A World Worth Protecting

“You’ve gone too far!” The instant the fourteenth moon rose into the sky, Ming Kunzi’s voice thundered out from within, answering the voice within the purple sun. Ming Kunzi’s voice was laced with ice. It was devoid of all emotions and seemed to contain the will of the Heavenly Dao as it echoed in the heavens.

As soon as the voice appeared, the region, which had been quaking and weighed down by the appearance of the seven suns, seemed to recover from said appearance. It was as if everything had been erased in that instant. It was as if… the Heavenly Dao had descended suddenly and enveloped the Dark Sect. The Heavenly Dao was turning the tables on the seven suns that had intruded into the space and began a counterattack!

The heavens thundered, and the seven suns shook. The purple sun shone even brighter as a figure appeared within the sun. It was a middle-aged man wearing a purple-colored robe. Behind him was a gigantic illusory figure. It seemed to be fused with the sun and had three heads and six arms!

“Ming Kunzi, your Dark Sect dares ferry the souls of my children. For this… we, the Never-Ending Clan, demand an answer!”

“Every living thing is a part of the cycle of rebirth. The Heavenly Dao itself is a cycle. One who has awakened has no need for dreams. There is only the next life… this principle cannot be changed!” Ming Kunzi, who was wearing a black robe, stepped out from the fourteenth black moon as his words rang out. He stood in the sky as he spoke coolly.

“Cannot be changed?” The middle-aged man stepped out from the purple sun. In his anger, he laughed. He raised his right hand. Instantly, a blinding light erupted from the six red suns surrounding him, and light flooded the entire area in an instant. From afar, it was like a red sea, which roared and surged towards Ming Kunzi.

Ming Kunzi snorted. He waved his hand as well, and a black light spread out instantly. It was like the dark night, and it clashed with the incoming red light. The two began a battle in the sky, in a manner that Wang Baole found incomprehensible!

The heavens shook, and the entire region quavered. No one could be seen in the fight though. It was only red and black clashing back and forth in the sky, pushing against and devouring each other!

Even the passing of time seemed to be affected. The time governing heaven and earth was no longer the same, and a breath on the earth was a day to the two entities in the sky!

It was then, as Wang Baole’s breathing grew uneven, that a large hand appeared from inside the red light in the sky. It went through the sea of light and headed towards the palace where the Dark Sect was, making a sudden grab!

“How dare you!” Ming Kunzi’s roar boomed and resonated in the heavens. A lantern oar suddenly reached out from within the black light in the sky. It expanded without stopping, growing until it could hold the heavens up. Then, it slammed towards the giant hand!

It was still too late. The other had come prepared. With a single grab, the giant hand pulled a soul out from within the Dark Sect’s Rebirth Hall!

It was the soul of a woman whose Corpse Face had been completed. She was beautiful, and her eyes were shut as if she were sleeping. If not for today’s incident, she might have been led away under the laws of the Heavenly Dao a few days later, to be reborn and begin her next life.

She had been forcibly pulled out because of what was happening today. However, just as she was led out, Ming Kunzi’s lantern oar had come slamming forward to stop the giant hand. The giant hand was unable to withstand the attack and disintegrated instantly. The shockwaves from their collision contained the immense power of destruction. An Eternal Star realm cultivator wouldn’t have survived it, much less a mere soul.

Before the eyes of everyone in the Dark Sect, the soul was destroyed by the shockwaves of this collision. In an instant… it was disintegrated and turned into dust!

No one could tell if the Never-Ending Clan had made the killing blow or if Ming Kunzi had been the one who had done it. Regardless, the soul had been torn apart. It had disappeared from this world and no longer existed.

The hurricanes that erupted from the collision between the lantern oar and the giant hand hadn’t only destroyed this soul, but they formed waves that swept through the entire Dark Sect. Despite the protection of array formations, a blow from such a powerful cultivator of the Never-Ending Clan was still immensely powerful. All cultivators whose cultivation was below that of the Planet realm were assaulted by a loud buzzing in their heads.

Wang Baole was only at the perfected Foundation Establishment realm. He only heard a loud buzzing explosion in his ears before his vision went black, and he passed out.

After an unknown period of time, he finally woke up. The fight had already ended. The first thing he saw when he woke up was his master Ming Kunzi’s back.

