A World Worth Protecting

The sixth hit sounded. The vibrating energy that had accumulated within Wang Baole’s body had reached an unimaginable peak. He spat out a large mouthful of blood.

The blood was black and seemed to contain the toxins that had been in his body. Wang Baole’s body felt like jelly after he spat out blood. The dark spots grew in his vision.

Am I hitting the drum to the point of blacking out… Wang Baole’s head buzzed; consciousness seemed to be slipping from his grasp. As that thought flashed across his mind, and his legs lost all strength; he fell, kneeling, with a soft thud. It seemed as if he was about to pass out. It was then that he thought he heard the crackling sound of something shattering inside him.

A strong Spirit Qi burst out and surged through his body the instant he heard the sound. As the external vibrations persisted, the Spirit Qi fused with Wang Baole’s meridians. His cultivation level shot up drastically in an instant!

The leveling of his cultivation was like a shot of confidence. He shook himself and regained clarity of mind. That was when he realized that the crystal inside his body had absorbed the vibrating energies. Fractures appeared on the crystal, and Spirit Qi escaped from within without stop. Within the span of a few breaths, his cultivation level leaped from the lowest, third level of the True Breath realm in a giant bound.

Such a move exists! Wang Baole’s breath quickened as he was caught by surprise. The surrounding crowd was in an uproar.

“This Wang Baole is too relentless. He hit the drum until he threw up blood!”

“Six hits—that has never happened before. But why do I feel that Wang Baole’s body seemed very unnatural during the last two hits…”

“His eyes were shut, and he almost fell to his knees. What do I feel as if he passed out?”  ( AllNovel )

The heated discussions persisted. With the discovery of Wang Baole’s considerable advancement in cultivation level, the debate grew fiercer and more heated, like an uprising storm.

“My god!”

“His cultivation improved? The energy he is giving out isn’t right!”

“I can feel it—compared to just before, this Wang Baole’s cultivation level is higher now!”

Sounds of discussion, argument, and shock rose and sank. The breathing of Lin Tianhao, the Pavilion Head, and his deputies quickened. As for Wang Baole, the sparkle in his eyes grew brighter. He stood and could feel the leap in his cultivation. His eyes shone fiercely.

In my whole life, I, Wang Baole, have never hated anything more than cheating. I am counting on my skills to sound the drum… Wang Baole was inwardly pleased and mused to himself. Five hits could bring forth the Grand Elder; who knew who six hits could call forward. He had to play it safe. Wang Baole sucked in a deep breath. The devouring seed inside him burst into action, controlling his body and raising the drum stick yet again, hitting it against the Elder Request Drum!

The seventh time!

Boom! Nothing seemed to happen after that.

Seems like that’s not enough… Wang Baole’s body, both inside and out, was trembling at that moment. The vibrations were, however, absorbed by the crystal. He remained uncertain and worried, so he hit the drum again!

The eighth time!

This should be enough, right? If I continue, I think my cultivation might breakthrough… Wang Baole felt the increasing number of fractures in his crystal. He thought for a bit, and his eyes shone with anticipation. Without further thought on whom he might be calling forward, he hit the drum again.

The ninth time!

The tenth time!

The sounds of the drum being hit resounded. Everyone in the crowd watched, dazed. There were no longer any sounds of discussion. At the moment, the entire square watched on in shock; be it Lin Tianhao, the few Deputy Pavilion Heads, or the Pavilion Head—all were flabbergasted. White noise buzzed in their heads.

The number of times Wang Baole had sounded the drum was unprecedented. The last few hits, especially, were done in one go. His body did look weird and had a strangeness to it. Nevertheless, the sounds of the drum being hit resounded clearly through the air.

What’s more… it didn’t end there!

The eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth times…

As everyone remained in shock, Wang Baole hit the drum for the seventeenth time. He could still persist, but the drum stick couldn’t take it anymore. It shattered.

The scene sent many in the dazed crowd murmuring.

“It shattered? Even the drum stick shattered?”

“This Wang Baole, could he be some monster in disguise…”

As the crowd remained in a daze, something mind-blowing happened again. As the drum stick shattered, Wang Baole could feel the extensive fracturing on the outer layer of the crystal inside him. A huge wave of Spirit Qi burst forth and filled his entire body. His cultivation broke through in an instant as the Spirit Qi made its way through his body, shooting straight from the third level of the True Breath realm… into the fourth level!

“What the—his cultivation broke through!”

“How is that possible!”

“I could care less about Wang Baole’s breakthrough. What I really want to know is who the—boom boom boom—seventeen deafening hits will call forward! An alien?”

The crowd gradually recovered from their shock. In an instant, the prior silence was broken. A huge uproar exploded, and voices rose like waves into the air. Lin Tianhao’s face had turned an extreme shade of white. His vision went black, and it took all he had to not collapse to the ground.

The Pavilion Head and his deputies struggled, slightly, to breathe. Especially the Pavilion Head. It was as if he had seen a ghost as he stared at Wang Baole, dumbstruck. Even in his wildest dreams, he could never have imagined the extreme ends that Wang Baole would go to…

If he could have predicted that would happen, the thought of putting Wang Baole in his rightful place would never have crossed his mind.

“Seventeen times… who will be invited forward?” There was a bitter taste in the Pavilion Head’s mouth. He muttered in a daze, uneasily.

