A World Worth Protecting

It was no wonder the youth’s mind was buzzing with activity and his heart thrown into shock. As a disciple who had already spent two years on Upper Academy Island, regardless of whether it was through his own experience of going through nine assessments or from hearsay, he had never heard or seen someone like Wang Baole, who was planning to go through the assessment with a hundred perfect first-grade Dharmic Artifacts that were extremely difficult to refine.

It was unfathomable for the youth that someone would make the whole process more challenging for themselves. After all, it was too costly to refine Dharmic Artifacts this way. Furthermore, with this difficulty, the test that followed, which requires the individual to refine ten randomly selected Dharmic Artifacts within the stipulated time, would be even more difficult.

In addition, the youth absolutely did not believe that all those Dharmic Artifacts had been refined by a newly admitted disciple. No matter how he looked at it, there did not seem to be enough time. If someone had really managed to achieve the feat, the youth would think that he would be an extremely talented individual who would become an Armament Soldier in the future.

However, in his eyes, Wang Baole was not talented. Now, he focused his attention and tried with all his effort to shift his gaze away from the Dharmic Artifacts that Wang Baole was gradually feeding to the stone stele. He suppressed the wave of emotions in his heart, having judged that the newbie was definitely just trying his luck after engaging someone else’s help with refining the Dharmic Artifacts.

It did not matter if it was reasonable. In addition, if one failed in the assessment, the Dharmic Artifacts that were submitted would not be returned. However, to those who were rich, such losses were still acceptable.

“Senior Brother, what do I do next? Is the assessment about to begin?” As the youth’s thoughts crashed like waves, Wang Baole had already fed all the Dharmic Artifacts into the stone stele and was inquiring about the next step nervously with his head turned. He noticed the change in the youth’s facial expressions and understood the reason behind it, but as the assessment was of greater importance now, he could not afford to be distracted and did not have the time to explain.

“Humph, people who think that they can play against the rules because they are rich are just the people I hate the most!”

After hearing Wang Baole’s words, the youth sighed deeply in his heart and spoke in a cold, distant manner.

“Put your hand on the stone stele, and the assessment will commence!”

After he spoke, he saw Wang Baole raising his hand and pressing it on the stone stele. He laughed coldly as he saw Wang Baole’s body giggle.

“Newbie, you have to experience failure first. So what if you’re rich? You’ll still fail!” The youth decided to pause his own assessment as he wanted to see Wang Baole fail the assessment with his own eyes. Based on his interpretation, Wang Baole would give up within half an hour.

However, time flew by, and half an hour passed quickly. Not only did Wang Baole not end the assessment, the stone stele in front of him even began to glow, which rose one inch up the stele!

The youth was taken aback and slightly shocked as he thought in his heart, Has the first item passed?

That’s just because you have good luck. Let’s see how long you can last…

As he groused in his heart, the stone stele suddenly glowed again and rose to two inches!

What’s going on? The youth’s breathing quickened.

Soon, when the glow grew to three inches, the youth was unable to sit still. He stood up, looking incredulous as he witnessed the glow rising continuously from four to five to six inches… When it reached nine inches, the youth’s mind was buzzing with activity, and he gasped in surprise.

Impossible! That’s too fast!

A torrent of emotions filled his heart. If it was someone else that succeeded, he would not have reacted in this way. However, he had seen that every Dharmic Artifact that Wang Baole had sent out was extremely difficult to refine and was of a level that was far from ordinary. Despite this, he was close to achieving success!

Not long after the glow grew to nine inches in length, the stone stele glowed and grew once again, reaching a height of ten inches. That signified the success of the disciple in becoming an Armament Disciple. As disciples from the Military Administrative Department realized what was happening, they all gathered around.

“Someone has succeeded!”

“A new Armament Disciple has emerged!”

The Military Administrative Department disciples rushed into the area. The youth was in a daze due to shock, and Wang Baole, who was sitting under the stone stele, opened his eyes and ended the assessment.

It didn’t seem that difficult…

Wang Baole was confused as the difficulty of the assessment was not what the youth had described. However, seeing that he had succeeded, he was still exhilarated. He stood up and thanked the dazed youth with cupped fists. As he turned, the disciples from the Military Administrative Department all came up to him to offer their congratulations.

Laughing heartily, Wang Baole left delightedly with the disciples from the Military Administrative Department to register officially as an Armament Disciple. The specially made Armament Disciple Daoist robe and identity token would be sent by the Military Administrative Department the next day. Therefore, after taking some measurements of his figure, Wang Baole left with the wind in his hair.

It was only after he had left that the youth standing at the Military Administrative Department assessment ground exhaled deeply and returned to reality. He turned abruptly to look at Wang Baole’s assessment stone stele.

Could it be easier to pass the assessment with this stone stele?

With that thought, the youth’s eyes lit up as he made a mental note of the position of the stone stele. A fire grew in his heart as he made plans to do his assessment with that stone stele should he fail this time around!

Wang Baole did not care about what the youth thought. Now, he was filled with delight as he sat on his cruiser, thinking about how he could finally change into the blue Daoist robe, which made him even happier. He also thought about how he could apply to perform his duties at any department and retrieved his voice transmission ring to contact Chen Yutong. After explaining the situation to him tactfully, Chen Yutong agreed wholeheartedly and invited Wang Baole to complete the administrative process at the College Administrative Department.

