A World Worth Protecting

The thought that one day, after he successfully refined a Dharmic Armament, that every single person—man or woman—would have to address him as ‘Grandmaster’, made Wang Baole extremely agitated, as well as troubled.

Would they call me Grandmaster Wang, Grandmaster Bao, or Grandmaster Le?

No matter how Wang Baole thought about it, he still felt that the word ‘Grand’ made the title awful. He had the intention that after he refined a Dharmic Armament, he would take the initiative to make others, such as Liu Daobin and company, first address him as Master Wang. That way, the others would follow suit as well.

Master Wang! Wang Baole was satisfied with this title. After he fantasized about it for a moment, he felt energized and began the process of researching Dharmic Armaments by playing it out in his mind.

A Dharmic Armament was structurally similar to a Numinous Treasure, both having Spirit Kernels and inscriptions, but when seen in detail, many differences were also present. There were two other factors, which were Spirit Integration and Heavenly Evocation!

According to the knowledge Wang Baole gained through his time spent in the Ethereal Dao College, he knew very clearly that, regardless of whether it was a Dharmic Artifact or a Numinous Treasure, they were merely a method of using Spirit energy—such that the Spirit energy could flow according to the inscriptions in order to produce different explosive effects.

A Dharmic Armament differed in that it not only focused on only Spirit energy, but also encompassed… Heaven and Earth power!

The so-called Heaven and Earth power sounded very ethereal in its description. According to the Dao College, it could cause the heavens and earth, as well as everything in nature, to be seen as having life. The ripples that resulted from this life would accumulate and fill the entire world. This seemingly separate, yet united force, was known as… Heaven and Earth power!

This is actually magnetism. The heavens have a will, and therefore, they would give off magnetism belonging to the heavens. This was the same case for the earth, the mountains, the rivers, and even the mud, rocks, lightning, wind and rain, and so on… Wang Baole rubbed his glabella, as he recalled the knowledge he learned in the Dao College.

Dharmic Artifacts and Numinous Treasures control the Spirit energy. As for a Dharmic Armament, it doesn’t only control the Spirit energy, but also the Heaven and Earth power. Therefore, in terms of power, activation of any Dharmic Armament would send shock waves in all directions. It wasn’t groundbreaking but was still extremely impressive.

The way to control the Heaven and Earth power was to incorporate one of the two additional factors that distinguished a Numinous Treasure from a Dharmic Armament, and that was… Heavenly Evocation!

This so-called Heavenly Evocation meant incorporating all the mystique forces emanating from the magnetic fields of every single object between the heavens and earth into a Dharmic Armament. It could transform a Dharmic Armament into a medium for communicating with the forces of the heavens and earth!

This way, the first step of making a Dharmic Armament could be considered complete. A Dharmic Treasure that could communicate with the Heaven and Earth powers could already be considered half a Dharmic Armament, with its power far exceeding that of a Numinous Treasure, even though it still paled greatly compared to a Dharmic Armament.

At that time, the second stage of refinement would be initiated, and that was… Spirit Integration!

True to its name, Spirit Integration meant integrating the spirit into a Dharmic Armament!

It didn’t require the Artifact Spirit to have Spirit Intelligence. As long as it fulfilled the requirements, once the spirit was integrated, it could form something like an outlet for a Dharmic Treasure that had Heaven and Earth power. Through the lead of the Artifact Spirit, a surprising force would result.

For example, the black hurricane from Wang Baole’s Dharmic Armament saber appeared as such because the source of the Dharmic Armament’s Heaven and Earth power had come from a hurricane. The crocodile inside the black hurricane was the Artifact Spirit!

Heavenly Evocation and Spirit Integration… These two steps are challenging. Wang Baole sorted out the knowledge he had learned. In silence, he began thinking about these two steps that were unique to a Dharmic Armament. For the Heavenly Evocation step, he needed to continually try and play it out. As for Spirit Integration, it could be considered the simpler of the two steps.

I need to capture a ferocious beast as the Artifact Spirit. The choice for the Artifact Spirit should ideally complement the power of the Dharmic Armament. Therefore, since I want to refine a Dharmic Armament megaphone, I should find a beast that could roar, and do so loudly… With that thought, the donkey surfaced in Wang Baole’s mind. Instantly, his eyes lit up, but he soon sighed. He felt that killing the innocent donkey that hadn’t done anything wrong was somewhat inhumane.

However, he still felt that using the donkey as the Artifact Spirit and creating the Dharmic Armament megaphone would make it extremely impressive and astonishing.

As he pondered, Wang Baole pushed away the idea of using the donkey as the Artifact Spirit. He began to research Heavenly Evocation. Time passed, and soon, seven days went by.

