A World Worth Protecting

Wang Baole whipped out the mask as soon as he heard the voice. It wasn’t invisible. This wasn’t another illusion. Ever since he had entered the battleship, he had grown increasingly paranoid.

“Stop looking. It’s your fault for sneaking into this wretched place. I’ve been suppressed since you entered the battleship and had to hide myself. I’ve even had to go back to sleep in order to prevent myself from being devoured. I can’t stay awake for long either!” Little Missy said in an annoyed voice when she saw what Wang Baole did.

“Devoured?” Wang Baole’s mind was set at ease when he realized that Little Missy was alright and her usual self. He had perked up until he heard what Little Missy had said.

“Youngsters these days, each one bolder than the next. Feng Qiuran’s like that, and so is that Mie Liezi. Even You Ran. They’ve all gone mad. You too, fatty! Do you know where you are? This is the Never-Ending Clan’s Death Dao Battleship!” Little Missy sounded tired. If one could see her actual form now, they would be able to see her rubbing her forehead while pointing an accusatory finger at the chubby cultivator standing in front of her.

“The Death Dao? Isn’t this a Sacrificial Palace?” This was the first time Wang Baole had heard about the Death Dao.

“During the war between the Never-Ending Clan and the Dark Sect, the Never-Ending Clan destroyed the Heavenly Dao and changed the nomological laws. They used the fallen Heavenly Dao and space as the cauldron, and stars as their materials, to create ninety thousand Death Dao Battleships. The first nine hundred battleships were as powerful as a Star Domain realm cultivators, the next nine thousand battleships as powerful as Eternal Star realm cultivators, and the remaining battleships as powerful as Planet realm cultivators. The battleship that you are currently in might have been severely damaged, but it is still at the Spirit Immortal realm!

“Death Dao Battleships prohibit the entry of the living. Any living person on board would be contaminated by the environment and drained of all life. That is because shards of the Heavenly Dao have been buried in the battleship. The corpses of that past great war are also buried here. The laws governing this place ensures that it will continue running, without ever stopping, and the source of it all are the battle robes before you!

“The one who puts on those robes will seize control over this battleship. He will also be able to commandeer the countless dead in this ship!”

Wang Baole’s widened when he heard that. He jerked his head towards the battle robes, hunger burning in his eyes. Before he could say anything though, Little Missy spoke again, irritation clear in her voice.

“The only way to get the robes on is to sacrifice one’s blood and flesh and set fire to one’s soul. Just as the soul is about to turn to nothingness, he will then meld with the battle robes and become one with the robes. He’ll be able to commandeer the Death Dao Battleship then. From that point onwards, you and the battleship will be one and the same. You wanna give that a try, fatty?”

“Ah?” Wang Baole didn’t realize that was what Little Missy was leading to. He hesitated.

“It’s not bad, actually. You can still continue your cultivation after you’ve turned into the battleship. You might even meet a female battleship one day and start a relationship,” Little Missy said, her tone casual. The words she was speaking made Wang Baole’s hair stand, though. He shook his head hastily.

“You’ll find it a challenging feat even if you do want to try it. The battle robes have been damaged. The last entity who fused his soul with it was slain by someone else, and the wound on his forehead remains on the battle robes. The only way to heal that wound is through sacrificing the living. My guess is that you’ve all been lured here. They want your living flesh and blood!

“Your flesh and blood will form nutrients that can be absorbed by the battle robes. It won’t help the mastermind in seizing control over the armies of the dead on board this battleship, but he’ll be able to take over the steering of the battleship. He can head towards the Dao Palace then. If the living there aren’t enough, he can charge into the Federation and lay waste to every living creature in the Federation. The scale of that blood sacrifice should be sufficient for it to recover a significant extent of its power.

“The Never-Ending Clan is fixated on assigning missions. If I’m not wrong, the mastermind behind this entire conspiracy accepted the mission to stop the ancient greenish-bronze sword in flight, and the mission is still in progress. The punishment he will have to face will be great if he fails. That is why he won’t call for help unless he has to. Some other things might also have happened that resulted in him being unable to transmit his location back to the Never-Ending Clan. That could be another reason why he hasn’t sought reinforcements. In fact, this person is likely thinking about the great rewards he’ll be receiving should he manage to complete the mission. The incentive is sufficiently enticing that he’s willing to gamble!”

Little Missy laid out her thoughts meticulously. She spoke in a mellow voice that was low but absent of heaviness. Wang Baole blinked. He agreed with Little Missy’s assessment, but he also knew Little Missy’s character. Since she had shared so much with him, she must have a solution. He coughed, then threw a few casual praises at her before asking anxiously for a way out of their current situation.

