Fallen Sword Abyss
It took a lot of time, several months in fact but finally, he pretended to reach enlightement after he observed the four spirit beats guardian of each peak of the North Bank. Nobody saw throught his acting and the North Bank was shocked to see Bai Xioachun version of the Waterswamp Kingdom.
Satisfied, this time, he asked Li Qinghou to stay behind. He asked him if he could borrow the Arcane Gravitational Repulsion secret magic to learn before the next competition to reach Foundation Establishement. He assured with it that he will be able to reach nine Tideflow!
Eyes shining, Li Qinghou nodded and left.
A few days later, Bai Xioachun was requested to come see his elder brother the sect leader. His heart was beating faster, suspecting what his elder brother wanted. He welcomed Bai Xioachun with a warm smile and told him he would be given the Arcane Graviational Repulsion secret magic... but under some conditions.
They gave him a mission that would be needed to be accomplished inside the Fallen Sword Abyss. If he refused to do it, that would be fine but they wouldn't give him the secret magic.
As they explained, Bai Xioachun eye's went wide... It was an assassination mission!
He was given a list of the top Chosen from every other Lower Reaches sect and even some top 2 Chosen like Lei Shan. If he managed to kill at least one of them, his mission would be considered completed and he was promise a great reward if he killed more.
He accepted the mission without hesitation after reading throught the list he had being given. As he left, he was inwardly cursing them.
Those cunning old farts! They probably got some clues about my real strenght... Well whatever. It's not going to be impossible for me anyway. And this way, I'll have less competition over the Heavenstring Energy!
As he left, a monkey was staring at him with eyes that were sparkling with both intelligence and interest...
Bai Xioachun started to study that secret magic as soon as he returned to the Beast Conservatory. He was surprise to see how familiar it was to use while using his New Moon Armor. In fact, it was making it stronger!
This was a defensive magic only but it was strong. It could be released in an instant and repulse anything under heaven. It also could be use to dispell seals or curses on your fleshy body!
Bai Xioachun needed to use the cultivation method to store the power of gravity and repulsion inside of his body. As he was doing so, he was delighted to sense a resonnance toward both the Protomagnetic Pearl and the hourglass inside of his mind! Both of them were seemingly getting stronger as he cultivated this technique!
Half a year passed. By the time his Beastbirth Seed finally bloomed, Bai Xioachun control over over the Protomagnetic Pearl had increase significally and he could now sense a faint Essence of Time in his mind! He couldn't locate it and even less use it offensively yet but it was still progress. As for the Arcane Gravitational Repulsion technique, he had fuse its strenght in the layer of protomagnetic force given from teh New Moon Armor.
Finally, it was time for him to make his own battle beast. While now he had King, he knew that because of the strenght of his life essense spirit, it meant he could bond with another spirit beast quite easily!
However, this time... Bai Xiaochun picked the battle beasts with even more carefully then his past life. He focused on reptiles and mammals only. When he felt it was time, he went to see the Heavenhorn Ink Dragon himself and made him a Super Aphrodisiac Pill in exchange for his help. This time, he only requested for the donation of the giant lizard from Sunset Peak and the mystic ghost-like spirit beast from Ghostfang Peak. Once again, the Nightstalker Beast proven quite useful to gather the spirit beast Bai Xioachun couldn't gather himself but he didn't let him do as much contribution as last time.
He also asked the Heavenhorn Ink Dragon that in the future, he might ask him to stand up next to him if the Spirit Stream Sect wanted, at some point, attempt to attack or harm someone special for him. The request made the Heavenhorn Ink Dragon blink and was curious about that oddly specific request. He guessed that Bai Xiaochun probably just wanted to impress a girl from the Spirit Stream Sect so with a chuckle, he agreed.
Bai Xioachun didn't have trouble in this life with the grass snake as all his monologue were now internal. Just like last time, a huge vortex appeared within the sky and a huge lifeforce was being emitted by the flower. It created quite the stir on the North Bank and everyone came over to see what was going on.
