A World Worth Protecting

1

The look on Wang Baole’s darkened as he watched the Diamond Ape leave and eventually disappear into the Beast Taming Pavilion. He turned and walked towards his cave abode. The gears in his head started spinning, and his mind overflowed with ideas.

<em>Fling Self-Exploding Beads at the stupid monkey? No, that’s too obvious.</em>

<em>Get the mosquitoes to bite it? That’s a good one. But if it throws a tantrum and triggers an investigation by the Beast Taming Pavilion, I could easily be exposed as the perpetrator…</em>

<em>Pit it against someone else? Sow discord between it and the Beast Taming Pavilion Elder? The technicalities of executing that seem rather complex… that’s not something someone as smart as I am should do.</em>

<em>What should I do… </em>Wang Baole frowned. He recalled the numerous encounters he had when he was young, discarding each idea that he could think of. As he stepped inside the cave abode, his footsteps stilled.

<em>( NovelFull )  Is that Diamond Ape male or female? </em>Wang Baole wondered. He tried to recall his memories in detail. Disgruntlement gradually unfurled within him. He was sure that the Diamond Ape was a male.

<em>As a Foundation Establishment realm beast, it knows no shame, doesn’t wear any clothes and exposes itself in front of everyone in public. That exhibitionist has gone too far! </em>Wang Baole snorted. He decided that the sins of the monkey were indeed grave.

<em>I, Wang Baole, have always been a generous and forgiving man. One who never holds grudges. But that monkey is just too shameless. What’s more, it likes to expose itself. How are the female disciples of this college to conduct themselves in the face of such shameless behavior. It’s an affront to the public. I have to discipline this moral hazard for the college!</em>

At that thought, Wang Baole was suddenly seized by a feeling of solemnity; it felt as if he had been imbued with a sense of mission, and a plan quickly surfaced in his mind.

<em>Since it’s a male monkey, there is only one way to go about doing this. I’m going to make a female monkey puppet for it… </em>Wang Baole turned the idea over and played it out in his head. A sense of certainty grew in his heart. He sniggered as he played out the scenes in his plan. He felt excited and was dizzy with anticipation, and both his eyes started dazzling. He turned and ran straight for the smelting furnace, pulled out the materials, and started crafting.

He also logged on to the Spirit Intranet at the same time and started reading up on all sorts of information.

Time flew by. Three days later, Wang Baole walked out of the smelting furnace room with a smaller Diamond Ape trailing behind him.

The Diamond Ape was pink all around, its eyes huge, mouth small like a cherry, and blessed with great curvatures. The Spirit Qi that rippled off it was incredible. The quality of the Numinous Treasure was that of a perfected third-grade Numinous Treasure.

Especially in terms of its hardiness—Wang Baole had wracked his brain, consolidating almost all of the defensive inscriptions he had learned and pouring them into the Spirit Kernel. He spared no expense on the materials as well. The result was the smaller-sized Diamond Ape that was virtually indestructible.

Within the puppet was a self-destructive mechanism, and Wang Baole was the only person in the Upper Academy Island that could activate it.

As for its physical appearance, it was the outcome of Wang Baole logging onto the Spirit Intranet, searching tens of thousands of images of female monkeys, and merging them all together. He added a few inspired touches as well, and his final creation was a puppet that he believed would look extremely adorable and endearing in the eyes of the Diamond Ape.

<em>Once this ape puppet appears, that cheap monkey will no doubt be swept off its feet!</em>Wang Baole was overbrimming with confidence. Thinking about how pleased he was, he laughed out loud. A moment later, he led the ape puppet out of the cave abode in high spirits.

Wang Baole stepped out of the cave abode and, with a snap of his fingers, the ape puppet following closely behind him let out a series of chirping sounds from inside its body. Its body seemed to expand slightly to twice its original size. Standing there, it might not reach the size of a small mountain, but it was still significantly large. Wang Baole judged its size to be fitting when compared with the Diamond Ape.

He strutted around in the Dharmic Armament Pavilion with the puppet. Along the way, those who saw him were all stunned. They made all sorts of odd faces at the sight, and all of them were drawn towards Wang Baole’s puppet.

“Is that a… puppet?”

“What’s up with Wang Baole. He actually crafted a Diamond Ape puppet?”

“Do you guys feel that this puppet seems a little… slutty?”

Wang Baole heard the surrounding debates and saw the expressions on everyone’s faces. He grew even more pleased and assured of his plan.

<em>This is, without any doubt, a work of art! </em>Wang Baole turned back and glanced at the ape puppet with great satisfaction. However, as soon as the thought of why it had been created in the first place popped up in his head, he couldn’t help but sigh. He felt as if he had strayed from his path of creating unique puppets, and was wandering farther and farther away from that path, into the woods…

<em>I’ve sacrificed so much just to punish this cheap monkey who has incurred the public’s rage. But it’s alright, that’s my destiny. My whole life, I was destined to work hard and to help others without holding any grudges, </em>Wang Baole lamented, then simply retrieved his cruiser and leaped on board with the puppet.

He flew the cruiser into the sky and made a quick round of the Upper Academy Island. When he reached the Beast Taming Pavilion, he slowed down… It was noon. From afar, under the sunlight, the pink puppet looked spectacularly provocative. It was like a rose in a forest of thorns. It drew the attention of many and, at the same time, attracted the eyes of one within a cave abode atop a mountain somewhere in the Beast Taming Pavilion.

Those eyes landed instantly on Wang Baole’s cruiser and narrowed slightly. A thundering roar followed. Without hesitation—instead, possibly, with a tinge of excitement—the Diamond Ape charged out of its cave abode and headed straight for Wang Baole.