“Simple. Just call for your senior brother. He’ll solve this for you with a single blade.” Little Missy snorted. She clearly found Wang Baole’s flattery unsatisfactory.

Wang Baole was rendered speechless. He knew that was indeed the easiest way out of this. However, he had no idea how to get his senior brother’s attention. He sighed, then suddenly said.

“Wait, what if I try to scare the mastermind? I’ll tell him that my senior brother is the first Divine King and that killing me would be suicide. Would that work?”

Little Missy began to regret her earlier attempt at mockery. Wang Baole’s idea had caught her by surprise, and it seemed like a reasonable plan. She felt so exhausted and hurriedly said, “Stop wasting time on wild ideas. Your enemy might want to kill you more if you declare who you really are. What you have before you is a rare opportunity. You might not be able to put on those robes, but you can drain it of its power. Activate your devouring seed and suck it dry. You might just get yourself and everyone else out of danger.”

That didn’t sound right at all. Wang Baole was about to question Little Missy further on the details, but she stopped responding altogether. He didn’t know if she had truly fallen back into slumber or if she was just faking it.

Wang Baole sighed. He deliberated for a moment before determination once again flashed in his eyes. Announcing his identity was a risky bet, a plan riddled with too much uncertainty. He wasn’t prepared to try that unless it was the last resort. Perhaps draining the battle robes dry was really the best solution he had at this moment.

Wang Baole didn’t hesitate. His avatar stepped onto the golden lake, raced forward, and arrived before the battle robes. He inspected the robes and confirmed that nothing was amiss before he shut his eyes and formed a series of hand seals. His true form on the second level set aside his storage bracelet before forming a series of hand seals as well. His avatar and his true form switched places instantly as the Lightning Immortal Transformation worked its magic. It was like instant teleportation!

His avatar was now on the second level, within the protective blue barrier, while his true form was now in the middle of the golden lake in the cavern. Wang Baole sat down as soon as he appeared next to the battle robes. The devouring seed flared to life and began draining all of the energy from the battle robes through the open wound on the battle robes’ forehead!

The battle robes began to tremble as its energy was drained from it. Vast quantities of Spirit Qi gushed out from the wound on its forehead and rushed inside Wang Baole’s body!

It was like a flood of Spirit Qi, and the devouring seed seemed excited as it continued sucking madly, sending Spirit Qi into every part of Wang Baole’s body. The scabbard inside him began to stir, and it started absorbing the Spirit Qi as well.

The battle robes started to resist the draining fiercely. This slowed Wang Baole down, but with enough time, he could still suck the battle robes dry!

On the second level, Wang Baole’s avatar picked up the storage bracelet next to it. Then, without any hesitation, it charged towards the blue defensive barrier. It was going to break free, locate the others, and let them know everything Wang Baole had just found out.

Breaking out from the inside of the blue defensive barrier wasn’t an easy feat, but it was still within the realm of possibility. That was especially so when compared to trying to break in from the outside. Besides, the avatar had a storage bracelet filled with Dharmic Armaments. It might lack Wang Baole’s physical strength, but its cultivation was at the same level as Wang Baole. It could do it.

A black pike appeared in its hands, and with a deafening roar, Wang Baole’s avatar transformed into an ocean of lightning that then enveloped the pike. The pike pierced right through the barrier. There was some damage caused to the avatar in the process, but it was something he could deal with. The avatar transformed back into an exact image of Wang Baole after breaking free. Lightning bolts ran wild around it, guiding the black pike as it raced into the distance without pause or rest, in search of the others.

There were limits to what Wang Baole was capable of though. The land was too vast. Even with his elevated level of cultivation, there were still limits to how far the avatar could travel from him. Wang Baole’s avatar had to keep its search within a certain area.

That was why he decided to release whatever puppets he had. He sent them out into the open, searching. At the same time, the avatar continued its search speedily, traveling as far as it could go.

His puppets had gone through multiple rounds of upgrades and enhancements. He had fine-tuned his control over them. The efficiency that the search party of puppets achieved was definitely greater than what Wang Baole was capable of should he have gone on alone.

Time passed steadily. Days went by. Wang Baole’s true form continued to drain the Spirit Qi in the battle robes, and his avatar continued the search with the aid of his puppets. Finally, one puppet managed to find residual energies from collisions between array formations and spells in one area. They were signs of a battle having taken place there!

The puppet found bloodstains, still fresh, and pieces of tattered clothing as well. Alarm flashed across Wang Baole’s face when he saw those through his avatar’s eyes!

“Yameng!”