A World Worth Protecting

1

“Wang Baole!”

“An alchemical cauldron, that’s definitely an alchemical cauldron! This Wang Baole actually managed to bring an alchemical cauldron out! Puppets are hanging all around the alchemical cauldron as well!”

“What’s the big deal about the alchemical cauldron? It has no lid, and inside it… darn it, there are tons of materials. I even saw some broken Dharmic Armament fragments!”

“…”

As the crowd reeled in shock, Wang Baole picked his ears in order to adjust to the sounds surrounding him. He was indescribably delighted and could not help clearing his throat forcefully before snapping his fingers with his gloved right hand.

Instantly, the puppets hanging on the pail all released their grip. With a loud whoosh, the uncountable objects that they had been carrying fell all over the ground.

Among them were pills, fragments, broken jade slips, as well as some objects that Wang Baole did not recognized. They were numerous and scattered all over the floor.

The crowd held their breaths momentarily, but very quickly, emotions ran high once again.

“Gosh! He… the objects that the puppets retrieved. There’s a leaf, could it be a plant?”

“There are even ancient Spirit Stones. Look at those stones! That’s right! They’re ancient Spirit Stones!”

“Quick! Look at that piece of broken rock! There are runes on it. Could they be Array Runes?”

The comments from the crowd were as loud and chaotic as the crashing waves. Wang Baole proudly puffed up his chest, but he still felt that he had not made a strong enough statement. Therefore, he raised his foot and kicked hard at the large pail, causing it to topple over.

Instantly, even more objects fell out, revealing the four corpses within it!

The four corpses had originally been on top of the large pail. However, fearing that they would fall off during the journey, Wang Baole had shifted them to the bottom. Right now, as the four corpses fell, a louder commotion erupted.

“Corpses!”

“Four of them… I’m not mistaken, right? This Wang Baole… he brought out four corpses!”

The commotion shook the earth, reverberating in all directions. The seniors from the four major Dao Colleges, whose cultivation and status far exceeded those of their respective Chancellors, could not help but gawk with their eyes wide open. As they inhaled deeply, they all looked simultaneously at the four corpses, dumbfounded.

“It’s from the same generation as the one we saw just now!”

“Look at their glabellae! These corpses… they are from the Enduring Clan that has been described in the records!”

“Just now, in the location that the girl described… there were five corpses.”

These seniors, usually expressionless and cold as a result of their high levels of cultivation and positions, were now extremely agitated, their eyes aflame. Among them, a red-faced elder immediately turned his head toward Wang Baole and began questioning him.

“Little chap, these four corpses… could they be the remaining ones?”

“Dear elders, these corpses were indeed from the altar. They were obtained after I put in all my effort, experiencing torturous treatment amid life-threatening danger. They were a challenge to retrieve,” Wang Baole answered respectfully as he could see that the few elders were prominent figures and that he had better answer as truthfully as possible.

After hearing Wang Baole’s reply, the elders looked slightly confused but seemed to be more surprised than anything else. They all laughed heartily, facing the sky. Their gazes toward Wang Baole carried strong hints of praise and approval. Among them, a long-faced elder dressed in a Daoist robe from White Deer Dao College patted Wang Baole’s shoulder as if to show his approval of him.

“Not bad, young man. I appreciate your relentlessness in obtaining all these objects. Come, join White Deer Dao College.”

The moment he spoke, the red-faced elder who first questioned Wang Baole also did not want to lose out. Therefore, he stepped forward, directly slapping away his palm. As he looked at Wang Baole, his praise for the lad was practically glowing in his eyes, and he let out an amiable smile.

“Your name is Wang Baole, right? Young man, stay in Ethereal Dao College. Good job, your future will be bright!”

The elder from White Deer Dao College was not angry. He looked at Wang Baole with a smile on his face before his attention was drawn toward the corpses that he had brought back. He then began inspecting them again.

The surrounding students from the four major Dao Colleges began to quiet down from the earlier commotion. However, the thoughts buzzing in their heads showed no signs of stopping. They stared dazedly at all the items strewn on the floor as well as the gleeful Wang Baole.

All the discussions and complaints previously seemed to have become moot. Even Li Yi and the others could only grit their teeth and swallow their anger as some of the items had once belonged to them.

However, they still had to hand it to Wang Baole—his haul was colossal, and even if the items that he had taken from them were ignored, Wang Baole’s gains trumped all of theirs hands down.

Furthermore, the revealing of the four corpses made them especially agitated. They could not wrap their heads around how Wang Baole had managed to accomplish that feat.

If even Li Yi and the others were having such thoughts, what about the rest of the students? Right now, every student was shocked to the core. Wang Baole’s gains were so extensive that they could not be described. If one really wanted to draw parallels, it would be conservative to compare Wang Baole to an entire Dao College. With simply the four corpses, he had easily trumped the three other Dao Colleges! These gains were never-before-seen since the opening of the Spirit Breath Village, so it was simply shocking beyond words.

