A World Worth Protecting

As the two disciples from the Combat Pavilion interpreted the situation and made the decision to activate their mystic technique to charge toward Wang Baole, the attention from people on the spectator stand in the skies was immediately shifted from the various battle grounds of the five regions, focusing instead on Wang Baole’s location, where the fireworks were released.

“What is he trying to do? Releasing fireworks?” On the stairwell where the high officials of Ethereal Dao College were, the elders from each of the pavilions all stared with their eyes wide, incredulous.

Even the Deputy Sect Lord and the red-robed middle-aged men were also taken aback. The elder from the Dharmic Armament Pavilion, who was fond of Wang Baole, also laughed bitterly, as he tried to explain the situation.

“I suppose… it’s some trump card of his?”

As the crowd looked at each other, General Zhou, who was on the spectator stage of the military stairwell opposite, was also shocked. Zhou Lu, who was beside him, looked similarly bewildered.

If even their reactions were as such, those of the tens of thousands of cultivators on Upper Academy Island were also predictable. Some of them had already started a rowdy discussion as they all stared at the screen showing Wang Baole.

On the battle arena shown on the screen, Wang Baole looked mildly troubled. Not only did his persuasion not work, the two disciples from the Combat Pavilion seemed even more determined. They did not pay attention to Lu Zihao’s attempt at blocking them nor to the approaching Flying Frost Swords. Even though they had suffered some abrasions, they did not seem bothered as they unleashed their mystic technique once again, increasing their speed even more as they neared Wang Baole in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, they were also cursing under their breath as they realized that it was not a powerful move that Wang Baole had showcased. They were even more furious that they had to perform well, since Wang Baole’s unexpected fireworks had caught everyone’s attention, and they could not afford to be a disgrace.

It would have taken a long time to narrate the entire sequence of events, which, in actual fact, took place in a blink of an eye. One of the two Combat Pavilion disciples shouted angrily, growling as he released a punch.

Disregarding the force of the punch, its imposing manner was already impressive. It was a powerful punch that seemed to be able to shatter everything.

Noticing that, the other person also gave it his all, retrieving all his talismans and chanting spells to form numerous fireballs and wind blades directed toward Wang Baole.

“Why are both of you so unreasonable?” Wang Baole wanted to dodge, but the area that he was in was not wide enough. Seeing that the fireworks were about to dissipate and that there was no time to lose, he grew troubled as he retrieved a handful of Golden Bell Shield beads and tossed them at his feet.

“Retreat!” Wang Baole howled with a low voice. As the beads landed on the ground, they joined together with a loud boom in the background. Golden rays instantly appeared, blocking Wang Baole from the two Combat Pavilion disciples.

He had planned to block them in order to give Lu Zihao the chance to showcase his Flying Frost Sword. After all, according to his plans, the Flying Frost Sword was to be the number one hit among his Dharmic Artifacts. In fact, in his plans, many of the details of the Dharmic Artifact packages revolved around the Flying Frost Sword.

However, what happened next made Wang Baole troubled again.

His Golden Bell Shield glowed. The spells and fist of the two disciples from the Combat Pavilion directly hit the glow, and a deafening boom erupted.

As the sound reverberated, the minds of the two Combat Pavilion disciples buzzed with activity, their facial expressions changing wildly.

“What Dharmic Artifact was that?”

In their shock, all they could feel was that they had hit an extremely tough mountain wall. What made them even more shocked was that an extremely strong counter force was produced by this protective shield, directly reflecting their impactful attack back at them.

It would not have mattered much if there was merely reverberation. However, a hurricane made of Spirit Qi tides was produced from the reverberating counter force, sweeping in all directions. The duo were not elites to begin with. Even though they were senior disciples, their cultivation remained at the first level of the True Breath realm, not high caliber. Now, the Spirit Qi tide was directly charging toward them, about to land on their bodies at any moment.

As they screamed painfully, one of them tried to retreat in shock while the other was not quick enough to do so. His body was like a kite whose string had been severed, directly tumbling in the force, and after landing on the ground, fresh blood spewed out of his mouth. He looked at Wang Baole in shock and realized that he had met with a capable individual. If no one was watching him, he would not have cared. However, now that there were people watching him, he realized that he would only land in disgrace if he continued fighting on. Therefore, he chose to concede defeat.

The other disciple from the Combat Pavilion who had managed to dodge was merely a supporting teammate. Seeing that the participant had admitted defeat, he could only laugh bitterly and follow suit. When he looked at the golden glow in front of Wang Baole, shock was still evident from his eyes.

The sequence of events had happened too quickly, such that everything ended even before Lu Zihao, who was holding the Flying Frost Sword, could arrive.

Looking at the duo who had just conceded defeat, Lu Zihao suddenly grew angry as he stared at Wang Baole furiously.

