A World Worth Protecting

“So, the rumors were true!” Chen Yutong’s breathing hastened. He stepped back and blinked several times as he looked at the burly puppets making disturbing sounds at Lin Tianhao.

“Senior Brother Chen, what do you mean by that?” Hearing the words from Chen Yutong’s mouth, Lin Tianhao’s mood instantly changed. He immediately had the impression that the visit from Chen Yutong was purely to watch him make a fool of himself.

However, Chen Yutong seemed to not have heard Lin Tianhao’s question. He continued looking at the three puppets, flipping his right hand and retrieving a jade slip, as if to record data about the three puppets.

The anger that Lin Tianhao had suppressed for the past two weeks rose to its highest point and erupted, seeing how Chen Yutong had shown up from nowhere to watch him make a joke of himself. That was compounded by the unending disturbing sounds made by the three puppets and the fact that one of them was currently taking a few steps forward toward him, arms wide open and lips perked up, wanting to receive hugs and kisses from him.

He did not want to express his anger toward Chen Yutong. He shouted angrily as he turned his body and stepped right in front of the burly puppet, which was asking for a hug with its arms wide open. With immense anger, and indescribable hatred toward Wang Baole, he slapped the puppet hard.

“Shut up!”

That slap harnessed all the power of the first level of his True Breath cultivation. Coupled with the boost by his anger, the force was compounded. As the loud slap reverberated, Chen Yutong was taken aback, as the puppet was hit directly in the head by Lin Tianhao.

The puppet’s skull immediately broke apart. Its body was also unable to withstand the impact, and it immediately collapsed. As it fell, an alarm was immediately released from its body.

As the alarm reverberated, the door to Wang Baole’s cave abode instantly opened. His rotund body rushed out immediately, and he looked extremely upset as he rushed in front of the collapsed puppet.

“Xiao Qiang ¹ ! What happened to you, Xiao Qiang? I have raised you like my very own all this time, don’t die, Xiao Qiang!” Wang Baole grabbed and shook the puppet’s broken body, looking extremely pained.

Lin Tianhao laughed coldly, and just as he was about the speak, the natural talent Chen Yutong who was standing beside him suddenly howled fiercely.

“Lin Tianhao, what did you do?”

Lin Tianhao was shocked frozen the moment he heard the words. When he turned, he saw Chen Yutong looking extremely angry, the look of coldness in his eyes obvious.

Chen Yutong was indeed truly furious. He had been in seclusion for a period of time, and when he finally emerged, his subordinate, knowing his preferences, mentioned a joke regarding Lin Tianhao to him, highlighting the presence of the three puppets.

Therefore, Chen Yutong was tempted as he thought of a trade with the Lower Academy Island through a merchant some time in the past, where he received a very special puppet. After researching it, he felt that the puppet was impressive, which made him want to pay a visit to see it with his own eyes.

Even though it was easy for him to find out who refined the puppet, the moment he saw the gestures that the three puppets were displaying toward Lin Tianhao, Chen Yutong instantly confirmed that the one who made the puppet was doubtlessly Wang Baole!

What made him most delighted was that Wang Baole’s skills in puppet refinement had improved by leaps and bounds. He was delighted by them the moment he saw them, which made him think that Lin Tianhao’s vicious attack on the puppet was cruel and extremely sinful, resulting in his rage toward Lin Tianhao.

“Lin Tianhao, how dare you hurt and damage such a valuable treasure? You’ve wrecked a gem!”

Lin Tianhao was dumbfounded and froze with shock as he was stared at and berated by Chen Yutong. Hearing Chen Yutong addressing the puppet as a gem made Lin Tianhao unconsciously look at the puppet that he had ruined, bewildered.

Even Wang Baole trembled. He forgot about the sadness that he was portraying and raised his head, staring at Chen Yutong in a daze, who was more furious than he was. He was incredulous as he suddenly thought of the prominent character on the Upper Academy Island whom Xie Haiyang had mentioned a while back.

This… could it be him? Wang Baole took a deep breath, his face displaying a look of confusion.

As Wang Baole and Lin Tianhao were reeling in surprise, Chen Yutong took a few quick steps forward toward Wang Baole. He first looked at the decommissioned puppet with a pained expression before sighing and patting Wang Baole on his shoulders.

“Junior Brother Wang, I am Chen Yutong. Ah, truth be told, I bought the puppet you made back then. I bear witness to whatever has happened today. Don’t worry, I will stand up for you! Destroying the beloved Dharmic Artifact belonging to a fellow disciple is an unforgivable sin!” Chen Yutong spoke as he retrieved his jade slip and sent some voice transmission instructions before looking coldly at Lin Tianhao.

Wang Baole blinked several times. He felt that something interesting was happening, so he aborted his original plan and looked at Lin Tianhao as well.

Lin Tianhao’s pupils constricted. He wanted to speak, but his facial expressions changed immediately as he took out his voice transmission jade slip from his storage bag. With a quick sweep, messages from the Dharmic Armament Pavilion’s disciplinary department regarding his punishment immediately appeared in his mind.

