A World Worth Protecting

“Its fiercest move? I don’t care about its fiercest move!” Wang Baole’s rage erupted. The thought of being played around by the ape drove him crazy, especially as it had occurred not just once but over ten times.

“Calm down, Junior Brother. Calm down… I would advise you not to provoke this ape, for it is the favorite pet of the Beast Taming Pavilion Elder. Its cultivation far exceeds that of us True Breath plebs, making it immensely strong. The area above the clouds is its territory, and if it sees something appearing there, it loves to slap it away…” The kind-hearted disciple beside Wang Baole shook his head. He did not know Wang Baole, given that there were so many disciples in the Dharmic Armament Pavilion.

“It has such a strong backer?” Listening to the words of the fellow disciple and gaining a brief understanding of the ape, Wang Baole sighed as he realized that he could not afford to offend it. He grew even more grievous and indignant, and he had wanted to ask about the fiercest antics of the Diamond Ape that had leaped into the air when it seemed to have heard Wang Baole. It stopped instantly, shaking its buttocks at Wang Baole as it turned and snarled, revealing a condescending look in its eyes.

“You’re insulting me?” Wang Baole’s eyes stared wide open as he almost lost control of his temper. It was the first time in his life that he had been insulted by an ape.

The Diamond Ape that was in midair started to make sounds as it proudly thumped its chest. It shifted its attention from Wang Baole and turned to charge directly toward the Beast Taming Pavilion.

Wang Baole was extremely furious. Not only had he been treated as a toy by the ape, he had even been insulted. The feeling of indignation almost caused him to explode with rage. It took him a while to keep his anger under control. Painfully, he looked at the broken cruiser and sighed. After thanking his fellow disciple, he took the cruiser back to his cave abode with feelings of grief and indignation.

Thankfully, the damage to the cruiser was superficial and not too severe. It could easily be fixed with Wang Baole’s current abilities. It was just that it was difficult to suppress his indignation as his rage grew thinking about the facial expression of the ape as it insulted him.

Just you wait, rascal! You’ll see what me, your Grandpa Wang will do if you provoke him!

Gritting his teeth and suppressing his indignation, Wang Baole did not feel like heading out after fixing the cruiser. Thus, he decided to continue refining Dharmic Artifacts in seclusion.

Days passed, and Wang Baole grew increasingly familiar with the process of refining first-grade Dharmic Artifacts. The number of Dharmic Artifacts grew in number, even though there were failures in the process that cost him a significant portion of his savings.

However, he gradually refined over eighty Dharmic Artifacts that he had specially selected in the catalog from the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. Every single Dharmic Artifact was symbolic, and they all belonged to the category of being moderately challenging to refine. If he had chosen to refine those of lower difficulty, he would not have needed to spend so much time, energy, and money.

This was because Chen Yutong had once mentioned to Wang Baole that even though the assessment requirement for an Armament Disciple was to perfectly refine a hundred first-grade Dharmic Artifacts, there were actually points allocated to each of them. It did not matter if it was a high or low score, as one could advance to become an Armament Disciple once the minimum requirement was reached.

However, the score would become significant when one advanced further to become an Armament Soldier in the future. It could act as bonus points for the assessment of an Armament Soldier. Therefore, Chen Yutong told Wang Baole that if it was possible, it would be advantageous for him if he refined the most challenging first-grade Dharmic Artifacts from the catalog.

Even though it would entail a great expense, and the Dao College would only reward the Armament Disciples with a few symbolic Spirit Stones for the hundred Dharmic Artifacts that they refined for the assessment, making the cost disproportionate to the gains, this provided an easier path to success in the future by building a solid foundation.

After considering all these factors, Wang Baole decided to challenge himself. He had to fork out so much more, but the gains that he had received in the Spirit Breath Village previously were also significant. He only needed to wait for the Dao College to complete its process of recording the gains before he received his bountiful reward.

However, if everything went according to his plan, it would be inevitable for him to use a refinement material known as the Star Era Sand for the next ten or so Dharmic Artifacts. The Star Era Sand was available within the sect, but it could only be bought if one completed a specific mission, one which also required time to complete.

After calculating the time needed, Wang Baole grew impatient. After thinking about it, he decided to contact Xie Haiyang, whom he thought would have a way to get his hands on the Star Era Sand since he was so influential on the Lower Academy Island. If Xie Haiyang was not able to do it, Wang Baole planned to seek help from Chen Yutong.

However, even though he had built a friendship with Chen Yutong, they were not close as they had not known each other for long. Therefore, unless there was no other choice, Wang Baole did not want to trouble Chen Yutong.

Right now, Xie Haiyang was introducing himself to a new student from the Lower Academy Island passionately.

“Junior Sister, I am Xie Haiyang. Within Ethereal Dao College, regardless of whether you are the Chancellor or an ordinary student, there is no request that I am unable to fulfil.”

As he spoke, Xie Haiyang received Wang Baole’s voice transmission. His eyes lit up as he picked up the message and smiled at the female student, who appeared apprehensive.

“See that? Do you know who Wang Baole is? He is my biggest client. Alright, take your time to consider. I have to help with Senior Brother Wang’s matter now.” Xie Haiyang turned and left delightfully as he spoke. He immediately retrieved his voice transmission ring to communicate with Wang Baole. He was extremely respectful and polite, a vast difference from when Wang Baole was on the Lower Academy Island.

