A World Worth Protecting

Wang Baole didn’t know how reciting the scripture would, in Little Missy’s words, move the heavens and earth and exterminate all living creatures. It was all too strange, and something he felt was completely unimaginable.

But he could feel something indescribable surface within him when he heard the scripture. It was as if it hid a certain meaning that could not be described in words. The last line, especially, was imbued with immense power.

If it had been another time and place, Wang Baole would have cast his suspicions aside and found a way to verify the truth behind the scripture. After confirming that it was of use, he would then try it out. However, at that moment, trapped within the dangerous tree hollow and facing the onslaught of hundreds of assimilated cultivators, Wang Baole—who continued casting spells while deliberating on the scriptures—was running out of time.

Let’s just give it a shot! Wang Baole threw out a punch. With a wave of his hand, a sea of lightning and an ocean of fire exploded into being simultaneously, wiping out a dozen assimilated cultivators charging towards him. His eyes flashed, he sucked in a deep breath, and he was about to recite the scripture.

It was at that moment!

Wang Baole had not yet started uttering the scripture when an indescribable Blood Qi rose and expanded behind him. It was followed by a thunderous roar!

The Blood Qi was so intense it formed a Blood Qi hurricane that swept across the entire area. The hurricane exuded an oppressive aura of violence and bloodlust, and the surrounding assimilated cultivators started quaking in their boots and froze in their tracks.

It was as if an invincible, fearsome soldier had just awoken!

Even the tree hollow started shaking at that instant, and signs of decay appeared on its four walls. Everything happened too quickly and too suddenly. Wang Baole’s heart pumped rapidly, and his breathing quickened as he turned around. Behind him, next to Zhao Yameng, Zhuo Yifan, who had been gravely wounded and on the verge of death… was floating off the ground!

Not standing, but floating in mid-air. There was a red light flashing in his eyes, and his entire person exuded an aura of violence and bloodlust so intense it conjured the images of a mountain of corpses and an ocean of blood. The intensity of the Blood Qi was indescribable and was coming off him in waves.

What’s going on! Wang Baole was stunned. He had almost shouted out the scripture then, but who could have known that Zhuo Yifan still had such an ace in the hole left in him

It was clear that there was something amiss with Zhuo Yifan. As Wang Baole stood, stunned, Zhuo Yifan moved. His body swayed forward abruptly, and he leaped forward in mid-air. As he dashed forward, his right hand raised and pressed against his own neck, yanking abruptly…

Wang Baole gasped in shock as he saw with his own eyes, Zhuo Yifan pulling out, from his own neck… a crimson blood sword!

The edges of the blade were formed from blood while the rest of the sword was formed from bone. Zhuo Yifan’s expression was that of pain and ferocity as he pulled out the sword. He was silent, and it was as if he had transformed into a demon as he charged forward!

He was swift like lightning, approaching an assimilated cultivator in the blink of an eye. The blood sword in his hand went sweeping across the air. As it hit the cultivator, the assimilated cultivator quaked, his entire person turning into a pool of blood in an instant…

The killing seemed to have incited his thirst for blood, and Zhuo Yifan moved even more quickly. He was like a blur of blood-red shadow, leaving rivers of blood in his wake!

Within the span of a mere dozen breaths, he slew more than a dozen assimilated cultivators around him. The cultivators, who had turned into pools of blood, clearly lost the power to regenerate again!

The aura of bloodlust exuding from Zhuo Yifan grew stronger, and the demonic air around him intensified as well!

It’s not him who’s controlling the sword. It’s the sword that’s controlling him! Wang Baole observed. It was then that the tree hollow started swaying fiercely, and a sound of disdain resounded throughout the entire tree hollow.

It was like multiple bolts of lightning crashing down, sending instant tremors through Wang Baole’s body. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and blood spilled from Zhao Yameng’s lips as well. As the sound rang out, a middle-aged man dressed in black robes stepped out from the far wall of the tree hollow!

The man looked to be human, but his face was lined like that of tree bark. His eyes were cold and held a glint of savagery within them. As he appeared, the aura of Foundation Establishment realm cultivation burst forth from his body. The intensity of his aura surpassed all Foundation Establishment realm cultivators Wang Baole had come across.

“The perfected Foundation Establishment realm. He’s only a step away from Core Formation realm!” Zhao Yameng said quickly. Her voice was calm. When she spoke, her eyes no longer held any hints of hesitation or struggle, and she shut both eyes then.

Despite noticing Zhao Yameng’s strange behavior, Wang Baole had no time to question further. It was a critical moment. With the appearance of the black-robed man, the aura in the entire tree hollow turned chaotic, and the assimilated cultivators fell to their knees. It was clear that the middle-aged black-robed man was their master!

As they witnessed the scene before them, the man’s identity became clear… he was the human form of the giant tree!

