A Will Eternal

Teeth gritted and eyes bloodshot, Zhao Tianjiao said, “Tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go through with your plan!”

Heart swelling with determination, he gave Bai Xiaochun a deep bow of thanks, and then turned and left.

His two followers exchanged awkward glances, then bowed to Bai Xiaochun and hurried to follow Zhao Tianjiao back to deck 2.

After Zhao Tianjiao and his followers left, Master God-Diviner rose to his feet and looked over at Bai Xiaochun with a look of complete reverence, having been completely overwhelmed by Bai Xiaochun’s mastery of the ways of love.

As the expression goes, listening to the words of a wise man can be superior to ten years of studying from books, and that was exactly how Master God-Diviner felt now. If he could master Bai Xiaochun’s consummate techniques, then after he got back to the River-Defying Sect, he would have the power to rebuke the heavens and rise to the pinnacle of all creation.

Such thoughts left Master God-Diviner completely excited, and he immediately stepped forward to refill Bai Xiaochun’s drinking vessel with alcohol.

“Junior Patriarch, you must be tired from all that speaking, please quench your parched throat.”

Chin tilting up, Bai Xiaochun looked at Master God-Diviner, and felt quite pleased to see how subserviently he was acting. Taking a drink of alcohol, he nodded approvingly.

At first, Master God-Diviner was a bit taken aback, but he quickly recovered and said, “Junior Patriarch, your shoulders must be tired. Come, come, allow me to massage them.”

With that, he hurried over and began to knead Bai Xiaochun’s shoulders.

“Junior Patriarch,” he continued politely, “if you want it softer or harder, just say the word.”

Feeling extremely pleased with himself, Bai Xiaochun laughed loudly and continued to fan himself. As far as he was concerned, he really was incredible; by consolidating and then revealing all of imposter Nightcrypt’s skills and knowledge, he had left everyone completely flabbergasted.

Song Que couldn’t take this scene anymore, although secretly, he was quite shaken. He would never deign to reveal that fact to Bai Xiaochun though. Snorting lightly, he rose to his feet to leave when, all of a sudden, Master God-Diviner asked a very interesting question.

“Junior Patriarch, I’m very curious about the advice you gave to Zhao Tianjiao a moment ago. What kind of clothes did you tell him to wear?”

Bai Xiaochun straightened out his sleeve and replied, “Oh, you want to know that?”

At this point, Master God-Diviner decided to go all-in with the flattery. “Junior patriarch, you are consummately wise, intelligent, and courageous. I know that I’m not smart enough to hide my curiosity from you, sir, so I figured I might as well ask directly.”

Bai Xiaochun simply couldn’t cover up how proud he was of himself. Laughing, he continued, “Well, that’s true. I’m Love Saint Bai Xiaochun! I dominated the field of love for decades! What is there that I haven’t seen!?

“Ah, whatever. You can’t to go up to deck 2 to see for yourselves tomorrow; that would interfere with the plan anyway.” With that, Bai Xiaochun slapped his bag of holding and produced his copper mirror. “Que’er, why don’t you deliver this mirror over to Elder Brother Zhao. Tell him to keep it on his person so that we can see what’s happening, and I can give him instructions as needed.”

Song Que hesitated, but caught the mirror as Bai Xiaochun tossed it over. Although he was inclined to refuse, he was also curious about the plan with Zhao Tianjiao, and therefore, gritted his teeth and left to deliver the mirror.

Nothing happened during the night. The following morning, Bai Xiaochun, Master God-Diviner, Song Que and Chen Manyao were all gathered around a jade slip, which emanated a soft light above it in the form of a screen. The images on the screen were very clear, and revealed a room that was vastly larger and more luxurious than Bai Xiaochun’s.

In addition to the room, Zhao Tianjiao was there, although only his face was visible at the moment.

He was frowning, apparently vacillating about what to do, and also clearly aware that Bai Xiaochun could see him. Finally, after a long moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, “This is all for the sake of Junior Sister Yueshan. I’m… I’m gonna put everything on the line!”

Zhao Tianjiao took a moment to gather his focus, and then, without any hesitation, performed an incantation gesture with his right hand. Instantly, a field of mist appeared around him, from within which could be heard loud rustling sounds.

Since Bai Xiaochun and the others were observing through the copper mirror, it was impossible to see through that mist unless they used some special techniques. Considering that, Master God-Diviner, Song Que, and Chen Manyao were all extremely curious about what was happening.

