808 The Mission Begins! (1/2)

In one of the distant corners of the main Divine Eye star was land that many had thought had suffered a meteorite's landing. It was a deserted land, barren of everything save an enormous crater.

Any plant life that had grown here had withered and died, and an aura of death permeated the air and prevented beasts from venturing close. The uniqueness of this piece of land had drawn the attention of many cultivators. However, no matter how much the cultivators who came hunting searched the land above and even below ground, they went away with nothing.

It was as if no one could see the coffin even though it was lying right there. So, even though everyone had their own guesses about the place and believed that the meteorite was behind what was strange about the land, they started paying less attention to the area as time passed.

But now… Wang Baole's avatar stood inside an inn in the market as a pig-faced mask hovered before him. The voice that had rung out from the mask had managed to traverse vast distances to reach his true form lying inside a coffin deep underground. It had reverberated in his head!

The voice sounded so clear, almost as if someone had spoken into his ear. Wang Baole's true form opened his eyes instantly, and they were filled with shock. The fact that… the Flame Patriarch's voice could penetrate the walls of the coffin meant one thing… that he was probably as powerful as Wang Baole's senior brother!

Someone else had been stirred by the voice. The mask that Little Missy dwelt in, which Wang Baole kept on his true form, shook faintly. Little Missy appeared to be on the verge of waking up.

The turn of events sent Wang Baole's true form into a contemplative silence. A long moment later, his eyes fell shut again. A vast distance away, in the inn, Wang Baole's avatar remained shocked. After checking out what had happened to his true form, Wang Baole took a deep breath and extended a deep bow towards the pig-faced mask in front of him.

He straightened his back, raised his arms, and held the mask. There was a moment of silence where hesitation flickered in his eyes. In the end, he chose to put on the mask.

The instant he put on the mask, a strong power surged from it. It didn't bother inspecting Wang Baole. Instead, it enveloped him fully, then gave him a hard yank.

Wang Baole could feel himself losing complete control of his body with the sudden yank. At that same instant, he disappeared from the room in the inn.

Everything had happened without a sound. There had been no energy signatures indicating teleportation had taken place. No one had noticed anything. A powerful array formation had been set up around the inn, but it had posed no challenge to the teleportation. It was as if Wang Baole… had simply vanished!

In the next moment, when Wang Baole could finally see again, he had arrived at… a completely foreign world!

Stars filled the skies while ruins littered the lands. Wang Baole stood on the ruins of a building that had originally been shaped like a hook sword. Such ruins could be found everywhere around him. Multiple figures, all wearing different masks, continued to appear.

Some of those masks were shaped like the heads of cows, fish, and horses. There were many more, which were of beasts that Wang Baole had never seen. There were more than two hundred of them. As soon as they appeared, they started surveying their surroundings and assessing the other participants.

Wang Baole reeled back. He had done a sweep and realized that he couldn't sense the aura coming off anyone. He couldn't discern their levels of cultivation either. He could see them perfectly with his eyes, but they were blurry figures to his Divine Sense—not completely non-existent, but indistinct nevertheless.

It's the mask! Wang Baole touched the mask on his face contemplatively. He was able to reach some basic conclusions from the looks that everyone was giving.

For example… most of the participants' eyes were filled with violence and wildness. They appeared hostile, seeming as if they were used to killing. The fact that they had chosen to participate in this mission indicated that they were men of extraordinary abilities. They must have their reasons for signing up. After all… the rewards that the Flame Patriarch was offering were enough to tempt Wang Baole. Others must also be equally tempted.

As they all sized one another up, light erupted from the ruins around them suddenly. The light was faint. If it had come from a singular spot, few might have noticed it. But they were all shining at the same time, like fallen stars. The light did resemble starlight, spilling from every corner and gathering before everyone.

Because the lights had been faint at first, they didn't seem particularly bright after they gathered into a single spot of light. However, as the lights continued to gather, the sphere of light grew increasingly blinding. An incredible power built up inside the sphere of light, stirring the lands and enveloping the world.