A World Worth Protecting

“What a sweet talker, no wonder the Saint favors you. It’s alright if you don’t know. Perhaps the Saint does?” Zi Yue hid her smile behind her hand as she spoke, then raised her right hand in an attempt to capture Wang Baole.

It was then that the waves of self-destructive energies generated by Venus reached their peak. A sudden boom thundered. Venus shook, then… blew up!

The force of the explosion was incredible. It surged from the depths of Venus and moved across the entire planet. Beams of piercing, bright light blasted from Venus’ core, skewering it and turning it into a sieve!

Terrifying waves of spirit energy accompanied the beams of light. They overflowed and rushed outwards. In their wake, everything was drained dry, shriveled. They disintegrated and turned to dust!

Buildings, mountains, everything. Fortunately, Duan Muque, Feng Qiuran, and the others had chosen to teleport themselves away before the self-destruction of the planet. No Federation cultivator had remained on the planet at the point of its destruction. There were only… Dao Palace cultivators on Venus!

The Dao Palace cultivators were faced with a calamity. Most of them had no means to leave the planet and nowhere to escape. No matter how hard they tried to run or how much earlier they had begun running, there was no way they could outrun their inevitable death.

Many were enveloped by the waves of spirit energy caused by the explosion, their trembling bodies wiped out instantaneously and turned to dust. The entire planet’s destruction seemed to have created a temporary black hole, which was devouring everything in sight!

Everything and everyone… except Zi Yue, who seemed not to care a single bit about Venus’ self-destruction. Amidst the thundering booms echoing in space, her hand continued stretching towards Wang Baole, intent on capturing him.

Wang Baole’s scalp was prickling with numbness. He deeply regretted his decision to not teleport away immediately.

“I’m such an idiot! Why didn’t I leave immediately? This is something between the both of them. Why am I poking my nose into their personal affairs?” Wang Baole yelled amidst his panic and fear.

“Zi Yue, you really dare to harm me? My senior brother is the first Divine King of the Never-Ending Clan! Senior Brother, quick, save me!” Wang Baole said, then silently chanted the scripture. The mysterious will descended from the heavens once again and enveloped everything with its awesome aura. Zi Yue smiled faintly.

“Feels powerful. Unfortunately, you’ve used this trick on my puppet.” A ghostly light flickered in Zi Yue’s eyes. Her outstretched right hand was now right in front of Wang Baole, reaching for his neck.

Just as she was about to grab him by his neck, an illusory, slender arm stretched out from Wang Baole’s body and hit Zi Yue’s approaching, outstretched palm in a swift collision.

It was Little Missy!

A loud boom erupted, and Wang Baole shuddered as he felt a fierce wind accompanied by an unimaginable power land on him. If he were a flame, the wind might have extinguished him. The blow was strong enough to crush him completely.

A layer of gentle light flowed from the illusory arm that had extended from his body. It formed a layer of protection against the attack, preventing it from being fatal. The backlash from the blow remained, however. It shattered Wang Baole’s Thearch Armor, and his Stellar Nascent Soul shriveled up and almost collapsed. Blood even spilled from his mouth and burst out from multiple places on his body.

He was flung backwards, like a kite cut from its string. He smashed through numerous buildings that collapsed in his wake and finally crashed into the lunar stronghold.

“Quick, run!” Little Missy’s weak voice urged him frantically. Wang Baole bit hard on his tongue and forced himself to stay conscious despite his serious injuries. He allowed the Solar System Array Formation to surround him with the energies of teleportation. The entire moon and himself began to blur. As the glow from the teleportation spell intensified, a flash of ghostly light flickered in Zi Yue’s eyes. She stepped forward just as the moon and Wang Baole were about to be teleported away.

Her foot landed, and she passed through the glow of the teleportation and appeared before Wang Baole. Zi Yue’s lips tilted upwards into a devilish smile as she observed Wang Baole’s shock. Her finger reached out for Wang Baole’s forehead.

“Boy, call out for your senior brother, ask him to save you.”

Her finger landed on Wang Baole’s forehead. It seemed that what awaited Wang Baole in the next moment was the shattering of his bones and the complete destruction of his body and soul. The teleportation would fail, and Little Missy, the lunar stronghold, and the Night Immortal King would be trapped here.

It was at that moment, when Zi Yue’s finger and Wang Baole’s forehead touched… that her finger suddenly melted away. It was as if her finger were made from snow and Wang Baole was a piece of scorching hot metal!