This time, nobody berated Bai Xioachun. The phenomena in itself and the strong lifeforce from the Beastbirth Flower was enough evidence that the bloodline of the spirit beast inside of it was extremely high. To Bai Xioachun surprise, the sky still turned red and a bloodcurdling shriek then emanated from within the withered Beastbirth Flower. Simultaneously, the powerful aura suddenly began to decline.
The third generation patriarch and the Heavenhorn Ink Dragon both helped to give the spirit beast a chance to fight and everyone left, dispirited. Bai Xioachun felt even more distraught then last time. After all, he had being so careful this time!
He took care of the flower once again, just like before. He talked to it softly, begging it to keep on living. He whispered to it, caressed it softly, and poured his heart and soul into encouraging it. He never stopped talking and also began to send his own spiritual power into the flower.
But to his relief, this time, after only two days instead of five, the creature inside showed signs to be able to hold its bloodline together. It roared and its lifeforce surged. On the third day, a burst of energy bursted the flower remains, blasting everyone away.
At first, they saw razor-sharp claws that seemed capable of shredding even the air itself. Flames flickered around the claws, and anyone who was able to see them was completely shocked.
The little spirit beast finally appeared in the open. He had similarity from before. It looked like a dog, a lizard and a dragon! It had a small budge on its forehead, proving a horn would grow there in the future.
Once again, Bruiser seemed already deeply attached to Bai Xiaochun. Once Bai Xiaochun finished resting and returned to his peak, he used the Heavenspan Elephant Control Art to bond with Bruiser. In the coming months, Bai Xiaochun trained with Bruiser. His little battle beast proved to be as strong as in the past, which Bai Xioachun found to be an unexpected surprise. Even if Bruiser had being born weaker then before, he wouldn't have mind. He had restricted the spirit beasts even more this time just because he wanted to make sure Bruiser wouldn't die. After all, the future was not written in stone.
Bai Xioachun also trained on his own. It seem he was driven to be as strong as he could be. He had stopped training his Undying Muscles after gaining the power of three Mammoth as he figured it would be enough for the Fallen Sword Abyss. He decided to focus his energy on the Arcane Gravitational Repulsion secret magic. By the time it was time to go for the Foundation Establishement trial, Bai Xiaochun had successfully made an initial contact with the technique. He could only use it once and althought he couldn't use the hourglass yet, he could now release a faint aura of the Dao of Time around him!
Finally, the time of the trial came. Our hero felt more then ready. He still dressed up with a few layers of armors, a big black wok and armed to the teeth. However this time, his attitude was one of supreme confidence. He was surprised to see there had being a another change when he saw that Chen Qingrou was in the group. He made a mental note of it.
He helped his fellow sect members to get inside the Fallen Sword Abyss, protecting their entrance and allowing them to enter safely. Then he went further down then before. He went below the level where Song Que went, where the cold was so strong no Foundation Establishement disciple could reach. After he entered, he took a jade box from his bag of holding...
It was the mysterious pills that could attract banebeasts. He had made some in advance and store then in a spirit jadebox. Because he was in a level nobody else in the Qi Condensation had ever reach in those trials, the Banebeasts there were of higher in number and of a higher level. It took only ten days to fullfill his Dao bottle and form a Dao crystal.
He didn't try to reach Foundation Establishement right away though, he had quite a few things he needed to do first...
He spent the rest of the time searching for disciples of the other sects. When he found the body of someone of the Spirit Stream Sect, he would collect them in his bag of holding. He was searching for a few persons... He finally found one of his marks: Nightcrypt.
He didnt like the fact he had to kill him but he didn't have any choices. Since he had to do it, he decided to do it in one strike, making it as painless as possible. He made sure nobody else was around before ambushing him and giving him a slap first to make him unconscious. Killing him after that was easy. Bai Xioachun put the mask inside a orb made of the force of attraction and repulsion before putting it in his bag of holding. He took Nightcrypt Dao bottle and let it in the open to hide the fact he no longer had one himself. After all, Bai Xioachun own Dao bottle broke when the crystal had being completely formed.