The middle-aged black-robed man didn’t spare a glance towards Wang Baole or Zhao Yameng when he appeared. The expression on his face was cold and arrogant. With one step, he appeared right before Zhuo Yifan, a solemn and vicious look on his face as his right hand lifted abruptly in a sudden sweep.

A sudden, immense force emerged. Countless leaves appeared out of thin air, forming a tornado which exploded without warning. The loud explosion shook Zhuo Yifan’s body; however, he didn’t dodge the attack. Instead, he drew the cloak of demonic aura tightly around him. Amidst his tremors, his fighting instincts seemed to be sparked. Wielding the blood sword in his hands, he sent it sweeping towards the approaching tornado!

An explosive sound resounded and rose into the air as the tornado was sliced into halves by Zhuo Yifan’s single blade. A shockwave swept outwards in all directions. Blood bubbled from Zhuo Yifan’s mouth, and his body stumbled back towards Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng. The bloodlust in his eyes seemed to have grown much fainter. Even the blood sword in his hands was melting away as if being absorbed back into his body.

The middle-aged black-robed man stood hovering in mid-air. One split half of the tornado went roaring past him, causing a faint cut to appear on his face. It healed swiftly and, within a span of a few breaths, disappeared completely.

There was a strange light in his eyes as he stared at Zhuo Yifan.

“How unfortunate. If your cultivation level had risen to the Foundation Establishment realm, you might have posed a challenge to me… after all, you’re… the Blood War Soldier from the Five Generation Sky Clan!

“I’d heard of this in the past. That the Five Generation Sky Clan had gotten their hands on a strange mystic art that required multiple people from the same generation and with the same bloodline, where one would be the host while the remaining would be soldiers. The soldiers have to sacrifice everything, including their flesh and blood, to the host… the Destined Soldier! I can’t believe that the Five Generation Sky Clan actually carried it out… they’re indeed an ancient clan—resourceful, determined, and ruthless!

“You probably have an elder brother, or maybe a younger brother, whom the clan has placed their hopes on. While you… are just a vessel!”

As the man spoke, Zhuo Yifan, who was slowly regaining lucidity, turned pale. He retreated once again, and the blood sword in his hands completely retreated back into his body. There was sorrow in his eyes, and he didn’t say a single word.

Waves of emotions stirred within Wang Baole when he heard that. His face stiffened, and his eyes grew wide. He thought of Spirit Breath Village and Zhuo Yifan’s brother, Zhuo Yixian…

And the moment when Zhuo Yixian terrorized Zhuo Yifan and prevented him from obtaining a seven-inch Spirit Root.

It was clear that the answer to all his previous doubts wasn’t as simple as it had seemed then. It implicated the secrets of the Five Generation Sky Clan. Zhuo Yixian might have done what he had done to secure his control over the War Soldiers and prevent an overthrowing of his power from ever taking place. He both desired the War Soldier to become stronger and to keep the soldier under his control so that the soldier would never surpass its master!

“Who would’ve thought that out of the three puny insects casually captured, there would be one who turned out to be a War Soldier… interesting,” greed flashed in the middle-aged black-robed man’s eyes as he spoke merrily. His body blurred as he dashed towards Zhuo Yifan.

His speed was supernatural. As he approached, the force of his Foundation Establishment realm cultivation became overwhelming, assaulting their concentration and their cultivation. It was as if they had been rendered completely helpless before the middle-aged black-robed man.

The man raised his right hand and was about to grab Zhuo Yifan. Wang Baole’s eyes turned vicious, and he was about to shout out the scripture. It was then that suddenly… next to him, in that very instant, an energy stronger and more earth-shattering than the one that Zhuo Yifan had exuded, a tornado of aura—exploded in the air!

As it roared, thundering into the skies, Zhao Yameng’s hair started lashing around in the absence of wind. Terrifying whirlpools of air started appearing all around her!

Multiple whips seemed to form rapidly out of nowhere and lashed outward in all directions. The assimilated cultivators shook and collapsed upon the touch of a whip, and even the tree hollow shook fiercely.

Wang Baole’s eyes widened even more. He wasn’t a stranger to that sight. During his battle with Zhao Yameng, the latter had been unconscious in the last leg of the fight; it had happened then too. She had still been at the Ancient Martial realm, and the aura that she had exuded then was strong and extremely terrifying. Having reached the fourth level of the True Breath realm, and once again slipping into the same state, the intensity of her aura would be unimaginable.

Even the expression on the black-robed middle-aged man changed drastically. He gasped in shock.

“A mutation! There’s something wrong with your bloodline!” The black-robed middle-aged man couldn’t have guessed that out of the three he had casually captured, two would be such extraordinary people. One was a rare War Soldier, and the other from the even rarer Mutated Bloodline!

Even he felt incredulous at the sight unfolding before him.