A World Worth Protecting

The arrival of the Federation military was not known by many on Upper Academy Island. After all, they had landed on the Sky Path Island, which was shrouded by fog. Even if someone saw them from afar, they would merely be surprised and curious, but they would not know the details.

In the two days that followed, more cruisers arrived in Ethereal Dao College. Most of them were officials from the Federation who were there to spectate the Combat Pavilion’s tournament. Similarly, they landed on the Sky Path Island.

The arrival of the guests signified that the Combat Pavilion’s tournament commencement day was nearing. More discussions could be heard from each pavilion on Upper Academy Island. The anticipation and passion that everyone had toward the tournament also grew as the days passed.

During this period of time, disciples from each pavilion had been invited to facilitate in the tournament. For most of these disciples, transactions with the disciples from the Combat Pavilion made them extremely rich, and they managed to earn quite a substantial amount. Amid their delight and happiness, they were also curious toward the competition.

Some people had even set up bets in secret, which made the entire Upper Academy Island bustle with even more activity. All the discussions on the Spirit Intranet were also about the tournament.

On the evening before the tournament, Wang Baole finally managed to complete the final adjustments to the Dharmic Artifacts that he had wanted to advertise.

Most of these Dharmic Artifacts were perfect second-grade Dharmic Artifacts, while a small proportion of them were ordinary second-grade Dharmic Artifacts.

It’s a pity that I am short of time. If not, it would have been possible for all of these to be perfect second-grade Dharmic Artifacts.

Wang Baole was pleased, looking at all the Dharmic Artifacts that he had refined, especially the tens of small wooden buckets, which he had specially created. They were his secret weapon to attract the attention of people.

Now, as he smiled to himself, Wang Baole felt that his advertising campaign would reach the maximum number of people. Even if that weirdo from the Combat Pavilion who had been suspected to be kicked in the crotch was uncooperative, Wang Baole still had a way to advertise. Therefore, with feelings of anticipation, he began meditating in order to condition himself.

It was an uneventful night.

On the morning of the second day, as the sound of the bell from Upper Academy Island reverberated, a gigantic, mirror-like array formation appeared in the middle of the Levitating Mountain, which glowed brightly!

The array formation was immensely majestic. Its glow shimmered, causing everyone’s mood to perk up. At the same time, a person stood in midair outside the array formation.

That person was an elder, expressionless and dressed from head to toe in a black robe. However, his voice seemed to have the power to permeate through matter as it spread over the entire Upper Academy Island.

“All participants and supporting teammates are to step into the array formation and proceed to the assessment grounds! People who have no business in the tournament are not to step in!”

As the elder’s words spread, numerous figures appeared quickly in the skies above each of the pavilions. Naturally, most of the people were from the Combat Pavilion, but there was also a substantial number of people from the other pavilions who were acting as supporting teammates.

There were about twenty thousand people; some of them standing on their cruisers, and some of them standing on Dharmic treasures such as flying swords. They were all heading toward the array formation, and if one looked from afar, the streams of rainbows from the people who were charging toward the array formation looked extremely breathtaking.

Everyone who witnessed it was shaken with emotions. Once again, they had a clear realization that it was already the Spirit Inception Era, no longer the Common Era!

Wang Baole had also stepped out of his cave abode. He noticed the imposing array formation in the sky and was similarly shaken as his eyes revealed a look of envy and excitement.

This was the first time that he had seen so many people in the air at the same time, with many of them having levels of cultivation exceeding that of a first level True Breath. The aura that they gave off was alarming.

There were also many of them who were individuals who had peaked at the fifth level of the True Breath realm. They were extremely calm and collected, and the suppressive force that they gave off easily exceeded that of the others beside them, as if they could destroy anything in their path.

After taking a few hurried breaths, Wang Baole, with a bright glow in his eyes and fresh, boiling blood pumping throughout his body, retrieved the cruiser that he had fixed and stood on it. He rose into the sky, transforming into one of the rainbows in midair and becoming one of the numerous cultivators flying in the clouds.

The cruiser was charging ahead, and Wang Baole neared the array formation quickly. Seeing that the other people did not stop but instead disappeared as they entered the array formation, Wang Baole did not hesitate as his heart beat furiously, dashing straight into the array formation like the others did. The moment that he came into contact with the array formation, all he could see was a blur in his eyes, like he had passed through a water’s surface. When he emerged, he was in a place that he had never been to in his life!

The skies were still blue and filled with white clouds, with the Sword Sun still shining high up. However, the land was no longer Upper Academy Island but one that was covered with numerous gigantic mountains!

The mountains were peculiar as they had four faces, from front to back and left to right. There were over a hundred of them, and what was most shocking was that they all seemed to be carved from the same mold, looking perfectly identical. The distance between them was also identical, as if they had been replicated.

This bizarre scene instantly created a commotion among many people who had arrived for the first time. More people entered, and when everyone had entered the area after passing through the array formation, the sound of discussions grew even louder.

“These mountains… how were they made?”

“This is… an array formation?”

“This is such a big deal! I once heard that this was transformed from one of the ninth-grade Dharmic Armaments from our very own Ethereal Dao College!”

Amid the sounds of commotion, Wang Baole’s breathing also grew hurried. There were so many people surrounding him, and even after Wang Baole sent a voice transmission to that weirdo from the Combat Pavilion, he still could not locate him after a long while. As he listened to the discussions between those around him, he looked at the mountains in the area below. Vaguely, he could see that there were hundreds of mountains being divided into five different regions. However, even before he could take a closer look, a low voice reverberated from above.

