A World Worth Protecting

Chapter 796: Journeying Towards War!

It was a bizarre sight to behold indeed. Half of the Golden Pool Legion battleships exuded a purple glow as they hovered in space. The cultivators onboard these battleships tried to wrestle control of them, to no avail. The battleships had become their cages and… Wang Baole’s weapons!

It was a significant number of battleships. In addition to those battleships was the locust that was currently under Wang Baole’s feet. Its original physical appearance, which was that of a dragonfly, had been completely transformed. It looked less dexterous but far more gruesome and savage. A loud buzzing, like many things rubbing against each other, could be heard from inside its body. It was a sound that struck fear into the soul of those who heard it.

The odds had been reversed suddenly. The edge that the Golden Pool Legion had was now turned against them!

Every Golden Pool Legion cultivator was struck with shock and fear, their breathing quickening. A few even gasped out loud. As for the commanders, their faces were pale, and they looked at a loss. They couldn’t believe what had just happened. The loss of half of their fleet had sent them into a panic, and they quickly turned towards Yi Nianzi with pleading eyes.

The look on Yi Nianzi’s face was thunderous. He fell silent under the pleading looks on the Golden Pool Legion commanders’ faces. He had the ability to help them, but he needed a reason to do so. Unfortunately, they hadn’t yet found one.

Long Nanzi hadn’t activated his Divine Justice Shield at all. He had continued fighting with his battleships even when Yi Nianzi had acted out of turn and unleashed an attack. Long Nanzi had been playing by the rules of the game all along!

Should he choose to step in now, he would be labeled a bully who was pushing his junior around. He would be breaking the rules as well. Perhaps this wouldn’t have mattered if he were doing this to someone else, but this was Long Nanzi, the man who currently had the patriarch’s favor. His actions wouldn’t be very proper.

The look on Yi Nianzi’s face grew darker as such thoughts flooded his mind, and resentment stewed inside him. He was at the Spirit Immortal realm and could have easily beaten his opponent, but his opponent placed obstacles in his way each and every time. Murder began to color Yi Nianzi’s eyes. He gave Wang Baole a long and deep look, then said in a low voice, “Long Nanzi, hand over the beast… We’ll declare you the victor for this challenge!”

“I’m sorry, Senior Yi Nianzi, but I’m taking this as my war trophy,” Wang Baole said with a slight smile. He could sense the other party’s ill will. He harbored no goodwill towards the man either. He held the upper ground now in terms of battle odds and playing by the rules. Why should he hand over the spoils of his victory?

Besides, this was something that Wang Baole desired very much. With the locust in his possession, even if he were to lose the challenge and was made to turn over loads of materials as compensation, it would be worth it.

Yi Nianzi wasn’t surprised by Wang Baole’s reply. He knew that getting Long Nanzi to hand over the locust was an impossible feat. Regardless, he had to ask, and so he did. He gave Long Nanzi another long considering look before turning away and leaving the battlefield.

Since he had no excuse to step in and join the fight, there was no point in him staying. The Golden Pool Legion’s defeat would definitely affect the Green Kraken Legion, but he wasn’t the sole master and owner of the Green Kraken Legion after all. Still… he had suffered multiple failures in exacting punishment on Long Nanzi. Yi Nianzi wasn’t going to just let this matter go. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly spoke.

“As expected of a master at artifact refinement. I’ve never encountered such parasitism techniques. When used wisely, such a technique could turn the tide in a large-scale battle. The Golden Pool Legion was defeated fair and square!” Having said that, Yi Nianzi strolled off into the stars without sparing a glance at the Golden Pool Legion.

As the Golden Pool Legion simmered bitterly, Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. Yi Nianzi’s parting words were dripping with malice. He had intentionally drawn attention to Wang Baole’s parasitism technique. He was trying to get the sect to confiscate Wang Baole’s parasitism technique, just like how his Divine Justice Shield had been taken away from him. He wanted to rob Wang Baole of his trump card.

If the technique was bought over by the sect, the Green Kraken Legion could then get their hands on it easily. Having the technique in their possession would be akin to recouping any losses they might have incurred from the Golden Pool Legion’s defeat. If they were to use the technique wisely, the Green Kraken Legion might even reap additional gains.

