A World Worth Protecting

1

The moment the light appeared, all the True Breath cultivators, who had been silently waiting, felt their hearts shake. Wang Baole stood in the crowd, looking at the gathering light coming from Upper Academy Island and at the bridge that the light formed, feeling his anticipation rising.

“Upper Academy Island isn’t your final stop but another stop on your life’s path! Next, I will personally escort you to Upper Academy Island. Follow me, and let’s go!” the Chancellor said before turning and stepping onto the light bridge.

Behind him, all the True Breath students immediately followed him onto the light bridge, walking toward Upper Academy Island, which was in the middle of Green Forest Lake.

As they neared, Upper Academy Island became clearer in their eyes. Upper Academy Island had always been mysterious to them, with mist covering it throughout most of the year. Even if they were currently walking on the light bridge, they still could not see past the opaque fog covering Upper Academy Island.

It did not take long. The Chancellor stopped upon reaching the edge of the fog and turned to look at all the students behind him.

“Upper Academy Island is the core of Ethereal Dao College. There is always a heavy gust of wind isolating it from everything else, so you can only see fog, but now, you will soon see… the real Upper Academy Island!” As he finished speaking, the Chancellor turned and took a step forward into the fog, disappearing into it.

Everyone’s anticipation grew even stronger and they stepped into the fog. Wang Baole inhaled deeply and followed, melding into the fog. It seemed as though he had walked into water—everything was blurry. Other than the light bridge below his feet guiding him, he could not see anything clearly.

Even though he knew that there was no danger, Wang Baole’s natural instinct was to be wary, and the Spirit thread circulated within his body. Before long, he suddenly heard the crowd in front of him gasp.

“Heavens, this… this is Upper Academy Island!”

“It’s completely different from what I imagined.”

“Is… is this paradise?”

Hearing the gasps from the front, Wang Baole’s eyes glimmered, and he increased the pace of his steps. Soon, he stepped out of the mist, and a wave of thick Spirit Qi hit him. The surrounding mist disappeared in that instant. As even more gasps traveled toward him, he saw… the world beneath his feet!

Below his feet, there was a huge platform floating in midair. If one looked at it from above, it seemed like a chess board. Standing on the platform, Wang Baole looked around him, feeling a wave of emotion in his heart.

The water in the lake below him was clear, but it was not how Wang Baole had imagined Upper Academy Island. Instead, in that azure sky, in the sea of clouds, there were huge floating islands!

Each island was about as big as the Lower Academy Island. If it was just that, however, it would not have been as shocking. The reason everyone was so shocked was because… these ten islands were more like ten enormous mountain peaks floating upside down in midair!

On each suspended mountain, there were mountain ridges, creating numerous mountaintops. In the sea of clouds, they could see countless buildings and structures, with strange flora and fauna all over these ten suspended mountains. There was even a fragrance pervading the air.

Under the ten suspended mountains were countless vines. The vines were thick and thin, their lengths alarming, and each of them was connected, stringing all ten suspended mountains together. There were even more flourishing vines that hung from Green Forest Lake.

This was Ethereal Dao College’s Upper Academy Island, drastically different from the Lower Academy Island!

The fog in the area was the array formation hiding everything and isolating it. On some level, it was as though the space had contracted. Looking from the outside, the boundaries of the area were not too big, but in actuality, the land was much, much bigger than Green Forest Lake.

All of this shook the hearts of the people who had entered. Wang Baole’s eyes were also wide, and waves of emotions rose and fell in his heart. Upper Academy Island had far exceeded his imagination.

The Chancellor, who had been walking in front, smiled. He was not surprised at everyone’s shock. After giving them a moment, he coughed dryly, and the sound traveled into the students’ ears like thunder, silencing them.

“Upper Academy Island’s structure is similar to the Lower Academy Island. There are ten suspended mountains, each mountain representing each pavilion, each a counterpart to the Lower Academy Island’s faculties! Actually, the Lower Academy Island’s structure was modeled after Upper Academy Island.”

After introducing Upper Academy Island, the Chancellor cupped his fists toward the ten mountains ahead.

