A World Worth Protecting

Three major sects reigned supreme in the Divine Eye civilization. They had the power to influence and to a certain extent, control the Divine Eye royalty. These three sects were the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect, the Earth Hexagram Unity Sect, and the Violet Gold New Dao Sect!

These three upper sects were extremely powerful and influential. Together, they were seen as the rulers of the Divine Eye civilization. They had their headquarters built on their own separate planets and had subsidiary sects on the main Divine Eye planet as well. Sects located on the second, third, and fourth mountain rings were all controlled and managed by these three upper sects.

The cultivators from the three upper sects who were stationed on the home planet might not be the most powerful cultivators of the sects, but they had incredibly important roles. The significance of having a branch sect on the home planet couldn’t be underestimated. That was also the reason why there was generally always a late-stage Soul Conduit realm cultivator holding the fort in the branch sects on the home planet.

The headquarters would send resources to the branch sects on the home planet every month. Based on the agreement set between the three upper sects and the royal family, a portion of the resources would be channeled towards the royal family. The remaining portion would be channeled towards the branch sects for their members’ cultivation needs.

The three upper sects possessed a wealth of resources. This led to their disciples’ great expenditure of resources—for both their personal cultivation as well as their daily needs—which vastly exceeded that of an ordinary disciple in a lower sect. The resources the upper sects transferred to the home planet every monthly were of significant value. It was enough to drive the other sects on the fifth mountain ring mad with envy.

No matter how green-eyed with envy they got, no one dared to do anything that might incur the wrath of the three great sects. The three great sects didn’t even have to install that many defense mechanisms on their battleships. They had been allowing their battleships to run free in the Divine Eye Star System for years. The emblems on their battleships were their greatest defense.

At this moment, a battleship that spanned a hundred thousand feet was traveling in space. It had a looming presence filled with authority and power. As the battleship raced towards the main Divine Eye planet, other battleships in its path moved aside. No one dared to stand in the way of this battleship.

The battleship was purple, and its shape resembled a Kun Peng. Fixed at its helm was a huge crystal that sparkled and exuded waves of purple light and a powerful aura.

The huge gem and the battleship’s color ensured that any cultivator from the Divine Eye civilization would recognize the sect the battleship belonged to at first glance. This was a Violet Gold New Dao Sect battleship!

The battleship’s Kun Peng-shaped hull meant that it was a battleship that belonged to the Kun Peng Legion, one of the legions under the sect’s Nine Sacred Beasts Legion!

The Kun Peng Legion wasn’t the strongest legion in the Violet Gold New Dao Sect. Regardless, its military capabilities were still strong enough to inspire general fear and awe. The commander of the legion was at the perfected Soul Conduit realm and had dozens of powerful Soul Conduit realm cultivators under his command. The legion was famous within the Divine Eye civilization. Its fierce invasions made it infamous in foreign civilizations as well.

That was why… even though the battleship was traveling alone and in the capacity of a transport vehicle, without any other ships escorting it, it still managed to inspire awe in the cultivators aboard surrounding battleships.

The surrounding battleships moved to stay out of the path of the Kun Peng Legion battleship. Like royalty that had descended upon the common populace, the Kun Peng Legion battleship approached the main Divine Eye planet, its path unhindered. It didn’t slow down as it charged towards its home planet. It entered the planet’s atmosphere instantly and headed for the third mountain ring.

Perhaps they had it too easy for too long and had become overconfident and careless as a result. Neither the battleship nor the cultivators on board who were in charge of transporting the month’s resources had sensed the wisp of black smoke that had approached the battleship as soon as the latter had entered the planet’s atmosphere. The black smoke had raced towards the battleship and appeared next to it instantly. Before the battleship could sound any alarms, the black smoke, which was really Wang Baole in his hidden form, lunged at the battleship like a salacious pervert who had just seen a beautiful lady.

A dozen seconds later, the battleship shifted. It was no longer headed for the third mountain ring but for the eighth mountain ring.

The planet’s atmosphere was a natural barrier that interfered with the battleship’s communication system. That was why the cultivators on board couldn’t inform the sect when the battleship was steered off-course. Half an hour passed, and the battleship carrying the sect’s monthly resources still didn’t arrive at the sect. That was when the sect realized something was wrong.

Even then, the sect hadn’t paid too much attention to the delay. The pride of being an upper sect, which had been instilled in every disciple, ensured that none of them even considered the possibility of something bad having happened to the battleship.