“Quiet down! True Breath experts from the first to the fourth levels are to enter the East, West, South, and North regions respectively, while True Breaths from the fifth level are to enter the central region!”

The sound was like a clap of thunder, extremely deafening as it blasted in people’s ears. Instantly, everyone fell into silence, and as they raised their heads subconsciously, sounds of breathing could be heard once again, but this time, no one dared create a commotion.

That was because transformations had occurred in what was originally the sky above them. There were now four humongous stairwells floating in midair, all linked together to form a square!

Many people, over a few hundred of them, could be seen sitting on them, covering the stairwells entirely. At their height, they could see every competition that was happening on the mountains just by simply lowering their heads!

This was compounded by the fact that the suppressive force given from many of them was so strong that everyone who felt it was shaken.

Even though it was quite a distance away, such that ordinary men would not be able to get a clear look at the individuals seated on the stairwells, the cultivators were able to get a good look by focusing their spirit energy onto their eyes, despite not being able to see it in detail.

Wang Baole glanced at all the people on the stairwells as his heart was filled with a torrent of emotions. He noticed that those people were divided into groups of three, with one group appearing to be soldiers who were wearing the same uniform and giving off a strong killing intent, while the other two groups were officials from the Federation, as well as Ethereal Dao College, based on Wang Baole’s interpretation.

Of them, there were a few individuals whose existence made Wang Baole’s eyes hurt just with a single glance. It was akin to an ordinary man looking into the bright sun in the skies. Wang Baole was taken aback as he quickly retracted his gaze. He did not look at everyone in detail, but instead, he clearly saw that other than a burly man from the military dressed in a black cloak, there was also a middle-aged man dressed in a long red robe who was extremely eye-catching, like the bright sun.

Just at the moment that Wang Baole retracted his gaze, he suddenly had the feeling that someone was looking at him. Wang Baole was shocked, and with the thought that he might be mistaken, he looked toward the same direction.

As he turned, he immediately noticed that among the military personnel was a woman sitting beside the burly man who was staring at him coldly, with a look of hatred and disgust in her eyes.

She looks familiar… Zhou Lu? Wang Baole was momentarily dumbfounded but quickly pretended that nothing was wrong as he slowly retracted his gaze.

That woman was Zhou Lu, the one who had used her authority to attack him in Ethereal City. However, she had instead been heavily beaten and kicked in the buttocks by him when he was on the Lower Academy Island back then.

I heard that she left for the military. From her looks, it seems like she recognized me. Could it be that cheap son of mine, Lu Zihao, who spread the news to her? Wang Baole did not think too much about it. Now that he was a disciple on Upper Academy Island, he thought that Zhou Lu would not be able to take revenge on him. Therefore, he merely sighed and did not pay further attention to it.

Soon, according to the announcement, everyone began to spread out and enter the respective regions. Wang Baole also stepped into the east region as if nothing had happened.

However, he could feel that Zhou Lu’s gaze was still on him.

How irritating… Wang Baole mumbled in his heart. He did not care too much about it as he opened his voice transmission ring and sent another voice transmission to the mysterious person from the Combat Pavilion whom he was to support.

Even though they had exchanged voice transmission numbers on the Spirit Intranet, this would be the first time that Wang Baole was meeting him. After informing him of his coordinates, Wang Baole shut the voice transmission ring and stood up to wait for him.

However, after a long while, as he saw the people around him gathering in their pairs while he was still alone, Wang Baole began to grow anxious as he thought of possibility of the other party having pulled a prank on him.

As the thought lingered, Wang Baole suddenly noticed that someone in the crowd nearby was looking at him. He quickly looked in that direction and immediately saw a youth standing there, looking extremely terrible, as if he had just eaten poop.

“Son?” Wang Baole felt that the person looked familiar. He was Lu Zihao, the person whom he had kicked in the crotch and twisted his fingers, the person who had called him daddy. He did not enter the Spirit Breath Village, instead entering Upper Academy Island after receiving the Spirit Root during his journey.

Noticing that Wang Baole had seen him, Lu Zihao gritted his teeth as he slowly approached Wang Baole, his face solemn.

“It can’t be you, right?” Wang Baole blinked several times.

Lu Zihao grunted as he lifted his chin. He was extremely indignant as if he had been left without any other choice.

Wang Baole laughed. After sizing Lu Zihao up, he could not help but say, “Come, call me Daddy…”

Hearing the word ‘Daddy’ instantly caused blue veins to emerge on Lu Zihao’s forehead. He was about to explode, but he took a deep breath and stared angrily at Wang Baole.

“Listen up, Wang Baole, I do not need your help this time. You’re only here to make up the numbers. See that? Zhou Lu is up there, staring at you!”

“Darn it, so it was really you who spread the news to her! Son, you sure are daring, huh!?” Wang Baole exclaimed and was about to say more, but he noticed the silence all around him. Wang Baole grunted and no longer paid attention to Lu Zihao. However, he could not resist looking at the spectator area of the stairwell in the skies and realized that there were several people with their gazes on him. He was fairly taken aback as he blinked.

Why are they all looking at me? I understand why Zhou Lu is staring at me, but what about the others? Could it be that I’m that extraordinary? This must be the case…Wang Baole cleared his throat, consoling himself as doubts arose in his mind.