A World Worth Protecting

The four Soul Conduit realm cultivations erupted. The sea of red surged outwards and flooded towards the shuttle like giant waves, blanketing it in an instant!

The vast red sea seemed to have transformed into a gigantic hand. The hand grabbed the shuttle from beneath as it unleashed a sudden burst of speed in its attempt to dash out of the blockade!

Then, the red sea started showing signs of solidifying. It was as if it was going to freeze itself and turn to ice. It was going to freeze the shuttle alongside it, as well as the entire region of space!

As this was happening, a terrifying force began to spread throughout the red sea and head towards the shuttle!

The shuttle shook violently, sending Feng Qiuran and Wang Baole shuddering as they stood inside. Alarm flashed across their faces. They could see the shuttle creaking under the pressure exerted on it, and it was showing signs of cracking. Sooner or later, it was going to be crushed into bits.

The shuttle might be an extremely high-grade artifact, but it could hardly withstand the joint force of ten thousand battleships. There was a great chance it was going to shatter and cave in anytime now.

“Self-destruct the shuttle!” Wang Baole said, the expression on his face solemn. There was no time to say anything more. He yelled, then leapt into the air. Countless red meridians emerged and grew outwards. The Thearch Armor wove itself around his humongous body once again, and the fat war god made another appearance. Wang Baole unleashed his full cultivation, readied his defenses, and prepared to charge.

Hesitation flashed across Feng Qiuran’s eyes. Her indecisive nature didn’t change the fact that she was still a powerful cultivator at the Soul Conduit realm, who had experienced war and battle. Her conversation with Li Xingwen might have helped as well. She only hesitated a moment before determination lit her eyes. Her hands came together in a flurry of hand seals, and she pressed her palms onto the shuttle.

The four Soul Conduit realm cultivations had been rapidly approaching the shuttle from four different directions. Before they could surround the shuttle that was struggling in the red sea, the shuttle suddenly released a glaring light. It was a light that outshone the other stars in space, threatening to blind everyone.

It seemed to have transformed itself into a small sun, burning itself up rapidly before it finally… exploded!

A violent shock wave exploded in space, like a sudden avalanche. It was like a sudden collapse of the sky, the caving in of the earth. Waves of spirit energy surged outwards like a tsunami, the fierce rippling of energy visible to the naked eye!

It brimmed with the threat of violence and death and tore the red sea apart in an instant. It was like the ignition of a bomb in a glacier!

The damage was compounded by the power and high-grade materials of the shuttle. The result was an explosive force that surpassed an ordinary explosion!

The sea of red, which had been in the midst of turning itself to ice, shuddered and shattered instantly, parting under the force of the shuttle’s explosion. The force stopped the four Soul Conduit realm cultivators in their tracks as well. They were forced to change course in order to avoid the backlash. The battleships couldn’t shift away as quickly and had to face the shock waves head-on.

The battlefield was plunged into chaos following the shuttle’s self-destruction. It was then that Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran made a dash for it.

Feng Qiuran had guided the explosion such that a great portion of the shock waves had been directed outwards. As a result, both her and Wang Baole had been relatively unharmed by the explosion. She had the protection of her Soul Conduit realm cultivation, and Wang Baole had his Thearch Armor. Having braced themselves against the residual shock waves, they had recovered slightly and immediately unleashed their full speed—riding on the explosive force caused by the shuttle’s self-destruction. Exploiting the collapse in the enemy battleship formation, they shot forward, like arrows released from a bow, and charged out!

Their speed, given a boost by the explosion, made them mere blurry images in one’s eyes. They broke through the red sea, stirring ripples in space itself as they emerged on the other side of the ten thousand strong battleship army!

Witnessing their escape were the cultivators on the battleships, who were still in disarray as they tried to recover from the explosion, as well as the four Soul Conduit realm cultivators. They experienced varying degrees of shock as they watched the escape happen under their noses!

The chances… of slipping through the blockade were so slim, nobody had thought it could actually happen. Someone had to make the snap decision of blowing up the shuttle as soon as the blockade was formed. The decision might have seemed simple, but few could have done so within a moment.