All these considerations flashed past Wang Baole’s mind swiftly. His caution towards Yi Nianzi grew considerably. Yi Nianzi wasn’t only skilled at keeping his emotions under control, his dark and sinister powers were also something to be wary of. Wang Baole had kept that in mind when he had decided to act. He had been prepared. As a result, while he had remained wary of Yi Nianzi, he wasn’t overly affected by what Yi Nianzi had said.

Things turned out the way he had expected them to. The Golden Pool Legion was forced to yield in defeat. After the victorious challenge, Wang Baole immediately collated some peripheral information about the parasitism technique and sent it over to Fairy Ling You.

He passed a message through Fairy Ling You to Chief Minister Xu. He was going to present the technique as a gift to the patriarch.

He didn’t request anything in exchange. This was to be a gift!

There was an advantage to gift-giving. It earned the open approval of the patriarch and gave the Soul Rift Legion the authority to deal with their spoils of war as they saw fit. This meant that the Golden Pool Legion had no way of recouping their losses. In addition, they would be forced to hand over a massive amount of resources as compensation. Their ranking… also plummeted, their nineteenth position being taken over by the Soul Rift Legion!

The challenge had garnered quite a bit of attention. Wang Baole and the Soul Rift Legion started to gain a name for themselves after the two challenges. The most recent challenge had gotten them a place at the nineteenth spot in the ranking. The entire Divine Eye civilization was paying a great deal of attention to him. Within the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect, a huge majority of disciples began to treat him with greater deference and respect.

Quite a few armies and cultivators in the sect began wondering privately which spot in the ranking the Soul Rift Legion was targeting next. While they were doing so, Wang Baole was going through his spoils and reallocating most of the resources to the locust. After refining his fleet, he didn’t choose to issue a new challenge.

He was now well aware of the difference in power between him and the armies ahead of him in the ranking. Things might have gone better for him if he hadn’t handed over his parasitism technique. Even though he had only given the barest of information to the sect, he couldn’t keep relying on the technique. The actual workings of the technique would just get exposed in the long run. He had thought it through and concluded that continued usage of the technique wasn’t going to pay off.

He should be accumulating his power and building a strong foundation instead. In his next challenge, he should fight for a spot in the top ten or five, perhaps even higher. The resources that he was going to need to achieve that goal would be tremendous. Based on Wang Baole’s current situation, getting that amount of resources in the Divine Eye civilization was going to be a feat.

It seems like I’ll have to make a trip out. Follow the ways of the Divine Eye civilization… and see if I can bump into a mutant civilization like I did the last time around… Wang Baole considered his options for a moment but decided to hold off against any immediate action. Instead, he took a few days to inspect his fleet and carefully think through his plans. Then, he finally made up his mind.

My army can only grow more powerful with the necessary resources. Besides, I need an opportunity in order to advance my cultivation… A resolute look settled in his eyes. Wang Baole had decided to leave. He located his donkey and Little Wu, who had gotten to know each other during this period. The bond that they had cultivated with each other appeared to be deeper than the one they had with Wang Baole. Having been summoned back to Wang Baole’s side, they sat next to each other in the Dharmic Battleship and departed from the Soul Rift Planet with the Soul Rift Legion!

The fleet sped into space and exited the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s protectorate. The sight of the locust and the ten-thousand-strong Soul Rift Legion in the public cosmic territory was an awesome one to behold. Passing cultivators were dumbstruck, giving way to the passing fleet hastily. Armies from other sects looked on with caution when they caught sight of the Soul Rift Legion as well.

“It’s Long the Mad!”

“I heard he’s the only cultivator in the entire army. But he’s so powerful that his army is ranked nineteenth in the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect, and that’s before he’s even made a move. Should he decide to do it, he might even get a place in the top ten armies in the sect!”

“He’s crazy. Anyone who crosses his path is sure to suffer. Let’s stay away from him!”

Wang Baole’s journey began without a hitch, amidst the wary eyes of the crowd. The bounty that the Violet Gold New Dao Sect had put out seemed to have lost its appeal. As the one who had put up the bounty, the Ink Dragon Legion appeared to have chosen to give up their hunt for Wang Baole. Wang Baole arrived safely at the Divine Eye civilization’s Eternal Star, the Eye of Ten Thousand Demons!

With the mandate given to the Soul Rift Legion, Wang Baole got himself the necessary access rights. With a wave of his hand, the fleet rushed at the Eternal Star. In the next moment… the Soul Rift Legion disappeared entirely from the Divine Eye civilization!

When they reappeared again… they found themselves amongst the stars, in the cosmic abyss!