A World Worth Protecting

Nearly all the Combat faculty students had unfriendly looks. Their eyes seemed to burn with fighting spirit. Even Chen Ziheng’s face looked grim, his expression turning very serious.

Zhuo Yifan was the same. After he clenched his fists, his mouth warped into a sneer.

Even the Combat faculty teacher looked Wang Baole deeply in the eye.

The strange scene of hundreds of bulky men looking at him left a chill running down Wang Baole’s back. He felt that something was amiss.

Have these people from the Combat faculty gone silly from all the training? Wang Baole subconsciously took a few steps back and began to turn suspicious. As he had been too engrossed in running previously, he had ignored everything that happened around him. The only thing that had occupied his mind was the Fatso Forefathers chasing him. Therefore, he had not noticed the Combat faculty students and their setbacks.

“Everyone is a member of Ethereal Dao College. Haha, since you wish to train here in private… it’s all the same if I go elsewhere too.” Wang Baole smiled dryly when he saw the situation before him. Just as he was about to leave, the Combat faculty students rushed forward and surrounded him, preventing him from leaving.

“What are all of you doing? This is Ethereal Dao College. I’m a specially-recruited student of the Dharmic Armament faculty!” Wang Baole became frightened as he stared at them immediately.

The Combat faculty teacher had a deep, meaningful smile on his face. He took a few steps forward and grabbed Wang Baole before laughing out loud.

“Student Wang Baole, there’s no need to be afraid. Come, train with our Combat faculty.” He smiled with a pleased look as he secretly rejoiced. Even if Wang Baole was good at running, he was definitely no match for the Combat faculty when it came to strength.

After all, members of the Combat faculty spent nearly all their time on training their bodies. They had the absolute advantage in strength. Nothing would have happened if Wang Baole had not delivered himself to them, but since he had, how could he be spared?

We have to vent our anger well. We have to show him how powerful our Combat faculty is!

With a smile, the teacher escorted Wang Baole straight to the training grounds. He pointed at the hundreds of gigantic barbells on the ground and said with a smile, “Wang Baole, come, come, come. They are free for your picking.”

With that said, the teacher looked at the other Combat faculty students and shouted, “And all of you, quickly begin training!”

Wang Baole hesitated for a moment. Just as he wanted to speak, the Combat faculty students rushed at the barbells like tigers and wolves. Each of them raised one and stared at Wang Baole provocatively.

Something is wrong! Wang Baole turned wary, but against so many provocative glares, he could do nothing. With eyes widened, he went forward and grabbed a barbell. After taking in a deep breath, he raised it up with a grunt.

The moment Wang Baole raised the barbell, the teacher felt extremely pleased. He shouted, “Countdown begins. Punks, all of you are to use all your strength!”

While the teacher reeled in excitement, the students began the rather atypical competition amid deep grunts. Nearly everyone was grunting as they raised the barbells, especially Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan. They were at the second stage Ancient Martial realm, so although their barbells were extremely heavy, it was still a weight they could handle.

They are trying to compete with me! Wang Baole did not accept defeat either. He realized that it was not that heavy when he raised the barbell. He also managed to raise it with his strength.

Immediately, there were heavy breathing sounds coming from everyone on the training ground.

“Ten… Twenty… Thirty… Have you guys even eaten? Use more strength!” bellowed the teacher, his voice constantly reverberating. Gradually, the all students completed at least fifty repetitions, and people began to falter. The barbells’ weight indicated that the average person was very strong if they could handle five repetitions.

At that moment, nearly everyone had lasted fifty repetitions. This was already quite an uncommon feat for them. Their bodies were trembling as though they could not keep at it.

Is it that heavy? Wang Baole felt a little puzzled. Despite having raised fifty repetitions, the weight was not something unbearable to him. Most importantly, the spirit fat in his body was rapidly being depleted as he raised the weights, turning into Spirit Qi that nourished his body. Not only was he not tired, he even felt more energetic and alert.

However, Wang Baole noticed the crowd’s angry gazes. With a displeased inward grunt, he deliberately quivered as though he was about to fail at any moment. He even heaved heavily.

“I want to raise one last time!”

With him saying that sentence, the students that were about to give up seemed to gain strength from his words. They gritted their teeth and, with a cry, forcibly raised their barbells once more. But when they looked at Wang Baole, they realized that he too had raised his in a shaky manner. They immediately felt gripped by anxiety.

“I want to raise it one final time again!” Wang Baole panted as though he was about to collapse at any moment. He had let out the statement with his face reddened.

The other students clenched their teeth again, but they were ultimately at their limits. Nearly half of them failed to continue. With a plop, they dropped the barbells, but thanks to the safety precautions, they were not injured.

At least a hundred plus more people were holding on. All of them raised their barbells once more as they held their breaths, but soon, they realized that Wang Baole had raised his barbell despite saying the same words.

“Everyone, keep it up!”

“He can’t hold out much longer!”

The enervated students lay on the ground but continued supporting their fellow faculty mates. Their cheers slowly grew softer, and eventually, they were left clenching their teeth.

