A World Worth Protecting

The instant that Wang Baole nearly opened the door to the cave abode, Lu Zihao—who had been waiting at the door—immediately turned to stare at him unblinkingly. His gaze was sharp and carried a sense of scrutiny, as though he wanted to completely see through Wang Baole.

“Combat faculty’s Lu Zihao is here to see the Dharmic Armament Head Prefect.” He squinted his eyes, and his bearing had a hint of arrogance as he slowly spoke.

Seeing Lu Zihao’s expression, Wang Baole snorted to himself. He was considering simply revealing his identity and making Lu Zihao continue to kneel and call him ‘daddy’. However, just as Wang Baole was considering this, Lu Zihao spoke again.

“I came here to give the Head Prefect a reminder. You still remember Zhou Lu from the club last year? She has already graduated from White Deer Dao College and was recruited by the military, who gave her a Seven-Inch True Breath. I heard that her cultivation level has already broken past the Ancient Martial realm, becoming a cultivator of the True Breath realm!” Lu Zihao spoke quickly, all the while staring at Wang Baole in a bid to gather some clues.

Hearing this, Wang Baole blinked. His memory of that crazy woman Zhou Lu was simply too deep. To hear that she had actually joined the military and even cultivated herself to exceed the Ancient Martial realm—he was immediately on guard.

“I don’t understand what you are saying.” Wang Baole shook his head and turned to return to the cave abode.

“Wang Baole, you are the finger-bending mad rabbit! I tell you, when that Zhou Lu becomes a real True Breath realm cultivator, she will still remember the incident that happened that day at the club. If you dare walk back into the cave abode, I will immediately send a voice transmission to Zhou Lu and tell her of your identity. When that happens, she will definitely seek you out.” Lu Zihao had a lofty expression and a crafty look in his eyes.

“It’s not impossible for me to keep mum. Wang Baole, you finger-bending mad rabbit, kowtow and call me daddy!”

“You’re crazy!” Hearing Lu Zihao actually speaking to him so arrogantly, Wang Baole stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at Lu Zihao. Annoyed, he snorted and continued walking toward the cave abode.

Upon seeing Wang Baole’s feigning of ignorance, Lu Zihao grew angry. His cultivation powers erupted immediately, and he gave a low roar.

“Today, I, Lu Zihao, came just to expose your identity!” His cultivation powers diffused. Although Lu Zihao was still in the perfected Physical Seal realm, he had refined it more and was not far from Pulse Enrichment. As he roared, he flew toward Wang Baole, raised his right hand, and threw a punch.

“You’re not done, are you?” Wang Baole grew angry, too. He felt that, as Head Prefect, he had already taken the high road by preparing to return to the cave abode. However, this hot-blooded young man was forceful and unrelenting, and now he had even made the first move.

This was intolerable to Wang Baole. He turned around and raised his right hand rapidly. Lu Zihao did not even manage to get a clear look before Wang Baole caught his wrist and pressed it downward. In that instant, the sharp pain of his joint made Lu Zihao wail in pain.

“Kneel and say ‘daddy’!” Wang Baole glared.

With a thud, Lu Zihao knelt, but he did not say ‘daddy’. Instead, through the throbbing pain, he looked to the sky and laughed maniacally.

“Finger-bending mad rabbit! You were fooled!

“I had three recording devices placed all around. Haha, Wang Baole, you finger-bending crotch-kicking mad rabbit, everyone on the Dao College’s Spirit Intranet can see this broadcast now. Your identity has already been exposed. Wang Baole, just wait for Zhou Lu to seek you out. Wait for all the people you have harmed in Ethereal City to look for you!”

Although Lu Zihao’s wrist had been twisted by Wang Baole, his laughter echoed everywhere, his excitement surging.

“Now, finger-bending mad rabbit, let go of my hand and kneel. Call me ‘daddy’!” Lu Zihao was unbearably smug. In his imagination, Wang Baole’s expression must have changed to panic.

However, Lu Zihao soon discovered that Wang Baole was not as alarmed as he had expected. Instead, he was grinning widely. This scene stunned Lu Zihao, and he started to feel as though something was amiss.

“You…”

Just as Lu Zihao felt that something was off, from all the roads surrounding Wang Baole’s cave abode, about ten black-robed inspectors from the Inscriptions and Spirit Stones classroom swiftly arrived. All of them had respectful expressions as they rushed over at full speed.

Liu Daobin was among them. He held three recording devices in his hands. Upon seeing the cameras in Liu Daobin’s hands, Lu Zihao’s expression changed.

“Reporting back. Just as you expected, Lu Zihao placed these three recording devices after ascending the mountain. We have already taken steps to cut off the Spirit Intranet in this area, so no confidential information can be transmitted!”

