A World Worth Protecting

Time passed slowly as Duo Youzi became resigned to his fate. The Divine Sovereign Justice Sect hadn’t made any arrangements for accommodations for them. That was why most of those who had arrived early simply remained in their seats and meditated while they waited. Duo Youzi went around catching up with fellow cultivators he was friends with. He even found some other place to meditate instead of returning to his seat…

Wang Baole was extremely bored. He didn’t even think of making a trip to the cave abode of the female cultivator he had spoken to earlier. Fortunately, there appeared to be an endless supply of spirit fruits in the venue. During the two days that he had been sitting there, Wang Baole had eaten thousands of spirit fruits. He was becoming infamous in the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s kitchen.

The Divine Sovereign Justice Sect… had never come across someone who had such an insatiable appetite!

The more he ate, the less the disciples in the kitchen could steal from the supplies. These disciples had long viewed the general assembly as a time for them to get rich from stealing from the kitchen, so their hearts were aching with loss.

That was why the disciples in the kitchen released a sigh of relief when all attendees of the general assembly finally arrived, and the general assembly could finally formally commence. Otherwise, based on their calculations, their supplies would run out sooner or later.

Duo Youzi, on the other hand, had no choice but to return to his seat. He secretly sighed as he sat down next to Wang Baole. Wang Baole observed Duo Youzi with a smile on his face. He didn’t try and make things difficult for Duo Youzi. Instead, he began studying the only person sitting on the second level of the altar at the moment—the elder in black robes.

He was the only person sitting cross-legged on the altar. He might have tried to contain his Spirit Immortal realm cultivation, but there was still overwhelming power surging from him. It was like being in the presence of a volcano that was about to erupt, and it drove the entire hall into a deathly silence.

He’s at the perfected Spirit Immortal realm! Wang Baole reeled back in shock. Only someone at the Planet realm or the perfected Spirit Immortal realm could overpower the entire crowd of cultivators here based on their cultivation alone. Since he wasn’t at the Planet realm, he must then be at the perfected Spirit Immortal realm.

Based on that, it wasn’t hard to guess the elder’s identity!

“Duo Youzi, this is my first time here. Tell me who that is.” Wang Baole glanced at Duo Youzi, who was sitting all prim and proper in his seat, before sending a voice transmission to the latter.

Duo Youzi’s face appeared to twitch slightly. Then, after a long moment of silence, he replied to Wang Baole’s voice transmission with his own shorter one.

“That’s the commander of the Green Kraken Legion, the first army of the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect, Daoist Gu Mo!”

Wang Baole studied the elder for a few moments and committed his face to memory. It was then that Daoist Gu Mo, commander of the Green Kraken Legion, opened his eyes. A rush of fierce wind appeared to sweep across the room with the mere opening of his eyes, and a silent explosion erupted in the minds of everyone present.

“The general assembly shall now commence!” The hall was silent for a short while after the announcement was made. Then, people started speaking one after another, following some form of order. There were simply too many of them, though. When the first thousand speakers had finished speaking, six days had passed.

In those six days, of the thousand who had spoken, some had voiced grievances, some had submitted appeals, while some had made complaints. Daoist Gu Mo had assessed every one of them, invalidating or validating them, one after another.

Wang Baole had listened along with relish at the beginning before gradually growing bored and annoyed. The disciple who was responsible for supplying him with spirit fruits had stood nervously behind Wang Baole as the latter had begun eating again.

Wang Baole had eaten more than two thousand spirit fruits over the course of six days. It was then that the commander of the second army took Daoist Gu Mo’s place and continued chairing the general assembly. Everything remained the same. Wang Baole couldn’t muster any effort into being interested in the proceedings, so he continued snacking on fruits instead.

Next came the commander of the third army, then the fourth, as well as the commanders of the fifth to ninth armies who took their seats on the third level of the altar. They continued to chair the assembly in turn. When they were all done, more than twenty days had passed. During this period, Wang Baole had eaten almost thirty thousand spirit fruits. He had also witnessed the power that the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect held. All commanders of the first six armies were at the Spirit Immortal realm!

Starting from the seventh army, the commanders were at the False Immortal realm. Just as the disciples from the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s kitchen were about to go mad from the rapid depletion of their kitchen supplies, the commander of the tenth army finally made her appearance!

She was the only female commander to helm one of the ten most powerful armies in the sect. Beneath her black armor was a curvaceous figure and a face with unsurpassed beauty. The commander exuded an icy aura and was like a tornado, a force of nature that pulled the attention of all men towards her.

Her presence was incomparable to the auras that the Spirit Immortal realm commanders had exuded upon their arrival, but it clearly overpowered the other False Immortal realm commanders. All eyes lit up at the sight of her beauty. Of course, while a few began contemplating sinful thoughts, no one dared to leer openly at the female cultivator.

“Youzi, tell me who that is!” Wang Baole’s eyes narrowed immediately. This was the Spirit Immortal realm cultivator that he had caught a glimpse of when he had been standing outside the venue. Her arrival sparked questions in his head. Based on her current level of cultivation, it didn’t seem likely that the army that she was commanding could be ranked in the sect’s top ten armies. That was why Wang Baole had sent a voice transmission to Duo Youzi.

Duo Youzi fell into another bout of silence. He disliked the nickname that Wang Baole had conjured for him around ten days ago very much. There wasn’t much he could do about that, though, so he answered Wang Baole’s question obediently.