Compared to his gains, the things that Wang Baole had done previously were insignificant. Tying people up with puppets or even more overboard actions—as long as it was not illegal—could easily be forgotten after he was reprimanded half-heartedly.

Even the three Chancellors could only laugh bitterly. They looked at Wang Baole and shook their heads, probably thinking about how good it would have been if Wang Baole was a student in their own Dao College.

Compared to them, the old physician was exhilarated. He laughed heartily up to the sky and stepped forward to give Wang Baole a firm pat on the shoulder.

“Baole, good job!”

The joy in the old physician’s heart could not be described. The surrounding students from Ethereal Dao College were also in high spirits, stepping forward to offer their congratulations, as they felt that it was their honor to do so. At the same time, their pride toward being a member of the Dao College grew.

To them, Wang Baole had been a good Samaritan within the Spirit Breath Village. He had helped many students from Ethereal Dao College. When the students from the three other Dao College had chided him loudly before, they did not speak, but they had all planned to stand up for Wang Baole should he be punished. Now, seeing that everything has been resolved and that Wang Baole had done such a marvelous deed for the Dao College, they were extremely delighted, if somewhat jealous.

Wang Baole was happy beyond words. He chatted heartily with the surrounding students from Ethereal Dao College. Even Zhuo Yifan, Du Min, Chen Ziheng, and the rest stepped forward to join the chatter. Du Min was close to breaking through at the six-inch stage, and even though Wang Baole had not met Chen Ziheng in the Spirit Breath Village, Chen Ziheng had still done an impressive job, attaining a seven-inch Spirit Root without creating much fanfare.

As for Zhuo Yifan, it seemed like after he separated from Wang Baole, he had absorbed an eight-inch Spirit Root by a stroke of luck.

Even Zhao Yameng stepped forward, thanking him softly while looking him in the eye.

Everything delighted Wang Baole, and his happiness was apparent on his face. He felt that his high popularity now indicated that he could become the President of the Federation in the future. It did not matter that it sounded illogical, for Wang Baole was more self-confident now than ever.

The students from the three other Dao Colleges, seeing that Wang Baole was in the spotlight again, were all in low spirits, but they accepted the fact. Soon, with the return of the majority of the people from the Spirit Breath Village, the cultivators from the four major Dao Colleges adjusted the array formation to attract the students who had yet to be ejected.

The curtains of the mystic realm of the Spirit Breath Village came to a close.

Over four thousand students had entered the village, and over ninety-percent of them had broken through to become True Breath experts. There had been some unlucky ones, but with their potential, they could still fight for a chance to take the assessment again so as to enter the mystic realms of their respective schools after they returned. Unless their luck was really rotten, there should not be a huge problem for them to become True Breath experts in the future.

As for the records of their performance for their mission, every single object retrieved was recorded in detail. If there were objects that anyone wished to keep for themselves, they could also take the chance to voice their wishes. Otherwise, they could do it after clearly arranging and looking through the items that they had collected when they have returned to their Dao College. Even if they desired to exchange for other resources, they were free to do so, for the four major Dao Colleges usually would not interfere in this matter.

Wang Baole pondered on his options and chose magnanimously to leave the blue bead behind. During his journey out, he had realized that it could not be stored in his storage bracelet. In reality, none of the objects from the Spirit Breath Village could be stowed into the storage bracelet.

Even though the blue bead was an impressive object, no one knew that it was derived from the long, blue spear. In addition, it had been fading along Wang Baole’s way back. Though it looked unassuming, there were people who were captivated by it. However, compared to the other more impressive resources that Wang Baole had retrieved, it appeared insignificant.

Not only did Wang Baole leave the bead behind, he also decided to part with some selected objects. In terms of his gains, he had many objects that he could request when he had returned to the Dao College.

Just like that, after cataloging the items, the four major Dao Colleges went their separate ways. As for the bet between the four Chancellors, the winner was the old physician. Among the people who had attained an eight-inch Spirit Root, apart from Li Yi, there was another student called Zheng Yuanjie. He was not well known, and Wang Baole had not seen him in the Spirit Breath Village.

On the other hand, there were three individuals who had attained an eight-inch Spirit Root from Ethereal Dao College, namely Zhao Yameng, Zhuo Yifan, and Wang Baole.

Wang Baole’s Spirit Root could be transformed, but he wanted to keep his true strength a secret and decided to disguise it as eight inches.

In the end, seeing that Li Yi and the others had left on a cruiser, Wang Baole was filled with emotions.

<em>I wonder when I will see them next…</em>

As he watched them leave, Li Yi and the others noticed Wang Baole as well, and they returned his gaze with fierce stares as they turned and stepped onto their cruisers.

Soon, the cruiser from Ethereal Dao College also rose into the sky. In midair, as it was travelling into a distance, Wang Baole stood on the deck, lowering his head to look at the earth and the Spirit Breath Village, staring at the increasingly blurry fragment mountain. The sculpture of the impressive women, as well as the innumerable faces, appeared before his eyes once more.

“Enduring Clan?” Wang Baole mumbled to himself softly.

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