A Will Eternal

The airship moved so quickly through the delta region that it left sonic booms behind it as it flew along.

The sound startled countless beasts, many of whom flew up into the air to investigate. However, when they sensed the cultivation base fluctuations coming from Bai Xiaochun and the others, they immediately retracted their auras and went into hiding.

As for the cultivators who occupied the sects in the delta, they wouldn’t even dare to provoke the animals in the area, let alone Bai Xiaochun and his party.

The delta sect cultivators trembled in fear, and a few of them went out to offer formal greetings as the airship passed.

All of them could tell that the ship was being piloted by someone of incredible power and status, whose cultivation base fluctuations left them feeling deeply shocked.

A few hours passed, and the airship was approaching the Lower Reaches.

Bai Xiaochun felt like every tree and every bush was familiar to him. After all, his path in life had begun in the delta area close to the Spirit Stream Sect.

When he was finally in Spirit Stream Sect territory, everything felt even more familiar. He saw the Heavenspan River, and he saw a mountain-sized giant laying there, who was awoken by his passage!

The giant's eyes opened, and he was about start howling when he sensed Bai Xiaochun’s aura, whereupon he closed his mouth, shivered, and put his head down.

Bai Xiaochun recognized that giant, whom he had seen when he left the Spirit Stream Sect on a training mission all those years ago. Back then, he had been very cautious about the giant, but now, he could see that its battle prowess was only around the Nascent Soul level.

However, the blood of Wildlands savages ran in its veins, which, in combination with the energy of the Heavenspan River, allowed it to grow very large.

“Hahaha! I'm so much more powerful now!” he thought, feeling very pleased with himself. As they sped through the territory that had once belonged to the Spirit Stream Sect, Song Que and Master God-Diviner were extremely excited. They were almost jumping up and down in anticipation of getting back to the River-Defying Sect.

Before long, Bai Xiaochun actually caught sight of the Luochen Mountains!!

Emotions roiled up in his heart, but they quickly passed as he focused on the road ahead. Spirit Stream Sect territory had once seemed like an enormous place, but with his current cultivation base, it wasn’t very large at all.

It only took about two hours… to go from one end of Spirit Stream Sect territory to another. It was at this point that Bai Xiaochun began to frown. Something seemed off.

Song Que also noticed the same thing. Frowning, he said, “What’s going on? There were cultivators in the delta. How come nobody’s around here in the Lower Reaches? I haven’t seen a single person!”

Master God-Diviner’s eyes widened. Unfortunately, without his copper coin, his divinations weren’t very effective, and didn’t provide any information. Suspicions built as they finally reached the location of the Spirit Stream Sect’s former headquarters!

When Bai Xiaochun caught sight of the mountains on both banks of the river, he was shocked to see that the sect’s defensive spell formation was active!

Numerous cultivators could be seen inside, many of them disciples that had been left behind by the River-Defying Sect because of their low cultivation bases. Their charge was to protect the foundation of the Spirit Stream Sect!

The Blood Stream Sect, Pill Stream Sect and Profound Stream Sect had all done the same thing. The disciples left behind were supposed to guard the foundation of the four divisions of the River-Defying Sect, and also serve as a place to groom new disciples.

But right now, the Spirit Stream Sect seemed like they were anticipating the arrival of a major enemy. Bai Xiaochun’s heart immediately began to pound. As for Song Que and Master God-Diviner, they were from the Blood Stream Sect, but they could well imagine that similar circumstances were playing out there.

As the airship approached, the disciples of the Spirit Stream Sect looked up with vigilant expressions on their faces.

There were a few disciples in the Core Formation level who flew up out of the crowd and gave instructions to strengthen the spell formation. The one who was clearly in a leadership position was a middle-aged man who was in mid Core Formation. He seemed weak, perhaps even sick, as he anxiously sized up the airship.

It looked familiar to him, and he quickly identified it as having come from the River-Defying Sect. But the River-Defying Sect… was not in the position to be sending out airships right now. Therefore, his vigilance did not lessen.

Bai Xiaochun instantly recognized that middle-aged man. “Big Bro Hou!”

This man was none other than Bai Xiaochun’s Elder Brother Hou Yunfei, who was the older brother of Hou Xiaomei!!

Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Xiaochun leapt off of the airship.

When his voice reached the ears of the disciples in the spell formation, their jaws dropped. Hou Yunfei looked especially surprised. He stared at Bai Xiaochun for a long moment, and the incredulity in his eyes grew. Then he shouted, “Bai Xiaochun!!”

The other Core Formation cultivators were clearly shocked. Although the name ‘Bai Xiaochun’ sounded familiar to them, neither they nor any of the other disciples in the Spirit Stream Sect were quite sure what was happening.

Even as everyone looked on in confusion, Bai Xiaochun took a step forward, blurring for a moment and then reappearing inside the spell formation, right in front of Hou Yunfei!

The spell formation hadn’t hindered him in the least. It may as well have not existed.

The Core Formation cultivators all braced themselves for an imminent attack, and all the other disciples waited nervously. Bai Xiaochun's actions just now had been very shocking, to say the least.

“Xiaochun, it's really you!!” Hou Yunfei said loudly. As he looked Bai Xiaochun over, his excitement began to build as he realized he couldn’t assess his cultivation base. All he could tell was that the fluctuations seemed even more shocking than those of Patriarch Spirit Stream, whom he had met in person in the past.

Bai Xiaochun was very excited at being able to see such a close friend after all these years, and was just about to begin talking, when Hou Yunfei suddenly said, “Xiaochun, what’s the level of your cultivation base?!”

“Huh? Uh, the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage….” Even as the words left his mouth, Song Que and Master God-Diviner flew off of the aircraft to hover in the air.

An excited expression appeared on Hou Yunfei’s face, only to be replaced by a bitter smile. “You need to get away from here, Xiaochun. Don’t stay here, and don’t go to the River-Defying Sect. Get as far away from the eastern Heavenspan River as you can.”

Bai Xiaochun’s face fell, and his heart began to pound. “What happened?!”

Hou Yunfei shook his head bitterly. He knew that he couldn't keep the information from Bai Xiaochun. Furthermore, Bai Xiaochun’s status in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect actually gave Hou Yunfei a bit of hope. After a moment of hesitation, he explained the danger the River-Defying Sect was in!

When Bai Xiaochun heard that the three great sects had joined forces to try to exterminate the River-Defying Sect, his eyes turned crimson, and his killing intent began to burn. Trembling, he flew out of the spell formation and back to the airship. Ignoring Song Que and Master God-Diviner, he unleashed the full power of his cultivation base to send the airship speeding… toward the River-Defying Sect!

“Xiaochun!!” Hou Yunfei shouted, but he was too late. Bai Xiaochun moved so quickly that he was gone in the blink of an eye. As for Song Que and Master God-Diviner, when they heard what Hou Yunfei had just said, expressions of madness appeared on their faces, and they also began to fly in the direction of the River-Defying Sect.

As they sped off, Master God-Diviner turned to Hou Yunfei and, aware of his close relationship with Bai Xiaochun, yelled, “Elder Brother Hou, don’t worry. Once Bai Xiaochun gets there, those three sects… won't count for crap!”