A World Worth Protecting

How envious I am of the Holy Crest Sect, to be able to come across someone as intelligent and amazing as I am! Wang Baole coughed. He left the team with a sense of superiority unfurling within him and headed for the interior of the battleship as the Nascent Soul realm elder had instructed.

The repairs of the battleship were divided into two parts—exterior and interior. The battleship’s exterior required quite extensive repairs, but the level of expertise necessary wasn’t especially high. The repairs of the battleship’s interior was a different matter. Security was more stringent as well. Wang Baole had to go through five array formations before he was let in.

After he had passed all the inspections, he was teleported directly into the battleship. Wang Baole saw the cultivator who was to be his guide.

He was a middle-aged man who appeared to be at the early-stage Core Formation realm. He immediately stepped forward and cupped his fists in greeting when he saw Wang Baole.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Long Nanzi. Many parts of the battleship’s interior are still damaged. It can be dangerous walking around if one isn’t aware of the parts of the battleship that are still under repair. That’s why I’ve been told to wait here for your arrival and to lead you to Team Seven!”

Long Nanzi was considered a disciple with relatively high status in the Holy Crest Sect. Even though he hadn’t reached a breakthrough in cultivation for many years, he was still at the perfected Core Formation realm. Despite his lack of talent in refining armaments, he still garnered some degree of respect from other disciples.

Wang Baole responded to the other cultivator’s courteous manner with a smile. Due to Long Nanzi’s naturally thin lips, his smile appeared cold and slightly unfriendly. It made the middle-aged cultivator feel slightly uncomfortable. He cautiously led Wang Baole to their destination and did his best to answer Wang Baole’s questions.

The answers Wang Baole got from the cultivator gave him a greater understanding of Team Seven. There were forty-one teams working on the battleship, and the repair work was divided up clearly amongst the teams. However, due to the lack of manpower, each team also had to handle other repair work that fell beyond their scope of duties.

These teams were overseen by nine teams. The latter supervised the teams under their purview while taking care of more advanced and important repairs. The team that he was going to join, Team Seven, was responsible for the battleship’s defense system.

Their scope of work required a higher level of proficiency in armament refinement. There were nineteen members in the team. Instead of working together like the groups repairing the battleship’s exterior, every disciple in Team Seven had their own work station where they completed their tasks independently.

Besides the daily tasks assigned to them, these disciples could also check the list of outstanding repairs during their spare time and perform whatever repairs or refinements were required.

To increase efficiency and autonomy, the Holy Crest Sect would give out credits for work done that could then be exchanged for materials required for cultivation. This proved to be an incentive in such times when resources were scarce.

As they journeyed through the battleship, Wang Baole took note of the interior of the battleship. Inside the vast space were numerous Dharmic Artifacts that formed part of the battleship’s structure. In addition, there were also some living organisms that had fused together with the walls of the battleship.

Interesting. Wang Baole’s eyes narrowed. The literature he had read hadn’t spoken about fusion spells that could fuse living organisms with Dharmic Artifacts. His own experience told him instantly that such fusions could greatly enhance the battleship’s capabilities. His interest towards the Divine Eye civilization’s Dharmic Armament system intensified.

The middle-aged man led Wang Baole through the battleship. It took an hour for them to reach the sector where Team Seven was located.

The sector resembled a bee’s hive, with dozens of small rooms clustered together. The open square that surrounded the rooms was cluttered with piles of damaged components and materials. A young cultivator stood in the square, barking out orders to the other cultivators. They recorded each material in their possession and sent them into the rooms.

“Send this Third-Belt Compass to Senior Brother Chen Luo.

“Tell Junior Brother Li Fang that the Roy Pearl he just repaired isn’t up to standard. If he doesn’t fix it, he can get out of Team Seven!

“There’s still use for this Void Piercing Awl. Send it to Liu Mingfei. He has a day to extract the Void Piercing Stones inside. I want at least seventy percent of the stones out!”

The young cultivator was at the late-stage Core Formation realm. He seemed to be a master at refining armaments. He only needed a single glance at the materials or artifacts in order to identify the problem with the item. He was curt, and his words filled with impatience.

He threw a Dharmic Artifact over to another cultivator and instructed the latter on what to do with it. It was then that he noticed Wang Baole’s arrival. He lifted his head, frowning slightly as his eyes fell on Wang Baole.

