A World Worth Protecting

The matter implicated the entire Federation and all the political entities within. As one of the four great Dao Colleges, the Ethereal Dao College had many graduates who gained office in the Federation. The disciples came from a wide range of family backgrounds; their relationships with the Federation were complex and multi-layered.

That was why news of the Operation Sword Sun had appeared on Upper Academy Island almost immediately, even before the operation had been unanimously approved and announced publicly. Heated discussions and excited exchanges also turned up on the college’s Spirit Intranet.

“Have you heard about Operation Sword Sun? A mission to land on the ancient green-bronze sword! There must be Divine Armaments up there!”

“Compared to the ancient green-bronze sword’s strong Spirit Qi and its countless rare materials and treasures, I’m actually more interested in whether there are any living female ancient sword cultivators, and whether their physiology and psychology are identical to ours. If there’s an opportunity, as an academic endeavor, I would like to study whether it’s possible to develop a romantic relationship with one!”

“Why the mention of female cultivators only… the poster above is harboring immoral intentions! I demand to be part of the research team!”

“Shameless, you lot of guys. You men have fantasies that show how much of a scum you are!”

Such excitement and playful banter spread like wildfire on the Spirit Intranet. Wang Baole was equally excited. He started fantasizing about the possibility of one day stepping on the ancient green-bronze sword and holding his presidential inauguration there. Behind him would be an army of guards—ancient sword cultivators. He played out the scenes in his mind, and his eyes lit up.

He couldn’t help himself. He posted anonymously on the Spirit Intranet.

“I have no respect for you lot, guys who have no ambition and whose brains are obsessed with female cultivators. How could we as cultivators behave in such a manner! I’m telling all of you, in all seriousness, that if there’s any research on romances with aliens, to please give me a holler! I’m an expert on this!”

His post was soon mocked by others. Amidst the lively and rowdy atmosphere, the college disciples started to look forward to the mission. What they had said previously had all been in jest. In reality, every disciple held feelings towards the ancient sword that couldn’t be described with mere words. The Dao civilization on Earth had arisen because of the ancient sword’s appearance. Its origins inspired all kinds of speculation, and at the same time, people were in awe of the ancient sword.

More and more people started talking about Operation Sword Sun. There were even some mainstream media outlets in the Federation that began broadcasting about the mission. Wang Baole was munching on his snacks and scrolling through the posts on the Spirit Intranet one day, ready to post an article under his anonymous account, when he received a voice transmission message from the seventh primary stronghold’s General Zhou Dexi.

“Wang Baole, I’ve made arrangements for someone to send over the Beast King’s tooth that I promised you earlier. You should be able to receive it today!”

General Zhou’s low voice was calm and composed as usual, and it traveled slowly into Wang Baole’s ear. Wang Baole became alert and filled with energy. He hurriedly set aside his snacks and turned towards the voice transmission device.

“Many thanks to General Zhou!”

A fire burned within Wang Baole. He had been waiting for the tooth for so long. He was confident that once he got hold of the Core Formation realm Beast Emperor’s tooth, he would be able to upgrade his Numinous Treasure-grade Dragon’s Tooth. With the help of the Core Formation realm-grade beast’s tooth, his Dragon’s Tooth would let loose an unimaginable power.

Zhou Dexi heard the excitement in Wang Baole’s voice. His remained calm. He chatted casually with Wang Baole for a short while more before switching the tone of his voice, saying suddenly, “Wang Baole, you little rascal. You decimated everyone during the Ethereal Dao College’s Armament Soldier assessment, sounded the Elder Request Drum and called forth the Grand Supreme Elder in your college to judge the matter of your Numinous Treasure. This entire incident has reached our ears.”

“I’m interested in that Baole Cannon of yours. Lend me one. I’ll find someone to test its effectiveness in actual battle.”

