A Will Eternal

by Srtyi

One will to create oceans. One will to summon the mulberry fields. One will to slaughter countless devils. One will to eradicate innumerable immortals. Only my will… is eternal. Translator: Deathblade

5. 125 - 155

Read A Will Eternal - Chapter 125: The Ol' Nightstalker Beast…. online free - Novel Full

Chapter 125: The Ol' Nightstalker Beast….

The divine ability which Bai Xiaochun had named the Human Controlling Grand Magic turned into a sort of game for the beasts. They would often find themselves mysteriously floating up into the air, only to fall down moments later.

Occasionally, they would even stand up on two legs. The beasts weren't frightened by what was happening, and actually found it rather amusing. It even reached the point where some of the smaller beasts would run up to Bai Xiaochun as soon as they saw him, hoping to have some fun playing the new game.

Some of the larger beasts like the flying tigers would sometimes see Bai Xiaochun waving his finger at them and muttering to himself. Soon, he would sigh and walk away looking depressed. Such beasts were confused about what exactly Bai Xiaochun was doing.

A month later, he decided to temporarily abandon his work with the Human Controlling Grand Magic.

"I can definitely get this magic to work," he thought. "When it does, it will shake heaven and earth. However, I need to take things slow. Once I get a bit stronger, I can cultivate it to perfection!" He didn't really want to give up, but after a month without the slightest bit of progress, he had to admit that it was time to move on. He was about to start cultivating the Waterswamp Kingdom again when he suddenly thought of the spirit wings he possessed.

"When the old granny gave me the Protomagnetic Pearl and these spirit wings, she said something about Arcane Gravitational Repulsion…." Eyes shining, he pulled the wings out to examine them. After a few days of study, he realized that he was yet again dealing with something that would have to wait until the future.

At long last, he buried his ambitions and started cultivating the Waterswamp Kingdom.

Time passed, and before long Bai Xiaochun had been on the north bank for two years. As for the Beastbirth Seed, it had already grown into a three-meter-tall Beastbirth Flower, although it hadn't bloomed yet. According to Bai Xiaochun's calculations, it wouldn't be too long before the flower opened up.

As for his Waterswamp Kingdom, he cultivated it constantly, and it grew more and more impressive. Whenever he unleashed it, rumbling sounds could be heard, and a strange power appeared that didn't come from the world around him.

By this point, he had spent time observing all of the more than nine hundred animals in the Beast Conservatory. He knew them like the back of his own hand, and yet, his life essence spirit still hadn't taken shape.

"Don't tell me my observations have been insufficient? I should probably go observe some even more powerful beasts." He thought about the matter for some time, and finally, looked over in the direction of the Ancient Beast Chasm. After a moment of hesitation, he decided that going there was too dangerous. With that, his eyes began to shine, and he turned to look at the four mountain peaks of the north bank.

"Each of the four mountain peaks has a spirit beast guardian!"

On the summit of each of the mountain peaks was an extremely powerful beast assigned to protect that mountain. Although none of them could compare to the Heavenhorn ink dragon, they were all extraordinary in their own way.

Every few days, they would appear in the open, either flying in the sky, or roaring at the tops of their lungs to shake the entire area. When that happened, large numbers of disciples would look on in awe and envy.

In his time on the north bank, Bai Xiaochun had noticed this phenomenon. That was especially true of the seven-colored phoenix from Irispetal Peak, which left a particularly profound impression on him.

After making up his mind, he hurried out of the Beast Conservatory. Eventually, was on the path leading past the trial platform. It wasn't the first time he had laid eyes on the huge beast statue beneath it. Every time he did so, he got a very strange feeling, which was the same thing that happened to many other disciples who studied the statue.

His observations of it in the past had brought him no gains, so eventually, he paid it no attention. As he was walking by it this time, he happened to glance over for a moment before turning to fix his gaze on Irispetal Peak.

Even as he prepared to hurry along in that direction, his heart seized, as if something dangerous were about to occur. The Protomagnetic Wings appeared behind him, and he sped forward several dozen meters.

Even as he moved, a black blur sped past the spot he had just been standing in, and a terrifying clashing sound rang out, like that of two rows of sharp teeth making contact.

The shocking volume of the sound caused the surroundings to shake; it would be difficult to imagine the level of power behind it, or the hatred that could cause teeth to snap shut in such a fashion.

The black blur turned out to be a huge black dog, roughly three meters tall. It was like a young bull, albeit somewhat emaciated, with scraggly fur that made it look like a wild dog.

It was currently staring at Bai Xiaochun with a ferocious expression on its face. Saliva dripped off of its sharp fangs, and its eyes glowed red, as if with insanity.

Bai Xiaochun was so shocked that sweat popped out on his forehead. However, as soon as he laid eyes on the big black dog, he recognized it.

"Hey, aren't you Beihan Lie's Nightstalker Beast? You–" Before he could finish speaking, the black dog shivered and then ran off into the distance. Apparently, if it didn't strike true on the first blow, it would retreat at all costs.

Bai Xiaochun was a bit taken aback. Of course, he wasn't alone in the area. There were other north bank disciples around, and they recognized the dog immediately. Gasps could be heard, and soon people were discussing the matter amongst themselves.

"That was Elder Brother Beihan's Nightstalker Beast. What a poor little dog. Elder Brother Beihan refuses to take care of it now, and nobody else dares to approach it. Even the elders feel bad about it…."

"Yeah, that's right. Ever since that one day, the Nightstalker Beast can occasionally be seen lurking around the north bank. Once I saw it standing on a hill, looking up into the night. It seemed sad."

"What a pity. Apparently it was trying to ambush Bai Xiaochun…."

Bai Xiaochun blinked. After hearing some of the things people were saying, he felt bad. Looking off into the direction the dog had fled, he resolved to look into the issue of why it wanted to ambush him.

"What else could I have done in that situation?" he thought, sighing. "I told Beihan Lie he should concede. I even told him that even I fear my own attacks." Sighing again, he turned and headed toward Irispetal Peak.

As a Prestige disciple, he had almost unlimited access to various locations in the sect, even on the north bank. After cautiously climbing up to the summit of Irispetal Peak, he neared the cave at the top, but didn't enter. Instead, he settled cross-legged onto a nearby boulder, then waited quietly.

The wait lasted for three days. Finally, a sharp cry rang out into the dawn sky, piercing through the clouds as a seven-colored light began to shine out from within the cave. Then, a seven-colored phoenix flew out, stretching its wings wide as it soared elegantly up into the air. When the sunlight hit its body, the seven-colored reflections it cast were dazzling. Bai Xiaochun was shaken as he realized the terrifying level of power that was contained within the phoenix. Even with his amazing Undying Silver Skin, he was far from a match for the thing.

As he watched, he committed the image of the phoenix to memory, branding it on his heart. He observed it for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, whereupon the phoenix circled back around into its cave, completely ignoring him in the process.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and mentally recalled the image of the seven-colored phoenix, then continued to wait. Another five days passed, and at dawn, the phoenix reappeared.

Time passed. Bai Xiaochun stayed on Irispetal Peak for several months to observe the phoenix, only occasionally returning to the Beast Conservatory to handle various affairs before hurrying back.

The disciples of Irispetal Peak soon learned of the matter, and were a bit confused. Most people didn't pay much attention to it, but there were some Inner Sect disciples who began to speculate about what he was doing.

Another month passed, and Bai Xiaochun felt that his observation of the phoenix was complete. Next, he headed toward Sunset Peak.

The spirit beast guardian of Sunset Peak was a black, three-eyed raven. It was fully six meters long, surrounded by swirling blackness that distorted the air. It didn't come out very often; Bai Xiaochun only saw it twice in an entire month.

Whenever it flew out, lightning would crackle in the area. The raven always appeared in the darkness of night, never during the light of day.

Because of that, Bai Xiaochun got used to remaining focused during the night. Three months passed, and he saw the raven five times. Every time it appeared, he would pay close attention, and would devote himself fully to observation. Gradually, he felt as if his life essence spirit were showing signs of appearing.

The spirit beast guardian of Archway Peak was not a flying creature, but rather, an enormous lizard. It moved slowly, but radiated incredible energy. It was much easier for Bai Xiaochun to observe; whenever it emerged from its cave, it would perch on the highest boulder at the top of Archway Peak, where it would gaze off into the distance.

Bai Xiaochun spent several months there, and was able to observe it in much more detail than the seven-colored phoenix and the three-eyed raven.

The spirit beast guardian of Ghostfang Peak was quite strange. It almost wasn't even appropriate to call it a spirit beast. It was a mountain ghost. It looked like an amalgamation of countless other beasts, formed together like a mountain. After gaining consciousness, it called itself a mountain ghost.

It was humanoid in shape, with with long black fur and human-like eyes which were located below its wolf-like maw. It also had two curling horns at the top of its head. Its lower torso was scaled like a snake, and it had a tiger's head on its chest. Stretching out behind it was a long tail.

It carried a ghastly bone trident in its hand wherever it went, and every time it came out into the open, clouds formed up above in the sky, covering both the sun and the moon. In the darkness which resulted, its eyes would glow with mysterious light.

The mere sight of it left Bai Xiaochun trembling in fear. He could sense that the thing was aware of his existence, but that it was so far above him that it didn't deign to even notice him. Whenever it appeared on the summit of the mountain, it would throw its head back and let out a soundless howl.

That howl would cause countless stones on Ghostfang Peak to tremble, and they would only go still when the mountain ghost returned to its cave.

Time flowed by, and Bai Xiaochun went back and forth between the mountains to carry out his observations. Gradually, it felt more and more like his life essence spirit was forming. However, he was getting the increasing sense that he had reached some barrier that had yet to be broken through.

The disciples of the north bank gradually realized that he was observing the spirit beast guardians. Most didn't understand why, but Xu Song, Beihan Lie, and a few other Inner Sect disciples were fairly certain what was going on, and it caused their hearts to pound.

"He's cultivating the Waterswamp Kingdom!" Quite a few Inner Sect disciples came to that conclusion. After all, cultivating the Waterswamp Kingdom involved long-term observation of numerous beasts.

"The Waterswamp Kingdom is a secret magic on the same level as Ghosts Haunt the Night… However, the results differ for every person who cultivates it. Some can unleash incredible power, others are very weak."

"The fact that Bai Xiaochun is observing those beasts implies that his life essence spirit hasn't been born yet…."

"I wonder what his life essence spirit will be like…?"

Discussions raged among the Inner Sect disciples, and Bai Xiaochun continued his observations. The process lasted for a year.

During that time, others besides the Inner Sect disciples came to pay close attention to what was happening. The peak lords of the four mountains, the sect leader, and even Li Qinghou were all secretly observing Bai Xiaochun's progress with the Waterswamp Kingdom.

All of them were surprised. Generally speaking, observing beasts in the Beast Conservatory should have been enough to form the life essence spirit of the Waterswamp Kingdom. But it didn't seem enough for Bai Xiaochun. He went on to observe the spirit beast guardians of the four mountain peaks. And yet… that wasn't enough either.

"Bai Xiaochun's life essence spirit seems very difficult to form!"

"Life essence spirits vary from person to person. They form based on the hidden world which exists inside each person, and create a mysterious and unfathomable illusory spirit…."

"What will Bai Xiaochun's life essence spirit be…?"

Everyone watched as Bai Xiaochun concluded his observations of the four spirit beast guardians. With that, he trudged through the north bank, thinking about how he had nothing left to observe. He had the strong feeling that he was only a step away from breaking through the barrier and giving birth to the Waterswamp Kingdom life essence spirit.

However, that one step seemed infinitely vast.

Bai Xiaochun was confused, and unsure of what to do next. As he walked along through the north bank, he headed past the trial platform, and subconsciously looked over at the statue beneath the platform.

He had walked past this location many times, and every time he did, he had the feeling that there was something strange about the statue. This time, he stopped in place and looked over. Then, a tremor ran through him, and his eyes shone with incredulity.

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Chapter 126: Build Up To Success

Before, he had felt something strange when looking at the statue, something that seemed to make him wish to fight. However, there was something deeper to it than that, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Now, perhaps because of having observed the four spirit beast guardians, or perhaps because of his nearness to a life essence spirit breakthrough, he suddenly found himself observing, not the battle beast as a whole, but rather, its scales!

They seemed like nothing more than scales on a statue, but as soon as he focused on them, it felt as if the Waterswamp Kingdom life essence spirit inside of him were suddenly writhing with increased power.

At the same time, he could almost hear something primeval and ancient roaring in his ears.

He was wondering if it was an illusion or not, and was just about to focus further, when the sensation vanished. At the same time, the life essence spirit inside of him suddenly went still.

Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the statue and sat down cross-legged in front of it. Then he looked up, certain that the feeling he had just experienced was no illusion.

"This statue… is very, very odd!" With that, he focused on looking, not at the statue as a whole, but at the countless individual scales.

Although they seemed like nothing more than simple scales, Bai Xiaochun had only just now realized that they were very, very difficult to commit to memory. He could see them there right in front of him, but simply could not memorize their shape and image.

That did not serve to discourage him, though; it caused him to grow more focused. Eyes flashing, he looked more closely at the scales.

Time flew by, and soon it was evening. Considering that the trial platform was a central location on the north bank, disciples would often pass by, and soon people noticed Bai Xiaochun sitting there staring at the statue. Although it was a peculiar sight, nobody really stopped to pay him much attention.

The next morning at dawn, the disciples who had seen Bai Xiaochun there the day before once again noticed him as they went past the trial platform. Apparently he hadn't moved the entire night, but had remained sitting there staring with bloodshot eyes at the statue in front of him. The astonishment of the north bank disciples grew.

Bai Xiaochun was now certain that he could only make his breakthrough by means of this statue. He had already done everything else possible with regards to the life essence spirit. He had observed everything in the Beast Conservatory, as well as the four spirit beast guardians. He had even secretly observed many of the ordinary battle beasts of the north bank disciples.

The life essence spirit of the Waterswamp Kingdom still had not appeared, and if he had not received any indication that it would, he might have decided to stop wasting his time with it. But he could sense that the life essence spirit was on the verge of coming to life; he just didn't know how to make it happen. So close, yet so far!

That uneasy sensation was something he couldn't accept easily. Therefore, he was grasping hard to this opportunity, and his persevering personality was in full effect.

He sat there with the same focus he called upon when he concocted medicine. It didn't matter that night came and went, or that his eyes were bloodshot. It didn't matter if a second day began to pass. Bai Xiaochun didn't stop.

In fact, he even had the feeling that if he gave up at this moment, his Waterswamp Kingdom… might never be able to give birth to a life essence spirit. The opportunity he had now must be seized, and the life essence spirit had to break out of its cocoon!

"I refuse to believe that I'll fail!" he thought, grinding his teeth. With that, he continued to observe the scales and try to commit their shape and image to memory.

Without even thinking about it, he sealed himself off from the world. He abandoned all of his other senses and focused completely on his sight. Days began to pass. On the fourth day at dawn, the north bank disciples were more surprised than ever by his presence, and soon word began to spread.

"Bai Xiaochun has been sitting by the trial platform statue for four days now…. What is he doing? Observing the statue?"

"That trial platform statue is pretty strange. I've heard of people observing it in the past, hoping to gain something from it. However, to this day, nobody has ever succeeded except for Eldest Brother Ghostfang!"

As word spread further and further, the north bank Inner Sect disciples began to pay closer attention. People even began to gather nearby to watch Bai Xiaochun. His completely bedeviled state caused many people to gasp.

"So, he's only trying to observe it and commit it to memory, not gain full enlightenment. Well, it's like I said. The trial platform statue has some profound secrets buried deep inside. Not just anybody can gain enlightenment of it."

"I've read some ancient records that said the statue was pulled out of the Ancient Beast Chasm four thousand years ago. It's hard to say whether or not some members of the Senior generation ever gained enlightenment, but as for ordinary disciples…. before Ghostfang, nobody has ever succeeded."

"I tried once, believe it or not. In the end, I had no choice but to give up. I never felt a single thing. Only people like Ghostfang can reach that legendary state of deep enlightenment via observation. Some people have lasted for ten days, or even fifteen. The limit is twenty, though. After that, people simply pass out."

When Beihan Lie, the Gongsun siblings, Xu Song, and other Inner Sect Chosen realized that Bai Xiaochun was simply observing the statue, they breathed sighs of relief.

As for the four peak lords, when they saw him beneath the statue, their eyes shone with anticipation.

"I wonder if Bai Xiaochun will be like Ghostfang, and actually benefit from the statue."

"It requires the right circumstances, the right personality, and the right amount of hard work. This kind of observation is like looking at a canvas randomly splashed with paint. Some people see nothing but chaos, but others see order. Some people see another image beneath the splash of paint. And some people, a vast minority, might be able to see… something completely different from everyone else."

Bai Xiaochun truly was just observing, and not seeking deep enlightenment. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the scales, which seemed to grow larger and larger until they replaced the world around him. He saw a heaven and earth filled with floating objects that he couldn't quite see. It was like a blurry illusion, impossible to make out clearly. However, Bai Xiaochun didn't care. The only thing he wanted to do was memorize the shape and image of the scales.

He wasn't even sure how many attempts he had made. A thousand? Ten thousand? Maybe more? He was completely and utterly absorbed in the process, despite the fact that he was failing over and over again.

Time passed. Five days. Six days. Seven days…. Soon, ten days had gone by. His observation of the statue was drawing on his vital energy, and his body was beginning to suffer, but he persisted.

On the nineteenth day, Beihan Lie and the other Chosen were completely convinced that Bai Xiaochun would only last for another day. After his vital energy grew weak enough, he would lapse into unconsciousness.

"It took fifteen days for Ghostfang to enter into a state of deep enlightenment, and he awoke from his trance after twenty-seven days. His later progress with Ghosts Haunt the Night had a lot to do with that session of enlightenment!"

"Bai Xiaochun has already wasted nineteen days and hasn't reached deep enlightenment. Regardless of the level of his cultivation base, he can't match up to Ghostfang in this situation."

"The statue is completely enigmatic and unfathomable. Lots of people have tested it out, and if you don't succeed the first time, it's only harder after that. Tomorrow, he'll pass out. After he wakes up and restores his vital energy, though, it will be too late."

Beihan Lie and the other Chosen felt that way, and so did the four peak lords, all of whom were sighing regretfully.

Gradually, Bai Xiaochun's nineteenth day observing the statue passed. The sun set, and then dawn broke upon the twentieth day. As sunlight filled the sky, virtually everyone assumed that Bai Xiaochun would lose consciousness. But then, looks of shock filled their eyes as the twentieth day ended and the twenty-first began.

Bai Xiaochun didn't pass out. Although he was looking a bit gaunt, he still managed to hang on.

Twenty-one days. Twenty-two days. Twenty-three days…. As time passed, astonishment grew. By the time the thirtieth day passed, the peak lords were completely astonished.

"I can't believe how much vital energy Bai Xiaochun has!"

"At the most, ordinary disciples would last for ten days. Body refinement disciples might last for fifteen. Chosen like Ghostfang could last for twenty days at the most. Without entering a state of deep enlightenment, one's vital energy will waste away, and they will lapse into unconsciousness. But Bai Xiaochun… has lasted for so long!"

"But what's the point? Even if he lasts longer, if he doesn't reach deep enlightenment, it will all have been a waste."

Beihan Lie and the others were completely shocked, and were finally starting to understand how powerful Bai Xiaochun's fleshly body was. And yet, they all sighed; without achieving deep enlightenment, simply lasting for a long time would do no good.

Soon, another ten days had passed, and Bai Xiaochun was still completely immersed in his attempts to commit the scales to memory. It was impossible to say how many actual attempts he had made. Perhaps 50,000, perhaps 100,000. Every single time was a failure.

The fiftieth day passed, and then the sixtieth day. Countless disciples were profoundly shaken by what Bai Xiaochun was doing. They almost couldn't believe the deep reserves of vital energy he possessed. Never could they have imagined that he would hang on for so long. Without incredible fleshly body power, it would have been impossible.

Eventually, the seventieth day arrived, and Bai Xiaochun trembled. He was clearly much thinner than before, and it appeared as if his vital energy and fleshly body were reaching their limits.

The audience which had gathered noticed him shaking, and immediately began to comment.

"He must be about to finish. Only a few more days now, and he'll pass out."

"He never reached deep enlightenment. What a waste."

Although most people in the audience felt that way, by the time the amber light of evening began to spread out….

Bai Xiaochun's eyes revealed… blankness.

And then, a moment later, his eyes slowly closed!

Upon closing his eyes, his mind was filled with the complete image of a scale… after countless failed attempts, he had finally succeeded!

In the instant the scale appeared, a rumbling like that of thunder filled his mind, and he gasped. His aura winked out, seemingly leaving behind nothing except his body. He had finally slipped into… the legendary state of deep enlightenment!

As of that moment, the eyes of the audience widened. This was such an unexpected development that most people almost couldn't believe it.

Bai Xiaochun had entered deep enlightenment, not by a coincidence or destiny, but simply by hard work!

This chance regarding the life essence spirit of the Waterswamp Kingdom also came with a measure of enlightenment. Furthermore, his display of hard work vastly exceeded that of anyone else!

Although his powers of understanding might not be on part with Ghostfang's, he had worked for five times as long to do what Ghostfang did, and that was because of his fleshly body and his vital energy. Because of his cultivation of the Undying Live Forever Technique, his strength gave him incredible reserves of energy!

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin

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Chapter 127: Soul Floating In the Void

Deep enlightenment was a state in which one's soul essentially merged with heaven and earth, connecting with the world to understand and be enlightened regarding natural and magical laws.

Mortals could accidentally slip into deep enlightenment, although the likelihood was incredibly small to the point of almost being impossible. Even Qi Condensation cultivators would have a very difficult time entering such a state, and if they did, it would cause a huge stir among anyone who found out about it.

Almighty beings with incredible cultivation bases would occasionally enter that state to comprehend the profound transformations of the world, and the great Daos of heaven and earth.

For the last thousand years in the Spirit Stream Sect, only two people had ever slipped into deep enlightenment. One of them was Ghostfang, with his spectacular natural talent. Not even Shangguan Tianyou had been able to match up to him in this regard.

The other person to succeed was now sitting beneath the statute, having observed it for seventy days in a row. Bai Xiaochun!

The surrounding north bank disciples were left gasping at the astounding scene.

"Bai Xiaochun… he… is in deep enlightenment?!?! He's the only person to have done it other than Eldest Brother Ghostfang!"

"Hmph. How could this deep enlightenment even compare to Eldest Brother Ghostfang's? He did it in fifteen days, but Bai Xiaochun took seventy!"

"That's not the way to look at it. It just means that if we could hang on for seventy days, then we could reach deep enlightenment too. Except we can't! Look how hard Bai Xiaochun worked!"

In addition to the cries of shock, there were other mixed feelings among the crowd. Some people seemed indignant, others jealous, and some contemptuous. Regardless of the specifics, everyone could sense how hard Bai Xiaochun had worked, and how much he had struggled to endure. Furthermore, all of them were envious to some degree.

At the same time, six beams of light appeared up in the air. The fastest among them were not the four peak lords of the north bank, but rather… Li Qinghou from the south bank!

In almost the moment that Bai Xiaochun slipped into a trance, he appeared. Waving his finger in the direction of the trial platform, he caused a screen of light to descend, surrounding Bai Xiaochun so that no one could disturb him.

It was at around this time that the four peak lords as well as Sect Leader Zheng Yuandong arrived.

The old woman from Irispetal Peak peak looked over at Li Qinghou, and then the surrounding crowd. Suppressing her surprise at the fact that Bai Xiaochun had entered deep enlightenment, she barked, "Seal the entire area surrounding the trial platform. Don't open it until Bai Xiaochun awakens."

"If anyone disturbs Bai Xiaochun, it will be considered treason, and punished accordingly!" Zheng Yuandong added. "Get the Hall of Justice over here immediately to stand guard!" In response, the Outer Sect disciples bowed their heads and clasped hands respectfully.

Soon, several dozen disciples from the Hall of Justice arrived and stationed themselves in various positions around the statue, where they sat down cross-legged to act as Dharma Protectors.

By this time, word had spread from the Outer Sect disciples. Everyone on the north bank knew that Bai Xiaochun had entered deep enlightenment. Beihan Lie and the other Chosen emerged from their immortal's caves, shocked, and began to hurry toward the trial platform.

When they saw that Bai Xiaochun was being guarded by the Hall of Justice, they weren't sure what to think.

"He's… actually in deep enlightenment…?"

"Seventy days! He endured for seventy days!"

"There's no way he's that far ahead of us. I refuse to believe it!" Beihan Lie, the Gongsun siblings, Xu Song, and the other Inner Sect Chosen were filled with incredibly complex thoughts and feelings.

Up in midair, the four peak lords looked down at Bai Xiaochun as he sat there cross-legged, eyes closed and aura dispersed. All of them were sighing.

"I never thought he would actually pull it off."

"The kid prepared long and hard. His success was no fluke."

"I wonder how many days he'll remain in deep enlightenment. Ghostfang lasted for twenty-seven days."

As the peak lords sighed, Zheng Yuandong's eyes shone with anticipation, and he started laughing heartily. As of this point, he had the feeling that his Master would surely be glad to have an apprentice like Bai Xiaochun.

Li Qinghou's face was covered with a smile, and his eyes shone with approval and praise.

Considering that Bai Xiaochun was in the middle of the Spirit Stream Sect, with the Hall of Justice protecting him, and surrounded by a spell formation personally set up by Li Qinghou, nobody under the Gold Core stage possibly be able to disturb his deep enlightenment.

Even if a Gold Core expert dared to show up, they would be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt.

After looking on for a bit longer, the peak lords, the sect leader, and Li Qinghou all left.

The north bank disciples looked on, sighing. Their main speculations were regarding why the Hall of Justice had been called, and also… they wondered how long Bai Xiaochun would stay in deep enlightenment.

"He used five times as long as to succeed. I bet he'll last for twenty percent as long as Eldest Brother Ghostfang. Five or six days at the most."

"I bet he'll pass seven days!"

Numerous cold snorts could be heard echoing out within the crowd. There were many disciples on the north bank, and none of them had forgotten that Bai had been named their archenemy. Although they had been impressed by his strength, deep down, there were still quite a few who harbored animosity. There were also many who were jealous of him.

Time passed. Three days later, Bai Xiaochun still hadn't stirred. However, the vital energy which he had spent in his efforts to gain enlightenment was slowly building back up.

Furthermore, now that he had entered deep enlightenment, his aura was gone, as if his soul had left his body to merge with heaven, earth and the void itself.

During that time, the blankness within his closed eyes spread to fill his entire person. He had no concept of time, no idea of how long he had been in this state. He only knew the image of the scales. The statue in front of him almost seemed alive, bursting with a savage aura that seemed to be dragging him into the world that existed in its right clawed hand.

It was almost as if the void were truly being torn apart, and his consciousness were being sucked through the rift into an illusory world. His mind was a complete blank. He had forgotten who he was, or why he had come here. He only knew the illusory world around him.

He saw an enormous creature, so large it was difficult to put into words. It was so huge that Bai Xiaochun felt like a mere scale on the thing's back.

Shockingly, the creature was none other than than the giant crocodilian beast that formed the statue on the north bank.

It lived in this illusory world, looking up into the sky, into the heavens, staring at a seemingly invisible figure, something that didn't even exist. Suddenly, it reached up into the sky and made a grasping motion.

A sound like booming thunder echoed out in all directions. Bai Xiaochun watched mutely as its clawed hand tore open a hole in the sky. Rumbling sounds filled the sky, and all that Bai Xiaochun could think about was that hand.

In fact, if Bai Xiaochun were able to remember who he was, he would immediately realize that the clawed hand… closely resembled the clawed hand that Ghostfang could unleash with Ghosts Haunt the Night.

While Bai Xiaochun was in the middle of the illusory world, time flew by outside. Already, far more time had passed than the five or six days that many of the disciples had assumed would be the limit. Ten days had passed.

Every day, more north bank disciples came to congregate around the trial platform to watch Bai Xiaochun. Some of the Inner Sect disciples had even chose to meditate in the area.

Beihan Lie and the other Chosen were also present.

They watched as Bai Xiaochun's deep enlightenment lasted for ten days, and mixed emotions could be seen in their eyes. While the Inner Sect disciples sat there quietly, the Outer Sect disciples were in an uproar.

"I can't believe he lasted ten days!"

"Yeah, but I really doubt that he could possibly last twenty-seven days like Eldest Brother Ghostfang did!"

The Outer Sect disciples continue to discuss the matter as time marched on. Eleven days. Twelve days. Thirteen days…. Eventually, the twentieth day arrived!

The north bank was completely shaken by this point. All of the Outer Sect disciples were flabbergasted, and were paying close attention to find out… if Bai Xiaochun would surpass Ghostfang's record of twenty-seven days.

"There's no way!!"

"He took five times as long as Eldest Brother Ghostfang to enter deep enlightenment. His latent talent clearly doesn't measure up. There's absolutely no way he'll surpass the record!"

Words such as this were common among the disciples. Even many of the Inner Sect disciples felt the same. Gradually, the twenty-second day arrived, and the the twenty-fifth. By that time, the voices were silenced, and shock began to fill the hearts of everyone present.

On the evening of the twenty-sixth day, a new figure appeared in midair above the trial platform, a young man wearing a long black robe.

It was none other than than Ghostfang himself!

He had been in secluded meditation preparing for Foundation Establishment, but had received a message from a fellow disciple notifying him about what was going on with Bai Xiaochun, and had thus emerged.

Bai Xiaochun was the only disciple in the Spirit Stream Sect who could attract his attention. As soon as he appeared above the trial platform, countless disciples of both the Inner and Outer sects looked up with sober, respectful expressions, even fear. One after another, they clasped hands in greeting.

"Greetings, Eldest Brother Ghostfang."

Even Beihan Lie and the other Chosen did the same. As the voices echoed out, Ghostfang seemed to not even have heard them. His entire attention appeared to be focused on Bai Xiaochun, and his eyes were shining with a strange light.

"I began my observation with the beast's sharp claws. After forming the image in my mind, I entered deep enlightenment, and found myself in an illusory world. I lost myself within the ancient beast's heaven-shaking, earth-shattering claws, and found it hard to emerge. After completing my deep enlightenment, I didn't see if anything had changed about the ancient beast.

"Bai Xiaochun, now that you are in deep enlightenment, I wonder if you will be able to emerge from within the clawed hand…."

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Chapter 128: Alert

Within the illusory world, everything was crumbling and shattering. As the ancient beast's clawed hand ripped everything to shreds, even Bai Xiaochun's mind seemed to be affected.

His consciousness began to shatter and disperse, and he looked around blankly. To see those claws ripping apart the heavens was completely and utterly shocking.

Such power was unimaginable, and yet, he also desired to possess such power himself. He wanted to be able to rip apart heaven and earth. Now that the rubble was beginning to disperse, he suddenly wanted to do everything he could to absorb the power, to understand it, to make it his own.

The more such thoughts filled him, the more his awareness of himself faded. This process went on for a short time until a tremor ran through him, and he realized that something odd was happening. He suddenly remembered that his purpose in coming to this place didn't have anything to do with becoming engrossed with the clawed hand.

The thought grew more and more intense until it superseded the enticing power of the claws. The shattered remnants of his consciousness slowly stopped moving, and then began to move in reverse, returning to him and becoming whole once again.

Within the illusion, the enormous beast once again appeared; however, this time, what moved was not its clawed hand, but its tail. It was like a whip, smashing the earth to pieces and destroying the heavens. A massive rumbling boom exploded out into the world.

Bai Xiaochun's consciousness once again shattered, and he began to sink into blankness.

In the outside world, he had been sitting there in a state of deep enlightenment for twenty-six days. Night fell, and the sun rose. The twenty-seventh day. Soon, it was night again.

Among the countless north bank disciples who had gathered near Bai Xiaochun and the trial platform, faces flickered with shock, and eyes went wide.

Everyone, including Beihan Lie, the Gongsun siblings, Xu Song, and the other Chosen of the Inner Sect were being crushed by waves of shock.

After a long period of oppressive silence, countless disciples suddenly burst into a huge commotion.

"He passed… twenty-seven days? He surpassed Eldest Brother Ghostfang!"

"Heavens! How deeply will Bai Xiaochun sink into this enlightenment?!"

"How long will he last? Thirty days? Thirty-five days? Or maybe even… forty days?!?!"

Everyone was completely and utterly shocked by the motionless and aura-less Bai Xiaochun.

And yet, they had allowed themselves to be shocked a bit too early.

Time continued to pass. Thirty days. Thirty-three days. Thirty-seven days…. By the time the fortieth day arrived, the north bank disciples were completely dumbstruck.

They weren't the only ones. The four peaks lords were breathless. Each additional day spent in deep enlightenment was significant to the extreme. After all, a single day of deep enlightenment was like years spent in normal meditation.

Ghostfang said nothing, but his eyes shone with a shocking light as he looked at Bai Xiaochun. He wanted to know… exactly what it was that Bai Xiaochun was seeing!

"He must not have lost himself in the claw like me," he thought. "In that case, what came next?"

Back in the illusory world, Bai Xiaochun's consciousness was trembling. He wasn't sure how long he had been lost within the tail of the ancient beast. However, as his consciousness began to dissipate, the same thought arose once again… the power of the tail was not what he had come here for.

"That's not it!" he murmured quietly.

In that moment, his consciousness ceased to disperse. Simultaneously, the ancient beast opened its mouth to reveal something far more terrifying than its claws or tail… razor sharp fangs!

Row upon row of sharp teeth, emanating a murderous aura that made them seem capable of destroying anything and everything. It was as if a single bite from those teeth could cause the entire world to go dark and end in destruction.

"No," Bai Xiaochun murmured. "This is not why I came here!" His voice echoed back and forth around him, growing louder and louder.

"I came here to observe the ancient beast, for the purpose of… bringing life to my Waterswamp Kingdom life essence spirit!

"I don't want the claws or tail or teeth of this ancient beast. I want… the whole thing. I need to observe it in its entirety. I need to fix its image into my mind. That will form the basis of my Waterswamp Kingdom life essence spirit!

"Furthermore, the beast itself will not become my life essence spirit, it will be absorbed as a mere portion of it!

"That is why I came here. That… is my purpose!" By the end, Bai Xiaochun's voice was not a murmur, but a roar. The illusory world rumbled violently as Bai Xiaochun's consciousness tumbled back together from all parts of the world, then shot toward the enormous beast in a beam of light.

It moved with incredible speed; in the blink of an eye, it closed in on the beast and then slammed into it. As the light spread out through the beast, Bai Xiaochun's mind shook, and he suddenly felt as if… he was becoming the enormous beast!

During the process of the transformation, he came to understand everything about it. There could be no better observation method… than this. In fact, this was not even really observation, it was a merging. He was… becoming one with the beast.

Bai Xiaochun's consciousness spread out through the entirety of the beast, understanding it, analyzing it, observing it… controlling it!

From the flesh and blood, he moved on to the scales, the spikes, the claws, the teeth, the bones, even the heart…. Time meant nothing to him as his consciousness filled the beast, coming to a deep understanding of it.

At a certain point, Bai Xiaochun's consciousness trembled as it completely filled the ancient creature, and he… became the beast.

He threw his head back and roared, causing the entire world around him to tremble. Next, the beast distorted, and by some profound and unfathomable means, it rapidly changed shape, transforming into a black, three-eyed raven!

The enormous black raven began to fly through the world at top speed, its eyes shining as though they belonged to Bai Xiaochun. In the blink of an eye, the raven rippled, transforming into a seven-colored phoenix.

Then it became a huge lizard, and then the mountain ghost from Ghostfang Peak. Under the control of Bai Xiaochun's consciousness, the transformations continued. One after another, nearly a thousand beasts from the Beast Conservatory appeared.

Flying tigers, pangolins, huge bears, spirit deer. All sorts of beasts flickered in and out, without end. Even the north bank disciples' beasts that Bai Xiaochun had secretly observed could be seen.

Eventually, rumbling sounds echoed out as the beasts vanished, and Bai Xiaochun's consciousness became a swirling mist, which pulsed and writhed as though some terrifying spirit were being born inside.

It was none other than Bai Xiaochun's Waterswamp Kingdom life essence spirit.

It was impossible to see exactly what kind of spirit it was; not even Bai Xiaochun's consciousness could make it out. It was as if… its spirit body wasn't complete yet.

Even incomplete, it emanated a terrifying energy. There was some enormous figure inside that mist, covered with terrifying bone spurs, radiating an indescribable pressure. The mist seethed and churned as it slowly condensed upon itself.

At the same time, Bai Xiaochun's consciousness was starting to unravel. Ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty percent…. In the blink of an eye, it was fifty percent dispersed!

As that happened, the illusory world trembled and shook. Unexpectedly, the life essence spirit inside of the mist began to show signs that it was also going to disperse.