The key that had made the escape successful had been the speed of this reaction—the blowing up of the shuttle!

But what of it! The four Soul Conduit realm cultivators who had been driven away by the shuttle’s explosion were all former Nascent Soul realm elders of the Dao Palace. Amongst them was Chi Lin. He belonged to Feng Qiuran’s faction and had tensions with Wang Baole.

He was clearly a changed person, host to a Never-Ending Clan parasite. His cultivation was given a natural boost to the Soul Conduit realm. He narrowed his eyes and stared in the direction that Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran had escaped in. He clearly wasn’t in a hurry to give chase. Instead, he sneered.

He wasn’t the only one. Mirroring his sneer were the other three former Nascent Soul realm elders of the Dao Palace. They had all risen to the Soul Conduit realm after becoming hosts to Never-Ending Clan parasites. Their stares pierced into distant space, in the direction Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran were headed, where the cold, black abyss suddenly began to distort and warp!

Alarm flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes. Feng Qiuran’s pupils contracted. They tried changing course, but it was too late by then. The spatial distortion ahead of them suddenly transformed into an enormous vortex!

It resembled a black hole, a passageway leading to the unknown. Its endless spinning seemed to unlock a door in space. Two large clouds of red mist burst out from its center!

Both spanned thousands of feet wide. They quickly raced towards Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran as soon as they appeared, radiating power that threatened to overwhelm and seal Wang Baole’s and Feng Qiuran’s. The two had no chance of escape.

The red mist approached swiftly. Feng Qiuran staggered back, her face pale. She smacked her storage bag and pulled out a bell. White runes rippled out from the bell in waves as she shook it fiercely. The runes clustered together, spreading out across thousands of feet. They tried to smack the mist away and gain time for Feng Qiuran and Wang Baole to escape.

The gigantic hand that was formed from runes passed straight through the mysterious and bizarre red mist though. The mist enveloped a shocked Feng Qiuran and swallowed her whole, trapping her within.

Wang Baole didn’t hesitate at all. His body blurred into multiple images, which separated as his avatar stepped away from his body. It froze, weighed down by the overwhelming force of the red mist, and stood next to Wang Baole. There was no time for him to employ his usual methods, which involved him switching places with his avatar.

The only purpose for the avatar this time was to blow itself up!

The avatar charged into the approaching red mist as soon as it had separated from Wang Baole. Then, just as the red mist was about to swallow Wang Baole whole as well, it self-destructed!

The explosive force was immense. It swept across space like a sudden hurricane, sending the red mist shuddering and slowing it down for an instant.

Wang Baole used that chance to beat a hasty retreat. His heart was racing, and alarm bells sounded loudly in his head. He could see another cloud of red mist emerging from the vortex, which caused his scalp to prickle. The Dao Palace and the Never-Ending Clan were clearly well prepared. Just as he was about to make his escape, Chi Lin and the other three Soul Conduit realm cultivators closed in, ready to strike.

Waves of spirit energy surged through space, sending storms and strong winds across the abyss. Wang Baole had started reciting the sutra, but it didn’t matter. He had his Thearch Armor, as well as a planet within the vicinity giving him strength, but it was all useless. He was still no match for four Soul Conduit realm cultivators. His armor shook violently as he was flung backwards, blood spilling from his lips. Two clouds of red mist rushed at him and swallowed him whole!

In the heavens, there were two clouds of red mist, one larger than the other, spinning and churning. It was a terrifying sight!

“Summoning all Dao Palace cultivators. The Grand Supreme Elder has decreed. Activate the array formation and target the traitor Wang Baole. You are to destroy his very spirit!”

“Cleanse Grand Supreme Elder Feng Qiuran of the spell controlling her mind so that she may regain her senses!” Chi Lin’s voice traveled into the minds of every Dao Palace cultivator inside every battleship in the area. They trembled and sat down hastily, unleashing their full cultivation. Red light erupted from every battleship once again, enveloping the mists and transforming the area into a sea of red!