A World Worth Protecting

Wang Baole could no longer hold back the full extent of his injuries. As soon as he broke free from the gigantic black hand, his injuries became fully exposed. He spat out a mouthful of blood. More blood began to trickle out from the gaps in his Thearch Armor, which drifted into space and formed streams of blood. The Thearch Armor could no longer maintain its form as well. It shattered and transformed into mutilated strands of meridians that retreated into Wang Baole’s body.

He hadn’t initiated the Thearch Collapse, which meant that even though the armor was severely damaged, he could still restore it to full functionality by nourishing it with sufficient Spirit Qi. However, the terrible state it was in was a testament to the difficult battle Wang Baole had just survived.

Wang Baole had just lost the protection of his Thearch Armor. His vision began to blur after he had broken free. He was at the end of his rope and had expended all his energy. However… the threat hadn’t been completely eliminated despite him having wrestled himself free.

As soon as he had broken free of the collapsing gigantic black hand, a cloud of mist had materialized into a seal inside the disintegrating hand and flown out. It charged towards Wang Baole, ready to imprint itself on the latter.

It exuded the aura of all things dead and dying, the power to end all living creatures and erode away life itself!

Should it reach Wang Baole, with his current weakened state, there was no way he was going to survive the seal!

Wang Baole was in no position to evade the attack. His Thearch Armor had vanished, and his demonic eye’s form had grown blurry with weakness. It eventually transformed into a mark inked into Wang Baole’s forehead, like a third eye. The only hope Wang Baole had against the approaching seal was his final words to Feng Qiuran over his voice transmission. If any accident had befallen Feng Qiuran over the course of his battle, he could only rely on his scabbard to unleash its power and save him from death.

Feng Qiuran didn’t disappoint Wang Baole. She had been watching the battle closely. As soon as Wang Baole had dashed out, she rushed towards him. She appeared next to him in an instant, grabbed him, and spun around. Then, her left hand formed a series of hand seals and raised into the air. Her Soul Conduit realm cultivation erupted. She risked backlash and injuring herself again as she pressed her left palm into the air, towards the approaching seal.

Her face paled instantly. A white bottle materialized before her palm and collided with the seal.

The bottle shattered amidst a thunderous boom. The black seal’s approach was halted by its explosion. It finally lost the power to pursue Wang Baole, giving Feng Qiuran sufficient time to escape. She turned and took Wang Baole with her, transforming into an arc of rainbow that rushed away from the battlefield. With the coordinated aid provided by Li Xingwen and the Federation fleet, she finally approached and landed on one of the Federation battleships.

Li Xingwen rushed over, anxiety clear on his face, as soon as they landed. He hadn’t had time to take a look at Feng Qiuran, who was staggering and still suffering a backlash from her injuries. Instead, he took Wang Baole from Feng Qiuran’s arms. Staring at the pale-faced Wang Baole, who was weakened to the point where he couldn’t even open his eyes, and sensing the drained state he was in—like a candle on its last inch of wax—Li Xingwen’s heart stuttered painfully.

“You little rascal…”

“Grandmaster…” A dazed Wang Baole seemed to have heard Li Xingwen’s voice, so he struggled to open his eyes. He saw Li Xingwen, then noticed Feng Qiuran, who was standing beside Li Xingwen. His eyes seemed to clear slightly, and a grin appeared on his face.

“Your disciple did as he was told. I brought the grandmatron back safely…” He didn’t finish speaking the words he wanted to say. Wang Baole couldn’t stay awake any longer. After seeing familiar faces from the Federation, his heart finally eased into long-awaited relief. His head tilted to one side as he passed out.

Li Xingwen sighed secretly at the thought of Wang Baole still trying to gain Feng Qiuran’s favor when he was in such a terrible state. He lifted his head and looked at Feng Qiuran. Her face was pale. She seemed to feel the same sudden sense of relief. She spat out a mouthful of blood that she had been holding in, then sat down immediately. Unable to move any further, she began her healing process.

Li Xingwen stared at Feng Qiuran and Wang Baole, then lifted his head and looked at the stars beyond. He gazed at the Dao Palace fleet and the Dao Palace cultivators, clearly thrown off course and into chaos after the Anti-Spirit Bombs had blown the gigantic black hand apart. He took a deep breath. They were too near Mercury. The mission objective was to rescue Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran, and the objective had been achieved. There was no need to start another incident. He gritted his teeth and stopped himself from acting on impulse, which was crying for him to turn the battleship around and pursue the enemy. Instead, he barked out an order to retreat.

As the fleet retreated, Li Xingwen sent orders for the deployment of another hundred Anti-Spirit Bombs. They hovered in space, threatening to blow up at any second. The Dao Palace cultivators stared at those glowing spheres, their pupils contracting in alarm. Their hesitation intensified.