"Faster!" Bai Xiaochun's consciousness howled amidst the massive rumbling sounds. "Faster! My consciousness is dispersing. Life essence spirit… you must awaken!"

And yet, it continued to disperse even more quickly. Sixty percent. Seventy percent. Eighty percent…. Ninety percent!

Rifts spread out through the illusory world as it began to collapse. A massive wind sprang up, sweeping across everything, attempting to disperse the mist. However, it was in that moment that Bai Xiaochun's last scraps of consciousness let out an urgent shout.

RUMBLE!

Even as the world crumbled into bits, within the dispersing mist, two red eyes… snapped open!

The life essence spirit had awakened!

In the outside world, Bai Xiaochun's deep enlightenment went past forty days. It continued on and on. Fifty days. Sixty days. Seventy days. Eighty days. Ninety days…. One hundred days!

The number of days which had passed left the north bank disciples in complete terror.

"A hundred days! More than three months! Bai Xiaochun… is still in deep enlightenment!!"

"He's not gonna die, is he…?"

"This is shocking! I've never seen anything like this in my entire life!"

The Outer Sect disciples were terrified, and the Inner Sect disciples were shaken. Beihan Lie and the other Chosen felt as if their minds were being struck by lightning. But things weren't over. 101 days. 120 days. 130 days. It was at that point, sometime in the afternoon, that Bai Xiaochun began to tremble.

People immediately noticed. They rubbed their eyes, looked again, and when it was certain that Bai Xiaochun was shaking, people began to cry out in surprise.

It was in that very moment that… Bai Xiaochun opened his eyes!

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Chapter 129: Bone Spur!

A blank look could still be seen in Bai Xiaochun's eyes. Although his consciousness had returned, he still hadn't completely recovered from the experience of being in the illusory world of deep enlightenment. The real world around him almost didn't seem real at first.

Soon the disciples from the Hall of Justice noticed what was happening, and looked over at him. As for the Outer Sect disciples in the audience, their eyes went wide, and they began to cry out in shock.

"130 days!"

"He took five times as long as Eldest Brother Ghostfang to enter deep enlightenment, and spent five times as long inside!"

The clamoring Outer Sect disciples quickly produced jade slips to send word to their friends that Bai Xiaochun had awakened. Soon, a tempest raged in the north bank as countless disciples got the messages and began to race over to the trial platform.

As he sat there beneath the trial platform statue, his eyes blank, he slowly lifted his right hand and then pushed it out in front of him.

"Waterswamp…" he whispered.

Few people could hear him, but as soon as the word left his mouth, massive rumbling sounds echoed out that could shake heaven and earth. They were like peals of heavenly thunder crashing in everyone's ears.

BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

Three massive crashing sounds shocked everyone to the core. At the same time, a boundless field of water vapor spread out in all directions.

9 meters. 30 meters. 150 meters. 300 meters…. All the way to 600 meters!

Bai Xiaochun was surrounded by a boundless field of water vapor 600 meters wide. The water vapor instantly reduced visibility, making it difficult to see anything clearly. Furthermore, all of the disciples within the vapor suddenly gasped as a powerful force suddenly pushed against them.

The pushing force was so powerful that none of the disciples could fight against it. In the blink of an eye, they were pushed away until not a single person remained within 300 meters of Bai Xiaochun.

The haze created by the water vapor rose up high into the sky, even altering the energy of heaven and earth in the area. A huge vortex began to spin, completely shaking all the observing disciples, who couldn't help but think about the clawed ghost hand which appeared when Ghostfang unleashed Ghosts Haunt the Night.

That was a secret magic that didn't seem possible for Qi Condensation disciples to unleash, and left the north bank disciples not only with a feeling of deep respect for Ghostfang, but also, fear. Furthermore… they were experiencing exactly the same thing with Bai Xiaochun right now!

Gasps could be heard as more and more disciples rushed over to the scene. Many of them were Inner Sect disciples, including Beihan Lie, the Gongsun siblings, and Xu Song.

As soon as they saw the vortex, and Bai Xiaochun, their faces flickered with astonishment.

"Waterswamp Kingdom!"

"He must have succeeded in cultivating it! But what kind of life essence spirit did he get…?"

Ghostfang hovered there, staring down at Bai Xiaochun. The desire to fight sprang up in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

As the disciples watched, trembling, the four peak lords of the north bank arrived, as well as Li Qinghou.

"I really look forward to seeing Bai Xiaochun's life essence spirit!"

"He's only unleashed the waterswamp, and yet the energy is astounding. I wonder what's inside…."

Li Qinghou's eyes shone with delight; he keenly anticipated what would result now that Bai Xiaochun had awoken from deep enlightenment.

As everyone looked on, Bai Xiaochun slowly lifted his head. His eyes were still blank as he suddenly… lowered his right hand!

"…. Kingdom!" he murmured.

In that very instant, a series of gasps rang out among the audience as an indescribable aura erupted out from within Bai Xiaochun to fill the entire area.

Within that 600-meter-area, everything was hazy, making it difficult to see anything clearly. But now… the dense water vapor transformed into… a swamp!

The roar of a beast could be heard from within the waterswamp, bizarre and seemingly filled with the voices of countless other beasts.

ROAR!!

The sky trembled and the ground shook. Everyone who heard the sound, regardless of the level of their cultivation base, was left shaken. At the same time, varying levels of pressure began to push down on everyone.

As the roar echoed out, the battle beasts belonging to the various disciples of the north bank all reacted by throwing their heads back and howling aggressively. All of them were instantly thrown into chaos.

In the Beast Conservatory, the nearly one thousand beasts all began to howl. It didn't take long before all of the beasts on the north bank had joined together, sending deafening howls out in all directions. The north bank disciples were trembling.

"Just what kind of life essence spirit does Bai Xiaochun have in his Waterswamp Kingdom!?!?"

"Heavens, how is he doing this!?" The disciples, faces flashing with shock, struggled to keep their battle beasts under control. That was especially true of the Inner Sect disciples, whose battle beasts were of a different blood order, making their reactions even stronger and more violent, to the point where they seemed crazed.

The crowd struggled with their beasts, and the sound of roaring filled the air.

The 600-meter-wide waterswamp twisted and distorted, as if it were being projected from some outside world. Furthermore, there seemed to be some unseen beast struggling to break through a barrier from another world to burst out into this one.

Suddenly, the waterswamp shook violently, and a huge mountain peak rose up from the very middle of it!

It was enormous, but upon closer inspection, it seemed obvious that… because the waterswamp was only 600 meters across, this was only the very tip of the mountain!!

But then, further examination revealed a spine-tingling truth. It wasn't a mountain peak, it was… the tip of a bone spur!!

"A bone spur! Heavens! That's the tip of a bone spur!"

"The tip of that bone spur is 600 meters wide. How big is the beast itself? This life essence spirit… what exactly does it look like?!"

Energy that could shake heaven and earth exploded from the Waterswamp Kingdom. As the blast spread out in all directions, the battle beasts went completely out of control. Howling at the tops of their lungs, they began to throw themselves down to the ground in prostration!

"Impossible!!"

"How could this be happening?!?!" The disciples were completely shocked as, one after another, each and every battle beast on the north bank dropped down in worship. At the same time, threatening howls began to emanate from the four mountain peaks of the north bank.

The seven-colored phoenix shot out into the air, where it stared vigilantly at the mountain peak rising from Bai Xiaochun's Waterswamp Kingdom. A moment later, the phoenix was joined by the black, three-eyed raven.

Simultaneously, the huge lizard appeared and let out a powerful roar in the direction of the mountain peak.

The Ghostfang Peak mountain ghost also appeared, clutching its bone trident, surrounded by black mist. Although it seemed nervous, if you looked closely, it and the other of the four spirit beast guardians all had gleams of respect deep in their eyes.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Beast Conservatory, down in the Ancient Beast Chasm, two eyes suddenly opened. They were huge, and shone with a piercing light that seemed to reach all the way through the stone walls to gaze upon Bai Xiaochun's Waterswamp Kingdom.

Those eyes belonged to none other than the sect's holy beast guardian, the Heavenhorn ink dragon!

Even it looked with profound solemnity at Bai Xiaochun's Waterswamp Kingdom life essence spirit.

The entire north bank was completely and utterly shaken. The elders of the four mountain peaks were astonished as they emerged to watch the scene play out. Atop Mount Daoseed, several profoundly powerful gazes also turned to look at Bai Xiaochun.

The four peak lords were panting, their scalps tingling in shock.

"Just what type of life essence spirit is that!?"

"This is unheard-of!!"

"That type of power can't be controlled by a Qi Condensation cultivator. This is similar to Ghostfang! No, wait, it exceeds Ghostfang!"

Under the shocked gazes of all present, the Waterswamp Kingdom mountain peak slowly sank back down. The 600-meter-wide Waterswamp Kingdom was too small, making it impossible for Bai Xiaochun's life essence spirit to appear in full. As it sank down, the waterswamp around it gradually faded away.

Bai Xiaochun sat there cross-legged, his face pale, his eyes wide. He was now fully awake; even he seemed to be astonished at the bone spur which had emerged from the Waterswamp Kingdom.

As the Waterswamp Kingdom vanished, the surrounding battle beasts gradually calmed down. However, their masters, the disciples of the north bank, were left with minds spinning. After a moment of protracted silence, everyone burst into a pandemonium.

"Was I… was I just seeing things…?"

"That was the Waterswamp Kingdom?!?!"

"Bai Xiaochun's life essence spirit only revealed the tip of a single bone spur…?"

"That energy just now could shake heaven and earth! Did that really come from… a Qi Condensation disciple like me? Ai. It's too bad he's not a north peak disciple."

Amidst the hubbub, the four peak lords exchanged glances, and then looked over at the equally shocked Li Qinghou.

"The younger generation will surpass us in time…. I really am dying to find out what that life essence spirit looks like."

"You can only imagine what it will be like to see Bai Xiaochun fully unleash the power of the Waterswamp Kingdom!"

"His cultivation base is insufficient, and the waterswamp was only 600 meters wide, so his life essence spirit only revealed the tip of a single bone spur. If he's ever able to reach the Gold Core stage… and unleash a 500-kilometer Waterswamp Kingdom, I can only guess what his life essence spirit will be like when it appears."

"If he eventually uses the that Waterswamp Kingdom against people at the same level as himself… one can only imagine how powerful he'll be!"

Li Qinghou felt very proud of Bai Xiaochun, although he didn't show it. Keeping his excitement and happiness to himself, he turned and left the north bank. After all, he had his own preparations to make. He needed to attempt to break through into the Gold Core stage within ten years.

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Chapter 130: The Blooming of the Beastbirth Flower

Even Bai Xiaochun wasn't sure exactly what his life essence spirit looked like. He could also tell that his cultivation base was insufficient at the moment. 600 meters wasn't enough to accommodate the entirety of the life essence spirit.

He didn't mind, though. The fact that his life essence spirit appeared at all indicated that his years of cultivating the Waterswamp Kingdom had not been wasted. Furthermore, he was now filled with anticipation about what exactly the life essence spirit would be like in the end.

Hearing the hubbub of voices around him, Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat, feeling very pleased with himself.

"Ai. What a headache! No matter where I go, people are always cheering. I actually prefer to keep a low profile. Ah well. I guess I can just forget about how much the north bank disciples bullied me in the past." Just as he was about to rise to his feet, a wave of vertigo swept over him, and intense pangs of hunger stabbed through him. At that point he realized that he was so weak he couldn't even stand.

He immediately pulled out a medicinal pill. After consuming it, he felt a bit better, and managed to rise to his feet.

The north bank disciples looked on with mixed emotions. Despite being so weak, Bai Xiaochun didn't forget to make himself look like a melancholy hero. His ashen complexion added to the effect as he slowly made his way off.

After he was some distance off, the north bank disciples began to sigh. It was hard for them to decide how they felt about Bai Xiaochun. At first he had been their archenemy, and then he had fought them on the trial platform, one disciple after another, for an entire month. After that, he had surpassed Ghostfang in deep enlightenment, and then showed off a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering Waterswamp Kingdom.

All of them had to admit that Bai Xiaochun was truly a Chosen. Furthermore, he was different from the other Chosen. He was the kind of person who always looked like he deserved a beating, which was something that had nothing to do with his strength. It was something innate about him.

Ever since he had arrived on the north bank, things never let up. One development after another occurred, all revolving around him. It left the crowd sighing in their hearts.

The Inner Sect disciples were even more moved than the others. From the fact that Bai Xiaochun took twice as long to enter deep enlightenment, it was clear to them that his understanding of enlightenment couldn't compare to Ghostfang's.

In fact, he might not even measure up to some of the other Chosen in that regard. However, he spent seventy maddened days in observation, something that clearly displayed his level of focus, and how much preparation and hard work he could put into enlightenment.

Beihan Lie had nothing to say as he watched Bai Xiaochun disappearing off into the distance. He turned and went back to his immortal's cave, where he went into secluded meditation, determined to break through to the tenth level of Qi Condensation, and after that, prepare for Foundation Establishment.

"I need to improve in terms of focus and hard work," he thought. "Bai Xiaochun, one of these days, I'm definitely going to surpass you!"

The Gongsun siblings, Xu Song, and the other Inner Sect Chosen all took deep breaths as they contemplated how much more powerful Bai Xiaochun was. Even still, they were not willing to be constantly battered by such pressure. Filled with determination, they made similar decisions as Beihan Lie.

"Inadequacies can be remedied by diligence. If Bai Xiaochun can do something like that, then so can I!" That was what each and every one of them was thinking.

Soon, the crowds had dispersed. Ghostfang watched Bai Xiaochun leave, still wondering what Bai Xiaochun had seen after the beast's clawed hand.

Hearing an explanation would do no good. He needed to see with his own eyes. That would be the only way to achieve a breakthrough with his Ghosts Haunt the Night.

"What if I entered his memories? Then I could see what I wished to see." After some deep thought about the matter, he shook his head. "I can't be completely confident in succeeding, not right now. But after I reach Foundation Establishment…." His eyes began to shine with a profound light.

"Now that I think about, the appointed time Master talked about is approaching. The three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands controlled by the great sects of the eastern Lower Reaches of the Heavenspan River will be opened. One of them is the Fallen Sword Abyss…. Once inside, when the Tideflow of the earthstring Foundation Establishment begins, my secret magic should enable me to achieve an eight Tideflows Foundation Establishment. At that time, things will be much simpler." Nodding his head, Ghostfang turned and headed off.

Bai Xiaochun strutted like a hero all the way back to the Beast Conservatory. Once inside, he looked around and found himself alone, whereupon he slumped down and trudged back into the honor guard station, where he immediately fell asleep.

He slept for three days straight before finally waking up. Even then, he was only partially recovered. A half month passed before he returned to his previous peak. When that happened, he was delighted to discover that his cultivation base had made some progress. He was now at the very limit of the ninth level of Qi Condensation, and would only need about half a month of meditation, as well as some medicinal pills, to break into the tenth level.

In addition to that, he found that his ability to control spiritual power had changed. He was now more flexible in his control, and could manipulate it without the slightest lag in speed.

What left him even more ecstatic was that his qi passageways were thicker than before. Plus, his Undying Silver Skin had even more golden light in it than it had months before.

"I've made progress in every aspect!" he thought, excited. First he took a trip around the jungle to visit all the beasts he hadn't seen during the past months. Then he went to the garden in the back courtyard, where the six-meter-tall plant which had sprouted up out of the Beastbirth Seed now sported an enormous flower bud at the top.

The Beastbirth Seed had been growing for quite some time, and within spirit soil with a threefold spirit enhancement at that. Bai Xiaochun had also taken time to sprinkle some special spirit fertilizer onto the soil every once in awhile to help it grow.

Because of the spell formation he'd put in place, nobody had ever noticed its existence.

After looking at it closely, he was delighted to discover that the flower bud was almost completely mature.

"I bet it will only be a month or so before it's ready!" Laughing heartily, he sat down in place to begin some breathing exercises and cultivation, simultaneously watching over the Beastbirth Flower bud.

Ten days flew by. Bai Xiaochun's imminent breakthrough, and the Beastbirth Flower, had him all smiles. During the time that passed, the Beastbirth Flower's stalk didn't grow any taller, but the flower bud grew larger and larger, until it was almost two meters tall.

It was so heavy that the entire thing began to bend over. The multiple layers making up the flower bud were so numerous that it was only possible to imagine what it would look like when it opened up.

There was also a fragrant aroma which spread out from it.

Bai Xiaochun was very excited. He sat there meditating for three more days. Around evening, cracking sounds could be heard, and black filth oozed from his pores. At the same time, the spiritual power inside of him surged like thousands of galloping horses.

The power grew more intense, eventually coalescing into something like a huge raging river that resembled a roaring dragon.

Bai Xiaochun shook visibly as the image of a dragon and a mammoth appeared behind him. His eyes snapped open, and they flashed like lightning. Shocking, thunderous rumbling filled him, sounds that only he could hear.

"Second level of the Dragon Mammoth Sea-Forming Scripture!

"Tenth level of Qi Condensation!"

He took a deep breath as he probed the spiritual power inside of him, which was more than double the amount of the ninth level of Qi Condensation. Rising to his feet, he performed an incantation gesture, summoning a violet cauldron.

Excited, he waved his finger, causing another violet cauldron to appear next to the first one. After that, he summoned another. Three cauldrons were now circling around him. Bai Xiaochun threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Flashing into motion, he waved the Golden Crow Sword, causing a raging nine-meter-wide inferno of fire to spring up around him.

There was also a fiery golden crow, a creature birthed from flame, which caused incredible pressure to spread out.

Bai Xiaochun's smile grew wider. Waving his hand, he retracted all of the magic, and then took a deep breath. By this point, he truly felt himself to be a heroic master.

"Foundation Establishment…. It's so close. Once I get to the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation, I'll be able to give it a shot!" As soon as Bai Xiaochun thought about the additional longevity he would gain upon reaching Foundation Establishment, he got more excited.

After cleaning himself up, he used half a day to get used to the changes in his cultivation base, and his increased amount of spiritual power. With that work done, he returned to the rear courtyard, where he sat down cross-legged in front of the Beastbirth Flower.

"My cultivation base has broken through. Now I'm just waiting for this flower.

"Hahaha! My dreams are truly about to become a reality!

"My life essence spirit might be illusory, and born from a secret magic, but this Beastbirth Flower is different. This will be a true battle beast belonging to me!

"I'm going to raise… a battle beast that has the best parts of all of the other battle beasts. When that happens, my purpose in coming to the north bank will have been accomplished!" Bai Xiaochun had been waiting for a long time for this day, and now all he could do was wait and stand guard.

More than ten days went by in a flash. Bai Xiaochun's eyes gradually widened as the stalk of the plant gradually vanished, to be replaced by nothing more than a gigantic Beastbirth Flower. Although he had known from his research that this would happen, it was still a shocking thing to see with his own eyes.

The flower and the stalk had begun the merging process seven days before, but already, it was over 18 meters tall, like a gigantic steamed bun….

Bai Xiaochun swallowed hard and backed up a few paces to stand guard. Three days later, a fragrant aroma spread out from the enormous, 27-meter-tall "bun" sitting there in front of him.

At the very top of the "bun," a small, mouth-like opening could be seen, which was where the fragrant aroma came from.

"When the spirit aroma grows strong, the Beastbirth Flower will bloom, and the beast will be born. That's what the information said!" Bai Xiaochun began to walk slowly around the Beastbirth Flower, his eyes shining. After some more thought, he left, then came back followed by a flying tiger.

The flying tiger looked around curiously as it entered the rear courtyard, but then a tremor suddenly ran through it, and its eyes began to shine as brightly as if it had seen a female of its own species. With a powerful roar, it suddenly launched itself toward the Beastbirth Flower.

As it closed in, the Beastbirth Flower opened its mouth-like aperture and, in the blink of an eye, swallowed up the flying tiger.

The scene playing out caused Bai Xiaochun's eyes to widen. Hurrying forward, he realized that although he couldn't actually see the flying tiger, he could tell that it was moving inside of the flower. When he was sure about that, he calmed down a bit and moved off to the side to wait.

After about two hours passed, the flower slowly opened up, and the flying tiger crawled out. It was trembling, and almost seemed drunk with pleasure. Although it seemed to want more, Bai Xiaochun grabbed it and took it back out into the Beast Conservatory.

When he returned, he was followed by a huge bear. Moments later, the bear saw the flower, roared, and lunged forward….

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Chapter 131: For the Contributions!

Bai Xiaochun clasped his hands behind his back as he stood there in the courtyard watching the intoxicated bear trundling off into the distance. It looked back three times, seemingly reluctant to leave. Bai Xiaochun sighed, musing about the goodness of his deeds.

During the following half month, he continued to go out into the Beast Conservatory and return with specially selected beasts. The Beastbirth Flower would swallow them up, and when they emerged, they looked drunk with pleasure, and would make their way off into the distance on unsteady legs.

Bai Xiaochun kept his selection very limited, choosing only from two hundred of the most special beasts.

He wanted the flower to give birth to the ultimate battle beast, and therefore, he selected either the strongest or the largest of the beasts in the jungle.

Eventually, all of the beasts which had offered contributions began to gather outside of the spell formation. Whenever Bai Xiaochun appeared, they would howl at the tops of their lungs, as if to ask for another chance.

"Absolutely not," Bai Xiaochun replied firmly. "One contribution is enough. I don't want to harm you!" Eventually, Bai Xiaochun brought the huge pangolin over to contribute, and that was when he realized he'd run out of good beasts to chose from.

Furthermore, he was well aware that the blooming period of the Beastbirth Flower didn't last for very long. Eventually, it would give birth to whatever was inside, no matter what it was. That was when he started to get nervous.

"This won't do. These beasts aren't enough to create the ultimate battle beast." Having reached this point in his train of thoughts, Bai Xiaochun left the Beast Conservatory to take a walk through the north bank. After observing all of the animals, he had come to be quite familiar with the disciples' battle beasts. He even knew which ones had the greatest potential for future growth, and which ones were the strongest.

"I remember one female Outer Sect disciple who had a peacock. It had great potential. That peacock should do nicely, shouldn't it?" He quickly hurried over to the residence of that very female disciple.

After waiting outside for a while, the young woman approached. She was quite well-known in the Outer Sect, and was very beautiful. As soon as she neared, Bai Xiaochun put a warm smile onto his face, and tactfully offered some merit points if she would allow her peacock to make an important contribution. Although he didn't mention the Beastbirth Flower itself, he did explain other matters in detail.

Worried that she would reject the offer, he decided to add in one more bit of explanation.

"Don't worry. The contribution itself won't hurt the beast. You know, afterward, all of the beasts who've done it have looked drunk with pleasure. They all want a second round, as a matter of fact, but I was worried it would harm their vital energy, so I refused."

The female disciple's expression slowly went blank. Although she wasn't exactly sure what he meant by "contribution," after hearing his further explanation, her eyes went wide with fear.

"You… you pervert!" she huffed. A bit tongue-tied, she stamped her foot and walked off.

Bai Xiaochun's jaw dropped, and he felt a bit wronged.

"I just wanted to borrow your peacock! If you don't agree, that's fine, but there's no need to start cursing me. Bai Xiaochun is no pervert!" Feeling a bit down, he went to the next person on his list. During the following days, he visited over a hundred disciples, and yet, not a single one agreed. In fact, many of them looked at him with very odd expressions.

Bai Xiaochun sighed and decided that since everyone was refusing, he might as well forget the idea. Having no other option, he would have to settle for second best and try out some of the other beasts in the Beast Conservatory.

However, just when he was about to give up, something like a wind blew through the sect. Numerous disciples looked over at Bai Xiaochun with strange expressions on their faces, and began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Did you hear? Bai Xiaochun has a very unique hobby…."

"For the past few days, he's been going around asking to borrow battle beasts from people. He talks about some sort of contribution, and if you don't know what that means, well, come here, I'll explain it!"

"Oh, so that's what it means! Heavens! I can't believe that Bai Xiaochun uses the beasts for…. Heavens! Is it really true?"

The rumors began to fly completely spontaneously. Apparently, after the north bank disciples realized they couldn't do anything about Bai Xiaochun, their malice toward him had gradually transformed into intrigue. As such, it only took a few days for everyone to have caught wind of the rumors.

"Do you know why Bai Xiaochun came to the north bank? It's the beasts! He has a special sort of love for them!"

"Now I get it! No wonder he made that Aphrodisiac Pill. It all makes sense now. He needed it for himself to begin with…."

"Chosen always have their eccentric hobbies. I'm just curious as to whether he prefers female beasts or male beasts?"

"Heavens! I can't believe you're wondering about something like that! Shh… keep your voice down. Look, I think I know the answer to your question…."

When Bai Xiaochun heard the rumors, he was dumbstruck. The most extreme thing to happen was one evening at dusk when he happened to catch sight of a female disciple with a blue-eyed black cat. A bit curious, he looked over, whereupon the female disciple screamed at the top of her lungs and ran off at top speed.

Bai Xiaochun almost couldn't believe it all, and felt very wronged. He tried to explain things to people, and although they seemed to understand, the rumors only raged hotter.

"What a bunch of bullies!" he fumed. "It wasn't easy for me, Bai Xiaochun, to come to the north bank, completely impoverished. I minded my own business and tried not to offend anyone. I walked around with my tail between my legs, and yet, you people push things this far!? Slanderers!"

Eyes bloodshot, he gnashed his teeth.

"You're going overboard, people! If all you're going to do is slander me, then I'll go get the beasts myself!" Even as he burned with rage, he suddenly felt a wind blowing against his back. Looking over his shoulder, he didn't see anyone, but did notice a tree off to the side which was swaying back and forth.

Next, a black blur sped toward him, openings its mouth to bite at his belly… the ferocious jaws instantly began to snap shut with terrifying power.

Thankfully, Bai Xiaochun was in the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Furthermore, after awakening from his deep enlightenment, his senses had become heightened. As such, he recognized what was happening and quickly fell back.

Even as he did, a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth smashed onto the air a little more than a meter in front of him. The power of the bite was such that even the sound of it was shocking. It seemed to be filled with hatred.

The black blur was none other than the Nightstalker Beast, the huge black dog. It was currently nighttime, which mean that it was much faster than it was during the day. Seeing that its second attempt to ambush Bai Xiaochun had failed, the dog quickly turned to flee.

"You again!!" Bai Xiaochun said, scalp numb, sweat dripping down his neck. He felt chills running up his spine; if he had been even a bit slower to react, then the dog would surely have bitten him.

When he thought of what might have resulted, he shivered. He couldn't bet his life on his Undying Live Forever Technique….

"Damned black dog! It almost put an end to an entire Prestige clan!!" He glared in fury as the dog ran off into the distance.

"Intolerable bullying!" he raged. "If the north bank disciples want to bully me, that's one matter, but now a big dog is trying to do the same thing?! Last time I felt sorry for you, but this time, you're not getting off the hook!" With that, wings sprouted from his back, and he flickered into motion.

One man, one dog, they raced through the north bank at incredible speed.

The dog was also very fast, and was very familiar with the area. Bai Xiaochun chased after it for almost an hour, until the sky was completely dark. He never was able to catch up, and yet his fury was not abated. The fact that he had been ambushed, and then completely left in the dust by the perpetrator, made him more angry than ever.

As of this moment, the big black dog occupied the number two slot on Bai Xiaochun's list of hatreds. The number three spot was held by Elder Zhou's phoenix, and the number one spot… belonged to the abnormally stealthy talking rabbit. Nothing could ever take that first place spot away from the rabbit.

"I'll chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to!" Silver light flickered around him as the Undying Live Forever Technique was unleashed to its maximum effect, and his wings fluttered with protomagnetic power. In that moment, his speed instantly doubled.

He transformed into a series of afterimages that quickly closed in toward the dog. In that moment, the dog silently attempted to duck into a cave, but before it could, Bai Xiaochun was there, reaching out toward it.

As the hand neared, the black dog's eyes turned crimson, and it madly turned its head. Unexpectedly, it was completely disregarding its own safety to lunge toward Bai Xiaochun's belly and take out a bite.

The dog had failed in its ambush before, so there was no need to even wonder if it could succeed when Bai Xiaochun was enraged and chasing after it. Before the dog's jaws could even bite down, a gurgling sound could be heard as Bai Xiaochun's hand clamped down onto its throat.

His hand was like an iron vice that completely prevented the black dog from escaping.

"Hmph! Now we're going to see how awesome you are!" Gritting his teeth, he headed back to the Beast Conservatory, and soon arrived at the honor guard station. After thinking for a moment about how to punish the dog, he suddenly looked over at the Beastbirth Flower.

His heart twitched, and he chuckled darkly. With that, he tossed the dog toward the Beastbirth Flower, which swallowed it up in an instant.

Two hours later, the flower opened, and the big black dog crawled out. Although its eyes shone with hatred and madness, there was something else in them as well. Before another moment could pass, it lunged at Bai Xiaochun, who grabbed it and threw it back into the flower.

Another two hours passed, and the dog appeared again, just as maddened as before. Bai Xiaochun threw it back into the flower.

After four times, the dog emerged, legs wobbly. It flopped onto the ground, panting.

"Scared now?" Bai Xiaochun said, snorting coldly. "Provoke me again, and I'll–"

Before he could even finish, the black dog looked up at him and tried its best to reach out and bite him. Enraged, Bai Xiaochun grabbed the dog and threw it back into the Beastbirth Flower for another go. After five more times, it made a total of nine.

After nine times, the dog was gaunt and listless. Seeing that, Bai Xiaochun picked it up, and it let out a miserable howl. Bai Xiaochun felt bad.

"Now do you understand what you have to be afraid of? Just don't provoke me any more. I had no choice but to do what I did in the Chosen battles." With this admonishment, he tossed the big black dog out of the honor guard station. The dog used what little energy it had left to flee off into the distance. When it got far enough, though, it turned to look back, and seemed like it was savoring sweet memories….

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Chapter 132: Life Essence Ancestral Awakening Blood

Bai Xiaochun watched the dog disappearing off into the distance, a thoughtful expression on his face. The way it had slowly grown more thin and gaunt was very telling, and gave him a much better understanding of the Beastbirth Flower's growing process. He suddenly thought of the fragrant aroma the flower exuded.

"The Beastbirth Flower exudes a sort of hallucinogenic aura. Once other animals get caught up in it, their qi and blood are stirred, and some of their life essence ancestral blood is extracted by the flower. That's why the dog gradually grew thinner…. Wild beasts are slightly different, so when their qi and blood is stimulated, the illusions they experience are also different. Either way, the point of the hallucination is to stop them from resisting.

"No wonder this Beastbirth Seed is virtually extinct…. In some ways, it's completely superior to all wild beasts!" Bai Xiaochun trembled at this new realization.

When mosquitos suck blood, they numb the vicinity of the bite so that they can feast surreptitiously. Likewise, when the Beastbirth Flower absorbed the life essence ancestral awakening blood, it was done in secret.

Seven days passed. Considering how soon the Beastbirth Flower would be blooming, Bai Xiaochun felt that if he couldn't get any more superior beasts' life essence ancestral awakening blood, it would be a huge waste of the flower.

Then he thought about how the north bank disciples had been slandering him, and he ground his teeth. At that point, he slipped out of the Beast Conservatory into the dark and windswept night.

"I haven't done something like this for a while. It's a bit of a loss of face considering my status… but I don't have any other choice." Eyes shining brightly, he drifted undetected through the north bank until he arrived outside of a certain residence. Inside was a beautiful peacock, currently asleep and completely oblivious to any dangers. Suddenly, a hand snaked out and clasped it by the neck.

The peacock struggled as a powerful force dragged it through the night, but it couldn't make even a single sound. Complete unable to free itself, it was quickly taken away by Bai Xiaochun.

Glancing around vigilantly to ensure that no one was watching him, he quickly made his way to another location. It didn't take long before he had green python in hand as well as a peacock. And yet, things weren't over.

Over the course of the next hour, Bai Xiaochun toiled away. When he returned to the Beast Conservatory, he had a peacock in his left hand, a night leopard in his right, a white monkey pinned against his side, and a green python wrapped around him.

"What a goldmine!" he thought excitedly. With that, he hurried back to the rear courtyard and bound up the battle beasts. Then he tossed the peacock into the Beastbirth Flower.

After the peacock was swallowed up by the flower, Bai Xiaochun waited in excitement off to the side. Before long, the peacock was spat out, and although it didn't look drunk with pleasure, it seemed to be relishing some wonderful memory. Apparently, the illusion it had experienced was different from the other animals. Before it could recover, Bai Xiaochun grabbed it and then threw the green python into the flower. Then he hurried away with the peacock to return it to where he'd acquired it from.

The peacock didn't cry out or struggle. In fact, when Bai Xiaochun turned to leave, it even gazed at him fawningly, almost with anticipation, as if it hoped he would take it away again.

Sounding very serious, Bai Xiaochun said, "Having a bit of your life essence ancestral awakening blood extracted won't hurt you. But too much won't be good. Be a good little peacock, alright? Oh… don't tell your master about me, okay?" With that, he left.

Bai Xiaochun worked hard that night. After returning the green python, he had the white monkey and the night leopard to deal with. The entire affair left him quite exhausted. However, when he thought about how content the animals looked, and how they clearly didn't wish to leave the flower behind, he knew that he was doing a good thing.

Most importantly of all, the Beastbirth Flower was looking stronger and more healthy than ever.

"One simple act pleases the battle beasts, pleases the Beastbirth Flower, and pleases me! It only goes to show what a good deed I'm performing!" Overall, he was very happy. The following night when the moon began to rise, he strode out of the Beast Conservatory, chin stuck up, hair blowing in the wind.

For the following several days, he went about the same routine. He picked the best battle beasts, regardless of whether they belonged to Outer or Inner Sect disciples. At the most, he chose four per night. Any more, and he wouldn't be able to return them before dawn.

Because of his stealth, and the profundity of his cultivation base, not a single problem arose. The only difference was that the battle beasts which had provided contributions during the night would act very differently if they encountered Bai Xiaochun during the day. They would leap about excitedly as if they wished to please him.

The masters of the various beasts were shocked; in the past, their battle beasts had never liked Bai Xiaochun very much, but now they fawned all over him. Even more strange was that not a single battle beast provided any sort of explanation, not even when asked to do so.

Half a month passed, and it was with great pride that Bai Xiaochun looked at the continuously maturing Beastbirth Flower. Thanks to all of the constant additions of life essence ancestral awakening blood from the most powerful of the battle beasts, his night-time efforts were all worth it.

On this particular night, thick clouds covered the moon, casting everything into pitch darkness. Bai Xiaochun had a hedgehog in one hand and a fierce bull slung over his shoulder, both of them trussed up to keep them quiet as he approached another residence.

"Black, blue-eyed cat…." he murmured, his eyes shining with a strange light. He had never forgotten this particular battle beast. Just as he was about to take action, two pairs of blue eyes snapped open within the courtyard up ahead, and the low-pitched yowl of a cat echoed out into the silence of night.

"So alert!" he thought, shocked. The yowl of the cat roused quite a few nearby disciples, so Bai Xiaochun quickly retreated. However, even as he did, the black, blue-eyed cat shot out to block his path.

Shockingly, human-level intelligence gleamed in its eyes, as well as something like a sneer.

Bai Xiaochun was instantly infuriated. On any other occasion, he could have handled this black cat easily, but now his hands were full, making this more difficult. Suddenly, wings sprouted out behind him, and he vanished before anyone could emerge to see him.

Thanks to the powerful yowl of the cat, Bai Xiaochun had a very hard time making it back to the Beast Conservatory while avoiding the notice of the north bank disciples. When he finally arrived, he gritted his teeth and mentally cursed the black cat.

"How am I going to handle that cat? It's simply too vigilant!" It was a real headache. Suddenly, Bai Xiaochun's expression flickered, and he lunged to the side, just as a black blur flashed passed him, accompanied by the sound of clashing teeth.

"You again!!" Bai Xiaochun had been angry to begin with, but when he saw the big black dog, he got even angrier.

The dog had already ambushed him twice, and normally, it would flee as soon as it failed. This time, though, it came back for a second round, brimming with madness, ferocity, and especially, hatred.

Considering its agility and speed, if it tried to get away, Bai Xiaochun would normally have to use all the power he had, and also spend a significant amount of time, to be able to catch it. But it wasn't fleeing now, so Bai Xiaochun made short work of it.

"I'm short on beasts tonight!" Bai Xiaochun growled. "You're in!" Holding the struggling dog by the neck, he returned to the rear courtyard. The hedgehog and the fierce bull were the first to make contributions. The last was the fiercely struggling black dog.

After returning the bull and the hedgehog, Bai Xiaochun returned, bursting with rage. He had decided that the time had come to treat the black dog to an unforgettable lesson. He would make it offer contributions fifteen times in a row!

The black dog was gasping for breath by the time Bai Xiaochun tossed it out of the Beast Conservatory.

