A Will Eternal

These two Core Formation cultivators had profound cultivation bases, and were accustomed to joining forces to cut down their enemy. Instead of attacking on their own, they split up and closed in on Bai Xiaochun from the left and right.

As they approached, the old man on the left performed an incantation gesture, causing black mist to explode out of his hand and take the form of a vicious black dragon. Despite being made of mist, it pulsed with an aura of rot, and even the air around it seemed to be decaying. At the same time, an acrid air spread out from it that caused the leaves and vegetation in the jungle below to wither up into ash. The mere sight of it caused Bai Xiaochun’s pupils to constrict.

The old man on the right was equally as vicious. With each step he took through the air, red lotuses bloomed beneath his feet which, despite being illusory, were clearly part of a spell formation that was sealing down the area tight.

As the spell formation formed, the old man’s eyes suddenly flickered with bizarre magical symbols that caused the atmosphere in the area to push down with incredible pressure.

“One of them uses an aura of death to rot everything around them,” Bai Xiaochun thought, “and the other creates a spell formation with every step he takes….” Inwardly, he was feeling very glum. He hadn’t even wanted this mission to begin with, and had even been trying to flee. He had only run into his intended target by chance. Even then, he had pretended not to recognize Zuo Hengfeng. And yet, despite all of that, Zuo Hengfeng had arrogantly put his evil intentions on full display.

That in itself was irritating to Bai Xiaochun, but even worse were the things that Zuo Hengfeng had just said out loud. Not only did Bai Xiaochun find them revolting, they caused fury to begin to burn in his heart. The mere thought of what might happen to him if he were to be captured caused chills to run up his spine. Shouting out in rage, eyes flashing with cold light, he unleashed his murderous aura, and even as his two Core Formation opponents closed in, he chose not to retreat, but rather, to step forward.

As he advanced, he called upon the Frigid School Will-Evolving Incantation, which spread out rapidly, causing cracking sounds to fill the air. The aura of the Frigid Adept level spread out for hundreds of meters in all directions, turning everything as cold as the dead of winter. Snowflakes even appeared in the air, causing both the Core Formation cultivators and Zuo Hengfeng to be engulfed by bitter iciness. Zuo Hengfeng’s face immediately fell.

“A technique from the Dao of frigid coldness!” The two Core Formation experts’ pupils constricted as the frigid qi wrapped around them. For someone to cultivate the power of frigid qi to this level, to the point where transformations manifested in heaven and earth, was something rarely seen among Core Formation cultivators.

With the exception of Bai Xiaochun, everything in the area seemed to be in the process of freezing rapidly.

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually occurred in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. As the frigid qi billowed out, Bai Xiaochun took a step forward, and the rotting black dragon reached a point where it was only about three meters in front of him.

However, the black dragon couldn’t move beyond that point. The frigid cold in the area caused the vicious dragon to freeze, and in the blink of an eye, it was nothing more than ice.

Ignoring it, Bai Xiaochun took another step forward, vanishing and then reappearing in front of the old man on the right. Without any pause, he clenched his hand into a fist and punched out.

A look of incredulous shock appeared on the old man’s face as he staggered backward, blood spraying out of his mouth. Then he shouted, “A minor teleportation?!?!”

He wasn’t the only one to react with such shock. The old man on the left gasped in astonishment.

Even as the words left the mouth of the old man on the right, Bai Xiaochun shot like lightning toward the other man, reaching out with his right hand to unleash the Throat Crushing Grasp. Simultaneously, a powerful gravitational force locked onto the man, ensuring that Bai Xiaochun reached him in the mere blink of an eye.

A sensation of deadly crisis rose up in the old man’s mind, and he began to pant. Having no time for consideration, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture, causing even more black mist to erupt out into the area, forming the image of a gigantic skeleton. As Bai Xiaochun closed in, the old man called upon the full power of his cultivation base to try to block the killing move.

The old man on the right was equally wracked with anxiety. By now, he realized that they had provoked a completely terrifying individual, and knew that if his partner died, then it would be very unlikely that he would make it out of the situation alive. Eyes completely bloodshot, he let out an urgent shout, causing the magical symbols in his eyes to shine with intense brightness. Magical symbols even swirled about on the surface of his skin as he dove through the frigid cold in the direction of Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun’s eyes shone brightly as he gave a cold snort. Not only did he not slow down, he summoned a pair of wings, and also used the Mountain Shaking Bash to add a further burst of speed. Deafening sonic booms rang out as he passed up the old man who had been attempting to bar his path, and then slammed into the black mist which had just been summoned.

