A Will Eternal

Only when Bai Xiaochun had unleashed all his threatening methods was everyone finally left with no choice but to listen to each and every word that came out of his mouth.

To the Spirit Stream Sect, he was a Heaven-Dao expert, a legacy echelon cultivator that could control all of the north bank’s battle beasts. Because of that, he was someone the sect could not and would not take lightly. In fact, he surpassed everyone in a way that had nothing to do with his cultivation base. He had the potential to eventually become the backbone of the entire sect.

As far as the Blood Stream Sect was concerned, as soon as Bai Xiaochun revealed his Blood Lord powers, that made him more important than anyone else in the sect.

A mere thought on his part could either increase the Blood Stream Sect’s battle prowess by thirty percent, or reduce it by half.

When the Blood Stream Sect’s arch-patriarch looked at Bai Xiaochun, he couldn’t help but think of the shocking Blood Ancestor who lay beneath the surface of the Heavenspan River.

“I wonder if the Blood Lord can actually control the body of the Blood Ancestor?” he thought. Hesitation gripped his heart; he didn’t dare to try to suppress the Blood Lord or take any unnecessary risks. The slightest slip could send the entire Blood Stream Sect into destruction!

“If we form a new sect, where will the headquarters be?” asked Patriarch Ironwood of the Spirit Stream Sect.

Bai Xiaochun’s idea was becoming clearer in his own mind, and his eyes shone with bright light, a light that appeared to be the desire to do battle!! “If we make a new sect, the headquarters won’t be located in any of the old sects’ locations. The river branch occupied by the Sky River Court will be our new headquarters!”

Now that the identities of Bai Xiaochun and Nightcrypt were merging together, everyone saw him in a much different light than they had before!

“With my Blood Lord powers, I can increase the battle prowess of the Blood Stream Sect by thirty percent. With my control over the battle beasts of the Spirit Stream Sect, I can unify their powers to make them even more formidable!

“With our two sects joined together, we will be like two infinitely sharp blades! We can absorb the Profound Stream Sect and the Pill Stream Sect, and then we’ll be even stronger! We can dominate the Sky River Court and take over the Middle Reaches!!

“The Middle Reaches will be an unfamiliar place to all of us, but if we put our roots down there together, we will always be able to trust each other!” As Bai Xiaochun spoke, the patriarchs of the two sects looked on, sighing occasionally, thoughtful expressions on their faces.

As of this moment, they both knew that fighting wasn’t an option. Bai Xiaochun was too important to both the Blood Stream Sect and the Spirit Stream Sect. Only a person like him had the potential to be the link between the two sects, an opportunity for them to truly join together.

After all, not only did the Blood Stream Sect have full faith in Bai Xiaochun, but so did the Spirit Stream Sect.

Silence prevailed as countless individuals stood there in thought. Slowly, people began to whisper among themselves and discuss the matter in low tones. Moments ago, the two sides had been facing off with proverbial swords drawn, but now, that mood began to fade.

At long last, Bai Xiaochun was starting to relax.

But then…

Patriarch Droughtflame, one of the eight Blood Stream Sect patriarchs, the very same patriarch who had presided over the summoning of the grand lich, suddenly looked at Bai Xiaochun, his eyes flickering with profound killing intent.

“Complete and utter nonsense!” he said, his voice as cold as ice. “You obviously killed Nightcrypt and took his place! You’re trying to deceive us all. Prepare to die!”

Even as his words rang out, he sprang into motion, shooting at incredible speed toward Bai Xiaochun. As he did, he extended his right hand, and his Nascent Soul cultivation base erupted with heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing power. Everything began to shake violently as an enormous vortex sprang up around him.

As the vortex spun, a massive and deadly aura erupted, transforming into sword qi which instantly shot toward Bai Xiaochun. Bai Xiaochun was locked in place, immobilized and incapable of even struggling. At the same time, an intense, unprecedented sensation of deadly crisis rose up inside of him.

He had never felt as if he were closer to death. He was being attacked by a Nascent Soul patriarch, whereas his cultivation base was in mid Foundation Establishment….

The difference between the two was like the difference between an ocean and a puddle!

However, the killing move had not been unleashed yet. That came in the form of Patriarch Droughtflame’s outstretched palm!

His palm caused everything to shake violently as intense flames raged out, scorching everything in the vicinity as they formed into the shape of a huge hand. The flaming hand radiated a power of extermination that could kill anything in body and soul. It could eradicate souls!

Patriarch Droughtflame’s attack on Bai Xiaochun came without any warning whatsoever. Not only did the Spirit Stream Sect cultivators not expect it, but even the Blood Stream Sect patriarchs were completely unprepared. Faces fell on both sides.

“Droughtflame, stay your hand!!” cried the Blood Stream Sect’s arch-patriarch, his voice filled with urgency and rage. He instantly reached out with his right hand to try to stop Patriarch Droughtflame.

However, his cultivation base was currently suppressed, and although he could reach Patriarch Droughtflame, he couldn’t stop him, only slow him down a bit.

The arch-patriarch’s eyes flickered with cold light; Bai Xiaochun was too important. If he died, the two sects would most certainly be forced to fight each other!! They would be bereft of anything that could mitigate their conflict!

