A Will Eternal

“Never are the rich benevolent. This Li Clan really knew how to rake in the money! And all by climbing on the backs of the common people….” Of course, it helped Bai Xiaochun’s shakedown efforts to categorize the Li Clan in this way. It was with complete righteous indignation that he stood off to the side, watching Zhou Yixing uprooting the rainbow spirit thistle.

Glancing at the flower, he said, “Be careful with that flower! Don’t damage it. Ai. Growing flowers is the only hobby I have, so although that flower doesn’t belong to me, I simply can’t stand to allow anyone else to harm it.”

Zhou Yixing looked a bit embarrassed. It would be obvious to anyone who looked at it that this flower was anything but ordinary. As he worked, he muttered to himself that it seemed too obvious that Bai Xiaochun was trying to avoid responsibility and have Zhou Yixing take the flower to his mansion for him….

After Zhou Yixing dug up the rainbow spirit thistle, Bai Xiaochun pointed at the ground and, eyes glittering, said, “There’s something really strange about this place. Yixing, let’s go a bit deeper and see what we can see.”

In response, Zhou Yixing stomped his foot forcefully onto the ground, which caused the dirt to collapse and whoosh away, revealing something buried further down. A beast hide!

It was impossible to say exactly what kind of beast it had come from. It was completely black, and seemingly ordinary in nature. It did not emanate spiritual energy, and seemed almost like an ordinary animal skin. However, as soon as it appeared, Bai Xiaochun could sense his Eternal Parasol inside of his bag of holding suddenly getting excited.

Back in Borough 89, the Eternal Parasol had helped Bai Xiaochun defend against the deva-level attack of Chen Haosong. However, the parasol’s canopy had ended up being destroyed, leaving behind only the damaged main shaft.

The fact that the base of the parasol was now vibrating caused Bai Xiaochun’s eyes to widen. He quickly sent some divine sense into his bag of holding, which enabled him to sense that the parasol had suddenly begun to thrum with desire. Clearly, it wanted that beast hide.

Not having noticed Bai Xiaochun’s reaction, Zhou Yixing said, “It's just a beast hide.”

Curious, he picked up to look at it, but didn't see anything unusual about it. He looked over at Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun rubbed his eyes, immediately causing them to redden and tear up. Looking at the hide, he sighed and said,

“That animal skin makes me think back to my childhood, and my constant companion Blackie…. Ah, whatever. Hand it over to me. I’ll keep it as a remembrance. I doubt the Grand Heavenmaster will object to me keeping an ordinary beast hide.” Sighing and shaking his head, he accepted the beast hide from Zhou Yixing. After feeling it in his hands, he placed it into his bag of holding, a look of reminiscence and grief on his face. Then, he turned to leave.

Zhou Yixing looked suspiciously at him as he left. Smiling wryly, he shook his head and continued on with the shakedown. Before long, the Li Clan had been completely cleaned out….

The hearts of the members of the Li Clan dripped with proverbial blood, and that was especially true of Li Tiansheng. He could do nothing but watch as case after case of wealth was hauled away. Despite the pain he felt, there was nothing he could do about the situation. At the moment, his desire to survive outweighed everything, and he was sure that if he did the slightest thing to irritate Bai Xiaochun, he would likely have his life force drained away again.

The entire time, he actually kept a smile plastered on his face, although it was the type of stiff smile that looked worse than someone crying. After the Li Clan had been cleaned out, Bai Xiaochun looked over at Li Tiansheng, and couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration.

“Quite a bit of willpower, I see,” he thought. “He actually smiled during the entire shakedown. It seems Li Tiansheng is able to deal with difficult situations better than the average person….” All of a sudden, he felt more vigilant than before, and quickly made a decision to make advance preparations to forestall any future problems.

“Men, arrest them all and throw them into Grand Asylum. And tell the warden that this Li Tiansheng has unusual willpower, and should be given a particularly severe sentence!” With that, he ignored the secretly fuming Li Tiansheng, and led the larger portion of his Corpse Trooper Blood Battalion up into the air.

“Next target, the Chen Clan! There’s not much time left, I definitely need to hurry!” With that, he pressed forward at top speed toward the location of his next shakedown, which was the Chen Clan in Borough 13!

Everyone who had been present to watch him and the corpse troopers shake down the Li Clan were shocked, and even trembling. The fact that the mighty Li Clan had met such a fate was no small matter in Arch-Emperor City.

Clearly, the Grand Heavenmaster was wielding a sharp knife to instigate major changes in the city!

As people analyzed the matter and spread word, the various nobility and aristocracy in the city were all informed. Even the four heavenly kings learned about the matter. Everyone was shocked to the core, and many, many eyes came to focus on Bai Xiaochun to see what he would do next.

