A World Worth Protecting

Wang Baole was brimming with anticipation. It was then that he noticed that of the crew that was joining the raid, seventy percent of them were disciples planning to gather resources for their own use!

The remaining members were cultivators who hadn’t contributed much to the sect or cultivators who were mediocre. They were people whom the sect could do without. The fact that they were here surprised Wang Baole.

But he was going to leave soon, so he didn’t pay much attention to that. His main focus was on preparing for the moment when he was going to conceal his presence. He wanted to minimize the chances of him being discovered.

The Holy Crest Sect battleship soon unleashed a burst of incredible speed. The sound of its engines rumbled in the air as it dashed into the atmosphere. The battleship cruised through the atmosphere, a fearsome beast roaring as it raced along. It only took half an hour for it to pass through the thick layer of the planet’s atmosphere and emerge in space!

Wang Baole’s eyes narrowed slightly. He could see the main Divine Eye planet orbiting in space. Drifting around the planet were hundreds of battleships that belonged to the three main sects, and each one of those battleships exuded incredible power. These were the battleships that kept the planet on lockdown. Behind the line of battleships floated… an enormous meteor!

To be more precise, it was a stronghold crafted from a meteor!

The stronghold wasn’t floating in space. It was being dragged along by an enormous, rainbow-colored jellyfish!

The jellyfish exuded a bright glow and the aura of a perfected Soul Conduit realm cultivation. Waves of energy rippled outward, enveloping the area around the jellyfish. If one were to take a closer look, they might see an indistinct figure sitting cross-legged inside the jellyfish. There was no spirit energy coming off the person. Nevertheless, the sight of him would send anyone’s heart racing with fear.

It was… the Spirit Immortal realm cultivator!

Battleships that were entering and leaving the planet were split into two lanes. They flew past the rainbow-colored jellyfish in an orderly queue. As they went past, the jellyfish would emit rays of light that swept across the battleships. If the scan detected nothing out of the ordinary, the battleship would be allowed to pass.

Wang Baole’s nervousness increased at the sight. He studied the scene in detail, then gradually relaxed.

“It’s going to be alright!” Wang Baole murmured to himself. He stole glances at the others around him and realized he wasn’t the only person who was feeling nervous. The other elders looked jittery as well. Even the Grand Supreme Elder appeared subdued.

Their reactions weren’t due to guilt, it was a natural response—an instinctive fear and respect for the overwhelming power exhibited by a Spirit Immortal realm cultivator.

Silence reigned in the battleship as it joined the queue to leave the planet. They waited two hours before their turn for inspection came. The battleship approached the jellyfish slowly. As the rainbow-colored lights swept across the battleship, Wang Baole could sense an extremely powerful spiritual presence enveloping him.

All protections were stripped from his mind and his storage bags. Every thought in his mind and every item in his storage bags were exposed to the spiritual presence and its viewing.

It was then that Wang Baole’s essence technique activated mysteriously. This essence technique had been a gift from Wang Baole’s senior brother, the man who was the first Divine King of the Never-Ending Clan, whom legend said had slain a Divine Emperor. The essence technique summoned an illusory form that deceived the eyes of the intrusive spiritual presence, only allowing it to see what Wang Baole wanted it to see.

Wang Baole was a powerful cultivator, but he hadn’t yet attained the Soul Conduit realm. Such deception only worked because the Spirit Immortal realm cultivator was only conducting a brief sweep. If the inspection were to be any more detailed, Wang Baole wasn’t confident that he could pass it without causing any suspicion.

The scan took a dozen or so seconds, then they received notification that their departure was approved, which was met with sighs of relief. The Grand Supreme Elder steered the battleship slowly away from the jellyfish. The battleship’s speed picked up gradually, and soon, it was racing towards outer space!

I have to be patient. We are still within the wide reach of the Spirit Immortal realm cultivator’s Divine Sense. There are still dangers hidden in the Divine Eye civilization. It’s best to act when we’ve left the Divine Eye Star System… Wang Baole looked like he always did, but his mind was furiously working out the details of his escape. He finally decided to play safe. He would wait for the battleship to leave the Divine Eye Star System before he made his escape.