Next, after a few days, he found Xu Xiaoshan. He challenged him into a battle. Like before, he used some of his paper talismans to make all his treasures unable to approach him. But this time, Bai Xioachun laughed softly and said:
" The Dao of Wealth can be both strong and impressive but your understanding of it seem to be lacking. Having deep pockets is not everything. If you want your Dao to get stronger, you'll need three things..."
He rose one finger: " First, the skills to gain the goods others will want. This one is easy to understand."
Bai Xioachun rose another finger: " Two, the discernement to see what is precious and what is not. It's not just for the goods you'll have but everything in your life. "
Our Hero rose a third finger: " And finally, the more important one, recognize that wealth can be lost but that as long as you stay alive, it can be rebuilded. And those three points are only the most basic rules, let me illustrate it to you further... "
Summoning his battle beast King from his beastbag, the snake automatically coiled around Bai Xioachun protectively. The sight was quite impressive as the bloodgod cobra was huge and even Xu Xioashan expression flickered at the sight. Proud of himself, Bai Xioachun continued:
" Bloodgod Cobra are strong battlebeast but there is a lot of things only they can provide to gain wealth. Sure, their poison is deadly and as an apocathory, I can make astonishing toxic pills with it. But what if someone would want to use the same toxic pills against you? Or what if they find a way to improve the goods you sell and use them against you? That's why you need to always have a backup plan and own better goods then what you are willing to sell to others. For that, with the shedded skin of this very same battle beast when its fleshy body was still in the great circle of Qi Condensation, this battle robe was made by the most skillful artisans of the Spirit Stream Sect: "
As he was talking, he got the white battle robe the Hou clan made from his back of holding. It was looking regal and impressive. Bai Xioachun continued, ignoring the increasing look of shock Xu Xioashan had:
" This battle robe has being enhanced with a spell formation that will protect you from any attack from the early Foundation Establishement stage and under... but the best part is that blood will never stain it and the robe will protect you from any poisons under the Core Formation stage! If you were to hunt Pill Stream Sect disciple with it, you'll be invincible! As a token of our friendship, please take it, " Bai Xioachun said, sending the battle robe his way.
Xu Xioashan breath became ragged. He felt like his mind was struck by thousand bolts of lightning. And in the same time, his eyes were sparkling with enlightement!
This guy... is unfathomable! The jade slip said he was blessed with good luck and that he have an Violet Qi body but his mind is also as sharp as it can be! His words... Wait... if he is willing to part of this robe, according to what he said, it means he has something even stronger up his sleeves?!
He gulped loudly, remembering that Bai Xioachun said his battlebeast was no longer in the Qi Condensation stage. That means... it was already in the Foundation Establishement stage?!
A shiver went down his spine. He felt like a junior facing a senior, both in strenght and understanding of the great Dao. Although he realized that Bai Xioachun could have killed him if he really wanted to, it seem he had taken interest in him. He decided that if he wanted to survive, he needed to befriend his enemy.
He bowed down deeply while clasping his hand to Bai Xioachun, his tone and manners becoming as polite and courteous as it could be: " Thank you brother from the Spirit Stream Sect. I'll carry both this robe with pride and your words of wisdom in my heart. I swear that unless forced to by our sects, I will not face you as an enemy would. If there is anything I can do for you brother, say the word! "
Bai Xioachun smiled and asked something about if Xu Xioashan had a item to deal with the banesouls here and immediately, Xu Xioashan got out both jade pieces and their mnemonic for Bai Xioachun. He didn't even try to fool Bai Xioachun, explaining the item and gave him a proper warning of how to use those jade pieces proerly. Bai Xioachun was surprised but since Xu Xioashan was being so honest and straightfoward, he gave him also the jade slip describing how to do the poison attack that can be unleashed after the robe absorbed enough poison.
Xu Xioashan suddenly realized the robe would have being useless eventually, once it absorbed enough poison but couldn't release it. He couldn't help but admire Bai Xioachun once again. The both of them exchanged a few pleasanteries but eventually parted.
