A World Worth Protecting

“Junior Brother Baole, the reason there are more than a thousand Inscriptions for condensing Spirit Qi is because they correspond to the use of different materials for artifact refinement. And according to the difference between Spirit Kernels and the materials, one can not simply choose one type of Spirit Qi condensing Inscription. Instead, one needs to correct and adjust through the combination.”

The moment he said that, Cao Kun seemed to gain an indescribable aura. It was the kind that showed his mastery in the Inscriptions, where he could go straight to the heart of the matter.

To have become the Inscriptions Head Prefect, Cao Kun had to be the top students in Inscriptions studies. However, while his mastery of Inscriptions was very clear, it did not mean that he had a good character.

In actuality, Cao Kun’s temper had always been petty. His personality did not allow him to forgive small slights, so he hated Wang Baole—who had beaten him up and embarrassed him in front of the Dharmic Armament faculty—to the bone.

Now, with this opportunity, he was eager to viciously strike down Wang Baole and embarrass him in front of the Chancellor.

“I don’t know if Junior Brother Baole can understand what I’m saying. If you still don’t understand, I don’t know what else I can do. I suggest that you go to more Inscriptions classes rather than getting drunk on the Head Prefects’ powers. This is not honest work! Also, don’t ask such simple questions anymore and embarrass yourself here. If you still have questions, you don’t need the Chancellor to answer them: I can explain them to you.”

Cao Kun spoke in a haughty and overbearing manner, even with a chiding tone. When he finished speaking, he turned and paid his respects to the old physician before sitting down.

To the side, Lin Tianhao looked at Cao Kun and smiled; the other faculties’ Head Prefect also looked at each other and said nothing. As for the old physician, while he knew that the Dharmic Armament faculty’s Head Prefects did not get along, he could not be bothered to interfere in the students’ affairs.

“Are there any more questions? If not, we will end here.” As he spoke, the old physician stood and prepared to end this session’s lecture.

“Chancellor, I still have a question!” Wang Baole breathed a little rapidly, his eyes shining.

If it had been any other time, Wang Baole would have retaliated in the face of Cao Kun’s mocking. But today, he was absorbed in the questions of Inscriptions in his mind, and to him, Cao Kun’s answer was very illuminating. Many questions he had regarding the Spirit Qi Inscriptions had been resolved in that instant.

This made Wang Baole feel that he had become even faster when doing his own calculations. So, when he heard the old physician’s words, he quickly spoke to Cao Kun.

“Senior Brother Cao, in number 31,495’s blank Inscription in the Inscriptions dictionary, why is it that there will be a different effect solely because of the depicted difference in time and month, and even the humidity!?”

This question had always made Wang Baole spend a lot of time on his calculations. Even though he could calculate the answer, he did not understand the principle. The Inscriptions dictionary contained tens of thousands of such useless blank Inscriptions, but they were all needed for depicting the Inscriptions.

“This…” Cao Kun was stunned for a moment. He had felt that Wang Baole’s previous question was simple, but this second question had significantly increased. Since it included the blank Inscriptions, it made Cao Kun hesitate, and he finally struggled to come up with an answer after thinking for a long time.

But the moment he finished answering, Wang Baole very energetically asked a new question.

“Senior Brother Cao, in the annotations of the Inscriptions, it used to have the Observer concept in number 790,003 of the Dao inscriptions. I have some doubts with this…”

“Senior Brother Cao, in between Inscriptions number 900,000 to 910,000, the Steam runic inscription was added repeatedly. I don’t understand this point; could Senior Brother Cao please explain…”

“Senior Brother Cao, there is also Spirit Borrowing…”

Just like that, his questions came one after the other, each more difficult than the last. Cao Kun’s forehead dripped with sweat, his whole body becoming damp, and he cursed Wang Baole under his breath.

He felt that Wang Baole had to be doing it on purpose. However, he had previously volunteered, so it was hard to extricate himself now. He could not help but feel his chest rise and fall erratically; he was too frantic. The feeling of not being able to answer as the Inscriptions Head Prefect drove him crazy. Furthermore, whenever he heard the three words ‘Senior Brother Cao’, he could not help but shiver all over. When he looked at Wang Baole, he saw red.

Lin Tianhao’s brow gradually wrinkled; there were many questions that he could not answer himself. As for the surrounding Head Prefects, each of them was astonished. When they saw Cao Kun repeatedly wipe his sweat away, they were even more astonished.

Even the Chancellor looked at Wang Baole with a thoughtful gaze. Seeing that Cao Kun was running out of words, he smiled and took the question, opening his mouth blandly.