<em>It’s coming! </em>Wang Baole became excited as soon as he heard the familiar howling. He hurriedly maneuvered the puppet and flew it out of the cruiser in an attempt to draw the Diamond Ape’s attention.

However, when the Diamond Ape approached, howling, it didn’t even spare a glance at the ape puppet. Instead, with a slap, the ape sent the puppet flying. The Diamond Ape honed in on Wang Baole and raced towards him. It was as if Wang Baole was the one who had captured his full attention.

<em>What’s the situation? He doesn’t like it?</em>

Wang Baole was shocked by the discovery. He trembled and quickly steered the cruiser out of the way, but it was too late. The Diamond Ape caught up with him and bared its teeth, sending its palm flying towards the cruiser.

There was a loud boom, and Wang Baole cried out—he felt the heavens spinning. With great difficulty, he steered the cruiser into avoiding the Diamond Ape’s second attack, landed, and climbed out of the cruiser hastily. He raised his head toward the sky and glared furiously.

In mid-air, the Diamond Ape’s face split into a wider grin. It seemed even more contemptuous than before. The ape thudded his chest mockingly before strutting off.

Wang Baole’s breathing quickened as he watched the ape depart, and he gnashed his teeth angrily.

<em>This isn’t an error of judgment on my part. It must be because of the cheap monkey’s strange preferences. That must be it! </em>Wang Baole glanced at the ape puppet beside him viciously. He kept the puppet and charged back to his cave abode, into the smelting furnace room, and began a series of modifications to the ape puppet’s physical appearance.

A day later, the modifications were completed. That round, Wang Baole had focused his modifications on the puppet’s body. He had contemplated the Diamond Ape’s physical prowess and guessed that its taste went towards the more strongly built. As such, the modified ape puppet had an immensely muscular form.

The modification seemed to have an effect. The Diamond Ape clearly spared a few glances at the puppet. However, it eventually still charged towards Wang Baole’s cruiser. The force it used to knock the cruiser away though, seemed slightly weaker.

<em>It’s effective! </em>Wang Baole became excited. He continued the modification. After a few rounds, he finally had a full understanding of the Diamond Ape’s taste. He created an ape puppet that had small eyes, thick lips, and a muscular body that was covered in mud-yellow fur.

When the ape puppet appeared, the effect was immediate. The Diamond Ape, which a moment earlier had been racing towards Wang Baole, was instantly captivated. Its body seemed to quiver, and its breathing grew heavier. The Diamond Ape tore its eyes away from Wang Baole in an instant. Wang Baole could feel the fire burning in the ape’s eyes as it stared at the ape puppet.

<em>Hook, line, and sinker! </em>Wang Baole watched as the Diamond Ape raced towards his ape puppet. He hurriedly sent the puppet away into the distance. However, its speed was too slow, and it was soon caught up by the Diamond Ape. The ape grabbed the puppet with a swipe of its arms and flew hastily back to its cave abode…

<em>That shameless monkey. You’re going to have a taste of what it feels like to fall from heaven straight into depths of hell! </em>Wang Baole said spitefully. He returned to his cave abode, did some simple math on the time that had passed, then immediately triggered the self-destructive mechanism.

Moments passed after the mechanism was activated. A bellow, filled with shock and brimming with a rage that came from an unfulfilled satisfaction, rang out from the Beast Taming Pavilion and resounded through the air.

Wang Baole cheered up at hearing that sound.

“You puny shameless monkey, how’s that for a thrill? For a surprise? This is only the beginning. You’ll soon learn—the greatest suffering is loving something that is beyond one’s reach!” At that moment, Wang Baole felt like a great philosopher; every word that fell out of his mouth was deep and philosophical.

His plan was divided into three steps. The first step was to attract the Diamond Ape and bait it successfully. The second step was to allow it to possess the puppet for a brief period of time, and allow it to develop an addiction. The third and final step…

The third step was to take away whatever fleeting moment the Diamond Ape earned!

Such a strategy—”you giveth, then you taketh away”—was what Wang Baole had prepared for the Diamond Ape.

It might not work as well on other people, but against a beast, Wang Baole was confident of its success.

Satisfied and pleased, he immediately went to the smelting furnace room and refined an identical ape puppet. The next day, he brought the puppet out.

The exact thing that had taken place previously happened again. The ape puppet was quickly snatched away by the Diamond Ape. That was swiftly followed by the puppet’s self-destruction and the furious and crazed howls of the ape.

Wang Baole considered the reaction from the Beast Taming Pavilion and hence didn’t attempt it too many times. After three times, he stopped bringing the ape puppet out. Instead, he waited in his cave abode.

Finally, one morning many days later… a red-eyed Diamond Ape appeared outside Wang Baole’s cave abode. It let out a roar at the cave abode.

The feeling of having discovered an extremely fun toy only to have it gone after a few rounds of playing with it left the Diamond Ape feeling an emptiness in its heart. At that moment, it howled outside Wang Baole’s cave abode, hitting the stone walls as if shouting for Wang Baole to come out…

Inside the cave abode, Wang Baole lifted his head high proudly. He straightened out his clothes slowly, then opened the door by a tiny slit. Through the slit, one eye looked out and saw the raging Diamond Ape standing outside.

“What are you hollering about? I can’t understand a word. If you have something to say, just say it!”

“Roar…” The Diamond Ape saw Wang Baole’s eyes through the slit and thundered immediately.

“Can’t understand a single thing. Why don’t you just say something?” Wang Baole coughed.

“Roar!”

“Holler all you like. Are you going to say a word? If not, I’m going back to sleep!” Wang Baole glared and sealed the narrow opening shut…

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