Wang Baole had repeatedly claimed that it was his last time, but he had never once faltered. Instead, more and more of the remaining hundred plus people gave up successively, despite their rage. Finally, fewer than ten people were left holding on as they trembled.

They were also at their limits, but every time they were about to give up, they would see Wang Baole’s trembling body and think to themselves, Perhaps this is Wang Baole’s final one.

But… these people ended up reeling in despair one after another. Only Chen Ziheng and Zhuo Yifan stood standing. Yet, Wang Baole was still shaking as he raised his barbell.

“I can still last a little longer. This is really the last one!” Wang Baole stumbled as he took a step back. He forced himself to stand up straight, and with a pant, he raised it again.

“Shameless!”

“He’s too much!” The surrounding students could not help but shout angrily. Even the Combat faculty teacher was cursing in his heart. The act that Wang Baole put on from the beginning appeared too shameless to him.

“Chen Ziheng, Zhuo Yifan. I can let your running loss to the Dharmic Armament faculty pass, but are you going to lose at weight-lifting as well!” roared the teacher.

Chen Ziheng’s eyes turned red, and the two remaining students seemed to give it their all. They clenched their teeth, raising their barbells once again. After raising more than a hundred repetitions, Chen Ziheng looked at the trembling Wang Baole, who could still continue. With a lamenting cry in his heart, he collapsed weakly.

Even Zhuo Yifan finally reached his limit. In the end, he had already released all his potential. An attempt to raise the barbell while shaking only left him spinning. He could not continue.

Wang Baole seemed to be sharing the same fate when he looked over. His body seemed to stagger, and he did not seem capable of raising the barbell again. Zhuo Yifan immediately felt his hopes raise while the other students turned excited as well.

“Fatso Forefathers, lend me your energy!” Wang Baole was perspiring all over. With his roar, he gradually lifted the barbell as all the students—and even the teacher—were secretly calling for him to drop the barbell inwardly.

Immediately, everyone glared angrily. Zhuo Yifan’s eyes turned a deeper red as he found the situation unacceptable. He attempted to raise the barbell again, but bereft of any more strength, he collapsed.

His eyes turned black, and the despondent feeling in his heart could hardly be described.

At that moment, everyone in the training ground had an ugly expression. They stared at Wang Baole who was the only one remaining. Wang Baole raised the barbell again and again as though there was no end…

Two hours, four hours, six hours, eight hours…

While they rested, Wang Baole was raising the weights. When they recovered and continued again, Wang Baole was still doing the same. When they headed off for their meals, Wang Baole was still lifting. Only on the third day did they leave. Under the moonlight, Wang Baole was still lifting.

In the end, everyone was left dumbfounded. If he had raised the barbell normally, everyone could have tolerated him, but he would always roar, claiming that it was the final repetition. After shouting for so long, his voice did not even turn hoarse.

“This rascal is too crafty!”

“Darn it. Doesn’t he tire out from shouting for so long?”

Everyone felt miserable. The Combat faculty teacher also turned disheartened; he felt completely defeated. He planned on leaving with the students and never engaging in outdoor training whenever he saw Wang Baole.

But, at the instant they were about to leave, an extraordinary aura suddenly blasted out of Wang Baole’s body. At that moment, his body seemed to emanate red light that resembled fire. This red light effused from within his body, through his skin, before inundating the vision of everyone present.

This was… Blood Qi that stirred the skies!

Extremely rich Blood Qi rushed everywhere. Wang Baole’s body also shrank rapidly, eventually returning to his original size. All the spirit fat burned at that instant, providing him with the energy needed to reach the Blood Qi realm!

This scene immediately left the minds of the people that were planning to leave abuzz. They stood there and felt as though they had been struck by lightning, leaving them completely awestruck.

“I succeeded!” Wang Baole threw the barbell in excitement. He roared with laughter when he saw his restored body line. He next noticed that he had reached the Blood Qi realm, which made him even more pleasantly surprised. He ran off quickly and exuberantly.

Even when he was long gone, the Combat faculty crowd at the training grounds did not extricate themselves from their daze. A series of gasps spread only a while later.

“He… he actually broke through?”

“Heavens, he stepped into the Blood Qi realm faster than us despite being from the Dharmic Armament faculty!”

“Did I see wrong? He broke through… from lifting weights!”

Incredulous exclamations and discussions broke out among the students. The scene that they had witnessed incited them just too much. It would have been fine if they had lost to Wang Baole twice, but to watch him break through left them envious.

Even the Combat faculty teacher spent an entire day in a deranged grievance. He could not help but blow up.

“You bunch of trash!”

“You can forget about sleeping. He’s from the Dharmic Armament faculty. He can even breakthrough from lifting weights! What about all of you? Keep training. Do not stop until you breakthrough!”

This time, none of the students complained. Instead, many of their eyes lit up. They felt that perhaps it was really a good way of breaking through. All of them rushed to train with hastened breaths.

It was unknown if lifting weights was really effective or if it was due to the immense shock, but after that night, one student from the Combat faculty actually managed to break through from lifting weights.

As such, this matter caused a stir throughout the Combat faculty. It was like a legend. As a result, even a long time after that incident, there were people from the Combat faculty who would go to that very spot to lift weights, hoping to try their luck.