A Will Eternal

Bai Xiaochun’s jaw dropped. For years now, his moments of sleeve-flicking monologue had always been one of great pride. Never before had anyone interrupted him. Eyes wide, he stared down at the green little turtle head sticking out of his bag of holding.

“Dammit, you’re still in my bag of holding!?” Just as he reached his hand over to grab the turtle, the turtle rolled its eyes, stuck its head back inside, and vanished.

Bai Xiaochun was fuming with rage. The little turtle was really a disaster for him. Whenever he thought about how it had provoked that enormous golden crocodile, his head started to ache.

However, despite his simmering rage, he couldn’t find the turtle no matter how he looked. Gritting his teeth, he decided to start using a new bag of holding. After switching the contents, he hurled the old one outside of the city.

“If you’re so awesome,” he said angrily, “let’s see you pop your head out of this one!” As soon as the words left his mouth, the little turtle’s head popped out of the new bag of holding and looked contemptuously at Bai Xiaochun.

“Considering you just gave Lord Turtle a new house, I’ll play along. Go ahead and bow down in worship!”

Bai Xiaochun felt like he was about to start crying. After a long moment, he sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he couldn’t do anything about the little turtle. With that, he looked around dejectedly at the other cultivators of the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects as they poured into the city and started taking the Profound Stream Sect cultivators into custody.

As for the monkey and the rabbit, Bai Xiaochun looked around for quite a while, but couldn’t find any clues as to where they’d gone off to. Even Bruiser had disappeared now that the city had fallen….

“I was the one who made that monkey and that rabbit….” he thought sadly. It was really a strange situation, and suddenly he couldn’t help but think back to all of the other little animals from back in the Spirit Stream Sect.

Soon, the remnants of the Pill Stream Sect were pouring in from the other side. Mixed emotions could be seen as they looked at their compatriots who had given into the Profound Stream Sect. At the same time, they complied with the instructions of the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects as their own sect was absorbed into the alliance.

The patriarchs of the Profound Stream Sect, especially Patriarch Crimsonsoul, were not magically sealed. Instead, the arch-patriarch and the founding patriarch calmly accepted their surrender.

When it came to the lower ranking cultivators, the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects had their ways of ensuring that they were taken in by the alliance.

Bai Xiaochun didn’t need to help with anything. He simply watched as the excited and enthusiastic cultivators of the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects cheered and went about their work. Now that the war was over, it was possible to say that the eastern Lower Reaches of the cultivation world had truly been united!

All that was needed now was a bit of time for the Lower Reaches to build up strength, and then they could march to challenge the Sky River Court!

Bai Xiaochun had been the center of all attention during the fighting, and now, he was like a sun shining down on the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects. Everyone looked at him with passion and respect. As for the female disciples, strange gleams could be seen in their eyes, which made Bai Xiaochun feel wonderful. He quickly set aside the matter of the little turtle, and simply savored the moment. Assuming the pose of an important person from the Senior generation, he began to stroll through the city.

Whenever he encountered cultivators he knew, he would smile and nod. As he passed, an endless stream of “Greetings, Junior Patriarch” could be heard

Eventually, Bai Xiaochun was displeased to discover that he actually wasn’t the only person to have become extremely famous during the war. There was another person from the Pill Stream Sect who everyone was talking about….

She was none other than the beautiful Chosen Chen Manyao!

Although she had a powerful cultivation base, and was skilled in both strategy and tactics, what most people noticed was her spectacular beauty. Because of the semi-transparent veil she wore, it was impossible to tell the true extent of her good looks, but even still, countless people would stare at her with beating hearts.

At one point, Bai Xiaochun looked over, annoyed, to see a whole group of disciples clustered around her. Suddenly, she looked up at him, her eyes cold and icy.

The look she was giving him left him feeling even more annoyed than before.

“Her cultivation base isn’t as profound as mine, and her position isn’t as high as mine either. Her techniques don’t measure up, and her background can’t compare. What’s so amazing about her!?” After some thought, he was also convinced that she wasn’t as good-looking as he was either. He widened his eyes into a glare, and she looked away. Laughing and chatting, she led the group of cultivators away.