"If you dare to ambush me ever again," Bai Xiaochun shouted, "I'll turn you into dog jerky!" The dog struggled to its feet and then slunk out into the jungle. When it finally reached a spot where Bai Xiaochun couldn't see it, it flopped down onto the ground and stuck its tongue out to lick its lips. Unexpectedly, an intoxicated gleam appeared in its eyes.

Several more days passed, and Bai Xiaochun's nighttime activities continued. However, the vigilant cat continued to be a big headache. Eventually, he prepared to attack it outright, but was shocked to find that the cat had hidden away in its master's room.

Bai Xiaochun wasn't sure what to do, but wasn't willing to give up. He continued to work on the other beasts as he pondered the situation. One night, when he was heading back to the Beast Conservatory with a huge toad, he suddenly stopped in place as a black blur shot past him, accompanied by a familiar sound.

It was the big black dog again, which was now standing there in front of him, trembling with eagerness, its teeth bared as if in preparation to attack.

At first, Bai Xiaochun was stunned by the dog's persistence, but then he realized that there was something strange going on. During the dog's third ambush, he hadn't thought too much about the fact that it didn't flee immediately. But now the dog was here again, and again, refrained from fleeing. Furthermore, the way it went about the ambush itself seemed a bit perfunctory. In addition to all that, its biting seemed far slower and far less ferocious than the previous occasions.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" he asked, shocked.

The dog had just been on the verge of lunging forward, but after hearing Bai Xiaochun's question, it stopped in place and looked at him. It didn't growl, it didn't bare its teeth, it didn't leap forward in attack. It just stood there staring at him.

A strange expression appeared on Bai Xiaochun's face. Ignoring the dog, he continued on his way. As he sped along, the dog followed, all the way back to the honor guard station.

As soon as it entered the rear courtyard, its tail began to wag furiously, and it… shot toward the Beastbirth Flower, completely of its own volition.

Bai Xiaochun stared in shock, and the expression on his face grew even more odd. After the dog finished its contribution and emerged from the flower, it didn't leave, but rather, jumped right back in. It continued to do the same thing over and over again. By the following evening, it had offered a total of seven or eight contributions.

"That's… that's… so much life essence ancestral awakening blood! Are you trying to kill yourself? Dammit! Just what kind of fantasy are you experiencing in there?" In the end, he grabbed the crazed dog and threw it out the door. As the dog hobbled off, Bai Xiaochun prepared to start threatening it, but then his heart thumped as an idea occurred to him, and he changed tactics.

"I know you can understand me," he said. "Listen up. If you want back in here, stop ambushing me! Furthermore, bring me that black, blue-eyed cat, if you can. Then I'll let you make another contribution!"

The dog looked back for a moment before turning and running off into the distance.

A few days later, just when Bai Xiaochun was about to go out and procure some more beasts, he suddenly heard a familiar barking outside his door….

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Chapter 133: It's Not Worth Trying, Kiddo

Bai Xiaochun stuck his head out and saw that there outside of the spell formation shield was the big black dog. It stood there proudly, paw on the back of the vigilant black cat. The blue-eyed cat seemed very listless and in somewhat sore straits.

The black dog looked at Bai Xiaochun and then let out a proud howl. Bai Xiaochun immediately opened the spell formation, whereupon the dog charged in and leapt toward the Beastbirth Flower.

Bai Xiaochun was completely taken aback, and mused that whatever illusion the black dog experienced must be extraordinary.

"Is it really trying to kill itself?" he thought. With that he approached the blue-eyed cat. After a quick examination, he confirmed that it was only exhausted, and not injured in any way. Grabbing it, he walked back into the courtyard.

Sometime later…. After ten contributions to the Beastbirth Flower, Bai Xiaochun finally kicked the black dog out. He was actually starting to get worried that the dog's frequent contributions of life essence ancestral awakening blood might interfere with his plan to create the most powerful of all battle beasts. What would happen if the Beastbirth Flower ended up giving birth to… a big black dog?

The mere idea left him quite nervous, so he decided to accept no further contributions from the black dog. Without any further hesitation, he tossed the blue-eyed cat into the Beastbirth Flower.

During the following half month, the black dog acted quite obediently. It would often come with a subdued battle beast, cry out until Bai Xiaochun opened the door, then wait eagerly to be allowed in.

Bai Xiaochun wanted to refuse, but every battle beast that the dog brought left him shocked.

"This dog is a god! All of these beasts are ones I had my eye on, but couldn't get. Their masters either keep them in their bags of beast raising, or in their immortal's caves." Bai Xiaochun just couldn't bring himself to refuse. The black dog had captured his heart, and every battle beast it brought left Bai Xiaochun shaken. In fact, one time it even managed to bring the battle beast of one of the Sunset Peak elders.

Eventually, Bai Xiaochun realized the implications, and it left him with only a single question. "Dammit, how long was this black dog stalking me…?"

Sighing, he looked over at the dog lying quietly next to the Beastbirth Flower, and realized that it really was intelligent, powerful, and very fast. Were it not those things, it would have been impossible to get all of these battle beasts.

"Fine, fine. Poor guy. Considering how much I tired it out before, and how it always brings me these battle beasts, I guess letting it contribute a few more times wouldn't hurt. I can't let things go too far, though. For its own good." With that, he shook his head and turned his attention to the four mountain peaks.

"I need some even more powerful battle beasts…. The spirit beast guardians of the four mountain peaks are probably the best choice." Licking his lips, he left the honor guard station and headed toward his cave by the Ancient Beast Chasm to concoct some pills.

By this point, many of the north bank disciples were starting to get suspicious. Many battle beasts were starting to behave very oddly, sometimes crying out in the middle of the night.

That was especially true of the black, blue-eyed cat, whose cries seemed especially loud. Sometimes, it appeared to be reminiscing about the past, dreaming of being the king of all beasts. It started to sound even more domineering when it yowled, to the point where people in the area couldn't sleep well. Its master was the most anxious of all, unsure of what exactly was happening with her own battle beast….

Such situations grew increasingly common throughout the sect….

Gradually, the north bank disciples began to run their own investigations into the matter….

A few days later, Bai Xiaochun emerged from his medicine concocting cave, loaded down with medicinal pills designed to attract wild beasts. When night fell, he hurried out toward Irispetal Peak. After reaching the summit, he looked anxiously at the cave, and then, eager to find out if his idea would work, threw a tier-3 spirit medicine inside.

Almost as soon as the medicinal pill entered the cave, it shot back out at high speed, slamming into his chest with such force that, without his incredibly tough skin, it would have crushed him. His face fell as he staggered backward a few paces. At the same time, the seven-colored phoenix stretched its head out of the cave and looked at him with a derisive sneer.

Of course, it was sneering, not at Bai Xiaochun himself, but at his action of throwing the medicinal pill.

Apparently, it was telling him that it didn't consume medicinal pills given to it by strangers.

Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide, and he coughed dryly.

Trying to look as charming as possible, he said, "Senior phoenix, that medicinal pill is really delicious…. If you don't like it, that's fine. But if you just come with me, I'll show you a place where all your dreams can come true." However, the phoenix merely flapped its wings, shoving Bai Xiaochun back so far he almost toppled off the nearby cliff. Heart pounding, he just managed to avoid falling.

The seven-colored phoenix glared at him threateningly, then slowly retreated back into its cave.

"Fine, fine. This seven-colored phoenix is too grouchy. I'll head over to Sunset Peak to see the three-eyed raven. It has a much better temper." Feeling a headache coming on, he made up his mind, and immediately headed over to Sunset Peak, where he attempted to use the same tactics at the three-eyed raven's cave.

However, after enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, Bai Xiaochun's scalp tingled in fear as he took to flight. A black flash of light could be seen behind him as the three-eyed raven gave chase, driving him all the way down the mountain before proudly returning to its cave.

"I hate birds! Hmph! They have such bad tempers. And Elder Zhou's bird even maligned me openly that one time!" He felt deeply wronged at how the birds had bullied him despite the fact that he had given them medicinal pills in good faith.

However, he couldn't give up on his dream of raising the ultimate battle beast. Therefore, he turned his gaze toward Archway Peak.

"That big lizard seems pretty well-behaved. It's pretty fat too, so that means it probably has a good appetite…. Maybe I'll have a chance there." Enlivened, he hurried over to Archway Peak. However, it didn't take long before he returned, scowling. He even had some rips and tears in his garments.

The lizard had completely ignored him when he threw it some medicinal pills. After getting anxious, he'd tossed in a few more, whereupon the lizard slashed at him with its claws.

He was forced to flee in terror, uninjured, but his clothing destroyed, leaving him looking very dilapidated.

The final spirit beast guardian was the mountain ghost of Ghostfang Peak. Bai Xiaochun hesitated all the way until the following night. Finally, he stamped his foot angrily and hurried over to Ghostfang Peak. What he found was that the mountain ghost had the best temper of all. It ignored Bai Xiaochun as if he didn't even exist, and didn't pay the least bit of attention to the medicinal pills.

After waiting half the night without any response, he left. The next night, he came back, and even a third night, before he finally gave up, virtually on the verge of tears.

"All four spirit beast guardians hold me in complete contempt!" As he sat stewing in the honor guard station, the whole north bank was astir. The only exception were people who Bai Xiaochun was incapable of provoking, for example the people who kept their battle beasts inside their bags of beast raising. All the other valuable beasts had already made contributions. Even most of the elders' beasts had been brought over by the black dog.

However, Bai Xiaochun met with only failure when it came to the spirit beast guardians, leaving him scowling in grief. That was especially true considering that the Beastbirth Flower was on the verge of blooming.

"I want my battle beast to be unprecedentedly powerful, but the four spirit beast guardians refuse to cooperate. I guess I need a battle beast even more powerful than them. What in the sect is more powerful than… wait a second." Even as he murmured to himself about the subject, he suddenly shivered and looked toward the Ancient Beast Chasm, his eyes shining.

"The only thing more powerful than the spirit beast guardians… is the sect's holy beast guardian!

"The Heavenhorn ink dragon…. If I could get that dragon to contribute, it would definitely be enough!!" Panting excitedly, he began to gather his thoughts.

"Now that I think about it, I'm on good terms with the holy beast guardian. I've been giving it medicinal pills ever since I got here…. Although I've never seen the old Heavenhorn ink dragon, it never stopped me from concocting medicine nearby. That means… it actually approves of me!" The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Getting even more excited, he organized his bag of holding, took a deep breath, and flicked his sleeve, heading in the direction of the Ancient Beast Chasm.

He sped along in high spirits, ready to take a risk for his dream of raising the ultimate battle beast. Soon, he was standing at the edge of the waterfall which poured down into the Ancient Beast Chasm. Down below, it was impenetrably dark, with swirling black mists everywhere. As he stood at the edge, his arms and legs prickled with coldness that seemed to come from the depths of the chasm itself.

He shivered a bit. Fearful that he might fall, he backed up a few steps, then gritted its teeth and threw a medicinal pill down inside.

"Senior Heavenhorn, it's me, Bai Xiaochun of the Junior generation. Remember me? I've been giving you medicinal pills for years now. Well, um, why don't you try this new flavor I came up with?" After waiting for a while and getting no response, he started wondering if perhaps the Heavenhorn ink dragon might like a different flavor. Finally, he threw in a different tier-3 spirit medicine.

It didn't take long before he'd thrown seven or eight pills in. Starting to feel a bit dismayed, he finally threw in a bunch of Aphrodisiac Pills. However, there was no reaction.

"Perhaps the heavens have doomed Bai Xiaochun to fail in raising the ultimate battle beast…." Sighing dejectedly, he was about to turn and leave when, all of a sudden, the mist inside the cave churned, and a profoundly ancient voice spoke out from within.

"It's not worth trying, kiddo…. I appreciate your kindness, but my fate was sealed three thousand years ago….. However, if you can find a way to get my life essence surging again, even for a moment, then I can do anything you want me to!"

Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide. Panting, he turned back around and said, "Really?"

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Chapter 134: The Spirit Is Still There….

Within the swirling mists of the chasm, two eyes appeared that constantly flickered with different colors. The most frequent to appear was magenta.

Just those eyes were as large as Bai Xiaochun's entire body, leaving him panting at the thought of how large the entire Heavenhorn ink dragon was. When he looked closer, he could just barely make out a horn.

After looking closely at the horn for a moment, he was convinced that it really was the Heavenhorn ink dragon speaking, and he started to get excited. After a moment of thought, he gritted his teeth.

"Senior, fear not. I'll work very hard to do just that!" With that, Bai Xiaochun turned, his eyes shining with focus and hope. If he could simply get the Heavenhorn ink dragon to contribute a single time, then his hopes of raising the ultimate battle beast would surely be fulfilled.

"Life essence exhausted. Wants it to surge. That will require some serious stimulation. When it comes to stimulation… what could possibly compare to the effectiveness of my Aphrodisiac Pill!?" Eyes bloodshot, he flew out of the Beast Conservatory toward Mount Daoseed. Considering his status, and the vast amount of merit points he had saved up, he had no trouble procuring the medicinal plants he needed.

By the time he was finished, he had spent more than half of his merit points. He bought so many ingredients that he couldn't even fit them into one bag of holding. It took seven bags, all of them stuffed to the brim. The disciple in charge of selling medicinal plants stared in shock. In all the years he had been in charge, he had never seen anyone spend merit points in such shocking fashion.

Naturally, the disciple recognized him. After he left, that disciple took a deep breath and mused about how god-like Bai Xiaochun was.

After purchasing such a huge collection of medicinal plants, he returned to the vicinity of the Ancient Beast Chasm to begin concocting medicine. Soon his eyes were bloodshot, and he was in a state of frenzy.

"I have to concoct… a Super Aphrodisiac Pill!" he said through gritted teeth. Determined to drastically increase the medicinal efficacy, he adjusted the pill formula to raise the potency by hundreds if not thousands of times.

Seven days flew by. Bai Xiaochun didn't rest at all, and soon, his hair was in complete disarray. He was completely immersed in his concocting. Occasionally the black dog would come with battle beasts, whereupon Bai Xiaochun would impatiently give it a jade slip so that it could temporarily open the spell formation.

The dog was very intelligent, and would use the jade slip to take the battle beast back to the honor guard station and carefully carry out the mission assigned to it by Bai Xiaochun. Apparently it was worried that if it didn't carry things out properly, it would have no more chances to return in the future. Of course, without Bai Xiaochun there to supervise it, the dog didn't exercise much control over how many times it contributed….

Over time, the north bank disciples gradually went mad. Each battle beast that went missing would return with a strange expression on its face, somehow prideful, as if it were the king of the world. It would act manic, murderous, intoxicated, and seemed to constantly be thinking about the past. Furthermore, no matter how the masters of such beasts tried to pry information out of them, it did no good.

More and more battle beasts exhibited such behavior. Some of the beasts had been strictly disciplined by their masters in the past, and would never have dreamed of acting out. But after disappearing and experiencing the illusory life of being the ruler of the world, they became uncontrollable…. The north bank was in chaos.

"What's happening!?!?"

"There's something fishy going on. We have to figure out what!!"

Eventually, even the battle beasts belonging to the elders began to act similarly. Before long, all of the disciples on the north bank were investigating the situation.

Three days later, Bai Xiaochun was completely immersed in his madness. It was with complete and utter fearlessness that he hurried over to the edge of the chasm and asked for a drop of blood from the Heavenhorn ink dragon.

On any other occasion, Bai Xiaochun would never have done anything so dangerous, but considering the bedeviled state he was in, he completely suppressed any urge to consider the potential consequences.

After a long moment of silence from within the chasm, Bai Xiaochun impatiently said that he didn't have time to waste. A moment later, a golden drop of blood flew out, which Bai Xiaochun quickly put into a bottle. Then, he hurried back into his cave to continue his concocting work.

Five days later, he had been at work for half a month, with no rest. It was at that point that the Super Aphrodisiac Pill finally appeared in the world.

That evening, rumbling sounds echoed out as Bai Xiaochun stared at the head-sized medicinal pill, then threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Not only was the pill physically large, it was extremely heavy.

As soon as is appeared in the pill furnace, a strong medicinal aroma spread out in all directions. As the aroma wafted out from the cave, the black dog, which had been carrying along a battle beast, suddenly got a whiff. A tremor ran through it, and its eyes turned bright red. Howling, it ran out of the Beast Conservatory to parts unknown….

At the same time, countless excited howls could be heard throughout the jungle of the Beast Conservatory.

Seeing how effective the pill was already, Bai Xiaochun began to laugh even more loudly. He was trembling with excitement, but was still worried that the pill wasn't good enough.

Hurrying off to a location where he could be certain of his privacy, he produced his wok and began to perform a spirit enhancement. After the threefold spirit enhancement was completed, his Super Aphrodisiac Pill had reached a level that was virtually unheard-of in the cultivation world. A superior-grade pill!

"This pill will definitely work. If it doesn't, then Bai Xiaochun will give up on pill concocting!" Spirits soaring, and bursting with self-confidence, he carried the medicinal pill over to the waterfall entrance of the Ancient Beast Chasm. Without any hesitation, he threw the pill down.

The pill disappeared soundlessly into the darkness. Bai Xiaochun stood there on the edge of the chasm, waiting. Time passed. After a full hour had gone by, he was starting to get nervous, despite his confidence.

"No way! I increased the medicinal efficacy by over a thousand-fold!" Another hour passed, and Bai Xiaochun was starting to sweat anxiously. Suddenly, the mist in the chasm began to swirl, and a roar echoed out that could shake heaven and earth. As it blasted out from within the mist, accompanied by a gale force wind, Bai Xiaochun backed up a few paces.

Then, an enormous column of swirling black mist rocketed up into the air, twisting and turning. At the same time, an exultant voice echoed out in all directions.

"At long last… I can sense my life essence surging!!" Then, the column of mist began to collapse, and a huge clawed hand reached out from within the chasm. When it grabbed onto the mountain cliff off to the side, the ground quaked.

The hand was pitch black and covered with scales the size of people. The claws were razor-sharp, and glowed faintly, radiating an energy that left one trembling.

An enormous, mountain-like head then emerged from within the chasm, pitch black, with a shocking horn stretching out from its forehead. The mere appearance of that horn seemed to make everything in the area blurry.

One might expect a dragon's eyes to be nine meters wide, but this dragon's eyes were even larger. It radiated a profoundly ancient aura, and its head was crisscrossed with scars of all types. One could only imagine the fierce battles the dragon had fought in the past.

Although it was ancient, it still radiated incredible energy and power. When it threw its head back and roared, all of the beasts in the jungle prostrated themselves and remained on the ground, completely unmoving.

Bai Xiaochun forced himself to swallow. This dragon was unimaginably large, and what was most frightening was that less than half of its body had emerged from the chasm. Bai Xiaochun's knees began to go weak, and his mind was spinning.

It was about then that the huge dragon glanced down at Bai Xiaochun, and then lowered its head down to his level.

Bai Xiaochun immediately felt incredible pressure weighing down on him. The head in front of him filled his field of vision, obscuring everything else.

More anxious than ever, he blurted, "Senior Heavenhorn, it's me, Bai Xiaochun! Remember me? I concocted that medicinal pill. It took me half a month! I very nearly worked myself to death in the process."

The Heavenhorn ink dragon looked at him for a moment, and then smiled. Of course, from Bai Xiaochun's perspective, that smile was hair-raisingly terrifying. Before he could say anything further, the gigantic dragon shrank down right there in front of him. Within the blink of an eye, it was a nine-meter-long black lizard.

It actually looked very similar to the lizard from Archway Peak.

The lizard landed in front of Bai Xiaochun, and as soon as its claws touched the ground, everything in the area distorted. When things grew clear again, Bai Xiaochun was shocked to find that they were back in the rear courtyard of the honor guard station.

"Somehow you got your hands on a Beastbirth Seed," the dragon said. "I could sense it the moment you brought it here…. It pulls you into a hallucination, extract your life force, then uses it to condense ancestral awakening blood. With this seed, my bloodline can finally be passed on." The Heavenhorn ink dragon sighed. Completely ignoring Bai Xiaochun, it approached the Beastbirth Flower, which began to tremble, and then slowly opened.

The Heavenhorn ink dragon didn't resist as the flower swallowed it up. In fact, it even seemed to have an expression of anticipation on its face.

Bai Xiaochun waited nervously off to the side, watching the Beastbirth Flower, wondering what sort of illusion the Heavenhorn ink dragon was experiencing. Unlike the other beasts, which were relatively quiet, this time, roars echoed out. Bai Xiaochun felt like he was about to cry. He suddenly had the feeling that maybe he'd pushed things too far, that maybe his Beastbirth Flower couldn't handle the terrifying Heavenhorn ink dragon.

Praying nervously, he waited for four hours. Finally, the Heavenhorn ink dragon flew out, expression somber. After a moment, it flew right back into the flower.

Time passed. For the following nine days, Bai Xiaochun watched in shock as the Heavenhorn ink dragon surpassed the black dog's accomplishments. It contributed more than fifty times before flying away.

"Illusions are nice, but they're merely the past…. I like you, kiddo. If you ever need help with anything in the future, I'll do my best to accommodate, as long as it's not too outrageous." The voice of the sect's holy beast guardian rang like a huge bell as it expressed its appreciation toward Bai Xiaochun. Just as it was turning to leave, Bai Xiaochun hesitated for a moment. From his perspective, he had just provided a great service to the sect, and had done a very good deed.

Face filled with anticipation, he said, "Senior Heavenhorn, do you think you could get the spirit beast guardians from the four mountain peaks of the north bank to come contribute a bit? Maybe even the beasts belonging to the peak lords…?"

"Those runts? No problem!" The Heavenhorn ink dragon grinned and then took a deep breath. Bai Xiaochun sensed heaven and earth distorting for a moment, and then, the seven-colored phoenix, the three-eyed raven, the mountain ghost and the Archway Peak lizard all appeared in front of the Heavenhorn ink dragon. Also present were the battle beasts belonging to the peak lords.

The instant they appeared, they began to tremble, their eyes shining with fear. Even the three-eyed raven and the seven-colored phoenix were shivering, and the mountain ghost knelt down on the ground.

The Archway Peak lizard seemed even more frightened as it prostrated itself. The peak lords' beasts were the most terrified of all.

Bai Xiaochun looked on ecstatically as all of these insufferably arrogant beasts obediently complied with the instructions given by the Heavenhorn ink dragon. One by one, they entered the Beastbirth Flower to offer contributions. The following morning, they left, looking somewhat dazed. The Heavenhorn ink dragon also departed, giving Bai Xiaochun a final look of praise.

Bai Xiaochun threw his head back and laughed uproariously. By this point, the Beastbirth Flower was beginning to close in on itself. It was no longer emitting any aura or fragrance, and was clearly about to give birth to the battle beast inside, to Bai Xiaochun's delight and pride. Recently, he had heard about how the disciples of the north bank were investigating the situation regarding the battle beasts, and couldn't help but chuckle proudly.

"Bai Xiaochun is about to have the ultimate battle beast. Hmph! You north bank disciples should be shaking in fear! I already thought of a name for him. Bruiser! 1

"Not only did you refuse to lend me your battle beasts, you even slandered my name! Just wait until you realize what happened. Once you figure out your beasts contributed their own life force essence at my behest, then I'll slip back to the south bank and you won't be able to do anything about it. Hahahahahahahahaha!" Sticking his chin up, he waved his sleeve and assumed the pose of a lonely hero, doing nothing to cover up the look of pride on his face.

However, in that very moment of beauty, he suddenly felt as if someone were watching him. Shocked, he turned around and saw that there next to the honor guard station, a newcomer had arrived at some point. It was none other than… the miraculously stealthy, long-eared rabbit!

After gaping in shock for a moment, he shrieked, "Y-y-you… you damned talking rabbit! What are you doing here!?!?"

The rabbit gaped in shock and then shrieked, "Y-y-you… you damned talking rabbit! What are you doing here!?!?"

With that, it turned tail and vanished in a blur, moving faster than the black dog ever could.

1. In Chinese, the name Bai Xiaochun picks is supposed to sound tough, but comes across as funny and somewhat low class. It's the kind of name that will provoke a chuckle from Chinese readers, and I think this English version captures roughly the same feeling as the original.

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Chapter 135: The North Bank Erupts!

"Aghhhh! Don't spread that!!" he shouted. Well aware of the rabbit's proclivities, he burst into motion, wings popping out behind him as he gave chase at top speed.

However, the rabbit was far too fast. Soon, only its voice could be heard, echoing out in the distance.

"Aghhhh! Don't spread that!!"

Aftering chasing after the rabbit in vain for some time, Bai Xiaochun found to his despair that, despite being in the tenth level of Qi Condensation… he wasn't even close to being as fast as the rabbit. Its god-like speed was completely beyond belief.

"I'm finished. Kaput…." he muttered, staring blankly at the disappearing rabbit. He stood there trembling, mind spinning. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have imagined that the talking rabbit would somehow show up on the north bank. It was like a nightmare come true.

"What did I just say?" he muttered, tugging at his hair. "How much did the rabbit hear…?" He felt like crying. The incredibly stealthy talking rabbit had pushed him to the brink of madness. If things like this kept happening, he was certain that it would start affecting him mentally. Maybe he should just stop talking from now on.

He already regretted creating the strange pill which had led to the creation of this incredibly annoying talking rabbit.

"That damned rabbit probably didn't hear anything. Definitely nothing. If it did, it would have started repeating it immediately!" Still jittery, he sniffled a bit as he tried to comfort himself, and yet, it did little good. The talking rabbit was like a pill furnace that could explode at any moment, shaking heaven and earth.

He returned nervously to the honor guard station, where he straightened things up in case he needed to make a sudden break for the south bank. Then, he looked nervously at his Beastbirth Flower.

"Three days. My ultimate battle beast will appear in three days!!" Eyes bloodshot, he could do little more that wait nervously. The black dog dragged over another battle beast, but Bai Xiaochun staunchly turned it away and explained that in the future, there would be no need for any further contributions or any other battle beasts.

The black dog didn't look very happy, and immediately bared its teeth in ferocious fashion. Bai Xiaochun's heart began to thump, and he coughed dryly.

"Well, it's not that set in stone…." he said. "Look, there's a super stealthy rabbit that's been lurking around the north bank. It loves to chatter constantly. Why don't you go catch that for me!?"

The dog looked back suspiciously at Bai Xiaochun, who continued to gesticulate wildly and offer further explanations. Finally, the dog understood, and it turned and vanished in a black blur.

Bai Xiaochun watched it go, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Good luck, buddy. If you can get that rabbit for me, I'll do everything I can to find another Beastbirth Seed for you!" The mere thought of the terrifying talking rabbit caused Bai Xiaochun to sigh. Heading back into the rear courtyard, he continued to wait anxiously.

Another day passed.

During that time, Bai Xiaochun kept his ears focused on any possible sounds coming from outside. All of the north bank disciples were in a stir as they searched for the reason why their battle beasts had suddenly changed. Of course, people already suspected Bai Xiaochun, and even came to look around the honor guard station. However, he had done a good job of making sure that no one saw the Beastbirth Flower.

Furthermore, he had carried out all his activities at night, and had been very careful not to leave behind any clues. Therefore, although people suspected him, there was no incriminating evidence, so eventually, the disciples left him alone.

Bai Xiaochun only got more nervous, though. Another day passed, and the investigation grew more serious. That was especially true among the disciples whose battle beasts had become a lot harder to control. They were constantly breaking out into fits of rage.

"What exactly is going on here!?"

"Maybe it's some sort of plague? But it doesn't seem like a plague. That can't be the reason!"

"Something fishy is going on. Something very very fishy!"

The north bank was in a frenzy, and was bubbling on the point of an eruption. Massive amounts of Outer Sect disciples were involved in the investigation, as were Inner Sect disciples. Even the peak lords got involved. Soon, it was only half a day before the Beastbirth Flower was due to bloom. That was when a clue was finally unturned.

"Beihan Lie's old Nightstalker Beast!"

"It took away a battle beast recently, and when the beast returned, it had a very strange expression on its face!"

"Find that dog!"

Enraged, the north bank disciples spread out everywhere on the north bank. Soon, they found the black dog, and at the same time, they found a rabbit.

The rabbit was flying along helter skelter as it was chased by the black dog.

If that were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal. However, it wasn't long before the faces of the disciples flickered in shock as they realized that the rabbit was talking.

"Junior Sister Meixiang, considering my status as the peak lord of Ghostfang Peak, I hereby swear that I will never allow Li Qinghou to win your hand!

"Ooh, you're so naughty, Elder Sun….

"Hahaha! This medicinal pill is incredible. I, Bai Xiaochun, am clearly super awesome. This rabbit can actually talk!

"Bai Xiaochun is about to have the ultimate battle beast. Hmph! You north bank disciples should be shaking in fear!

"Not only did you refuse to lend me your battle beasts, you even slandered my name! Just wait until you realize what happened. Once you figure out your beasts contributed their own life force essence at my behest, then I'll slip back to the south bank and you won't be able to do anything about it. Hahahahahahahahaha!"

As the rabbit sped along spewing its vivid and realistic lines of dialogue, the north bank disciples stared mutely. However, when it reached the end of the passages, they realized that this strange and marvelous rabbit had been created by Bai Xiaochun, and that it loved to talk!

The north bank disciples were trembling, their eyes wide, their breath coming in ragged pants. They watched as the black dog chased after the rabbit, and the two disappeared off into the distance.

"Contributed life force essence?"

"When we realize what happened with our beasts, Bai Xiaochun plans to slip back to the south bank?"

"Bai Xiaochun!!!" Countless north bank disciples howled in rage, especially the ones whose battle beasts had been affected. All of them began to fly at top speed in the direction of the Beast Conservatory, causing heaven and earth to shake violently.

As the rabbit ran along, it continued to talk, until eventually, all of the north bank disciples heard it. Eyes wide, they bellowed in rage, causing all of the north bank to quake.

"Bai Xiaochun!!"

"So, you were the one who did this!! You want to slip back to the south bank?"

"Take Bai Xiaochun down!!"

The north bank disciples were maddened. The Outer Sect, the Inner Sect, and even many of the elders appeared and began to rush in the direction of the Beast Conservatory.

As the stealthy rabbit fled from the black dog, it suddenly stopped in place, as it realized that an old monkey had appeared in front of it out of nowhere. The monkey's expression was serious as it stared at the rabbit for a moment, and then spoke in a profoundly ancient and threatening voice.

"Who exactly are you, rabbit?!"

The rabbit looked back with an expression as ancient and threatening as the monkey's.

"Who exactly are you, rabbit?!" it said.

The monkey eyes flickered sharply, and it suddenly launched itself toward the rabbit. The same look appeared in the rabbit's eyes as it turned and fled. A moment later, the monkey and the rabbit were nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, back in the Beast Conservatory, Bai Xiaochun was waiting anxiously. In only four more hours, the ultimate battle beast would appear. It was at that point that an intense rumbling sound rose up outside, and soon, figures appeared, rushing in his direction.

"Bai Xiaochun!!" Enraged north bank disciples closed in, not even pausing before they slammed into the spell formation shield surrounding the honor guard station. Incredible rumbling sounds echoed out, and the spell formation trembled. Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide, and his heart began to pound.

"What are you people doing?!?! I'm a Prestige disciple! I'm the Junior Brother of the sect leader. I've spilled–"

"It doesn't matter who you are!" shouted the mob. Soon, cracking sounds were emanating from the spell formation under the combined bombardment of the crowd. It was already on the verge of breaking.

Bai Xiaochun's scalp was tingling with fear as he realized how truly ferocious the north bank disciples were. The south bank disciples usually resorted to throwing rocks, but the north bank disciples were actually unleashing full attacks. All of a sudden, he realized that if the spell formation broke, he would quickly be reduced to a bloody paste.

"Help! They're trying to kill me!!" he screamed, backing up. He felt utterly wronged by these bullying north bank disciples. First they provoked him, then they slandered him, and when he simply borrowed their beasts for some contributions, they tried to kill him.

In the instant that he began to back up, the spell formation shattered, and countless north bank disciples prepared to charge in. It was at that point that a cold snort echoed out from the sky above, and the four peak lords of the north bank descended to intervene.

The old woman from Irispetal Peak looked out at the north bank disciples.

Unwilling to accept that Bai Xiaochun was being protected, some of the disciples spoke out. "Peak lord, we're–"

"Shut up!" said the old lady, her voice booming like thunder. "How dare you attack the Beast Conservatory! What shocking behavior!"

The surrounding disciples fidgeted in place apprehensively.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Bai Xiaochun solemnly added, "That's right! How dare you attack the Beast Conservatory! What shocking behavior!"

"You shut up too!" the old woman said, turning to glare at Bai Xiaochun. Just when she was about to continue speaking, her eyes went wide as she noticed the Beastbirth Flower in the rear courtyard. Even as she gasped, the other peak lords began to tremble.

"A Beastbirth Flower!!"

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Chapter 136: They All Came Over

The four peak lords shot toward the Beastbirth Flower, panting, trembling inwardly. It was as if they had just caught sight of the most precious treasure in the world. The old woman from Irispetal Peak suddenly looked as if her face had even more wrinkles than before….

The other three peak lords were equally excited as they reached out to actually touch the Beastbirth Flower. To them, it was something holy, something that completely filled their field of vision, obscuring everything else in existence.

The surrounding disciples were struck mute. Most of them didn't even know what a Beastbirth Seed was, and were struck with fear by the actions of the four peak lords.

However, a few of the Inner Sect disciples knew what they were looking at. That was especially the case considering the words the peak lords had just uttered. Those disciples were completely shaken, their hearts battered by enormous waves of astonishment.

"Beastbirth Flower!?!? Heavens! Is that really the flower of a Beastbirth Seed?!"

"That's a legendary holy object, rarely seen in the world!!"

"I've only read about it in the ancient records. Supposedly, they went extinct in ancient times. I can't believe there's one sitting right here!!"

The voices grew louder and louder. The tens of thousands of people present soon realized that the seemingly ordinary, although rather large plant, was actually an indescribably valuable object. Everyone was clamoring about the Beastbirth Flower, and soon forgot that they had come to cause trouble for Bai Xiaochun.

It only took a few moments for the area to get extremely noisy, until finally, the old man from Ghostfang Peak turned and gave a harsh look to the crowd. Almost instantly, the voices died down.

Bai Xiaochun stood off to the side, his chin stuck up into the air, looking very much like a lonely hero.

"Humph. Now do you people understand why I, Bai Xiaochun, needed contributions from so many battle beasts? It was all for my Beastbirth Flower!" Bai Xiaochun's heart was pounding with excitement and pride, but he kept the lonely expression on his face. At the same time, the four peak lords stood there, their expressions going back and forth between enchantment and frustration. In the end though, they were gritting their teeth, and then gnashing them. That was especially true of the old woman from Irispetal Peak, whose eyes were completely bloodshot.

"Bai Xiaochun!!" she cried, sounding both furious and filled with grief. "Don't you know how valuable this Beastbirth Flower is? Don't you know that these things are extinct!? Don't you know what this Beastbirth Flower represents?!?!" The old woman was raving as if mad, her heart figuratively dripping with blood, convinced that if she were the one to have come to possess the Beastbirth Seed, things would have been completely different.

"Of course I do," Bai Xiaochun answered, surprised. He wouldn't have riled up the entire north bank if he hadn't been aware of how valuable it was.

In the moment of the old woman's sorrow, the other three peak lords looked over at Bai Xiaochun, their gazes as sharp as blades. They knew how indescribably valuable a Beastbirth Seed was. It was like a precious treasure, and from the way they were looking at Bai Xiaochun right now, they were completely and utterly disappointed.

"I can't believe you planted such a precious seed right here!" the old woman raged. "And now the process is almost complete. It's going to give birth to a beast soon!

"Y-y-you…. Bai Xiaochun, it's obvious that your actions led to all the battle beasts in the sect going crazy. But what use was that? All of those beasts had low order bloodlines!!

"Don't you realize that we could have used that Beastbirth Seed with Elder Sun's jasper seamonster to give birth to another beast with a third order bloodline?!?! But now, it's too late! Too, too late…."

Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. "Elder Sun's jasper seamonster also contributed."

"You… wait, what?" The old woman was about to continue her tirade, but instead, her jaw dropped. The other three peak lord's had similar reactions as they looked out into the crowd to find Elder Sun looking back at them with a shocked expression on his face. He had come, not because he had noticed any abnormality in his battle beast, but because of the problem with the disciples' beasts. It was only in this moment that he suddenly heard that his own jasper sea monster had come to "contribute."

After a moment of hesitation, the old woman's fury returned.

"Even Elder Sun's jasper sea monster would have been a waste of the Beastbirth Seed. Take Elder Chan's blue sky boa. It only has a third order bloodline, but it might be able to transform into a dragon one day. Furthermore, that clear sky boa is the only one that can–"

Before she could finish, Bai Xiaochun gingerly interrupted. "The blue sky boa also came to contribute."

