A Will Eternal

Each group had roughly a dozen people in it, including Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators, and they all wore different Daoist robes.

The first group had black robes decorated with images of blood moons, and radiated particularly murderous auras. They had sneers on their faces, and icy gazes filled with killing intent.

Another group wore garments decorated with a starry sky. They were all exceedingly attractive, and the disdain in their sparkling eyes couldn’t have been clearer.

The final group dressed in Daoist robes that were black and white. That group contained both male and female cultivators, and radiated a feeling that made them seem as if they had transcended the mortal world. Despite that lofty air, they also looked completely disdainful.

Bai Xiaochun had read introductions regarding the other three sects, and could immediately tell where they were from. The group wearing the starry sky designs were from the Starry River Court. The people with murderous auras were from the devilish Polarity River Court. As for those in the black and white Daoist robes, they were from the most powerful of the sects, the Dao River Court!

The disciples of these three sects were standing directly in front of the grand hall, preventing anyone from entering. They were the guests, but they were acting like the hosts! They were even driving away the River-Defying Sect disciples who had been assigned to guard duty.

Directly up above in the sky, an enormous, pitch-black lizard could be seen, and when it deigned to look down, its gaze was as cold as ice. It even seemed like it wished to eat the River-Defying Sect disciples.

Some distance away from the lizard was an enormous battleship, fully 3,000 meters long, and completely silver in color. It reflected the sunlight in dazzling fashion, and pulsed with terrifying power.

In another direction was a gigantic meteor, fully 3,000 meters across and surrounded by a scorching sea of flames. The heat radiating from the meteor was such that many plants and trees down below began to wither up.

Even as Bai Xiaochun approached, a middle-aged cultivator from the Starry River Court shoved one of the Foundation Establishment disciples of the River-Defying Sect, causing him to stagger backward thirty meters.

“Back off,” said the Starry River Court cultivator. “Nobody is allowed in here!” Sneering, he turned and started chatting with his fellow sect disciples. “This really is a puny sect. I can’t believe they have trash like this guarding the grand hall.”

His comrades sneered, and the disciples of the other two sects looked even more disdainful than before.

The River-Defying Sect disciples were furious, but managed to hold their tempers. They well knew that the River-Defying Sect had only just entered the Middle Reaches, and didn’t have a very stable position. Considering that the other three sects had only just arrived for their formal visit, and the patriarchs were all in the grand hall having a meeting, any conflicts which broke out could have very negative ramifications.

On the other hand, it was obvious that the disciples from the other sects were trying to provoke a conflict….

However, when they realized that the River-Defying Sect disciples weren’t taking the bait, their faces turned even more grim. Despite that, none of them made any openly aggressive moves. As the disciples of the three sects exchanged hesitant glances, the leaders among each group began to talk loudly.

“I heard there are a lot of self-proclaimed Chosen in the River-Defying Sect. Where’s Bai Xiaochun? How about Song Que, Ghostfang, Nine-Isles, Shangguan Tianyou, and Chen Manyao? Where are they?”

“The Nascent Soul Daoist masters are having a meeting in the grand hall, and we Juniors are stuck out here, bored out of our minds. Why don’t the River-Defying Sect Chosen come out to show their stuff?”

The other disciples in the three groups knew what their leaders wanted them to do.

A young man stepped out of the crowd from the Polarity River Court, and each step he took caused cracking sounds to fill the air; clearly, he had incredible fleshly body power. Looking around, he laughed loudly and then said, “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Di Gong, and I’m in late Foundation Establishment. Fellow Daoists from the River-Defying Sect, please step forward and give me some cultivation tips!”

He wasn’t the only one to walk out into the open. Cultivators emerged from the other two sects as well, to make similar taunts.

“Seriously?” one of them said. “Nobody from the majestic River-Defying Sect will dare to swap pointers with me? What kind of a sect is this?!”

The River-Defying Sect disciples were panting in anger. A moment later, one of the late Foundation Establishment disciples from the Profound Stream Division charged toward Di Gong.

Two more disciples began to charge toward the cultivators from the other two sects.

“Get your ass back in line!” Di Gong said, laughing. Planting his right foot down onto the ground, he kicked off, spinning his leg through the air. Unexpectedly, though, this wasn’t a kick powered by his fleshly body; a vast quantity of wind blades appeared, which shot forward in a dangerous magical attack!

The Profound Stream Division disciple unleashed a flying sword, but to his surprise, the sword passed directly through Di Gong. By the time he realized that what he was looking at was an afterimage, it was too late, and Di Gong was right in front of him. Before he could react, Di Gong unleashed a fist strike which smashed right into him.

Di Gong wasn’t done yet, though. Laughing with vicious killing intent, he prepared to unleash another attack on the same disciple. The surrounding disciples of the River-Defying Sect were enraged, and a few of them flew over to try to save their fellow disciple.