Bai Xioachun was feeling a bit melancholic. He wished they could have try to trick each other like in the past but it couldn't be helped. He wanted the guy to survive the incoming trials that the future would brought them. He could only hope that his words would bring him closer to his own personnal Dao.
Sighing, Bai Xioachun resumed his search. A few hours later, he found Fang Lin in the distance. Our hero knew what he had to do...
Bai Xioachun summoned another horde of banebeast with his pills. He started to kill the banebeast and fill his second Dao Bottle. Fang Lin couldn't resist in trying to get the earthstring energy of those banebeasts as well. It was the same for the other disciples around. Bai Xioachun pretended to be annoyed but let them be and focused in trying to help his fellow sect member to battle the banebasts.
Bai Xioachun waited for the best moment to sprung his trap. When Fang Lin was about to retreat from an attack of a group of banebeasts, Bai Xioachun pointed at the ground behind Fang Lin. A mouth suddenly appeared and swallowed Fang Lin before disappearing back into nothing.
It had being so quick and subtle that nobody else noticed what happened. Even the disciples who were closest to Fang Li just assumed a banebeast appeared out of nowhere, ate Fang Lin and disappeared without a trace! This gave them a chill up their spine and they backed up.
Bai Xioachun finished dealing with the banebeast wave and went on his own. Once he was alone, he made King spit out Fang Lin corpse. His body had already started to melt. Fortunatly, his bag of hiolding was just slightly damaged and his Dao Bottle was intact. Bai Xioachun let King ate Fang Lin body again now that he gotten what he wanted.
Bai Xiaochun was looking for Lei Shan next. A few days later, Bai Xioachun divine sense locked on a scene that made him angry...
His third sister was defending herself against Lei Shan and a group of Profound Stream sect disciples. She surprisingly proven to be a dark horse in this competition. Both her and Lei Shan had proven to be a match for each other in skills and power. She finally was able to gain the upper hand and injure Lei Shan but she had to back down now because of the sudden intervention of group of Profound Stream Sect who suddenly arrived as reinforcement. She tried to flee but Lei Shan was just as fast as her. He had managed to catch up and stall her long enough for his fellow Profound Stream Sect disciple to surround her.
She wasn't deeply injured because, just like Bai Xiaochun, she had trained the Arcane Gravitationnal Repulsion secret magic. Her mastery of this secret magic was way superior then Bai Xioachun but her Qi was secretly running low. She felt bitter about it, feeling like she was going to die soon. At this point, she wondered why she was even there, in the Fallen Sword Abyss. Cultivation was something she found out to be enjoyable after she became an Inner Disciple but but she wasn't actually interested in getting stronger. In the back of her mind, she wished she could go back to the Ovens. The figure of a plump Bai Xioachun appeared in her mind before she sighed and pushed it away, focusing on what she thought was going to be her last moment as Lei Shan approached her with flames and lightning cloaking him...
Then suddenly, Bai Xioachun appeared behind Lei Shan. Nobody had seem him coming. Lei Shan suddenly felt dread crawling up his scalp, a sense of deadly crisis like he never experienced before. He tried to move away but a gravity force made him unable to dodge. Ignoring the fire and lightning surrounding Lei Shan, Bai Xioachun fingers ended on Lei Shan's neck. Lei Shan felt a jolt of divine lightning go throught him, destroying his body. Even his own fire-lightning body couldn't resist it in the slightest!
His neck exploded and his head was propulsed out of his body. The rest of Lei Shan body felt toward the ground.
It happened so fast that only now the Qi Condensation disciples around Lei Shan and Bai Xioachun noticed what was happening. To everyone surprise, they could now see Bai Xioachun where Lei Shan was standing the moment before, with a hand extended in front of him and covered in Lei Shan blood. His killing intent felt as cold as the coldest of winter and it felt like a sudden wave that battered against their hearts.
Bai Xioachun's gaze was locked on Lei Shan's head who flew in front of him, not feeling remorseful at all...