The old woman's eyes went wide. Out in the crowd, Elder Chen gasped and looked down at this bag of beast raising. In that moment, a blue snake stuck its head out and looked in the direction of the Beastbirth Flower, seemingly drunk with passion.

"Elder Chen's blue sky boa is still strong and young," said the peak lord from Ghostfang Peak, his voice quavering with rage. "We can breed it even without a Beastbirth Seed. Bai Xiaochun, my own yaksha beast is perfectly suited for a Beastbirth Seed. If only you–"

"Um… Peak Lord Wu, your yaksha beast… also came to contribute."

Peak Lord Wu wasn't the only one to gasp. All of the surrounding disciples were completely shocked by what they were hearing.

The other peak lords were about to say more, when Bai Xiaochun edged back a few steps and then carefully said, "All of your beasts came to contribute…."

The four peak lords felt as if they were being struck by lightning. How could they have been completely unaware that their own battle beasts secretly came here? Simultaneously, the surrounding disciples were left gasping to the point where they couldn't remain silent any longer.

"Heavens, how many beasts came to contribute!?!?"

"This Bai Xiaochun, he… he didn't even let the peak lords' beasts off the hook!"

"How deranged!!"

As the shouting of the crowd grew louder, Bai Xiaochun started to get nervous, and backed up a bit more, keeping his eyes on the four peak lords the entire time. After a moment passed, the old woman from Irispetal Peak intensified her glare.

"Well, it seems I underestimated you, Bai Xiaochun. You even managed to sneak all of the peak lords' battle beasts over here. Well then, why did you stop there? Why didn't you bring over the seven-colored phoenix from Irispetal Peak? Our battle beasts have third order bloodlines, but the seven-colored phoenix's is fourth order. A fourth order bloodline would definitely not be a waste of…." Before she could finish speaking, she noticed the cautious expression on Bai Xiaochun's face, and her heart flip-flopped. "You… you didn't…."

"The seven-colored phoenix also came to contribute," Bai Xiaochun said, sounding a bit wronged.

"What about the three-eyed raven from Archway Peak…."

"Also contributed," Bai Xiaochun said, steeling himself. "Plus the lizard from Sunset Peak, and the mountain ghost from Ghostfang Peak….. They all came to contribute."

The peak lords' eyes went wide, and they gasped in disbelief. Moments later, they produced jade slips, and used some unknown method to communicate with the spirit beast guardians. A moment later, the information was confirmed, although the spirit beast guardians didn't dare to mention the Heavenhorn ink dragon. Afterward, the peak lords stared at Bai Xiaochun with wide eyes, looking completely incredulous.

The surrounding north bank disciples were also left gasping in shock. Beihan Lie shivered, more convinced than ever of how strong Bai Xiaochun was. Xu Song's mind was spinning; he was well aware of how terrifying the four spirit beast guardians were, and couldn't imagine how Bai Xiaochun could possibly have convinced them to offer contributions.

The old woman from Irispetal Peak felt like she was going crazy. She had started out with the intention of teaching Bai Xiaochun a lesson, but the more she spoke, the more she realized she had nothing to say. Bai Xiaochun knew how valuable a Beastbirth Seed was, and had even managed to get the most powerful beasts on the north bank to contribute. Even if she had tried to do such a thing, she might not have been able to pull it off.

However, considering that there were so many disciples watching, all of them completely speechless because of Bai Xiaochun's explanations, the old woman's anger grew. Flicking her sleeve, she said, "Still a waste! Bai Xiaochun, don't you know that if you had given that Beastbirth Seed to one of the prime elders, even the patriarchs would have been shocked? They could have issued a Dharmic decree to arrange for the sect's holy beast guardian, the Heavenhorn ink dragon, to use that seed to give birth to a new generation! Now that would most certainly have not been a waste. That…." At first, she started getting more and more worked up into a rage, but eventually realized that Bai Xiaochun appeared to be trying to cut in, and stopped talking. The old woman's heart began to pound….

She wasn't the only one. The expression on Bai Xiaochun's face caused the other three peak lords to suck in deep breaths.

Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times, and then quietly said, "Well… I don't think we need to bother the patriarchs to get a Dharmic decree. Senior Heavenhorn ink dragon came over three days ago. He was more than happy to help, and even contributed more than fifty times…."

The entire area was as silent as death.

The four peak lords were dumbstruck, as were the elders and the disciples. Everyone was staring at Bai Xiaochun, their hearts pounding with astonishment that could shake the heavens and topple the earth.

It was at that point that the Beastbirth Flower suddenly began to wither, and one after another, petals began to fall off. A powerful life force essence appeared within the flower, which grew stronger and stronger by the moment. It didn't take long before the peak lords, the elders, and the ordinary disciples were all paying rapt attention to the flower.

The spirit beast guardians of the four mountain peaks were all trembling, as if they could sense their own progeny, and countless ordinary battle beasts were all trembling with a similar sensation.

Deep within the Ancient Beast Chasm, the Heavenhorn ink dragon opened its eyes and looked out into the Beast Conservatory with an expression of keen anticipation.

Bai Xiaochun stood off to the side nervously, wondering how things would turn out. The peak lords were close by him, breathing in ragged pants.

Slowly, the Beastbirth Flower continued to wither, and the life force aura grew stronger, as if something were about to burst out from inside. At this point, a vortex appeared up above, slowly spinning round and round, almost as if there were eyes above in the heavens, looking down at the scene playing out below.

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin

Hey everyone, good news and bad news. Bad news first: I'm going to skip the next normal release slot, meaning that the next update will come about 24 hours from the posting of this chapter. Good news: that release will be a double, and will also come along with some cool news. Stay tuned!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

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Chapter 137: My Battle Beast!

By this point, virtually everyone on the north bank was paying close attention to the events playing out in the Beast Conservatory. Numerous eyes from Mount Daoseed were also watching.

"That's… huh?"

Even as expressions of surprise rang out, suddenly, the vortex up above turned crimson, causing the entire sky to turn red.

A bloodcurdling shriek then emanated from within the withered Beastbirth Flower. Simultaneously, the powerful aura suddenly began to decline. If that process was completed, it would indicate that whatever was inside the flower had died.

It would expire prematurely, never even having a chance to be born. Bai Xiaochun began to tremble, and the four peak lords were all astonished.

"It has a heterogeneous bloodline! Its mind is having trouble keeping its body in one piece!"

"Dammit! I knew this was going to happen!"

"That beast will never see the light of day…."

Even as the four peak lords expressed their shock, Bai Xiaochun trembled and stared at the Beastbirth Flower. He could sense that the life inside wished to emerge, but that it wasn't able to. It was now hovering on the brink of dying, and even exuded a powerful aura of death.

Suddenly, a blurry figure appeared in the air above the Beastbirth Flower. It was impossible to see him clearly, but he seemed to be an old man in a white robe. He hovered there calmly, completely devoid of any aura whatsoever.

His cultivation base was… completely unreadable!

Everyone was shaken mentally. The numerous disciples present had never seen this old man before, but the peak lords had, and they were left completely astonished. Their eyes went wide, and they dropped to their knees to kowtow.

"Third Generation Patriarch…."

When the disciples heard that, their minds spun, and they also dropped down and kowtowed.

Bai Xiaochun was somewhat in a daze, and didn't even notice the newcomer. His attention was completely focused on the life inside the withered Beastbirth Flower, his heart trembling, tears welling up in his eyes.

The white-robed old man looked over at the flower, and then his right hand flashed with an incantation gesture as he sent life force pouring inside. However, a moment later, the aura of death became even stronger than before.

Muttering something inaudible, the white-robed old man turned to look in the direction of the Ancient Beast Chasm.

There, the Heavenhorn ink dragon opened its mouth, and a golden drop of blood flew out, causing the dragon to age visibly. At the same time, Heavenhorn looked at the Beastbirth Flower with anxious anticipation.

The golden drop of blood streaked through the air like a golden beam of light, all the way to the Beastbirth Flower. The white-robed old man sighed. Eyes shining brightly, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture, causing the clouds in the sky to churn and form together into a magical symbol, which merged with the golden drop of blood as it entered the Beastbirth Flower.

"With a heterogenous bloodline, its chances of survival are minimal," the old man said. "This will sustain it for nine days at the most. Whether or not it lives and manages to fight its way out of the Beastbirth Flower is up to the willpower of the beast itself. What a pity…. After all, it would appear that it's a spirit creature with a fifth order bloodline." Even this old man couldn't completely defy the heavens and alter fate. The beast's fate rested completely on its own fortune.

He glanced over at Bai Xiaochun, a look of pity in his eyes, then swished his sleeve and faded away into motes of glittering light.

After he left, the four peak lords slowly rose to their feet. After staring reverently at the spot where the old man had disappeared, they turned to look at Bai Xiaochun, who was still standing there blankly next to the Beastbirth Flower.

All of them seemed somewhat disturbed. Anyone who had worked as hard as Bai Xiaochun had, only to find that the battle beast might not be born, would be upset. That was especially true considering how rare Beastbirth Seeds were in the cultivation world.

The four peak lords sighed. Their anger toward Bai Xiaochun had vanished, and they slowly began to make their way off into the distance. Neither could the north bank disciples cause problems for Bai Xiaochun considering the sudden turn of events. Although many of them were still angry, they simply turned and quietly left.

Soon, evening had fallen, and Bai Xiaochun was the only person left in the Beast Conservatory. He stood there staring blankly at the withered Beastbirth Flower, and the tiny figure struggling inside. The creature seemed to be fighting an epic battle for its life.

Tears began to roll down Bai Xiaochun's cheeks as he slowly took a step forward and sat down next to the Beastbirth Flower, then reached out to place his hand on its surface.

The grief he was feeling was plainly visible on his face; he just couldn't quite make himself accept that this was happening. At the moment, he felt no desire to see the ultimate battle beast. He just wanted the little life form inside of the flower to live, even if it wasn't powerful at all.

He had given life to this creature, and the idea of watching it die was as painful as having a sword stab into his heart. Even worse was that there was nothing he could do. He was in the tenth level of Qi Condensation, and yet was powerless. That feeling left him feeling suffocated and helpless.

Night fell. The helplessness of watching the life of the creature fading away left Bai Xiaochun trembling in fear. He couldn't help but think back to life in the village, when his parents were sick and ailing. They had clasped him by the hand and told him… to keep on living.

Those three words would exist eternally within Bai Xiaochun's mind.

"Keep on living…." he said softly, tears glistening on his cheeks. "You have to keep on living….

"Don't die, Bruiser…." He gently rubbed the spot on the flower where the little creature's body bulged out slightly. When he called it by name, the tiny thing seemed to recognize his aura, and moved slightly.

"Hang in there. You haven't even seen the world yet! I've never even had a chance to see you. I want to take you to see everything in the cultivation world….

"Keep hanging in here!" Bai Xiaochun's softly spoken words were filled with determination. He kept talking throughout the night, continuing to rub the bulge that was the little creature. He was doing the only thing he could; staying by the creature's side, encouraging it, praying.

Dawn broke. Then it was noon, and evening. Eventually, the moon was shining up above….

The first day passed, and the struggling of the little creature in the Beastbirth Flower was getting weaker. However, it hadn't given up. Its heterogeneous bloodline made it difficult to keep its body from falling to pieces, but it was trying hard.

Bai Xiaochun forgot about everything else. The only thing he cared about was the little creature in the Beastbirth Flower. He whispered to it, caressed it softly, and poured his heart and soul into encouraging it. He never stopped talking, and even began to send his own spiritual power into the flower. He wasn't sure if it would do any good, but he tried anyway.

Gradually, the second day came and went. Then the third day, and the fourth….

Bai Xiaochun never rested. His eyes were soon completely bloodshot, and his spiritual power had long since begun to run dry. Every time the least bit of spiritual power built up within him, he would send it into the Beastbirth Flower.

That spiritual power was filled with his blessings, his sorrows, and with comfort. He never stopped talking, never stopped offering encouragement. Whenever the little creature started struggling, and began to wail in pain, Bai Xiaochun's soothing voice would cause it to calm down. However, despite all that, Bai Xiaochun was devastated to find that the tiny creature's aura was growing weaker and weaker, while the aura of death grew stronger and stronger.

"Bruiser," he murmured, "you know, back when I was young, when my dad and mom were still around, I wasn't very scared of dying…. In fact, I didn't even really know what death was….

"Once you're feeling better, I'll take you to see Uncle Li. He treats me really well, just like a father…." He began to tell stories about himself, about his past, about life in the village, and things about the sect.

Late into the night of the fourth day, the spirit beast guardians of the four mountains, and even Heavenhorn deep in the chasm, all sighed and looked away from Bai Xiaochun and the Beastbirth Flower. However, in the darkness of that night, there was a big black dog that appeared outside the honor guard station. It walked into the rear courtyard and sat down next to Bai Xiaochun. Expression one of grief, it looked at the little life inside the Beast Conservatory, then reached out and licked the flower.

Another day passed. On evening of the fifth day, Bai Xiaochun was exhausted. To him, the past five days had left him feeling as tired as if he had ceaselessly concocted medicine for five months. And yet, he had no intention of giving up. He continued to offer comfort and encouragement. He never stopped talking. Unfortunately, the little creature only continued to weaken. Deep in the night of the fifth day, it suddenly struggled fiercely for a few moments, then started twitching. After a moment, it stopped moving, and the aura of death spread out to completely cover Bai Xiaochun and the black dog.

Bai Xiaochun placed his hand onto the spot where the tiny creature bulged out of the flower. Tears streaming down his face, he shouted, "Live! You have to live!

"When the Luochen Clan was trying to chase me down, ten people tried to kill me, but I kept on living. They tried to kill me, so I killed them! I even broke my own arm for a chance to stay alive! You have to do the same thing. Live! Keep on living!!!"

Even as he shouted, he poured spiritual power into the flower. A moment later, the motionless little creature trembled, and began to struggle again. As the moments passed, the struggling grew more intense, as if its desire to live were growing even stronger because of Bai Xiaochun's encouragement.

Bai Xiaochun wiped the tears off of his face and shouted, "If you want to live, you have to fight for it! Take control of your body. Break out of that flower!"

The little creature began to struggle even harder, letting out little whimpering sounds as it did. Every time it struggled, it felt pain, and was left trembling. And yet, it didn't give up. It was as if an intense willpower was supporting it, a willpower that continued to grow stronger, something that exceeded its desire merely to live. That power was the most important thing in its life.

"You're the ultimate battle beast! We're gonna be partners for life. I made you, I raised you, and I'm not gonna let you die!!" By this point, Bai Xiaochun's voice was hoarse from the yelling, and he almost seemed to have gone mad.

For the past five days, he had been offering encouragement to this little creature, and finally, it stopped whimpering. Instead, it let out a little roar. Although the sound of it was weak, it was still a roar. Simultaneously, its fading life force suddenly burned as hot as fire. It exploded majestically, and up above, clouds began to churn and seethe. It was as if the little creature's willpower was allowing it to finally fight for its life again.

The fluctuations emanating out attracted the attention of others on the north bank. Numerous disciples were shocked, and the four astonished peak lords began to rush in the direction of the Beast Conservatory. It was the same with the ordinary disciples. Faces flickering, they raced over toward the Beast Conservatory as the life force in the Beastbirth Flower began to surge with power. As for the cloud cover up above, it was growing thicker by the moment.

The spirit beast guardians, Heavenhorn, and even many eyes from Mount Daoseed were watching. Even the shadowy, white-robed old man looked on, although no one could see him.

The fifth day passed, and the sixth day arrived. By this point, the roars of the creature in the Beastbirth Flower had reached a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering level. The energy surging out from the flower caused the exhausted Bai Xiaochun to stagger backward until he was leaning up against the wall of the courtyard. Even the big black dog was pushed back.

Rumbling sounds could be heard as the side of the Beastbirth Flower was ripped open by 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.

Then, the claws ripped the flower open even more, and finally… a little beast appeared!

He looked like a horse, a dog, a lizard, a crocodile, and a dragon!

His head had a long horn, and his back had a crest of white hair running down it. His body was covered with black scales, and he had sharp teeth. Currently, his eyes were tightly closed.

"That's…." the white-robed old man up in midair looked on with a strange gleam in his eyes, his heart trembling. He had never imagined that the scrappy little creature would actually manage to stay alive. From the look of it, the creature had unlimited potential, and even the chance to increase its bloodline order!

Deep in the Ancient Beast Chasm, the Heavenhorn ink dragon suddenly opened its eyes, and the four spirit beast guardians trembled. All of the battle beasts on the north bank were shaking.

Everyone looking on was left gasping. Anyone with eyes could tell at a glance that this little beast… was far beyond ordinary!!

The four peak lords all gasped, and their eyes shone with strange light.

"It can unleash a magical technique from birth, and its claws emanate flames. That means… it has a sixth order bloodline! Heavens! A spirit creature with a sixth order bloodline has actually appeared in the Spirit Stream Sect!!"

"It's a future holy beast guardian of the north bank!!"

"Hahaha! The north bank has finally produced a spirit creature that surpasses the Heavenhorn ink dragon. A sixth order bloodline!"

People involuntarily rushed forward to get a closer look, blocking Bai Xiaochun's view, as he was still leaning up against the wall. He didn't care. He was just happy that Bruiser had made it through his ordeal. He chuckled.

"As long as you're alive…."

The little beast's eyes suddenly opened, and he glared around. They were charming eyes, filled with intelligence, as well as flickering black flames. Clearly, the creature was looking for something.

The first action he took after opening his eyes very significant, and although none of the disciples understood, the white-robed old man was mentally shaken.

"It's looking for…."

Because of the crowd, the little beast was apparently unable to find what he was looking for, and started to get anxious. Seemingly angry, he began to let out little roars.

It was at that moment….

Bai Xiaochun pushed himself off the wall. Exhausted, but excited and happy, he threaded through the crowd toward the little beast.

"Bruiser…." he called softly.

Instantly, the little beast shivered, and then turned his glittering eyes toward the place where Bai Xiaochun was pushing through the crowd. The little beast's gaze softened, and a gleam of joy could be seen therein, as if he were looking at his closest relative.

He had found what he was looking for!

Apparently… the willpower which had sustained his final struggle to break out of the Beastbirth Flower, had been born from the desire to open his eyes and gaze upon the person who had warmly comforted him, who had soothed him during his difficult struggle! That was enough!

Such emotions, such willpower, exceeded the desire to simply live!

As of this moment, it was clear that to Bruiser, the only thing that mattered in this strange new world was Bai Xiaochun. No matter how many people were in between them, all Bai Xiaochun had to do was speak, and all those other people would disappear. To Bruiser, Bai Xiaochun was everything.

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Chapter 138: Bruiser's Hobby….

Up in midair, the white-robed old man sighed. He knew that this creature would never accept any other master, not for its entire life. Even if someone tried to force it to do so, its dependence on Bai Xiaochun was part of its blood, and would always be a powerful hindrance.

In this world, it would only have one master, for all eternity… Bai Xiaochun.

Even if Bai Xiaochun perished one day, the beast would never, ever forget him.

There was no bonding magic at work; the two of them had a deep relationship that surpassed any such bond. The white-robed old man shook his head and looked deeply at Bai Xiaochun, musing to himself that he deserved to have such a relationship. He had created this battle beast, and during the most dangerous period of its life, had stayed by its side, constantly encouraging it.

"Perhaps the only thing that could truly move a sixth order bloodline battle beast to accept someone is the kind of pure-hearted sincerity this kid has. He didn't have any schemes, just a strong desire that the beast keep on living.

"I hope… that this kid can remain pure-hearted like this for the rest of his life. Hopefully no unexpected event changes that heart of his, years down the line." The man turned to leave, looking somewhat melancholy as he thought back to how pure and inexperienced he had been when he took his first steps into the world of cultivation.

Eventually, the crowds began to depart. The female disciples were reluctant to leave; the little beast's wide, charming eyes were completely captivating. However, the beast didn't spare a single glance for the female disciples.

The peak lords looked enviously at the newborn little beast, and then reluctantly left. Soon, the Beast Conservatory was quiet. Bai Xiaochun was left alone with the newly born beast and the big black dog, which had also been shoved off to the side by the crowd earlier.

Bai Xiaochun was grinning from ear to ear as he petted the little creature's head. It had the body of a horse, the head of a dragon, black reptilian scales, the clawed feet of a pangolin, and even more shocking, its teeth emanated a seven-colored glow.

As for its solitary horn, it looked just like the Heavenhorn ink dragon's, long and sharp.

If you looked closely, you could find things about it that were similar to other animals. Apparently, things had ended up exactly as Bai Xiaochun wanted; the best parts of countless battle beasts had formed together… into a completely unique and unheard-of living being.

"From now on, you are Bai Xiaochun's battle beast! Don't worry, I'm going to take you everywhere in the cultivation world!" Laughing, he petted Bruiser's head, who lay there next to him, looking up at him with wide, charming eyes.

The black dog hurried over as well. It always had its guard up, and would never forget its hatred for Bai Xiaochun, but with Bruiser here, its expression was both protective and fearful at the same time.

Bruiser looked over curiously at the dog, and after a moment, seemed to accept it.

Time passed. During the following month, Bai Xiaochun frequently took Bruiser out of the Beast Conservatory on walks around the north bank. He would lead the way, and Bruiser would follow along, looking around curiously at his surroundings.

The black dog would trail behind in secret, watching protectively over Bruiser.

When passing disciples caught sight of Bai Xiaochun, and then Bruiser, their expression were those of amazement, jealousy, and other mixed emotions. Many of the female disciples were immediately taken in by Bruiser's charming appearance.

Bruiser was a little nervous at first, and stuck very closely to Bai Xiaochun, who walked along with his hands clasped proudly behind his back.

"My little Bruiser is beloved by all," he thought. "He gets that from me." Clearing his throat, he took Bruiser to many of the crowded places on the north bank. The eyes of so many disciples on him caused his heart to swell with pride and happiness. Sticking his chin up, he took Bruiser here and there, until he was familiar with the whole north bank.

Gradually, Bruiser's fear and nervousness faded away, and he began to frolic along happily when they went on their walks. However, he tried to keep his chin stuck up in the air, apparently in imitation of Bai Xiaochun. Even the look in his eye was one of loftiness and pride. He almost seemed to be showing off, as if he wasn't afraid of anything in the world as long as Bai Xiaochun was there.

The sight of it left passing disciples quite shocked. Soon, it became apparent that Bruiser had a strange personality. When he realized people were looking at him, and if he was in a good mood, he would simply start stamping back and forth in irritation. If he was in a bad mood, he would bare his teeth and let out a fierce roar.

During the month that passed, Bruiser grew relatively slowly. However, in terms of his speed, power, and the strength of his bite, whenever he had a chance to show them off, people were completely shocked.

Actually, his speed was on equal footing with the black dog, and he was powerful enough to knock the 30-meter-long pangolin from the Beast Conservatory back a few meters. In terms of intelligence, he had already reached a shocking level. He was now as smart as a teenaged human, and in many ways, even smarter than that.

To Bai Xiaochun's delight, Bruiser was adept at controlling fire. Furthermore, the flames which emanated from his feet grew more intense, especially when he was moving quickly. The flames were currently black, like the fires of the underworld.

Because of his fantastic nature, and his charming appearance and wide eyes, even the elders and peak lords doted on Bruiser. They would often send over gifts of spirit medicines and foods suitable for battle beasts.

However, as Bruiser grew older, Bai Xiaochun discovered something very odd. There was… an eccentric strangeness to his personality….

Currently, Xu Song was standing on the path up ahead of Bai Xiaochun, looking at Bruiser, who was roaring at him, all the scales on his body standing on end, black flames surging out beneath his feet. Xu Song was shocked; all he had done was look over at Bruiser, who had almost instantly lost his temper and seemed to be on the verge of biting him.

"Bai Xiaochun," he said, annoyed, "your battle beast is…." But then he thought about how much the elders and peak lord doted upon Bruiser, and he backed up a few steps. Before he could even finish speaking, Gongsun Wan'er appeared, coming from the other direction. Bruiser, who had just been baring his fangs and brandishing his claws, looked over at Gongsun Wan'er, and his eyes glittered. Looking more charming than ever, he eagerly rushed over toward her.

He began to follow alongside her as she walked, yipping meekly and wagging his tail like a dog. When he brushed up against her leg, she smiled, then knelt down and picked him up in her arms. Bruiser's eyes shone brightly as he buried himself in Gongsun Wan'er's chest and wriggled around back and forth. Gongsun Wan'er laughed, and from the expression on Bruiser's little face, he was clearly enjoying himself.

Xu Song's eyes went wide, and Bai Xiaochun chuckled wryly. During the past half month or so, he had noticed that Bruiser would always bare his fangs at the male disciples, seemingly ready to bite them without hesitation if they touched him. However, when it came to the female disciples, he would always act very charming and couldn't wait to be held in their embrace.

Bai Xiaochun wasn't sure why this was, and could only attribute it to Bruiser's bloodline. The only explanation that made sense was that he had inherited this hobby somehow.

This behavior only continued to intensify, to the point where it was a bit preposterous. Bruiser would treat the male and female disciples completely differently. The male disciples were left speechless, and many of them even began to envy Bruiser. As for the female disciples, he had already rubbed up against more than half of them….

If that were all there were to the matter, it might not have been a big deal. But soon, Bai Xiaochun went into secluded meditation to break through to the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation. During that time, Bruiser's hobbies changed. The black dog would often take it to the places on the north bank where the female disciples would bathe, and they would look on in secret.

The black dog only found it mildly interesting, but Bruiser quickly grew addicted. Eventually, he became familiar with the bathing routines of the female disciples, and would excitedly rush out of the Beast Conservatory in the morning, and wouldn't return until the sky was dark.

It was hard to say how many female disciples he could see bathing during a full day….

Of course, Bai Xiaochun was focused on his secluded meditation, and the advancement of his cultivation base, so he didn't pay much attention to what was happening.

Another month passed, and Bruiser's habits changed yet again. In addition to being held in the close embrace of the female disciples, and secretly watching them bathe, he developed a new taste…. When watching the female disciples bathe, he would secretly take away their bras… and then hide them in a safe location. 1

Eventually, the female disciples realized that a lot of their bras were going missing, and it reached the point where virtually all of them had experienced such a thing.

Of course, Bruiser was very fast, and the black dog was also there to keep watch. Therefore, during its month of bra-stealing activities, not a single clue was left behind. Considering how cute Bruiser was, not a single female disciple ever suspected him.

"A sex maniac has appeared on the north bank! He specializes in stealing the female disciples' bras!!"

"Dammit! It's definitely some sex fiend. Junior Sister Sun has already lost ten bras!!"

"I already did some looking into the matter, and according to my calculations, several thousand bras have already gone missing. This person really has some unique taste. He isn't destroying them, he's collecting them! Find him! We definitely have to find him!"

The situation with the missing bras got worse and worse. Eventually, the female disciples joined forces in their anger, and began to scour the entire north bank for clues. They even got assistance from the battle squirrel of one of the elders from Archway Peak, who was adept at performing searches. The entire north bank was under intense scrutiny, and even many male disciples joined the effort, filled with righteous indignation.

They searched all four mountain peaks, as well as many other locations. Eventually, someone suggested going to the Beast Conservatory.

Before long, a horde of disciples was making their way in that very direction.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun was in the honor guard station, fully focused on his meditation, reveling in the wonderful feeling of his cultivation base rising.

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin

As many of you know, I use just like most of the other translators do. At long last, I revamped my reward system with some really cool stuff. If you would like to support me directly, please check it out. Starting this month, I'm offering high resolution wallpapers featuring characters and scenes from the story. These are not "official" art, but the artists are really talented and I think the results are AWEsome. For the rest of this month, you can get a beautifully painted wallpaper of Bruiser. Actually, there are two versions by two different artists. I'm using one of them as my own desktop wallpaper; it's super cool and approved by both Madam Deathblade and Baby Deathblade. Next month there will be a different wallpaper which I can't talk about now because of spoilers. Check out my here.

1. The undergarment referred to here is a "dudou," a traditional Chinese bra that more resembles a bodice than a modern bra

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Chapter 139: I Didn't Do It!

It was at about this time that a hubbub of voices rose up outside the honor guard station. Confused, Bai Xiaochun pushed open the door, and saw a host of north bank disciples congregated outside of the spell formation.

He edged backward, his face flickering as he tried to figure out what he might have done to cause something like this. However, even after a long moment of thought, he had no clue what might have gotten the north bank into such a commotion.

Despite not being sure what was going on, he started to get nervous, and immediately called out "What are you people doing?!"

Instantly, the disciples locked their gazes on him standing there on the other side of the spell formation.

"Sect Uncle Bai, please open the spell formation so we can come inside and perform a search!"

"We're not just searching here, we're searching everywhere on the north bank."

"During the past month, a lot of female disciples have had their bras go missing. A sex maniac is on the loose! If you're innocent, then there's no reason not to open the spell formation and let us perform a search!"

"Hmph. Even if they're hidden in a bag of holding, we have our ways of finding them!"

Bai Xiaochun sighed, and immediately felt a lot better. In fact, he even started to get a bit angry. Clasping his hands behind his back, he looked out at the north bank disciples.

For once, he knew that was on the side of right, and there was no way he would just give in to their demands so easily. Looking out with righteous anger, he said, "Quit making such a scene! I'm a Prestige disciple, the Junior Brother of the sect leader, I would never do something like that!"

"It was definitely you! In all the north bank, you're the only person who could do something like this!"

"That's right! Bai Xiaochun is the most suspicious of all. He already secretly took other disciples' battle beasts away for contributions. That's the perfect example to show how skilled he is! The Junior and Elder Sisters' bras were all stolen without anyone detecting a single thing!"

Looking at the clamoring crowd, Bai Xiaochun chuckled coldly and then waved his sleeve, opening the spell formation.

"Very well, then. You may enter and perform your search. When you come up empty-handed in a few moments, I'll be very curious to see how you'll compensate me for this little charade!" Bai Xiaochun felt utterly calm, and completely in the right.

His pure and unwavering confidence got many in the crowd to doubt their suspicious. After all, they had absolutely no evidence to support their claim; then, Bai Xiaochun suddenly opened the spell formation. At first they just stood there exchanging awkward glances, but then the female disciples whose bras had been stolen gritted their teeth and stepped inside. First they clasped hands toward Bai Xiaochun, then began to search around. One of the female disciples even procured a crimson squirrel from her bag of beast raising.

The instant the squirrel appeared, it let out a high-pitched shriek and burst into motion. Everyone in the crowd was taken aback. During the past several days of searching for the missing bras, they had relied on this special squirrel to help them. It had a very acute sense of smell, and would be able to detect even the slightest whiff of its target, even if it were in a bag of holding.

Moments ago, many in the crowd had been wavering in their determination, but now their eyes went wide, and they rushed into the area protected by the spell formation. Bai Xiaochun looked on blankly, truly confused by what was happening. He also followed along with the crowd, until the squirrel reached one of the side rooms in the honor guard station. When the door was pushed open, a whooshing sound could be heard as a cascade of brightly colored bras of all types spilled out, thousands of them….

"Bai Xiaochun!! Are you still gonna try to convince us you didn't do it!?"

"So, it was you after all!!"

"Bai Xiaochun, y-y-you… you are so completely shameless!!"

As for the male disciples in the crowd, their rage burned particularly hot.

Bai Xiaochun gasped, and instantly began to shiver.

"Impossible!!" he shrieked.

Even as the words left his mouth, the female disciples' gazes came to fall upon him, and they seemed to contain bloody murder. Bai Xiaochun's scalp went numb, and he immediately tried to offer an explanation.

"I really didn't do it! I had no idea those were there…." Swallowing hard, he began to back up, feeling more wronged than ever. He really wasn't sure how to explain the situation. The female disciples were glaring at him furiously, and some of them were even starting to perform incantation gestures, as if they were going to attack him right on the spot.

"Dammit, what's going on!?" he thought, feeling like he was going mad. He had spent all his recent time in secluded meditation, focused completely on cultivation. He hadn't even left the honor guard station, nor had he even opened the door to the side room. It was at that point that he looked out and noticed Bruiser running along, holding a red bra between his teeth, looking intoxicated.

However, before he reached the spell formation, Bruiser suddenly stopped in his tracks. When he saw the mob that had formed, he quickly dropped the red bra.

At that same moment, countless eyes turned to look in his direction.

As for Bai Xiaochun, he immediately felt a headache coming on. After all, no other disciple could go in and out of the spell formation while Bai Xiaochun was in secluded meditation.

Not even the big black dog could do that. The only one who could freely enter or exit the spell formation was… Bruiser!

Bruiser began to tremble, not out of fear of the anger of the other disciples, but because he feared getting Bai Xiaochun mad. Bruiser seemed to be on the verge of tears as he prostrated himself on the ground and began to whimper.

Strange expressions appeared on the faces of the disciples in the mob. As for the female disciples, they almost couldn't believe their eyes. Inside and outside the honor guard station, everything was completely silent.

After a long moment passed, one of the female disciple murmured, "Bruiser wouldn't do something like this. He's so cute! Someone must have put him up to it!"

Immediately, people began to echo her words.

"Yeah! Bruiser is way too charming and pure. Someone must have put a spell on him and forced him to do it!"

"It was Bai Xiaochun! He's Bruiser's master!"

It didn't take long before almost all of the female disciples were convinced, and looked over angrily at Bai Xiaochun. Although some people knew the truth, Bruiser was normally so cute, and currently looked so scared, that he had won over the hearts of all present.

However, the situation was simply too odd, so those disciples didn't say anything. Instead of causing any further trouble, the disciples glared at Bai Xiaochun, then made their way off.

Soon, things quieted down again, and Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and stared up into the sky, looking like he was about to cry. Considering the blank look in his eyes, Bruiser knew that he had made a mistake; he quietly slunk over to Bai Xiaochun and started rubbing up against his legs.

Bai Xiaochun sighed and knelt down to pat his head. "Bruiser… you're usually so smart. How could you have been so dumb this time? You, you… you can steal bras if you want, but you can't screw me over in the process. I created you! I'm kind of like your father. You definitely can't screw your father over!

"Okay, remember, don't screw over the people who are close to you…. As for all those bras, hiding them in that room isn't gonna work. You can't hide stuff like that in your own home! Silly Bruiser! You have to be a bit smarter! Think things out ahead of time, and make sure you don't get caught." Bruiser bowed his head and whimpered a bit, aware of his mistake.

Seeing him act in such a way softened Bai Xiaochun's heart, and he decided not to reprimand him any further. With that, he returned to the honor guard station, a bit down, but just as focused on meditation and cultivation.

Outside in the courtyard, Bruiser lay there whimpering for a bit. But then, a fierce look appeared in his eyes as he glared off in the direction of the north bank disciples.

When the night was dark, he crawled to his feet and then vanished, headed out to the north bank.

The following morning, as the first rays of dawn were just beginning to spread out, a miserable shrieks could be heard coming from one of the disciples' residences.

"Dammit! Who was it? Who stole my Beast Spirit Pill!? I had a hard time getting my hands on that pill! I was gonna give it to my battle beast to advance his level!!"

As soon as the cry rang out, more similar cires could be heard.

"Aghhh! My Myriad Spirit Grass! I've been growing it for five years, and now the only things left are the roots! Gone. All gone…. Somebody ate it up!"

"A thief! This is unbelievable! All of the battle beast food in my immortal's cave is gone! That was three years' worth of food!"

"Heavens! It was just yesterday that I finally got that third order bloodline beast bone from Elder Li! I was going to extract the bloodline power from it, but now it's gone. Gone!!"

Similar cries could be heard in both the Outer and Inner Sects. In the end, several hundred people were crying out in anger. Without exception, all of them were male, and all of them had been to the honor guard station the day before.

As they cried out in pain and anger, they suddenly caught sight of Bruiser, running along with a blood-colored bone in his mouth, crushing it to pieces.

A miserable scream rose up from one disciple. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes bloodshot as he wept, seemingly crazed.

"Noooo! I borrowed that third order bloodline beast bone from an Elder! Agghhhh. Don't eat it…."

Crunch crunch.

Holding his head proudly, Bruiser was a blur that none of the disciples could even come close to catching. Speeding off into the distance, he continued to munch on the bone until it was gone. The disciple with the disheveled hair started to grow faint at the thought of Elder Li's rage when he didn't return the bone. With a howl of fury, he shot off after Bruiser.

He wasn't the only one. Hundreds of enraged disciples began to chase Bruiser, and yet, none of them were fast enough. They could only watch with wide eyes as he sped toward Irispetal Peak. Even as the crowd chased after him, a cold snort suddenly echoed out like thunder.

The peak lord of Irispetal Peak, the old woman, appeared. Coldly staring at the hundreds of disciples, she said, "What shocking behavior! Look at all of you, scaring poor little Bruiser half to death! Seems to me you people need something better to do to occupy your time!"

The disciples shivered and clasped hands in greeting. As for Bruiser, he cowered behind the old lady, looking very charming with his wide eyes as he rubbed against her leg.