“Greetings to Senior Brother Li Chen!” The moment the young man’s eyes fell on them, the middle-aged cultivator next to Wang Baole trembled and stepped forward. He cupped his fists and gave Li Chen a deep bow. His attitude towards Li Chen was more respectful and deferential than what he had displayed towards Wang Baole.

Wang Baole finally recognized who stood before him. Long Nanzi’s memories pinned him as the disciple under the fifth elder’s personal guidance. He was gifted at armament refinement and considered a prodigy in the Holy Crest Sect. Their social circles didn’t intersect with one another, generally. Now that Wang Baole had seen Li Chen, he couldn’t help the sudden idea that popped up in his head. He assessed the feasibility of transforming into this person.

Now wasn’t the right time to strike, but the gears in Wang Baole’s head spun furiously. He decided to set this idea aside for the moment.

Just as Wang Baole shelved his idea of killing the young man, the latter, who had no idea he had just escaped death, waved his arm. He didn’t spare a glance at the middle-aged cultivator who had greeted him. Instead, he glared at Wang Baole impatiently, then said angrily, “You’re late, Long Nanzi! Every second is precious as we work to repair the battleship. Don’t repeat this mistake!”

“I’ll hand this Spirit Illusory Ore to you. Go and find a station that’s unoccupied. You have twenty-four hours to distill Spirit Illusory Liquid from the ore. There shouldn’t be more than twenty percent wastage!”

The young man waved his hand and flung a stone at Wang Baole. It was the size of one’s fist and gave off a purple glow. Li Chen ignored Wang Baole after that and continued to attend to other materials and their treatment. Long Nanzi was of little significance to him. There wasn’t a need for him to spend too much time talking to someone like that. If Long Nanzi couldn’t complete the task given to him, he’d just have to pack up and leave.

“Hmm?” Wang Baole raised one eyebrow as he caught the Spirit Illusory Ore. It was an ore unique to the Divine Eye civilization. He had read about it in the records before. With certain special treatments, the ore could be melted down into a spirit liquid called Spirit Illusory Liquid. The liquid was generally used to increase the success rate of refinements.

However, wastage would inevitably occur during the process of melting down the ore. The acceptable range of wastage was fifty percent and below. Twenty percent was… going to be a challenge.

Is he trying to put me in my place? Wang Baole glanced at the youth, then laughed suddenly. He had never been the sort of person to take things lying down. Besides, he was in his avatar form now with his true form safely hidden in the coffin. If things went south, he could take on another identity immediately. He wasn’t planning to cause trouble if no one caused trouble for him, but should someone offend him, Wang Baole wasn’t going to simply let them go. He didn’t care who it was, even if it were the Grand Supreme Elder of the Holy Crest Sect.

Wang Baole flipped the hand that was holding the Spirit Illusory Ore, and a blue flame flared inside his palm and enveloped the ore. The technique to melt down the ore appeared in Wang Baole’s head. Even though this was his first time doing it, his talent and solid foundation in armament refinement allowed him to master the technique almost instantly. The fire in his palm grew increasingly hotter, and its color began to change rapidly.

The sight caught everyone’s attention. Unhappiness flashed across Li Chen’s eyes, and he turned around, his eyes cold. However, the look on his face soon shifted to shock.

“Spirit Illusory Ore can be melted down by alchemical fire. Between each count, the fire will undergo six hundred and ninety-six cycles and change colors two hundred and thirty-three times. By ensuring that the rate of burning is apace with one’s breathing, we can introduce Spirit Qi and further nourishment to the melting process, ensuring a successful distillation. During the process, we’ll have to watch out for any inscriptions that may appear as cracks on the ore and adjust the heat accordingly. Even though zero wastage cannot be achieved, theoretically speaking, we can reduce wastage to something approaching zero!” Wang Baole explained coolly as he refined the ore.

“Of course, that is beyond my humble means. What I can do is… to reduce wastage to ten percent!” Wang Baole continued casually. Everyone around him, including the middle-aged cultivator, watched with astonishment as he waved his right hand and extinguished the flames. A ball of liquid exuding a strange purple light appeared above his palm!

It was a purple, clear liquid that sparkled like treasure. Everyone was drawn to it subconsciously. This was… Spirit Illusory Liquid!

“My god, this is… supreme-grade Spirit Illusory Liquid!” The middle-aged cultivator standing next to Wang Baole gasped. Shock descended upon the public square.