Eventually, he promised that he would hand over the amount required by Wang Baole within three days.

Xie Haiyang’s not bad. I’m on Upper Academy Island now, and he can still help me. He is no doubt a businessman. He will probably also want to gain admission to Upper Academy Island soon. Wang Baole was surprised as he thought highly of Xie Haiyang. He waited patiently for three days, and that was when he received Xie Haiyang’s voice transmission.

“Senior Brother Wang, I can’t enter Upper Academy Island. How about we trade outside?”

After receiving Xie Haiyang’s voice transmission, Wang Baole immediately left his cave abode and arrived at the foggy border of Upper Academy Island’s platform, where he saw an extremely respectful Xie Haiyang standing.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Wang!” The moment he saw Wang Baole, Xie Haiyang stood at attention. He stepped forward quickly and bowed deeply. Even before Wang Baole could speak, he had immediately retrieved a bag and passed it to Wang Baole politely.

Noticing the change in Xie Haiyang’s attitude toward him, Wang Baole laughed silently as he knew that a large part of it was due to his admission to Upper Academy Island. He received the bag with a pleased look and was delighted when he saw its contents.

He handed over the Spirit Stones, and the duo exchanged formalities after the transaction. Xie Haiyang remained respectful throughout the conversation. Wang Baole laughed and wanted to leave before Xie Haiyang seemed to have thought of something as he suddenly rushed forward and whispered, “Senior Brother Wang, you have bought so many things from me, and we can be considered old friends. I will let you in on a piece of news!”

“Hmm?” Wang Baole turned to look at Xie Haiyang.

“Senior Brother Wang, through my special connections, I have come to know of a piece of information that few, other than the people involved, know. In three days, the Alchemy Pavilion on Upper Academy Island will give out a reward for a specially-recruited individual.”

As Xie Haiyang spoke, he paid attention to Wang Baole’s facial expression.

“A reward from the Alchemy Pavilion for a specially-recruited?” Wang Baole was confused.

“The rules on the Upper Academy Island state that every pavilion can bestow an outstanding contributor who directly gained admission to Upper Academy Island as a disciple without having to pass through the assessment a reward. However, this is a rare occurrence. This time, the Alchemy Pavilion will reward someone who became a True Breath disciple by giving out a seven-inch Spirit Root!”

Wang Baole was shocked to hear the news. He knew how precious the seven-inch Spirit Root was, and the fact that the Alchemy Pavilion could afford to give a reward like that made him curious.

“However, there are some issues with the reward. Therefore, when the news is announced in three days, they will request for that person to successfully refine a Cloud Breath Pill before the deadline in order to be eligible…” Xie Haiyang stopped his sentence midway as he looked at Wang Baole.

“I have done some research on this Cloud Breath Pill. It is said that it is a pill that will be immensely advantageous to a True Breath cultivator. Most importantly, there are no prior records regarding this pill, and it could be considered a new formula. After the assessment, the Alchemy Pavilion of the Upper Academy Island began to regard it as a significant contribution, which is when the specially-recruited reward began. However, some issues seemed to have arisen—there were two students who submitted the formula for the Cloud Breath Pill, but there is only one reward!

“Therefore, an assessment is required in order to hand out the reward. The deadline is set for a month. The winner of the two students is whoever refines a Cloud Breath Pill with a higher purity. However, in order to refine the Cloud Breath Pill, many materials are required, and the total cost will be hefty…”

Listening to the message, Wang Baole’s eyes lit up, and he looked sharply at Xie Haiyang.

Xie Haiyang took a deep breath and spoke quietly as Wang Baole’s gaze was focused on him.

“The two who submitted the formula were Zhou Xiaoya and her best friend, Chen Fei, whom she came to know in the Alchemy Faculty. The Alchemy Pavilion of Upper Academy Island already has information regarding the one who created the formulation, but they have yet to announce it. This matter is one of life-and-death. I have heard that news has begun to spread within Upper Academy Island’s Alchemy Pavilion that Chen Fei was likely the one who created the formula. After all, Chen Fei is an impressive fourth year senior student. It is unlikely that she would risk the possibility of being expelled from the Dao College by stealing someone else’s formula…

“At the same time, based on what I’ve understood so far, Chen Fei has connections with Lin Tianhao. It is highly possible that Lin Tianhao would sponsor Chen Fei in refining the Cloud Breath Pill. This way, even if Chen Fei fails in the refinement process, she will be able to try again. On the other hand, Zhou Xiaoya does not have this advantage. If nothing unexpected happens, in a month’s time, after the announcement is made, the likelihood of Zhou Xiaoya losing will be extremely high. Most importantly, the Alchemy Pavilion’s stance toward this is something unknown.

“Senior Brother Wang, since the Alchemy Pavilion has yet to announce the matter regarding the reward, and if the formula was really not created by Zhou Xiaoya, you’d better talk some sense into her. Otherwise…” Xie Haiyang paused and fell silent. He took a few steps back, allowing Wang Baole some time to digest the information.

Wang Baole’s facial expression had long turned awful. His gaze was even sharper than before, and a ferocious vibe has accumulated and emanated directly from his body.