A World Worth Protecting

A year in the Dark Dream was a mere day in the real world!

To the three extraterrestrial cultivators trapped in the three-level underground world created by the Dark Artifact, only a day had passed since they lost sight of Wang Baole.

Fury burned inside them. They wanted to kill Wang Baole so badly. But they did not panic. With their knowledge and experience, they could tell that the underground world created by the Dark Artifact was a closed universe. After failing to find an exit out of this place, they decided to move deeper inside and continue their search.

They would either find Wang Baole or a way out. With time, they felt that they would be able to accomplish either one. In fact, there was a great chance of them being able to do both.

That was indeed the case. They had plenty of resources on them and had many tricks up their sleeves, including a mystic art that had been passed down to them by their elder, one which was used specifically to dispel such forbidden spells. It required their combined efforts to unleash it, but it specifically countered forbidden array formations. Its power was incredible.

Given a few more days, they might really charge out of the Dark Artifact or find their way to Wang Baole.

However… they couldn’t have imagined that within a single day, the tides had turned!

At present, they had found a weak spot in the second level of the underground world and were working together to break through it. The earth and heavens shuddered as a whirlpool appeared in the sky. At first, it spun slowly, but as they continued to cast the spell, it began to spin faster.

As it spun more quickly, a pathway appeared in the center of the whirlpool. It seemed unstable at the moment, but it was likely that it would stabilize after a while, connecting the first level and the second level of the underground world.

Once they entered the first level, they would be able to blast their way out of the Dark Artifact. They intended to secure a means of escaping first before creating a pathway through the various levels and seeking out Wang Baole!

“Once we reach the first level and activate the pathway, we’ll immediately seal it, then go and find that damn fatty! Unless he’s truly an idiot, there’s a chance he’s not really called Zhuo Yixian. Why else would he shout out his own name to us?”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s just like a Corpse Burial Rat! He’s just another rat that’s better at digging holes!”

They all had ugly expressions on their faces. When they had been back on their mother planet or even when they had been off pillaging other civilizations, they had never come across a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator who had had so many tricks up his sleeve, who had been so difficult to put down, and who had been so vicious and eccentric.

When they recalled that Wang Baole’s cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment realm, their faces darkened another shade. They admitted to the fact that they had underestimated Wang Baole at first. That was why they had wanted to capture him alive and hadn’t unleashed their most powerful attacks. They had given Wang Baole a chance.

It had been that chance that had the tables turned on them.

“We’ll blast it open first, but let’s not spend too much time trying to find him. We must return to the mother planet as soon as possible so we can inform the elder about what is going on here. We can’t be late for his birthday either. The stone chest that we found in the ruins of the Cloud Star Civilization will definitely earn his approval. That, combined with the news about this galaxy, and we’re bound to receive three Soul Conduit Pills!” The centipede-faced cultivator pondered for a while, then spoke slowly.

Fervor appeared in the eyes of the other two cultivators when they heard that. They were about to continue unleashing the mystic art and completely stabilize the pathway in the whirlpool.

It was then that… something unexpected happened!

A series of loud rumblings suddenly erupted from both the earth and the heavens. The tombstones erected on the lands shook violently as waves of inscription appeared in the second level of the underground world. It was as if the entire second level had been transformed into the two-dimensional surface of a pool, and a huge stone had been thrown in, causing ripples to spread across the surface.

The sudden change sent alarm flashing across their faces. Before they could react, the entire world seemed to be turned upside down all of a sudden. The heavens became the earth, and the burial grounds, the sky!

Endless waves of inscription swept across the entire world. Soon, two eerie ghoulish heads appeared near them. They were green-faced and fearsome beyond measure, fanged and horned. There were inscriptions on their faces that hovered between brightness and darkness, making them appear creepy and violent.

As soon as the ghoulish heads appeared, they widened their jaws and charged towards two cultivators. They intended to swallow them whole!

They were incredibly fast, making it impossible to escape them. Helpless, the centipede-faced cultivator, who was the leader of the party, and the horse-faced cultivator next to him, tried to fall back as their pupils contracted. There was no time for them to do that at all. Their bodies were swallowed whole by the two giant green-faced ghouls. They vanished instantly after that!