The disciples raged inwardly, but none of them dared to say a single thing. Their hatred for Bruiser continued to rise to new heights.

"So what if he ate a few things here and there?" the old woman continued. "Big deal! Whatever he ate, I'll compensate for. Now get out of here and stop bullying Bruiser!" After giving the disciples a final glare, the old woman looked down kindly at Bruiser and pet him on the head. Bruiser responded by looking even more charming than usual. He even licked her hand like a puppy might.

The disciples could only grit their teeth in their anger. In their minds, they weren't bullying Bruiser, he was bullying them!

However, considering that a peak lord was siding with him, there was nothing they could do. They could only swallow their anger and give up any thoughts of causing any trouble. Of course, their fury was quickly transplanted onto Bai Xiaochun.

"It's all Bai Xiaochun's fault. He's the one who created this abominable battle beast!"

"This battle beast is repulsive! Fine. Steal bras. Pilfer our food. The female disciple are the same as the elders and the peak lords. They spoil that thing to death!"

In the middle of his meditation, Bai Xiaochun suddenly sneezed. Opening his eyes, he looked around for a moment before going back to his breathing excercises. As for his cultivation base, it was inching ever closer to the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation.

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Chapter 140: Foundation Establishment Holy Land

Another month passed, and Bruiser's behavior only continued to get worse. The male disciples that had provoked Bai Xiaochun in the past were all going crazy, and yet, were completely incapable of doing anything about the situation.

That was around the time that Bai Xiaochun's cultivation base eventually entered the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Apparently, he had reached a barrier that would be very difficult to pass.

"The only thing left is Foundation Establishment!" he thought, taking a deep breath, his eyes shining with anticipation. Foundation Establishment was divided into a few different types: Mortalstring, Earthstring, and the legendary Heavenstring, all of which added different amounts of longevity, to be specific, 100 years, 200 years, and 500 years respectively.

Bai Xiaochun had never even considered the possibility of reaching Heavenstring Foundation Establishment, considering there was almost no chance of it happening. In the entire 10,000 year history of the Spirit Stream Sect, only a handful of people had ever reached Heavenstring Foundation Establishment, and had only done so by randomly acquiring some heavenstring energy.

"Generally speaking, most people reach Mortalstring, which requires a Foundation Establishment Pill. Earthstring Foundation Establishment requires earthstring energy…. Of course, even Earthstring Foundation Establishment is divided up into strong and weak. It all depends on the very moment of reaching Foundation Establishment, and how many Tideflows occur within one's spiritual sea! At the very least there will be one, and at the most, nine!

"And then there's my fleshly body power. I'm already at the point of being able to make contact with the first shackle. Whether I make a breakthrough with my Undying Gold Skin, or use the power of the Dragon Mammoth Sea-Forming Scripture, I should be able to break through that shackle. If I break through with both of those methods, who knows how powerful I'll be!?" From what Bai Xiaochun remembered, Foundation Establishment Pills could be purchased with merit points from the sect. They came at a hefty price, but considering how much he had saved up, he could afford them if he wanted. But he wasn't willing to do such a thing. After all, Mortalstring Foundation Establishment, also known as Mortal-Dao, only added 100 years of longevity.

After some more thought, Bai Xiaochun produced a transmission jade slip and then sent a message to Li Qinghou asking for some more information about earthstring energy.

It didn't take long before the jade slip lit up with soft light as Li Qinghou returned his message. Bai Xiaochun immediately sent some spiritual power into the jade slip, whereupon Li Qinghou's voice began to echo in his mind.

"I'd originally planned to wait a bit longer before telling you this, but in three months, 150 people from the north bank and 100 people from the south bank, all of them Inner Sect disciples in the tenth level of Qi Condensation, will gather at the grand hall on Mount Daoseed.

"The reason is that the three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands will be opened. As for you, you will be going to the Fallen Sword Abyss, where you will compete with everyone else to acquire earthstring energy, and then use it to reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment. If you succeed, you will acquire an additional 200 years of longevity. That will be a major step for you as you pursue your dream of living forever!"

A tremor ran through Bai Xiaochun as he looked at the jade slip, panting.

"Earthstring Foundation Establishment can add 200 years of longevity!!" His eyes glittered with longing for a moment, but then he hesitated. "Competing with everyone else will definitely involve fierce fighting….

"But that's 200 years we're talking about!" He continued to struggle with the matter, his obsession with being able to live forever causing his eyes to rapidly become bloodshot.

Bai Xiaochun wasn't the only Chosen to be given advance notice about what was to come, so soon, the news about the three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands being opened spread throughout the north and south banks.

The three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands were the Fallen Sword Abyss, the Lone Hell Pocket Realm, and the Primordial Spirit Hollow. Once per sixty-year-cycle, they would be simultaneously opened, and that time was now at hand.

Of course, the Spirit Stream Sect wasn't the only sect qualified to send people into the three Holy Lands. All four of the strongest sects in the cultivation world of the eastern Lower Reaches would send disciples. The Spirit Stream Sect was only one of those four major sects.

The Fallen Sword Abyss was considered the best of the three Holy Lands, with the Lone Hell Pocket Realm and the Primordial Spirit Hollow being secondary. The reason for the Holy Lands being ranked in that way was that, according to the legends, the Fallen Sword Abyss contained a strand of heavenstring energy.

These legends had been around for a long time, but on all the occasions in which the Fallen Sword Abyss had been opened, never once had anyone acquired any heavenstring energy.

The competition for earthstring energy would be a blood-soaked fight in which only the fittest survived!

The discussions about the three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands spread far and wide on both the north and south banks. All of the Inner Sect disciples in the tenth level of Qi Condensation were talking about it with complete and utter excitement.

"It's definitely going to be bloody carnage in there. Of the people who qualify to compete for Earthstring Foundation Establishment, quite a few die…. By the way, I heard that for the first time, the four sects are all going to be formally competing against each other. The number of people from a given sect who succeed in reaching Earthstring Foundation Establishment will affect how many people get sent in the next time."

"Ah, this isn't fair! The difference between Mortalstring and Earthstring is huge. Earthstring Foundation Establishment can totally crush Mortalstring. They're on completely different levels."

Of course, there were some who got nervous because of the stories about the violent and bloody fighting which went on inside. Some of them prefered the safety of Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment over the additional hundreds of years of longevity, and the glory of being able to crush people below them.

Three months later at dawn, the solemn tolling of bells could be heard on Mount Daoseed. The seven peak lords of the mountain peaks flew through the air with dignified expressions on their faces, each one of them followed by dozens of disciples.

Everywhere else in the sect, disciples looked up to watch the people flying through the air toward Mount Daoseed. All of those people were so well-known that the other disciples could identify them by name.

From the north bank came Beihan Lie, Xu Song, Gongsun Wan'er, Beihan Feng, Gongsun Yun, and in the lead position, surrounded by swirling black mist, Ghostfang….

A similar scene could be seen on the south bank, as the disciples of Green Crest Peak, Fragrant Cloud Peak, and Violet Cauldron Peak all looked excitedly up into the air. Xu Baocai was among them, eagerly clutching a notebook to record everything that was happening.

Shangguan Tianyou was clearly more powerful than he had been in the past. He looked like an unsheathed sword, glittering with blinding light as he flew along. Zhou Xinqi was surrounded by a swirling blue glow and a powerful life force.

There was also Lu Tianlei, who was like a thunderbolt that could rip apart the heavens. In addition to them were other long time Inner Sect disciples, all of whom wore solemn expressions as they followed the three south bank peak lords.

The elders of both banks, as well as other qualified disciples, were all discussing the matter.

"The north bank gets 150 people and the south bank gets 100. I wonder how many of them will rise to the top in the fighting with the other three sects, and eventually reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment? Of course, some of them will never return…. The path of cultivation is soaked with blood, and is ruled by the law of the jungle."

"I heard one of the Senior members of my clan say that whenever the three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands are opened, there's always blood and carnage. To some people, the main point isn't reaching Foundation Establishment, its killing the members of the other three sects. It's like a war between the Four Great Sects that comes around once every sixty-year-cycle!"

"But why are we just sending our Chosen to be killed? I know that earthstring energy can't be stored up and used later, but Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment is so much safer. It might be weaker, but at least there wouldn't be so many deaths…."

"Hmph. If you have one generation filled with weaklings, then everyone after them will also be weaklings. If that happened, the Spirit Stream Sect would definitely be wiped out sooner or later!"

"None of the Four Great Sects will avoid the fighting, not as long as they have even one disciple who they think can reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment. If one generation of disciples is weak, then the sect's power in the area will weaken, and outer forces would become a big threat. It would cause a huge headache!"

"A perfect example is the Pill Stream Sect. Long ago, they avoided the fighting three times in a row. But then their overall battle prowess dropped. After that, powerful warlords rose up in the sect's territory and started establishing their own little fiefdoms. Our Spirit Stream Sect even managed to occupy about twenty percent of their former territory. Their hand was forced, and after joining the fighting again, they managed to get some Earthstring Foundation Establishment disciples. Of course, a lot of other disciples died in the process, but at least they were able to get things back to the status quo."

Soon, the disciples from both banks were landing outside the grand hall on Mount Daoseed, led by their respective peak lords. Everyone had very solemn expressions on their faces.

All of the disciples were aware that their next destination would be one filled with both opportunity, and bloodshed!

They looked around at each other, measuring each other up. Soon, everyone was shocked to find that one certain person was missing.

"Bai Xiaochun isn't coming?"

They weren't the only ones to be surprised. The seven peak lords stood there thoughtfully, looking in the direction of the Beast Conservatory on the north bank. Li Qinghou's expression was the same as ever. He was confident in his analysis of Bai Xiaochun, and was sure that although he was naughty, mischievous, and fearful of death, his obsession with living forever would win out in the end.

In the Beast Conservatory, Bai Xiaochun sat there listening to the bells ringing. After a long moment of thought, he gritted his teeth and rose to his feet. During the past three months, he had focused completely on cultivation. He had spent massive amounts of merit points to get over a thousand paper amulets, leaving him armed to the teeth. He had also worked hard to achieve a breakthrough with his Undying Silver Skin; unfortunately, although he made some progress, he never achieved the breakthrough.

His bags were packed, and he was ready to go. He refused to allow Bruiser to come along, as he wasn't ready for such an event. Stepping onto the Golden Crow Sword, he shot through the air toward Mount Daoseed. On the way, he stopped by the Spirit Stone Pavilion, where he spent some more merit points on earthflame crystals, which he could use as a substitute for actual earthflame, and be able to concoct medicine anywhere he wanted.

At the moment, his eyes were completely bloodshot. Although he had made his decision quite some time ago, he always liked to be absolutely prepared. Therefore, he had spent a lot of time pouring through the ancient records, and had learned about how brutal and bloody the Foundation Establishment Holy Lands were. He also knew that it was a chance for the sects to show off their might to the others.

The more he came to understand the whole thing, the more his heart trembled. That was especially true when he read about how 800 years ago, only about ten disciples returned to the Spirit Stream Sect from the Fallen Sword Abyss. The brutality of that event left Bai Xiaochun completely shaken.

Of course, that was an isolated incident. According to the records, the barbarity of that instance 800 years in the past was because a terrifying Chosen rose up from the Blood Stream Sect. He was known as Master Limitless, and he crushed everything in his path. It wasn't just the Spirit Stream Sect who suffered heavy casualties; all of the other three sects did. Virtually all of the disciples of that generation in the other three sects were wiped out, and that was how the Blood Stream Sect had surpassed the Profound Stream Sect to become the top force among the Four Great Sects.

As for that Master Limitless, he was now known as Patriarch Limitless of the Blood Stream Sect.

On the other occasions in which the three Foundation Establishment Holy Lands were opened, the casualties weren't so horrific. At the very most, half of the disciples might die. Even for those who didn't reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment, as long as they were careful, it was possible to make it out alive.

Even still, a casualty rate of fifty percent left Bai Xiaochun shaking in fear. He really wanted to pass up the opportunity, and simply settle for the safe bet of Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment and its extra hundred years of longevity.

However, his dream was not to live for an extra hundred years. He wanted… to live forever!!

"I want more than a hundred years. I want forever!" After looking through the ancient records, he left with bloodshot eyes, even more clear about how Foundation Establishment worked. The most telling factor was that from ancient times until now, not a single Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator had ever reached the Gold Core stage!

If he wanted to cultivate all the way to Gold Core, he had to reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment!

Even the lowest level of the Gold Core stage added far more longevity than Foundation Establishment. Obviously, the higher one's cultivation base, the greater one's chances of living forever.

"I could avoid this situation, but a hundred years later… how could I possibly avoid dying? At that time, wouldn't I regret not taking the chance to reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment?" During the past three months, Bai Xiaochun had wrestled with the problem over and over again. In the end, he reached a state of bedeviled madness. Gritting his teeth, he finally made his decision.

"I'll do anything to be able to live forever!!" he shouted as he stepped onto the Golden Crow Sword and shot toward Mount Daoseed. Shortly after the other disciples converged, he appeared.

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Read A Will Eternal - Chapter 141: Fallen Sword Abyss! online free - Novel Full

Chapter 141: Fallen Sword Abyss!

Bai Xiaochun's arrival attracted quite a bit of attention. Everyone looked over at him, including Shangguan Tianyou, Zhou Xinqi, Lu Tianlei, Beihan Lie, Xu Song, Gongsun Wan'er, Gongsun Yun, Hou Yunfei… and Ghostfang!

An encouraging look slowly appeared in Li Qinghou's eyes.

Bai Xiaochun hurried up to Li Qinghou, then clasped hands and bowed deeply.

Li Qinghou could see how bloodshot his eyes were, and knew it must have been quite a struggle to convince himself to come.

"Stand behind me," he said.

Bai Xiaochun straightened up and hurried over to stand behind Li Qinghou. Looking around, he caught sight of Hou Yunfei, whom he hadn't seen since being transferred to the north bank. During the time they had been apart, Hou Yunfei participated in an Inner Sect trial by fire. After becoming an Inner Sect disciple, he benefited from the assistance of his clan, soaring all the way to the tenth level of Qi Condensation.

Their eyes met, and Hou Yunfei nodded encouragingly. Bai Xiaochun nodded back. There was no time for chatting, though, as the main doors of the grand hall were already opening.

As they did, Zheng Yuandong's voice echoed out from inside.

"The origins of the Primordial Spirit Hollow are unknown. Long ago, before the existence of the Lone Hell Pocket Realm, it was the only location in the eastern Lower Reaches where earthstring energy gathered. Countless wars were fought outside the spirit hollow, until three powerful sects controlled it. When the Spirit Stream Sect rose to power, it came to be under the control of the Four Great Sects!

"The Lone Hell Pocket Realm suddenly appeared 10,000 years ago in the Hellwood Continent. It's a barren wasteland without a single living thing inside other than the earthstring banebeasts. Many wars were fought over that location as well, until the Four Great Sects occupied it and chose to share it as the second of the Foundation Establishment Holy Lands.

"The Fallen Sword Abyss traces its origins back to 5,000 years ago, when an indescribably enormous sword fell from beyond the heavens. It is huge, larger than a hundred Spirit Stream Sects put together, and contains terrifying power. It pierced through the canopy above, plummeting down to stab into the ground near Mount Flamecrane, sending sword qi all the way down into the underworld. As for the body of the sword itself, it is permeated with earthstring energy. 1

"Because of that, the inside of the sword is much like the other two Foundation Establishment Holy Lands; it is filled with countless earthstring banebeasts. Kill them to collect earthstring energy, and when you have enough, you can form it into an earthstring capture crystal, to summon the latent earthstring energy present within the Fallen Sword Abyss!

"According to the investigations and analyses of the Four Great Sects, when the sword fell from beyond the heavens, it absorbed a bit of Heaven-Dao aura, which means that there may be a bit of heavenstring energy within it!

"Of course, Heavenstring Foundation Establishment is also called Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment!" At this point, Zheng Yuandong paused for a moment, and looked out at the crowd, his eyes sparkling as if with lightning.

"The path of cultivation is cramped and narrow; the only way to walk it is to tread upon countless corpses. Only then can you have a chance to make contact with… a supreme great Dao!

"During this Foundation Establishment trial by fire…. all of you must do your best to kill the disciples of the other three sects. After all, it is a trial by fire, but also a war between the four sects, and even more importantly, directly related to the destiny of the Spirit Stream Sect. I will reveal more to you about that upon your return!

"I have no doubt in my mind that the disciples of the other three sects will do their best to kill you. In the Foundation Establishment Holy Lands, the chance to reach Foundation Establishment is not presented to everyone! Resources are limited; this is a competition for a great Dao!" Zheng Yuandong swished his sleeve as his thunderous voice echoed out in all directions. All of the more than 200 Inner Sect disciples present responded with a confident cheer.

"This Foundation Establishment trial by fire will be presided over by the peak lord from Irispetal Peak, the peak lord from Violet Cauldron Peak, and Ouyang Jie from the Hall of Justice. They have already made all the necessary arrangements. 100 disciples will enter the Fallen Sword Abyss, while two groups of 75 will go to the Lone Hell Pocket Realm and the Primordial Spirit Hollow. And now, activate the grand spell formation which leads to the Foundation Establishment Holy Lands!"

Soon, intense rumbling sounds could be heard as a huge spell formation opened up, and the group of over 200 disciples slowly faded away. Outside of the spell formation, Li Qinghou stood there with an expression of anticipation and anxiety on his face. He felt like he was looking at a young eagle spreading its wings. Down below was a bottomless pit, and off in the distance, the sun was just beginning to rise.

Mount Flamecrane was located on the Righteouscraft Continent, and long ago, had risen as high as the heavens. Back then, it had been taller than any of the mountain peaks in the Spirit Stream Sect, and in fact, bigger than the entire Spirit Stream Sect in general.

But now, things were different. More than half of the mountain had been destroyed, and the lands stretching far and wide around it had all been reduced to a barren wasteland that filled nearly half of the Righteouscraft Continent.

Neither mortals nor beasts could survive in such conditions, and even cultivators who spent too much time there would eventually experience shocking deaths. They would spontaneously explode, whereupon streams of scattered sword qi would billow out from their destroyed corpses.

The reason for all of that was the enormous sword which had fallen from the heavens. It was an ancient sword, its surface carved with countless magical symbols, which were in varying states of erosion. The sword was stabbed halfway into the ground directly in front of Mount Flamecrane. Crevices spread out from the sword in all directions, the narrowest being a few meters wide, the largest being thirty or more meters across. The crevices themselves were pitch black, and pulsed with intense coldness.

The entire surface of the ground around the sword was covered by a glittering shield, which prevented anyone from entering.

The sword was enormous; even the portion of the blade that was visible, along with the hilt, rose up far higher than Mount Flamecrane. If the sword were compared to the size of a hand, then the mountain would be like an ant.

Of course, when you compared the cultivators to the mountain, the mountain was like the hand and the cultivators standing at its summit were like ants.

Two sects had already assembled at the top of Mount Flamecrane. One group contained 80 disciples, and the other, 100. Both were led by Foundation Establishment cultivators, who were currently engaged in idle chatting. The two groups of disciples, on the other hand, were staring at each other with open hostility.

On the left-hand side was the group of 80 disciples. They all wore white robes, the sleeves of which were embroidered with the image of a medicinal pill. Furthermore, the entire group emanated a medicinal aroma.

They were none other than the Pill Stream Sect!

Opposite them was the group of 100 disciples. They wore deep blue robes, and emanated profound cultivation base fluctuations. If you looked closely at some of the disciples, it was possible to see that certain parts of their bodies rippled and blurred in strange ways.

They were none other than the Profound Stream Sect!

Even as the two parties measured each other up, the clouds up above began to churn, and countless magical symbols appeared. At first, they flickered back and forth between the shape of a cauldron and the shape of a sword, but in the end, they resembled an enormous ink dragon, roaring at the top of its lungs.

The leader of the group from the Pill Stream Sect was a middle-aged woman. Looking up with glittering eyes, she murmured, "The Spirit Stream Sect is here."

The cultivator leading the Profound Stream Sect was an old man with numerous oddly bulging protrusions on his face that gave him a very sinister appearance. The pupils of his eyes were vertical like a cat's, and every time he blinked, anyone who was looking him would be filled with a very bizarre sensation. Currently, he was looking at the Spirit Stream Sect's spell formation forming up above.

Before long, a beam of light shot down and landed in another area of Mount Flamecrane. More than a hundred people slowly materialized, with Ouyang Jie at the front. When the woman from the Pill Stream Sect and the old man from the Profound Stream Sect saw him, their faces flickered with surprise.

"Daoist Jackal!"

Ouyang Jie chuckled in a grating voice and then said, "Fellow Daoist Hai. Fellow Daoist Lin. Long time no see."

After all of the disciples materialized, he waved his hand, dispelling the protective shield created by the spell formation. With that, he stepped forward.

As the Foundation Establishment cultivators began to confer, Bai Xiaochun rubbed his eyes and looked around, feeling a bit dazed. The sight of the enormous sword left him gasping. Looking up, he realized that he couldn't even see the end of the hilt; it disappeared into the clouds above. It was a very shocking sight indeed.

Light gasps could be heard around him as other Spirit Stream Sect disciples also looked up in shock at the huge sword.

It was at this point that Bai Xiaochun noticed that there were a lot less people around him. Two hundred had been gathered upon their departure, but now there were only a hundred people with him.

Zhou Xinqi was nowhere to be seen, nor was Lu Tianlei. However, Shangguan Tianyou, Ghostfang, Beihan Lie, Gongsun Wan'er, and Hou Yunfei were all present in the crowd, all of whom were currently studying the shocking sword in front of them.

It didn't take long, though, before they all started to sit down cross-legged and produce jade slips. After pouring some spiritual power into the slips, they then began to study the disciples from the Pill Stream Sect and the Profound Stream Sect.

Likewise, the disciples from the other sects turned to look at the newcomers. Quite a few disciples were looking at Bai Xiaochun. The expressions of the faces of the disciples differed from group to group when they saw Bai Xiaochun. Those from the Pill Stream Sect seemed skeptical, as if they didn't quite believe what they had heard about him. As for the Profound Stream Sect, they wore looks of derision.

Bai Xiaochun was a bit surprised by all this. Moments later, Hou Yunfei approached and handed him a jade slip.

"You showed up late," he said quietly. "Before you came, the peak lords and Ouyang Jie explained the bitter struggle we'll face in more detail. They said that the best way to stay safe was to kill as many disciples from the other sects as possible. They also gave us jade slips with information about the Fallen Sword Abyss, as well as the disciples of the other sects. Presumably, the other sects have information about us too."

Bai Xiaochun took the jade slip and poured some spiritual power into it. The first thing he saw was a detailed introduction to the Fallen Sword Abyss.

The Fallen Sword Abyss was also called the Fallen Sword World, and had descended from above several thousand years in the past. More than half of the sword was buried deep in the earth. The sword itself formed a tilted world, the depths of which were filled with increasingly powerful earthstring beasts, whose bodies contained large amounts of earthstring energy.

The entrances to the Fallen Sword World were the numerous subterranean holes which had been punctured into the body of the sword during its fall.

Within the world of the sword, there were not only earthstring banebeasts formed from earthstring energy, there were also banesouls. Many people believed that they were the souls of people slain by the sword, who materialized due to the presence of the earthstring energy. Although they did not possess the same battle prowess they had before death, they were still dangerous. Thankfully, they weren't intelligent, and wouldn't take the initiative to attack.

When Bai Xiaochun read about that, he took a deep breath and resolved to pay close attention to the banesouls. As far as he was concerned, they were basically the same thing as evil ghosts.

The jade slip also provided detailed information about earthstring energy. Essentially, there were two types of earthstring energy. One was the type in the banebeasts. When a banebeast was killed, it would release some faint earthstring energy, which could be collected into a Dao bottle and transformed into an earthstring capture crystal. That crystal was like a key which could unlock the method to collecting the second type of earthstring energy. The truth was that ninety-nine percent of the earthstring energy was fused with the world itself, and couldn't be collected directly. It had to be summoned!

The amount of earthstring energy in the world was limited. Upon reaching Foundation Establishment, a certain number of spiritual sea Tideflows would occur depending on the latent talent possessed by a given individual. Because of that, the earlier one reached Foundation Establishment, the better. Every person who actually reached Foundation Establishment would reduce the total amount of earthstring energy within the Fallen Sword World. Generally speaking, unless some incredible disciple came along who achieved eight Tideflows, there would be enough earthstring energy for thirty people to reach Foundation Establishment.

Those who reached Foundation Establishment sooner rather than later had a huge advantage. If someone was too slow, it would become difficult to absorb enough earthstring energy to cause a Tideflow, thus making it impossible to reach Foundation Establishment.

1. This "Flamecrane" is a type of bird from Chinese mythology. I couldn't find any good articles about in in English. According to the Baidu article I found, it represents an omen of imminent destruction. The name of the bird in Chinese "bi fang" supposedly comes from the sound of burning wood or bamboo. The bird somewhat resembles a red-crowned crane, except that it has one leg, blue feathers, red spots, and a white bill. Whenever it appears, it means that fiery destruction will soon occur.

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Chapter 142: A Host of Chosen!

After finishing with the introduction of the Fallen Sword Abyss, Bai Xiaochun felt more than ever that the place was profoundly dangerous. Frowning, he went on to peruse the numerous images of the various disciples from the other three sects. As he did, he would occasionally look up to identify that disciple within the crowd and make a quick comparison.

The more he learned about the disciples of these sects, the more jumpy he got.

"Zhao Rou from the Pill Stream Sect, adept with illusion forms. She once simultaneously fought three disciples in the same cultivation stage, and slaughtered them all! Wow, so incredible! Her abilities seem on par with Gongsun Wan'er's illusion magic." Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times, and then looked furtively over at a young woman in the Pill Stream Sect group. She was incredibly beautiful, with soft, supple skin. Currently, she was staring into the eyes of Gongsun Wan'er; clearly, the two of them were already measuring each other up.

"Lei Shan from the Profound Stream Sect, a body refinement cultivator with a Lightningflame Profound Clone. Incomparably powerful, with exquisite magical techniques. He was once chased down by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but survived for seven days without being killed. Is suspected to possess a Firespirit body, and has extraordinary healing abilities." After reading the description, he looked over at the Profound Stream Sect disciples and quickly spotted Lei Shan. He was a burly, muscular young man, who was sitting there cross-legged, lighting and flame swirling around him. He looked impressive to the extreme. Seemingly sensing Bai Xiaochun's gaze upon him, he looked over and smiled viciously, his eyes flickering with killing intent.

"He'd be a good opponent for Lu Tianlei," Bai Xiaochun thought. "They both love their lightning." Looking away, Bai Xiaochun continued on with the information in the jade slip.

"Fang Lin from the Pill Stream Sect, their number one Chosen of the current generation. Relatively unknown half a year ago, whereupon he suddenly rose to fame. Adept with the Dao of poison, and a decisive killer. Successfully cultivated the Heaven-Earth Furnace Cauldron, and has power that exceeds the peak of Qi Condensation. Very difficult to match. Has only fought two true battles. In one, he slaughtered eight rebel cultivators, all of them in the great circle of Qi Condensation. He wasn't even harmed during the fighting. In the other battle, he destroyed a defensive treasure comparable to the Foundation Establishment level, and killed a spy sent by the Spirit Stream Sect." Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide, and he quickly identified Fang Lin in the crowd, a young man with an expressionless face.

"Nine-Isles from the Profound Stream Sect. The first Chosen in the Profound Stream Sect in the last 3,000 years to successfully cultivate the Exterminating Obliteration Technique. Supposedly, that technique can obliterate all life forms, and leaves nothing behind in its wake. It creates obliteration threads that not even Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment cultivators can match up to!" Scalp tingling, Bai Xiaochun looked over and caught sight of a cold-faced young man sitting there in the crowd. Bai Xiaochun wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but it seemed like he had faintly visible magical symbols surrounding him that formed something like chains.

Just looking at him for a few moments caused Bai Xiaochun's eyes to hurt, and his vision to begin to fade. He quickly looked away from the terrifying young man. It was at this point that Bai Xiaochun realized that there were descriptions of almost all of the disciples from the Pill Stream Sect and the Profound Stream Sect. However, the information on the Blood Stream Sect disciples only had two entries.

"Xu Xiaoshan from the Blood Stream Sect. Ordinary talent, but a direct descendant of the founding patriarch of the Blood Stream Sect. Incredibly high position, silkpants personality. Possesses endless magical items!

"Song Que from the Blood Stream Sect. Number one Chosen, sometimes called Ascendant Limitless. Closely resembles Master Limitless. No details about his techniques, but in one heaven-defying battle, he killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator while he was only in Qi Condensation. An unprecedentedly dangerous threat to all Qi Condensation disciples. Special reward for killing him!" The first entry among the Blood Stream Sect disciples wasn't very impressive, but the second caused Bai Xiaochun to gasp, and his eyes to open as wide as saucers.

"Killed… killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator?" Bai Xiaochun's heart trembled with disbelief. After some thought, he decided that Song Que would be the perfect opponent for Ghostfang. As for his own poor little life, he most certainly wouldn't throw it away by taking him on.

The terrifying nature of the disciples from the other sects was difficult to accept. Then, his heart suddenly trembled.

"Do the other three sects' jade slips have information about me? I wonder what they say?" As his curiosity grew, he was just considering trying to find a friendly disciple from one of the other sects to trade jade slips with when suddenly, a wave of pressure descended from above.

The sky turned completely blood red as… the Blood Stream Sect arrived!

Their spell formation was very different from the Spirit Stream Sect's. A shocking, blood-red severed hand appeared up above, blotting out the sky and obscuring the sun. Everything up above became completely crimson.

Shockingly, in the palm of the severed hand was a huge eye, completely bloodshot, and coldly bizarre to behold. The eye blinked, and all of Mount Flamecrane trembled. Moments later, a group of over a hundred figures began to materialize in a fourth location at the top of the mountain.

As they became visible, more pressure weighed down from above. Apparently, if anyone dared to launch a sneak attack at this moment, the enormous severed hand would descend with destructive power to destroy the ambushers.

Heaven and earth shook violently as the Blood Stream Sect appeared. They had the largest group of any of the three sects, a total of 121. Without the Foundation Establishment expert who was their leader, they had brought a total of 120 disciples.

They all wore long red robes, and had icy expressions on their faces. They all seemed ready to kill at any moment, and looked at the disciples of the other sects the way that wolves will look at sheep.

Each and every one of the Blood Stream Sect disciples seemed fierce to the extreme, with intensely murderous auras. None of them seemed to trust each other, either. As soon as they materialized, they edged away from each other and then sat down cross-legged to meditate.

The disciples of the Pill Stream Sect seemed shaken, except for Zhao Rou and Fang Lin, whose eyes glittered with interest and vigilance.

The Profound Stream Sect disciples had a similar reaction. Other than the Chosen disciples, everyone trembled at the intimidating sight of the Blood Stream Sect.

Gasps could also be heard among the Spirit Stream Sect disciples. Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide, and he instantly thought back to the introductions he had just read.

The Blood Stream Sect and the Spirit Stream Sect couldn't be more opposed in their philosophies. The Blood Stream Sect was ruled by the law of the jungle, and the threat of brutal violence and even death constantly hung over the heads of their disciples. They were almost a devilish sect, and the disciples who rose through the ranks were all brutal and merciless.

"What a bunch of devils…." Bai Xiaochun thought, swallowing hard. "They even allow disciples to kill each other. How terrifying! The Spirit Stream Sect is definitely way better!" Resolving to be very careful around the Blood Stream Sect, he began to look for the two faces he recognized from the descriptions.

Obviously, the person to watch out for most was the heaven-defying Chosen named Song Que, who had killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It didn't matter how he'd accomplished such a task, the mere fact that he'd succeeded showed how terrifying he was.

It didn't take long to find him. He was a young man with ordinary features, but who radiated intense coldness. He wore different garments than his fellow disciples. His were not pure crimson, but instead, a darker magenta color. When he sat down cross-legged to meditate, not a single disciple dared to sit within three meters of him.

His murderous aura was intense to the extreme, and vastly surpassed all of the disciples around him. It even seemed to physically distort the air around him.

As soon as Bai Xiaochun spotted Song Que, Song Que looked back at him, as if he had been waiting to lay eyes on him. Their gazes met, and Bai Xiaochun was instantly filled with such terror that he almost wanted to flee in the opposite direction. It was the same feeling he had experienced when he was being chased through that nameless jungle by the murderous Chen Heng.

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Chapter 143: That Was Definitely On Purpose!

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and looked away to try to find Xu Xiaoshan.

He was actually the easiest to identify. He was extremely handsome, and had a very proud expression. He seemed to the be type of person whose chin was perpetually stuck up into the air, as if there were not a person in the world who was worthy to look him in the eyes. His silkpants personality couldn't be more obvious.

There were even two beautiful female disciples who attended to him.

One of them was currently massaging his shoulders, and another was peeling fruit which she then placed in his mouth.

Bai Xiaochun couldn't help but feel a little bit envious. Around this time, Bai Xiaochun noticed that a lot of the Blood Stream Sect disciples were doing the same thing that Song Que had done; they were staring at him with cold gazes.

Unlike the skepticism of the Pill Stream Sect or the arrogance of the Profound Stream Sect, the looks given by the Blood Stream Sect were fear-inspiring and filled with killing intent.

Bai Xiaochun felt his mouth and throat going dry. There seemed to be something odd about the gazes of the Blood Stream Sect disciples, and Bai Xiaochun continued to grow more and more curious about what the other disciples' jade slips said about him.

The cultivator leading the Blood Stream Sect was an old man in a long red robe with crimson hair. His face was white, and he had a bit of a hunchback. His eyes were sinister to the extreme, and as he glanced over the crowd present, he licked his lips.

Shockingly, his tongue was not the tongue of an ordinary person. It was forked like a snake's, and caused all the disciples who saw it to shiver in fear.

Ouyang Jie and the two cultivators named Hai and Lin ceased their chatting and looked over at the Blood Stream Sect. When they saw the snake-tongued old man, Hai and Lin gasped. As for Ouyang Jie, his expression turned very serious.

"Master Snakescale," Ouyang Jie said in a somewhat unfriendly tone of voice. "The Blood Stream Sect is late."

The snake-tongued old man blinked, then forced an insincere smile onto his face. Eyes glittering with murder, he looked at Ouyang Jie and said, "Heh heh. I'm not late. You people just got here early."

Apparently the gazes of both men contained some vision-related divine ability, which caused an odd, soundless rumbling to build up between the two of them. A moment later it shattered, and Ouyang Jie let out a grunt. Face a bit pale, he swished his sleeve and walked back to stand in front of the Spirit Stream Sect disciples.

As for the snake-tongued old man, his eyes glittered, and his qi and blood surged within him. He also fell back a few paces, and when he looked up, his eyes shone with a strange light.

"Ouyang, you old codger, after all these years, you've made quite an improvement with your cultivation base. Well, there will be time for reminiscing later. Now that the Blood Stream Sect has arrived, let's open the Fallen Sword Abyss. It's time for the trial by fire!" With that, he waved his hand, causing a fragment of jade to appear that seemed to have come from a pendant. The fragment instantly flew out and hovered in the air between the forces from the four sects.

Hai and Lin exchanged a glance, and then produced similar jade pendant fragments. Ouyang Jie did the same. Instantly, the four fragments flew together and formed a whole jade pendant.

Glittering light filled the air, and moments later, the glowing shield sealing the area around the giant sword began to open up. From the look of things, after enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, it would be possible to enter the area.

All of the Qi Condensation disciples were paying close attention to the goings-on. Even as Bai Xiaochun studied the situation, Ouyang Jie's voice was transmitted into the ears of the Spirit Stream Sect disciples.

"There are more than forty entrances to the world of the sword. Each one can accommodate no more than ten people. The first battle you will fight will be to enter the sword itself. Ambushes on the inside have been known to occur, so do your best to stick together!

"Remember what I told you before. If you meet disciples from other sects, don't be soft-hearted! To protect yourself, kill them if you can. Collect the earthstring energy into your Dao bottles and form the earthstring capture crystal as quickly as possible. Then begin to summon the surrounding earthstring energy from the rest of the Fallen Sword World!"

Even as Ouyang Jie gave his final explanations to the Spirit Stream Sect disciples, the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the other three sects were doing the same thing.

Ouyang Jie waved his right hand, and a hundred little blue bottles flew out into the hands of the disciples.

"These are your Dao bottles!" By this time, rumbling sounds were echoing out as the shield preventing access to the crevices in the ground opened fully, leaving a gap of roughly nine meters through which the disciples could enter.

By entering that gap, it was possible to go into the underground passages and into the depths of abyss, where one could find entrances leading into the world of the sword itself.

