raised his right hand as he spoke and pointed. The man-made Eternal Star began to quake violently. An immense power filled the air, then rushed towards Xie Haiyang. The strength of the attack seemed capable of destroying every living creature in its path immediately, turning both their body and spirit to instant dust.

Xie Haiyang appeared unfazed at the sight of the approaching attack. He didn’t even turn around. He simply coughed softly. An illusory hand stretched out from his back instantly and pointed lightly at the savage-looking right-hand elder.

The right-hand elder’s eyes widened, and he shuddered. Before the violence and madness in his eyes could fade away, before his mind had caught up and realized what had happened, his body… started to shatter. Within the blink of an eye, it caved in and turned into a cloud of dust. His Divine Soul didn’t escape unscathed, turning to dust alongside his physical body!

He hadn’t been killed by an external force. Instead, the planet inside his body had shattered. The result was a backlash. Because of that, the power of his own planet tried to consume him. There was no way he could have avoided or retaliated against such a backlash!

With his death, the initial command he had issued lost its effect. The seal over the Earth Spirit civilization weakened and then vanished instantly.

Throughout it all, Xie Haiyang didn’t turn his head and look back. He continued walking towards the abyss, speaking mildly as the teleportation portal was activated.

“You must have been tired of living. You just gave up the final precious two hours of your life.”

As the right-hand elder passed away and the seal over the Earth Spirit civilization vanished, Wang Baole, who had been seated inside his sphere of light, opened his eyes wide. He could sense the change over the Earth Spirit civilization. His eyes flashed. He rose to his feet and, with a wave of his hand, dispelled the light from the Peace Token. He gazed into the cosmos with intense light in his eyes.

“The seal has disappeared…” Wang Baole muttered to himself. Xie Haiyang’s warm voice rang out from the Peace Token in his hand at that moment.

“Brother Baole, your problem has been solved. Didn’t I promise you that I’d break the seal within two weeks? How about that? I haven’t disappointed you at all, have I?”

“How about the right-hand elder?” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes and asked after a moment of silence. Xie Haiyang seemed to have been waiting for that question all along. He laughed and then replied in a completely casual, nonchalant manner.

“He killed himself.”