As soon as they disappeared, the inverted world resumed its original state. The waves of inscription disappeared, as did the series of transformations and discord that had descended upon the world. A deathly silence descended. In the entire land, out of the three extraterrestrial cultivators, only the square-faced cultivator remained. A myriad of emotions flashed across his face. He was shaken to the core. He had clearly been shocked by the earlier scene. In his terror, he unleashed the full extent of his cultivation, extending his spiritual senses and stepping back, terrified and on extremely high alert.

As he retreated, he didn’t hesitate to form a series of rapid hand seals. Scales appeared on his forehead, the edges of his eyes, and on his limbs. There were a total of nine scales, all of them purple, all of them exuding incredible spirit energy.

This was his most powerful attack, but every unleashing of this attack was a drain on his life force. That was why unless he was forced into a corner, with death looming over him, he wouldn’t use it. He had only unleashed it now because of the fright that he had experienced.

As intense terror and wariness coursed through his body, the square-faced cultivator let loose a sudden burst of speed. He flew around for thirty minutes and saw that everything around him remained unchanged—no danger surfaced.

Did we trigger some trap inside this Dark Artifact? Suspicions rose within the square-faced cultivator’s heart. The sudden appearance of the ghoulish heads and the transformation of the heavens and earth had been absolutely terrifying. His comrades had been swallowed whole, and their fates were now unknown. He was worried and unsettled. Now that everything seemed safe, despite his doubts, he was relieved, albeit barely.

Just as he relaxed slightly, a black mist appeared soundlessly and enveloped the entire tombstone-filled land. It was a thin mist at first, but within the span of a few breaths, it blanketed the entire heavens and earth. It spread out suddenly, covering the entire world with a thick mist. If one were to look down from above, one would see a land filled with mist, transformed into a sea of mist!

The sight alarmed the square-faced cultivator. He was about to retreat when suddenly, his entire body shuddered. His eyes widened as he saw, beyond the lands and high in the heavens, a region that seemed drenched in blood. Within a single moment, a blood-red moon appeared like a blood imprint in the sky!

It exuded an eerie aura. Soft whispers began to echo all around him, amidst the mist and fog, as the blood moon hung in the heavens.

Regardless of how hard the square-faced cultivator tried to make out what the whispers were saying, he couldn’t discern anything. Horror swelled in his heart, and his face turned pale. Suddenly, his cultivation erupted. In the next moment, the nine scales on him gave off a bright, dazzling light. This was like a sudden dose of courage. He shouted, “Who is it? Who’s trying to scare me?”

The square-faced cultivator’s pupils suddenly contracted after he shouted. He could see before his eyes, in the mist in front of him, the blurry outline of a lone boat. There was someone sitting on the boat. He was dressed in black robes and before him was a lantern oar. His features were indiscernible due to the thick mist. Regardless, a sudden horror still rose within the square-faced cultivator.

It was akin to… the instinctive awe that came from within the depths of one’s soul. It seemed to be infused in his blood, something that had been passed down from generation to generation through blood, something that his ancestors in the distant past had in their blood. It was fear and terror one harbored towards such a figure!

It was the feeling an ordinary person would have upon seeing a God of Death rise from the depths of the underworld!

It made him tremble. But the square-faced cultivator was after all a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. He had seen his fair share of deaths and killed his fair share of enemies. Despite his terror, despite his reddening eyes, he knew that this was the moment of life and death. He roared and charged at the boat. With a series of hand seals, the nine scales on his body gave off an intense light. They formed nine beams of light that seemed to signify destruction that landed on the boat!

The nine beams landed on the boat instantly. However, the boat seemed as if an illusion. Nothing changed. The nine beams of light that contained within them immense power and signified destruction passed through the boat and exploded in the distant mists.

Fear surged in the square-faced cultivator’s heart. His face was pale, and he retreated hastily.

Just as he was about to escape, Wang Baole opened his eyes, uttering two words softly.

“Corpse Face!”