As the crowd burst out in gasps of shock, Wang Baole stared at the shattered drum stick regretfully. He could feel the crystal in his body had not disappeared completely. What had shattered was only its outermost layer. The crystal looked as if it had shrunk one size, from the size of a chicken’s egg to that a quail’s…

I hit seventeen times… this should call forward someone super important… Wang Baole blinked. He watched as the crowd slowly recover from their shocked daze. The anticipation on their faces seemed greater than his own. He also saw Lin Tianhao and the Pavilion Head, who looked as if they had seen a ghost. He grew pleased; his heart brimmed with satisfaction. At the same time, he was also filled with curiosity.

It was then that suddenly, in the skies above the Dharmic Armament Pavilion, the clouds rolled and boiled over. An overwhelming aura descended from the heavens in a blink of an eye.

The aura was intensely strong and shadowed the entire Upper Academy Island. Even though it didn’t reach the extremes of transforming the heavens, it still stirred the entire island. The disciples across all the pavilions were all shaken to the core and lifted their heads to look up.

The crowd at Dharmic Armament Pavilion’s Middle Peak, especially, sucked in their breath; their eyes honed in instantly at the skies above. Lin Tianhao couldn’t help but raise his head as well—he looked lost.

Some in the crowd, like Chen Yutong, had their own guesses. They breathed nervously, their eyes filled with incredulity. Like the Deputy Pavilion Heads, they seemed to have come to some conclusion as they raised their heads. They trembled.

The Pavilion Head clearly knew the identity of the person who had arrived. He was having mixed feelings about it; emotions churned within him, and his face grew pale rapidly. The clouds in the sky gathered instantaneously and, amidst the stunned gasps of the entire Upper Academy Island, formed some semblance of a gigantic face!

The face stretched across half the sky. It conveyed a sense of vastness while exuding an imposing aura, and everyone who caught sight of it was overwhelmed with emotions.

As if surveying the vast lands before it, the giant face turned its eyes towards the Dharmic Armament Pavilion, towards Middle Peak, and towards… Wang Baole!

“Greetings to the Grand Supreme Elder!” The Pavilion Head and his deputies quaked in their boots as they greeted the Grand Supreme Elder with due respect. Chen Yutong and the others struggled to find their composure and presented their greetings as well.

Their voices entered the disciples around them. The look on the disciples, who had only heard of but never seen the Grand Supreme Elder, changed immediately. They extended their greetings with awe and fervor.

Beyond the Dharmic Armament Pavilion, in the other pavilions on the Upper Academy Island, waves of greetings spread out suddenly like an aural tsunami, to the four corners of the island.

Quite a few figures appeared on the Sky Path Island as well. They gazed at the Upper Academy Island. Amongst them was the red-robed Deputy Sect Lord. Standing beside him was someone of his age, who wore a white tunic and had an ethereal air to him. There was a faint smile on his face.

From how the two stood, the middle-aged man in the white tunic was obviously of a higher status.

“Is it that Wang Baole again? He must be hiding some good fortunes. That drop of Spirit Blood must be why he could sound the drum so many times and call forward the Grand Supreme Elder,” the middle-aged man in the white tunic said laughingly. Beside him, the red-robed Deputy Sect Lord nodded. He smiled as well and spoke.

“Sect Lord’s judgment is likely correct. This little fatty is interesting. I quite like him.”

The middle-aged man in a white tunic turned out to be the Sect Lord of the Ethereal Dao College. While the two chatted happily, in the Dharmic Armament Pavilion, Wang Baole’s eyes widened as he looked heavenward. He was overwhelmed with awe.

The face in the sky made him feel as if he had come face to face with an imposing, heavenly presence. He was awed and impressed by the kind of spell it would take to form one’s face in the sky, and filled with envy in equal measure.

At the same time, he also felt a sense of uneasiness. He recalled how he had taught the Grand Supreme Elder’s disciple a lesson in the past. As anxiety churned inside him, he took a deep breath and bit the bullet, stepping forward and cupping his fists in greeting. “Your humble disciple greets the Grand Supreme Elder!”

“This is the Baole Cannon that your humble disciple has designed and invented. I drew inspiration from the strongholds’ Fire God Cannon. The Dharmic Armament Pavilion’s Pavilion Head didn’t recognize this Numinous Treasure and even hinted that it’s trash. Your humble disciple doesn’t accept the evaluation…”

“I humbly request that the Grand Supreme Elder examine and assess my cannon personally!” Wang Baole pointed at the Baole Cannon and, without mincing his words, said quickly in a loud voice. After he was done speaking, he cupped his fists once again and bowed deeply!

Regardless of any anxieties he was feeling, to the vengeful Wang Baole, when the right time came, revenge must be served. It was the moment for revenge!

The Pavilion Head of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion almost cursed at Wang Baole’s words. When had he ever said that the cannon was trash? Wang Baole was lying with a straight face. He was misrepresenting him!

He was extremely unsettled, beyond anxious, by Wang Baole’s protest. As he was about to bite the bullet and offer an explanation, the face in the sky suddenly sent a sharp look sweeping across the crowd. The words stuck in the Pavilion Head’s throat. The sweeping gaze eventually stopped and rested upon the Baole Cannon that Wang Baole had refined.

A sudden silence fell across the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. Everyone held their breaths and watched on in awe. Amidst the Pavilion Head’s and the Deputy Pavilion Heads’ anxiety and uneasiness, amidst Lin Tianhao’s paling face…

The eyes in the heavens seemed to see through the Baole Cannon, and clearly perceived the cannon’s inner structure and its inscriptions. They lit up and seemed to show surprise. After eyeing the cannon and studying it more carefully, the face redrew its gaze from the cannon. A voice, carrying with it the weight of great authority, boomed across the entire Upper Academy Island.

“Excellent work!”