Bai Xiaochun snorted coldly. By this time, evening was falling, and he began to ask around about his friends, such as Xu Baocai, Big Fatty Zhang, Hou Yunfei, and Third Fatty Hei. He learned that some had been injured, or even collapsed from exhaustion, but none had perished. Breathing a sigh of relief, he offered sincere thanks to all of the other disciples who had been with his friends in the various spell formations.

Bai Xiaochun could be a diplomatic person when necessary, and was well aware that the likely reason why all of his best friends had survived the war was because people had been watching out for them for his sake.

The other disciples from the various spell formations were very moved by his expression of thanks, and their respect for him grew.

Eventually he found some prime elders of the two sects who were sighing over how brutal the fighting had been. When Bai Xiaochun appeared, they smiled and began to chat. After some pleasantries, he asked about where Xuemei had been taken.

One of the Blood Stream Sect’s prime elders winked knowingly and said, “Xuemei was seriously injured during the fighting. Although she’ll recover, she needs to spend some time in secluded meditation. Since she’s an important disciple of the Blood Stream Sect, she’ll definitely be in the eastern section of the city, where the least damage was sustained. Head over there, you should be able to find her.”

Having determined Xuemei’s location, Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat and continued to engage in some idle chatter before taking his leave and heading toward the eastern section of the city.

Along the way, he looked around at the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects taking control of the remnants of the city, and felt very pleased. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his decision back in the Luochen Mountains had been the correct one.

It was already possible to see that the disciples of the Spirit and Blood Stream Sects were starting to get comfortable with each other. Bai Xiaochun was very pleased. Eventually, he passed through the center of the city, where the Profound Stream Sect’s treasure store was located. Although the sky was dark, there were still quite a number of cultivators there, busily clearing out the treasures. Suddenly, Bai Xiaochun’s expression flickered.

“I remember hearing that the Holy Pill Wall Fragment back in the Blood Stream Sect had been robbed from the Pill Stream Sect. Presumably, the other half remained with the Pill Stream Sect. Since the Pill Stream Sect was conquered by the Profound Stream Sect, I wonder if that wall fragment is in the Profound Stream Sect’s treasure storehouse….” Having reached this point in his train of thought, Bai Xiaochun hurried over to find the disciple in charge of clearing out the treasure storehouse.

If any other person had asked about the matter, they would have been rebuffed immediately. But Bai Xiaochun was different. The disciple in charge only hesitated for a moment before nodding and helping Bai Xiaochun search for the wall fragment. He even escorted him into the storehouse itself and handed over the wall fragment personally.

The only stipulation was that records had to be kept that Bai Xiaochun had taken the wall fragment. Bai Xiaochun didn’t mind that at all. Excitedly accepting the wall fragment, he began to study it.

Of course, he didn’t enter into a trance, but only made a cursory examination. Almost immediately, he could tell that this wall fragment would help him to advance by leaps and bounds with his skill in the Dao of medicine.

“I wonder if I could eventually try to concoct the River-Defying Pill?” Shaking his head, he put the wall fragment away, bowed deeply to the disciple in charge, and then continued on his way to the eastern section of the city.

By the time he arrived, the moon was climbing high into the sky. This area of the city hadn’t received nearly as much damage as the other parts, and was also much quieter. Only the occasional cultivator could be seen, most of them on guard duty. Any of them who spotted Bai Xiaochun would immediately clasp hands in greeting.

After asking around, Bai Xiaochun determined where Xuemei was staying. His heart had already begun beating a bit faster. Without any hesitation, he headed in that direction, and soon found himself in front of a type of residence referred to as a spirit abode.

It wasn’t very large, but was surrounded by flickering spell formations. Some of them were Blood Stream Sect formations that absorbed blood qi from the area, which would allow the cultivator inside the spirit abode to heal more quickly.

Stopping in front of the door, Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. There were many things he wanted to ask Du Lingfei, and yet suddenly, he felt himself hesitating.

After a moment of thought, he chuckled calmly.

“Regardless of anything,” he thought, “she’s my boo. Before, we were enemies, but now the two sects have become one.” With those thoughts on his mind, he stepped forward and reached his hand in the direction of the door.

Soft rumblings could be heard as he sent power toward the spirit abode. He was just about to say something when the door swung open. There appeared Xuemei, her mask on as usual. After looking at him for a moment, she softly said, “Du Xuemei offers greetings, Blood Master.”