A World Worth Protecting

The lit area below was another new world altogether!

It looked creepy and was drastically different from all the worlds that Wang Baole had seen. Even the Vast Expanse Dao Palace Main Star that had been annexed by the Never-Ending Clan hadn’t been as shocking a sight as this place!

The skies of this world were black. In fact, they were covered by a thick fog that was black. Thick veins woven from flesh and blood extended from the fog, running downwards towards the land!

There were thousands of such veins in this world. They cluttered the skies and converged at a single point on land!

The convergence stood on pitch-black land… an incredible, towering and sturdy pillar that spanned a hundred thousand feet wide!

The pillar was similarly formed from flesh and blood, and contractions traveled slowly down the pillar. Thousands of veins connected to it and each contraction seemed to suck the blood and flesh pulp inside the thousands of connected veins!

One could see the top of this round pillar but not how deep it went underground. Beyond the pillar were black soil and countless fleshy lumps, and within each lump was nested a fetus. They didn’t seem to be fetuses of Never-Ending Clan members but of a breed of monsters!

There were clear signs that the world had been reformed. The veins were a terrifying sight to behold. There was a protective sheen of light a hundred thousand feet around the huge pillar that radiated a blue glow and seemed to serve as a defensive barrier against intruders.

A similar blue sheen could be found around every vein. The veins, alongside the pillar, seemed to form a world onto themselves. Another world seemed to exist outside the blue defensive barrier.

Rumbling sounds continued to resonate in the air. Wang Baole’s heart raced at the sights and sounds assaulting his senses. After a long while, he took a deep breath and fell into a thoughtful silence. He clenched his jaw and began climbing down the vein. He passed through the clouds and finally saw the world with his own eyes.

The entire world seemed to revolve around the pillar. The glowing blue barrier protected the pillar, and anything beyond couldn’t enter. Wang Baole had somehow been lucky enough to locate a vein inside the millstone and climbed his way into the world. He had ended up on the right side of the blue barrier!

His heart raced, and his breathing grew uneven. He sprawled inside the vein and looked around. In his eyes, the pillar resembled a silk larva that was sucking nutrients that came from the millstone. The things that Wang Baole had seen inside the millstone led to his conclusion that there was a great likelihood that another world existed on the other side of this pillar, underground!

If the corpses formed the first level, then this is the second level… Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. The image of the battleship surfaced in his mind. He remembered it was formed from three huge circular disks.

There was a fourth disk connecting the three disks, which was likely the battleship’s main body. It was layered under the other three intersecting disks and sat in the center of the disks.

Going by that logic, if the fourth disk is the second level, then both Mie Liezi and Daoist You Ran should be here! Wang Baole rubbed at his forehead as he stared into the distance. The world was so vast that Wang Baole couldn’t see its end.

He pondered for a while before abandoning the thought of crossing over to the other side of the blue defensive barrier. Since he had already found himself on the inside of the barrier, he should now be many steps ahead of the rest. This might seem dangerous, but it might also be a safer place for him to be.

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes at that thought. He raced down the vein, took a sudden leap, and landed. He went to the edge of the blue barrier and released a puppet. He discovered that, while there were difficulties in crossing the barrier, it wasn’t an impossible feat. However, it was nearly impossible for the puppet to return to the inside of the barrier. Having concluded that, he then turned towards the gigantic pillar before him.

Wang Baole studied the pillar for a while before circling it. His eyes flashed with an intense light after he returned to his original position. He pulled out his puppet and allowed it to approach the pillar. He wanted to know if the puppet could sink in and emerge on the inside of the pillar then make its way down into what he believed was the third level of the battleship.

The pillar might display some malleability through its constant contractions, but it was far hardier than the veins. There was no way one could force his way inside without peeling the outer layer and drilling a hole into its insides.

Wang Baole could feel an oncoming headache. He had a gut feeling that something must be going on down there. It could be secrets about the battleship or a chance to escape. However, it was clear that he wasn’t going to be able to enter the pillar without encountering any dangers.

Wang Baole wasn’t willing to just give up though. He narrowed his eyes as he considered his options. He decided he was going to test the pillar with his puppet. Having made up his mind, he took a deep breath and assessed the hardiness of the pillar again. Then, he narrowed his eyes. The Flame Snatch Thearch Armor appeared over him amidst deafening thunder, blood-colored meridians weaving themselves into a gruesome armor as his skeletal Divine Armament arm shone with a lethal light.

There was no hesitation as Wang Baole fell back a hundred feet, stomped his right foot on the ground violently, gathered strength, and then shot forward like an arrow. He darted towards the pillar, his skeletal Divine Armament arm pointed forward.

His charge broke the sound barrier. As he approached the pillar, he raised his right fist and sent a punch flying out. Augmented by the power of the Thearch Armor, his own cultivation, as well as his initial charge, the punch was the strongest that Wang Baole had unleashed yet. It unleashed the power of the Divine Armament and exploded in a deafening thunder. It punched straight through the pillar!

The hole that was made wasn’t large, it was the size of his fist. It didn’t trigger a backlash from the pillar either. Such a wound was akin to a minute cut on the human body—utterly insignificant.

The blow had caused a muted bang to ring out in the air. Purple fluids flowed out from the hole. However, as soon as Wang Baole pulled out his fist, the wound began to heal rapidly, right before his eyes!

There wasn’t time for Wang Baole to enlarge the hole and send in his puppet. As the hole was about to seal itself completely shut, grim determination flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes. His physical body blurred as his avatar materialized and separated from him. It transformed into a bolt of lightning that darted through the hole before it sealed shut completely.

Wang Baole’s body shook slightly. He pulled out his puppet to stand guard as he found a discreet spot where he could sit down. His attention was split as he kept watch on his surroundings while steering his avatar into descending down the pillar filled with purple fluids.

His avatar immediately experienced the terrifying corrosive properties of the purple fluids as it came into contact with the latter inside the pillar. His true flesh and blood form would have been eaten away by the fluids instantly.

His puppets wouldn’t have been able to withstand the corrosion either. Wang Baole’s avatar, on the other hand, was formed from lightning instead of flesh and blood. That was why it could temporarily withstand the corrosive purple fluid. However, it was clear that it wouldn’t be able to survive prolonged exposure. He needed it to descend as quickly as possible underground and locate the third level.

However… the purple fluid wasn’t the only danger present inside the pillar. There appeared to be other unknown dangers. Wang Baole’s avatar descended a hundred feet before there was a sudden flash of golden light. He didn’t manage to catch what happened before his avatar collapsed and turned into electricity that then sank into the purple fluid.

On the second level, Wang Baole’s eyes opened suddenly. He studied the pillar before him, then summoned a second avatar. He burst a hole open in the pillar again and sent the avatar in. He was more cautious this time. He equipped the avatar with a defensive, eight-grade Dharmic Armament.

That proved to be useful. When the golden light flared this time, it was followed by an additional thunderous boom. That was the sound of the unknown golden entity colliding with and breaking apart his Dharmic Armament. His avatar exploded in the next moment. This time, Wang Baole was finally able to catch a good look at the source of the attack!

It was a golden, broken finger!