A World Worth Protecting

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<em>I’ve already reached the peak on Lower Academy Island. If I want to improve, I have to break through the Ancient Martial realm and step into the True Breath realm!</em>

<em>The high officials’ autobiographies said that if one wants to have huge achievements, they must not stay in one place. Even though my life now is comfortable, I have to step into the True Breath realm to enter Upper Academy Island and to move onto the next stage! </em>Wang Baole clenched his fists, his gaze showing a hint of combativeness.

At present, he had some understanding of the Upper Academy Island. While he reigned supreme in the Lower Academy Island, in the eyes of the Upper Academy Island, he was not quite at the same level. It was not that he was not worth mentioning, but there was still a gap as large as a ravine between them.

To bridge this gap, he could only… attain True Breath!

The battle of life and death in Pond Cloud Rainforest had taught Wang Baole that he needed to constantly get stronger so as not to be bullied by other people. In the Federation, one’s cultivation was also linked on some level to government positions!

<em>I’ll do it. Enter the first thousand, go to the mystic realm, win opportunities for myself, and attain True Breath!</em>

Just as he decided on this, there were many other people in Ethereal Dao College’s Lower Academy Island who had made the same decision.

Although a large number of students who were preparing to enter the exam were older students, there was still a number of new students, who had moved from the Ancient Martial Arts to Physical Seal, who were also considering it. They decided that they would try it out. Even if they failed, they could try again, but they would feel indignant if they gave up!

One of them was Zhuo Yifan. He had currently finished cultivating in the Combat faculty’s Demonstration Hall. He wiped his sweat while listening to the announcement from the voice transmission ring, and his eyes shone.

<em>The top thousand… My goal is the top ten!</em>

At the same time, in the Combat faculty, Chen Ziheng and Lu Zihao had also made their decision. It was the same for those in the other faculties, such as Du Min from the Alchemy faculty. In addition, on the veranda of the Array Formation faculty’s cave abode, there was a beautiful young woman wearing a Daoist robe, her ebony hair gently buffeted by the wind.

This young woman’s expression was simple and elegant, seemingly untouched by worldly cares. There was a sense of innocence in her eyes but also a determination toward cultivation.

Talented and bright, she had been famous one year ago and could have gone to White Deer Dao College. Althought she eventually became Head Prefect, she remained low-key—she was Zhao Yameng.

“True Breath,” Zhao Yameng muttered softly, her eyes calm. It seemed that, to her, there was no need to consider if she ought to take the exam to enter True Breath. It was because this was already her destined path.

As everyone started their preparation, it seemed that the conflict between the Dao Enlightenment faculty and Wang Baole was largely reduced. It was not completely gone, however. This was because… there was news spreading within the Dao Enlightenment faculty that suggested that one of the students who had used Wang Baole to enlighten themselves had successfully reached enlightenment and sensed his Dao. He was currently in seclusion.

This news greatly excited the Dao Enlightenment faculty. If not for the Dao College exams, there might have been a new batch of students looking to use Wang Baole to enlighten themselves on the Dao. The momentum would have been even bigger.

After hearing this news, Wang Baole was frightened. He thought of the dean’s warning and the fact that there were 20,000 people in the Dao Enlightenment faculty. His heart started to grow anxious.

<em>Fake news, it must be fake news!</em>

Within a few days, the news of the Dao College exam had spread to everyone, and they started to register themselves. On the Dao Enlightenment faculty peak, there was a section of the cliff that jutted out. Below this section, there was a bottomless abyss; above were blue skies and white clouds. Standing there, it seemed like one could soar off into the skies.

On the edge of this cliff, a bald handsome young man sat cross-legged. He wore the Dao College’s robe. He was not the Head Prefect of the Dao Enlightenment faculty, much less well-known in the Dao Enlightenment faculty. He also did not take part in the incident with Wang Baole; it was as though all the pointless titles were not important to him.

Other than him, his world was the empty cup in front of him, pure beyond belief.

There was no water in this cup, and it had been placed in front of him for a long time. He had also sat cross-legged for a while.

He did not even know how long he had been sitting there. Suddenly… a drop of water suddenly appeared in that empty cup!

The instant that the water appeared in the empty cup, the young man smiled. The moment he smiled, a different kind of vitality seemed to settle around him.

This vitality spread, causing the flowers and grass around him to move on their own. It seemed as though the surrounding plants had grown a little!

At the same time, in the emptiness behind him, an elder appeared out of thin air.

This elder wore a simple Daoist robe. Although his face was full of wrinkles, his gaze showed a deep glow, without anger or arrogance. If one took a close look at his eyes, it seemed like there was a huge stove hidden in his gaze.

The eyes would see him in person, but once one closed their eyes, one would feel like the blazing sun was in front of them!