“Wang Baole, in your last question about Spirit Borrowing, you have some misconceptions. The real Spirit Borrowing is about borrowing the Spirit Qi from the heaven and earth, even more so about borrowing from the Spirit Qi of other Dharmic artifacts or everything on earth—the mountains, rivers, and even living creatures. You can borrow from all of this!”

The moment he heard that, Wang Baole suddenly felt a boom in his brain, and it was as though he had been filled with wisdom. In that instant, all his mental blocks about many Inscriptions had been removed, and all his thoughts were clear.

“Thank you very much for your guidance, Chancellor. I do have one more question…”

In his excitement, Wang Baole turned to start his barrage of questions on the Chancellor. In the beginning, the Chancellor answered the questions smoothly, but gradually, his forehead began to sweat, too.

As for Cao Kun, he was secretly amazed. It was a lucky thing that the Chancellor had taken over Wang Baole’s questions, or else he would have been in such an awkward situation and embarrassed himself. After all, he had not even heard of many of the questions Wang Baole asked later on.

The questions Wang Baole raised went from shallow to deep, and they were becoming more and more difficult. This was because the Inscriptions that he had mastered were via systemic deduction, which was different from everyone else. At a certain level, Wang Baole also did not really understand how many of the Inscriptions he had mastered in these twenty or so days.

But following his relentless deductions and calculations, he slowly realized that what caused his mental blocks was the fact that he lacked some basic knowledge of Inscriptions. He also got his around the areas that other people had trouble comprehending through the systemic calculations.

With this chance today—first Cao Kun and then the Chancellor—it was as though Wang Baole’s head was a robot that had received motor oil, moving faster and faster. As he resolved each of his mental blocks, his systemic deduction speed increased exponentially.

“Thank you very much, Chancellor. I still have a question. You said, just now, that Inscriptions will intersect each other. But I realized that to obtain the Speed Inscription, I can use the Wind Inscription or the movement Inscription. There are many ways. What can I do to overlap and make the effect better?”

When Wang Baole asked this question, the Chancellor could not help but wipe the sweat on his forehead. When he looked at Wang Baole, his gaze carried a shred of impatience.

He laughed bitterly in his heart, feeling that the pressure was too much. However, faced with a students’ questions, he could not ignore him. It was just that… Wang Baole’s questions were getting more and more difficult, and this current question already exceeded the Chancellor’s capacity. As such, he quickly took out his voice transmission ring and called Goatee and the others from the Dharmic Armament faculty.

While Goatee and the others were heading over there, the scene stunned all the surrounding Head Prefects. Even though this was the Chancellor’s lecture hall, they could not help but start debating.

“This Wang Baole, why does he have so many questions?”

“He even stumped the Chancellor. Is he actually the Spirit Stones Head Prefect or the Inscriptions Head Prefect?”

Under the murmured debate of the surrounding people, Cao Kun also felt immense pressure and had a strange feeling of danger.

Not long later, when Goatee and the other Dharmic Armament faculty teachers arrived, they all had strange expressions as they looked at Wang Baole. They had heard about the incident along the way, and now they all sat down and started answering the questions.

Upon seeing his rescuers appear, the Chancellor released a breath and regained his previously calm demeanor, looking at the audience with a smile. But soon… as Wang Baole’s continuous questions grew exponentially more difficult, even Goatee and the others needed a prolonged discussion among themselves before they could give an answer.

After all, even after memorizing the million Inscriptions, matching them with each other increased the difficulty a hundred times over. Thus, there was no one who could say that they had mastered all the variables brought about during the combination.

However, Wang Baole’s system could directly eliminate memorization. This meant that all of the million Inscriptions and the hundred-fold difficulty were within his grasp. As such, his questions could skip the number of Inscriptions and reach the essence immediately.

At the end, when they finally discussed and told Wang Baole the answer, Wang Baole was so agitated that he slapped his thigh.

“I understand. So, it’s like that. Thank you, Chancellor! Thank you, Dean! Thank you, teachers!

“I still have another question…

“To make a Dharmic artifact that triggers the wind blade, I require both a cold and a heat Inscription to form a loop. Depicted on different Spirit Stones, these two Inscriptions need a large number of basic Inscriptions to make. As there are many similarities, how can I eliminate the Inscriptions to make a picture on a Spirit Stone for reciprocal use?” Wang Baole’s eyes glimmered. He had long forgotten that he was in the Chancellor’s lecture hall. As he saw it, this was for his own understanding, to raise his calculation speed to the heavens!

When he asked this question, everyone—who had already been under immense pressure—inhaled, eyes wide, mind blown. This was especially so for the Inscriptions teachers, who could not help but cry out.

“This is higher-level Inscriptions knowledge taught at the Dharmic Armament Pavilion on Upper Academy Island. You… you’re already researching this now?”