The punishment meted out was severe. Other than compensation to be paid, he was also to receive disciplinary action. Despite being wealthy, Lin Tianhao was also taken aback by the hefty compensation sum, which made his heart ache. He was angry, and at the same time, the disciplinary action was announced. If he were to reoffend, not only would the punishment be a hundred times more severe, his actions would also be recorded in the files of the Dao College, becoming a lasting mark on his profile!

That would be serious. Even though it was something that his father could resolve, he did not want his father to know that he was at loggerheads with Wang Baole. Therefore, he bore with it and thought about how turbulent his life had been ever since he met Wang Baole. That was especially so on Upper Academy Island, where he had been in disadvantaged situations continuously. Every single time, he was unable to release his anger, and now, Chen Yutong unexpectedly became Wang Baole’s ally.

Lin Tianhao breathed rapidly as he looked deeply at Wang Baole without saying a word. He suppressed his anger and turned to return to his cave abode. The moment he entered, he uncontrollably threw all the objects he had in the cave abode on the ground. He roared angrily as blue veins popped out on his forehead.

“Wang Baole!”

Now, outside the cave abode, Wang Baole’s eyes were filled with passion. That was the first time he had seen authority in action on Upper Academy Island. Chen Yutong’s words also instantly forced Lin Tianhao to bear with his anger despite being on the brink of eruption.

Whatever had happened carried great meaning. Now, Wang Baole looked around and immediately rose to greet Chen Yutong with cupped fists.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Chen!”

As he spoke, Wang Baole invited Chen Yutong into his cave abode. Chen Yutong accepted the invitation as he wanted to take the chance to interact with Wang Baole so as to understand more about the puppets. With the desire to be acquainted with each other, they began chatting heartily.

The duo exchanged experiences regarding the manufacturing of the puppets. Wang Baole realized that Chen Yutong’s puppet manufacturing process was impressive, and his techniques were superior, perfect down to the finest details.

“My goal is to refine a Divine Armament puppet. I believe a puppet like that will possess an item spirit and become a real human!” Chen Yutong spoke with excitement in his eyes. He had gained valuable insights from his first interaction with Wang Baole. Even though Wang Baole was not as proficient as he was in refining, his unique knowledge and thought process with regards to inscriptions moved him.

However, it was still the first interaction between the both of them after all. Unknowingly, it was dusk, and Chen Yutong had to bid Wang Baole farewell. Before he left, Wang Baole generously gifted Chen Yutong a few puppets.

He knew about Chen Yutong’s preferences and thoughtfully gifted him hairy and burly puppets. However, he did not give Zhu Gangqiang away, as he could not bear to. After all, it was the very first puppet that he made after incorporating his creativity and knowledge about puppets.

Even so, Chen Yutong was still surprised. After gracefully accepting the puppets, he waved his right hand and gifted Wang Baole the Numinous Treasure that he had borrowed years ago to deceive one’s mind.

Though unable to fight an enemy head on, it was still a Numinous Treasure. Chen Yutong’s gesture of gifting it without much thought allowed Wang Baole to realize the generosity displayed by the Dharmic Armament Pavilion that far exceeded that of the Dharmic Armament faculty.

After sending Chen Yutong off, Wang Baole returned to his cave abode and logged on to the Spirit Intranet. He searched for information regarding Chen Yutong’s background and was instantly jolted awake.

This Senior Brother Chen is a top Armament Soldier, wielding large amounts of power. He is in charge of the College Administrative Department of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. Every single illegal construction is under the jurisdiction of his department!

There are also rumors that he would become the next deputy Pavilion Head! Wang Baole was impressed—he had never imagined that Chen Yutong would be such a prominent figure. Thoughts and emotions flew around his heart and mind.

Even though he has an unusual liking toward researching puppets, he is still a nice person. After a disciple of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion reaches the ranks of an Armament Disciple, they can apply to the department where they wish to carry out their duty. If only I could enter the College Administrative Department that he is in charge of… Wang Baole’s eyes lit up as he grew decisive after pondering for a short moment.

Therefore, in the days that followed, other than practicing and refining Dharmic Artifacts, Wang Baole also spent time deepening his relationship with Chen Yutong, without making it too purposeful and too frequent. He did go to the disciplinary department and show off on the basis of this incident. He did not mention a single word about wanting to work for the urban planning department. Even Chen Yutong’s subordinates were unaware of the budding friendship between the both of them.

Chen Yutong was impressed by how Wang Baole handled matters. Furthermore, as Wang Baole’s personality was pleasant, their relationship gradually grew chummy.

After a period of time, Wang Baole felt that he has established some footing on Upper Academy Island. At the same time, he was becoming more proficient in his knowledge of the refinement materials. The next step would be to refine actual treasures.

However, before this, I need to research further into psychology. Wang Baole turned his head to look at his neighbor. A flash appeared in his eyes, and with a wave of his arm, over thirty hunky puppets appeared instantly, and they marched out of the cave abode in a neat formation.