A World Worth Protecting

This fist was green-skinned and filled with symbols that had a spectral feel to them. It seemed to have come from hell and was now severely broken. When it landed in civilization, the heavens and earth were unable to withstand it. It was as if the sky was about to be devastated, causing the entire world to be left only with this large fist and the horse-faced cultivator, who was now looking extremely frightened, aghast, and hopeless!

The horse-faced cultivator’s face was twisted, and as he activated his hand seals and waved his hands, a jade pendant emerged instantly from his chest. The jade pendant was like a spirit body, glowing brilliantly. Once it appeared, it landed before the horse-faced cultivator, instantly transforming into a thousand-foot-wide jade stele!

A colorful glow blocked the fist!

The horse-faced cultivator was a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, and in the face of impending doom, he had a quick reaction and managed to struggle and resist it. In the blink of an eye, it replaced the vast fist in the sky, and landed on the jade stele!

The jade stele was large, but looking at it from a distance, it was like a tiny needle relative to the fist. It was so fragile that it was directly broken and turned to dust even before visible cracks could be seen!

Wang Baole had put in a lot of energy in this Dark Artifact. Over ninety percent of it may have been damaged, but it was, after all, a superior-grade Divine Armament!

The power of a superior-grade Divine Armament was minimal, but it was sufficient to crush a Nascent Soul cultivator!

In theory, if Wang Baole’s physical body was sufficiently large, he could directly move the Dark Artifact away. After that, he could exhibit such powers even if he was in the outside world. However, this was apparently impossible. Unless the Dark Artifact was restored to a certain extent and could be shrunk, Wang Baole could only unleash its destructive power in the interior of the Dark Artifact.

Right now, amidst the loud boom and as the jade stele was breaking apart, the horse-faced cultivator screamed pitifully. If it was possible to rewind time, the horse-faced cultivator would never have gone near Mars, for the Dark Artifact on Mars exerted a force on him that he couldn’t resist!

“Senior, please appease your anger… I… I’m merely a junior Nascent Soul realm cultivator…” The horse-faced cultivator’s voice was trembling. In the process of asking for forgiveness, he retreated at high speed. As he activated his hand seals, a large pink banner that looked like a ribbon appeared beside him, wrapping his surroundings. At a glance, it seemed rather uncoordinated with his movements. However, right now, the horse-faced cultivator couldn’t be bothered with it. He took out the most powerful protective Dharmic treasure that he had, despite being unwilling to use it.

As the ribbon twirled around, it gave off resistive forces. It seemed to be resisting all the other forces, auras, and objects that neared it in its surroundings. At the same time, the horse-faced cultivator still felt that it was insufficient. He bit his tongue and caused blood to start flowing, forming a blood-colored bat before him. The bat screamed shrilly, extending its wings as its body expanded into a length hundreds of feet long. Its wings also grew extremely large, and with the horse-faced cultivator as the center, the bat quickly clasped its wings—enveloping the horse-faced cultivator within it.

At the same time, there were tens of other Dharmic treasures of different shapes and sizes all being taken out by the horse-faced cultivator. At this life-and-death juncture, he gave it his all, and that included continuing to ask for forgiveness.

However, they were futile efforts. As the horse-faced cultivator retreated, the giant fist that decimated the jade stele recovered its force and landed heavily on him!

The tens of Dharmic treasures were instantly destroyed. The blood-colored bat didn’t manage to make a single sound before its wings and body turned into a mush of flesh and blood and vaporized. The ribbon beside the horse-faced cultivator’s body, despite being filled with resistive forces, was like a weak lady who had met with a jock that was several times heavier than her…

As everything withered, the ribbon was twisted, curling back onto the horse-faced cultivator’s body. A force that seemed capable of squashing everything was instantly released. Looking at the situation from a distance, it was like the sky had fallen onto the ground. It wasn’t even possible to see a single trace of the horse-faced cultivator’s existence, as everything seemed to have been turned into ash and dust…

After a moment, the giant fist was slowly lifted and gradually dissipated. All of the flesh and blood turned into spirits, culminating into the sea, while all of the bone ash landed and accumulated into an island!

