A Will Eternal

As soon as that battleship became visible within the black mists, Bai Xiaochun’s vision ended.

Having regaining lucidity, he found himself in front of the sovereign’s head, being shoved away by the immense pressure. This time, he fared much better than on the previous occasion. He had acquired an additional twenty percent of the qi flow, which was already entering his body.

Bai Xiaochi didn’t ask any questions, but his eyes shone brightly; he knew what was happening. Bai Xiaochun returned to the fan and rested for a few days, then headed back toward the sovereign’s head, his eyes shining with determination.

As his hand touched the skin, and he unleashed his Daoist magics, the blankness once again took over. By now, he was used to it, and simply let it happen.

Time passed, after which, he woke up. Or perhaps it was Zhou Chen who woke up.

This was his third vision of the sovereign’s memories. Much time had passed since the events of the second. Although Zhou Chen still looked middle-aged, he was now more dignified. He hovered in the starry sky, a beautiful woman at his side, who was none other than his Daoist partner, his Immortal Imperatrix!

Arrayed behind them was an army of millions upon millions of cultivators!

Facing them was a black cloud mass filled with devilish specters. Not an ounce of life force was present there, nor could any life force be detected on the black-robed man who stood in front of the clouds, who was none other than Zhou Fan.

His black robe itself seemed capable of consuming everything in its path; it even caused the light in the area to bend toward him.

The black hair which swirled around him did nothing to hide the icy coldness of his eyes as he stared at the leader of the army from the Immortal World, Zhou Chen, as well as… the woman at his side!

Mixed emotions could be seen in Zhou Fan’s eyes as he looked at her, but soon they vanished, and he focused his attention on Zhou Chen.

“Zhou Chen… or rather, I suppose I should call you… the Worldly Daoist!”[1]

As Bai Xiaochun hovered there, he couldn’t prevent the rage and anger from rising up in his heart, as well as… the grief. He thought back to how, after his brother entered the valley of the black clouds, everything went back to normal. Zhou Chen eventually chose to rise to the Middle Three Heavens, and after several years, became a celestial!

Then something happened that was relatively rare. He ascended to the Higher Three Heavens, where he became the apprentice of the then-reigning Immortal Imperator!

At that point, he was given a Daoist name. No longer would he be Zhou Chen; he would be the Worldly Daoist. That was when… he met an Elder Brother called the Mortal Daoist who reminded him a lot of his own older brother. They got along well, and soon became archaeans together. Both of them fell in love with their Junior Sister, who happened to be the daughter of the Immortal Imperator…. Eventually, their Master, the original Immortal Imperator, faded away, becoming a part of the starry sky’s Essence of time, a portion of the River of Time and Space itself.

Years later, the Worldly Daoist gained the approval of the Immortal World, and became a sovereign. He was named the new Immortal Imperator, and his Junior Sister chose to marry him, becoming his Immortal Imperatrix! Unfortunately, the Mortal Daoist, whose cultivation base was actually slightly higher than the Worldly Daoist’s, was frustrated over and over in his attempts to achieve a breakthrough, and could not gain the approval of the Immortal World.

It was a matter of public note, and many people had speculations about the situation. And that was when, down in the Lower Three Heavens, outside the valley of the black clouds, Zhou Fan appeared, clad in a black robe.

He was not alone. Countless devilish specters emerged from the clouds with him, and once again, war visited the Immortal World!

However, that was not the most shocking development. When Zhou Fan and Mortal Daoist met, the two of them merged into one! At that point, everyone knew that Mortal Daoist, apprentice of the original Immortal Imperator, was actually the clone of Zhou Fan, who had disappeared into the Lower Three Heavens years ago!!

Somehow, after the clone and the true self merged back together, despite the fact that the will of the Immortal World refused to offer approval, he broke through to become a sovereign!

At that point, he discarded his true surname of Zhou. He also abandoned theDaoistpart of his earlier Daoist name. He kept theFancharacter, which meantmortal, and then added the characterrenegadeto it!

He was rebelling against that which was orthodox, defying the heavens to change his fate! As of that moment, the Immortal World gained… the Mortal Renegade, Devil Imperator!

For a sovereign to exist without the approval of the Immortal World was heresy, but there was nothing that could be done about it. As soon as the Mortal Renegade became a sovereign, he led his army of devilish specters to wage war on the Immortal World!

After much bitter fighting, the two brothers were finally reunited at this moment!

“Mortal Renegade, you’re a sovereign now, so why stay in the Immortal World? Back outside the Valley of Extermination in the Lower Three Heavens, all I asked was that you come back to me. I would have done anything….

“Now, all I ask is that you go. Leave the Immortal World, and never come back!” The Worldly Daoist hid the pain in his eyes as he looked at the stranger that was his brother. Up to this point, he still didn’t understand… why all of this was happening.

Meanwhile, the Mortal Renegade hovered in the starry sky, hands clasped behind his back as he looked at the Worldly Daoist, a faint smile on his face.

“You know, Worldly Daoist, there is a legend in this starry sky. If this universe were to be bereft of all life force, all living beings, all worlds, and all peoples, if the starry sky went dark, then in the black void that resulted, an Eternal Flower would bloom!

“The Eternal Flower will only bloom when a vast collection of worlds vanish. Only one flower! Consume that flower, and you can break out of the Sovereign Realm and become… truly Eternal!

“That is the only way to become Eternal. There is no other path.” There was a bizarre power within Mortal Renegade’s voice that caused everyone who heard him speak to feel deeply shaken.

“So yes, I’ll leave. But I’ll only do so after wiping out the Immortal World. Then I’ll go to the next world, and the next group of people. Eventually… I will extinguish all of the starry sky, at which point, the Eternal Flower will bloom for me.”

The vision ended, but Bai Xiaochun did not awaken. He sank into blankness again, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw the last memories that existed in the sovereign’s head!

As they poured in, he trembled, and felt himself filling up with rage, and even more so, grief.

He was there in the starry sky, hair disheveled, weak, and injured. His life was about to sputter out as he looked down at the crumbling Immortal World, where countless devilish specters were slaughtering cultivators left and right. Obviously… the Immortal World was no match for this opponent!!

The countless spheres which surrounded the Immortal World were shattering. In his arms… was the corpse of a woman!

She was his Immortal Imperatrix, but her aura had been exterminated. There, in her forehead… was a black spike, slowly emanating black smoke!!

That spike had destroyed her life force, and despite being a sovereign who had mastered the Essence of life and death, the Worldly Daoist was not capable of resurrecting her. He could only hold her body, tears streaming down his face as he threw his head back and howled, “Mortal Renegade!!!”

The Worldly Daoist stared at the black-robed figure in front of him, whose mere presence, as well as the vile black smoke that swirled around him, caused everything to twist and distort.

Although his life had reached the end, and the flame of his life force was about to go out, the Worldly Daoist still had the energy to shout, “Why? Why did you do all of this!?!?

“Shanshan is my Daoist partner, and your Junior Sister! She’s our Master’s only flesh and blood! How could you be so cruel!?!?

“Don’t tell me it’s for that Eternal Flower. That’s just a legend. And even if it’s true, it doesn’t explain why you’ve changed! Mortal Renegade! Zhou Fan! Brother! Tell me… what happened to you?!?!”

1. His Daoist name keeps one of the elements from his actual name, the “Chen” character that I am translating as “Worldly”