Wang Baole agreed to General Zhou’s request without hesitation. The Fire God Cannon had inspired his original creation of the cannon. Furthermore, he had a unique friendship with the seventh primary stronghold. He would be glad if the cannon could be of use to the seventh primary stronghold. In fact, he had already thought of the same idea as General Zhou.

Zhou Dexi was comforted and pleased by Wang Baole’s swift and decisive agreement. He spoke a few more words, then ended the conversation. It didn’t take long, and by the time the sun began to set, a cruiser that had come from the seventh primary stronghold landed in the Ethereal Dao College.

The person who had arrived was Zhou Lu. After some communication with the Ethereal Dao College, Zhou Lu appeared before Wang Baole. She stood outside the cave abode and watched as Wang Baole came outside. Regardless of the contributions Wang Baole had made towards the seventh primary stronghold, her feelings towards him were slightly complicated. Because of their unpleasant history, she couldn’t bring herself to like him. Furthermore, she sensed a certain perversion in Wang Baole’s naming of the Numinous Treasure. All the above resulted in her glaring at him and stretching out her right hand impatiently.

“Hand over your Numinous Treasure!”

Wang Baole originally had a smile on his face when he had seen Zhou Lu approach and was about to hand over the Baole Cannon, but upon hearing the tone of her voice, he became displeased. He rolled his eyes and stopped, and instead leaned against the rock wall. He crossed his arms and gave Zhou Lu a sweep once over.

“What’re you getting at? You ask for presents whenever you see a cute guy?”

“Stop disgusting me and hand it over, quickly!” Zhou Lu heard Wang Baole call himself a “cute guy” and couldn’t help the contempt surging within her. She frowned and snorted.

Wang Baole became angry when he saw Zhou Lu’s attitude towards him. All his life, except Du Min, he had never met his match in a spar of wits. He raised an eyebrow.

“I have so many Numinous Treasures. Which is the one you want?”

“You…” Zhou Lu’s chest heaved. She had a shapely figure with fine curves and was wearing a black form-fitting uniform. As she grew more agitated, the uniform looked as if it was about to burst at the seams at any moment.

After a second, she finally gritted her teeth and said, one word at a time.

“The. Baole. Cannon!”

“…” Wang Baole coughed and thought himself rather gifted in the area of naming. He would not have treated another person in such a manner, but Zhou Lu’s tone was unfriendly; she tried to order him around, and when she looked at him, it was with contempt in her eyes. Wang Baole didn’t feel he was in the wrong, no matter how much he pushed her around.

However, Wang Baole considered the possibility of Zhou Lu being General Zhou’s concubine. Even if that wasn’t the case, they had the same family name; they could be relatives. He felt that there was no need for him to lower himself to her level and continue their fight.

Wang Baole thought his decision showed great consideration to General Zhou. He lifted his right hand and with a wave, threw a Baole Cannon over.

Zhou Lu caught the Numinous Treasure and snorted. She flung a storage bracelet at Wang Baole, turned, and left. Her clothes clung tightly to her body, and as she left with her back towards Wang Baole, he couldn’t help but eye her departing form.

They’ve turned back to peaches… He sighed. He couldn’t help himself as he yelled at Zhou Lu’s retreating back.

“Zhou Lu, speak the truth. Are you secretly in love with me?”

A dozen yards away, Zhou Lu heard what Wang Baole said. She stumbled and almost fell. When she spun around, she was clearly furious and on the verge of explosion. She glared at Wang Baole.

“If that’s not the case, why do you wear clothes a size smaller when you come to see me? Zhou Lu, I advise you to just give up. We’re… not compatible!” Wang Baole sighed loudly. He didn’t wait for Zhou Lu to respond, only turned and quickly returned to his cave abode. The doors shut with a loud slam.

Outside the cave abode, Zhou Lu was on the verge of flying into a mad rage. Her chest heaved, and she stared unblinkingly at the doors of Wang Baole’s cave abode. After a moment, she finally clamped down on her temper. With gnashed teeth, she turned around and boarded her cruiser, dashing off.