In the seven days, even though Wang Baole didn’t reach the state where he forgot about food and rest, he still spent almost the entire period of time researching Dharmic Armaments. He still spared some time to receive the reports from Liu Daobin and company. With them around, Wang Baole knew the status of his city like the back of his hands.

For example, Chen Mu and company may have put in a lot of effort in the construction of the city for the past seven days, but compared to Wen Huai and Fang Jing who had laid low, Chen Mu held a small banquet in his zone three days ago. He had invited many people. Without a doubt, Li Wan’er was also there and had appeared to be extremely courteous towards Chen Mu.

Another example would be that during this period, incidents of missing resources frequently occurred in the region belonging to Chen Mu and company. In addition, the donkey would be seen every time, both before and after the incident happened. This issue was only resolved after the Core Formation realm cultivators from each of the three factions began standing guard. However, throughout the length of the episode, the total amount of resources lost by the three factions was astounding.

Everything surfaced in Wang Baole’s mind. He was satisfied with the donkey’s performance. At the same time, he received Li Wan’er’s voice transmission. Her tone was formal as she requested for the capture of the donkey.

Wang Baole naturally rejected that request. After receiving the rejection, Li Wan’er didn’t say much. She merely mentioned that should such things happen again, that she would report it directly to the Governor. After all, the construction of the new city trumped everything else. Anything and anyone who stalled the construction process should be punished.

Is she threatening me? Wang Baole was unhappy, his gaze somewhat colder than before. He seemed to have realized that Li Wan’er had already had a change of heart. She was merely engaged but was using her authority to side with Chen Mu.

Is she trying to warn me not to have any ulterior motives towards Chen Mu…? Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. Based on the many years that he had spent studying the high officials’ autobiographies, he began to realize the meaning behind Li Wan’er’s actions.

With that thought, a chilly look was revealed in Wang Baole’s eyes. He didn’t take any action though, as he knew very clearly that it wasn’t the right time to meddle with Chen Mu and company’s affairs. After all, the city hadn’t been completed yet…

Another half a month passed like that. Wang Baole’s research on the Dharmic Armament, specifically the segment on Heavenly Evocation, had shown some progress. When he thought about trying it out, the ground suddenly shook violently that evening. After that, a deafening boom reverberated, and the Divine Armament Catacombs opened up once again.

Having learned from the experience of the previous incident involving Li Yi, a large number of cultivators immediately took action as the loud boom reverberated. That was especially so for Kong Dao, Jin Duoming, and company.

It was the same case for Li Wan’er as well. Even though she didn’t have experience in this field, she had a responsibility to act. She studied the city and the catacombs for a long while and knew that the sudden appearance of the loud boom had something to do with the catacombs for sure.

For Wang Baole, when the loud boom sounded, he swiftly emerged from seclusion, activating the array formation and using his authority to inspect every single zone.

In the city, including the areas that had yet to be constructed, everything, be it Li Yi’s catacombs or the Divine Armament Catacombs, appeared normal. However, in the wilderness not far away from the city, new catacombs had appeared.

Within a short period of time, following Li Yi’s catacombs, new catacombs appeared. This meant that the ripples inside the Divine Armament Catacombs had entered an active state. That matched the analysis of the Martian Colony Governor, but Wang Baole still felt immense pressure because of it.

He knew very well that once the catacombs appeared, he needed to seal it within the shortest time possible. Even though it was outside the city, and wasn’t as easy to suppress compared to if it were within the city, the purpose of constructing the new city was to equip the Divine Armament Catacombs with more cultivators. Therefore, with Wang Baole’s command, the cultivators and Core Formation realm elites from the six zones were activated and gathered at the location of the new catacombs in order to suppress it in unison.

With the participation from the various factions, the number of Core Formation realm cultivators in Divine Armament New City also swelled in number. Wang Baole’s orders were sent throughout the city, and Jin Duoming, Kong Dao, as well as others like Li Wan’er continued to pass it down. Soon, a large number of cultivators emerged from the city, charging towards the location of the new catacombs at high speed.

Very quickly, everyone who arrived heaved a slight breath of relief when they saw the new catacombs. The size was clearly smaller than that during the incident involving Li Yi. Now, even though a large number of ferocious beasts and corpses were emerging while roaring, it wasn’t difficult to suppress them. However, since his arrival, Wang Baole began frowning as he looked around, inevitably growing solemn.

Kong Dao, Jin Duoming, Lin Tianhao, as well as others from the great Dao Colleges had all gathered here… However, only a handful of cultivators from the zones belonging to Chen Mu, Wen Huai, and Fang Jing had gathered. In addition, the Core Formation realm cultivators, as well as the three autonomous mayors, didn’t show up at all!