A Will Eternal

As the entire cultivation world was talking about Bai Xiaochun, something else happened. The Dao, Polarity, and Starry River Courts all took time to come visit the River-Defying Sect.

During the negotiations, the River-Defying Sect didn’t refuse to compromise with the Dao River Court and the Polarity River Court. In the end, they reached an agreement whereby which those two courts only handed over some of their resources.

Because of that, not only did those courts come to understand the River-Defying Sect a bit better, they also developed their relationship in a good direction. After all, there had never been any hate between them, only an instinctual aversion to newcomers.

After everything that had happened, such aversion was much reduced.

However, when it came to the Starry River Court, the River-Defying Sect didn’t back down at all. They knew that they had to put on a good show for everyone paying attention to the situation. If they let the Starry River Court off the hook, then it would be entirely possible for more situations like that which had occurred with the resource redistribution to arise in the future.

The River-Defying Sect had the upper hand, and the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect had set forth rules governing the situation. The Starry River Court had no other choice than to comply, and hand over all of their resources, plus the Starry Meteorite.

Of course, because of that, the two sects came to view each other as enemies.

The Dao and Polarity River Courts were more than happy to see such a development. After all, their patriarchs were also wily old foxes, and were well aware that the River-Defying Sect was merely asserting itself as a newly-arrived sect who had fought its way up from the Lower Reaches. Not only did they not fear conflict, they were also willing to work peacefully with the Dao and Polarity River Courts. Naturally, those two courts were fine with such an arrangement.

There were many schemes and plots involved with the overall situation, and none of that was of much interest to Bai Xiaochun. Almost as soon as the sect received all of the resources, he went over to look through the medicinal plants.

Generally speaking, not a single request by Bai Xiaochun would ever be denied in the River-Defying Sect, so before long, Bai Xiaochun had a whole collection of spirit plants in hand. He found all of the plants he remembered reading about, including some types of virtually extinct immortal grasses that he was confident would work well in a knockout medicine.

Next, he went straight into secluded meditation. During the concocting process, he did something fairly unusual. He intentionally gave voice to words which were completely different than what he was actually thinking.

It was all for the goal of knocking out the little turtle….

The concocting process lasted for a month. Afterward, rumbling sounds filled the immortal’s cave, and to Bai Xiaochun’s excitement, two fingernail-sized white medicinal pills appeared.

It was impossible to tell the quality of the pills, but a mere whiff of their aroma would cause all of the pores on a person’s body to suddenly open up as if they were about to receive an incredible replenishment of energy. Anyone would think that it was an uncharacteristically high-level medicine.

That was because Bai Xiaochun had created a surface layer for the pill made from a very expensive medicinal plant. Based on the luster and sheen of the pill, it was clearly the type of amazing pill that would cause anyone to drool with desire.

Of course, it was only Bai Xiaochun’s meticulous selection of various spirit plants that led to the color of the pill.

What was impossible to tell by looking at the pill was that on the inside, it contained the knockout medicine that Bai Xiaochun had conceptualized only after intense and prolonged effort.

After looking at the resulting spirit medicine, Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Expression flickering with excitement, he pondered how to get the little turtle to consume it. Just asking him to consume it wouldn’t work. Furthermore, he needed to prevent potential retaliation on the part of the little turtle.

After some thought, his eyes sparkled and he murmured, “This spirit medicine is incredibly valuable. Very, very rare in the world. Based on the aroma, it’s obviously a spectacular delicacy. I don’t think I can bring myself to consume it now. I can only eat it in a critical moment, a moment when all of the extinct immortal grasses I used could be considered worth it. Only then could I possibly eat these two consummate spirit medicines!”

Panting, he carefully put the two spirit medicines into a small bottle, then sealed it and put it into his bag of holding.

After some thought, he seemed to still be worried about them, and quickly took them out again. After opening the bottle to ensure that the pills were still there, he tucked the bottle into the fold of his robe. Then he went to take a short walk. Only afterwards did he seem to be convinced that they were safe. After gritting his teeth, he sealed the bottle again and then put it into his bag of holding.

During the following few days, he took the bottle out constantly to check the number of pills inside.

At first, he checked after the amount of time it took an incense stick to burn. Then he checked every two hours. Then he checked every few days. Eventually, he settled on a duration of four hours. Every four hours, he would check on his pills as if they were precious treasures. Finally, a look of deep satisfaction appeared on his face.

“Hmmmph!” he thought. “Ah, little turtle, I’ve definitely piqued your curiosity. When the time comes…. hah!” That was what he was thinking every time he checked on the pills. Another ten days passed. Then, in the afternoon, Bai Xiaochun opened his bag of holding and was instantly shaken to the core.

The pill bottle only had one pill in it!!