“She’s the commander of the Ice Phoenix Legion, the tenth army of the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect… Her name is Fairy Ling You. She just attained the Spirit Immortal realm and made her way here without taking the military trial. If not, in terms of ranking, she should at least be classified as the commander of the seventh army. That’s an extremely high position in the sect!”

“Not bad. Does she have a Dao partner?” Wang Baole blinked. Considering his amazing looks, he might be able to use his charms on her and open more doors in this manner. He was also awed by the power that the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect had displayed. The commander of the Violet Gold New Dao Sect’s seventh army was only at the False Immortal realm. In comparison, the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect was clearly the more powerful sect. Of course, the fact that both sects were seen as equals likely meant that the Violet Gold New Dao Sect had certain hidden strengths that Wang Baole was unaware of!

Duo Youzi couldn’t help but turn towards Wang Baole when he heard the latter’s question. He eyed Wang Baole discreetly before his heart settled slightly. Then, he returned the voice transmission.

“No. All the best, fellow Daoist Long Nanzi!”

Wang Baole ignored what he deemed to be jealousy in Duo Youzi’s eyes and began to study Fairy Ling You, who had taken over as the chair of the assembly. The more he studied her, the more confident he felt that his plan was going to succeed. Regardless, he was slightly reluctant to come to a decision about the plan.

I, Wang Baole, am a man with principles. I have a line that I won’t cross. What if Fairy Ling You falls completely head over heels for me and can’t stop lusting after my dashing looks? Wang Baole sighed at that thought and decided not to place himself in such danger. The disciples from the kitchen watched, with heart-stabbing agony, as Wang Baole grabbed another spirit fruit and began munching.

Five days passed. When Fairy Ling You finally ended her session chairing the assembly, the various commanders of the top ten armies descended from above and landed on the second and third levels of the altar. At that moment, an unprecedented solemnity filled the entire venue, and everyone got to their feet. Wang Baole was no exception.

The ten commanders of the first ten armies had all appeared. Commanders of the first four armies stood on the altar’s second level, while those of the remaining armies stood on the third level. Amongst them were seven Spirit Immortal realm cultivators and three False Immortal realm cultivators, and the looks on their faces were filled with respect and deference. There was a brief moment of silence before the commander of the first army, Daoist Gu Mo, spoke. He did so without warning, his voice rumbling through the hall like thunder.

“Welcome, esteemed patriarch!”

Every cultivator in the hall reeled back at those words. They immediately bowed towards the altar at the center of the hall and extended their greetings. Thousands of voices came together in a deafening rush that rose to the skies!

“Welcome, esteemed patriarch!”

Daoist Gu Mo, Fairy Ling You, and the other commanders of the first ten armies bowed as well. At that exact moment, the sect grounds shuddered, and a rumbling roar surged outward. Tremors that could be heard and felt outside the hall surged outwards as an unimaginably powerful aura descended upon the altar.

The sudden blast of power swept across the entire hall like a tornado. The cultivators in the hall were lone boats bobbing along in a tumultuous ocean, helpless in the face of a wild and powerful storm, threatened with the possibility of capsizing at any moment.

Wang Baole reeled back with shock. Despite having encountered a Planet realm cultivator in his earlier days, he was still overwhelmed by the newly arrived presence. He struggled to lift his head and caught a glimpse of a huge tear in the fabric of space at the edge of his vision. The tear was emitting a bright light as it hovered above the top level of the altar, having appeared out of nowhere!

A middle-aged man in colorful robes stepped out from the tear with a warm smile on his face. It was like witnessing a living deity descending into the world of the living. Everyone’s heads began buzzing as soon as he appeared.

Wang Baole’s breathing quickened, and his eyes hurt just from a single look at the man, the light radiating from the latter feeling like daggers.

Wang Baole was no simple character. He might have retracted his gaze due to the pain, but from that single look, he had seen what was on the other side of the tear that the Planet realm patriarch had stepped out from. It had been the cosmos, a vast expanse of space with one particular planet radiating a brilliant light!

When his eyes fell upon the planet, the knowledge that Wang Baole had learned from the Dark Sect’s ancient literature regarding the ways to reach the Planet realm surfaced in his head. To reach the Planet realm… one had to fuse with a planet. Upon fusion, the planet would become the cultivator, and the cultivator would become the planet. They would become one!

This planet would then disappear completely from the cosmos and would exist only in the mind of the cultivator!

That was why the bigger and more unique the planet that the cultivator fused with, the stronger and more powerful the cultivator would become. However, such planets were rare. Even if they did exist, they would typically have been discovered by powerful cultivators, who would have reserved these planets for their own descendants’ cultivation.

While Wang Baole was still deep in thought, the suppressive force that had come from all around them vanished suddenly. A middle-aged man emerged from the tear and took his seat on the top level of the altar. The tear appeared to pull the edges of itself inward, turning into a slit that emitted light. It looked like… the slit pupil of a snake!

“Greetings to the esteemed patriarch!” Daoist Gu Mo said again. Everyone repeated after him, their voices echoing in the halls in the next moment. As the voices rose to their loudest, Wang Baole blinked, then shouted at the top of his voice, with everything that he had.

“Greetings to the esteemed patriarch! May your reign be supreme and absolute, may twin dragons soar under your rule, may the three realms bow to your mighty presence, may those from all four corners of the world come to worship at your feet, and may you, with your bare fingers, exact just punishment on the divine! May you be free from the six paths of reincarnation, may your soul remain invincible as long as the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper shine in the skies, may your heart resist temptation from demons from all eight regions of the world, may your mind preserve its clarity amidst the nine worldly emotions, and may the Eternal Star realm be ten steps within your reach!”