A World Worth Protecting

Chapter 16: Superior-Grade Spirit Stones

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The bright moon hung high in the sky. Unlike the Sword Sun, the moon in the Spirit Inception Era remained the same as in the previous eras. It scattered its soft light across the entire Lower Academy Island.

On the various faculties’ mountain peaks in Ethereal Dao College’s Lower Academy Island, the spot with the richest Spirit Qi was not the Dharmic Armament Peak, but it was still one of the better ones.

After all, the Dharmic Armament faculty students cultivated there daily to refine Spirit Stones, resulting in immense Spirit Qi expenditures.

Unlike the students from other faculties, this near-limitless supply of Spirit Qi and the unique refinement tricks were not provided for nothing. Every year, they had to submit a certain number of Spirit Stones as their end of year exam, and it was quite a considerable amount.

Similarly, other than lectures in the three main halls being free, everything else in the Dharmic Armament faculty, such as eating or going to special cultivation chambers, required Spirit Stones. This ensured that the Dharmic Armament students made good use of their time to refine Spirit Stones.

The Alchemy faculty was similar, but it was not as exaggerated as the Dharmic Armament faculty. As for the other faculties, they had even simpler means of earning money. Certain cultivation grounds that were meant only for their own faculty students would also be open to other faculties. The fees collected from the students of other faculties were extremely high.

For instance, Mt. Scenic Cloud of the Beast Taming faculty, the Eight Treasures Chart of the Array Runes faculty, Frost Ice Tower of the Traps faculty, and the Lava Chamber of the Combat faculty were cultivation areas that aided those who were about to break through from the Blood Qi phenomenal success level to the Physical Seal level. Every day, many students from other faculties would head to these places. This alone was enough to provide for most of each faculty’s daily expenditure.

At that moment on Dharmic Armament Peak, invisible Spirit Qi was flowing slowly, splitting into thousands of portions that were slowly being directed by the Dharmic Armament students. However, at a spot nearer the summit—the specially-recruited student’s cave abode—more Spirit Qi surged over than in other student areas.

Inside the cave abode, Wang Baole was reeling in excitement. He was constantly circulating the Great Void Qi Devouring Art, sucking large amounts of Spirit Qi into his body, then sending it through his arm to condense in his palm. As he saw a Spirit Stone rapidly appear in his palm, his eyes lit up.

I’ve broken through! Haha, I’ve broken through! The excited Wang Baole sensed the Spirit Stone in his hand rapidly surpass 75% purity. When it reached 76%, he could not hide his excitement. In his joy, he took out a bag of snacks after refining one Spirit Stone and began eating.

I should work harder and aim to break through to 80% purity as soon as possible!

After finishing a few bags of snacks, Wang Baole wiped his mouth and began refining again, but he suddenly turned vigilant.

I have to be more careful; I can’t let history repeat itself. If I don’t pay attention, I might make myself into a huge fatso again. Wang Baole approved of his realization since his recent weight-loss experience had simply been too painful. Even if he had stepped into the Blood Qi level of the Ancient Martial realm, the process was truly something he did not wish to experience again.

The path of losing weight is an arduous and long road. Only someone as determined as me can succeed. Wang Baole sighed as he encouraged himself. He was very pleased with his realization, and after pondering for a moment, he felt that he needed some encouragement. Therefore, he took out a bag of snacks and chomped on them. After finishing the snacks, he

patted his tummy and began refining Spirit Stones.

Perhaps his luck was good, or maybe the Cleansing Pill’s effects were thorough, but the Spirit Stones Wang Baole refined in the following days constantly improved, and his body no longer accumulated spirit fat.

It was as though Spirit Qi would no longer accumulate as spirit fat after he got rid of the large amounts of impurities in his body. Instead, his body adapted to the speed at which Spirit Qi rushed through it. Smooth flows raised the purity of Spirit Stones and also subtly strengthen Wang Baole’s body. It improved his Blood Qi level quite considerably.

As such, this made Wang Baole even happier. Only when he realized that he had remained slim as his Spirit Stone refinement reached 80% did he gradually tone down his vigilance and instead fully immerse his body and mind into it.

Slowly, time passed like water.

In the Combat faculty, Zhuo Yifan, who had been badly beaten and was in pain, was gnashing his teeth in a cave abode, but he felt helpless. He was not in the same faculty as Wang Baole. Many methods and tricks could not be used.

Wang Baole! Zhuo Yifan felt extremely indignant. He pondered for a long time before recalling that he did have friends in the Dharmic Armament faculty. The Spirit Stones Hall’s Head Prefect, Jiang Lin, might not have an especially close relationship with him, but it was still good. Getting his help was likely fine. He immediately took out his voice transmission ring, and after making the connection, Zhuo Yifan smiled.

Wang Baole, I still have means to let you know my prowess even if you are in the Dharmic Armament faculty!

Days passed one after another, and soon, two months had passed.

Over the past two months, Wang Baole’s Spirit Stone purity had slowly increased, and when it reached 84%, his Blood Qi realm reached the perfected state.

If this was known by the Combat faculty, they would probably lose their minds. After all, Wang Baole’s speed of improvement was much faster than the Combat faculty students who specialized in the cultivation of ancient martial arts.

Haha, it looks like the side effects of the Great Void Qi Devouring Art have been completely resolved by the Cleansing Pill! The excited Wang Baole was increasingly convinced that his purchase of the Cleansing Pill was justified.