Bai Xiaochun quickly suppressed his excitement, worried that the little turtle might notice. Plastering a look of shock onto his face, he rifled through his bag of holding, and after finding nothing, opened his third eye, which he powered with the full strength of his Heaven-Dao Gold Core.

Violet light spilled out, illuminating the entire immortal’s cave. Finally, after much searching, he managed to find a crease in the corner of the bag of holding, where he saw the little turtle!

The reason bags of holding could hold so many items was that they created small, unique dimensions. Such dimensions often contained cracks and fissures that weren’t visible to the naked eye. Although he had examined this particular crack before, he had never found anything unusual in it. But now, he just so happened to have found the little turtle!

The little turtle was already unconscious, his head lolled to the side and his limbs stuck out, unmoving….

Bai Xiaochun chuckled. He knew that the only reason he had been able to spot the turtle was because he was unconscious. Were it not for that, the crafty little thing would still have been able to evade him, Heavenspan Dharma Eye or not.

After cautiously taking the little turtle out of his bag of holding, a snapping sound rang out, and it returned to its previous state. After shaking him, his head and limbs began to smack against his shell, producing distinctive knocking sounds.

Thrilled, Bai Xiaochun threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Then he began to exact his revenge, shaking the little turtle as hard as he could.

“Who said you could curse me, huh?

“Who said you could piss off that big crocodile, huh?

“Who said you could provoke that toad, huh?

“You got me injured and even got people to try to kill me!”

He angrily shook the little turtle, causing knocking sounds to ring out in the immortal’s cave. Before long, the turtle began to emit the fragrance which Bai Xiaochun found so familiar.

Bai Xiaochun’s excitement instantly grew, and he couldn’t help but think back with a sigh to how things had been before. Worried that the little turtle might wake up, he quickly produced a pill furnace and threw the little turtle inside. Then he poured in a large quantity of Heavenspan River water. Settling his qi and clearing his mind, he set about concocting a River-Defying Pill!

Time was limited; he had no idea when the little turtle might wake up. Worried about the prospect of revenge, he went about the concocting even faster than usual.

Thankfully, he had reviewed the formula for the River-Defying Pill hundreds if not thousands of times, and was completely familiar with the process. As soon as the pill furnace heated up, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture and got to work.

Three days later, the entire pill furnace was glowing bright red. Then, the pill furnace burst open, and the little turtle flew out and flopped onto the ground. At the same time, a virtually transparent medicinal pill appeared, which apparently possessed some level of intelligence, as it immediately attempted to flee.

As soon as the medicinal pill appeared, the sky above the River-Defying Sect began to dim, and a huge wind kicked up. The Nascent Soul cultivators’ expressions flickered as, in almost the exact same instant, Tribulation Lightning formed up above!

A bolt of lightning appeared, and before anyone could do anything, it slammed down onto Bai Xiaochun’s immortal’s cave, causing it to burst open. Bai Xiaochun quickly tossed the little turtle into his bag of holding and then opened his Heavenspan Dharma Eye. After locating the semi-translucent medicinal pill, he immediately began to chase after it.

By this point, all of the River-Defying Sect’s Nascent Soul cultivators were flying out into the open. Although they weren’t sure exactly what was happening, they knew that any event which provoked Tribulation Lightning was no light matter.

“Patriarchs!” Bai Xiaochun shouted anxiously. “Quick, set up a spell formation! I concocted a River-Defying Pill and it’s alive! It’s trying to get away!!” In response, Frigidsect shivered, and his eyes went wide. With a roar, he unleashed his cultivation base, causing intense pressure to fill the entire area.

Even the old monkey appeared, shooting toward the pill with speed that far surpassed Bai Xiaochun.

Thanks to the cooperation of several of the patriarchs, the fleeing medicinal pill was eventually apprehended by the old monkey. As for the Tribulation Lightning, the Nascent Soul cultivators handled it easily.

The old monkey excitedly held the pill up toward his nose and inhaled. “A Three Breaths version!” he said.

“That’s fine too. Even a Three Breaths version will be useful!” The old monkey gave Bai Xiaochun a deep look that contained both approval and gratitude. Then he flashed into motion, disappearing with the medicinal pill.

Bai Xiaochun was a bit disappointed. He had concocted that medicinal pill, only to have it taken away by someone else. Just when he was about to go look for Patriarch Frigidsect to complain, suddenly, an incredible pressure weighed down from above. This wasn’t pressure from Tribulation Lightning, and it caused everything in the entire area to tremble. All cultivators of the River-Defying Sect felt themselves shaking as if heavenly might were descending!

Then, a bemused voice echoed out in all directions.

“How amusing. My first visit to your River-Defying Sect, and I run into some Pill Tribulation!”