“Stupid fatty, shameless rat! I, Zhou Lu, would rather fall in love with a beast than fall in love with you!” On the cruiser, a raging Zhou Lu cursed.

After making sure that Zhou Lu had indeed left, Wang Baole, who sat cross-legged in his cave abode, started humming merrily. He opened the storage bracelet happily and retrieved from within a black tooth the length of an arm.

The tooth was sharp and exuded an intense aura of violence. Upon its exposure, the surrounding temperature fell considerably. Wang Baole shivered, and he focused his breath and became serious. He could feel a suppressive force weighing down on him.

An impressive and imposing aura was exuded from the tooth as well, one which tested the stability of Wang Baole’s cultivation. It took Wang Baole quite some time before he could get used to it, and with some difficulty. His eyes started to shine.

This is good stuff. Wang Baole’s eyes shone. He could wait no longer. He rushed into the smelting furnace room with the beast’s tooth, pulled out the Dragon’s Tooth, and started the refinement.

During that time, Zhou Lu had returned to the seventh primary stronghold and handed the Baole Cannon over to General Zhou. He inspected it briefly and immediately arranged for one of his soldiers to test it on captive monsters.

A thundering shot resounded in the air. The blast from the Baole Cannon pierced straight through the beast and disintegrated half of its body. It was a beast that rivaled a first level True Breath realm cultivator.

The power of the blast didn’t surprise the surrounding soldiers observing the trial. After all, it was weaker than the Fire God Cannon. Even though it proved fatal for a True Breath realm beast, similar Numinous Treasures did exist!

“Continue!” General Zhou said coolly. The warrior holding the cannon continued firing. Soon, the number of shots fired reached eighty, a hundred and sixty, three hundred and fifty, five hundred and thirty…

Gradually, the warrior’s breathing quickened with excitement. Those watching couldn’t maintain their composure either. Their eyes widened and slowly revealed their amazement and disbelief.

Zhou Lu, who had been standing at one side, was dazed as well.

General Zhou’s breathing quickened slightly as well.

The Baole Cannon was simply… stable beyond belief. Even though Numinous Treasures with similar destructive force were plenty, the reason that those treasures weren’t as prevalent in usage was that they were firstly, costly to make, and secondly… too unstable!

War was, after all, different from a mere friendly challenge. During a friendly challenge, one could switch their Numinous Treasures countless times. A Numinous Treasure would generally be fired a few times—at most, a few dozen or up to a hundred times. But in war, it was common to fire one Numinous Treasure a few hundred or a few thousand times.

The Baole Cannon was fired a total of a thousand and two hundred times before it showed signs of instability. The test was finally concluded, and there was silence in the air. Everyone held their breath, their eyes wide. When they looked at the Baole Cannon, a battle scene appeared in their mind.

In that scene, the Baole Cannon had been mass produced. After a salvo of Fire God Cannon shots, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands—perhaps even a million—Baole Cannon shots would be fired. Picturing that sent everyone shaking to their core.

“No wonder the Ethereal Dao College didn’t go around spreading news of this, but suppressed the news and contacted the military in secret… I’m afraid even Wang Baole himself is not fully aware of this cannon’s worth and what it truly means…” General Zhou muttered to himself.

Beside him, Zhou Lu remained unconvinced. She said quietly, “I examined it on my way back as well. Even though I don’t fully understand its workings, but I can tell the cannon isn’t that complex a Numinous Treasure. It’s just a matter of a few modified inscriptions. There are plenty of Dharmic Armament cultivators in the Federation, so why was it that no one has come up with this before?”

General Zhou stared calmly at Zhou Lu. When Zhou Lu finally lowered her head in uncertainty, he said in a cool voice, “There were many who thought the same when the Fire God Cannon was created. In fact, many people think like you when anything of any value is first created!”

“It’s just a matter of a few modified inscriptions… you try and modify one. If you are up to it, go ahead!”