A World Worth Protecting

1

As the voice rang out, the elderly butler, who had received and escorted Zhao Yameng away the day before, walked into the store with a smile on his face. He smiled and nodded at Wang Baole and Zhuo Yifan.

Behind him stood a dozen strong men. Every one of them had a solemn expression on their faces, and they spread out within the store, surveying all four corners carefully. The owner of the store, whose status and background was also considerably influential, started paying some attention to them.

Wang Baole and Zhuo Yifan didn’t dare to keep the other party waiting. The latter was a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator after all, and also one of Zhao Yameng’s family clan members. They greeted him immediately.

“Don’t stand on ceremony, young heroes,” the elderly man spoke warmly. His glance swept across both of them as he considered them both. He thought his family’s young missus preferred to be on her own, so there must be a reason why she had chosen to stay in the company of the two.

He studied Wang Baole again before giving Zhuo Yifan a more detailed look. The more he looked at Zhuo Yifan, the more he approved of the latter. The look of assessment in his eyes made Zhuo Yifan slightly nervous, and Zhuo Yifan asked politely, “Sir, is there a reason why you are looking for us?”

As for Wang Baole, it was the first time he was referred to as a young hero. He felt strange. At the same time, he also noticed the look in the elder’s eyes and could not help but cough.

“Sir, actually, if you exclude my good looks, high cultivation level, great potential, and exemplary moral character, I have no good qualities to speak of; I’m not worthy of being called a young hero.”

As soon as he said that, the old man, who had been studying Zhuo Yifan, turned and stared at Wang Baole in surprise. The expression on his face changed gradually. After a long moment, he shook his head and smiled, then explained why he had come.

“Our young missus has always been solitary in nature. When she left to seek an education, she made a promise with our master that she would rely only on herself. Our master wanted to send someone to guard her in secret, but the young missus has a natural spirit body. She would be able to sense someone unless he is a Core Formation realm cultivator…

“Our master already knows about the incident at Coulomb Basin. He is furious but also extremely grateful to both of you. This is but a small token of his thanks and cannot fully express his gratitude. Please accept it,” the elderly man explained, then handed a card crafted from Spirit Stones to Wang Baole and Zhuo Yifan. There was a mark on the cards to protect against forgery.

When the cards were presented, the pupils of many of the customers in the store contracted. Those who could not contain themselves revealed a look of shock on their faces. They started speaking in hushed tones.

“That’s… a Silver Spirit Card!”

“I’ve heard about such cards before. Only ten Gold Spirit Cards have been issued in the entire Federation. Only the owners of these ten cards have the right to give their guests a Silver Spirit Card, which is infinite in number and means that the cardholder is an esteemed guest!” Even the store owner, upon seeing the card, was moved.

“All of your expenses within the city may be settled with this card!” The elderly man heard the gasps of shock from the surrounding people and smiled lightly. He nodded at Wang Baole and Zhuo Yifan, cupped his fists in a salute, then left politely.

The surrounding strong men departed with the elderly man, and the store gradually resumed its previous liveliness. However, with the recent encounter with the elderly man, the store owner, who had not paid Wang Baole and Zhuo Yifan much attention, walked over and attended to the both of them personally.

As for Wang Baole, he listened to the surrounding murmurs as he held the card in his hand. He noticed the looks of shock and envy in their eyes, and could not help but be stirred. He looked at Zhuo Yifan and saw the latter had fallen into a stunned daze again. He sighed.

“Yifan, you might not be feeling any psychological stress, but I can’t handle this. Tell me… does this make me a kept man? Hah, I’m so torn. I never imagined there would come a day when I’d be sponging off a woman.” Wang Baole let loose a long sigh and shook his head as he lamented.

Zhuo Yifan gave Wang Baole’s round ball-like body a strange look, coughed and did not say a word.

“I, Wang Baole, have always been self-reliant. Everything that I have was earned with my own hands. I’ve never sought help from other people. This is a principle of mine.” Wang Baole had a serious expression on his face. As he said that, he turned his head towards the store owner and flung the Silver Spirit Card in his hand over.

“The materials I’d chosen earlier—unless there’s no stock, I want ten times the quantity.

“Use this card to pay for it!”

Zhuo Yifan: “…”

The other customers: “…”

The store owner: “…”

Fifteen minutes later, when Wang Baole had packed his storage bag and storage bracelet to the brim, he strolled out of the store in a merry mood. Behind him, the look on Zhuo Yifan’s face looked slightly unnatural. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. At the same time, he could not control himself and spent a bit of money, using the Silver Spirit Card to buy the pills he needed.