As Bai Xiaochun proceeded along toward the Chen Clan, his thoughts were focused on his bag of holding, and the Eternal Parasol, which was now experiencing a dramatic transformation!

That seemingly ordinary beast hide was obviously something that had to do with the growth of the rainbow spirit thistle. After Bai Xiaochun had put it into his bag of holding, an enigmatic, half-laughing, half-crying ghost face had appeared on the surface of the damaged parasol shaft. Then, it greedily absorbed the beast hide, fusing with it as one!

As it did, the beast hide became the new canopy of the parasol. Furthermore, an aura began to emanate from the parasol that got Bai Xiaochun very excited.

It was apparently refining itself and growing more powerful! Bai Xiaochun couldn’t have been more excited. After all, the Eternal Parasol had been of great help when it came to cultivating his Undying Bones.

He had been worrying about how to fix the damage to the Eternal Parasol, but now, it was fixing itself, and even becoming stronger in the process. As of this point, Bai Xiaochun was convinced that the shakedowns were already worth it.

“The Li Clan has helped me get my Eternal Parasol back. I wonder… what surprises do the Chen Clan have in store!?” Excited, he retracted his divine sense from his bag of holding and pushed toward Borough 13 with greater speed.

Many people were paying attention to his progress, and soon, it was to their shock that they realized that Boroughs 12, 13, and 14 all had heavenly marquises in them! Considering what had happened to Heavenly Marquis Li, they could only imagine was to come.

“Who is he going for this time?!?!”

“Dammit. I didn’t offend Bai Hao, nor the Grand Heavenmaster….”

When Bai Xiaochun passed by Borough 12 in grand fashion, the heavenly marquis there breathed a sigh of relief. However, the Chen Clan in Borough 13 was beginning to get nervous. Then, he came to a stop in the air just outside of their clan.

“Heavenly Marquis Chen, come out to see me immediately!” The heavenly marquis from Borough 14 was immediately a bit relieved. Meanwhile, Heavenly Marquis Chen sat in the top of his heavenly marquis pagoda, gripped with foreboding. Glaring at Bai Xiaochun, he shivered in anxiety.

“The best thing to do is get out of here as soon as possible!” Without the slightest hesitation, he crushed a jade slip, which caused his body to immediately begin to fade away.

Everyone in the Chen Clan was scared witless, including that chosen who had accompanied Zhou Hong in his efforts to spread rumors about Chen Manyao and Xu Shan. By now, everyone had gotten some news about the fate of Li Tiansheng, and therefore, the fact that Bai Xiaochun had come here was terrifying beyond measure.

Silence reigned in the Chen Clan, with the exception of the nervous panting of the clan members. Countless eyes were fixed on Bai Xiaochun, hovering there in the air surrounded by black-armored corpse troopers.

His hands were clasped behind his back, and his chin stuck up proudly, impressed by his own grandeur. However, after waiting for a moment and not seeing Heavenly Marquis Chen, he waved his hand to his men and said, “So, he has the audacity to despise the majesty of the Grand Heavenmaster? Shake down this Chen Clan! If anyone resists, execute them on the spot!”

Malevolent auras sprang up from the corpse troopers as they flew into the Chen Clan. As for the two deva-level corpse troopers, Bai Xiaochun kept them by his side as bodyguards.

Zhou Yixing was at Bai Xiaochun’s side, and when he saw how powerful and amazing Bai Xiaochun was, he was once again convinced that he had made the right decision.

As the Corpse Trooper Blood Battalion began to invade the Chen Clan, the power of teleportation suddenly sprang up from pagoda in the middle of the clan. However, as it did, a cold harrumph also filled the air.

“Where do you think you’re going?” That familiar black-robed figure once again appeared. Ignoring the heavenly marquis pagoda, he strode off into the distance, then reached out into thin air. Instantly, the air distorted, and an image appeared of Heavenly Marquis Chen, who was obviously attempting to flee the clan.

When the clan members saw that their own heavenly marquis was trying to escape, it struck dread into their hearts, and left them feeling crushed. They had absolutely no will to fight, and simply watched as the corpse troopers entered and began to ransack the clan.

The Chen Clan was actually a lot wealthier than the Li Clan. Even Bai Xiaochun, with his extensive experience performing shakedowns, was left gasping at the sight of all the wealth.

However, just as he was approaching to take a closer look, a howl of delight erupted from further in the clan in an area where the corpse troopers had just taken control.

“I knew you would get what you deserved eventually, Chen Clan! Even if I die here this day, I, Song Que, can close my eyes in death, content that you’ve earned your fate!!”