Meanwhile, the other two disciples who had flown out to challenge the visiting sects were being beaten back. Furthermore, their opponents seemed to be in the same killing mood as Di Gong.

When Bai Xiaochun saw these events playing out, rage flickered in his eyes. In a flash, he appeared in front of the Profound Stream Division disciple, where he stood in place. When Di Gong’s fist slammed into him, it didn’t even move a hair on his head. The force of Di Gong’s blow was redirected back at him, causing blood to spray out of his mouth as he tumbled backward, a look of shock on his face.

“A Core Formation cultivator?!” Di Gong bellowed. “How shameless, River-Defying Sect! You dare to have a Core Formation cultivator fight the Foundation Establishment stage?!?!”

Even as his words were echoing out, Bai Xiaochun blurred into motion again, becoming a series of afterimages as he sped forward to rescue the other two disciples. He did the same thing, using his body to block the attacks being sent against them. He wasn’t hurt at all, whereas the attackers from the other two sects were sent tumbling backward, coughing up blood and shouting out in rage.

“Completely shameless!!”

“How dare a Core Formation cultivator ambush a Foundation Establishment disciple!”

Di Gong and the other two disciples were completely enraged as they stared at Bai Xiaochun with cold gazes.

Bai Xiaochun blurred into motion again, ending up in front of the cultivators of the three sects, hands clasped behind his back and chin stuck up. Glaring at them, he said, “So what if I attacked some Foundation Establishment cultivators? I’ve attacked Qi Condensation disciples in the past too. Is that shameless? Besides, did you actually see me do any attacking? You were obviously hitting me! Seems to me like you’re the shameless ones! Three Foundation Establishment cultivators actually had the gall to gang up on me, a Core Formation expert!! You people are going way overboard, you bullies. Don’t push me too far. When I get mad, I frighten even myself!”

The cultivators of the three sects stared back at him angrily, thinking back to try to remember if he really had made an attack or not….

Meanwhile, the disciples of the River-Defying Sect were more excited than ever, and began to call out greetings.

“Junior Patriarch!!”

“Greetings, Junior Patriarch!!”

“Greetings, Junior Patriarch!!!”

The leaders of the groups from the other sects instantly realized who was standing in front of them, and their pupils constricted.

At this point, a young man strode out from the Starry River Court, his eyes flickering with cold light. Hidden in his hand was a black spike; in his estimation, if he could cripple Bai Xiaochun here, there might be some negative consequences, but overall, it would be a big win. “How amusing,” he said. “So, you’re Bai Xiaochun, huh? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Chen Yunshan. Why don’t we swap pointers about–”

Even as he began to speak, Core Formation cultivators stepped out from among the disciples from the Polarity River Court and the Dao River Court, their eyes shining with cold light.

However, before Chen Yunshan could finish speaking, Bai Xiaochun yelled, “You’re forcing me to do this!”

With that, he threw a medicinal pill toward Chen Yunshan.

“Huh?” Chen Yunshan said, jaw dropping. He waved his sleeve, but it didn’t prevent the medicinal pill from exploding, causing black smoke to swirl out. His fellow disciples were also shocked, and waved their sleeves to disperse the smoke. However, there was some strange property to the smoke that made it impossible to dispel, and it even began to seep into them through their skin.

Of course, as soon as the medicinal pill appeared, strange expressions appeared on the faces of the surrounding disciples of the River-Defying Sect. That was especially true of the disciples from the Spirit and Blood Stream Divisions. They immediately began to back up, dragging the disciples of the other two divisions with them. Within moments, they were more than 300 meters away.

The cultivators of the Dao River Court and Polarity River Court were shocked, and couldn’t figure out why Bai Xiaochun had just thrown out a medicinal pill. Furthermore, the reactions of the River-Defying Sect were very telling, and they subconsciously began to back up as well.

“What are you doing, Bai Xiaochun?!” Chen Yunshan yelled angrily. Just when he was about to take a step forward, his eyes suddenly twitched. Simultaneously, one of his comrades behind him suddenly howled, lunged forward, and hugged him from behind!

“Junior Sister Li,” he cried, “I’ve finally found you!!”

Within the blink of an eye, the dozen or so cultivators from the Starry River Court began to go crazy. One of the affected cultivators spread his arms wide and began to run back and forth. Another of them began to rave madly. Another suddenly began to smile broadly. Only the Core Formation disciple was able to stave off the effects with great effort.

“I’m flying! Fly, fly away….”

“What is this place? Everybody get back! AIIIEEEE….”

“Hahaha! I’ve finally reached the Deva Realm! From now on, I’m unparalleled under heaven!!”

Some of the affected disciples wore looks of terror on their faces, and began to scream at the tops of their lungs. There was one who suddenly seemed drunk with pleasure, and immediately flew up into the sky toward the huge lizard.

“Hey baby,” he said. “Don’t be scared, I’m coming….”