The first level of the underground world appeared to have returned to its original state. Only the storage bag, and items like the ribbon, seemed to have been drawn into the air, into the vast land above the Spirit Sea. They were grabbed by a hand that had suddenly been extended, and a figure dressed in a black robe suddenly appeared. A lantern oar lay in front of him, and he sat with his legs crossed in a Lone Boat. He slowly retracted the hand that had grabbed the storage bag and the other items. He lowered his head and went further away into the distance, going in the direction that the lone boat naturally floated on the Spirit Sea.

As Wang Baole left into the distance, in the third level of this underground world, which was filled with many cities, the leader of the three extraterrestrial cultivators—the man with the centipede on his face—looked at his surroundings with an awful expression on his face.

Unlike the other two people, even though the leader was on the third level, he was trapped in a region that was less than a thousand feet wide. The periphery of this region was shrouded in a translucent gray glow, and regardless of which method the leader used, he was unable to break through the glow. He was trapped where he was!

In reality, after being swallowed by the ghoulish head previously, this was the location that he had reappeared in. Compared to his two subordinates, the leader with the centipede on his face was definitely more experienced and knowledgeable. He instantly realized that he didn’t go beyond the restrictions. Instead, an enemy had launched an attack and unleashed the force of a Dark Artifact. His two subordinates were likely to have met with fatal danger by now.

After all, having the courage to attack an unknown opponent implied that he was confident.

Is it an Artifact Spirit, or… that irritating fatty that was about to be skinned? He was solemn and appeared calm, but in reality, he was extremely anxious, as if his mind was set on fire. A sense of crisis was emanating from every inch of his body. It was as if all his cells were screaming at him to leave this place immediately!

The fact that the three of us were split up means that the mastermind doesn’t have the confidence to go against us at the same time. Based on this interpretation, there is a limit to this person’s combat power. If it’s that fatty, it means that he still isn’t skilled enough to handle the Dark Artifact, or… the Dark Artifact is broken or couldn’t be sufficiently supported by his cultivation level! The man with the centipede on his face narrowed his eyes as he made his judgment. At the same time, after he waited for about five minutes and realized that there was no one else here besides him, he concluded that his two subordinates were likely to have died.

Therefore, he is coming to me last… A look of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes. He understood that it was useless to be afraid. At the same time, the fact that he could become a thief on a star with his Nascent Soul realm cultivation was due to his decisiveness and ferocity.

I shall wait, then! The man laughed chillingly, suppressing the anxiety in his heart, and seeming to be awaiting death. He looked and inspected his surroundings after spreading his spirit perception apart. After ensuring that his setup was in place, he felt more comforted.

In reality, after arriving here and realizing that he couldn’t blast the protective covering away, he decided to put traps here. All the array formations, one-use elixirs, and Dharmic treasures that he had brought along with him were laid out in the thousand-foot-wide region. He used the entire situation for setting up his traps.

As he inspected the setup and felt comforted by it, he suddenly grew alert. He heard a mumbling voice that seemed to originate from a distance away and was growing clearer by the second.

“When the heavens and earth separate, the cycle of fate stops…”

“Knowing what happened in the past, the one who suffers now is…”

“Knowing what’s to come in the future, the one who is working hard now is…”

Listening to this bizarre song-like mumbling, his heart palpitated at an increasing speed. Even his spirits grew unstable, and his vision blurred. He bit his own tongue and managed to recover through the pain. He breathed quickly as he raised his head to look beyond the protective covering. His pupils constricted, and from the reflection in his eyes, it could be seen that the skies outside the protective screen had turned pitch black and that a long river had appeared along with the emergence of the tune!

The river water blended in with the dark skies but remained clear. Taking a closer look at it, one could even see that countless spirits were present in the water, as if the Spirit Sea from the first level of the underground world had flowed here and formed a Spirit River!

If it were just a Spirit River, the man with the centipede wouldn’t be so shocked. Without a doubt, in the Spirit River, a black Lone Boat was slowly approaching!

On the Lone Boat sat Wang Baole with his legs crossed. He stood up and raised his right hand. The lantern oar that was in front of him slowly rose and landed in his hands.

“It’s indeed you who was playing a trick on me!” A look of ferocity appeared in the eyes of the man with a centipede on his face. He bellowed when he recognized Wang Baole!

Wang Baole smiled, waving the lantern oar in his hands and mimicking his master in the Dark Dream. He spoke unclearly.

“Fellow Daoist, it’s time to begin your journey to the netherworld!”