A World Worth Protecting

1

As the most popular training ground of the Combat faculty, the Lava Chamber contributed in supporting the finances of the faculty. Its uniqueness stemmed from the magma plume buried underground, which spread throughout the entire mountain peak and reached the bottom of Green Forest Lake.

It had a long history, and it was stated in the history books that the lake had not existed about a thousand years ago. There was only a famous volcano that had existed there.

The geological formations changed over the thousand years, forming the Green Forest Lake. It had hidden the magma plume until Ethereal Dao College chose this plot of land. It was only after the Spirit Inception Era that they had the ability to guide the magma out and create the Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber.

It was an extensive region and looked like a behemoth’s head from afar.

In the middle of the beast head’s brows was a flame totem. Even at night, the burning flame did not seem to extinguish. If one entered through the behemoth’s mouth and ventured deep into the Combat faculty mountain’s interior, one would encounter more than a hundred sealed cultivation chambers.

Every cultivation chamber had an array formation that could draw upon the underground magma once activated and make the cultivation chamber reach a stunning temperature immediately.

Typically speaking, those who could enter the Lava Chamber had cultivation levels of the perfected Blood Qi level. Many would have hopes of using the high temperatures to force their body to seal all their sweat pores shut. By insulating themselves from the heat, they would be aided in entering the Physical Seal level.

After all, the three levels of the Ancient Martial realm were all about building a foundation. The goal was to craft a flawless body in whatever circumstances they were originally in. Blood Qi was to ensure vigorous vitality, allowing a mortal to be able to withstand the stunning metamorphic changes the body would experience in cultivation.

The Physical Seal level was about sealing off all the sweat pores of a person’s body. By isolating the inside from the outside, not only would the body become detached, it could also prevent any Blood Qi from leaking. Once this delicate control was achieved, one could not only produce strength much greater than the Blood Qi level, one could also forge toward the Physical Seal level seamlessly.

Precisely because this was the unique characteristic of the Physical Seal level, the Lava Chamber had very extraordinary effects—up to a certain level—when it came to helping to breakthrough. In theory, if one was determined enough to enter the Lava Chamber without any qualms about death, they could draw on the magma plume to a particular level and temperature. It could lead to either death from heatstroke or the successful achievement of the Physical Seal level, breaking past the Blood Qi level!

However, such people were uncommon. Under ordinary circumstances, being able to last more than two hours was an impressive feat. Even Zhuo Yifan had only managed to last six hours.

In the thirty or so years since the beginning of the Spirit Inception Era, one extraordinary person had appeared in Ethereal Dao College. The person had sealed himself in the Lava Chamber for three days and three nights, creating a legend that remained untouched to date.

The person was the previous Federation President. Legend had it that one day after he came out of the Lava Chamber, he said one sentence that shocked Ethereal Dao College. It also became a famous slogan of the Dao Enlightenment faculty and used by countless people.

“I am enlightening myself on the Dao!”

It was late at night, and when Wang Baole’s rotund figured rolled over, he directly charged straight into the behemoth’s mouth. There were still quite a number of people cultivating in the Lava Chamber, and although the number was fewer than in the day, about 90% of the cultivation chambers were full. On the display board outside, one could see that the indicator lights of seven cultivation chambers were still unlit.

There were people coming in and out the behemoth’s head, and in fact, there was no need for anyone to stand guard at the entrance. Each chamber required a student’s Dao College identity card for entry.

As for the Spirit Stones charge for the chamber’s use, it could be settled through the identity card. Up to this day, no one had dared owe a Spirit Stone debt to the Combat faculty’s strongmen who focused on cultivating in Ancient Martial Arts.

Although there were many students entering and exiting the Lava Chambers, Wang Baole was too fast. Many people only felt a wind blow past them and vaguely saw a red fatty dashing away. Before they could even identify him, his figure had disappeared.

However, Wang Baole had underestimated his influence.

“I think I saw a red meatball.”

“It looks quite familiar. It seems I have an impression of that in my memory.”

Outside the Lava Chamber were a few Combat faculty students who were about to leave. They were left collectively stunned as they exchanged glances and saw each other’s eyes widen.

“Wang Baole! He became fat again?”

As they exclaimed outside, Wang Baole dashed deep into the mountain through the behemoth’s mouth and found an empty cultivation chamber. He quickly took out his identity jade pendant to open the door, and after squeezing his body in with some difficulty, he heaved a sigh of relief before closing the door.

As he rubbed his painful belly, Wang Baole felt even more depressed. <em>If I were any fatter, I wouldn’t have been able to enter.</em>

The cultivation chamber was not large and was only about ten square meters in size. The other students would find it spacious if they came, but after Wang Baole sat down and looked at his surroundings, he immediately felt like he was sitting in a tiny cage.

This feeling left him despondent. He subconsciously wanted to take out snacks to vent his anger but realized that he had not brought any in his eagerness. He was nearly driven mad at that realization.

<em>I want to lose weight! </em>Wang Baole clenched his teeth and, through great difficulty, found the controls to the array formation. He activated it without hesitation, and immediately, a hot surge of air spewed out from the ground. It instantly spread through the chamber, and other than the spot where he sat being a little normal, the other areas began to glow red.