As her finger melted away, it transformed into tiny sparks of light that entered Wang Baole’s body. They were like nutrients that were absorbed by his body without any signs of being repelled by the latter. Wang Baole’s injuries healed instantly, and his cultivation received a great boost as well, spiking suddenly!

Everything happened too quickly, within the blink of an eye. Even Zi Yue was stunned momentarily. Strong emotions colored her face, something that hadn’t happened for a long time, not since she had obtained the Star-Seeding Dao. She retreated hastily, unleashing her mystic art promptly and cutting all connection between herself and her melting finger. Her heart raced as she withdrew.

Wang Baole was equally stunned, but he didn’t have the chance to express his joy. His body, alongside the lunar stronghold, blurred in the teleportation spell, then vanished completely!

Venus’ explosion reached the height of intensity then, and waves of destruction continued to surge outwards, finally reaching where Zi Yue was. The entire planet was rapidly transforming into a black hole. The Dao Palace cultivators around her were heavily injured or dead, and their pained cries prior to their deaths were drowned out by the loud explosions caused by a planet’s self-destruction.

Daoist You Ran shuddered. All his efforts were for naught. Anxiety wrecked him, but he dared not speak. The woman standing before him inspired such terror and dread in him.

“Useless.” A stormy-faced Zi Yue threw a glance at Daoist You Ran before frowning and turning her eyes towards Venus. She lifted her right hand and pushed it forward against the waves of self-destructive energy sweeping out from the planet.

The terrifying tsunami seemed to freeze momentarily in its tracks. It was as if there was an invisible wall in front of the woman, and not even the energy backlash from an exploding planet could penetrate this wall.

Zi Yue’s right hand clawed through emptiness and plucked a pouch out of nothing. It was made of black cloth and had a strange floral pattern embroidered on it. Terror snaked through Daoist You Ran when he saw the pouch. He could sense the power exuding from it, a power that seemed even more terrifying than the woman before him.

He wasn’t given any time to guess what was inside the pouch. Zi Yue had pulled it open, her actions seemingly cautious. Then, seven black seeds flew out from the opened pouch. With a series of hand seals, Zi Yue guided them towards the exploding Venus.

They entered Venus almost instantly. The waves of self-destructive energy generated by the planet didn’t seem to cause any harm to the seeds. In fact, the energy was being absorbed by the latter. The seeds exuded a golden light. As they entered Venus, they began to grow, twines extending outward and covering the entire planet… All this while, they continued to drain the explosion of its power, transforming the energy into nutrients for themselves!

Daoist You Ran’s scalp prickled as he watched the scene before him. There were more and more twines. Soon, the entire planet was covered in dozens of layers of the twines. Its appearance had transformed radically. The explosion was being contained, as if sealed, with no outlet for release!

Countless bumps began to appear on the twines. They clustered together and finally covered all surfaces of the twines. The bumps wriggled and spasmed, and many broke apart. From within these bumps climbed out… Never-Ending Clan cultivators!

These cultivators flew into the air and gathered before Zi Yue. Their numbers grew. When all the bumps had burst open, and all cultivators had flown out, Zi Yue had before her an army with a hundred thousand cultivators!

However, it was clear that these Never-Ending Clan cultivators had no minds of their own. They were like puppets!

Daoist You Ran’s head buzzed at the sight. He was shaking violently. This was beyond his wildest imagination, he couldn’t understand what was going on!

“Take them and destroy this civilization. Then… capture and bring me that boy!” Zi Yue commanded calmly.

Daoist You Ran’s face was pale. He instinctively lowered his head and accepted his orders. Then, he began reorganizing the surviving cultivators. With the Never-Ending Clan’s Death Dao Battleship at the helm, he led the army of a hundred thousand puppets away and raced towards Mars!

The patch of cosmos finally quietened down following his departure. Zi Yue was the only person left standing there. Her fingers danced through a series of hand seals, as if running through a simulation. This went on for some time before she suddenly froze. Then, she shut her eyes and fell silent. It was a long time before she opened them again. She lifted her head and gazed into the distant cosmos.

I can only make out the fact that someone incredibly powerful has changed my fate… I’ve been steering the lives of others and changing their fates, treating them like ants… this whole time, without my knowledge, someone has also been controlling my life and treating me like… what? An ant? Or is that person trying to use me to nourish Wang Baole’s cultivation? Zi Yue shuddered. An icy light glimmered fiercely in her eyes.

The first Divine King?