A World Worth Protecting

1

Few words could describe the scene of someone—who had clearly raised his head high and puffed his chest out but still appeared to be sticking out his tummy—slapping his stomach. Words could hardly describe the indescribable aura that exploded from such a person!

At that instant, Wang Baole felt as if the people before him had all been stunned by his tall, striking figure and the aura of the strong exuding from his person. He stared at their wide-eyed, gaping-mouthed faces and felt extremely pleased.

The little fatty seemed to have forgotten that standing behind him was a wide-mouthed and grinning Diamond Ape emanating waves of violence and ferocity. He lifted his head slightly and coughed.

“Is this where the cruisers are parked?” Wang Baole glanced towards a City Lord Residence guard standing at a corner and asked.

The guards all around were breathing nervously. They had all been frightened by the strong aura radiating off the Diamond Ape. They nodded instinctively, giving Wang Baole yet another chance to show off.

“Diamy, wait for us here.” Wang Baole turned and patted the Diamond Ape.

Upon hearing Wang Baole’s words, the Diamond Ape growled and thudded its chest hard. It shook its bum, pretended to hold its breath, and winked at Wang Baole.

“I get what you mean. We won’t use the ultimate move unless we have no choice.” Wang Baole felt that the Diamond Ape was playing along with the entire thing extremely well. He happily pulled out from his storage bracelet… a Diamond Ape puppet! He flung it at the Diamond Ape.

The Diamond Ape’s eyes fastened onto the puppet instantly. It roared, yanked the puppet into its arms, and started playing with its toy in the square…

The scene shocked the entire crowd. Be it the senators’ children, or the prodigious students from the other Dao Colleges, the group of young people who had earlier been secretly boasting about their cruisers were all dazed. They sucked in a deep breath, a storm of emotions welling within them.

It was impossible not to be confounded by it all. They had been competing on the level of cruisers when Wang Baole and his company leaped straight out of the beginners’ league and came riding in on a monster. A sense of helplessness came over them, and they grimaced inwardly. It was… impossible to compete with that!

They had mere cruisers while the competitor… had sent out a War Beast! The two were completely different playing fields. Cruisers were just simple transport, while the taming of a War Beast that could also serve as a mount was an almost insurmountable task.

Especially when it was… a Foundation Establishment realm War Beast!

It was as if one was driving a sports car and feeling all pleased about himself when he saw the other party flying a warplane!

Lin Tianhao couldn’t help the grimace on his face as he witnessed the scene. He was no longer surprised by whatever Wang Baole managed to conjure up. He had one belief cemented firmly in his heart.

<em>Wang Baole’s life must be a game hack. He’s either got an amazing father or an even more amazing godfather who’s helped him plan out his life… </em>A sour taste swirled in Lin Tianhao’s mouth. In his exasperation, he became more determined to stay out of Wang Baole’s way.

Li Yi, on the other hand, was gnashing her teeth in fury. She breathed heavily, her rage sending her chest heaving as she tried repeatedly to shove down the anger that arose from her dislike of Wang Baole.

<em>Interesting. </em>Amidst the crowd and surrounded by the other senators’ children, Li Xiu’s eyes brightened, a growing interest clear in his eyes when he looked at Wang Baole.

Amidst the staring eyes of the crowd, Wang Baole laughed and, alongside Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng, approached the crowd. Even though Lin Tianhao was reluctant to have anything to do with Wang Baole, as the host of the feast he could only bite the bullet and approach the group, cupping his fists and extending a polite welcome.

Wang Baole didn’t get along well with Lin Tianhao. However, he was able to sense a change in Lin Tianhao’s attitude towards him. He blinked, then smiled at Lin Tianhao, though he was on high alert inwardly.

<em>Did this guy turn over a new leaf or is he plotting something again? </em>Wang Baole hid his surprise while pretending to be friendly, almost brotherly, to Lin Tianhao. Lin Tianhao quickly introduced him to everyone else.

Zhao Yameng was herself gifted with natural beauty and clearly knew a few of the senators’ daughters, and the latter quickly sought her out for company. It was the same for Zhuo Yifan. No one outside his family knew that he was a War Soldier of the Zhuo family, and his exemplary achievements, as well as his powerful family background, led others to readily make friends with him.

The three of them separated and mingled around at the feast.

Wang Baole hadn’t participated in such feasts before, but he had studied the high officials’ autobiographies since he was a young boy. He was fearless in the face of such high brow gatherings. In fact, he seemed almost like he was in his element. Laughing every now and then, he chatted up strangers happily, putting his arm around their shoulders or pulling them into a hug as if he already knew them very well.