After inspecting Wang Baole and ensuring that there was nothing wrong with him, Ming Kunzi left. Before he left, he saw the hesitation and doubt in Wang Baole’s eyes. He gave Wang Baole a deep, meaningful look.

“Baole, we of the Dark Sect serve the Heavenly Dao. No matter who we were in the past, this is our mission now. You must remember this… we must not reverse the cycle of life and death!” After saying that, Ming Kunzi turned around and slowly walked away.

Wang Baole was silent. He had mixed feelings regarding this. He couldn’t tell if the Never-Ending Clan was right or if the Dark Sect was right. After doing some research in the Dark Sect, he soon found out that the person who had barged into their sect that day was Tuo Mu. He was one of the nine Great Emperors of the Never-Ending Clan!

The red suns were the six Divine Kings under his charge!

Their cultivation had exceeded the Eternal Star realm, and they were at the Galaxy realm. They were the most powerful cultivators in the entire universe. As for the daughter… during the long eons, perhaps even Tuo Mu himself wouldn’t remember how many daughters he had.

After Wang Baole read through those documents, he fell silent. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he knew that there was a possibility that the Emperor of the Never-Ending Clan hadn’t come knocking at their door because of his daughter’s soul!

Wang Baole wasn’t sure of the exact reasons. He could not find any answers. But, having seen the truly powerful, he began to experience intense anxiety regarding his own cultivation. Compared to them, he felt he was too weak. He was as fragile as a twig in a storm.

After waking up, Wang Baole began to concentrate on his training. He could sense that his senior brother had also gone into seclusion as he hadn’t seen the latter for a long time.

Another month passed. Wang Baole’s Dark Fires grew to as many as thirty-seven. It was then when Ming Kunzi brought him to a great hall inside the Dark Sect one day. The great hall was filled with black mist.

The great hall was surrounded by a thick mist, as was the inside of the hall. One could only see the center of the hall, where there was a big, colorless pool. Black mist rose from the pool, and bubbles kept forming and bursting inside it.

This was the Soul Pond!

There were many Soul Ponds in the Dark Sect, and this pond was only one of them. After dead souls were led to the Dark Sect, they would first gather here. They would then enter the Corpse Face Mirror and have their Corpse Face painted by a disciple. After, they would either be sent to the Path of Rebirth or the Rebirth Hallucination Array Formation. Through the hallucination, they would have their characters reformed. Finally, they would await the Heavenly Dao to lead them into the river of souls, where they would flow through the Gate of Rebirth.

There were countless souls in the river of souls that tossed and turned in the pond. Some struggled to climb out with the rising bubbles, while more rose to the surface of the pond and revealed their faces.

There were men and women, old and young. Some faces were peaceful, while others were furious. Some wept, while others laughed. They were of different colors as well. Some were the same color as the pond, while others were pitch-black. Even the waters of the pond couldn’t cleanse them within a short period of time.

“The colorless ones are the ordinary souls. The black ones mean that they carry an intense grudge within them. Baole, unleash your Soul Guidance technique and draw three souls from the Soul Pond. Purify them and put them to use for your future Dark Artifacts… as your Artifact Spirits!” Ming Kunzi spoke slowly as Wang Baole stared at the Soul Pond. He had a deep, unfathomable look in his eyes as he stared at Wang Baole.

“Artifact Spirits?” Wang Baole could feel his memories blurring.

“A Dark Child requires three Dark Artifacts, a Boat Spirit, a Black Robe, and a Lantern Oar. These are items that every Dark Child should have. The Artifact Spirits within these Dark Artifacts should be chosen by yourself.” Upon saying that, Ming Kunzi spoke no more.

Wang Baole thought for a while. He vaguely remembered that this was indeed the case, so he didn’t think further. Instead, he turned and stared at what rested beneath the pool. After a moment, he took a deep breath and activated his Dark Fire, attempting to unleash the Soul Guidance technique. After failing six times, he finally succeeded on his seventh try, successfully unleashing the Soul Guidance technique!

An illusory large hand suddenly reached out from within his body and dipped into the pool, grabbing hold of three souls!

The first was a large, fearsome-looking man!

The second was a sullen-faced elder!

And the last… was a young boy of seven or eight!