The only threats that the three main sects faced were each other. The constant tensions amongst the sects were shown in their constant competitions. None of them would resort to robbing the other easily.

That was why… it took another half an hour, during which they still didn’t see the arrival of their battleship, before the Violet Gold New Dao Sect realized that something was wrong. It might have taken them a while to reach that realization, but once they did, their reaction was swift. Within thirty seconds, the entire sect was in an uproar. More than thirty battleships rushed out from the third mountain ring and headed for the atmosphere in search of the missing battleship. Six Soul Conduit realm cultivators teleported out instantly, while more than a hundred Nascent Soul realm cultivators and even more Core Formation realm cultivators followed closely behind.

It was a sight that shocked the entire planet. Every sect was making their own guesses about what had happened. The Violet Gold New Dao Sect carried out a massive search and soon found their missing battleship in a valley on the eighth mountain ring!

Every Violet Gold New Dao Sect disciple widened their eyes and gasped aloud when they saw the state of the battleship. Incredulity filled their eyes. Their own battleship looked almost foreign.

The battleship… looked nothing like it should. The cultivators on board were unharmed, having passed out from a spiritual attack. The battleship they were in, on the other hand… no words could describe its state.

The gem on the battleship’s helm had gone missing, and in its place was a huge, gaping hole. The Dharmic Artifacts in the battleship’s core sector had all been dismantled and stolen. The material lining the battleship’s hull hadn’t escaped unscathed either, with the most valuable parts having been sliced off. Almost thirty percent of the battleship’s surface was now gone…

The sight was simply too much to bear. Shock filled every Soul Conduit realm cultivator who landed in the valley and saw the sight of their sect’s battleship. The current elder in charge of the branch sect on the home planet was a perfected Soul Conduit realm cultivator. He left his seclusion and came to the valley.

The elder had a head full of white hair and a hunched back. He appeared ancient. Death filled his gray eyes. The elder looked like a man who had just crawled out of his own grave. However, as soon as this seemingly weak old man arrived in the valley, all plant life in the area shriveled up instantly!

The elder eyed the ruined battleship while everyone kept their heads lowered. He suddenly laughed.

“Is this a result of your negligence, or is someone trying to test the waters and find out whether I’ve grown old and weak?” As he spoke, the elder raised his shriveled right hand and grabbed the dozen unconscious cultivators inside the battleship. Before they could stir awake, these cultivators began to quake violently. They shriveled up within the blink of an eye, their flesh and blood, as well as their souls, sucked out of their forms and yanked towards the elder. He took a deep breath and inhaled it all in, swallowing everything with a single gulp!

He started chewing slowly, and his eyes fell shut. It looked as if he were enjoying the taste of what he had just devoured while activating some form of soul searching spell. The cultivators around him shook with terror as they watched on. They knew the character of this elder who was currently stationed on the main Divine Eye planet. His violent nature and blood lust were well known throughout the civilization!

It was a long while before the elder finally opened his eyes. Blood lust flickered within. He said coolly, “It’s been years since someone tried to challenge an upper sect. You have my permission to conduct an investigation. You have three days to get to the bottom of this. If you don’t, then I’ll start eating you. One person for each extra day taken.” Having said that, the elder turned away and vanished.

His words remained resonating in the ears of the six early-stage Soul Conduit realm cultivators after his disappearance. Their faces paled drastically, and their breathing quickened. They stared at one another with reddened eyes. Without hesitation, they sent orders to the cultivators in their individual factions to carry out a full-fledged search!

“No price is too heavy. You have three days to find the wretched creature!”

As the six cultivators of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect began a furious search, Wang Baole had returned to the safety of the Holy Crest Sect. He sat inside his chambers, his eyes shining.

The Violet Gold New Dao Sect must be loaded! They were using such a huge piece of Instant Void Stone as an emblem of their power!

And the material that the battleship was crafted from. Purple Fire Gold! Wang Baole took a deep breath. The resources he had gathered from his previous robberies couldn’t compare to the value of this battleship. He began to recount what had happened during the robbery to ensure that he hadn’t left any evidence behind and unwittingly revealed himself. Then, Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. A cold glint flickered within.

This was a civilization that had destroyed an entire planet’s human population with a virus, a civilization that lived off invading and pillaging other civilizations. Wang Baole had no compassion for such a civilization. He didn’t care if they lived or perished.

They’re not my clansmen, so who cares? But it looks like a storm is about to erupt on the Divine Eye planet!