A World Worth Protecting

1

Laughter resounded all around. The cynics soon stepped forward for another round of arm wrestling with Wang Baole. They had all agreed at the start that Wang Baole was not to use his Spirit Qi; he could only rely on his physical strength.

The warriors who stepped forward were all of them at the peak of the Pulse Enrichment level. One after another, they lost to Wang Baole with grimaces on their faces. Round after round of friendly jeering arose.

“Wang Baole, are you sure you’re a Dharmic Armament cultivator and not a Combat cultivator?”

“I heard that the Combat cultivators from the four great Dao Colleges were skilled in enhancing their physical abilities. Never heard that the Dharmic Armament cultivators were the same.”

Upon hearing what the crowd said, Wang Baole patted his tummy smugly.

“That’s all due to my good looks. You know how good-looking people are usually geniuses.” Wang Baole laughed. He started letting himself go in this convivial atmosphere. He took out a bag of snacks and started munching.

The laughter from the surrounding warriors grew when they heard Wang Baole’s words. The teasing got worse, but Wang Baole had thick skin and was immune to the friendly heckling. He started taking out more snacks and distributing them to the warriors. Soon, everyone was sitting together, munching on snacks.

“Wang Baole, I’m not going to eat your snacks for nothing. Do you have a girlfriend? I have a sister. How about I introduce her to you when I go home visiting? Let me tell you, my sister is real pretty!” The muscular man who had lost to Wang Baole earlier grinned and spoke with great pride, all the while eating Wang Baole’s snacks.

Wang Baole was momentarily stunned. He had lived for quite some time; this was the first time that he had encountered something like this.

“You’re talking about matchmaking me?”

Upon hearing the exchange between the man and Wang Baole, the crowd started another round of cheering. The man had likely forgotten the number of people to whom he had told he would introduce his sister. As soon as someone did him a favor or gave him a gift, he would immediately think of introducing his sister to the person. His mentioning of that now sparked unending teasing from everyone.

After hearing what everyone else said, Wang Baole could not help but find the whole thing funny. The thick-muscled man chuckled and continued shoving food into his mouth without a hint of embarrassment.

There were so many people snacking together. The sounds of crunching traveled and caught the attention of many patrolling warriors. They also laughed when they saw Wang Baole. During this period, Wang Baole’s name had traveled far and wide in the barracks; there was no one who did not know of him.

He was different from the other cultivators. The warriors were not stupid; they could see that Wang Baole was sincere in being friends with them, and he had a likable personality. Since his arrival, the stronghold had heard more laughter than in the past.

This caught the eye of the military officers as well as big-bearded commander-in-charge. Their impression of Wang Baole continued to deepen.

Half a month passed by harmoniously. Just as Wang Baole fully assimilated himself into the warriors’ group… the Beast Tide arrived!

One night, a shrill, ear-piercing whistle suddenly erupted, shaking every resting person in the entire stronghold. They dashed out and looked into the sky beyond the stronghold.

Wang Baole had been deep in cultivation. He opened his eyes abruptly and immediately came out from his residence. He heard the piercing alarm and saw a number of the warriors in the stronghold marching off in a swift and organized manner toward the spoon-like structure and the platforms connected to the stronghold and housing the hundred-odd Fire God Cannons.

The scene before him was a dose of sobriety. His body shook slightly and burst into sudden speed. When he reached the boundaries of the stronghold, he cast a look outside. In an instant, his pupils contracted. He was utterly stupefied.

Beyond the stronghold, on the primordial wildlands, between the heavens and the earth, appeared a boiling mist. Within the fog, one could vaguely make out numerous ferocious-looking beasts. The horde of beasts, roaring and thundering, were headed straight for the stronghold.

The beasts were each three to seven meters long. They differed from one another in appearance and speed, but they were all of them exuding ferocity and wildness. They carried the scent of blood, which filled the air.

They were filthy and had a strange, gruesome appearance. Some were wolves with two heads or some alligators with countless bone spikes growing out from their bodies; there were even a few grotesque-looking beasts that escaped Wang Baole’s identification.

Among them was a beast towering twenty-odd meters. Be it raging bears, giant elephants, or even dinosaur-like, gigantic beasts, their numbers were great.

Wang Baole was especially stunned by what he thought that he saw in the distant Beast Tide—thirty-meter-tall giants that held heaven-piercing tree branches, their figures striking fear into hearts with every step that they took.

