A World Worth Protecting

Using the lotus seed to control the Night Immortal King was something Wang Baole had done before. During the battle in the Mystic Luna Realm, Wang Baole had unintentionally used his lotus seed and directed the Night Immortal King into killing Chen Hui, a disciple from the Galactic Dusk Sect, with a single glance!

The Federation had their guesses regarding the matter. Some felt that it might have had something to do with Wang Baole. Regardless, there had been no evidence to prove anything. Most importantly, Wang Baole had not attracted as much attention then as he did now.

That had been the first time Wang Baole had successfully gained control over the Night Immortal King. The second time had been the earlier attempt. These two attempts had given him confidence. He was sure that the lotus seed wielded some form of control over the Night Immortal King.

He had planned to arrive on the battlefield, then unleash the lotus seed at the most opportune and critical moment in the war. That would help gain the Federation the edge for the Venusian battle. However… it seemed that he couldn’t wait that long after all.

After weighing his options, Wang Baole had finally chosen to unleash his control over the Night Immortal King without hesitation. He had crushed a lotus seed, causing the Night Immortal King’s eyes to flutter open. That was soon followed by a thundering roar that rose from the Night Immortal King’s slumbering ground and shook the entire moon.

Even though the moon was propelling itself forward at full thrust, it still quaked slightly at that roar. The cultivators on the moon reeled back in alarm simultaneously, their hearts racing with fear.

Before they could recover from their shock, the ground underneath their feet shuddered again. From deep inside the Night Immortal King’s cave, an enormous hand covered with green seals suddenly stretched out and pressed its palm against the edge of the cave. As the ground caved in under the weight of the palm, the gargantuan form of the Night Immortal King rose from the cave and rushed towards the heavens!

He didn’t go far before the heavy clanking of chains resonated in the air. The chains shackling him were pulled tight, making the Night Immortal King’s form jerk in midair. He was stopped in mid-flight. His eyes reddened, and he lifted his face skyward and let loose another furious howl.

The thundering roar rippled outward and swept across the sky. Inside the command center, Wang Baole hovered in midair. The shocked cultivators in the room heard his low voice boom in their ears.

“Heed my command. Adjust the thrust ratio and shift the point of propulsion to the dark side of the moon. Prepare to re-initiate thrust!”

Loud gasps could be heard amongst the cultivators on the moon as they realized what Wang Baole was trying to do. Waves of emotions threatened to pull them under as they exclaimed in shock.

“Is he trying to get the Night Immortal King to propel the moon forward?”

“City Lord Wang actually holds influence over the Night Immortal King!”

Amidst the sudden outburst, Wang Baole shattered his second lotus seed without hesitation and sent another command to the Night Immortal King!

As the command was transmitted, Wang Baole felt as if he had transformed into the Night Immortal King. The command was a thought inside his head. As soon as that thought was sent out, the howling Night Immortal King shuddered, his red eyes beginning to glow with a strange light.

The light was like another pair of eyes looking through the Night Immortal King’s eyes… Wang Baole’s eyes!

The Night Immortal King swerved around and, with a thunderous roar, unleashed his full speed and raced towards the heavens. His strength could only be rivaled by the strength of the chains binding him. His power traveled down his shackles and into the moon, tugging at the moon with equal strength.

Under Wang Baole’s instruction, the moon readjusted its thrust at the same moment. The full force of its propulsion, coupled with the Night Immortal King’s crazed tugging, sent a series of booms thundering across the moonscape. The ground trembled and splintered, and the satellite seemed on the verge of being ripped apart into multiple chunks. It was then that a sudden burst of speed erupted from the lunar stronghold!

The new burst of speed was many times that of the moon’s initial speed. It sent the moon hurtling through space, like a satellite driven by a crazy driver!

The Night Immortal King seemed to have transformed into a giant, a humongous dragon that was half dead, half alive, bound by chains that acted as its reins. He dragged the moon… and sped across the cosmos!

The speed that the moon was traveling at reached the max speed a Soul Conduit realm cultivator was capable of. It seemed to rival that of a Spirit Immortal realm cultivator. The price paid for it was the destruction of Wang Baole’s lotus seeds, the shattering of one lotus seed after another sustaining the impossible speed.

Everyone on the moon could feel it as they hurtled through space. They couldn’t see it with their own eyes, but they could imagine what was happening. It was a shocking image that surfaced in their minds, and it would likely never be forgotten for the rest of their lives!

The person who managed to accomplish this was Wang Baole… that, to everyone on the moon, made him seem even more mysterious and, at the same time, even more worthy of their respect!

The cosmos itself was affected by the Night Immortal King’s roars and his pull on the moon. Waves of energy rippled through the cosmos, surging outward. Space transformed into a lake, and endless ripples disturbed its surface. A journey that had required four days was violently shrunk to a single day!