“Wang Baole, didn’t we agree before? You promised to not do anything! This is my tournament!”

“I didn’t do anything. I was merely protecting myself. Can’t I even do that?” Wang Baole slapped his forehead as he really did not plan to attack. It was just that he did not expect the opponents to be so weak. In reality, even though those beads were quite powerful and were further enhanced with anti-shock inscriptions by Wang Baole, enabling them to stir up Spirit Qi tides, the effect was not that shocking against a strong opponent from the Combat Pavilion.

However, it was apparent that the two who conceded defeat were not elites but ordinary disciples.

Seeing what had happened, Wang Baole felt that his plans had been completely ruined. However, his reaction was also extremely fast. With the thought that there would be many people focusing their attention on him, Wang Baole immediately tried to salvage the situation. He looked toward the sky and forced a smile out on his face.

“Elders, teachers, Senior and Junior Brothers, how do you do? Er… my name is Wang Baole.

“Today, I’m here to introduce a Dharmic Artifact. It’s called the Golden Bell Shield. You’ve heard it right! It’s the legendary Golden Bell Shield!

“All of you have seen it just now as well. This Dharmic Artifact is extremely powerful. Rainbow Spirit Stones lie in its core, and it is covered with over thirty thousand inscriptions. It is made from precious Star Era Sand and has gone through forty-nine days of refinement over slow fire before being completely formed!”

Wang Baole cleared his throat with a cough. His tone became much more natural as he described the Dharmic Artifact.

However, in reality, he had done so out of exasperation. He felt that he couldn’t let the fireworks go to waste; and now that he had attracted everyone’s attention, he felt that he had to say something no matter what happened. Since he could not advertise the Flying Frost Sword, he could only advertise the protective beads.

The moment that he spoke, everyone on the spectator stands in the skies trembled all over. That was especially so for the red-robed middle-aged man, who was frozen in shock.

“This fatty’s actually advertising his products! Is that against the rules?”

The other elders were all dumbfounded. Only the Dharmic Armament Pavilion elder who was fond of Wang Baole cleared his throat.

“That can’t be considered to have violated the rules. After all, he did not affect the other participants. This can also be considered a battle tactic. You can even see from this that this chap is rather smart…”

His words made the red-robed middle-aged man and the surrounding elders have odd expressions. Not only was the Dharmic Armament Pavilion elder openly siding with Wang Baole and finding a way out for him, he was also praising him. The fact that he explain it away as a battle tactic for whatever had just happened was truly impressive.

Over at the military side opposite, all the warriors were also flabbergasted. Even Zhou Lu was shocked, while General Zhou began laughing. He looked at Wang Baole, and his interest in him grew deeper with a glimmer of admiration appearing in his eyes.

At the same time, commotion torrented on the external Upper Academy Island. Disciples from all the pavilions around were dumbfounded as they shrieked in surprise.

“That’s so shameless! People have made advertisements in the past, but none of them were ever so direct!”

“How daring of him! I have thought about this in the past, but I did not have the courage to execute it!”

“This Wang Baole… he’s gonna be famous!”

The commotion spread. Everyone from the Dharmic Armament Pavilion took a deep breath. This forceful form of advertisement put them at a loss.

However, Wang Baole was not done advertising.

“Everyone must be tempted now. However, this perfect second-grade Dharmic Artifact has even more unique characteristics. Other than the anti-shock capabilities that I have specially included, it can form a Spirit Qi hurricane with a force that all of you have witnessed just now. Do you think that’s its limit? No! Watch on!” Wang Baole took a deep breath and raised his right hand to point at the golden glow that still remained.

As he pointed, the glow instantly warped, directly exploding loudly under the gazes of tens of thousands of spectators. It created an air pressure wave that spread in all directions. That frightened the two Combat Pavilion disciples so much that they exhaled deeply.

Ethereal Dao College’s high officials, the military, as well as the Federation officials who were on the spectator stand high up in the skies suddenly became serious. In their eyes, a perfect second-grade Dharmic Artifact was nothing to shout about. However, of the second-grade Dharmic Artifacts, the impressiveness of the bead was what caught their eyes!

The disciples from Upper Academy Island spectating from the outside suddenly quieted down from the commotion. Some even held their breath as they stared in shock, while some of them grew increasingly tempted.

Wang Baole swept his gaze toward the spectator stand in the skies. After noticing the facial expressions of the spectators, he grew excited and spoke again.

“This is the final great power of this Dharmic Artifact. Think about it, when using it for protection, your opponent will have difficulty destroying it. Furthermore, if it implodes suddenly, how unexpected and shocking will that be!

“Such a precious and versatile Dharmic Artifact that has unexpected powers… Lu Zihao, how much do you say it’s worth?”

Wang Baole was excited, and he looked at Lu Zihao, trying to drop him hints.