Hearing Liu Daobin’s words, Lu Zihao felt stunned. His pupils grew wide, and it seemed like his vision had gone black.

Wang Baole raised his head and demanded smugly, “Say ‘daddy’.”

Liu Daobin’s breathed roughly and shouted, “You wish!”

The grievance and gloom in his heart had reached its limit, and he was prepared to stay firm till the end. However, at this moment, Liu Daobin sneered.

“Head Prefect, this person tried to steal the Dharmic Armament faculty’s secrets. I suggest we detain him immediately and send him to the Dao College for interrogation after negotiation with the Combat faculty!”

The moment Liu Daobin spoke, Lu Zihao inhaled and almost wet his pants from fear. The consequences for stealing secrets were extremely severe, and it scared Lu Zihao till he quickly tried to explain himself.

“I am not a thief. I just installed those around Wang Baole’s cave abode to record evidence!”

“Shut up! Remember the Head Prefect’s status. By placing the recording devices outside the Head Prefect’s cave abode, this is considered stealing the Dharmic Armament faculty’s secrets!” Liu Daobin said while maintaining his icy gaze.

Even the other inspectors appeared hostile. They looked at Lu Zihao and seemed to call for a severe punishment.

At this moment, Lu Zihao had become truly afraid. When he arrived, he had indeed come with evil intentions to record Wang Baole attacking him. With that, he was going to use it as evidence to humiliate Wang Baole and also use it to brag. Furthermore, he had no intention of sparing Wang Baole; instead, he was prepared to hand the evidence over to Zhou Lu so that she would cause trouble for Wang Baole and embarrass him. However, he had neglected… Wang Baole’s authority and status in the Dharmic Armament faculty.

He never would have imagined that the situation would turn out like this. Now that he was scared, he quickly adapted to the circumstances and wailed, “Daddy, Daddy, I was wrong. Daddy, I was wrong…”

“Fine, let’s not scare little children anymore.” Wang Baole smugly raised his hand.

Hearing Wang Baole call him a little child, Lu Zihao’s aggrieved expression kept changing, but he had no choice but to swallow his objections.

“Little Hao, we don’t have any grudges that we can’t resolve. Don’t be so mischievous next time.” Emotional, Wang Baole raised his hand to rub Lu Zihao’s head. From the first time they faced each other, Wang Baole knew that Lu Zihao was someone who liked to scheme and resort to petty tricks. So, this time, when he left the cave abode, he sent a voice transmission to instruct Liu Daobin, just in case.

Now, with a senior’s bearing, Wang Baole criticized Lu Zihao before returning to his cave abode, satisfied. He was delighted, feeling that he was still better at strategy.

As for the matter of Lu Zihao revealing his identity, Wang Baole did not care. As he saw it, it would be best if it was not exposed, but if it was exposed, it was no big deal. For Zhou Lu or many other people, it was not a simple feat to become a double Head Prefect of Ethereal Dao College.

Seeing that Wang Baole was going to let him go, Lu Zihao released a deep breath. The surrounding inspectors looked icily at Lu Zihao before leaving as well.

Only Liu Daobin stood beside Lu Zihao, and with a somber voice, he said, “Study well. This time, the Head Prefect is letting you go out of kindness. You need to treasure this chance and stop making trouble for yourself!”

He waved the recording device in his hand. He did not return the three recording devices to Lu Zihao but took them away so that he could store them as evidence and take them out in the future.

Even after everyone had left, Lu Zihao remained silent for a long time. He turned to look back at Wang Baole’s cave abode. At this moment, he truly felt the gap between himself and Wang Baole.

I definitely can exceed him!

Unable to expose Wang Baole’s identity, he gritted his teeth and returned to the Combat faculty, entering seclusion to cultivate himself.

To Wang Baole, this incident with Lu Zihao was only a small matter. After returning to the cave abode, he once again immersed himself in Spirit Kernel training. After a week, Wang Baole’s speed at refining Spirit Kernels became faster and faster.

After entering the Dao College, he had used many Spirit Stones. However, he still had a large reserve of Spirit Stones, all of them high quality.

This meant that Wang Baole did not lack Spirit Stones as he started to familiarize himself with producing Spirit Kernels. All the carved Inscriptions on the Spirit Stones allowed him to have an increasingly exquisite mastery over the Spirit Kernels.

At the same time, he had also used the knowledge from the jade slip material that the Dharmic Armament Pavilion Elder had given him to refine Spirit Kernels. He slowly understood the big picture through basic examples, and with it, Wang Baole was able to combine knowledge and understand Spirit Kernel even more deeply.