Somewhere on Mercury, Daoist You Ran had fallen silent. Sending out the gigantic hand had consumed a great portion of his energy. Replicating the attack would affect the overall recovery of the Death Dao Battleship. The Anti-Spirit Bombs had left an impact as well. He narrowed his eyes. After assessing the situation, he clamped down on his murderous thoughts and didn’t pursue the fleeing Federation fleet.

The Federation fleet retreated slowly, making use of the vortexes conjured by the Solar System Array Formation to leap through space. The battlefield descended into a deathly silence with their departure. A long while passed. Then, the Dao Palace fleet and their cultivators finally dispersed soundlessly.

Having made a safe retreat, Li Xingwen immediately sent down orders for a defense array formation to be temporarily set up around Feng Qiuran as she continued her healing. He also made arrangements for a trustworthy cultivator to guard her. He personally brought Wang Baole to the secret chamber, where he made full use of the Solar System Array Formation and the Federation’s vast resources to set up a conducive environment that would optimize Wang Baole’s recovery.

Li Xingwen finally released a sigh of relief when he was assured that Wang Baole had only passed out and wasn’t in critical condition. He extended his spiritual senses and stood guard over the two injured cultivators.

Time passed steadily. The Federation fleet traversed vast regions of space as it headed for Venus. Several hours into the journey, Wang Baole’s eyes finally fluttered open.

A bone-deep exhaustion and multiple sharp pains all over his body made Wang Baole grind his teeth. He struggled to sit, then panted heavily as he surveyed his surroundings. He was in a secret chamber and could sense rich Spirit Qi flooding the room. His memories of the recent battle returned to him. His spiritual senses extended outwards as he scanned the area without anyone’s discovery. He saw everything that was going on in the battleship, including Feng Qiuran, who was deep in healing, and Li Xingwen, who was outside watching over them.

Wang Baole was finally able to release a true sigh of relief.

It seems like I didn’t die. I even managed to get back to the Federation safely. Wang Baole rubbed his tummy, which had lost all former softness. As his heart eased into a sense of relief, he pulled out a bag of snacks from his storage bracelet without thinking and began munching loudly. He began to inspect his injuries.

Seems quite serious. The damage to the Thearch Armor’s quite significant too. Nothing to be worried about though. Ten bottles of spirit liquid… hmm, maybe twenty bottles. That should be enough for me to recover fully.

Wang Baole continued snacking. He didn’t begin healing immediately. Instead, he did some calculations, then pulled out a bottle of Ice Spirit Water and finished the entire bottle. After that, he narrowed his eyes and lifted his hand to touch the image of the black eye inked on to his forehead. Memories of the earlier battle, which had nearly got him killed, flashed across his mind.

The power of the Demonic Eye Art seems more terrifying than I imagined it to be. The combined force of ten thousand demonic eyes is enough to destroy half a gigantic black hand and halve its power. Wang Baole didn’t immediately extend his senses towards the imprint on his forehead. An imperceptible light flickered in his eyes. He placed his snacks to one side, then pulled out a bottle filled with spirit liquid from his storage bracelet. He placed it under his nose and took a deep sniff.

The bottle shuddered. The spirit liquid inside the bottle transformed into a thick spirit mist instantly, entering Wang Baole through his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. The mist shook inside Wang Baole’s body, then expanded and filled his entire body. It began healing his injuries.

The bottle was soon depleted. Wang Baole pulled out a second, then a third bottle. Thirty minutes later, more than thirty emptied bottles had accumulated next to Wang Baole. It was then that he opened his eyes. They still showed signs of exhaustion, but the injuries that had lined his body had recovered fully.

His Thearch Armor had also been restored to its full functionality after being nourished by the spirit liquid, its damaged parts repaired completely. The store of energy accumulated by the Flame Snatch had to be replenished by draining more blood and flesh though, as Wang Baole didn’t waste his spirit liquid on the Flame Snatch.

Having accomplished the series of restorative actions, Wang Baole took a deep breath and prepared to rest his eyes and mind. His tired spirit required rest. Based on his calculations, when he next woke up, the battleship should be just about to land on Venus.

He hadn’t seen Zhao Yameng or any other familiar faces on the battleship. However, when he had last scanned the battleship, he had caught snippets of information from casually chatting cultivators. That had given him a greater understanding of the current situation. He had also found out that Zhao Yameng and the others had returned to the Federation safely. They hadn’t joined the current mission because they had been assigned other missions.

They’re going to find out that I’ve suddenly become so powerful. That’s going to inspire some strong feelings of adoration. I have to think about how I’m going to present my humble, modest self.

Brimming with anticipation, Wang Baole’s eyes slowly fluttered shut. Tension seemed to ease from his body. However, an icy light continued to dwell somewhere deep inside him… As soon as his eyes shut, the imprint of the demonic eye inked on his forehead suddenly shifted. It seemed to have suddenly come alive. The black, shut eye seemed to possess its own mind. It… opened!

The consciousness dwelling within erupted instantly. Wang Baole’s current state appeared to be its best chance to seize control!