Seeing how everything seemed to have gone successfully, the exhilarated Wang Baole adjusted the direction that he was heading in and sped toward the College Administrative Department.

Now, Chen Yutong was in the mansion housing the College Administrative Department. He was originally listening to the four main team leaders under his leadership reporting carefully about their work with a stoic expression, but after receiving Wang Baole’s voice transmission, his lips curled into a smile, and he was pleasantly surprised.

The four main team leaders before him looked to each other, confused. Based on their understanding of Chen Yutong, their superior would treat others amiably when he was not in the College Administrative Department but would put on a stern front there.

Interesting. I thought he would still need some time before advancing. He’s fast. From the looks of it, what Master said is true. This person is certainly full of potential, and it’s beneficial to become acquainted with him.

Chen Yutong smiled slightly before retrieving his voice transmission ring to inquire about some issues from the staff at the Military Administrative Department. After that, he revealed a look of surprise as his eyes lit up even brighter.

He actually received Grade A results! It appears that he took what I told him previously to heart. If this is the case, I can’t treat him like a subordinate any more, for he will very likely become my comrade in the future!

Matters involving the assessment results were considered top secret, but Chen Yutong was able to catch wind of it due to his high status.

With that thought, Chen Yutong grew determined and immediately sent out orders.

Meanwhile, as Wang Baole charged toward the College Administrative Department, he soon noticed that the status of an Armament Disciple was extraordinary. Along the way, he saw that when several Armament Disciples dressed in blue Daoist robes went past, almost all the ordinary disciples along the way would greet them with cupped fists. Looking at how suave the Armament Disciples were, Wang Baole’s anticipation toward himself donning the Daoist robe grew.

Being an Armament Disciple is certainly different.

Looking from afar, the area occupied by the College Administrative Department was huge. There was a four-story-high pavilion in it, which was surrounded by several two to three story high buildings, which made it seem like it was specifically segregated from the other buildings.

There were also different flowers and plants grown around it. Many cruisers were parked on the plaza of the main foyer, which was busy with activity as ordinary disciples milled about the area. The Armament Disciples also appeared to hold significant authority, as people were extremely respectful as they passed them.

So, this is the College Administrative Department…

This was the first time that Wang Baole had been there. As he neared, a teen dressed in a blue Daoist robe immediately noticed him and approached him quickly, cupping his fists while smiling at him.

“Is this Junior Brother Wang Baole?”

Hearing the other party call out his name, Wang Baole made sense of the situation and returned the greeting with a smile on his face.

“Junior Brother Wang, I am Zhou Penghai. Please enter, Senior Brother Chen is waiting for you inside. He had already announced that you’ll become one of us in the future.” The blue-shirted teen was one of the four team leaders of the College Administrative Department. Now, as he led Wang Baole in, he sized him up secretly, knowing that the person before him would very likely become a team leader like him in the future. Therefore, he planned to get chummy with Wang Baole.

Along the way, they were chatting heartily. Wang Baole entered the backyard of the College Administrative Department and into one of the three story high pavilions, where he saw Chen Yutong, who was enjoying his tea.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Chen!” Unlike how it was usually, Wang Baole stepped forward quickly this time around, greeting Chen Yutong with cupped fists and with a serious expression on his face.

Even before he could kneel down, Chen Yutong had approached and helped Wang Baole up with a smile.

“Junior Brother Baole, there is no need for formalities. Come, sit here.” As he spoke, Chen Yutong led Wang Baole to a seat. Soon, the team leader who had led the way made Spirit tea and placed it before the both of them. He then stood behind Chen Yutong, keeping a respectful silence.

Chen Yutong first congratulated Wang Baole for becoming an Armament Disciple. After some brief catching up, Chen Yutong happily retrieved an identity token and passed it to Wang Baole.

“Junior Brother Baole, with your caliber, it will not be long before you become an Armament Soldier. At the same time, I know that you were the Head Prefect during your time at the Lower Academy Island and were in charge of the College Discipline Department. You have experience in this field, and since the College Administrative Department is lacking a leader for the Inspector main team, I was wondering if you would assume the responsibility temporarily and help me with it.” Chen Yutong looked at Wang Baole with a smile on his face.

Wang Baole was jolted alert. Even though he had not been to the College Administrative Department previously, he had read much about it on the Spirit Intranet and understood that other than Chen Yutong, the one with the greatest authority was the Inspector main team, who would inspect others with their power.

Unfortunately, it had always been under the control of Chen Yutong, who did not relinquish the power. Next in line would be the four judiciary main teams, which each comprised of the main team leader, a subordinate team leader, and numerous other ordinary disciples of the College Administrative Department.

Right now, however, what Chen Yutong meant was that he wanted to pass the duty of the main team leader of the inspector team to Wang Baole!

Not only was Wang Baole taken aback, Zhou Penghai, the blue-robed teen who was standing behind Chen Yutong, was also shocked. He had thought that the most Wang Baole would achieve would be a similar rank as himself and had never imagined that Wang Baole would be bestowed such power. His breathing hastened, and as he looked at Wang Baole, he was even more stringent and curious, carrying a tinge of indignation in his heart.