A Will Eternal

“We’re only talking about two sealing marks,” he said in a cold voice. “Is the River-Defying Sect really not even confident in getting two little sealing marks?” The red-haired old man narrowed his eyes.

Master Godwind maintained his silence, as did Patriarch Crimsonsoul. The two of them looked over at Frigidsect. If the River-Defying Sect won a bet like this, it would be a big gain for their sect. Getting a Starry Meteor would make up for some of the losses that were going to occur within the legacy competition.

However, if they lost, and had to hand over a Heavenspan Battleship, the overall battle prowess of the River-Defying Sect would be significantly reduced.

In the end, the Heavenspan Battleship belonged to the Spirit Stream Division, and furthermore, Frigidsect knew Bai Xiaochun better than the other two. Therefore, he was the one who would make the final decision.

Frigidsect looked up at the dark circle which represented the River-Defying Sect, and took a moment to think back to all the miraculous things Bai Xiaochun had accomplished. If they won the bet, it would be a big boost in confidence and morale for the sect. If they lost…. Well, even refusing to take the bet would mean that they had lost to the other three sects.

The stakes were high, but the truth was that the River-Defying Sect didn’t actually have much to lose.

“You’re on!” Frigidsect said through gritted teeth. In response, the red-haired old man laughed heartily. The truth was that earlier, he had already given orders to the disciples who had gone into the legacy zone.

Not only was their mission to get as many legacy seals as possible, they were also to stop the River-Defying Sect from getting even a single one!

“Considering that,” he thought, “it’s theoretically possible he could get a single seal by accident. But he definitely won’t be able to get two!” Inwardly, he was chuckling coldly. What made him even more confident was that he knew that because it was not the usual appointed time for the trial by fire, the defensive spell zone outside the Mountain of Legacy Seals would be more difficult. Thererfore, it would be virtually impossible for Bai Xiaochun to get close to the mountain on his own.

The Dao and Polarity River Courts were paying close attention to what was happening. It was obvious to them what the Starry River Court was trying to; not only were they trying to secure the resources which had once belonged to the Sky River Court, they were trying to weaken the River-Defying Sect. In the future, it was easy to imagine how they, in their greed, would begin to swallow up the River-Defying Sect to strengthen themselves!

After all, the Starry River Court bordered the River-Defying Sect!

In the past, the Sky River Court had completely dominated the Starry River Court, and on many situations, the Starry River Court had been forced to wait to see what the Sky River Court did before they themselves took action. But now, the Sky River Court was no more, and the Starry River Court had a new neighbor!

As the matter with the bet played out on the outside, the Dao River Court forces inside the legacy zone reached the 3,600-meter mark. Apparently, that was their limit. Not even their powerful giant could progress much further without being destroyed.

The Polarity River Court was about 2,700 meters in, not quite as far as the Dao River Court. However, the Dao River Court wouldn’t be capable of snatching every single one of the legacy seals, ensuring that the Polarity River Court would still be able to get a good share.

The Starry River Court was the weakest of all, and was only about 1,500 meters in. Despite being behind the Polarity and Dao River Courts, they would still be able to get some of the seals, and simultaneously deprive the River-Defying Sect of any.

By this point, about ten sealing marks had flown out from the Mountain of Legacy Seals.

Bai Xiaochun had led Bruiser to a point some distance away from the three sects, although they were still within eyeshot.

With his Heavenspan Dharma Eye, he had located the perfect spot. The pressure weighing down in the area was vastly greater than the safe spot where the three sects had entered.

“Bruiser, I need you to shrink down,” he said, his voice cold. “Dad’s gonna take you to have some fun!”

Bruiser looked surprised, but a moment later, he shivered and began to shrink down in size. Soon, he was small enough that Bai Xiaochun was able to place him in the folds of his robe. Then, Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, causing a tremor to run through him.

Cracking sounds rang out as he used the power of the Undying Live Forever Technique and his Heaven-Dao Gold Core to shrink down. Bones and flesh alike became smaller, until Bai Xiaochun was the size of a small child.

His clothing was too large, so he simply ripped it off. Then he waved his finger toward the ground, and a flash of black light could be seen as the turtle-wok appeared!

“You people are forcing my hand!” he said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t want to cheat!” Bai Xiaochun didn’t like using the wok publicly, but right now, he was out of options. Taking a deep breath, he lay down on the ground and dragged the turtle-wok over him.

Now that he had shrunk down, it was easy for him to fit underneath it, making it look very much like an actual turtle as it lay there on the ground.

Almost in the same moment, a delighted exclamation could be heard from within his bag of holding.

“Hahaha! You definitely deserve to be my pet! Good job, Little Bai. Master approves!” It was none other than the little turtle, who flew out with a pop and landed on the ground just behind Bai Xiaochun.

