A World Worth Protecting

As he looked at Xie Haiyang—who had solemnly pledged his help—Wang Baole sighed, lowered his head, and rubbed his belly, his expression troubled.

“Why didn’t it work this time?” His previous few experiences had given him confidence, but today, he had been beaten black and blue by reality. He felt immense pressure when he thought of his future path to losing weight.

Disheartened, he sat on the veranda of the cave abode and looked at the blue sky. Vaguely, he seemed to see the silhouettes of many Fatso Forefathers, causing his mood to darken. He could only take out that handsome picture of himself and space out.

“Don’t tell me Heaven is jealous of my talent. Heaven is unwilling to let such a handsome person exist, so it strikes me down and blocks my path to losing weight!” The more Wang Baole thought about his situation, the sadder and angrier he felt. Finally, he gritted his teeth and took out a bag of snacks; however, after looking at the bag, he paused and threw it aside.

“I’ll bear with it!” Angrily, Wang Baole resisted the urge to look at the snacks and waited for Xie Haiyang to return. This continued for three days until… Xie Haiyang returned.

The moment saw Xie Haiyang, Wang Baole grew excited.

“Brother Xie, have you thought of a plan?”

Xie Haiyang walked into Wang Baole’s cave abode and rubbed his gelled hair with a lofty expression. He coughed after hearing Wang Baole’s words.

“Your problem is too simple. It’s just losing weight; even though the Death Pills didn’t work, I am an expert in losing weight. The moment I get into action, you will definitely succeed!”

Hearing the confidence in Xie Haiyang’s words, Wang Baole’s eyes lit up. He quickly made Xie Haiyang sit, offered him Ice Spirit Water, and looked at him eagerly.

“Brother Xie, as long as I can lose weight, whether it’s Spirit Stones or anything, I can negotiate!”

Xie Haiyang drank his Ice Spirit Water and spoke softly.

“Let me tell you, in Ethereal Dao College, there is a Dharmic artifact. This Dharmic artifact is priceless, extremely valuable; I can help you get it and lend it to you for seven days! I guarantee that once you use this Dharmic artifact, you will definitely slim down in seven days!” Xie Haiyang’s voice was extremely low, and it had a mysterious quality. Wang Baole’s eyes lit up after listening, and he moved his head closer.

“What Dharmic artifact? How effective?” As the double Head Prefect of the Dharmic Armament faculty, Wang Baole was very sensitive to the words ‘Dharmic artifact’. When he heard Xie Haiyang talk about this artifact, he could not help but be curious.

“Legend has it that a thousand years ago, there was an ancient slimming method called the Brain Tricking Technique. To put it simply, it tricks your brain. For example, when it comes to exercise, you trick your brain into thinking that you have already exercised for a long time, and so it will quickly replace the old with the new, drawing the energy from your body and thus losing weight.” As Xie Haiyang spoke, he felt very smug. He felt that this plan was extremely appropriate for losing weight.

“The priceless Dharmic artifact that I am speaking of was refined using this principle. It’s not too much to call it a banned artifact. After you use this, you will definitely lose weight!”

Hearing this, Wang Baole’s eyes shone as he was filled with hope.

“To think there’s such a Dharmic artifact… You are a genius. Did you bring this Dharmic artifact?”

“If this Dharmic artifact was easy to borrow, it wouldn’t be so valuable. This treasure’s owner is not someone from the Lower Academy Island; it belongs to some prominent figure at the True Breath realm on the Upper Academy Island!” Xie Haiyang coughed and pointed out the owner’s cultivation level so as to highlight his own ability at dealing with powerful people.

“Upper Academy Island?” Wang Baole’s eyes widened. Ethereal Dao College’s Upper Academy Island was where countless students dreamed of entering. Furthermore, to enter the Upper Academy Island, one had to pass an extremely competitive exam. They were not mere mortals but cultivators!

“This person’s identity is confidential. I can’t tell you who, and the person is also unwilling to let too many people know that he possesses this banned artifact. Under normal circumstances, this person wouldn’t have lent this out.