At least this way, you wont be turned in a puppet... I hope you'll get wiser in your next life Lei Shan.
That was what Bai Xioachun told himself with a inner sigh. He turned his attention to the remaining Profound Stream Sect disciples and told them what Lei Shan told him so long ago: " You can leave but you'll have to leave your Dao bottle and your bag of holding behind. Or you can forget about leaving." One of them tried to flee but Bai Xioachun used his Foundation Establishement speed to catch up to the guy and kill him with a fist strike. The poor guy exploded, destroyed in body and soul. Seeing that, the other Profound Stream disciples felt a cold shiver going down their spine. Trembling, they did as Bai Xioachun asked and left.
Althought they couldn't believe it, they had to recognize it: Bai Xioachun strenght was already in the Foundation Establishement stage!
Bai Xioachun collected all their Dao Bottles and their bag of holding. He gave half of everything to Chen Qingrou and gave her a few medical pills to restaure her Qi. Chen Qingrou managed to make him promise to stay alive and that they would be celebrating the fact they reached Foundation Establishement together with their brothers at the Ovens. Bai Xioachun was surprised but he found the idea delightful.
By now, the rumors had spread to every other sect that Bai Xioachun wasn't to be trifled with, more then any disciples inside the Fallen Sword Abyss. After hearing the rumors, he decided that he would speed up his plans and try to reach Foundation Establishement in a week.
After a few days, he found Gongsun Wan'er and sighed of relief. She was in an intense battle agains't Zhao Rou. It seem like neither of them was getting the upper hand but Bai Xioachun was glad to see she was wearing the battle robe he had ordered for her.
He couldn't have known but Zhao Rou had being disavantaged in her fights against Gongsun Wan'er because of it.
He went and kill Zhao Rou himself without any suspence. Gongsun Wan'er was surprised about Bai Xioachun sudden ferocity. She had not heard the rumors the other were spreading about Bai Xioachun.
Somehow, she felt this wasn't the Bai Xioachun she remembered and she was left speechless...
Bai Xioachun told her he would be fair and share half of everything. He broke Zhao Rou Dao Bottle and collected roughly half of the earthstring energy. Then he picked Zhao Rou bag of holding while Gongsun Wan'er started to take her share of that Earthstring energy.
As he looked through her stuff, he found a jade slip. As he was reading it, Bai Xioachun started to smile with excitement. She actually had a legacy on her, a cultivation method from the Zhao clan! From what he could gather, it was a cultivation method to make poison puppet that would be able to push the user toward the Core Formation stage! He found a lot of items needed for such legacy to be used, including what seemed to be well-preserved insect eggs in a jade box.
He even found a jade slip with some orders given to her by her clan. She had a mission. She was supposed to kill both Gongsun twins in priority and change them into poison puppets! If she was to in the Fallen Sword Abyss with Gongsun Yun, she had to focus him in priority as the poison puppet made with someone who was already using his own body as a bug nest would make a poison puppet who would be especially powerful.
But Bai Xioachun realized quickly that if Gongsun Yun was the one who was cultivating this method, he could use the bugs inside his own body to create a poison puppet, which would make the puppet stronger. In fact... maybe he could maybe even make several puppets and they would be as powerful as he was!
Bai Xioachun laughed wholeheartly and sent Zhao Rou bag of holding to Gongsun Wan'er, without even taking anything for himself despite what he said previously: " This is fate at work. This bag of holding contain a Foundation Establishement legacy that is perfect fit for your twin brother. If he want to bond with this legacy, I'll make sure to give him access to the Spirit Stream arcane pocket realm for one day. "
Gongsun Wan'er had being looking at him while he was searching the bag of holding, having guessed already Bai Xioachun was the one who gave him that white battle robe and the toxic pills that came with it. She was wondering why he had being so generous toward her... But when he heard what he would do for her twin brother, her heart began to pound faster.
The legendary arcane pocket realm of the Spirit Stream Sect was something normal chosen could only dream about. Only extraordinary people who made great services to the sect would normally have access to it. It was such a level of good fortune that she was left speechless!