From the looks of it, I should be able to reach the 85% level. I want to reach 90% as soon as possible. I shall become Head Prefect and embark on a journey toward the pinnacle of life! Wang Baole became excited just thinking about it. He sucked in the surrounding Spirit Qi and condensed it in his palm as he continued his plan of exceeding 85% purity.

However, ever since school began, Wang Baole, who had been engrossed in the Great Void Qi Devouring Art, had seldom attended classes in Spirit Stones Hall. He did not know that there was a natural bottleneck at 85% purity when it came to Spirit Stones!

To be precise, although Spirit Stones below 50% purity could be used, they were only deemed ordinary Spirit Stones.

Only at 50% was it considered inferior-grade; medial-grade Spirit Stones needed to exceed 75%.

As for the demarcation between medial-grade and superior-grade, it was 85% purity!

A Spirit Stone was considered of superior grade once 85% was reached, and if one reached 95% and above, it was considered a supreme-grade Spirit Stone. Typically, a single Spirit Stone of such quality was extremely valuable, something only masters could refine.

And this bottleneck… was something that required students who cultivated in the Qi Fostering Art to have opportunities and proficient skill before it could be broken through. However, the completely overpowered Great Void Qi Devouring Art revealed the bottleneck the moment it encountered it.

When the purity of the Spirit Stone that Wang Baole was refining reached 84% and was about to approach 85%, his body suddenly quivered. An unprecedented suction force abruptly manifested from the slowly spinning devouring seed!

The degree of this sudden change far exceeded Wang Baole’s preparation and imaginations. Nearly all the Spirit Qi in his cave abode was instantly sucked dry!

The vacuum seemed to form a natural black hole as though a hole had appeared in the sea of Spirit Qi. Immediately, the massive amount of Spirit Qi seemed to quiver as it surged over. Thankfully, the Dharmic Armament faculty’s mountain peak had a Spirit Qi gathering array formation that instantly stabilized the imbalance.

Wang Baole’s suction speed was fast, and the amounts drawn were massive, but compared to the Spirit Qi in the entire Dharmic Armament Peak, it was still nothing. It did not attract the attention of others.

People would, at most, notice a pause in the flow of the surrounding Spirit Qi.

However, to Wang Baole, the sudden increase in the suction force and the Spirit Qi that surged into his body like a bursting river left his mind abuzz. He failed to direct the overwhelming amount of Spirit Qi in his body to his palm in a timely fashion, and it rapidly accumulated to form spirit fat.

As the spirit fat increased at a discernible pace, the Spirit Stone in his palm finally crossed a purity level of 84% under this sudden surge and reached… 85%!

It was no longer a medial-grade Spirit Stone but a superior-grade Spirit Stone!

Streams of light emanated from the resplendent and crystalline Spirit Stone. Although it was inferior to the one that Teacher Zou had refined in class, the difference was not particularly great. It was similarly a superior-grade Spirit Stone and extremely costly!

But Wang Baole was unable to feel happy. He stared at his indescribable body in a daze as the Spirit Stone in his hand dropped onto his belly with a plop before falling to the ground. When he looked down, all he could see was his stomach and not the Spirit Stone.

Moments later, a tragic cry resounded from the cave abode. Wang Baole was close to tears as he anxiously raised his arms and looked at his stomach before bursting into sorrowful cries.

“No, my formerly perfect figure!”

“Why did this happen?”

In Wang Baole’s anguish, he tried to stand up but realized he was unable to do so. This nearly drove him crazy as he felt a cold wind blow past him. It felt like countless Fatso Forefathers were walking over from every direction, smiling at him as they waved their hands like they hoped to reunite with him.

All I want is to be Head Prefect. Why am I encountering so many difficulties?

Amid Wang Baole’s grief, he struggled to get up and squeezed his body through the cave abode’s door.

He was relieved when he realized that he could still leave the cave abode. He had really been afraid that he would be too fat to fit through the door. If that happened… he would truly have been doomed.

Thankfully, it was late at night, and no one noticed the happenings at his cave abode. If not, they would definitely have been stunned, thinking that a particular beast had descended. While reeling in anguish, Wang Baole gritted his teeth and began fervently running around the island again.

But this time, it appeared to be ineffective. Even though he had taken the chance to head to the weight-lifting grounds while it was empty, raising the weights crazily in the process and even adding more weights, the effects were negligible. It failed to achieve the outcome he needed.

Heavens, what should I do? Wang Baole was extremely anxious as sweat rolled down his forehead. Finally, he sought help from the Spirit Internet and searched for weight loss tips.

The seemingly omniscient Spirit Internet was filled with random information, but it did not deter a fatty who was only thinking about losing weight. Fatties were always able to sharply pick out a potential weight-loss technique from what appeared like ordinary news to others.

For example… the Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber.

“The Combat faculty’s Lava Chamber is pretty much Hell; it’s such a torture. I sweated like it was raining in there.”

“That place is a place that torments people. I only spent five minutes in that place and lost half a kilogram. I kind of pity myself.”

When he saw all sorts of criticisms about the Lava Chamber on the Spirit Internet, Wang Baole’s breathing hastened as his eyes lit up suddenly.

Lava Chamber… Lava Chamber! Wang Baole felt like a drowning person who had grabbed a life-saving straw. He immediately raised his head and looked at Combat Peak before flying over.

Under the moonlight, one could see a massive beast-like figure charge away with a whistling sound.

I want to lose weight!