A World Worth Protecting

De Kunzi secretly lamented when he sensed Wang Baole’s murderous intent. He might have been imprinted with a servant’s brand and would have to answer to Wang Baole’s every beck and call, but he was reluctant to offend any of the three greater sects until it was their last resort. The Violet Gold New Dao Sect, especially, had only recently gained its power. Because of its newly gained dominance, it was dearly protective of its own. What people heard about the sect drove terror into their hearts. They were notorious for eliminating and massacring whole sects. Their infamy was widespread.

De Kunzi’s guts told him to calm Wang Baole down and dissuade him from any extreme actions. Before he could speak, though, the Ink Dragon Legion struck!

The cosmos thundered as eight purple beams of light blasted from the Ink Dragon Legion and landed on the Holy Crest Sect battleships. The beams of light transformed into eight layers of purple nets, which entrapped the Holy Crest Sect battleships within and, with a single fierce yank, began dragging them along. It appeared that the Ink Dragon Legion intended to take them away by force.

An overpowering force emanated from the nets, attacking the minds of the Holy Crest Sect disciples on the battleships and sending blood spilling from their lips. Their bodies could hardly take the stress. Even those at the Nascent Soul realm didn’t escape unscathed. De Kunzi himself was trembling slightly, and his heart was in turmoil with a mix of anxiety and fear as he stared at Wang Baole and sent the latter a voice transmission hastily.

“Master, why not just let this pass? Offending the Ink Dragon Legion is equivalent to challenging the Violet Gold New Dao Sect. Unless we stay within the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s territory indefinitely, we’ll definitely run into trouble in the future if we cause trouble now!”

The look in Wang Baole’s eyes grew frostier when he heard De Kunzi’s voice transmission. Originally, he hadn’t intended to cause any unnecessary trouble and was going to let the other party confiscate their resources. His heart might ache for the loss, but this was a decision he had accepted was better in the long run. But the battleship that he had crafted by hand meant a lot to him. He had spent too much effort and too many resources on it. There was no way he was going to agree to let it go.

It was at that point that someone aboard the Ink Dragon Legion’s biological battleship snorted.

“You have three seconds to get out of my sight!” A slit appeared in the layers of purple net instantly, and a sudden force erupted from within, shoving the Holy Crest Sect cultivators into the open, tossing them into space and scattering them amongst the stars.

Only Wang Baole remained on the battleship, standing.

“Not leaving?” Upon discovery of Wang Baole’s inaction, the same person on board the Ink Dragon Legion’s battleship snorted again. Eight cultivators appeared suddenly, surrounding Wang Baole’s battleship. They unleashed their Soul Conduit realm cultivation without any hesitation, and their power surged outward and filled the entire cosmic region.

“A mere Soul Conduit realm cultivator. Since you want to stay, I’ll make sure you can’t leave!” The same voice, infused with a menacing tone, thundered again. Its owner appeared elderly, and he had a head full of white hair and a cold, arrogant look on his face. The look in his eyes could freeze water.

The look on De Kunzi’s face was thunderous. He had been expelled from his battleship and now faced eight Soul Conduit realm cultivators. He hovered a distance away from his battleship, his heart in turmoil. He felt awe and fear in the presence of a greater sect, but there was also shame and fury at being robbed. His fingers tightened into a fist and loosened themselves again as conflicting emotions fought inside him.

Wang Baole appeared calmer in comparison, despite being surrounded by eight Soul Conduit realm cultivators. He stood atop his battleship and swept his gaze across the eight cultivators. His eyes then landed on the old man who had spoken earlier. He recognized the voice, as it belonged to the old man who had demanded that he hand over his battleship.

“Can we talk this over and not have my battleship confiscated? This is the list of resources I’ve invested in crafting this battleship. It took me three years to build it. If you still want the battleship, why not compensate me for my efforts?” Wang Baole said slowly after a moment of silence. As he spoke, he raised his right hand and made a sweeping gesture, and a jade slip shot out and headed for the elderly cultivator.

“You want compensation?” The old man laughed, acting as if he had just heard the funniest joke. The Soul Conduit realm cultivators around him broke out into laughter as well. The middle-aged, early-stage Soul Conduit realm cultivator standing to his right, especially. The look on his face was filled with condescension and mockery. He looked as if he was about to say something when the jade slip approached amidst their laughter and was seized by the elderly cultivator. He clenched his fist and destroyed the jade slip, and black flames instantly surged out from the disintegrated jade slip and flooded the area!

Everything happened within the blink of an eye. The black flames rose like waves and transformed into a sea of black fire in the cosmos. It appeared to have sealed the region, surrounding the Ink Dragon Legion and trapping them within, disallowing any form of spirit energy to leak out from the area. They were effectively isolated!

As soon as the seal materialized, Wang Baole shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, disappearing instantly and reappearing next to the Ink Dragon Legion the next instant. Just as the enemy was about to react to his sudden proximity, his right hand shot out and clamped itself over the forehead of the elderly cultivator, the old man who had laughed at Wang Baole earlier.

The Thearch Armor materialized, then transformed into a set of gruesome-looking claws. Thunder rumbled in the cosmos. The elderly cultivator widened his eyes, and before he could retaliate, Wang Baole’s right hand tightened with sudden violence. The old man’s skull exploded like a watermelon that had been smashed with a hammer!

