A World Worth Protecting

A voice transmission ring typically didn’t have any sound notifications enabled as it was activated by the Spirit Qi in one’s body. Though, if the need arose, it was equipped with vibration as well as sound notification capabilities.

Wang Baole had been playing around with those functionalities earlier, to allow the voice transmission ring to give sound notifications. The notification from the voice transmission ring resounded in the air now. Wang Baole coughed, and he waited for a few moments before connecting to the transmission. His eyes didn’t leave Li Wuchen all the while.

As soon as the transmission connected, a voice that sounded similar to that of the man with the Xu family name rang out from the voice transmission ring…

“Is this Mister Wang? A good day to you! I’m the person in charge of running the Battle-axe Hotel under your name. My name is Xu Zhenjing, but you can simply call me Little Xu…”

As the voice from the voice transmission ring traveled, Xu Zhenjing, who had been sitting at one side of the room speaking into his voice transmission ring, heard his own voice from Wang Baole’s voice transmission ring and froze. He lifted his head and stared confusedly at Wang Baole, who was sitting a short distance away from them on the couch.

He wasn’t the only one who was stunned. Li Wuchen’s eyes almost popped out of his head. He looked as if he was in a daze.

Wang Baole was quietly pleased with the pair’s expressions. He coughed then lowered his head, speaking into the voice transmission ring.

“Yes, it’s me, Little Xu. I’m quite busy here. What do you want?”

Xu Zhenjing sucked in a breath of cold air. He looked at the voice transmission ring and then at Wang Baole. He finally came to his senses after a long while and hurried over with the intention of extending a greeting, but the other party seemed to be fixated on his voice transmission ring…

He tried to recall if he had offended the other earlier, then realized he had focused on attending to Li Wuchen and given his new boss the cold shoulder. He shuddered inwardly. He could cry.

Why didn’t the boss give a heads up before he came…

Fraught with uncertainty, he hesitated before continuing to speak politely into the voice transmission ring. He communicated Li Wuchen’s request hastily, then raised his head and stared nervously at Wang Baole.

Li Wuchen remained lost. He seemed to be caught in disbelief at the scene unfolding before him. It was beyond his wildest imagination, and he found it difficult to accept the reality so readily. He could only stare, dazedly, as Wang Baole and the person with the last name Xu carried out their conversation over their voice transmission rings despite sitting only a few yards away from one another.

Wang Baole was feeling extremely pleased with himself. He stared at the confused Li Wuchen then replied into his voice transmission ring coolly.

“Of course not. The battle-axe represents the hotel’s image. How can we just change it?

“I want you to quickly build another three identical battle-axe sculptures. I want them all lined in front of the hotel entrance, and the axes have to face the Fire Spirit Academy!”

As soon as Wang Baole said that, Xu Zhenjing sucked in a breath of cold air. He dared not say a single word and hurriedly and very loudly agreed to do as Wang Baole ordered. Li Wuchen, who was sitting beside Xu Zhenjing, exploded. The veins on his forehead pulsated furiously, and he could hear a loud roar in his head. There was red in his eyes as he yelled furiously.

“Wang Baole, how dare you!”

What Wang Baole was doing was simply too much. A single battle-axe was enough to axe the vice dean, much less four axes. Li Wuchen was furious. He could sense the gathering of dark storm clouds above his head, and a strong impending sense of danger loomed, making his whole body shudder.

Wang Baole remained unfazed as Li Wuchen yelled at him, continuing to speak casually into his voice transmission ring.

“Did I hear someone at your end yelling my name? Let’s not stop at three axes then, make it ten instead! Every time someone over at your end yells my name, add another ten axes!”

“Oh, if the vice dean of the Fire Spirit Academy isn’t happy with my decision, ask him to come look for me. I’m sure we can work things out as long as the price is right. Alright, I still have other matters to attend to, so that’s all for now.” Wang Baole ended the transmission. He stood up from the couch and stretched his limbs before looking around with a pleased look on his face.

This hotel’s not bad at all. He sighed, pleased. Then, with great satisfaction, and under the scorching glare of Li Wuchen, he turned and headed towards the hotel entrance.

A thought suddenly hit Xu Zhenjing. He ignored Li Wuchen and rushed over to Wang Baole. As if trying to salvage the situation, he nodded and bowed furiously as he saw Wang Baole off.

Li Wuchen clenched his fists. The veins in his eyes were blood red. He swallowed his fury after a long, difficult moment. Then, clenching his teeth, he charged out of the hotel. He glared at the enormous battle-axe, his breathing rapid.