The only thing Bai Xioachun took was Zhao Rou dead body, seemingly having forgotten to take his half of Zhao Rou Dao bottle. As Bai Xioachun was about to leave, Gongsun Wan'er regained her sense and asked him: " Why are you so generous toward me and my brother?! "
Bai Xiaochun turned back to her and smiled: " We are both part of the same sect and Im your sect Uncle. Don't worry about it. Just try to reach Foundation Establishement for now, we can talk later once we are back home."
He then turn and left, leaving her with conflicting emotions. She decided to bury those feeling for now. This was not the time to stay put anyway. With Zhao Rou share, her Dao Bottle was now seventy pourcent full.
Bai Xioachun started to mentally prepare for when he would need to start his Tideflow. He summoned a few tides of banebeasts to make a full earthstring crystal. He knew approximatiley when Song Que started his Tideflow in the past and he must have being pushed by the fact Bai Xioachun had started his own very early. Only a month and a half had passed and Bai Xioachun decided it was enough waiting.
He was wondering if he should wake up Ghostmother soulclone this time... but in the end, he decided to not do it. Not now anyway. Their bond might never grow stronger because of it... but she had allied herself with the Celestial. No matter what, he didn't want to give any advantage to him. He truly hoped that this time... The Celestial would die before reaching the Eternal Flower domain.
Bai Xioachun went to hide near the same lake as before, dug himself a immortal cave. With King guarding him and and with a lot of talismans for protection... he started his Tideflows!
His first Tideflow attracted quite the attention and the other Chosen started to fight each others at the sight of it. Of course, he used his Violet Cauldron Summoning Incantation for his firsta nd second Tideflow, like in the past. But this time, he used hisHeavenspan Elephant Control Art for his third Tideflow. Since each Tideflow was bigger then the precedent, that technique wouldn't be able to give it another Tideflow and could only be used to make his Third Tideflow.
Something different happened this time however, somthing that caught Bai Xioachun by surprise... All of his Tideflows turned violet! The color was very eye-catching, showing everyone in the Fallen Sword Abyss that it was clearly a member of the Spirit Stream Sect that started to make his Tideflows before the rest.
After what Bai Xioachun did during the tirals, a lot of people had already guess that it was Bai Xioachun!
Bai Xioachun could only continue his Tideflows and not overthink about the manifestation the technique had created to his Tideflows. Soon, other Chosen started their own Tideflows.
The next technique Bai Xioachun used was... the Dragon Mammoth Sea Forming Incantation! To Bai Xioachun astonishement, something different happened once again in this new timeline!
Bai Xioachun's mind had not be able to regain all the knowledge of his past life when he reincarnated but when it came to the techniques he had cultivated, he knew them like the back of his hand. But when he summoned the dragon from the Dragon Mammoth Sea Forming technique... He sensed something that wasn't there in his first life! In his mind... he could see the first seal of Eternity!
His heart trembled with excitement! He knew the chances were very small but if he could manage to break that seal, maybe he would not have to die to cultivate the Live Forever technique!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Working above 50h per week since a coworker left abruptly for a while now. Barely have time to live but the money is good I guess. As for the fic itself, Let me answer a appreciated PM and a insensitive comment in the comment section:
I received a PM saying Bai Xioachun was contradicting himself, as he was saying he didn't want to change the future too much... while doing just that. And I have to say: I know, that's the point. Bai Xioachun always illusionned himself to be pure, heroic and brave in ANY circonstances. And now, he didn't wake up Ghostmother soulclone... was it a good thing or a bad thing though? Only the future will decide. In Bai Xioachun mind's however, it is the right thing to do right now.
As for my latest bad comment, English is not my first language AND I don't have a betareader. I can only use Microsoft Word help on that matter. Next time, send me a PM about my mistakes and where they are so I can edit them out? The comment section, at least for me, should be called " the encouraging section ", there is nothing to gain to write negative comments there.
Do not forget that fanfic writers are doing this for free.