His tightly strung nerves began to loosen as they left the main Divine Eye planet behind them. He thought about the looks that were going to be on his grandmaster’s and Duan Muque’s faces when he finally returned to the Federation. The thought made him vibrate with anticipation.

Nothing in this world can stop me from becoming the Federation President! Wang Baole thought excitedly before something caught his attention. There was something wrong with the course the battleship was taking. The position of the stars was different from what he remembered from the star maps.

The battleship didn’t seem to be headed for space beyond the Divine Eye Star System. It appeared to be flying towards… the star at the center of the star system!

The discovery stunned Wang Baole, and he wasn’t the only one affected. Shock appeared on the faces of the other elders and a portion of the remaining cultivators. They all turned towards the Grand Supreme Elder, who was steering the battleship.

One elder was about to raise a question when the Grand Supreme Elder suddenly pressed his fingers together in a hand seal and slammed both palms onto the console. His cultivation erupted from his body and sent the battleship flying at full speed. A thunderous rumble resonated in space as the battleship raced towards the Eternal Star at a startling speed!

It approached the Eternal Star rapidly!

The battleship looked as if it were traveling at light speed, distorting and bending light itself as it tore through space!

Alarm flashed across Wang Baole’s face, and a dark look flickered in his eyes. He had no idea what was going on, but it was clearly something bad. He narrowed his eyes, prepared to force his way out of the battleship as it drew nearer to the Eternal Star at an intense speed. It was then that… his eyes suddenly widened.

The Demonic Eye Art nestled inside his body… had chosen this moment to activate itself. It churned fiercely and wildly, with the violence of a feral beast, exuding an indescribable madness and… hunger!

The air behind Wang Baole began to warp, his demonic eye on the verge of materializing. Wang Baole was taken completely by surprise. He immediately suppressed the demonic eye and stopped it from materializing. However, the Demonic Eye Art continued to churn inside his body.

What’s going on? Have I been discovered? Wang Baole’s breathing hitched as shock and alarm rose inside him.

He could sense the Demonic Eye Art’s hunger, which intensified as the battleship approached the Eternal Star. The hunger began to affect Wang Baole. He could sense something… calling out to him from inside the Eternal Star.

It was like a mother’s call for her child. Every wandering child was irresistibly compelled to obey it and return to their mother’s embrace!

I haven’t been discovered. This is something else… Wang Baole thought, shaken. An incredulous thought appeared in his mind. At that exact moment… the indescribably gigantic Eternal Star that had appeared before the approaching battleship suddenly let loose a surge of flames and energy waves!

A sliver of a crack appeared on the Eternal Star, and it grew increasingly wider and longer. It took only a few seconds before the crack touched both ends of the Eternal Star. Then… like the lid covering an eye, it snapped open!

Space itself thundered and quaked, and every cultivator on board the battleship could hear a loud buzzing in their head. Stunned, they stared ahead… at the gigantic eye the size of an Eternal Star!

The eye’s pupil was gray and devoid of emotion, appearing cold and without feeling while exuding a powerful aura. It was like a god gazing down upon its creations. It was gazing down at the steadily approaching battleship, which was like an ant when compared to the eye.

Everyone in the battleship was blown away by the sight. No one noticed Wang Baole’s trembling body or the Demonic Eye Art nestled inside him. The Demonic Eye Art was now fully activated and churning furiously. Even this couldn’t compare to the shock he was experiencing at this moment!

There was no way he could remain calm. The eye that the Eternal Star had transformed into… was almost exactly the same as… the demonic eye that always materialized when he used the Demonic Eye Art!

The Divine Eye civilization… and the Demonic Eye Art… Wang Baole’s heart was racing. In the next moment, the battleship was caught by the Eternal Star’s gravity and yanked roughly towards it. The battleship began racing speedily towards the Eternal Star!