Soon, the rustling sounds faded away, but the mist remained in place. Apparently, Zhao Tianjiao wasn’t willing to emerge from inside. Time passed. A lot of time. Finally, Zhao Tianjiao’s eyes could be seen from within the mist, shining as brightly as stars.

“Xiaochun, you can hear me, right?” he said, his voice quavering a bit. “Based on my observations, every day at about this time, Junior Sister Yueshan emerges from her cabin. Therefore, I’m going to do just as you asked. I’m going to walk out and make sure… that she sees me.” Zhao Tianjiao seemed very nervous, so nervous in fact that even having a higher cultivation base wouldn’t have enabled him to control it. And yet, in addition to that nervousness, there was also a hint of excitement.

A moment later, Zhao Tianjiao’s eyes narrowed, and then the mist began to vanish, and he strode toward the door.

By the time the door opened, the mist had vanished, revealing a sight… that left Master God-Diviner, Song Que, and Chen Manyao’s eyes as wide as saucers.

He was wearing a pink outfit, including pink trousers, a pink hat, and pink robes…. Everything was pink…. Even his face seemed pink, although that was likely from embarrassment. Most noteworthy of all was that he held a pink, feathered fan in his hand….

Zhao Tianjiao looked absolutely nothing like he usually did. Usually, he was cool and aloof, a higher being of sorts, a person with no expression on his wooden, ice-cold face!

But now, he was completely pink, almost as if he were trying to be flirtatious. It was a shocking transformation, and even Bai Xiaochun, who had come up with this idea to begin with, felt like his mind was being struck by lightning.

As all the observers reeled in shock, Zhao Tianjiao gritted his teeth and, according to the plan put in place, he strode out the door with a coquettish look on his face. He fanned himself slowly, his eyes narrowed, and even went so far as to pull out a pink flower and bite it between his teeth. As he strolled in the direction of Chen Yueshan’s cabin, he looked like the picture of an important government official on his way to take some liberties with women.

“Th-that’s… that’s really Elder Brother Zhao?” Master God-Diviner stammered. Song Que was just as shaken, and Chen Manyao’s eyes were wide with shock.

It was in that very moment that the door of Chen Yueshan’s cabin opened, and she walked out into the open. She stood tall and straight, clad in a green robe, apparently having just bathed. There were even a few beads of moisture on her neck that made her look as beautiful as a water lily. Although it wouldn’t be correct to call her one of the most beautiful women in existence, she was definitely the type to catch the attention of any male.

Apparently, she was on her way to the deck to enjoy the sea breeze, but even as she slowly pushed open the door to her cabin, her eyes fell upon Zhao Tianjiao.

In that instant, her eyes went so wide they became completely round. Her jaw dropped, and she forgot to keep pushing the door open. As for Zhao Tianjiao, he was so nervous that he couldn’t think of anything to say, and before he could think of what to do, Chen Yueshan recovered her senses. Eyes going blank, she stepped back into her cabin and slammed the door shut.

The slamming of the door struck Zhao Tianjiao senseless for a moment, and the flower even fell out of his mouth. Then, he hurried back into his own cabin and pulled out the copper mirror.

“Well, how did it go, Xiaochun?” he said. “I… I feel like things were a bit off….” As of this moment, the crestfallen Zhao Tianjiao didn’t seem at all like the Eldest Brother of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. Instead, he seemed more like a confused teenager.

“Stand firm, Elder Brother Zhao!” Bai Xiaochun said solemnly, projecting his words through the copper mirror to Zhao Tianjiao. “Did you forget what I said to you about keeping your mortal heart calm? I saw everything that happened just now. Elder Sister Yueshan’s reaction was completely normal. Don’t worry at all. We just need to keep doing things as planned.”

Bai Xiaochun seemed to be struggling to sound confident, but Zhao Tianjiao didn’t notice. After hearing Bai Xiaochun’s words, he steeled himself, took a deep breath, and nodded solemnly.

“I’ll do whatever you say!”

“Trust me,” Bai Xiaochun said, slapping his chest, “what happened just now is no problem at all.”

The truth was he was feeling a bit guilty about what had happened, but did his best to sound encouraging. Gritting his teeth, he became more determined than ever to help his Elder Brother Zhao win over the beautiful Chen Yueshan.

The following morning at dawn….

Zhao Tianjiao paced back and forth in his room, building up his courage. When he was ready, he swished his sleeve and summoned the mist. When he pushed open the door and dispelled the mist, he was wearing a completely different set of clothing….