A Will Eternal

It was so bright that it was almost painful to look at, as if it were the only light which existed. Even the light from the other three sects combined was completely and utterly crushed by it.

“W-what’s… what’s going on!?!?”

“Don’t tell me that all of the legacy seals are being taken by only one person from the River-Defying Sect?!”

“Impossible!!”

“Heavens, even when the Dao River Court took first place last time, the light wasn’t this bright. How… how many legacy seals does that represent?” The Nascent Soul experts from the three sects were all shocked. The red-haired old man from the Starry River Court was physically shaking, and his face was covered with an expression of utter incredulity.

“Maybe the circle got broken somehow…?” he murmured. The Nascent Soul Daoist master from the Polarity River Court was panting, and a look of unprecedented anxiety could be seen in his eyes.

Originally, the matter of redistributing the resources wasn’t very important to the Polarity River Court, especially considering the compensation the Starry River Court had offered to gain their support. However, if things kept going the way they were, that compensation wouldn’t even make up for the losses they would incur.

Now, in this moment of anxiety, their anger toward the Starry River Court was growing.

If the Polarity River Court had such a reaction, there almost wasn’t even a need to mention the Nascent Soul experts from the Dao River Court. They were all trembling, and looks of despair could be seen flickering in their eyes. If they didn’t end up with more resources than they had in the previous competition, their decision to join in the Starry River Court’s little plan would result in indescribable losses.

Furthermore, the sect’s deva patriarch would surely be furious.

After thinking about the consequences at stake, one of the other Nascent Soul cultivators from the Starry River Court said, “Impossible. This is definitely a mistake….”

However, his words of consolation fell completely flat. The area outside of the stone spell formation descended into a deathly silence. All of the Nascent Soul Daoist masters were looking at the glowing circles, and it was completely obvious that the River-Defying Sect’s circle was continuing to grow brighter.

At the same time, the circles representing the other sects hadn’t changed at all…. Frigidsect, Crimsonsoul and Master Godwind were all dumbstruck.

Even they had no idea what could be going on inside the legacy zone….

“What… is Bai Xiaochun… doing in there?” Crimsonsoul murmured, looking over in confusion at Master Godwind and Frigidsect.

Meanwhile, back in the legacy zone, the disciples of the three sects were howling in fury. Bai Xiaochun was currently 12,000 meters in, and continuing forward toward the Mountain of Legacy Seals itself.

By this point, deep despair had taken root in the hearts of everyone present….

From the first moment this legacy zone had been opened in ancient times until now, not a single Core Formation cultivator had ever reached the actual foot of the mountain. In fact, no one knew what dangers existed there, nor what would happen if someone reached that point.

But now, everyone watched helplessly as the damnable and shameless Bai Xiaochun used his cheating methods to pull off a miracle.

“It’s not fair….”

“I can’t believe you can actually cheat the system here!”

“Oh heavens, have you no eyes? Send lightning to smite this despicable Bai Xiaochun!!” Tears welled up in their eyes as Bai Xiaochun reached the 15,000-meter mark. He was now right at the foot of the Mountain of Legacy Seals!

As soon as he reached that point, his jaw dropped. It felt as if he had just passed through a sheet of water, and he involuntarily stopped moving. Oh-so-carefully, he tilted up the edge of the turtle shell, and could sense that there was no lightning, no black wind, and no magic of any other type.

“Eee?” Curious, Bai Xiaochun backed up a few meters, and sure enough, could feel the lightning and other magic battering the turtle shell. Then he moved forward a bit, and the sensation vanished.

Under the despairing gazes of the crowd from the three other sects, Bai Xiaochun went back and forth a few times to confirm that the nine-meter-area right beneath the mountain was free of any sort of defensive spells.

Trembling with excitement, he slowly pushed the turtle shell off of himself and stood up, cracking sounds ringing out as he returned to his normal size. Then, he clasped his hands behind his back, flicked his sleeve, and stuck his chin up. Glancing back scornfully at the cultivators of the three sects, he said, “Hmmmmmph! Wanna fight with me? Who of you dares to come over here and have a duel to the death with Bai Xiaochun!?”