If Wang Baole was there, he definitely would have been able to recognize that the suppressive force from this man far exceeded that of the Upper Academy elder who had visited the Chancellor’s talk. It was extremely scary, as though it could scorch the earth!

Furthermore, this elder’s appearance did not attract the attention of anyone from the Lower Academy Island. It was as though he could hide his appearance if he wanted to, and no one in Ethereal Dao College would be any wiser.

This is because he was… the previous Federation President and Ethereal Dao College’s only… Grand Supreme Elder!

“Not bad. Although it has been some time, it can finally be considered successful.” The elder smiled and spoke gently.

As he spoke, the bald youth immediately turned around. After noticing the elder behind him, he immediately stood and cupped his fists in deep respect.

“Master.”

“You don’t need to take part in the Dao College’s big exam. That is a place for non-Dao Enlightenment faculty people to compete. As for you… I’ll take you to a place only for the Dao Enlightenment faculty, a special place to cultivate!” As the elder finished speaking, he flung his sleeve. Immediately, the surroundings blurred. Once everything became clear again, both the elder and the youth had disappeared.

As time passed, all the students of the Dao College who had registered for the exams had spit on their hands and getting pumped in preparation for the exam. The date for the exam had also finally been set.

The major exam would take place five days later!

The number of people taking part in the big exam had also been confirmed during this period. As this time was special, there were 10,000 more people than normal, hitting a total of 50,000 people.

The extra 10,000 people were students who had not reached the age of graduation in five years or less but believed that they had a chance.

Even though only one thousand people could enter the combined mystic realm of the four Dao Colleges, the chance was rare, so all those people with confidence did not want to let go of this opportunity, all of them aiming to get within the top thousand.

As for those who did not get into the top thousand and could not enter the combined mystic realm, there was still the individual mystic realm trial for Ethereal Dao College. Even though the standard was far lower, and the longest Spirit Root was only five inches, to many people, five inches was enough.

At the same time, because of the increase in people, these sort of 50,000-strong competition and fighting only occurred in Ethereal Dao College when the four Dao Colleges opened the combined mystic realm. For many other students, this would be the only time they would encounter this sort of event in their student life.

As such, even the students who did not register watched this extremely closely.

“I wonder who’s going to be in the top thousand!”

“Never mind the first years, but Wang Baole, Zhuo Yifan, and Zhao Yameng and the others are among the second years. These people all have a chance.”

“Don’t look down on the senior students. After all, they have been in the Dao College longer and have also trained for a longer time. They definitely will not give up this chance!”

Regardless of whether it was casual conversations between students of the Dao College or discussion online, the topic of the major exam was on everyone’s lips over those five days. Gradually, as the enthusiasm for the big exam started to boil over, the exam officially began!

As the day arrived, the Dao College announced the exam regulations!

The first was preliminary screening, which would pick 2,000 people out of about 50,000!

For the Head Prefects who registered, they did not need to enter the preliminary screening. They could simply join the selected two thousand people once the preliminary screenings were over.

The next stage was to choose the top thousand from these two thousand people. The method of selection was not complicated. These two thousand people would draw lots to determine their opponent and then fight it out in five matches!

The location would be the peaks of Ethereal Dao College’s various faculties, with almost a hundred arenas. Similarly, lots would be used to determine which arena the students would be assigned to.

As for the final rankings, the one who won all five matches would definitely be within the top thousand. For those who won four but lost one match, getting within the top thousand was not much of a problem either. As for the others, they would need to fight again for the remaining spaces!

This kind of competition structure obscured the true number one. In a certain sense, there was no number one, only the top thousand! Furthermore, luck was also an important factor!

Soon, following the announcement of the rules and the opening of the exam, the enthusiasm of all the students of Ethereal Dao College’s Lower Academy Island reached its peak. Those people who had taken part in the major exam also began their fight on these hundred arenas!

With that, one battle after another began. The teachers also grew busy, as they needed to be the referees of the matches and also take measures to prevent injuries.

In an instant, there were roars from the Dao College’s arenas. The cheering of the students undulated, resounding throughout the area.

Wang Baole did not seclude himself in the cave abode all day. Instead, he often went to watch the other matches in the arenas. His main aim was to watch the matches of the other faculties, as he understood that he would definitely have to fight people from other faculties in his matches.

<em>Array Formation faculty, Traps faculty, Alchemy faculty… I need to understand how these people fight so that I can have a better chance at winning! </em>Wang Baole knew that he could not underestimate them, so he ate his snacks while standing near the arenas, watching the matches extremely seriously.

Many of the fights were held simultaneously, so he even when he returned to the cave abode, he would search for videos on the Spirit Intranet to study, till he had a clear idea of what was going on.

Just like that, the time passed, and 50,000 people finally became 2,000!

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