Before the black mist of rot could do a single thing to Bai Xiaochun, his hand had pierced through it with lightning-like speed and latched onto the throat of the Core Formation cultivator.

“You….” The old man’s eyes went wide with disbelief and shock, but before he could say more than a single word, Bai Xiaochun’s hand clenched down. The old man screamed and lunged backward. The flesh was ripped out of his neck, causing blood to spray everywhere, and yet, he was a Core Formation cultivator with powerful life force, and that in and of itself didn’t kill him. He quickly backed up, his eyes shining with terror, and yet, before he could get very far, Bai Xiaochun waved his finger in his direction.

Instantly, the Renegade Dragon Horn flew out of his bag of holding, piercing through the air in a blinding flash before stabbing into the old man’s forehead and shooting through his head.

The old man’s eyes went wide as he was sent tumbling backward like a kite with its string cut before slamming into the ground below. Even in the moment before he died, his eyes were filled with incredulity, as if he couldn’t imagine how he had possibly been defeated so easily. The moment the battle began, his opponent had used a teleportation to gain the upper hand, and then completely dominated him, leaving him dead only a few breaths of time later.

In the moment of the old man’s death, his partner, the man who had used the magical symbols and spell formation, gasped. Heart pounding, he sent the magical symbols flying out of his body toward Bai Xiaochun. However, before they could get close, they all collapsed.

Incredible rumbling sounds echoed out as a massive force slammed into the old man, sending him tumbling through the air. Terror gleamed in his eyes as he spun to a stop next to Zuo Hengfeng. Without the slightest hesitation, he shot his right hand out to grab Zuo Hengfeng.

A bang rang out, and Zuo Hengfeng coughed up some blood. The passion in his eyes had already transformed into terror, leaving him rooted in place. However, that didn’t stop the old man from grabbing him and fleeing in the opposite direction.

Everything happened with fluid, unnatural speed.

“Think you can leave just like that?!” Bai Xiaochun said. Then his third eye opened, and violet light burst out.

As soon as the violet light wrapped around the old man, his steps faltered, and something began to drag him backward. A look of despair appeared in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Get out of here, Young Lord! This guy… isn’t a normal Core Formation cultivator!!”

With that, he violently shoved Zuo Hengfeng out in front of him. Blood oozed out of the corners of Zuo Hengfeng’s mouth as he became a beam of light that shot away at top speed. By this point he was shaking in fear, and his heart was gripped by regret; never could he have imagined that the cultivator he chose to pick on would be someone so powerful.

“Dammit, dammit….” he muttered, shivering. He even drew on his longevity, using a blood escape art to harm himself in an attempt to gain enough speed to flee.

As he accelerated, he heard an agonized shriek from behind him, which was then cut off abruptly. That caused Zuo Hengfeng to shake even harder.

Moments ago, Bai Xiaochun had used his Heavenspan Dharma Eye to bind the second Core Formation expert. Then, a wave of his hand had sent copious amounts of frigid qi pouring into him, almost instantly transforming him into an ice statue, which dropped down to the ground below and shattered into countless pieces.

Looking at the fleeing Zuo Hengfeng, Bai Xiaochun growled, “You! You forced me to do this!”

Thinking about Zuo Hengfeng’s licentious smile, and the way it sent shivers down his back, Bai Xiaochun planted his right foot into the ground and then pushed off. A huge crater opened up as he used the momentum to shoot forward, also drawing on his wings and the Mountain Shaking Bash. Not even Zuo Hengfeng’s blood escape art could help him evade that.

As Bai Xiaochun closed in, frigid qi spread out, and Zuo Hengfeng shook violently. Moments later, the frigid qi began to freeze his legs into place, and he started to slow down!

Then, Bai Xiaochun waved his finger, causing the frigid qi to form into numerous ice blades which instantly slashed toward Zuo Hengfeng.

“How dare you try to kill me!” he screamed. “My Master is–” However, it was at that point that the ice blades slashed him into pieces, killing him in body and soul!