Their connection would have been severed!

The Song Clan patriarch’s eyes widened, and his killing intent flared. Regardless of anything, Bai Xiaochun was his stepson, and for someone to try to kill him right out in the open was something he couldn’t tolerate. His right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, summoning a raging beam of sword qi that slashed toward Droughtflame.

Unfortunately, his cultivation base was also suppressed by half, and his sword qi quickly collapsed. Patriarch Droughtflame’s hand of flame dimmed slightly, but continued to rumble toward Bai Xiaochun.

At the same time, the founding patriarch of the Spirit Stream Sect let out a roar of rage and performed an incantation gesture with his right hand. Instantly, an enormous iron manacle appeared, which grew to 300 meters in size as it shot to intercept Droughtflame’s attack.

When it hit the flame hand, it did far more damage than the arch-patriarch or the Song Clan patriarch. The gigantic hand collapsed by half. And yet, because Patriarch Droughtflame had attacked so quickly, and thus gained the initiative, even all of those successive attacks couldn’t stop him completely!

Even as cultivators from both sides howled in alarm and rage, the half-destroyed flaming hand bore down on Bai Xiaochun.

“Xiaochun!!”

“Nightcrypt!!”

Bai Xiaochun’s face drained of blood as he watched the fire closing in on him. As the sensation of imminent death filled him, he let out a roar that could shake heaven and earth.

Blue veins bulged out on his head, and cracking sounds filled him. It felt like his bones were about to shatter because of the intense pressure weighing down on him. As of this moment, he was sure that the chances of him making it out of this alive were very, very small!

However, he wasn’t willing to resign himself to such a fate. His eyes suddenly flickered with red light. Roaring, he managed to perform a double-handed incantation gesture, causing a violet lamp to appear in his hands, which he brandished in the direction of the flames.

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Violet flames shot out from the lamp, spreading out in all directions and forming the shape of an enormous face which rushed to meet the flames. That violet lamp was the gift that the Song Clan patriarch had given to Bai Xiaochun. Despite how powerful it was, though, it couldn’t match up to an old eccentric like Patriarch Droughtflame!

When the sea of flames formed by the violet lamp hit the incoming flaming palm, more of the palm was destroyed, and yet it continued on toward Bai Xiaochun!

Blood sprayed out of his mouth from the force of the incoming attack, which sent him tumbling backward. He started to cough up more blood, but then gritted his teeth and swallowed it back down. With that, he extended his right hand, which held a four-colored jade pendant. Four-colored light glittered out in all directions, creating a four-layered shield.

In that instant, the broken hand of flames slammed into the shield, causing numerous cracking and popping sounds to echo in the air as the four shield layers were destroyed.

With each shield layer, the flame hand’s power was reduced, and yet, they couldn’t stop it completely. In the blink of an eye, the shields were gone. In response, the patriarchs of both sects, as well as countless other friends of Bai Xiaochun, all shouted out in fury!

The flaming hand destroyed everything in its path as easily as a hot knife cutting through butter. However, in the very moment before impact, Bai Xiaochun extended his right hand to reveal a paper talisman.

It was none other than….

The Godpower Talisman! 1

He slapped the talisman down onto his chest, and let out a roar that echoed out in all directions. His hair flew around wildly as his Undying Live Forever Technique erupted. Rumbling could be heard that shook heaven and earth as two enormous heavenly demons appeared behind him. They threw their heads back and roared as, thanks to the power of the Godpower Talisman, Bai Xiaochun’s fleshly body power skyrocketed, reaching a level more than twice that of before!!

And that was when the mostly-destroyed hand of fire slammed into him.

If the image could be turned into a painting, it would be the type that people would gasp upon seeing. Bai Xiaochun wasn’t even visible beneath the raging flames; the only thing that could be seen were two unbelievably shocking heavenly demons!!

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

Intense rumbling sounds filled the air. The hand of flames had been repeatedly weakened and reduced, and now, it finally exploded. Flames shot out in all directions, and at the same time, cracks spread out across Bai Xiaochun’s two heavenly demons. Moments later, they collapsed into pieces.

Bai Xiaochun was sent hurtling toward the ground like a meteor. When he landed, a huge boom could be heard, and a 30-meter-wide crater opened up!

At the bottom of the crater, Bai Xiaochun lay there, his face as ashen as death, blood oozing out of the corners of his mouth. The force of the blow had knocked him unconscious. Furthermore, there was something else no one noticed, which was that a bit of black light could be seen on his right hand, that was currently fading away. 2

As soon as Bai Xiaochun lost consciousness, the suppression of the cultivation bases of the Blood Stream Sect immediately ended!

There was one other thing that no one noticed. In the moment that Droughtflame attacked Bai Xiaochun, a monkey could be seen somewhere in the Luochen Mountains, its eyes shining with incisive light. At the same time, within the clouds that made up the Blood Stream Sect, a pair of bright red eyes flickered.

1. Bai Xiaochun got the Godpower Talisman from Master God-Diviner in chapter 262

2. The reference to the black light is very vague, and I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to refer to the life-saving bracelet Li Qinghou gave him