A Will Eternal

Naturally, Bai Xiaochun couldn’t hear the oath sworn by the boy, nor had he seen him in the twenty-first level. However, he was very suspicious of how things had gone.

“I wonder if that spirit automaton changed the difficulty level on me?” Although he had his suspicions, he was pleased to have passed the level.

“It’s hard to say. The spirit automaton can’t stay awake for very long. I’ll wait a bit and then try another level, and see how hard it is. That should answer the question.” Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the best idea, he sent out a thought and vanished from within the damaged fan. When he reappeared, he was in the north of the second immortal domain, back in the Eternal Lands.

Three months passed in which he mostly cultivated via breathing exercises, but also spent some time going out to check on things in Mistysea Prefecture. By now, it was very clear that, under the leadership of the Giant Ghost King and Grand Heavenmaster, the prefecture was making rapid progress.

It was also obvious that Mistysea Prefecture was becoming more popular in the region. People from the Heavenspan Realm showed up on almost a daily basis. Furthermore, just as the Grand Heavenmaster had planned, they began to promote Mistysea Prefecture as the best place to get spirit enhancements. Even now, it was possible to see that it would eventually be known as the Prefecture of Spirit Enhancements.

As Mistysea Prefecture developed, many merchants from the second immortal domain began to do business there. As a result, the booming prosperity of the prefecture was clear for all to see.

Bai Xiaochun was very pleased with it all, and was aware that none of it would have been possible without the hard work of the Giant Ghost King and Grand Heavenmaster. If he didn’t have them helping him, especially the Grand Heavenmaster with his profound administrative skills, things would have been a complete mess.

Also during the three months that passed, Bai Xiaochun would occasionally challenge the trials in the damaged fan. Soon, his previous speculations were confirmed. After the twenty-first level, he quickly passed six levels in a row. Although they were difficult, they all seemed to conform to the same general rule systems, unlike the twenty-first. The twenty-first had been a maddening fluke.

Sometimes, he would fail to pass a level immediately, but after challenging it a few times, would figure out the specific rules governing the level, and would pass it easily. That seemed to prove that something suspicious had been going on earlier.

“It was definitely that spirit automaton making mischief. It’ll just never be satisfied, will it?” After that, he was much more careful when challenging the trials. Another month passed, and he reached the twenty-ninth level. After that much time without any increase in the level of difficulty, he breathed a sigh of relief.

As Mistysea Prefecture continued to grow and develop, Bai Xiaochun encountered another problem.

Manpower!

Mistysea Prefecture’s population was simply too low, and there weren’t enough people from the Heavenspan Realm to perform spirit enhancements. Because of that, the Grand Heavenmaster’s plan was not being carried out as quickly as it could have been.

Bai Xiaochun had an idea about what to do. In the following days, he didn’t spend much time working on the challenges in the damaged fan. Instead, he spent some time discussing the matter with the Frigid Matriarch in the Greatsword of the North.

Back when he had initially summoned the Greatsword of the North back in the climactic battle with Daoist Heavenspan, all of the people in the north had been sucked into the sword.

Of course, most of the northerners had already been mobilized to fight in the war, but there were still more people inside the sword than were currently in Mistysea Prefecture. If those people could be brought out and added to the population of Mistysea Prefecture, then development would advance by leaps and bounds.

Excited, Bai Xiaochun spent a lot of time talking with the Frigid Matriarch about the subject. A month later, when his cultivation base reached the peak of the early Celestial Realm thanks to his gains made in the damaged fan, an agreement was finally reached.

The Frigid Matriarch approved of the level of his cultivation base, and although she didn’t say it openly, Bai Xiaochun could sense that his control of the Greatsword of the North was now different than before.

Specifically, he could sense that a mere thought on his part could bring all of the northern cultivators out of the sword and into his presence.

After performing some initial tests, he excitedly summoned the Grand Heavenmaster and Giant Ghost King. Together, they went to a wide, mountainous valley within Mistysea Prefecture, whereupon Bai Xiaochun produced the sword and prepared to free all the people therein.

Rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth as blue light spilled out of the Greatsword of the North. The entire valley trembled as one figure after another emerged into the Eternal Immortal Domains, confused expressions on their faces.

Of course, neither the Grand Heavenmaster nor the Giant Ghost King were familiar with any of these cultivators. But Bai Xiaochun had spent time in the north, and was essentially a household name there. Of course, these cultivators didn’t know about how the Heavenspan Realm was no more, and neither did they know anything about the enormous sovereign in the sky above. Therefore, they were all visibly confused and shaken.

In the end, the Grand Heavenmaster and Giant Ghost King were actually more skilled in allaying the confusion of the masses than Bai Xiaochun was. Therefore, they sent their divine sense out to explain the situation. Half a month later, everyone was out of the Greatsword of the North, and whether they found the situation easy to accept or not, had no choice but to begin their new lives in the Eternal Immortal Domains.

Actually, they were luckier than the rest of their fellow Heavenspan cultivators, who had experienced the destruction of heaven and earth, and had been teleported out into strange lands to be lost, enslaved, or worse.

The newly arrived cultivators had a long road in front of them, and the Grand Heavenmaster did his best to inspire and motivate them to help in the development of Mistysea Prefecture.

Although not as many of them were adept at spirit enhancement as there would have been if they were Wildlanders, there were still some. Furthermore, the Grand Heavenmaster and Giant Ghost King were both connoisseurs of the art. And there was little need to mention Bai Xiaochun, who was the Heavenspan Realm’s only heavenly necromancer. All of that ensured that Mistysea Prefecture would only continue to develop rapidly in the days to come.

The prefecture flourished, and more merchants came to do business. Thanks to the promotional efforts of the Grand Heavenmaster, people were already starting to call it by the moniker Prefecture of Spirit Enhancements. People in the know all over the Eternal Immortal Domains were saying that Mistysea Prefecture was the only place to get spirit enhancements!

Although there were people from the Heavenspan Realm in other locations who could perform spirit enhancements, the Grand Heavenmaster convinced Bai Xiaochun to spread word that he was the Ultimate Enhancer in the Eternal Immortal Domains! And who could compete with that?

Once people began talking about the Ultimate Enhancer, it had a profound effect on Mistysea Prefecture!

It was virtually on a daily basis that people from the Heavenspan Realm came to join them. As for Celestial Aged Spirit, he and Bai Xiaochun already had a tacit agreement. As far as Celestial Aged Spirit was concerned, as long as the profoundly troublesome Bai Xiaochun didn’t interfere with his interests directly, then it wasn’t worth it to offend him.

And then there was the Saint-Emperor. He could only sigh at the news of Mistysea Prefecture’s development. Although he could guess what Bai Xiaochun’s ultimate plan was, in the end, it would benefit him as well. As such, there was little he could do. Perhaps if he wasn’t aware of how much of a disaster Bai Xiaochun could be, he might have tried to interfere. But those days were long gone.

Bai Xiaochun was a celestial, and could be profoundly dangerous. He was also the true master of the Eternal Turtle. The Saint-Emperor could only imagine what would happen if he stopped Mistysea Prefecture from progressing, and then Bai Xiaochun came to Saint-Emperor City for any length of time…. That was the final factor that made his decision.

“Let him do whatever he wants!”

And thus, Mistysea Prefecture buzzed with activity. More and more people were talking about the Prefecture of Spirit Enhancements, even in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty. When Bai Xiaochun saw that nobody was coming to cause any trouble, he sighed with relief, and then focused more energy on the damaged fan.

In one incredible run, he got all the way through the twenty-ninth level. After catching his breath, he excitedly stepped into the thirtieth level. However, it was in that exact moment that the spirit automaton, which had been asleep for months now, woke up again.

“You shameless villain! I’m back! And this time, if I don’t destroy you, I’ll change my surname to match yours!! I swear it!” It was with narrowed eyes that the spirit automaton boy headed directly toward the thirtieth level.