At such high temperatures, Wang Baole still found it difficult to breathe despite there being a ventilation hole. It took him quite a while to catch his breath as sweat was constantly pouring out of his body.

Unlike how others attempted to seal their sweat pores in the chamber, Wang Baole did the opposite. He tried his best to relax his body and open up all his sweat pores to absorb the heat.

<em>It’s not enough! </em>Wang Baole wiped away his sweat, and after sensing the spirit fat in his body, he adjusted the temperature again. Immediately, the already scorching temperatures were raised quite significantly.

However, Wang Baole felt that it was insufficient. Therefore, he kept adjusting the settings until the surrounding four walls started glowing red. Although his lips were parched, even to the point of feeling like his organs were about to be cooked to a crisp, he was delighted to realize that his spirit fat was gradually breaking up when the heat passed through his sweat pores.

<em>Praise the heavens! </em>Wang Baole instantly became excited. He quickly maintained the heat and closed his eyes, withstanding the torturous feeling of having his spirit fat melt.

Although the temperature was high to the point of feeling like he was almost evaporating from it, he put up with it while clenching his teeth in excitement once he noticed his fat decreasing.

Two hours passed, and Wang Baole was still enduring the grueling heat. It continued for four hours, six hours… until it was bright outside.

The Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber had no lack of students visiting it. Every morning, there would always be people lining up to enter. People were waiting at the moment, not feeling any sense of urgency since there were more than a hundred rooms. Those who entered would usually exit in less than two hours.

Soon after, there were people entering and people exiting. The people who were waiting would chat with each other to kill the time. They would also occasionally look at the lights on the display board. When one of them went off, it meant that a person had come out.

Time slowly went from dawn to noon before it turned to dusk. Batches of students entered and exited, but at that moment, a keenly observant student who had been waiting for a long while noticed an abnormality.

“Strange, Room 39’s light seems to have… never gone off. Have any of you seen it go off?”

He was only asking the students beside him out of curiosity, but gradually, when everyone carefully searched through their memories, they seemed to realize that none of them had seen the light go off. All the students outside the Lava Chamber were immediately alarmed.

They spent another two hours watching it, and when they realized that Room 39’s light remained lit, the shock they felt was hardly describable.

“Guys, look at Room 39. Heavens, we have already been observing it for four hours. It has never gone off at all. I recall that it was lit even in the day!”

“Did that actually happen?”

“Are you guys seeing things? How is it possible. The one with the longest record is Zhuo Yifan. All he managed was six hours.”

As the crowd discussed, this rare phenomenon immediately piqued their curiosity. Therefore, the crowd decided against cultivating that day and instead sat outside the Lava Chamber to observe.

They slowly turned short of breath as their eyes gradually widened.

After several hours, when it was late in the night, the number of students outside the Lava Chamber kept growing. There were nearly a hundred students with mouths all agape in shock as if they had seen a ghost. There were constant discussions with many sending voice transmissions to their friends. This matter also broke out on the Spirit Intranet.

“A godly person has appeared in the Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber!”

“According to estimates, the person in Room 39 of the Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber has lasted more than twenty hours!”

“A record has been broken. It has completely broken Zhuo Yifan’s record!”

The thread on the Spirit Intranet instantly gained attention across the entire Lower Academy Island. It drew gasps when the students from all the faculties saw it. The Lava Chamber was famous, and there was only one person in history who had spent more than twenty hours in there!

If the light to Room 39 extinguished at that moment, it would have been fine, for it made sense. However, while countless people on the Lower Academy Island were paying attention to this matter, the light continued staying lit until dawn!

This caused an uproar throughout the Lower Academy Island. This even caught the attention of the teachers. No one entered the Lava Chamber anymore. Everyone stood outside, staring at Room 39’s indicator light that remained lit.

“Heavens, it’s almost two days.”

“He’s about to challenge the previous Federation President’s record!”

“Who is he? I will offer ten Spirit Stones for any clues. Once confirmed, it will be given out!”

Be it in the actual world or on the Spirit Intranet, there were all sorts of discussions happening. Finally, the few students of the Combat faculty who had been outside the Lava Chamber two nights ago posted a notice on the Spirit Intranet!

“The person in the Lava Chamber’s Room 39 is… Wang Baole from the Dharmic Armament faculty!”

“I can swear that I saw him roll in there quickly while dressed in his specially-recruited student robes!”

The moment that was said, the other faculties did not react much to it and only felt skepticism. However, there was an uproar among the students of the Combat faculty who had been dealt a blow by Wang Baole, especially Zhuo Yifan and his friends. They were burning with rage as they stormed straight for the Lava Chamber.

“Darn Fatty Wang. You didn’t go to the Beast Taming faculty’s Mt. Scenic Cloud, the Array Runes faculty’s Eight Treasures Chart, or the Traps faculty’s Frost Ice Tower, but targeted our Combat faculty. Are you bullying us from the Combat faculty?”

From their point of view, this new action by Wang Baole was a sequel to the running and weight-lifting provocations!

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