"This whole area is under the control of the Four Great Sects. That, coupled with the oversight of the sects' patriarchs, means that no Foundation Establishment cultivators will be able to enter the world of the sword. Remember, you cannot stay inside for very long. The Holy Land will only remain opened for three months. After that time period expires, whether or not you have succeeded, you will have to leave. I will pull you out from the outside if I have to.

"Another thing. Although nothing extreme will happen that is outside of the purvey of expectation, for generations now, the patriarchs of the Four Great Sects have maintained four teleportation formations to evacuate you in case any emergency occurs. Based on the types of techniques you cultivate, the formations will identify you and teleport you back to the sect, or at least to the same continent.

"Of course, no amount of fighting and killing between disciples will trigger the teleportation formations! Finally, whether or not you succeed in reaching Earthstring Foundation Establishment, I truly hope that all of you… make it back alive!" As he looked out over the disciples, Ouyang Jie's usual cold demeanor softened a bit, and his expression even looked a bit encouraging. That was especially true when he looked at Bai Xiaochun and Ghostfang. When he looked at them, his eyes glowed with keen anticipation.

Seeing that the entrance was now open, the Blood Stream Sect immediately began to fly in that direction.

Among the Spirit Stream Sect disciples, Ghostfang was the first to leap into action, followed by Shangguan Tianyou and the other Chosen.

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, and then rapidly produced eight leather coats from his bag of holding. As he flew along, he also pulled out a big black wok, which he put on his back. Eyes shining with determination, he gritted his teeth and flew through the entrance. Of course, he didn't go alone; he made sure to follow along at the back of the group of Spirit Stream Sect disciples.

Soon, the disciples of the Four Great Sects had vanished into the crevices. Ouyang Jie, the snake-tongued old man, and the cultivators named Hai and Lin all exchanged glances, and then sat down cross-legged around the entrance, looking around vigilantly as they stood guard.

There were many crevices leading underground, some large, some small, and the Spirit Stream Sect disciples didn't all stick together. Ghostfang, Beihan Lie, Gongsun Wan'er, and some of the other Chosen chose to go alone.

The rest of the disciples split up into two groups, one made up of north bank disciples, and the other made up of south bank disciples. The forces from the Pill Stream Sect and the Profound Stream Sect acted similarly. However, the disciples from the Blood Stream Sect didn't seem to have much trust amongst themselves, and either acted alone, or split up into groups of two or three.

Bai Xiaochun looked around cautiously as he followed the south bank disciples into the depths. As soon as he was underground, he could sense the pulsing coldness rising up from below. It seemed to want to pierce into his body, to freeze his qi and blood. However, he was wearing too much clothing, making it impossible for the cold to reach him….

The further down they got, the colder it became. Thankfully, they weren't very far from the surface. Combined with the level of their cultivation bases, they weren't in any harm.

Soon, the south bank disciples noticed that Bai Xiaochun was in the very back, and strange expressions appeared on their faces. However, those expression quickly transformed into smiles of joy. After all, with Bai Xiaochun there, they felt a lot safer. Although they were all in the tenth level of Qi Condensation, and very proud of that fact, they knew that Bai Xiaochun was far more powerful than them in every way.

Soon, they began to make room for him, stepping off to the side and clasping hands in greeting.

"Greetings Sect Uncle Bai!"

"It's the just and righteous Sect Uncle Bai! He's not like Shangguan Tianyou and those others who went off on their own. He's sticking with us!"

"Now that's what the south bank Chosen should be like! Sect Uncle Bai, it's me, Zhou Youdao! Do you still remember me? You really got me good in that acid rain incident…."

Bai Xiaochun looked at the group parting way to let him up to the front, and was initially shocked. Actually, he had hoped to find a bit of safety by remaining in the back of the crowd. But after hearing how everyone was talking to him, he blinked and then cleared his throat. Sticking his chin up, he assumed the posture of someone of the Senior generation.

"Hahaha! None of you have a thing to worry about. With an important person like myself here, no one will dare to cause any problems for you!"

Delighted, the other disciples clustered around Bai Xiaochun, especially Zhou Youdao from Violet Cauldron Peak, who was all smiles.

Hou Yunfei ended up next to Bai Xiaochun. Considering his current getup, the fact that he was acting like someone from the Senior generation left Hou Yunfei chuckling. However, he couldn't forget everything that had occurred with the Luochen Clan.

"Good luck, Xiaochun," he said quietly. "You're definitely going to reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment!"

"I hope so too," Bia Xiaochun replied. Looking around to make sure no one was listening, he leaned over with a scowl and said, "Hey, do you think the other disciples did this on purpose…? I originally wanted to stay in the back. How come I ended up in the front all of a sudden?"

A strange expression appeared on Hou Yunfei's face, and he coughed lightly. For some reason, he felt that whenever Bai Xiaochun was around, no matter how solemn or dangerous the situation was, it would somehow become bizarre and amusing….

"Ah well, I can let it go." Bai Xiaochun continued. "After all, I'm a Prestige disciple, and the Junior Brother of the sect leader. Back on the south bank, I did drag these disciples into some bad situations with my pill concocting, so for now, I'll just cut them some slack!" Sticking his chest out and looking very much the hero, he proceeded along as quickly as his cautious and nervous heart would let him.

Elsewhere in the subterranean crevices, disciples from the other sects went along alone, or in groups of between three to five. Any of them who saw the larger group of a few dozen would immediately avoid it. Even those who considered themselves to be superior would look at them coldly and then move on as quickly as possible.

Soon, the group caught sight of the body of the sword, and one of the gaps that led inside. However, there were already two beams of light shooting toward the gap.

Bai Xiaochun immediately decided to move on, but before he could, the surrounding Spirit Stream Sect disciples excitedly began to perform incantation gestures. In the blink of an eye, numerous magical techniques were bearing down on the two disciples from the other sects.

Both of them were from the Blood Stream Sect, and as soon as they saw the incoming magical techniques, their faces flickered, and they tried to dodge out of the way. Unfortunately, they weren't quite quick enough, and were sent tumbling backward, blood spraying out of their mouths. Then they fled, glaring hatefully at the Spirit Stream Sect the whole time.

Bai Xiaochun was pleasantly surprised that they'd managed to secure one of the gaps by means of superior numbers. Of course, considering his status, he simply cleared his throat and let the other disciples enter the gap ahead of him.

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Chapter 144: Lord Bai Is Gonna Fight You To The Death

There was no way to ensure that you wouldn't be ambushed after entering. One could only rely on one's skills and abilities to stay safe. Jade slips could not be used to send messages to those on the outside either. However, if several people from one sect all entered at the same time, they would be safe from anything except a brutal, large-scale ambush.

After four disciples entered the opening, Hou Yunfei chose to go in. Just before stepping inside, he asked a favor of Bai Xiaochun.

"If anything unexpected happens to me inside, please take care of my clan Junior Brother, Hou Yunqing." Hou Yunqing was one of the most important younger clan members, although he wasn't a member of the Spirit Stream Sect, but rather, had stayed in the clan to further his cultivation.

Bai Xiaochun quickly comforted Hou Yunfei and told him not to be so depressing. Then he furtively handed him a paper talisman. Hou Yunfei was initially startled, but after looking at the talisman for a moment, was quite moved. With a final nod to Bai Xiaochun, he stepped into the entrance.

As soon as he disappeared, the gap went dark, indicating that it was no longer possible to use it as an entrance. Bai Xiaochun was a bit worried about Hou Yunfei, but considering the entrance had closed, there was little more to be done. With that, he led the group onward.

They proceeded along for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, chatting and laughing about Bai Xiaochun's antics on the south bank. They also talked about their hopes and ambitions for the future. When Bai Xiaochun slapped his chest and told them that his dream was to live forever, they all chuckled. Zhou Youdao loudly declared that his dream was to become a patriarch of the Spirit Stream Sect.

They were on the brutal and deadly path to Foundation Establishment, but as of this moment, they were able to relax slightly. With Bai Xiaochun in the lead, they didn't suffer any setbacks. Any gap they caught sight of was quickly taken over.

"Get him, boys!" Bai Xiaochun would cry.

"Hey, this place belongs to us!"

"Buzz off, this place is ours!"

"Well, what's this? How dare you glare at me? Get him, boys!"

Booms rang out constantly. At the same time, the number of Spirit Stream Sect disciples grew smaller and smaller. Every time one of them entered one of the gaps, they would express deep gratitude toward Bai Xiaochun. At the same time, the fact that the disciples would leap into action at the simple wave of his hand left Bai Xiaochun feeling very moved.

"So, this is what it feels like to be Chosen. No wonder so many people want to be one." Even as he sighed about the matter, they approached another area with gaps in the sword. Unexpectedly, there was a large group of people fighting each other in the area. Even more shocking, there were a total of three gaps visible, and six powerful Blood Stream Sect disciples were holding them against nine disciples from the other two sects.

At the moment, the fighting had reached a deadlock. When Bai Xiaochun saw what was happening, his eyes glittered, and the remaining dozen or so Spirit Stream Sect disciples behind him all started to get excited. Without any further hesitation, Bai Xiaochun shouted, "Hey, this place belongs to us!"

The Blood Stream Sect disciples had been carrying out a mission for their sect to guard this location for as long as they could. They were already exhausted, so when they saw so many people from the Spirit Stream Sect arriving, their expressions flickered, and yet they didn't flee. Instead, they vanished into the gaps.

The surrounding disciples from the Pill Stream Sect and the Profound Stream Sect were just about to charge into the entrances when they were bombarded by magical techniques and divine abilities, shoving them back. A moment later, Bai Xiaochun and the other Spirit Stream Sect disciples were blocking the way.

Aware that they had the advantage of numbers, Bai Xiaochun proudly said, "Humph! Be good little disciples and buzz off! Lord Bai is in a good mood today, so he won't cause you any further trouble!"

The faces of the disciples from the other sects twitched.

"It's him again!!"

"His name is Bai Xiaochun. What a villain! This is the third time he's snatched an entrance from me!"

"Dammit! This is the second time for me. If it weren't for him, I'd already be in the world of the sword!"

Because the group consisted of people from different sects, they were reluctant to join forces. Besides, even if they did, they would still be outnumbered by the Spirit Stream Sect. Eyes blazing with rage and helplessness, they watched as the Spirit Stream Sect disciples vanished into the three gaps.

Feeling very pleased, Bai Xiaochun watched five disciples enter the first gap before it went dark. Three people vanished into the second gap. As far as he was concerned, he was performing a great service for the sect.

As of this point, his mission was accomplished. Clearing his throat, he joined the final five Spirit Stream Sect disciples as they approached the third entrance. The surrounding disciples from the Pill Stream Sect and the Profound Stream Sect looked on, aware that by this point, it was too late to do anything about the situation.

Besides, even if the gap didn't go dark after the Spirit Stream Sect entered, they still wouldn't dare to enter for fear of an ambush on the other side.

Just as they were about to depart to look for another gap, their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped in shock. Then, cold, murderous smiles appeared on their faces.

Just now, when the fifth Spirit Stream Sect disciple entered the passageway, and Bai Xiaochun attempted to step in… it went dark.

"No way!!" Bai Xiaochun said, astonished. As he was shoved roughly out of the entrance, he swallowed and looked over his shoulder. There stood the group of disciples from the other sects, eyes flashing menacingly as they slowly walked toward him.

Each and every one was in the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation, and in their own sects, they were Chosen who everyone looked up to. Although they weren't the type who other disciples despaired of ever surpassing, they were still far beyond ordinary in terms of their natural talent.

"Why don't you go in, Bai Xiaochun? Hurry up, step into the entrance."

"Yeah. If you don't, we'll help you. Maybe if we cut you into pieces, then you'll fit in."

"Hahaha! You're finally gonna get what you paid for. You and your gang robbed me of three entrances. Now what are you gonna do?!" Cold laughter and murderous auras spread out to fill the area. By this point, Bai Xiaochun was a common enemy that all the disciples hated.

He took a deep breath, and as the group prepared to attack, he smacked his bag of holding, producing a fistful of paper talismans which he slapped down all over himself. Instantly, blinding light radiated out as Bai Xiaochun created a 60-meter-wide world of brightness!

The popping sounds of shields being summoned turned into a deafening cacophony that filled the entire area.

The other disciples' eyes went wide, and their minds reeled. They almost couldn't believe what they were seeing. Bright, multicolored light filled a 60-meter-wide area as more than a hundred shields appeared. All of the disciples' scalps were tingling in shock; this was something the likes of which they had never seen in their entire young lives.

"How… how many talisman shields is that?"

"Heavens! How rich is this guy? Dammit! Even if we had ten times as many people here, we wouldn't be able to break through those shields!" Trembling on the verge of madness, the disciples stared at Bai Xiaochun with increasing astonishment.

As for Bai Xiaochun, he stood there, chest puffed out, hands clasped behind his back, chin stuck up, expression somewhat melancholy, like a lonely hero….

"Very well, you bunch of bullies, bring it on!" he said loudly. "Lord Bai is gonna fight you to the death!" From his tone of voice, it really seemed like he was ready to fight to the death.

Even as the words left his mouth, the Protomagnetic Wings popped out of the big black wok on his back, and he blurred into motion, slamming into the closest disciple, a long-faced young man from the Profound Stream Sect.

More precisely, Bai Xiaochun didn't slam into the young man; his shields did. A full 60 meters away from Bai Xiaochun, a miserable shriek echoed out, and the young man was sent flying backward for some distance before he managed to grind to a halt. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he looked over at Bai Xiaochun's shields, then sighed and left sullenly.

There was really no other option… even he knew that he couldn't single-handedly break through Bai Xiaochun's shields. Draining his energy in such a way would be pointless, and would only delay his ability to enter the world of the sword.

Everyone else was completely shaken by what they saw. Feeling completely helpless when it came to Bai Xiaochun, they began to disperse, fleeing in every direction at top speed.

Considering that there wasn't even an entrance to struggle over, none of them were inclined to fight Bai Xiaochun to the death.

"Hey, don't run! I'm ready to fight till the bitter end! You bunch of bullies! Get back here!" Bai Xiaochun continued to call out at the top of his lungs, but it only caused the other disciples to move more quickly.

Soon, Bai Xiaochun was alone, standing there blinking. Although surviving the combined attack of the enemy disciples had wasted some time, staying on track toward Earthstring Foundation Establishment was the most important thing.

With that, he began to pull the paper talismans off and put them back into his bag of holding. Most of them had only burned through half of their charge, and thus, could still be used later.

Bai Xiaochun stuck his chin up and swished his sleeve like a lonely hero.

"Bai Xiaochun is not to be trifled with!"

With that, he flickered into motion, making his way down through the cracks and crevices as he tried to find another gap leading into the huge sword.

Of course, when it came to entering the sword world earlier or later, there were pros and cons to both.

Those who entered sooner would be able to start killing the earthstring banebeasts sooner, and begin collecting the earthstring energy. However, those people would find themselves higher up in the world of the sword, where the banebeasts didn't have much earthstring energy in them. The banebeasts further down in the world of the sword could have ten times as much earthstring energy or even more.

It required a large collection of earthstring energy to form the earthstring capture crystal.

Another thing to consider was that the world of the sword was enormous, and also contained banesouls. Because banesouls had to be avoided, it was actually possible to proceed downward with greater speed if one was outside the sword.

The downside to being outside of the sword was that the cold became increasingly intense the further down you went. Eventually, it became so cold that Qi Condensation disciples couldn't survive. At a certain point, there was no other option than to enter the world of the sword, for one's own safety. In the end, the decision of when exactly to enter the sword was up to each individual's power and strength, and their own determination of what was best for them.

Bai Xiaochun already had a rather high level of cold resistance, and now that he thought about it, it made sense to go down as far as he could before choosing an entrance. That would actually put him ahead of many of the people who were already in the sword.

Time passed. Bai Xiaochun moved at top speed, almost a blur. He wasn't even aware of it, but he had already passed almost all of the other Qi Condensation disciples who had already entered the sword. The cold grew more and more intense, until he was starting to get stiff. Eventually, he reached the point where going too much further might end up injuring him.

He took a deep breath as he looked down into the pitch black below.

"I think I can go another 300 meters…." He tried to use some paper talismans to stave off the cold, but they did little good. Shaking his head, he started looking around for a gap. All of a sudden, he noticed a spot roughly 90 meters down, where a young man was standing next to the body of the sword.

As soon as the young man sensed Bai Xiaochun, he looked over, and their gazes locked. Bai Xiaochun immediately recognized who this cold and vicious young man was.

"Blood Stream Sect. Song Que!"

"Spirit Stream Sect. Bai Xiaochun!"

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Chapter 145: Sentenced To Death!

Bai Xiaochun's scalp was tingling so hard it felt like it might explode. The person standing in front of him was capable of killing Foundation Establishment cultivators, and had already forged an unprecedented legend of heaven-defying ferocity. From what Bai Xiaochun knew, he should have been able to enter the world of the sword much earlier on. What could he possibly be doing so far down outside the sword?

As soon as Song Que's eyes locked onto him, Bai Xiaochun felt a sensation of deadly crisis, and a brewing killing intent that seemed as if it might explode if Bai Xiaochun made even the slightest move.

Song Que was equally shocked. He had never imagined that a second person other than himself would reach this level. Considering the coldness, this place was clearly beyond the limit for the Qi Condensation stage, and even most other Chosen wouldn't be able to reach it. However, Bai Xiaochun didn't seem to have any trouble here at all.

As he stared at Bai Xiaochun, Song Que recalled the information that he had read about him in the jade slip given him by the sect.

The two of them looked at each other, remaining completely motionless. To Song Que, Bai Xiaochun was a mysterious and unfathomable individual. Although he didn't seem to possess any killing intent, Song Que's intuition told him that if he tried to attack… one of the two of them would most likely die. Furthermore, he wasn't completely confident that he would be the one to make it out alive.

After a long moment, Song Que took the initiative to speak.

"60 meters below this point is an entrance."

Bai Xiaochun's eyes flickered, and despite the pounding of his heart, he slowly resumed his downward movement. Of course, he had no way of knowing it, but that caused Song Que's heart to beat faster and faster, as he prepared himself to counterattack the moment Bai Xiaochun made a move.

When the two of them were only a few meters apart, Song Que suddenly shifted to the side as if to cover an area of the sword behind him, his eyes shining with a threatening light.

"Sneaky little punk," Bai Xiaochun murmured to himself. "He's definitely up to no good!" He continued downward until he reached the 60-meter mark that Song Que had referred to. Sure enough, there was an opening there. After a bit of inspection, Bai Xiaochun relaxed a bit and then stepped inside.

After he disappeared, Song Que breathed a sigh of relief. Considering what the sect's introduction had explained about Bai Xiaochun, Song Que knew that he wasn't someone to be taken lightly. Finally, a vicious gleam appeared in Song Que's eyes. After reaching the sixth level of Qi Condensation, he had never needed to act so cautiously around anyone. He'd even gone to the length of telling Bai Xiaochun about the location of the entrance down below.

"This Bai Xiaochun might be extraordinary, but once my plan is carried out, I'll kill him as easily as stepping on an ant!" Eyes burning with killing intent and fervor, he turned to study the surface of the sword.

"The report from Senior Limitless was accurate. Here's the energy node!"

Bai Xiaochun felt like he was passing through a sheet of water. Moments later, he was inside the world of the sword. Everything around him was black and white.

The sky was white, and the land was black. Everything looked like an ink wash painting….

Mountains rose and fell, black river water swirled along, and up above he could see countless stars whose twinkling seemed like the blinking of eyes.

Most shocking of all was how the entire world was tilted. Bai Xiaochun almost felt like he was standing on the side of a hill.

It was a strange sensation that would take some time to get used to.

"Just what kind of sword is this? It has a whole world inside of it? It's a lot smaller than the real world outside, but it's still completely shocking." As he looked around, he realized that he was completely alone. Based on his calculations, he wasn't in the deepest parts of the sword world, but he was definitely much further in than most of the other disciples.

After a bit of thought, he proceeded downward, leaving the entrance behind. After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, he reached the crest of a small mountain, whereupon his expression flickered. His right hand shot out, shining with silver light as he snapped his two fingers in the air off to the side.

Ripples spread out as a black snake appeared next to him, only as wide as a finger. Before it could do anything, it flew into his hand, and he grabbed it behind the jaw.

The snake let out a piercing cry that instantly broke the silence, simultaneously wrapping around Bai Xiaochun's forearm and squeezing down tightly.

Bai Xiaochun was shocked by the snake's strength. Were it not for the fact that his fleshly body could already make contact with the first shackle, the snake would most likely have been able to break free.

He pressed down with both fingers, and a cracking sound rang out as the snake's head was crushed. The snake went limp, and then simply dissolved into a strand of gray energy roughly as wide as a stick of incense, which instantly began to float away.

"So that's earthstring energy, huh?" He quickly pulled out his Dao bottle to collect it. After shaking the bottle a bit, he watched the earthstring energy materialize into a gray drop of liquid.

"I'd need something like a thousand of these drops to fill the bottle…." Taken aback, he looked back in the direction he'd come from. If he needed to kill a thousand banebeasts in this area to fill the bottle, who knew how many it would be necessary to kill further back.

"I need to go more quickly. I have to form that earthstring capture crystal as soon as possible." With that, he hurried onward at top speed, searching for banebeasts the entire way. Three days later, he had about thirty drops worth of gray fluid in his Dao bottle.

During those three days, he'd killed dozens of banebeasts just to get that small amount. He felt like he was moving at a snail's pace.

"At this speed, its going to take more than two months to get that earthstring capture crystal." He stood there with gritted teeth as he realized that the best thing to do was go even deeper. With that, he proceeded onward at top speed. After about two hours, he suddenly stopped in place as he caught sight of two corpses up ahead.

These were the first people Bai Xiaochun had seen inside the world of the sword. Clearly, they had proceeded at top speed to get here so quickly, or perhaps had some other means of reaching this point.

One of them wore the clothing of the Spirit Stream Sect, and was an Inner Sect disciple from the south bank. The other wore the uniform of the Pill Stream Sect. Apparently, the two of them had fought each other to the death here. The Pill Stream Sect disciple had a Dao bottle in his hand.

Even from a distance, Bai Xiaochun recognized the south bank disciple. It was Zhou Youdao from the Inner Sect on Violet Cauldron Peak. He was one of the group of five who had entered the last of the three entrances. He had been very enthusiastic about addressing Bai Xiaochun as Sect Uncle Bai, and on the underground journey outside the sword, had fought well against the disciples from the other sects. Bai Xiaochun would never have thought that he would end up dead.

A strange, indescribable feeling rose up in Bai Xiaochun's heart. Only a few days ago, he had been laughing and joking with Zhou Youdao. The next time he saw him, they were eternally separated by death. It almost felt as if this entire world were permeated by ruination and mortality, creating a crushing pressure that instantly reminded Bai Xiaochun of the danger around him. The slightest misstep could leave him dead. It was even possible that people might use his corpse to set traps for other disciples as well.

Fury began to burn in Bai Xiaochun's eyes, and his fists clenched into balls. Other than Feng Yan from years ago, this was the first fellow disciple Bai Xiaochun personally knew who had died, and it caused sorrow to grip his heart. He couldn't forget how Zhou Youdao had talked about his dream of becoming a patriarch of the Spirit Stream Sect.

"Immortal cultivation is supposed to be about living a better life. It's about achieving your dreams. Why? Why… does there have to be all this fighting and killing…? Is it worth it?" It only took a glance for him to realize that the two corpses were a trap. Despite that, he chose… to proceed forward.

As soon as he neared the corpses, rumbling sounds echoed out from the ground. Apparently, some medicinal pills had been hidden in the area which were now exploding, sending plumes of toxic gas up toward Bai Xiaochun.

At the same time, a flying sword shot like lightning toward him, a sword surrounded by an illusory scorpion, which emitted high-pitched shrieks!

At exactly the same moment, a frighteningly powerful explosion ripped through the air from the other side, the result of more detonated medicinal pills.

On one side was a flying sword, on the other was an explosion, and he was surrounded by a toxic spell formation. Anyone who casually stepped into a situation like this would be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt.

A cold snort echoed out through the toxic gas, and someone shouted, "Die!"

Bai Xiaochun settled his qi. His face was extremely grim as the volcanic rage that had been building up in his chest suddenly erupted.

"You'll be the one to die!" he said, his voice booming like thunder, spreading out in all directions like a gale-force wind that could topple mountains and drain seas.

His hair whipped about, his eyes shone with killing intent. It was an awesome spectacle!

His thunderous voice swept out, filled with sorrow and fury. It became a powerful attack that instantly smashed into the toxic smoke.

In the blink of an eye, the smoke was blasted away, revealing the flying sword and the explosion, as well as the two shocked disciples who had unleashed them, a young man and a young woman from the Pill Stream Sect.

The scorpion surrounding the sword let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it was crushed out of existence as if by a gigantic hand. Cracking sounds rang out from the sword as it was drained of spiritual power, then sent spinning off to the side.

As for the explosions, even their terrifying force was redirected by Bai Xiaochun, sent to land in a completely different direction.

Suddenly, everything seemed to go blurry. Shocking energy radiated out from Bai Xiaochun, who seemed to grow taller as he spoke out in a powerful voice.

"Anyone who kills a disciple of the Spirit Stream Sect will be sentenced to death!"

His words echoed like thunder, and carried the threat of extermination!

They added additional force to the blast in the area, which was no longer like a strong wind. It contained Bai Xiaochun's killing intent, and more than that, the power of the life essence spirit of his Waterswamp Kingdom!

That was power that could easily shatter mountains and dry up seas!

Suddenly, water vapor became visible in the area. The Waterswamp Kingdom… was coming!

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Chapter 146: Power!

The two Pill Stream Sect disciples' hair flew about wildly, and their robes whipped about. Their faces were ashen, and even their skin seemed to be pressed down from the force. They were terrified to the extreme as the wild wind battered them, turning them into rowboats in a hurricane as the mountain-toppling, sea-draining force inundated them, sending them staggering stagger back, blood spraying out of their mouths.

The female disciple was trembling violently, blood oozing out her eyes, ears, and nose. As she lurched away from Bai Xiaochun, it quickly became apparent that she couldn't endure the force that was pushing against her. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as first her eyes exploded, then her head, and then her entire body!

She instantly transformed into a haze of blood that was swept away by the wind.

"No!!" screamed the male disciple. Blood began to pour out of his mouth, and he was shaking violently. His world began to turn black, and he let out an agonized shriek. Never in his darkest nightmares could he have imagined that he would provoke… someone as indescribably heaven-defying as this.

The energy and pressure felt like something from an elder in his sect. It was something that a Qi Condensation disciple should never have to endure, something that not even the most powerful Chosen he knew, Fang Lin, could stand up to!

"It was wrong. The information the sect gave us was totally wrong!! Don't kill me! I…." The blood-soaked male disciple was breaking down mentally, and began to plead and weep. He didn't want to die, and could hardly bear the terror he felt. However, before he could finish speaking, Bai Xiaochun stepped forward and grabbed him by the throat.

"My Sect Nephew Zhou didn't want to die," he growled. "And you know what? I didn't want to kill anyone, either." Bai Xiaochun was not the type of person to be friends with just anybody. His heart belonged to the Spirit Stream Sect.

It didn't matter how that had come to be; to him, the Spirit Stream Sect was home!

He tightened his grip, and a cracking sound could be heard as the Pill Stream Sect disciple's neck was crushed. His eyes bulged, and his legs twitched a few times. Then he was dead!

Things gradually went quiet. Bai Xiaochun released his grip and then walked back to Zhou Youdao's corpse. He sighed.

"Zhou Youdao," he said softly, "allow me to bring you back to the sect." With that, he put Zhou Youdao's corpse into his bag of holding, taking his Dao bottle but leaving his bag of holding untouched.

As for the people from the Pill Stream Sect, he searched them thoroughly. Before leaving, he put the contents of the four Dao bottles he had collected into his own. Altogether, they hadn't even collected half as much as he had on his own.

At long last, he had a chance to see what the Pill Stream Sect disciples' jade slips said about him.

"Bai Xiaochun from the Spirit Stream Sect. A genius in the Dao of medicine, suspected to be the so-called little turtle of the sect. Unknown techniques, unclear battle prowess. Sometimes weak, sometimes strong, has a large collection of magical objects. Took first place in the sect's Chosen battles, likely due to negligence on the part of Ghostfang. If you encounter him, worry about his Dao of medicine, not his battle prowess. Attack him two-to-one."

Bai Xiaochun wasn't sure where the Pill Stream Sect got their information, but now he was even more curious about what the information from the Profound Stream Sect and the Blood Stream Sect said. With that, he left.

Four hours later, an expressionless young man approached the scene. It was none other than Fang Lin from the Pill Stream Sect. Eyes glittering, he looked around the area to determine what had occurred.

Before long, he was standing in the spot where Bai Xiaochun had let out that powerful roar. He closed his eyes as if he were seeking enlightenment. Soon, his expression flickered, and his eyes snapped open.

"So strong! Who did this…? Song Que? Ghostfang? Nine-Isles?" Fang Lin took a deep breath as the desire to fight rose up in his heart. Looking around, he identified the path Bai Xiaochun had taken when he left, and then picked a different direction, unwilling to make contact at the moment.

Four hours later, another person appeared. He was a tall, burly man surrounded by flame lightning. After looking around, his eyes began to shine, and he started panting.

"It wasn't Song Que, nor was it Nine-Isles. Could it have been Ghostfang? Dammit. I don't want to provoke any one of those three!" This man was none other than Lei Shan. After looking around, he hesitated, unable to determine exactly which direction the terrifying figure responsible for the scene had taken. Gritting his teeth, he randomly picked a direction, which just so happened to be the same direction Bai Xiaochun had taken.

Time sped by. Over the following three days, quite a few people passed by the area. Some picked up on the clues, others didn't.

On evening of the third day, Song Que approached. Although the traces of the battle were mostly gone by that time, he could sense that there was something odd about the area. Squatting down, he put his right hand onto the surface of the ground. A moment later, his eyes shone brightly.

"Such energy…. This was neither Nine-Isles nor Fang Lin. Not Ghostfang either. In that case, it must have been… Bai Xiaochun!"

Narrowing his eyes, he turned and sped off into the distance.

Around that same time, Bai Xiaochun was also speeding along through the world of the sword. Whenever he encountered an earthstring banebeast, he would kill it and collect its earthstring energy.

More gray liquid was building up in his Dao bottle, but he was still quite a ways away from being able to form the earthstring capture crystal. In the current area, the banebeasts provided a lot more earthstring energy than those from further back, but unfortunately, they were harder to find. Much of his time was wasted traveling to and fro.

Apparently, the earthstring banebeasts were partly illusory and partly corporeal, making it possible for them to merge into the air itself. They were very difficult to track down, and sometimes even randomly disappeared in the middle of a fight. Were it not for Bai Xiaochun's exceptional senses, he might not even have been able to detect them.

They would only materialize if you got very close to their hiding spot. Otherwise, they would remain hidden.

"I need to figure out a better method. The best way would be to get a bunch of earthstring banebeast in the same area. My current method is too slow. Even attacking disciples from other sects wouldn't be fast enough." Even as he pondered the matter, he suddenly stopped in place. A whooshing sound could then be heard as a scaled hand reached out as if to grab him. When it grabbed nothing but air, it began to pull back, but before it could, Bai Xiaochun reached out and grabbed it.

Then, he jerked his hand back, and a thunderous crash rang out like that of a giant mirror shattering. At the same time, a three-meter-tall ape-like earthstring banebeast was dragged out of thin air.

It had no hair, only black scales, and as Bai Xiaochun dragged it out, it let out a powerful roar. Its eyes shone with ferocity, but very little intelligence. Almost immediately, it attempted to pounce on Bai Xiaochun, whose eyes flickered as he extended his left hand and grabbed the ape by the neck. Instead of crushing it, though, he pulled it a bit closer and began to examine it closely. Soon, his eyes began to shine with a strange light.

"If I could concoct a spirit medicine that could attract these banebeasts… that would definitely solve the problem. Then I could form that earthstring capture crystal even faster. At the very least… it would be faster than trying to kill and rob other disciples." Having reached this point in his train of thought, Bai Xiaochun made his way off to the distance, eyes glittering, ape in tow.

His destination was a valley up ahead, where he found a secluded place to hide and study the banebeast. His powerful gaze left the thing shivering, as though by merely looking at it he could see everything about its internal structure.

Of course, the truth was he couldn't do that. At the moment, this banebeast was simply a subject for research, much the way some of the snakes had been to him years ago in 10,000 Snakes Valley. If he wanted to make a spirit medicine that would specifically target this kind of beast, then he obviously would need to study them on many levels.

Eyes burning with passion, he reached into his bag of holding and pulled out a flying sword. Soon after, he was slicing open the banebeast's chest.

The next day, his eyes were bloodshot as he left the valley.

"There isn't much difference between them and ordinary beasts. They have the same organs, and even have blood…. However, as soon as they die, all of that vanishes and transforms into earthstring energy.

"Another strange thing is that the earthstring banebeasts don't have any food inside their stomachs…. Is it that they don't need to eat food?" With that, he captured another banebeast to perform further experiments.

A few days later, more and more disciples were showing up in the area, which could be considered to be the middle section of the sword world. Some of them attacked other disciples to steal their Dao bottles, others went after the banebeasts. By this time, Bai Xiaochun had studied more than ten different banebeasts, and his eyes were more bloodshot than ever. His hair was disheveled, and he almost looked as if he had gone mad.

"Poor eyesight, and a bad sense of smell, and yet they seem very perceptive…. How do they merge into the air? How are they formed from earthstring energy? And why do they attack cultivators?" Bai Xiaochun was now fully immersed in the Dao of medicine by this point. Continuing to mutter questions to himself, he confirmed that the banebeasts would always take the initiative to attack him, and did so with bloodthirsty ferocity.

"Wait a second…." His heart began to pound as he realized that he might be onto something. Looking up suddenly, he hurried forward to find a banebeast to confirm his new theory.

Before long, a nine-meter-long earthstring bear appeared in front of him. It was covered with black scales, and was currently being besieged by five disciples in long, blood-red robes.

Obviously, they were Blood Stream Sect disciples. Their killing intent was raging, and they didn't seem to care about anything except the kill. They didn't even care when one of their fellow disciples was suddenly killed.

Bai Xiaochun's eyes glittered as he transformed into a beam of light that shot toward the area. Even as the four Blood Stream Sect disciples were preparing to launch another salvo, a blur appeared and someone reached out and grabbed the huge bear.

The Blood Stream Sect disciples' eyes went wide. None of them immediately recognized Bai Xiaochun, but they could tell that he was wearing the clothing of the Spirit Stream Sect. Soon, cold smiles appeared on their faces, as well as derision. During their fight with the bear, they had come to realize that it had certain special qualities, including a terrifying fleshly body power.

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Chapter 147: A Strange Pill Appears!

"He's gonna get himself killed!"

"The Spirit Stream Sect people are all so arrogant! That's a mid-level banebeast, not a low-level banebeast. Is he looking to die?!" The Blood Stream Sect disciples chuckled coldly as they imagined the banebeast ripping the Spirit Stream Sect disciple to shreds.

However, even as the cold smiles appeared on their faces, they suddenly trembled, and their eyes went wide with disbelief and shock.

What they saw was Bai Xiaochun, his hair in complete disarray, grabbing onto the bear, which let out a terrifying roar. It then bared its teeth as if to rip Bai Xiaochun's arm off of his body and shred it to pieces.

However, as soon Bai Xiaochun's hand latched down onto it, the bear acted as though a mountain of pressure had just crushed down onto it. Rumbling sounds echoed out as Bai Xiaochun pushed the bear down into the ground.

The ground trembled, and the four Blood Stream Sect disciples all gasped, hardly able to believe their eyes.

"This…."

"How is this possible?!?!"

"Such incredible strength!"

The four of them swallowed hard, and yet, weren't willing to simply leave. Even as they eyed Bai Xiaochun, he once again did something that left them trembling.

Immersed as he was in his research, he completely ignored the Blood Stream Sect disciples. A flying sword appeared in his left hand, and in front of the eyes of all of the Blood Stream Sect disciples, he began to slice open the banebeast's arm.

Blood sprayed everywhere, along with earthstring energy. The banebeast howled, and Bai Xiaochun, apparently annoyed by the sound, slit its throat. The Blood Stream Sect disciples' eyes went wide, and they began to tremble and back up, eyes radiating reverence toward Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun didn't notice. After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, he managed to completely dissect the banebeast. Although the pieces were already starting to fade away, the mere sight of the sliced up bear left the Blood Stream Sect disciples feeling as though their heads were about to explode.

"Did he… did he have a grudge with that particular banebeast? Or does he always do that to them? Heavens! That's the most terrifying thing I've ever seen, even in the Blood Stream Sect!"

"It must be some twisted hobby of his…."

One of the disciples pulled out a jade slip, checked it, and then said, "That's… that's Bai Xiaochun!!"

The other three disciples gasped at the mention of the name. Without even the slightest hesitation, they began to back up, doing everything possible to get as far away as they could.