Li Xiu, who was already interested in knowing Wang Baole, upon being pulled into a hug by the latter, also hugged him back. Smiling widely, he asked, “Brother Baole, aren’t you graduating soon? Will you be going to the Mystic Luna Realm to train? Are you interested in joining my family business after that?” Li Xiu smiled as he spoke.

Wang Baole laughed out loud at the solicitation. He didn’t turn down the offer, nor did he give an affirmative reply. Li Xiu wasn’t bothered by that. It was, after all, a huge matter and not something that could be decided immediately. The thought of canvassing for Wang Baole to join their family faction had been a sudden one.

The feast went on. Music started to sound through the square. In the Ethereal City Lord Residence, some of the young heroes of the generation mingled merrily. Even if they particularly disliked someone at the feast, they wouldn’t show it. The atmosphere grew livelier and livelier as the disciples from the four Dao Colleges and the children of the senators got to know one another better.

A moment later, Wang Baole escaped from the casual conversations with some difficulty. He let out a sigh of relief, then grabbed a glass of wine from a pretty female servant passing him by. He eyed the crowd, pleased, sipped at the wine, then frowned.

“Pretty lady, do you have Ice Spirit Water here? Preferably with ice. It’ll be even better if there are lemon slices in it as well… oh, right, where do I find food? Are there soy eggs? Snacks? How about fried potatoes or beef jerky, that sort of thing?” Wang Baole held on to the glass of wine and stared at the female servant with anticipation in his eyes.

The female servant froze. That was her first time encountering such a request. She nodded her head hastily and went in search for Wang Baole’s Ice Spirit Water and soy egg.

<em>Big family clans are just different. They have everything. </em>Wang Baole was immensely pleased. He held onto the wine glass. Even though he didn’t find it delicious at all, the rest seemed to be used to it. He pretended to place the glass against his lips and was about to take a tiny sip when Zhao Yameng stepped out from the crowd behind him. She had a lovely smile on her face. She laughed softly beside Wang Baole and appeared to be saying something.

Others couldn’t hear what she was saying, but judging by the expression on her face, she seemed to be relating something interesting.

Zhao Yameng walked towards and paused beside Wang Baole, seemingly with a smile on her face. The words that left her lips, however, were deadly serious!

“Baole, don’t turn around… behind you, on your left, there’s a young man with long hair who’s wearing our college uniform…

“He seems normal, but I don’t know why when I passed him earlier, I was suddenly caught by the feeling—that I seem to know him from somewhere, and that he’s unfamiliar. It’s hard to describe this feeling! I realized he’s also watching us. Especially you…

“My instincts are telling me that this person… is extremely dangerous! He seems to harbor ill intentions towards us…”

Wang Baole’s expression remained unchanged when he heard that. He burst out in laughter as if he had just heard something extremely funny. It was then that the female servant returned with his Ice Spirit Water and snacks.

Wang Baole turned and grabbed the Ice Spirit Water from the servant’s tray. His eyes glanced casually towards the distance in a lazy sweep without focusing on any one person. He immediately saw who Zhao Yameng was referring to.

His eyes turned away without hesitation or pause. He took a gulp from the Ice Spirit Water in his hand, smiled, and said quietly.

“That’s weird, I find him slightly familiar but also unfamiliar at the same time…” Wang Baole said. Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng stared at each other. They didn’t continue their conversation, instead, separating and joining the crowd again. Both had their guard up.

Wang Baole secretly contacted the Dharmic Armament Pavilion and instructed his subordinates to get the name list of the disciples who had been invited to the Ethereal City Lord Residence. They were to include visuals for the attendees.

An Armament Soldier might have faced some difficulty in organizing such an effort, but Wang Baole was the Deputy Pavilion Head. To a certain degree, he and Chen Yutong were the two supreme sovereigns reigning over the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. As soon as Wang Baole’s orders were issued, many in the Dharmic Armament Pavilion started scrambling around.

The list of names was quickly collated and sent over to Wang Baole. He sipped at his Ice Spirit Water while browsing through it, and soon found who he was looking for!

Huang Shan from the Traps Pavilion!

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. The person whom both Zhao Yameng and himself found familiar, and who was watching him, was Huang Shan—a long-time disciple who advanced to the Upper Academy Island four years ago. Huang Shan, with talent in traps, a rather impressive family background, as well as the Traps Pavilion’s elder as his senior, was promoted to Deputy Pavilion Head of the Traps Pavilion the last year.

<em>The Traps Pavilion… did we meet before in college? But why is this person watching me, and why does Zhao Yameng feel threatened?</em>

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