As they drew near, the earth trembled. Standing on the stronghold, Wang Baole could feel the growing tremors traveling through the mountains under his feet.

In the skies, swamps of ferocious beasts gathered like a dark thunder cloud and approached with the Beast Tide on land. They were like a great flood threatening to sweep away and destroy everything that stood before them.

This was Wang Baole’s first time witnessing a Beast Tide and his first time seeing such a huge horde of beasts. He did a rough count, and the number of beasts likely exceeded a million!

Even the weakest-looking beasts in the horde could rival one at the Physical Seal level, not to mention the many others who gave Wang Baole an impression of facing off a True Breath realm cultivator!

Such a sight not only blew Wang Baole’s mind, it also sent fear deep into the cultivators from the four Dao Colleges who were participating in their first Beast Tide.

It was then that a thundering bellow, brimming with violence and ferocity, rose from within the stronghold, from the big-bearded commander-in-charge.

“Such a puny Beast Tide. Give them a salvo of our Fire God Cannon and show them what we’ve got!”

Big Beard’s words resounded throughout. Beyond the stronghold, on each platform where the hundred-odd Fire God Cannons sat, the warriors gathered around the cannons and fired.

The entire stronghold shook violently. A roar like thunder rose from the hundred or so Fire God Cannons. As the sound shook the air, explosions burst forth from the cannons.

The explosions were followed by what seemed like a roar from a metal beast. As the hundred Fire God Cannons fired at the same time, beams of light exploded into being. The beams of light were infused with thick Spirit Qi and gave off a spirit force that was fearsome beyond measure. Even a True Breath realm cultivator would not survive such a cannon blast; they would instantly be disintegrated!

And now, more than a hundred Fire God Cannons fired at the same time, the power of which was beyond immense; it shook one to their very core!

Wang Baole watched as the hundred beams of light blasted out and, with stunning speed, hit the Beast Tide. The heavens shifted in an instant, while the earth rumbled. Waves of air rolled outward, like a tornado sweeping through the stronghold, sending everyone’s hair into a mess. Wang Baole’s breathing hastened. His ears were pounding, and he stared at where the light beams landed. The expanse of jungled ground was completely disintegrated.

One following another, the beasts let out savage howls and turned into dust!

The sky seemed to darken. One giant took a direct hit from a cannon blast and collapsed instantly!

Almost a third of the fearsome beasts in the air were wiped out by the Fire God Cannon blasts. In a short span of time, the Fire God Cannon blasts ceased. The battleground was an expanse of scorched land, and the Beast Tide had been scattered by the blast. The vicious howls and blood lust of the surviving beasts did not dissipate, however. The horde, thinned out, moved more quickly. They headed straight for the stronghold.

“A mindless mob!” Big Beard snorted and barked out an order.

“Fire God troops, fire at will! Target the bigger beasts—I want them all exterminated!”

“The First Army, dispatch immediately!” The military officers executed Big Beard’s commands. Soon, Wang Baole could see a hundred thousand warriors surging out from the stronghold gate!

The hundred thousand warriors donned armor and held Dharmic Artifacts. As the bloodlust in the air became palpable, the Combat cultivators from the four Dao Colleges rushed out as well. They clashed with the beasts on the grounds before the stronghold, and… a massacre began!

The Fire God Cannons fired here and there. Their targets were the twenty-odd-meter tall beasts. The situation on the battlefield seemed volatile. However, in reality, the Beast Tide was crumbling and disintegrating rapidly.

The Array Formation cultivators as well as the Beast Taming cultivators from the four Dao Colleges stepped in as well. The battlefield was thrown into earth-shattering chaos. Wang Baole and the other Divine Armament cultivators had their own tasks; they were to repair the Fire God Cannons under their respective charge and made sure that the cannons stayed at peak condition.

Chen Yutong led the tense Zhou Penghai and a Sun Fang who was breathing heavily to take care of twenty Fire God Cannons. Wang Baole himself was charged with ten cannons.

Wang Baole made his way from one platform to the other, inspecting the cannons while keeping an eye on the battlefield. The roars of beasts and humans, as well as blasts of explosions, resounded in his ears. He slowly calmed himself down from the earlier shock. Battle lust rose to take its place. With a wave of his hand, nine mosquitoes appeared. They dashed out from within his palm toward the battleground.

<em>Let’s test out the bite of my mosquitoes. The skin of the beasts looks thick and furry. Not sure if this will work…</em>

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