Some time later, Bai Xiaochun's eyes were shining with excitement. Taking a deep breath, he rose to his feet and began to pace back and forth, occasionally gesticulating with one hand or the other.

"I get it now. The banebeasts look like ordinary beasts, but there's something different about them. Spiritual energy is as useful to them as earthstring energy is to cultivators trying to reach Foundation Establishment! That's why any disciples who get eaten by them instantly disappear into nothing. They get totally absorbed….

"Hahaha! I can definitely concoct the pill I need!" He threw his head back and laughed uproariously, then looked around, somewhat surprised to find that everyone had left.

Shaking his head, he blurred into motion, heading off into the distance to find a cave. Once he found a suitable location, he produced some earthflame crystals and began to concoct. He had the pill formula in mind, which he followed based on his understanding of the banebeasts.

In addition to the medicinal plants, he added in some of his own blood. Worried that that might not be enough, he called upon the principles of mutual augmentation and suppression to adjust things perfectly.

He spent four hours concocting, after which the pill furnace began to rumble. When the sound died down, a medicinal pill appeared. Bai Xiaochun grabbed it and set off to look for banebeasts. After finding one, he threw out the medicinal pill, but was disappointed to find that it didn't have any effect whatsoever.

"This can't be right! What went wrong!?" The next few days, he spent more time researching the banebeasts. By that time, it had been twenty days since the opening of the Fallen Sword Abyss.

Most of the disciples of the four sects had reached the depths of the world, and were in different areas fighting and killing banebeasts.

The Blood Stream Sect was truly strong, and incredibly vicious. The Profound Stream Sect and the Spirit Stream Sect were about evenly matched, with the Pill Stream Sect being the weakest of them all.

There were even fights that broke out between some of the top Chosen from the various sects. The most noteworthy fight was when Ghostfang fought Nine-Isles from the Profound Stream Sect. It lasted an entire day, and shook everything in the area. In the end, Nine-Isles was seriously injured and fled. Having come out victorious, Ghostfang came to be known as the one person who was qualified to fight Song Que.

Gongsun Wan'er and Zhao Rou fought a few times, and although there were always clear winners and losers, neither managed to kill the other.

Shangguan Tianyou put on quite a show. In the middle of killing a banebeast, he saw Fang Lin, the number one Chosen from the Pill Stream Sect, and the two of them fought a fierce battle. In the end, it was hard to say who came out on top.

Song Que from the Blood Stream Sect was like a shadowy specter. He never attacked anyone, and few people even saw him.

As for the other person listed in the information about the Blood Stream Sect, Xu Xiaoshan, he also began to make a name for himself. People bristled with anger at the sheer amount of magical items he had at his disposal. When he unleashed them in battle, any opponent he fought was left shocked.

One disciple who quickly came to be known as a dark horse in the competition was… Beihan Lie from the Spirit Stream Sect. Not much information about him had been made available to the other three sects, and therefore, people took him to be an ordinary Chosen. Who could ever have imagined that when he encountered Lei Shan from the Profound Stream Sect, a massive battle would ensue?

In the end, Beihan Lie seemed to be on the same level as Lei Shan, which was shocking considering that other than Nine-Isles, he was considered to be the top Chosen of his generation in the Profound Stream Sect. Very few people could hold their own in a fight against him.

Before, he was simply a Chosen from the Spirit Stream Sect. For him to be able to do such a thing left many people shocked.

In addition to the friction and fighting between the famous Chosen, there were many fierce battles between the other disciples. People died on a daily basis, and some unlucky people were eaten by the banebeasts.

As for the disciples who survived all of the fighting, their collections of earthstring energy grew. Soon, it was getting harder and harder to find the banebeasts, which meant that the fighting between disciples started to grow fiercer!

People ganged up on others. People set traps. Some people simply overwhelmed others with direct force. All sorts of tactics were unleashed, until the Fallen Sword Abyss began to devolve into chaos.

Eyes were bloodshot as people fought back and forth in the struggles for earthstring energy. Nobody wanted to be the last person to collect the energy they needed, and everyone wanted to be first!

Bai Xiaochun was aware of the murderous atmosphere around him. However, he didn't go out much. He spent most of his time doing research or concocting medicine. Even still, he ran into the corpses of seventeen Spirit Stream Sect disciples.

Whenever he did, he would carefully store the corpses in his bag of holding to take them back to the sect.

When he went out looking for banebeasts, he went about his work as quickly as possible. He would strike like lightning, grab the banebeast, and then take it away to study. Afterward, he would go back to concocting.

Before he even realized it, his Dao bottle of gray liquid was about a third full. However, he didn't pay much attention to that. He focused mostly on concocting.

By this point, he had failed dozens of times. On a few occasions, he failed five or six times in one day. However, he didn't give up. As he grew more familiar with the anatomy of the banebeasts, he slowly slipped into a frenzy. At one point, he even personally went to observe how a banebeast would go about killing a cultivator.

At that point, he realized that the attacks weren't physical, but rather, an absorption of life force. Suddenly, all of his experiences and research up to that point coalesced into an epiphany. He quickly selected a remote mountain cave and set about concocting, his eyes completely bloodshot.

This session lasted for five days, during which time he didn't set a single foot outside. He failed dozens of times. However, on evening of the fifth day, as the sky grew dark and fighting filled the lands around him, intense rumbling sounds began to emanate from his pill furnace, spreading out to fill half of the entire Fallen Sword World.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

It was like heaven-rending, earth-crushing thunder that spread out in all directions. Shockingly, black clouds appeared above the cave, which pulsed with strands of white energy!

All of the disciples of the four sects who were in that part of the Fallen Sword World looked in the direction where Bai Xiaochun was concocting medicine. Everyone was completely shocked.

Ghostfang had been in the middle of speeding along on a task when he suddenly heard the rumbling sound, and his eyes glittered.

In another location, Song Que was in front of a nondescript stone wall, studying it carefully. When he heard the sound, his eyes widened. "What's that sound?"

Xu Xiaoshan from the Blood Stream Sect felt his heart began to pound. "Is a precious treasure appearing in the world?!?!"

Eyes widening, he picked up speed, heading in the direction of the sound.

Lei Shan from the Profound Stream Sect was relatively close to the source of the sounds, and was just as intrigued as Xu Xiaoshan. Eyes shining with excitement and curiosity, he sped off toward the sound.

The bizarre thunderous rumbling didn't just attract the attention of the cultivators. It also attracted… banebeasts!

And also… in some mysterious location within the Fallen Sword World, it caught the attention of… banesouls!!

Chapter 147: A Strange Pill Appears!

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin

I forgot to take the chapter title off the sneak peek chapter, but had intended to keep it as a 'spoiler' title. My bad. My gum swelled up last night, leading to a splitting headache, plus BDB woke up at about 5:00 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep. This is going to be a long day…. Well, off to BDB's art class!

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Chapter 148: Come Play With Me, Big Bro

In the half of the Fallen Sword World that was affected, countless areas began to distort and twist. It seemed as though countless slumbering banebeasts within the air itself were suddenly being awoken by the crashing of thunder. Somehow, they could sense Bai Xiaochun's spirit medicine, and trembled, slowly opening their eyes.

Although there were disciples from the four sects in some of the areas where the banebeasts began to wake up, most of the areas were devoid of cultivators. As soon as the banebeasts opened their vicious eyes, they looked in Bai Xiaochun's direction, radiating greed and madness. Moments later, countless howls ripped through the air.

Ripples spread out through the Fallen Sword World like waves on water, stirring the banebeasts, which began to rush at top speed through the air.

However, what was more shocking than the banebeasts was what happened in certain locations where the banebeasts didn't dare to enter. There, numerous shadowy figures began to appear out of thin air.

There were men and women, old and young. The youngest of them all was a little girl in a white dress. Clutched in her arms was a skinless, blood-colored bear. They floated there with blank looks in their eyes, accompanied by various strange beasts that were not native to the lands of Heavenspan.

They were banesouls!

All of the living things which had been killed by this enormous sword during its existence beyond the heavens were affected by earthstrings and transformed into these lifeless souls!

They were bizarre and enigmatic to the extreme, and apparently, were not people of the lands of Heavenspan. They had come from the legendary region beyond the heavens, the location of that which was eternal!

Now they were scattered about through the various remote regions of the Fallen Sword World, in places where the banebeasts didn't dare to even approach.

As of this moment, numerous such figures were stepping out of thin air to appear in the open. Some of them wore ancient robes, some wore battle armor, and some had skin made of scales instead of flesh. They looked strange; most of them badly mutilated, as if from combat wounds. Some had missing arms, some were partially decapitated, some had gaping wounds in their torsos. As they appeared, black mist pulsed out from them in all directions.

All of the banesouls had blank expressions. They had no consciousness, nor any memories. Anywhere they passed, the banebeasts would be left trembling, and would simply cower as they went by. Any banebeast which was unlucky enough to actually be touched by one of the banesouls would instantly be destroyed and vanish into nothing.

The banesouls that had the shape of beasts were particularly bizarre, as if they had been pieced together from parts of different creatures!

The banesouls began to float through the air, picking up speed until they were moving unbelievably quickly. Nothing could block their path as they headed straight toward Bai Xiaochun!

Vast numbers of them were converging upon him from all directions!

As they passed along, some of the disciples from the four sects realized that something strange was happening. They saw the air rippling as countless banebeasts appeared, and at first, many of the ecstatic disciples rushed forward to try to kill them. But soon, their scalps began to tingle as they realized that there were far too many, hordes of them, like a tide of banebeasts!

"What's going on?!"

"Heavens! The banebeasts are usually so hard to find. Why are there so many of them all of a sudden!?"

"Something must have happened. Dammit! That's not a banebeast, that's a banesoul!" Cries of astonishment began to ring out all over the Fallen Sword World. As soon as the disciples realized that there were banesouls flying among the banebeasts, they began to flee.

The banesouls were terrifying, and the elders of the Four Great Sects had repeatedly warned all of their disciples about their existence within the Fallen Sword Abyss. Under no circumstances were the banesouls to be provoked! They were to be avoided at all costs!

"Even the banesouls are attracted to whatever is in that direction. Just what exactly is happening over there!?"

"Let's follow from a distance and check it out!" The disciples began to follow the tide of banebeasts and banesouls, either alone or in groups of between three to five.

By this point, half of the entire Fallen Sword World was being utterly shaken by the nine volleys of thunder created by Bai Xiaochun's spirit medicine.

Within the mountain cave, Bai Xiaochun sat there looking a bit gaunt, his hair disheveled as he stared at the pill furnace. With every rumbling boom, more cracks would spread out across the surface of the furnace.

After the ninth boom, the pill furnace suddenly trembled violently and then exploded, sending fragments shooting out in all directions. At the same time, four beams of mysterious black light emerged.

Bai Xiaochun had been prepared for just such a thing to occur. He instantly unleashed the Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art, creating an invisible field of control in the area that enabled him to quickly secure the four spirit medicines which had been trying to escape.

"Think you can get away?" he said with a proud harumph. Looking down at the four medicinal pills with shining eyes, he hurried toward the mouth of cave to see if they would work on the banebeasts.

However, the instant he emerged, his expression flickered, and he took a step back, just avoiding a black scorpion tail which slashed through the air in the spot where he had just been standing.

A moment later, a three-meter-long black scorpion materialized out of thin air, its eyes burning with madness and greed as it stared at the four medicinal pills in Bai Xiaochun's hand. Then, it lunged forward.

Considering the ferocity of its movements, it didn't appear to be a low-level banebeast. It was a mid-level beast, much like the bear from earlier.

Eyes glittering, Bai Xiaochun reached out with this left hand, moving like lightning as he grabbed the scorpion's tail. Then he smashed it against the stone wall of the cave. At the same time, he sent some spiritual power into the scorpion's body, to its weakest spot, which he crushed. The scorpion twitched, and then went limp and began to fade away, transforming into earthstring energy that Bai Xiaochun quickly collected up.

An ordinary cultivator would never be able to deal with a mid-level banebeast so easily, which was why the Senior members of the sect had warned the disciples about them. Bai Xiaochun was different, though. After studying nearly a hundred banebeasts, he was very familiar with their weaknesses, and could kill them easily.

"The pills just came out of the furnace and they're already attracting the attention of banebeasts. Hahaha! Bai Xiaochun's medicinal pills are a success!" Bai Xiaochun was excitedly contemplating whether or not to perform a spirit enhancement on the pills, when suddenly, numerous ripples began to spread out in the area as one banebeast after another appeared.

"So many! Alright, that's more than enough. Hahaha! At this rate, Bai Xiaochun is definitely going to be the first to reach Foundation Establishment!"

Bai Xiaochun was so excited he almost started dancing in place. Just as he was about to reap his bountiful harvest, his expression flickered, and his eyes went wide as he noticed a partially decapitated figure off in the distance. He wore a long gray robe, and the one eye that remained on his face had a blank expression. He floated along through the air, his head twitching a bit. Eventually, he laid eyes on Bai Xiaochun, and suddenly, his expression changed.

He suddenly seemed to be filled with longing. Eyes locked onto Bai Xiaochun, or more specifically, the medicinal pills in his hand, he began to speed forward.

The banebeasts in the area all trembled at the sight of him, and didn't dare to even move. As the figure sped along, he hit seven or eight banebeasts in the process, causing them to shriek and then explode.

"A banesoul?! The pills even attract them? Well, at least it's only one of– huh?" Before he could finish speaking, another banesoul appeared further off in the distance. This one was missing its arms, and had wildly disheveled hair. It wore a set of dilapidated armor, and was also staring longingly at Bai Xiaochun as it sped toward him.

Things weren't over yet. An old man appeared off in the distance, with a huge, gaping wound in his abdomen. He too began to head directly toward Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun's scalp began to tingle with fear. Taking a deep breath, he took a step as if to flee, only to find to his shock that there weren't just three or four or five banesouls in the area, there was an entire horde!!

Ripples filled the area as numerous banesouls appeared in quick succession, their eyes gleaming with longing. Bai Xiaochun's face drained of blood as he contemplated what it would feel like to be ripped to pieces.

"How could this be happening?!" He wanted to cry, but no tears would come at the moment. His first thought was to flee. He had no desire to face so many banesouls. Even members of the Senior generation of the four sects would likely perish at the hands of these banesouls, much less the Qi Condensation disciples.

However, in the moment that Bai Xiaochun made to flee, the banesouls all looked at him and screamed. The power within their voices caused the banebeasts to tremble even harder. A tremor ran through Bai Xiaochun, and he teetered on the verge of unconsciousness as he staggered backward. It felt like he had just been hit with a hammer; blood sprayed out of his mouth, and he began to tremble in fear. Screaming, he bit his tongue, using the pain to stay awake as he took to flight.

Cold sweat broke out all over him as wings appeared behind the black wok on his back. With that, he unleashed all the speed he could muster, transforming into a series of afterimages that shot off into the distance. However, the flying banesouls also increased their speed.

In the blink of an eye, the dozens of nearby banesouls all took to flight in pursuit of Bai Xiaochun.

One of the fastest banesouls was the partially decapitated one that had appeared first. However, in addition to that one, there was a girl in a white dress. Although she didn't scream like the others, her face was especially cold and sinister, and her blank eyes glimmered with intense longing.

When the disciples of the four sects who had been following along saw what was happening, their scalps tingled with shock. That was especially true of the Spirit Stream Sect disciples. Some of them anxiously tried to get the banesouls to stop chasing Bai Xiaochun, but the banesouls were completely and utterly focused, and ignored everything else but him.

"Help! They're trying to kill me!!" Bai Xiaochun fled for his life, screaming at the top of his lungs. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes; never could he have imagined that the medicinal pills he had concocted to attract banebeasts would, for some unknown reason, drag banesouls into the picture. "Dammit! I must have made a mistake in my concocting and produced another strange pill!"

The banesouls were getting closer and closer, and seemed to be devolving further into madness as they chased him. Bai Xiaochun finally gritted his teeth and, heart aching, tossed one of the four medicinal pills far off into the distance.

In that instant, the banesouls shivered, and their heads swiveled. Then, most of them shot off after the medicinal pill he'd just thrown. Bai Xiaochun was finally able to truly flee. Some distance away, he looked over his shoulder, shivering.

Behind him, the banesouls were fighting over the medicinal pill. Shockingly, the one who ended up getting the pill in the end was the girl in the white dress, who tossed the pill into her mouth as soon as she wrested control of it.

In that instant, the blankness in the girl's eyes faded a bit. A strange glow appeared, and her expression turned even more icy. For some reason, she suddenly seemed to possess intelligence!

Slowly, the girl turned to look at Bai Xiaochun.

When their eyes met, Bai Xiaochun's scalp started tingling so hard it felt like it was going to explode. At the same moment, a faint, bizarre voice was transmitted into his ear.

"Come play with me, big bro." All the hair on Bai Xiaochun's body stood on end. Turning around, he fled as fast as he could.

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Chapter 149: Whether Sect Uncle Bai Wants It To Or Not

"That's not a banesoul, that's an evil ghost!" Heart pounding with fear, Bai Xiaochun fled at top speed. Moments ago, when his gaze met the young girl's, he had instantly been filled with a sensation of deadly crisis. The feeling had been so intense that it felt like every inch of his flesh and every drop of his blood was screaming in terror.

He was filled with the premonition that if he ran any slower, he would die!

That deathly feeling left him shaking visibly, panting, his eyes bloodshot as he pushed forward faster and faster, flying ever deeper into the depths of the Fallen Sword World.

The next day, he looked over his shoulder to confirm that he wasn't being chased by any banesouls, especially the little girl. When he saw that he was alone, he let out a long sigh of relief. However, fear still lingered in his heart regarding the events of the previous day.

"Something was really fishy about that girl in the white dress!" he thought, scowling miserably. "At first she looked like all the other banesouls, but after she ate that strange pill, her aura completely changed! Just where exactly did I go wrong with that batch of pills?"

He thought about giving up on the idea, but the truth was that his medicinal pill had attracted the banebeasts. In the end, he couldn't just give up that easily. Gritting his teeth, he went out to find more banebeasts to research. At the same time, he studied the medicine formula he had used. Three days later, after making some adjustments, he steeled himself and once again pulled out a pill furnace to start concocting.

This time, there wasn't any thunder, nor any other strange signs. Four violet medicinal pills appeared, which he carefully took outside to test, preparing ahead of time for what to do if banesouls showed up.

Soon, ripples filled the area as one banebeast after another appeared. However, Bai Xiaochun didn't dare to make a move on them. He flew away at top speed, and then studied the area carefully.

Before long, the medicinal pill had attracted over twenty banebeasts, and not a single banesoul had appeared. Finally, Bai Xiaochun breathed a sigh of relief, and even started to get excited.

"It worked!" he exclaimed, laughing loudly. As he removed the paper talismans he had stuck all over himself, the glow of the shields faded, and he hurried over to the banebeasts. Soon, his wooden sword transformed into flashing beams of light as the fighting began.

One banebeast after another fell in death, and Bai Xiaochun's eyes shone with wild delight as the streams of earthstring energy flew into his Dao bottle.

After slaughtering the entire group, he looked in satisfaction at the gray liquid inside the bottle. In a very short moment, he had added more liquid into the bottle than he had in the past several days.

Taking a deep breath, he headed to another area. There, he threw out another medicinal pill and sure enough, banebeasts began to flock to the area. Laughing heartily, Bai Xiaochun immediately began to cut them down.

Time passed. Because of the medicinal pills, the gray liquid in Bai Xiaochun's Dao bottle continued to build up at a shocking rate. Now he was collecting earthstring energy far more quickly than anyone else. A few days later, it had been a full month since Bai Xiaochun entered the Fallen Sword World. As for his Dao bottle, it was now eighty percent full of earthstring energy.

"Only twenty percent to go!" he thought, more excited than ever. He wasn't sure how others were faring in their collection efforts, but he doubted many of them had surpassed him.

However, being the perfectionist that he was, it was at this point that he decided that the best thing would be be able to fill ten percent in a single shot!

"I need more banebeasts!" Licking his lips, he headed further down into the Fallen Sword World until he found a wide-open plain. There, he took a deep breath and then pulled out two medicinal pills. Hoping to attract even more banebeasts than before, he crushed the pills and then scattered them around.

It didn't take long before the air rippled as numerous banebeasts appeared. Bai Xiaochun immediately began to attack them, causing rumbling booms to fill the area. Every banebeast he slew caused earthstring energy to stream into his Dao bottle.

Because of how he had crushed the pills, and also because of the favorable position he had chosen, which was close to the deepest parts of the Fallen Sword World, there were plenty of slumbering banebeasts in the area.

Soon, it wasn't a group of dozens that was converging on the area, it was closer to a hundred. Almost all of them were mid-level, with a few here and there that were high-level, the type that would normally require an entire group of Chosen to take down.

Bai Xiaochun's speed in killing the banebeasts couldn't match the speed with which new ones appeared on the scene. Soon, there were two hundred gathered in the area, and their numbers only continued to grow. Any cultivator who managed to catch sight of such a huge number of banebeasts would go wild with joy.

In fact, some of the disciples of the four sects did notice what was happening, and gathered on the periphery to snag whatever beasts they could. One of them was a young man who attacked with utter ruthlessness, and immediately caused quite a stir among the nearby Pill Stream Sect disciples. Eventually, Bai Xiaochun noticed him, and recognized him as the number one Chosen from the Pill Stream Sect, Fang Lin!

Bai Xiaochun wasn't too happy that he had drawn all these banebeasts here only to have other people slaughter and take them. However, considering that he couldn't even keep up with the growing numbers, he simply gave a cold harrumph and then ignored them.

Gradually, a group of over forty cultivators had gathered in the area. It was only at that point that they managed to get on equal footing with the banebeasts. Elated, they began to join forces to make things go even faster.

That was especially true of some of the Spirit Stream Sect disciples. When they got close to Bai Xiaochun, he made sure to take care of them, ensuring that their harvest was even greater than before.

Bai Xiaochun excitedly watched the earthstring liquid building up in his Dao bottle. Soon, it was ninety percent full. However, it was at that exact moment that more than ten beams of light suddenly appeared up in the air.

They wore matching robes, those of the Profound Stream Sect, and leading them was a burly man surrounded by swirling electricity.

The surrounding disciples' faces flickered, except for Fang Lin's. He simply continued to slaughter the banebeasts, not even bothering to look over.

"Lei Shan!"

"The number two Chosen of the Profound Stream Sect! Dammit! If he came by himself it might not be a big deal, but look at how many people he has with him!"

Even as everyone looked on with mixed expressions, Lei Shan glanced out over all the banebeasts, and his eyes lit up with joy. He'd heard from some fellow Profound Stream Sect disciples that a strange tide of banebeasts had appeared, which was why he had hurried over in this direction.

"Only forty percent of my bottle is empty. When it's full, I can form the earthstring capture crystal. I can probably do that by killing all of these banebeasts here!" Lei Shan threw his head back and laughed uproariously. When the Profound Stream Sect disciples at his side realized what he intended to do, one of them, a long-faced young man, chuckled darkly and stepped forward.

"Listen up!" he bellowed to the disciples in the area. "If you're not from the Profound Stream Sect, beat it immediately! This place is our territory now!" The disciples from the other three sects bristled with rage, while the Profound Stream Sect disciples began to laugh as they joined Lei Shan's group. By that point, they were roughly thirty strong.

Under Lei Shan's leadership, the group of thirty prepared drive everyone away, and fight with deadly force against any who resisted. Chaos quickly ensued.

"You have ten breaths of time of time to get the hell out of here, and leave your Dao bottles behind!"

"If you don't want to go, then be prepared to lose your life!" As the Profound Stream Sect disciples glared around them, the Blood Stream Sect disciples exchanged glances and then began to fall back.

Most of the Blood Stream Sect were on their own, like lone wolves, and didn't want to provoke Lei Shan.

The Pill Stream Sect disciples were at a bit of a loss, and had no other choice than to fall back. Lei Shan hesitated for a moment when he realized that Fang Lin was in the crowd. He still suspected that the terrifying magical massacre which had been carried out a month before had been enacted by Fang Lin, and thus, didn't wish to provoke him.

Because of the terrifying nature of the battlefield he had come across, he decided to simply let the Pill Stream Sect disciples leave. As for Fang Lin, he resolved not to do anything to offend him personally.

As the Blood Stream Sect and Pill Stream Sect disciples fled, the Spirit Stream Sect disciples turned to see what Bai Xiaochun would do.

Bai Xiaochun was incensed, but the group led by Lei Shan was simply too large. He only had about ten people on his side, and if they got into a fight, he knew that while he might be able to make it out unscathed, they would have a harder time. There would likely be many serious injuries and even deaths.

"Alright, let's go," he said. "It's just a flood of beasts, after all. Your Sect Uncle will go start another one for you!" Gritting his teeth, he was just about to leave when Lei Shan looked over and suddenly laughed.

The Blood Stream Sect disciples were ferocious, and he didn't have any wish to tangle with them. As for Fang Lin from the Pill Stream Sect, he also preferred to steer clear of him. But when it came to the Spirit Stream Sect, once he realized it was Bai Xiaochun he was dealing with, as well as a few ordinary disciples, he recalled the information from his sect about Bai Xiaochun, and his expression became one of derision.

"You people from the Spirit Stream Sect can leave," he said, his eyes flickering with killing intent, "but your Dao bottles stay behind! Comply, or don't even think about leaving!" The Spirit Stream Sect disciples' faces fell, and Bai Xiaochun's anger grew.

"You wanna steal my animals and then rob my Dao bottle? You people are nothing but bullies!"

With a cold snort, Lei Shan began to fly toward the Spirit Stream Sect disciples, joined by the rest of the Profound Stream Sect, who were cackling viciously. "If you're being bullied, you should blame the fact that you don't have any powerful experts on your side!"

"Sect Uncle Bai!"

"Sect Uncle Bai, what do we do now?!" The Spirit Stream Sect disciples were trembling in anxiety, and Bai Xiaochun's eyes were completely bloodshot. Suddenly, he lifted his right hand, within which could be seen a black medicinal pill, the very same pill which could attract banesouls.

Expression somber, eyes bloodshot, he turned to the Spirit Stream Sect disciples and said, "Just wait until I throw out this medicinal pill, and then you guys–"

However, before he could finish speaking, the surrounding Spirit Stream Sect disciples gasped, the terror on their faces vastly exceeding their terror at seeing the Profound Stream Sect closing in. They immediately began to flee at top speed.

"Is that the legendary Aphrodisiac Pill!?"

"Heavens! No wonder he can control the banebeasts!"

"Sect Uncle Bai is a god! The only thing that determines whether that pill works on the banebeasts is whether Sect Uncle Bai wants it to or not! Let's get out of here! If we're too slow, we're dead!"

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Chapter 150: Big Bro Has Something Else To Do….

The Spirit Stream Sect fled in abject terror. The Profound Stream Sect wanted to block their path, but no threat could cause them to tremble like Bai Xiaochun's medicinal pills could.

Bai Xiaochun's jaw dropped at the sight of his fellow disciples fleeing in such a fashion. Worried that he had pulled out the wrong pill, he looked down to confirm which pill he was holding. Clearing his throat, he then gave a mighty shout as he launched the pill into the air. It shot up and then exploded, becoming swirling black mist that spread out in all directions.

Lei Shan frowned, and the Profound Stream Sect disciples scattered, worried that the mist might be toxic. As for the banebeasts in the area, as soon as they caught a whiff of the destroyed medicinal pill, their eyes lit up with madness, and they began to howl.

At the same time, Lei Shan's eyes flickered as if with lightning as he watched Bai Xiaochun attempting to flee at high speed.

Snorting coldly, he said, "Think you can leave just like that? Leave your Dao bottle behind!"

With that, he flicked his sleeve, causing thunder to boom, shoving the black mist away from him.

Then he shot after Bai Xiaochun, moving with incredible speed. Lightning danced around him, and flames burned beneath his feet. As he closed in, he waved his right finger through the air. Rumbling could be heard as a sea of flames appeared, which then rose up into a huge wall that blocked Bai Xiaochun's path. Within the wall of flames, bolts of lightning appeared which then shot toward Bai Xiaochun.

When the Profound Stream Sect disciples saw this, their eyes glittered with derision. As far as they were concerned, Bai Xiaochun was dreaming if he thought he could escape from Lei Shan.

"A rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator once chased Elder Brother Lei Shan for seven days but never caught him. Even Eldest Brother Nine-Isles praised his speed before."

"And then there's his flame lightning magic. Elder Brother Lei Shan has already reached the pinnacle. Nobody in this generation could possibly match up to him. Bai Xiaochun is courting death!"

Even as the Profound Stream Sect mocked him, Bai Xiaochun's anxiety increased. He knew that the banesouls could show up at any moment, and that the best thing to do was leave this place as quickly as possible. Seeing that his path was blocked, his eyes flickered, and he slammed into the incoming bolts of lightning.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

As soon as the lightning bolts made contact with him, they shattered into countless sparks of electricity that scattered in all directions. Bai Xiaochun, on the other hand, didn't seem to have even a mark on him. He continued on to the wall of flames, and when he hit that, it exploded too, and he passed right through.

"Impossible!" Lei Shan said, his eyes widening with disbelief and shock. He was very familiar with his own magical techniques, and was confident that other than Nine-Isles, Ghostfang, Song Que and Fang Lin, there were no Qi Condensation disciples who could pass through his flame lightning unharmed.

And yet, unexpectedly, Bai Xiaochun had done exactly that.

"This guy is–" Before he could finish speaking, an indescribable sensation of deadly crisis washed over him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the air rippling off in the distance as numerous banesouls appeared, rushing in his direction with expressions of longing.

"Banesouls!!" he gasped. Just as he was preparing to flee, his heart was struck with deathly terror.

"There are so many!! Heavens!!" There weren't just three or four banesouls approaching. The air rippled with constant fluctuations as dozens of them closed in, with even more behind them. From the look of it, there might be a hundred in total.

Among the banesouls was a sinister young girl in a white dress, holding a bear. Her eyes swirled with underworldly light, and although her face was expressionless, Lei Shan and the dozens of Profound Stream Sect disciples with him could hear chuckling in their ears.

It was a bizarre, sinister laughter that instantly set their hearts pounding. Further off among the crowd of banebeasts, Fang Lin's eyes went wide, and he began to flee, panting.

Bai Xiaochun was further off, running for his life. He could also hear the chuckling, and it left his scalp numb with fear. Wings appeared behind the black wok on his back, and he blasted off at top speed.

"Hmph! You think you can just steal my banebeasts? Those are Lord Bai's banebeasts! Nobody can just take them away!" With a cold snort, he pushed forward even faster.

Lei Shan swallowed hard, and his face was totally ashen. Having no time to pay any heed to his fellow disciples in the horde of beasts, he fled.

About this time, the girl in the white dress shot out ahead of the horde of banesouls to be the first to arrive in the area where the medicinal pill had exploded. There, she took a deep breath, causing the surrounding black mist to be sucked in through her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

At the same time, the surrounding banebeasts began to tremble and then explode, transforming into ash. As for the few dozen Profound Stream Sect disciples, their bodies were completely beyond their own control. White mist began to seep out of their own eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, and was sucked away with the black mist by the girl.

"Come play with me, big bros…." she said. No longer was her face expressionless. Her lips twitched into something like a smile, a terrifying smile that would cause any cultivator who saw it to tremble.

Her voice reverberated through the air, matchlessly sinister, echoing out in all directions. The disciples of the Profound Stream Sect felt as if their souls were being ripped out of their bodies. Their flesh and blood withered, and they became like stiff corpses which hopped over to the girl's side, where they began to lurch and dance as if they were playing with her.

Their withered bodies and stiff limbs provided a bizarre scene, and from a distance, Lei Shan and Fang Lin looked on with ashen faces. Hearts trembling, they began to flee in terror.

"What kind of banesoul is that?!"

"The sect's information didn't list anything about banesouls like that. It can even talk! That's impossible!"

Lei Shan and Fang Lin were both shaking as they fled in different directions, resorting to life-saving magics to flee as fast as possible.

The other banesouls around the little girl weren't able to absorb any of the black mist, and soon they calmed down, and began to float aimlessly with blank expressions on their faces.

The little girl stood there in their midst, looking completely bizarre. By now, her eyes were pitch black. Momentarily ignoring the fleeing Lei Shan and Fang Lin, she slowly turned in the direction Bai Xiaochun had fled in. Then her lips twitched into something that almost looked like a smile, and she flew after Lei Shan.

Deep in the Fallen Sword World, Bai Xiaochun flew along at top speed for two days before finally slowing down. That little girl in the white dress left him shivering in fear. However, as soon as he thought about how he had filled his Dao bottle by more than ninety percent, he realized that he only needed a bit more earthstring energy to form the earthstring capture crystal. Therefore, he began to carefully use his medicinal pills to attract more banebeasts to collect the last bit of earthstring energy he needed.

Two days later, he had gathered a few dozen banebeasts in a remote location. After slaughtering the entire group, his Dao bottle was completely filled with earthstring energy. The gray liquid began to bubble and boil, and then solidify. Soon, cracking sounds could be heard, and the bottle shattered.

A gray crystal was revealed, which Bai Xiaochun grabbed. Almost instantly, he felt a connection between himself and the world around him, a resonance that he hadn't felt before. This crystal was like a key that unlocked the barrier between himself and the world.

"It worked!" he exclaimed. He now felt more confident than ever that if he absorbed enough energy, he would be able to reach Foundation Establishment. However, he knew that he shouldn't go about it carelessly; he needed to find a safe place to go through the process. After all, if someone interfered with the process, causing it to fail, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Foundation Establishment. Foundation Establishment! Hahaha!" Suppressing his excitement, he was about to begin his search for a safe location when suddenly, he felt a chill run down his back and up his neck. Without even thinking about it, he looked over his shoulder, and saw a face directly behind him!

It was a little girl's face, her lips twisted into a bizarre smile!

Everything around him was deathly quiet. Bai Xiaochun's eyes widened, and his hair began to stand on end. The flame of his life force flickered a bit, as his intuition told him that this girl was extremely dangerous!

"Come play with me, big bro," she said in a sinister voice. In that same instant, a cold wind blew past, and Bai Xiaochun suddenly realized that the girl wasn't holding the skinless, blood-colored bear any more.

She was holding something else, and when Bai Xiaochun realized what it was, his heart began to pound. It was a tiny cultivator, skinned like the bear had been. Although it wasn't easy to tell at first, it was none other than Lei Shan!

The majestic number two Chosen from the Profound Stream Sect was being held in the arms of this little girl. Clearly, he wasn't dead either! He was trembling from the pain, and his tongue had been removed, making it impossible for him to speak.

Bai Xiaochun's mouth and throat went dry, and he began to back away, shaking physically. All of a sudden, he realized that he had no idea how long the girl had been following him.

"Um, big bro has something else to do right now," he said, feeling like he was about to cry. "Why don't you go find somebody else to play with? There's a guy named Song Que, and another called Nine-Isles. Oh right. There's also Fang Lin. Y-y-you can go play with them, alright?" However, the girl continued to advance on him, chuckling. As she neared, she suddenly began to breathe in deeply.

Instantly, Bai Xiaochun's mind began to spin, and he felt his life force stirring, as though it were about to be ripped out of him. At that moment, any other person really would have lost their life force.

But Bai Xiaochun's fleshly body was powerful. The silver light of the Undying Live Forever Technique flickered in resistance. Bai Xiaochun let out a piercing shriek as the sensation of imminent death washed over him. Without any hesitation, he pulled out his third strange pill and threw it off into the distance.

In that instant, the girl's eyes flickered with mysterious light. Happily ignoring Bai Xiaochun, she went off after the medicinal pill.

Face ashen, Bai Xiaochun took advantage of the moment to flee as fast as he could.

The girl didn't chase him. After retrieving the medicinal pill, she put it in her mouth, and her eyes grew even blacker than before. A bizarre smile appeared on her face as she turned her head to look in the direction Bai Xiaochun had fled.

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

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Chapter 151: You Wanna Fight Me, Bai Xiaochun?!

Two hours later, Bai Xiaochun was still fleeing, and simultaneously wallowing in self-pity. He already had his earthstring capture crystal, and all he needed was a chance to hole up somewhere and use it, but the little girl wouldn't stop chasing him.

When he thought back to the terror and danger he had just faced, his heart trembled. Around nightfall, he looked around and didn't see anyone in the area. Huffing and puffing, he finally found a cave in a mountain, where he sat down cross-legged. Looking around vigilantly, he was trying to decide if this really was the best place to make his attempt at Foundation Establishment, when suddenly the air in front of him began to ripple.

It lasted only a moment, and almost didn't seem to be something happening with the world around him, but rather, his own eyes. When things returned to normal, someone was standing right there in front of him.

It was none other than the girl in the white dress, staring at him with her black eyes.

"Don't go, big bro. Come play with me…."