Wang Baole, you want me to lower my head and negotiate with you? In your dreams! Li Wuchen snorted and left.

At present, Wang Baole was in his cruiser speeding towards the Dao Mountain Mist Academy, extremely pleased with himself. The Battle-axe Hotel was a great asset. The murderous air exuding from the battle-axe was something that surprised and delighted Wang Baole. He thought of how Li Wuchen had viewed him with disdain initially and how his look of condescension had morphed into one of rage. It cheered him up immensely.

Baldy Chen, you dare to fight with me? If you had lowered your head and submitted yourself before me, seeing how we come from the same college, I wouldn’t have made trouble for you. But you choose to be stubborn. You can’t blame me for what happens next! Wang Baole snorted. He returned to the academy in a good mood and began his enhancements of his Numinous Treasures.

Three days passed in a blur. In an attempt to prove himself, Xu Zhenjing personally supervised the production of the new axes. Ten spanking new battle-axes soon arrived, and all eleven enormous battle-axes were lined outside the hotel, radiating violence and ill intent. Their blades were brandished at the Fire Spirit Academy, and everyone in the academy was taken aback.

“My god, the Battle-axe Hotel owner has gone mad…”

“One battle-axe would have ended the vice dean’s career. With eleven axes now, I think the vice dean’s going to be slaughtered…”

“Does the owner of the hotel have some grudge against Dean Li?”

The commotion wasn’t only stirred in Fire Spirit Academy. The few neighboring zones heard of what happened as well and were stunned. Many came to take a look, the crowd endless, and the Battle-axe Hotel saw a spike in business.

Many students from the Dao Mountain Mist Academy, the Fire Spirit Academy’s competitor, also heard about this. They started discussing the matter furiously. All of them were excited about what was going on and couldn’t stop talking about it.

The youth from the Trilunaris Corporation who had sold the hotel to Wang Baole was shocked. The hotel had been a recent gift from his father, so the administrative matters hadn’t been managed by him. He had heard of the urban legend, but as a student, he hadn’t paid it much attention. This was until he transferred ownership of the hotel and heard that Wang Baole had gotten someone to build ten more battle-axes. He suddenly realized how brave and extraordinary Wang Baole was.

“I heard it’s because he holds a grudge against Dean Li of the Fire Spirit Academy…”

“He’s trying to push him over the edge.”

Wang Baole’s Dharmic Armament classes continued as excited discussions carried on amongst the student body. He was due to have the second lesson with his first class. When he arrived at the classroom, the students clearly looked more attentive.

Their attention wasn’t on the knowledge Wang Baole was imparting though; they were simply drawn towards Wang Baole as a person of extreme interest.

There was another reason for their interest… the puppet that the youth from the Trilunaris Corporation had gotten had gained extreme fame throughout the campus during the past few days. It was largely due to the youth’s love for bragging. No matter where he went, he would bring along the beautiful and well-endowed female puppet. The puppet was also extremely useful. It not only helped him with note taking, but it could also help him do his homework.

It was like a real person. It massaged his shoulders and back, and it followed him around and protected him; it took care of his every need.

The other students were green with envy. They longed to have one of their own. The starting price for the puppet was too high, however. They couldn’t afford it despite how much they wanted one…

The youth from the Trilunaris Corporation who had gotten the puppet for the price of a hotel was extremely pleased. He felt that he had handled the matter extremely well and had been very clever.

Humph, everyone says I’m a prodigal son. They don’t know I intentionally exchanged the puppet with a hotel and jacked up the price of the puppet. This means other people won’t be able to afford it as easily. It’ll make my puppet a limited edition, one that I can get it off my hands anytime because there’ll be plenty of buyers. I believe Wang Baole would keep the price high as well and won’t sell his puppets for cheap.

And that was indeed the case. After having gained a hotel for a puppet, Wang Baole naturally wouldn’t sell his puppets at a lower price, nor did he have the chance to do so. A few other prodigal sons of the Trilunaris Corporation and the Five Generation Sky Clan approached him. Fiercely competitive and not lacking in money, they offered similar terms of exchange. Wang Baole managed to sell a few more puppets and soon had two hotels and three stores under his name on Mars…

He was completely blown away by the extent of their wealth.

The minds of rich people are beyond my comprehension. To think of the puppets I had wasted in the past. They’re all money! But I’m here to govern, not to accumulate wealth… if I continue doing this, will the Colony Disciplinary Order come knocking on my door…