A World Worth Protecting

The look on the face of the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch darkened when he heard Wang Baole’s challenge. He had to admit honestly to himself that things had been going too smoothly. He had managed to string Long Nanzi along successfully for the past couple of times. That had led to his lowering his guard. As a result, he had walked right into Long Nanzi’s trap at such a critical moment. Even though all wasn’t yet lost…

His opponent now had the upper hand. He recalled what had just happened. Despite his strong urge to kill the other man right now, he couldn’t help but shudder slightly at the deviousness that Wang Baole had displayed.

He knew very well how some things might seem simple in hindsight, seeming as if everyone should have been able to guess how things would’ve turned out. But the ability to analyze what was going on and predict the events that were to follow, then formulate and carry out a targeted plan while one was still fumbling around in the dark, wasn’t a gift that everyone had.

Like Long Nanzi, for example… He was clearly harboring suspicions for quite some time. Then, he struck the lottery and managed to advance his cultivation while he was away. As a result, we didn’t notice at all when he created a separate avatar of himself… The Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch fell into deep silence, ignoring Wang Baole’s provocations. He realized who had caused the Eye of the Eternal Star’s eruption earlier. There was no way that he was going to charge into battle right now.

He was a member of the royal family, after all. His understanding of the Eye of the Eternal Star surpassed that of an ordinary cultivator. He was well aware… that Long Nanzi, who had obtained complete control over the Eye of the Eternal Star and had his strength boosted due to his proximity to the Eternal Star… would no longer feel threatened by any Planet realm cultivator. Only an Eternal Star realm cultivator would pose a threat to him now!

In fact… it would still take an Eternal Star realm cultivator a decent bit of time before he could kill Wang Baole if they were to battle it out on the Eye of the Eternal Star. There was also a distinct possibility that the Eternal Star realm cultivator might fail to kill Wang Baole. He might only succeed in cornering Wang Baole and forcing the latter to escape and teleport away.

Simply put, as long as Long Nanzi remained on the Eternal Star and didn’t take a step off the Eternal Star, he would remain, to a certain degree, invincible.

Of course… his supposed invincibility depended on a very important premise, which was that… Wang Baole remained inside the Eye of the Eternal Star!

As soon as he stepped out of the Eye of the Eternal Star, the boost to his power would decrease sharply. At that juncture, he could still be slain if a few Planet realm cultivators joined forces and attacked him.

With that thought in mind, the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch decided to ignore Wang Baole. Instead, he turned towards the sect lord of the Heavenly Spirit Sect. Wang Baole watched as they nodded at each other after a series of voice transmissions. He didn’t know the contents of their conversation, but the tension on their faces had eased away. They then turned and left!

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. He retreated as well, vanishing from everyone’s sight and returning to the Eternal Star.

The Eternal Star was a destructive force of nature, an awesome hurricane of light and heat to others. But to Wang Baole, who held control over it, it posed no danger or obstacle. What should have been dangerous waves of heat parted for him wherever he went.

After he had been granted full mandate, Wang Baole could sense the ability of teleportation tingling inside him. As long as he wanted to, he could call upon the Eye of the Eternal Star and teleport himself anywhere in the Divine Eye civilization, then teleport himself back to the Eternal Star.

The thought of that sent Wang Baole’s eyes flashing. He didn’t attempt anything rash, though. He decided that he was going to take some time to get comfortable with his new mandate. After he had familiarized himself with the Eye of the Eternal Star, he would decide his next course of action.

At that thought, Wang Baole picked up speed and began racing across the Eternal Star. He could feel a resonance with the Eternal Star. It was a feeling that he was familiar with. He was a Dharmic Armament cultivator, and this was the feeling that a cultivator had when he established a connection with his Dharmic Armament, the waves of resonance that he felt from such a connection.

“I was right. The Eye of the Eternal Star is just a gigantic Dharmic Artifact!” Wang Baole said thoughtfully. He was reminded of his Dark Artifact on Mars.

After such a long period of nurturing, my Dark Artifact should have reached a stage where I’m now able to excavate it and take it out of Mars!

Excitement unfurled inside Wang Baole. After taking a tour of the Eternal Star, he found himself a spot and landed. He sat down and began to study the mandate he had just acquired in detail. Two weeks later, Wang Baole finally opened his eyes. He had managed to acquire a thorough understanding of the Eye of the Eternal Star.