“You shut up!” Bai Xiaochun yelled. Ignoring the little turtle, he tilted the edge of the turtle-wok up and looked at the 15,000 meters of dangerous territory up ahead, then began to crawl forward.

The little turtle followed along, laughing. From a distance, it looked like two turtles, one big and one small, crawling slowly into the zone of restrictive spells.

Almost as soon as they entered, a bolt of lightning many times bigger than any of the previous bolts fell from above and slammed into the turtle-wok. However, the wok was virtually indestructible, and no amount of lightning could do anything to it. Bai Xiaochun felt some vibrations, but that was it. With the added protection of the wok, his Undying Live Forever Technique and Heaven-Dao Gold Core ensured that he was completely unharmed.

Off in the distance, the cultivators of the three sects were currently fighting over one of the legacy seals when they suddenly sensed that something strange was going on with Bai Xiaochun. The cultivators began to look over, and soon noticed the two turtles….

“What’s that…?”

“It’s a turtle shell!”

“I can’t believe that guy from the River-Defying Sect is using this method to get into the defensive spell zone! Hahaha! Bai Xiaochun actually found a turtle shell somewhere and is using it for protection?”

“Wait, it’s not just one turtle. Look! There’s an even smaller turtle behind the first one. Hilarious!”

Roars of laughter could soon be heard from the three sects. Even the group from the Dao River Court couldn’t contain their scorn. The people from the Starry River Court were laughing the loudest, especially Chen Yunshan.

“Bai Xiaochun,” he yelled through his laughter, “aren’t you the junior patriarch of the River-Defying Sect? I can’t believe you’re willing to become a turtle just to get some legacy seals. Come, come. Just kowtow to me a few times and I’ll give you a few for free. What do you say?”

Bai Xiaochun could hear the mocking of the three sects, and couldn’t help but let out an angry harrumph. “You just wait and see what happens!” he thought.

As he crawled forward, black winds screamed, and seas of flame battered him. Blades of ice shot toward him, along with countless other magics. However, none of them could stop him.

With the turtle-wok on his back, he crawled relentlessly forward until he was 300 meters in.

The mocking cries coming from the three sects began to die down. In fact, many people’s eyes began to widen, and gasps could be heard.

“What kind of turtle shell is that!?!?”

“How… how is this even possible? The area Bai Xiaochun is in is far, far more dangerous than where we are.”

“The lightning, the fire, the wind… none of it has any effect on that turtle shell. Woah! Look, he’s picking up speed!!”

Jaws dropped as the turtle shell, apparently having become used to the area, began to go faster and faster.

600 meters. 900 meters. 1,200 meters. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the magics slammed into the turtle shell, and yet nothing could stop it from accelerating. Before long, it had passed the 1,500-meter mark.

“Impossible!!” Chen Yunshan howled. He simply couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and was panting as a result. He wasn’t the only one to react in such a way. Everyone from the Polarity River Court had similar looks of disbelief on their faces.

By this point, more than a hundred bolts of lightning had struck the turtle shell, and yet, it only continued to move faster and faster.

Of course, despite the fact that Bai Xiaochun was hidden under the turtle shell, all of them knew exactly what kind of expression was on his face. One of utmost pride….

“Hmmmph! When Lord Bai takes action, he frightens even himself. I can’t believe you people dared to bully me!” Feeling very pleased with himself, he continued to crawl along on his hands and knees. Soon, he was 1,800 meters in. Then 2,100 meters. Then 3,000 meters!

Not even the cultivators from the Dao River Court dared to lightly enter such a region, but Bai Xiaochun didn’t seem worried at all. In fact, soon the cultivators of the three sects could hear Bai Xiaochun humming a little tune.

Not a single one of the dangerous magics in the area had even the slightest effect on the turtle shell.

“This… this… this….” Everyone was completely and utterly stunned.

—

Important info: In the note attached to this chapter during its initial release, Er Gen complained about some pain he was feeling while sitting and typing. Over the course of the following several chapters, he included more and more such notes. He tried various folk remedies but nothing helped, and the pain started to reach excruciating levels. He eventually went to the hospital and found that he had some sort of hemorrhoid or other such condition, and needed surgery to fix the problem. He eventually did have surgery, after which he had to write chapters while laying on his stomach. The recovery process lasted for a while before he was able to get back to normal. Throughout that time, he mostly kept to his release schedule, but missed a few days here and there and slowed down once or twice. He also chronicled the situation in his post-chapter notes. Instead of translating all of those notes, I’m including this short explanation. It wasn’t until well past 390 that he had recovered from the surgery to the point where he could resume writing as usual.