One day might seem brief to some, but to the Federation cultivators fighting on the battlefield of Venus, it was a torturous eternity. The ninth line of defense had collapsed one day ago. The eighth, seventh, sixth, and fifth lines of defense were being blasted at relentlessly by endless waves of Dao Palace troops.

The Federation was faring horribly in the war. Their Anti-Spirit Bombs and the meticulous preparation that they had made hadn’t nudged the battle in their favor. They could only stand firm and resist, drawing out the battle while awaiting their inevitable defeat.

More than half of their Dharmic Artifacts had been rendered useless, and a great portion of their array formations had been deactivated. The casualty count was sky-high. The Dao Palace also suffered great losses, but the worsening situation was gradually driving the Federation’s morale into a downward spiral.

Everyone was waiting, not for Wang Baole’s arrival, but for Duan Muque’s command to blow up Venus. That was the critical maneuver for this battle. But… no such order came.

Duan Muque was ready to give the order, but he couldn’t. Since the battle had commenced… more than three hundred thousand Dao Palace cultivators had rushed the Venusian line of defense, and countless enemy battleships had attacked. Five to six Soul Conduit realm cultivators, including Mie Liezi, had even entered the fray. The enemy had the planet surrounded, but… Daoist You Ran remained absent!

You Ran’s absence meant that the enemy had not yet displayed its full strength. That meant that Duan Muque couldn’t give the orders to blow up Venus. He had learned his lesson on Mercury. Then, the explosion of the planet had been swiftly overpowered by Daoist You Ran and his fearsome Death Dao Battleship.

“We will keep waiting for Daoist You Ran to appear. When he turns up, we will activate the Solar System Array Formation to hold him down. That will be when we blow up Venus!” Duan Muque stared unblinkingly at the screens before him. Scenes from the battlefield flashed across the screens and reflected onto his reddened eyes. His nerves were pulled tight to their very limits.

The fourth line of defense collapsed as they continued to wait. Feng Qiuran had summoned five projections and was doing her best to hold back the five enemy Soul Conduit realm cultivators. She might have fully recovered from her previous injuries, but the five-way fight was still challenging the limits of her capabilities. She risked new injury in order to keep the enemies away and prevent them from unleashing their full power.

The Dao Palace Nascent Soul realm cultivators should have given the Dao Palace an advantage on the battlefield. However, the Federation had drawn up a strategy that targeted this group specifically. The Core Formation realm cultivator leading each small Federation combat team had ignited an Anti-Spirit Bomb at the beginning of their fight. Dealing with the bombs became a source of headache for the Dao Palace Nascent Soul realm cultivators. As the battle continued, rescue efforts led by Zhao Yameng and the rest became increasingly challenging.

No one had the time for a breather. Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao could have used their status and chosen to station themselves behind the safety of the first line of defense, but they had chosen to head for the front lines in the end.

The rescue teams, which included Li Wuchen in their midst as well, had suffered great casualties during the battles of the past few days. Everyone was exhausted and stretched to their limits. Injuries accumulated and worsened. Regardless, retreat was not an option!

The combat teams were still deep in battle, engaged in a fierce fight. There was no reason for them to retreat and leave their comrades in the lurch!

Venus was one of the two key strongholds for the Federation. It was paramount to the Federation’s survival. There was no way they could retreat and give it up!

“Hold our ground!” Zhao Yameng clenched her jaw and dashed forward. She saved a fellow Federation cultivator and blocked a blow from a Dao Palace Core Formation realm cultivator. The latter had a familiar face. He seemed to recognize Zhao Yameng as well and immediately drew back from her cautiously.

Kong Dao followed closely behind Zhao Yameng. The injury on his chest was deep, bone visible through its opening. He sucked in a quick breath, gritted his teeth, then flung his pills towards the cultivator whom they had just rescued.

There were multiple wounds on the cultivator. His face was pale, his lips streaked with bright crimson blood, and a bitter smile split his face in half. He was about to say something when the bright glowing barrier of the fourth line of defense suddenly… collapsed!

It happened too quickly. The precarious state of the Federation took a plunge for the worse. The cause of this was the sudden charge of a cultivator from the ranks of the Dao Palace cultivators. He appeared, then immediately attacked the array formation holding up the fourth line of defense. A Soul Conduit realm cultivation blasted at the fourth line of defense, tearing it apart and causing its collapse.

This cultivator was… Mie Liezi!

He blasted the fourth line of defense apart, dodged Feng Qiuran’s hastily conjured projection, then headed straight for the third line of defense. He seemed intent on destroying every array formation in the area and forcing the Federation to deploy its trump card ahead of time!

“Stop Mie Liezi!” Li Xingwen’s roar thundered across the entire third line of defense. He raced towards Mie Liezi with a sudden burst of speed. Sect Lord Xu had turned around and was doing the same. It seemed like both of them were too late.

The third line of defense was about to fall… it was then that a sudden shout erupted from behind the Never-Ending Clan and Dao Palace forces, overpowering the cacophony of battle!

The lunar stronghold approached from the distant starlit space, thundering as it drew near!