“However, in Ethereal Dao College, there is nothing I, Xie Haiyang, cannot do. As long as I cater to their desires, this person is very reasonable. If you want to borrow this Dharmic artifact, you need to refine some puppet Dharmic artifacts to exchange so that it will be easier for me, as this person likes to collect different kinds of puppet Dharmic artifacts.” When Xie Haiyang spoke of the puppet Dharmic artifacts, he paused and looked at Wang Baole.

“Puppet Dharmic artifact?” Wang Baole hesitated. These kinds of Dharmic artifacts were rather unorthodox in the study of Spirit Kernels. They were split into defensive puppets and offensive puppets, and there were very few formulations. Furthermore, one needed to have an alarming mastery of Spirit Kernel and Inscriptions to refine a puppet. Broadly speaking, to find someone who could refine these puppets in the Lower Academy Island Dharmic Armament faculty was very rare.

“These kinds of Dharmic artifacts are difficult to refine. Furthermore, I have only refined Spirit Kernels at the moment, and I don’t have the materials and formulations.” Wang Baole wrinkled his brow, feeling that this task was a little difficult.

“I have the materials. Whatever you need, just tell me!” Xie Haiyang’s eyes were bright, and he smiled as he spoke.

“I haven’t finished. The other party has a hobby of collecting puppets: he doesn’t want animal puppets, only human puppets, and they have to be huge, fierce, and vicious! You also know that in the wilderness beyond the city lake, wild beasts run rampant; when we go out, having a few burly protective dolls will make it safer.”

After explaining the situation, Xie Haiyang arranged a time to collect the goods and then left.

In the cave abode, Wang Baole sat with uncertainty written all over his face. He had a sneaking suspicion that something was amiss. However, if he wanted to lose weight, he could only use the other party’s Dharmic artifact. Thus, he needed to refine puppet Dharmic artifacts.

Let’s refine!

For these kinds of Spirit Kernels that he had never refined before, Wang Baole researched first before deducing the Inscriptions. When he had the results and the confidence, he would finally begin carving Inscriptions.

The offensive puppet is too difficult. There is no point in making it. I should focus on the defensive type instead. Since it is defensive… then it has to be sturdy, so I need to add at least thirty Inscriptions to strengthen its defenses.

It’s not enough for it to be sturdy. Because it is human-shaped, it needs to be pliable! At the same time, it has to be able to make alerts. Even if it can’t speak, it needs to emit sound…

Furthermore, it cannot be obvious that it is a puppet. That is very important, too, so that it has the element of surprise. It will also be important in the modeling aspect. Anyway, puppets are the highest level. Once refined, it will be a true Dharmic artifact that is almost no different from a real human!

When Wang Baole started, he did not pay much attention. But after carving Inscriptions, the refinement of Spirit Kernel for the puppet became too difficult, so he placed all his effort into refining. With this deep thinking and deduction, he gradually perfected the puppet.

Just so he could make it perfect, Wang Baole decided to use Rainbow Spirit Stones as the core, arrange other superior-grade Spirit Stones around them, then meld them all together. Finally, after several days, when he had refined the Spirit Kernels, Wang Baole saw that he had used forty or so Spirit Stones. Only after going through many calculations to achieve the arrangement of Inscriptions could he find the framework of the human-shaped Spirit Kernel. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his gaze showed a hint of regret.

It’s too bad that time is short and that this is my first time. If not, I should have been able to make an even better one!

Wang Baole shook his head and sent a voice transmission to Xie Haiyang to ask him to purchase forging materials.

These materials were not valuable but regular materials that Wang Baole found according to his own refinement of Spirit Kernel Inscriptions. He had learned most of them from the jade slip that the Dharmic Armament Pavilion Elder had given him.

I must be the first one to refine with fusing materials… Wang Baole sighed. He felt that this task of losing weight was too difficult this time. If the Dharmic artifact was not effective, he was definitely going to make Xie Haiyang compensate his losses from refining the puppets.