It didn’t matter that he had been at the mid-stage Soul Conduit realm, nothing could have saved him then. Before Wang Baole, there was no chance for him to reveal any of his fighting prowess!

Wang Baole’s incredible fighting abilities were part of the reason for the elderly cultivator’s quick death. But the fact that he had underestimated Wang Baole, and the fact that Wang Baole had made use of the Dark Fire’s sudden explosion to execute an ambush, also contributed to his unexpected and abrupt elimination.

Blood splattered everywhere, and a rush of vitality escaped from the elderly cultivator’s corpse and was sucked into Wang Baole’s Thearch Armor. The headless corpse shriveled up within seconds and was left adrift in space when Wang Baole released his hold on it.

A sudden deathly silence descended upon everyone. The remaining seven Soul Conduit realm cultivators, as well as the hordes of cultivators aboard the Ink Dragon Legion fleet, all stared at the scene, their eyes wide with incredulity. Everything had happened too quickly. These might have been battle-hardened warriors, but even they couldn’t accept what had just happened so readily. This wasn’t the same as the heightened state of vigilance they instinctively went into during expeditions. After all, they were in their home territory and facing off against an insignificant minor sect. The losses they had suffered in their most recent expedition had soured their moods as well, so naturally, they hadn’t been in the right state of mind.

But this was the seventh most powerful fleet under the Violet Gold New Dao Sect. The Ink Dragon Legion naturally had strengths that others couldn’t compare with. The unexpected outcome of the engagement immediately sent the battleships into action. Without orders from any Soul Conduit realm cultivators, the battleships had activated their offensive capabilities and locked down Wang Baole as their target. They unleashed their incredible offensive capabilities and retaliated instantly.

The surviving seven Soul Conduit realm cultivators immediately coordinated their attacks. Four charged Wang Baole while three retreated in an attempt to establish contact with the outside world. When they failed to establish contact, they realized the key to their freedom was Wang Baole. They roared and unleashed their full cultivation, intent on blasting clear the black flames that were trapping them in place so that they could signal that they were under attack.

Everything happened swiftly, within moments, from Wang Baole’s initial attack to the Ink Dragon Legion’s retaliation. Wang Baole narrowed his eyes when he witnessed the Ink Dragon Legion’s swift response to his attack. As beams of light erupted from the enemy battleships, he said coldly, “I had no intention of showing my hand here… but it seems I have no choice… so be it. I’ll just have to kill every single one of you.”

The bespelled beams of light pierced through Wang Baole’s body as soon as he said that, and the four approaching Soul Conduit realm cultivators had reached him then as well. The thunderous sounds of battle rumbled in the cosmos. It didn’t matter if it were spells released by the enemy battleships or divine powers unleashed by the Soul Conduit realm cultivators, they all went right through Wang Baole’s body when they landed on him.

Wang Baole’s form blurred in that instant, transforming into a semi-transparent state. It spread out like mist, passing through everything ahead of him and racing straight for the three Soul Conduit realm cultivators who were currently trying to blast open the black flames sealing them in this space!

The suddenness and speed of the attack sent the Ink Dragon Legion into another bout of shock. The three Soul Conduit realm cultivators who had been busy trying to blast open the seal formed from Dark Fire were stunned as well, and alarm flashed across their faces as they scattered hastily. They had intended to continue attacking the seal while Wang Baole was distracted by the others. While this tactic might have worked on someone else, it was useless against Wang Baole!

His body had transformed into mist, and within the mist, hidden from the eyes of his enemies, was the Dark Demonic Eye. His form shadowed everything in the sealed space. It didn’t matter how many avatars the three Soul Conduit realm cultivators summoned, they were all within his reach. It took mere moments for Wang Baole to encase them in his mist-like form.

Screams of pain and terror pierced the cosmos. When the mist rolled back and shrunk to reveal Wang Baole again, one could see three corpses floating around him, each one shriveled and bereft of all life and vitality!

Wang Baole knew that time wasn’t on his side. The sooner he ended this battle, the better it would be for him. He didn’t hesitate as he transformed into mist again and headed straight for the remaining four Soul Conduit realm cultivators in the center of the sealed space.

Of the four Soul Conduit realm cultivators, two were old, one was middle-aged, and the last was a young man. They were all filled with shock and fear at the moment, having just watched as their fellow cultivators got butchered like chickens in a slaughterhouse. They were even beginning to doubt the abilities of their fellow Soul Conduit realm cultivators. As danger marched steadily towards them and the threat of death loomed over them, they howled and began to retreat, unleashing their most powerful techniques.

These techniques were useless as long as Wang Baole remained in his mist-like state, so the cultivators were surrounded by Wang Baole in an instant. The two elderly cultivators were the first to scream out in pain as their bodies shriveled up. Next was the middle-aged cultivator, who managed to survive for an extra three counts before also quivering and shriveling up. The last was the youth… As Wang Baole approached him, the youth howled in despair and smashed his palm into his forehead. It was then…

A surge of spirit energy that alarmed Wang Baole erupted from the young man’s body as red mist poured out from the young man’s orifices and materialized into a red palm before him. Immediately after, an overwhelming power that shook the heavens and earth and appeared capable of overpowering everything in sight rushed at Wang Baole.

He’s under the protection of a Spirit Immortal realm cultivator? Wang Baole’s eyes narrowed!