With this gesture, the ten mountains immediately glowed, which produced ten beams of light shooting forward. These beams connected with the platform that they were standing on, forming ten bridges.

Vaguely, on each suspended mountain, they could see seven or eight figures standing at the other end of the bridge, greeting the Chancellor.

“Combat faculty’s True Breath students, go to the first mountain!”

As the Chancellor spoke, Zhuo Yifan and the others stepped out. This time, the Combat faculty had the most people—almost two hundred people stepped onto the bridge. As they walked toward the Combat faculty pavilion, the Chancellor’s voice resounded again.

“Each eight-inch True Breath graduate will be treated differently from other students by each pavilion. Not only will they receive a cave abode, they will also receive a cruiser, and a storage bag as encouragement. Zhuo Yifan, remember to collect them.”

Zhuo Yifan stopped in his steps. He could not hide his emotions, bowing his head in acknowledgment.

Standing among the crowd, Wang Baole heard this. His eyes lit up, his anticipation rising.

In the remaining time, the Chancellor started to make arrangements for each group of True Breath students to continuously make their way toward different bridges, entering different mountains. When the Array Runes faculty’s students started to leave, the Chancellor pointed at the distant Array Runes Pavilion.

“In the Array Runes Pavilion, there is a mystic realm that everyone can open. There is a legacy from a bolt of divine lightning hidden in there. You can enter to try it. So far, there has only been one person who has managed to earn all of it, but it’s good enough to obtain one of the five divine powers from lightning’s legacy.”

When he finished speaking, the Chancellor’s gaze landed on the seventh suspended mountain. His voice burst forth again.

“That is the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. Dharmic Armament faculty students, go over!”

His heart shaken, Wang Baole inhaled deeply and paid his respects to the Chancellor. Only then did he step out onto the light bridge. Immediately, the people behind him followed. A row of people walked on the light bridge, and gradually… they made their way toward Upper Academy Island’s Dharmic Armament Pavilion!

As they got closer to the Dharmic Armament Pavilion’s suspended mountain, the seven or eight figures at the head of the bridge became clearer. Most of them were youths wearing blue robes with extraordinary cultivation, giving off Spirit force. This was especially so for one of them, who was a middle-aged man wearing a purple robe.

His gaze was calm. Currently, he was looking at Wang Baole and the other students that were quickly walking toward them. His expression was not angry, his body giving off a suppressive force like an ocean wave. The moment one got closer to him, the Spirit Qi in one’s body would become unstable.

“Greetings, seniors!” After leaving the light bridge, Wang Baole quickly cupped his fists and bowed deeply. The people behind him followed his lead, greeting the seniors immediately.

“This is the Pavilion Head of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion!” A long-faced blue-shirted cultivator introduced the man in purple.

“Greetings, Pavilion Head!” Without waiting for other people to react, Wang Baole quickly bowed again. Other people quickly bowed, too.

The middle-aged man in the purple robe smiled. He nodded without saying anything and turned to leave. The long-faced blue-shirted cultivator who had introduced him, however, had clearly become more friendly. He reminded Wang Baole and the others to follow. He took a few more glances at Wang Baole, clearly aware that Wang Baole was the eight-inch Spirit Root graduate.

Wang Baole was a little nervous; the people behind him were similarly so, and they all quickly followed behind. As they walked, they looked at the surrounding mountain ranges and pavilions. Soon, they reached a large hall below the mountain range.

Here, the purple-robed middle-aged man stepped. He turned, his gaze sweeping across Wang Baole and the others, and his smile grew a little.

“Welcome to Dharmic Armament Pavilion. Not a bad batch of students—not only do you have two people with eight-inch Spirit Roots, one of you even became a Armament Disciple. Take a look.” The purple-robed middle-aged man smiled slightly. When he finished speaking, a person immediately walked over from outside the large hall.

This person wore a blue long robe. His face was handsome, his figure tall, with a dignified bearing and look. He walked over and bowed toward the purple-robed middle-aged man before turning and looking at all the students, Wang Baole included. All of these familiar faces had shocked expressions. His eyes flashed and laughed lightly.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

Wang Baole’s eyes flashed. <em>Lin Tianhao!</em>

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