With this thought, he took the Spirit Kernel and materials and left the cave abode, charging at full speed till he reached the Spirit Cauldron Cave at the Dharmic Armament faculty. This Spirit Cauldron Cave was similar to Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber, except the temperature was different. The main point of the Spirit Cauldron Cave was to allow Spirit Kernel students to increase their familiarity with refining Dharmic artifacts.

There were many rooms within, all filled with heated Spirit Cauldrons and simple molds. People could borrow these instruments to melt materials and then simply fuse them with Spirit Kernels to make basic Dharmic artifacts.

Because only Spirit Kernel students could attempt to refine simple Dharmic artifacts, there were few people on normal days. As Head Prefect, Wang Baole could naturally enter as he pleased.

When he arrived, he chose one room and began familiarizing himself with it before starting his first refinement.

The content of Materials study was very complicated. Even with the jade slip from the Dharmic Armament Pavilion Elder, Wang Baole went through great difficulty, wasting many materials in the process. The good thing was that his Spirit Kernels were sturdy, so he did not break many. After countless experiments and repairs, Wang Baole finally emerged after a while with dark circles under his eyes, and he had even gotten thinner. He had lost much of his energy and strength during those few days.

When he returned to the cave abode, Wang Baole sent a voice transmission to Xie Haiyang. As he waited for Xie Haiyang to arrive, Wang Baole drank several bottles of Ice Spirit Water to wake his brain up.

This artifact refinement is too difficult. Thinking back on the process, Wang Baole felt that he had truly expended excessive capital in this attempt to lose weight.

Very soon, Xie Haiyang arrived. The moment he entered the cave abode, Wang Baole raised his right hand before he could speak. In that instant, his storage bracelet flashed, and what must have been a two-meter-tall human-shaped puppet appeared in front of Xie Haiyang with a bang.

This puppet looked very burly, and it even exuded an aura of savagery. This was especially so since its whole body was covered in hair, giving off a ferocious impression.

Although it was not especially realistic, if one did not look carefully, it did not seem too different from a real person.

“Whether he is satisfied or not, the puppet possesses the characteristics of being big, mighty, and ferocious!” Wang Baole rubbed the area between his eyebrows tiredly. His gaze swept across the puppet that he had refined; although he was not very satisfied, it was passable.

At the side, Xie Haiyang stared. After circling around the puppet several times, he inhaled, his gaze bright.

“I’m satisfied, very satisfied!

“Don’t worry, Schoolmate Wang. With this object, I will definitely be able to get the Dharmic artifact for you!”

Once he had finished assessing the puppet, Xie Haiyang took the puppet away, left the Lower Academy Island on a boat, and reached the entrance of the Upper Academy Island.

From afar, the scenery was magnificent. Sky and sea met in an imposing way. But when one got closer, the scene was starkly different, with swirling thick fog. Whenever Xie Haiyang arrived at the Upper Academy Island, he was always nervous. Now, as he grew closer, he waved a token. Soon, the fog parted to reveal a blurry silhouette.

“Did you bring it?” The blurred silhouette had a low voice, filled with intention.

Xie Haiyang quickly took out the puppet. Before he could even hand it over, the silhouette seemed to raise its hand to grab at the air. In that instant, the puppet flew toward the fog and shortly after, there was an exclamation from within the fog.

“To use a Spirit Kernel that is a condensation of forty or so Spirit Stones, and with less than 3,000 Dao Inscriptions; yet, it possesses the effect of 10,000 Dao Inscriptions carved onto one hundred Spirit Stones… Although the manufacturing is crude, it is interesting. Not bad, not too bad at all!” The silhouette in the fog was full of praise. Till the end, his tone was one of delight. Then, he threw a helmet at Xie Haiyang and left.

Xie Haiyang exhaled, wiped his sweat, and then left. When he returned to Wang Baole’s cave abode, he was clearly excited.

“Brother, the other party was extremely satisfied with your puppet!” As he spoke, he gave Wang Baole a crimson helmet and a jade slip with the instructions for its use.

“The other party said that you can borrow this Dharmic artifact!”