It can perform teleportations between any two places in the Divine Eye civilization. There’s no limit to the number of teleportations that can be done… By expending the Eternal Star’s energy, I can also perform long-distance teleportations… but that would require me to be of a certain level of cultivation! Wang Baole’s breathing quickened slightly. Based on his analysis, once he reached the Planet realm, he could teleport the entire Divine Eye civilization and send it to the Solar System if he were willing to pay the price for it!

Even though his level of cultivation wasn’t high enough at this point and that feat was still beyond his capabilities, teleporting himself back to Earth was something that he could do right now. He just had to wish it. Nevertheless… the constraints his current level of cultivation placed on him would still hold true for such a teleportation. Because of the distance separating Earth and the Divine Eye civilization, he would only be able to teleport himself back to Earth… He wouldn’t be able to return to the Divine Eye civilization after that if he wanted to.

However, that didn’t matter. Wang Baole was still overcome with excitement. He almost couldn’t stop himself from wishing himself back to the Solar System. It took him a long while to control his excitement. He slowly narrowed his eyes.

Patience… I’m not done here yet. Wang Baole wasn’t willing to just leave like that. He hadn’t gone to so much trouble for a single teleportation. That wouldn’t be worth it.

If he couldn’t get back to the Divine Eye civilization, he wouldn’t be able to bring the Eye of the Eternal Star away with him. Someone else was going to come along and snatch it from him if he left it where it was now. Even though he had the mandate over the Eternal Star, Wang Baole believed that it would be a piece of cake for powerful cultivators to steal the Eye of the Eternal Star if they wanted to.

There’s also… the Graveyard of Stars. I want a part in that too. A fire seemed to light up in Wang Baole’s eyes. It wasn’t fury but a burning desire to attain the Planet realm.

He was now certain that the Heavenly Spirit Sect had allied with the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch because the former wanted a placement for the Graveyard of Stars, something the latter had. In that case… would killing the patriarch transfer that placement onto Wang Baole himself…

The thought of that made the desire in Wang Baole’s heart burn more intensely. He didn’t know much about the Graveyard of Stars. He only knew that it was a land of opportunity where the prodigies of the numerous factions and powerful family clans in the Never-Ending Dao Domain attained the Planet realm. But he had boarded the spirit boat once!

The paper human cutout in his storage ring was another reason for Wang Baole’s intense curiosity about the Graveyard of Stars. But he knew that he had managed to board the spirit boat because of the paper human cutout in his storage ring, not because he was anyone special. He knew that without a proper placement, he wouldn’t be able to stay on the boat even if he were to board it successfully again. History would repeat itself, and he would be chased off the boat by the ferryman.

Wang Baole thought about it for a while. Then, determination filled his eyes. No matter what, he was going to fight for a chance. That being said, before he did anything, he still had other matters to attend to.

They were… Zhao Yameng, the donkey, and Little Wu. He was in his essence body now. If his essence body were to perish in battle, his true form might suffer some damage, but he would survive and live to die another day. It wasn’t the same for them.

Should his plan succeed, he would end up in the Graveyard of Stars. There was no way that he was going to bring them along and make them brave the dangers with him. This was a high-stakes gamble that he was making. He was trying to steal the tiger’s prey right from its jaws, and there was a high chance that his avatar would perish in the attempt.

But it wouldn’t be appropriate to leave the trio on the Eye of the Eternal Star either. The mandate that Wang Baole had only guaranteed his safety while he was on the Eye of the Eternal Star. Once he left the Eternal Star, his absence would result in the trio being engulfed in the Eye of the Eternal Star’s scorching waves.

This isn’t a huge problem… I’ll send them to safety on some discreet planet in a nearby civilization. Right now, I might only be able to perform a one-way trip back to Earth from the Divine Eye civilization, but I might be able to perform a two-way teleportation if I teleport from somewhere nearer to Earth. At that thought, Wang Baole directed his Divine Will towards Zhao Yameng. After he was done discussing it with her, his form faded away instantly. Waves of heat erupted across the Eternal Star in the next moment. Then, waves of spirit energy signifying the beginnings of a teleportation gathered, surging outward. Wang Baole then vanished without a trace.

Waves of spirit energy ravaged the Eye of the Eternal Star’s surface as Wang Baole teleported away and disappeared. Every cultivator in the Divine Eye civilization could sense the brilliant flare from the sun. The Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch and the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s sect lord looked up into the sky with stormy looks on their faces.

“He’s gone?” the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch muttered to himself. In the next moment, the darkened sun flared up once again. Waves of spirit energy erupted as the teleportation portal was activated once more. Wang Baole, who had disappeared earlier, reappeared on the Eye of the Eternal Star amidst the flare of spirit energy.