No one responded, but if looks could kill, then the gazes falling onto Bai Xiaochun would have chopped him into mincemeat….

Seeing that nobody was going to say anything, Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but sigh like a lonely hero. Then he turned and looked up at the Mountain of Legacy Seals, which was so toweringly tall that he couldn’t even see the top.

“I wonder what it would feel like to touch it…?” he thought. After pondering the matter for a moment, he decided that it most likely wouldn’t be very dangerous. Therefore, he cautiously reached out and tapped the surface of the mountain with the tip of his finger.

Nothing happened, and he breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, the cultivators of the three sects simply stared with wide eyes….

“I guess I have nothing to worry about.” Flicking his sleeve, he planted his hand firmly down onto the mountain and prepared to boast a bit.

However, in the moment that his hand landed on the mountain, rumbling sounds began to echo out.

The ground began to shake, and the sky vibrated as the dozens of remaining legacy seals on the mountain suddenly began to blaze with light, and then fly into the air!

They made a spectacular sight as they swirled about, each one radiating dazzling, multicolored light.

The cultivators of the three sects were completely shocked to see so many legacy seals flying out at the same time, and many of them unleashed magics to try to grab them.

Shocked, Bai Xiaochun was just about to pull his hand away from the mountain when suddenly, all of the dozens of legacy seals began to speed in his direction.

He couldn’t have evaded them even if he wanted to. He was like a black hole, and all of the seals were flying toward him, fusing into his body and merging with the seals he’d already acquired.

As they combined, a mnemonic appeared inside of Bai Xiaochun’s mind, a fragmented divine ability!

Because it was incomplete, he couldn’t quite make it out clearly. However, it was in that moment that the cultivators from the other sects who had acquired legacy seals earlier all began to scream. At the same time, their bodies began to twist and distort as the seals that they had absorbed earlier flew out from inside of them.

“How could this be happening?!”

“No! That’s my legacy seal!!” Amidst the cries of shock and alarm, the legacy seals sped toward Bai Xiaochun and merged into him. As of this moment, Bai Xiaochun had… one hundred legacy seals!

Each and every one of those hundred seals was inside of him, merging together!

The fragmented divine ability was now complete and easy to see!

“Living Mountain Incantation!” Bai Xiaochun’s mind spun as the divine ability was imprinted into his mind. Even before the process was complete, he could tell that this divine ability was something completely shocking!

Suddenly, an ancient voice began to speak inside of Bai Xiaochun’s mind. “Merge with the mountain, become a living mountain. Stand in front of the mountain and be called an immortal!”

The voice started out as a mere whisper, but by the end, its words echoed like thunder.

That was especially true of the final word spoken, immortal, which was spoken with heaven-rending, earth-crushing volume!

Meanwhile, outside of the legacy zone, the River-Defying Sect’s glowing circle was exploding with intense light. In fact, the light was so bright that it formed a pillar which shot up into the air!

Heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rumbling sounds echoed out as the beam of light ascended into parts unknown. The Nascent Soul cultivators from the three sects looked on with minds reeling.

If that were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal. However, as the River-Defying Sect’s light grew stronger, the lights representing the Dao, Polarity, and Starry River Courts grew dimmer, until they reverted to their original appearance. The River-Defying Sect’s beam of light… had consumed the light from the three other sects!

“This is impossible!”

“Something definitely went wrong. Majorly wrong!!”

“From ancient times until now, no one has ever lost a legacy seal that they had already absorbed!!” Looks of unprecedented shock appeared on the faces of the Nascent Soul cultivators, and it was with completely bloodshot eyes that they looked over at the River-Defying Sect’s patriarchs.

Frigidsect, Crimsonsoul and Master Godwind were looking on with wide eyes. They didn’t have any idea what was going on inside the legacy zone either, but one thing was for sure; they couldn’t help but feel strong reverence for Bai Xiaochun!