After returning to the college’s manor, Wang Baole immediately extracted the black fragment from the palm tree. He studied it excitedly for a very long time, thought about it for a while, and didn’t immediately fuse it with the black mask. He pondered over whether the fragment could be used as an enticement for the Little Missy in the mask…

However, he was in the Federation capital. Out of caution, he didn’t attempt anything, instead deciding to try it out when he returned to the college.

In the days that followed, Wang Baole did not wait idly as the prodigies of the various political forces traveled from all corners of the Federation and gathered at the capital city to go through the selection process. He conducted another round of refining and enhancement for his Numinous Treasures.

The consequence of that was that he required an enormous quantity of materials. As a result, the various material stores in the capital became places he regularly frequented, to the extent that his reputation had started to slowly spread amongst the stores.

<em>I, Wang Baole, have always relied on myself to travel the arduous path of cultivation!</em>Every time he looked at the Numinous Treasure he had just refined, Wang Baole was filled with a sense of pride. Pleased and confident, he gradually completed the enhancement of his Numinous Treasures.

Just looking at the self-exploding beads alone, almost a thousand were crafted in a single sitting. There were also all kinds of puppets, of which he had refined approximately a hundred. The puppets in the earlier batches of refinement, like Zhu Gangqiang, were also revamped and enhanced from a Dharma artifact to a perfected third-grade Numinous Treasure.

Wang Baole didn’t give up on the strange and bizarre Dharma artifacts that had been modified by the Armament Sand. They had come in useful during his battle with the giant tree which made Wang Baole realize that they could still be put to use. As a result, he enhanced the fly-whisk, the umbrella, the large seal, the flying sword that did not differentiate between friend and foe—even the rope—to the level of a perfected third-grade Numinous Treasure.

Finally, he came to the sword scabbard. With such an abundant stock of materials, the scabbard was also successfully enhanced to a perfected third-grade level. The number of mosquitoes that appeared remained at nine; however, they were clearly bigger in size and more savage than before.

To increase its power, Wang Baole, after some consideration, embedded the bead he had obtained from the spear in Spirit Breath Village in the scabbard.

The moment he embedded the bead, a tenth mosquito finally appeared out from the scabbard. It was gray in color and appeared different from the rest. It seemed to contain a strange power that Wang Baole could not comprehend. It was regretful that he could not test it out there. He made a note to find an opportunity to give it a test run in the future.

Besides that, Wang Baole also enhanced the glove that had been at his side for so long and transformed it into a perfected third-grade Numinous Treasure. With his ample material stock, Wang Baole even successfully modified his storage bag.

At that point, all of his Dharmic treasures were of third-grade quality. He also had loads of materials stocked up. The sense of satisfaction, as well as the improvement in his crafting skills achieved through the continuous refining, made Wang Baole never want to stop.

<em>I really like this feeling of relying on myself, working hard, step by step, and getting things done!</em>

While immersing himself in self-satisfaction, Wang Baole did not forget his snacks. Almost everything was sold in the Federation capital, and snacks were no exception. During that period, Wang Baole stretched his stomach wide and only managed to try part of the full selection available…

To him, the Federation capital was just too good to be true. Bliss surged in waves inside his heart. Finally, the prodigies from all four corners of the land and from the respective political forces, all arrived.

As a result, the selection for the Federation’s Hundred Seedling Plan was to be officially held that day. Unlike almost all the other nervous participants, Wang Baole didn’t pay much attention to the selection round. He didn’t even pay much attention to the details of the selection.

That was especially so after he had sought a second confirmation from General Zhou Dexi and heard the latter tell him that his placement had been secured. He had relaxed even more after that. He went to register his details on the first day, then returned to the manor and continued snacking and refining Numinous Treasures…

The days passed one after another as the selection proceeded at full speed. There was a great deal of news spreading every day, promoting the selection round throughout the Federation. One after another, the candidates were seemingly transformed into celebrities, their news followed by everyone in the Federation.

Sometimes, after Wang Baole watched the news, he would feel tempted to do something. However, after remembering his confirmed placement, he felt more pleased instead.

<em>No matter how good they are, they can’t be as awesome as I am. My spot has already been confirmed! </em>The selection went on for an hour and a half while he continued to stay in high spirits. Then, he received a notice from the college.

The giant tree… had been found and exterminated!

The Ethereal Dao College also officially reported the matter of mutating trees to the Federation at the same time, so that all political forces in the Federation could keep an eye out for any similar mutations in plant life within their domains.

The lifespan of trees was, after all, different from that of animals. Their roots grew deeper. As a consequence, once mutated, it would invariably lead to disaster!

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