Bai Xiaochun nearly collapsed. Eyes crimson, he performed an incarnation gesture, unleashing spiritual power to form a large violet cauldron which rumbled forward.

Even as the ground quaked, he shot up into the air. When he looked down below, he found that the girl was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, everything from moments ago had been an illusion.

"Dammit!" he growled, expression unsightly. Something about the whole situation seemed strange, and Bai Xiaochun was starting to speculate that perhaps the bizarre little girl had used some sort of magical technique on him.

No longer in the mood to stay in place, he gritted his teeth and continued onward. After going along for about two hours, he saw three cultivators up ahead, engaged in fierce fighting. Suddenly, he stopped in place.

A moment ago, when he'd caught sight of them, they had been alone. But now, he saw the girl in the white dress. She was staring at him with a slight smile, a smile that grew wider and wider until her mouth opened into a gaping maw as she shot toward him.

Scalp going numb, he unleashed the power of his cultivation base. His right hand clenched into a fist, and the Undying Live Forever Technique erupted out. His fist strike caused everything to shake. However, the girl suddenly vanished, and the three cultivators off in the distance looked on in astonishment as Bai Xiaochun madly punched a nearby boulder.

When they saw the boulder collapse into rubble, they gasped and took to flight.

Bai Xiaochun stood there quietly for a moment before gritting his teeth and proceeding along.

During the following two days, he saw the girl in the white dress over and over again. Even when he closed his eyes to meditate, he would see her. He was reaching a point of complete exhaustion.

The situation only continued to grow worse. At first, he would see her every two hours or so. But now, it happened every three hundred breaths of time. At this rate, he would never be able to reach Foundation Establishment.

During the two days which passed, he ran into other disciples, even ones from the Spirit Stream Sect. However, the girl in the white dress would always show up, although no one else saw her.

On evening of the second day, Bai Xiaochun's eyes were completely bloodshot, and he could sense that he was reaching his limit. He even felt as if his life force were beyond his own control, and might float away at any time. He was light-headed, and was so dizzy he felt like he might fall over.

"It's gonna happen again at any moment…." he murmured. Forgetting about fleeing, he sat down on a boulder and clenched his hands into fists. He had one more strange pill left, and yet he didn't dare to use it on the girl. For some reason, he had the feeling that the reason he wasn't dead yet was because of that very medicinal pill.

If he threw it out and the girl got it, he might meet the same fate as Lei Shan. The mere thought of that seemed to be a powerful warning to him to not casually concoct pills any more.

"It's like I'm drifting between reality and illusion," he thought. "I guess I could treat it as if I've been poisoned. In that case, maybe I should make an antidote to heal myself!"

Even as he sat thinking about the matter, a beam of light appeared off in the distance. As it drew close to Bai Xiaochun, it slowed to halt, and a young man appeared.

"Eee?" He was from the Blood Stream Sect, and looked very much like a silkpants. Looking over at Bai Xiaochun with an excited expression, he looked down at the Feng Shui compass he held in his hand, the needle of which was pointing toward Bai Xiaochun and glowing with a bright light.

"I can't believe you already collected enough earthstring energy to form an earthstring crystal!!

"Hahaha! I guess it's destiny that I, Xu Xiaoshan, will be the first to reach Foundation Establishment!" This young man was none other than Xu Xiaoshan from the Blood Stream Sect, and he was looking at Bai Xiaochun with visible excitement.

Bai Xiaochun was already irritated, and based on his calculations, he knew it would only be about ten breaths of time before the girl appeared again. "Mind your own business, asshole!"

"I know you! You're Bai Xiaochun, the supposed trump card of the Spirit Stream Sect. Well, you're obviously pretty weak right now. The flame of your life force looks like it might flicker out at any moment. That means Xu Xiaoshan has had a good opportunity handed right to him!

"Bai Xiaochun, I know you have an earthstring capture crystal. How about we work out a deal? Let me use that crystal for a bit, okay? What do you say?" Eyes flickering with greed, Xu Xiaoshan threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Speeding toward Bai Xiaochun, he performed an incantation gesture, causing eight magical devices to appear around him. Glittering light radiated out as Xu Xiaoshan waved his hand, sending them shooting toward Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun looked up coldly at Xu Xiaoshan, and was just about to make a move when, all of a sudden, his eyes swam, and the girl in the white dress appeared, standing right next to Xu Xiaoshan. There she was, her smile widening into a gaping maw.

It was at that very moment that Xu Xiaoshan suddenly screamed and backed up as fast as he could. Terror filled his eyes, and he began to tremble violently.

"A sentient banesoul! Heavens! How could there possibly be sentient banesouls here? Weren't they all exterminated? Dammit! That banesoul's got its eye on you. No wonder you look so weak. You've been cursed! You're dead!" Taking a deep breath, he backed up even more, simultaneously lifting his right hand to produce an ancient jade pendant that had an orange spot on it, which almost looked like a blood stain. As soon as Xu Xiaoshan pulled it out, he breathed a sigh of relief and then fell back further.

Down below, Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide, and he cried out, "You can see her too?! Hey, what's that thing in your hand!?"

Bai Xiaochun had just witnessed the girl in the white dress turning to look at Xu Xiaoshan. However, as soon as Xu Xiaoshan took out the jade piece, the girl's expression flickered, and she fled in the opposite direction.

Xu Xiaoshan didn't bother to respond to Bai Xiaochun, and instead focused on fleeing as quickly as possible. However, before he could get very far, Bai Xiaochun snapped into motion. His wings appeared behind him, and he shot forward to appear directly in front of Xu Xiaoshan, where he clenched his fist as if to unleash a punch.

"Xu Xiaoshan! How about we work out a deal? Why don't you let me use that jade piece for a bit? What do you say?"

Hands flashing with an incantation gesture, Xu Xiaoshan summoned eight magical items, which he sent to defend himself. "You're lucky I didn't take your stuff. How dare you try to rob me! You're cursed, hanging on death's door! What gives you the guts to make a move?!"

Silver light flickered around Bai Xiaochun as his fist made contact with Xu Xiaoshan's magical items.

A huge boom echoed out, and the magical items cracked into pieces. Bai Xiaochun was like a gale force wind speeding directly toward the shocked Xu Xiaoshan. Xu Xiaoshan viciously waved his hand, sending his beaded bracelet off of his wrist. Instantly, it transformed into eighteen corpses, each one of which emanated power equivalent to the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation. Bursting with auras of death, they simultaneously attacked.

This was Bai Xiaochun's first time seeing corpse manipulation magic like this. Shockingly, all of these corpses had long gray hair that was black at the roots, as though the hair were slowly turning black. 1

Each and every one seemed completely extraordinary.

A massive boom echoed out as the big wok on Bai Xiaochun's back shattered. However, he received no injuries whatsoever. Instead, his hands waved through the air as a shocking control power appeared, filling the area, grabbing ahold of the corpses and making it impossible for them to move. They even began to tremble and emit cracking sounds.

Xu Xiaoshan made a hissing sound as both of his hands waved through the air.

His left hand summoned nine bronze coffins. As they flew out, they grew large and larger, emanating intense pressure onto Bai Xiaochun.

His right hand caused a bottle gourd to appear, which spit out a huge blast of gravel toward Bai Xiaochun.

Next, he swung his head, causing his hair to flip out. Several small bells flew into the air, which transformed into shadowy figures that sped toward Bai Xiaochun.

Most shocking of all was that he next opened his mouth and spat out a blood-colored fan. The fan waved through the air, causing a 300-meter wide blood mist to spring up. It instantly transformed into a spell formation, which emanated intense roaring sounds as countless razor-sharp talons appeared and headed toward Bai Xiaochun.

"I have magical items and refined corpses! You wanna fight me, Bai Xiaochun?!" Laughing complacently, Xu Xiaoshan slapped his bag of holding to produce more than twenty bottles of high quality medicinal pills, which he swallowed in rapid succession, instantly restoring all of the spiritual energy he had just spent. If there had been a third person present to witness what was happening, that person would have been completely flabbergasted.

However, it was at this point that the divine crane materialized around Bai Xiaochun, transforming into a buckler that swirled around him. Then, a black flash could be seen as black light spread out all over his body.

He smacked his bag of holding, causing hundreds of paper talismans to appear, which he slapped all over himself. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred shield layers had sprung up, creating a 150-meter-thick defense.

"I have plenty of defensive talismans," he said proudly. "You dare to fight me with those crappy magical items of yours?" The corpses were sent tumbling away. The blast of gravel couldn't even come close to penetrating the shields, and most of the gravel was sent rebounding away. The nine bronze coffins were also sent crashing to the ground, completely incapable of causing any damage.

Xu Xiaoshan's eyes went wide as he stared in complete astonishment. When he fought people, he always relied on the large numbers of magical items and refined corpses at his disposal. This was his first time ever meeting someone like Bai Xiaochun, someone who was actually on the same level as himself.

Although he wasn't using magical items, when Xu Xiaoshan thought about how valuable those hundreds of paper talismans were, his heart trembled.

"The information said Bai Xiaochun was mysterious and powerful, but it never said he was rich!!" Xu Xiaoshan chuckled bitterly. He knew exactly how terrifying of a figure he himself was, so he naturally realized how terrifying Bai Xiaochun was. In fact, the sight of so many paper talismans left his eyes glowing with envy. After all, magical items required spiritual power to operate, whereas paper talismans required almost none at all. The power they needed was stored inside the talismans themselves.

They were expensive, and only worked for a limited time; even Xu Xiaoshan regarded them as a bit of a luxury.

Blinking, he suddenly realized that Bai Xiaochun was truly formidable. In fact, he was even worthy of admiration to some degree. After a moment of thought, he tossed the jade pendant over to Bai Xiaochun. "Dammit, Xu Xiaoshan has never given in to anyone. You're the first, Bai Xiaochun. I know you need this thing, so go ahead and take it. But it's not a gift! You have to give it back when you're done!"

1. In Chinese stories that have zombies or animated corpses, its relatively common to identify their power level based on the color of their hair.

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Chapter 152: You're Shameless! No, You're Shameless!

After throwing over the jade piece, Xu Xiaoshan turned to leave. He had already made up his mind that, after he got back to the sect, he would ask his father and mother for more capital with which to acquire paper talismans. In the future, that was how he would make a name for himself, not magical items. Using paper talismans would be far more awe-inspiring.

Xu Xiaoshan was a natural-born silkpants. He didn't really care what his sect thought about what he did; if he liked someone, he made friends with them. If he didn't like them, he would beat them up. As far as Bai Xiaochun was concerned, he was reluctant to admit it, but he actually liked him.

Of course, if he had overcome Bai Xiaochun in a fight, he wouldn't have hesitated for even a moment to rob him of his earthstring capture crystal. However, since he couldn't defeat him in combat, he decided that the next best thing was to try to con him.

As soon as Bai Xiaochun grabbed the jade piece, a wonderful feeling swept through him. His exhaustion vanished, and he could see everything clearly. It was almost like he had been trapped underwater, unable to breathe, and had just burst out into the open air.

However, it seemed odd that Xu Xiaoshan would simply give him the jade piece so casually. After a moment of thought, he realized that he might have been cheated in some way. Before Xu Xiaoshan could get very far away, Bai Xiaochun called out, "Hold on. I don't like taking advantage of people. Let me give you these two little treasures in exchange."

Slapping his bag of holding, he produced two flying swords that both had twofold spirit enhancements. Secretly spreading some of the aura of the final strange pill onto them, he tossed them over.

"They're not worth much, but hey, have fun with them."

The twofold spirit enhanced swords flew over to Xu Xiaoshan, whose eyes went wide as soon as he grabbed them.

"Twofold spirit enhancements?" he thought, swallowing hard. "And he hands them over just like that? Have fun with them?!" Although he didn't view twofold spirit enhanced magical items as something completely priceless, they were still relatively rare among Qi Condensation cultivators. The most telling thing was how casually Bai Xiaochun had tossed them over to him, which made it very obvious how deep his pockets were.

Suddenly Xu Xiaoshan realized he had even more to learn from Bai Xiaochun than he had initially realized. To casually hand out spirit enhanced magical items was a truly impressive way to make a name for oneself. Having reached this point in his train of thought, he looked more closely at Bai Xiaochun, and realized that he liked him even more. He sighed.

"Alright, look, Bai Xiaochun. Considering how nice you've been, I feel bad for trying to con you. If you use that jade pendant by itself, it's pretty much useless. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, it will simply stop working, and even have a backlash effect." With another sigh, he tossed a second jade pendant to Bai Xiaochun. "Use them together and you'll have a long term solution to that banesoul's curse."

Catching the second jade pendant, Bai Xiaochun narrowed his eyes at how devious and cunning Xu Xiaoshan was. As he watched him turn to leave, Bai Xiaochun suddenly thought to himself that despite everything that had just occurred, Xu Xiaoshan didn't really seem to be a bad person. Gritting his teeth, he called out, "Hey, hold on. Alright, listen, Xu Xiaoshan. Since you've been so nice, I feel bad for conning you. Give me back those two flying swords."

Xu Xiaoshan stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening. Pulling out the two flying swords, he examined them carefully, but couldn't find anything about them that seemed out of the ordinary. However, not daring to hold on to them for any longer, he threw them back to Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat and then produced another set of two swords, which he threw back to Xu Xiaoshan.

Xu Xiaoshan had an odd expression on his face as he looked over at Bai Xiaochun. He wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with the first set of swords, but he could well imagine that, if Bai Xiaochun hadn't said anything, he might have ended up walking into a disaster.

Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times as he and Xu Xiaoshan looked at each other.

After another long moment passed, Xu Xiaoshan sighed, eyes shining brightly. Earlier, he had only been pretending to like Bai Xiaochun, but by this point, he really did like him.

"It's not very often that I get along with someone as well as I do with you. Alright, listen, Bai Xiaochun. There's actually a mnemonic that goes along with those two jade pendants, which is the only way to use them properly. Without the mnemonic, they'll create a field of light that will protect you from that banesoul, but after a while, the light will fade away and leave a sealing mark on your cultivation base that will prevent you from using it for a whole month." With a wry smile, Xu Xiaoshan tossed a jade slip over to Bai Xiaochun.

"You scoundrel!!" Bai Xiaochun said with a gasp. If he had used the jade pendants in the middle of trying to reach Foundation Establishment, only to have his cultivation base sealed, he would have lost an entire month of time. He might even have lost his chance at Foundation Establishment.

"You're just as bad!" Xu Xiaoshan replied. Then he coughed dryly. "Well, I'm from the Blood Stream Sect and you're from the Spirit Stream Sect. We're supposed to be against each other." By this point, he was being completely honest, which was a rare thing for him. The truth was that he had never encountered anyone like Bai Xiaochun before.

"Alright," Bai Xiaochun said. "Since you're being so honest, then I'll stop conning you. You know those magical items you used against me in the fight? I stained them all with a medicinal aroma that will attract banesouls." Feeling a bit awkward, he lowered his voice and concluded, "You should probably change your clothes too."

Xu Xiaoshan's eyes went wide; after quickly checking his bag of holding and his clothing, he looked back at Bai Xiaochun with gritted teeth. "Y-y-you!! You're completely shameless!"

"You're just as bad!" Bai Xiaochun said, glaring back at him.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, then both of them burst out laughing.

"I hope we meet again soon," Xu Xiaoshan said with sincerity. Then he turned and sped off into the distance.

Once he was out of sight, he changed clothes, his heart thumping with lingering fear. As far as he was concerned, Bai Xiaochun was as much of a scoundrel as himself, which meant that he had to be very careful dealing with him in the future.

Bai Xiaochun was also sighing. Although Xu Xiaoshan was from the Blood Stream Sect, he still seemed like a good person to be friends with.

"Except, he's profoundly crafty, definitely not as honest as me. I really have to be careful dealing with him in the future. Ai. I guess I'm just too honest." Shaking his head, he swished his sleeve and sped off.

After inspecting the jade pendants thoroughly, he used the mnemonic from the jade slip to unleash their power. Moments later, a shimmering field of light appeared around him.

The field of light soon became invisible, and could only be detected via divine sense. However, as far as banesouls were concerned, it made it completely impossible to approach Bai Xiaochun.

Over the course of the following six hours, the girl in the white dress appeared several times. However, every time she got close, she was repelled. Her face distorted with rage, and she screamed shrilly, but it was still impossible to get close to Bai Xiaochun.

After so many failures, she begrudgingly faded away and didn't return. At that point, Bai Xiaochun breathed a sigh of relief. Convinced that the jade pendants had actually worked, he sank to the bottom of a remote lake and dug out a temporary immortal's cave. There, he sat down cross-legged to meditate.

After performing one final test to make sure that the jade pendants would drive away the banesouls, his eyes flickered with anticipation, and he pulled out the gray earthstring capture crystal.

"Although I'm starting a few days later than I'd planned, I can still be the first person to reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment!" With that, he unleashed the spiritual power of the great circle of the tenth level of Qi Condensation, circulated it once, and then sent it surging into the gray crystal.

The crystal was like a bottomless pit that sucked in all of his spiritual power. Then, it began to emit a gray glow which grew more intense by the moment, and soon caused powerful rumbling sounds to emanate out.

The crystal began to slowly burn, transforming into a gray mist that Bai Xiaochun absorbed through his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. After more than thirty breaths of time, the crystal shook slightly and then vanished, causing massive amounts of gray mist to surge into Bai Xiaochun's body.

His eyes were beginning to grow bloodshot as the gray mist poured into him, permeating his qi vessels, swirling throughout his entire body. At the same time, pain ripped through him; the gray mist almost seemed to be taking shape, like iron chains that scraped against his flesh and blood.

The pain caused him to shudder, but compared to the pain he had endured when cultivating the Undying Live Forever Technique, it wasn't worth mentioning. Bai Xiaochun didn't so much as let out a cold snort. Gritting his teeth, he waited until the final bit of mist bored into him. When the tail end of the mist connected with the mist which had first entered him, it created something like a circle.

The moment that circle formed, rumbling sounds filled Bai Xiaochun's mind, shaking him down to his soul.

The spiritual river that was his cultivation base began to churn, blasting through all parts of his body, seemingly chaotic and without shape. However, closer examination revealed that the spiritual power was actually transforming into a whirlpool.

That whirlpool was was none other than the beginning of a Tideflow!

This was the most critical aspect of Earthstring Foundation Establishment!

Spiritual power flowed, transforming into a Tideflow. The mist became liquid, the Earthstring Dao Foundation was formed, and mortality was severed away!

Bai Xiaochun suddenly looked up, blue veins bulging out on his neck and face. Trembling, he hoarsely shouted, "Tideflow!"

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Instantly, the whirlpool began to rotate with more intensity, transforming into something like a black hole that sucked away all of the earthstring energy inside of him. Of course, that little bit wasn't even one one-thousandth of what was required.

However, as long as that whirlpool was formed, it would automatically absorb the earthstring energy which had built up over the past sixty-year-cycle in the Fallen Sword World!

Instantly, streams of earthstring energy began to emerge from the walls of the immortal's cave and rush toward Bai Xiaochun.

Soon, the lake above him was bubbling and boiling as massive amounts of earthstring energy began to surge into motion. The sky of the Fallen Sword World trembled as earthstring energy flowed toward Bai Xiaochun from all directions.

The disciples of the four sects who were in various locations in the Fallen Sword World all looked up. Some were confused, others shocked, other shaken. All sorts of mixed emotions could be seen, even disbelief.

"A Tideflow! Heavens! That's an Earthstring Foundation Establishment Tideflow!!"

"Who is it? It's barely been a month, and someone's already formed an earthstring capture crystal and begun Foundation Establishment?!"

"Is it Song Que? Ghostfang? Nine-Isles? Or is it Fang Lin!?!?"

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin. Transcendent Patrons: Daoist Elder N, BLE

Chronicles of Baby Deathblade: MDB posted a cute picture of BDB on her personal WeChat today, and the caption in Chinese was 喂蚂蚁 "feeding the ants." She and BDB were at the park, and he was "feeding" some cookie crumbs to the ants. However, I misread the character 喂 and thought it was 啃 which completely changed the meaning of the caption to "chomping on ants." I was like, what the heck, he's eating ants at the park?? In other news from BDB, at the corner market, he understands that you have to take the things you want up to the cash register to buy them. So whenever we go there, he runs around and finds all of the car-based candies and toys and then hurries over to the counter to hand them to the cashier. It often takes a little sleight of hand to get out without him noticing that we didn't buy all of treasures he found in the aisles.

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Chapter 153: Let The Tideflow Begin!

The lake above Bai Xiaochun seethed and churned as it became a huge whirlpool, tugging relentlessly at the energy in the sky and the land of the world around him. Endless quantities of earthstring energy poured into it, causing the whirlpool to grow larger and larger until it was like a massive tornado rising all the way up into the heavens!

From a distance, the tornado looked so awe-inspiring that anyone who caught sight of it gasped in astonishment.

In the moment that the tornado connected with the sky above, a spinning vortex formed that was the tell-tale sign of a Tideflow!

"Bai Xiaochun!" Not to far away from where Bai Xiaochun was in the middle of reaching Foundation Establishment, Xu Xiaoshan stopped in midair and looked at the surging earthstring energy. Only a Tideflow could cause heaven and earth to react in such a way. Xu Xiaoshan took a deep breath, and his eyes began to glitter brightly. "So, he is the first one who actually completed his earthstring capture crystal."

Deep within the Fallen Sword World, Shangguan Tianyou stood there, nine flying swords swirling around him in a sword formation. His right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, and the nine swords pierced through the air, delivering a powerful killing blow that instantly cut down a high-level banebeast. Ignoring the finger-thick stream of earthstring energy that flew into his Dao bottle, he stared off into the distance at the churning streams of earthstring energy.

"Who is it?!" he thought. "Dammit! If Fang Lin and I hadn't fought each other and both ended up injured, I definitely could have been faster!" Eyes bloodshot, he looked down at his Dao bottle, which was now eighty percent full. Gritting his teeth, he gave up on searching for banebeasts and instead began to hunt disciples from the other three sects.

The provocation of someone reaching Foundation Establishment before him left Shangguan Tianyou in a killing mood!

At the same time, in another area, Fang Lin from the Pill Stream Sect noiselessly appeared in front of a Profound Stream Sect disciple. The disciple's eyes went wide for only a moment before his head exploded. Fang Lin took his Dao bottle, then looked over at the conglomeration of earthstring energy. His eyes shone with a bright light.

"I got Lei Shan's Dao bottle after he was taken by the banesouls, as well as the bottles of everyone I've ambushed. And yet, this guy beat me to it…." He looked down at his Dao bottle, which was almost full, and his eyes glittered. With that, he sped off into the distance, preparing to select a place for his own Foundation Establishment.

In another area was the number one Chosen from the Profound Stream Sect, Nine-Isles. His hands were dripping with blood, and he was surrounded by seven or eight corpses, all of whom were other disciples that he had personally slain. "These should be enough!"

Other than those handful of Chosen who everyone despaired of ever surpassing, there were a few other disciples within the Fallen Sword World who were also motivated enough to pick up their speed.

And the only way to do that was by killing other disciples!

It only took a moment for Bai Xiaochun's Tideflow to transform the entire Fallen Sword World into a battleground. Almost instantly, fierce fighting broke out everywhere.

The death toll grew, and bloodcurdling screams echoed out everywhere.

Originally, there had been about four hundred people present, but by now that number had already been reduced by about half.

Hou Yunfei was spattered in blood, his hair in complete disarray. In the Fallen Sword World, he was not considered to be one of the spectacular Chosen, but rather, just an ordinary disciple. However, that didn't mean he was any less vicious than anyone else. During the course of the past month, he had cut down over ten enemy disciples.

Working with other Spirit Stream Sect disciples, he had killed many banebeasts as well. As a result, his Dao bottle was more than seventy percent full. When he saw the earthstring energy surging in the distance, he took a deep breath.

"Is that you, Xiaochun? You're definitely going to succeed in your Foundation Establishment. I have to work harder!" With that, he turned and sped off into the distance.

Beihan Lie was in the middle region of the Fallen Sword World, where he was fighting like a fiend. His battle with Lei Shan had caused his name to rise in shocking fashion, until almost everyone knew who he was.

Although he hadn't been able to secure a clear victory, the battle ensured that his name was sent rocketing to new heights. He was the new black horse among the four sects, just like certain other rising stars from the other three sects. They were quickly becoming the type that ordinary disciples had no hope of ever catching up to.

Of course, no one knew how bitterly Beihan Lie had toiled to acquire such glory. The truth was that without Bai Xiaochun, he wouldn't be what he was now.

"I'm definitely going to reach Earthstring Foundation Establishment, and wipe away all the humiliation!" Howling inwardly, he selected another target and began to fight fiercely.

By this point in the trial by fire, there were no weaklings among the surviving disciples. All of them had various powerful techniques and tactics to use, and soon, the fighting grew even more intense.

Within the depths of the Fallen Sword World, in an area filled with swirling mists and countless banebeasts, as well as numerous cultivators, two figures could be seen locked in combat.

A closer look revealed that they were both young women. One was Gongsun Wan'er, and the other was Zhao Rou from the Pill Stream Sect. Both of them were exquisite beauties, but right now, both of them were in bad shape. Murderous auras surrounded them as they fought what was already their seventh battle.

During the past month, they had fought each other every time they met, almost as if they had a personal grudge with each other. Although neither could gain the upper hand, they weren't willing to see the other capture any more earthstring energy, which had resulted in the current deadlock.

Eyes flashing with killing intent, Zhao Rou said, "Gongsun Wan'er, both of us have half-filled Dao bottles. This time, only one of us is going to come out alive, and with a full bottle at that!" With that, she launched another attack.

Gongsun Wan'er's face was pale white, and her phoenix was seriously injured. However, she gritted her beautiful teeth and counterattacked. Although their battle seemed ordinary in nature, both of them were unleashing powerful illusion magics against each other.

The slightest misstep by either of them would result in death.

The sky shook and the ground quaked. Even as everyone was driven to new heights of madness by Bai Xiaochun's Earthstring Foundation Establishment, he was under the lake, shivering in fear. Although he couldn't see what was happening to the lake up above, he was sure that the rumbling flow of earthstring energy had surely created a massive, funnel-like vortex.

"What do I do if people try to interfere…?" Instantly, beads of sweat popped out on his forehead. In his preparations for Foundation Establishment, he had arranged some defensive measures, but now he wasn't sure they would be enough.

Gritting his teeth as the inner whirlpool sucked in massive amounts of earthstring energy, he managed to reach over with his right hand and slap his bag of holding, producing a stack of over a thousand paper talismans, which he sent flying out around him.

He didn't activate them, but all it would take to do so was a thought on his part.

The Divine Crane Shield flew out, ready to be used at a moment's notice. At the same time, he activated the defensive treasure Li Qinghou had given him, which spread out, covering his Undying Silver Skin.

There was little he could do aside from that. Gritting his teeth, he gave an inward shout, causing the whirlpool inside of him to spin even faster. Earthstring energy was sucked relentlessly inward, not merging with the spiritual power inside of him, but tangling together with it. As it flowed through him, the whirlpool grew stronger and stronger, leaving him trembling violently.

The so-called Tideflow consisted of capturing earthstring energy and then combining it with spiritual power to explosive effect. It would temper the flesh and blood, the qi passageways, and the soul. It would temper everything!

For every one part of spiritual power, a hundred parts of earthstring energy were required!

That explosive combination created a liquid which changed the mist of the earthstring energy into a spiritual sea!

That spiritual sea had another name: the Dao foundation!

Every full Tideflow would create one spiritual sea, and one Dao foundation! Nine Tideflows meant nine spiritual seas and nine Dao foundations! Each additional level would be many times larger than the previous level, like an inverted pagoda!

Time passed. Two hours later, and the vortex in the lake above Bai Xiaochun was even larger than before. As heaven and earth shook, Bai Xiaochun let out a powerful roar, causing the vortex to increase in size yet again. Rumbling like thunder echoed out as the whirlpool inside of him reached its capacity. Everything that he had built up over the past two hours was what would shape his first Tideflow.

As soon as the first Tideflow was ready to complete, the whirlpool inside of him began to shrink down in size.

As the earthstring energy and spiritual power which formed the whirlpool flowed through his qi passageways, the whirlpool shrank, and cracking sounds echoed out from within him. The whirlpool was soon nothing more than a black dot which caused his qi passageways, his flesh and blood, and even his soul, to shake violently.

"Tideflow!"

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

His mind filled with rumbling sounds as the combination of earthstring energy and spiritual power spread out. As he roared, his qi passageways grew larger, and his flesh and blood stronger. His bones, his soul, everything about him grew more powerful.

Also in that moment, with the aid of the Tideflow, the earthstring energy and spiritual power finally merged together to form a spiritual liquid that raced through him, entering the misty sea in his dantian region. It was like a drop of water that, upon landing, exploded with heaven-rending, earth-crushing force!

Bai Xiaochun shuddered violently as his dantian region exploded into countless fragments, which then re-formed into a sea!

His Dao foundation had been established, and his spiritual sea had been formed!

At the same time, his qi passageways, and especially his soul, were violently shaken and ripped away from that which was mortal!

However, the sea was very small, seemingly only about 300 meters wide. Within it could be seen a violet cauldron, covered with countless magical symbols. As it rose up out of the sea, it unleashed a shocking energy which caused Bai Xiaochun's cultivation base to rise rapidly. However, he had not finished his ascension to Foundation Establishment; all of the preparation and hard work he had put into this moment had yet to be drawn upon.

There were two main factors which determined how many Tideflows a person could achieve: first, latent talent, and second, the techniques they had cultivated in the Qi Condensation stage!

Techniques provoked the Tideflow, and latent talent provided the power to actually withstand the force of it. With strong latent talent, one could endure multiple Tideflows. With weaker latent talent, it would be difficult to do the same, even if one had cultivated numerous techniques. In fact, attempting to force too many Tideflows could shatter the Dao foundation and result in death.

At the same time, someone with ordinary techniques and high latent talent would be equally confounded.

As such, it was only the combination of techniques and latent talent that could lead to success. Both were required.

Bai Xiaochun's first spiritual sea contained a cauldron, which represented the first technique he had cultivated, the Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art!

Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin. Transcendent Patrons: Daoist Elder N, BLE

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Chapter 154: Striving for a Great Dao!

There were few limitations when it came to the techniques which could be used to create a Tideflow. In all the years which had passed since ancient times, only three rules had come to be identified in that regard. The first rule was that the techniques used for the Tideflow had to be completely mastered down to the tiniest detail. Without that level of success, the Tideflow would be a failure.

It wasn't easy to master a technique to that level; it required a significant expenditure of both physical resources and mental energy.

The second rule was that with every Tideflow, only one technique of any given level of power could be used effectively. Adding in extra techniques would not help successfully achieve the Tideflow.

The third rule was that each successive Tideflow was more difficult, and the requirements for success were thus more stringent.

In most sects, there were few techniques that could propel a disciple past the fifth Tideflow and into the sixth. Such techniques were essentially secret magics, and the foundation of the true power of the sect.

Therefore, the real test was how the sect distributed its techniques, and how deep their resources went. For example, in the Spirit Stream Sect, the south bank's Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art and the north bank's Heavenspan Elephant Control Art had to be cultivated to the point of mastering Violet Qi Cauldron Summoning or the Heavenspan Elephant Body respectively, otherwise only the first Tideflow would be successful.

Only Violet Qi Cauldron Summoning and the Heavenspan Elephant Body would suffice for the second Tideflow. At the same time, because Violet Cauldron Peak on the south bank and Sunset Peak on the north bank were the home to those two techniques, as long as disciples from there had other powerful techniques to call upon, they could reach the third through fifth Tideflows. However, after that point, it would be easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than to find ordinary techniques which could help. At that point, only secret magics could be called upon.

As for the disciples from the other mountain peaks, after reaching the eighth level of Qi Condensation and joining the Inner Sect, they would have access to a second, more powerful technique that they could use to prepare for further Tideflows.

Whichever technique the disciple chose to branch out into was extremely important, and was one of the key factors determining how many Tideflows they could achieve.

Generally speaking, the very minimum was two Tideflows, although three was also possible. Depending on the circumstances, four wasn't out of the question.

Even the weakest of disciples were usually able to reach three Tideflows during Earthstring Foundation Establishment. In some extreme circumstances, some powerful disciples would reach six. However, from ancient times until the present, only nine disciples from the Spirit Stream Sect had ever reached six tideflows by cultivating a second technique. Of course, those nine disciples all went on to be unique and stunning figures during their time.

Unfortunately, after cultivating that second technique, there was nothing else that could be used for further Tideflows. Only secret magics could be used, which was how the ten great secret magics of the Spirit Stream Sect came to be.

The ten secret magics could be used for the fifth Tideflow on. There were even some secret magics, such as Ghosts Haunt the Night and the Waterswamp Kingdom, which on rare occasions could actually form more than one Tideflow.

As a result, Spirit Stream Sect disciples with outstanding latent talent all had the chance to reach eight Tideflows! Even the weakest disciples could get four!

That showed the power and resources of the Spirit Stream Sect! Of course, the other three sects were similar. In the end, the true question was which of the disciples of the various generations would be able to reach the absolute pinnacle.

As for nine Tideflows, that was the legendary peak of Earthstring Foundation Establishment. Among all of the Four Great Sects, there had only been one person in the last 10,000 years who had done such a thing.

That person was Master Limitless from the Blood Stream Sect, who succeeded 800 years ago.

The peak of Earthstring Foundation Establishment was a realm of incredible power that was incredibly difficult to reach, but not impossible. Although Heavenstring Foundation Establishment surpassed Earthstring Foundation Establishment, it was something that could only be acquired by random chance and luck. No path existed which could be followed to that end.

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, and his eyes shone with bright light. He had studied up on the Tideflows already, and could sense that the sea of mist had collapsed and formed his first spiritual sea. If he wanted to, he could abandon further Tideflows, and instantly end his Earthstring Foundation Establishment as a success.

He would get his 200 years of longevity, but unfortunately, would be incredibly weak among Earthstring Foundation Establishment cultivators. Bai Xiaochun had no desire whatsoever to be weak. In the cultivation world, the law of the jungle prevailed. Regardless of whether or not he liked it, he knew that it was unavoidable.

He didn't like fighting and killing, but sometimes, there was no other option!

"Because I mastered the Violet Qi Cauldron Summoning of the Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art, I can use that for my second Tideflow!" Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, and suddenly, his spiritual sea began to rotate rapidly. The surrounding earthstring energy instantly began to rumble in his direction once again, shaking everything around him as a second whirlpool formed inside of him.

The lake up above crashed and seethed as a second vortex appeared up above. It was merely an outline at first, but it was clearly larger than the first vortex, ensuring that numerous disciples looked up to watch.

"The second Tideflow. Presumably, all of the people here should be able to reach at least three or four Tideflows. Each one will be bigger than the one before, and will require even more earthstring energy!"

"Dammit! This guy is reaching Foundation Establishment too quickly. That means there's going to be less earthstring energy, maybe not even enough for me to reach Foundation Establishment!"

Even as everyone else in the Fallen Sword World grew more and more anxious, another massive rumbling sound echoed out from another direction. There, in the middle of a distant mountain range, another tornado rose up into the sky to connect with the heavens. Another vortex was forming!

As the vortex expanded, the earthstring energy in the world began to rush toward it. Now Bai Xiaochun was sharing the earthstring energy with a second person.

In that distant mountain range was an immortal's cave, where Fang Lin sat, an expression of extreme focus on his face.

Everyone was shocked by this new development. None of them could ever have imagined that a second person would begin a Tideflow within only two hours or so of the first.

Bloodshot eyes could be seen as everyone began to fight even more fiercely for earthstring energy.

It wasn't that none of them had considered trying to kill the two who were in the middle of Foundation Establishment; at the moment, the others hadn't reached a state of despair, and simply didn't want to waste time on such an effort.

Two hours later, powerful rumbling sounds echoed out from Fang Lin's region as his first Tideflow ended, and the second began. Another two hours after that, the lake above Bai Xiaochun exploded as his second Tideflow ended.

As that happened, a second spiritual sea appeared above the first one, and his energy skyrocketed, making him like a burning fire on a dark night.

He took a deep breath as he realized that he had reached the limits of the Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art; it would not be enough for a third Tideflow. Closing his eyes, he cast his senses inward, and saw a towering violet cauldron within each of his two spiritual seas. Both of them emanated powerful pressure.

"For my third Tideflow, I'll have to use the Dragon Mammoth Sea-Forming Scripture!" His eyes flickered as the roars of a dragon and a mammoth could be heard echoing out from the lake to fill the area. His third Tideflow had begun!

A third whirlpool appeared inside of him, which exerted even stronger force than the first two. As that force spread out into the world, massive amounts of earthstring energy were sucked toward him.

Gradually, a third vortex appeared in the sky, within which a swirling dragon could be seen. When the disciples in the other parts of the world looked over, they instantly caught sight of the dragon.

"What technique is that?"

"That's the Dragon Mammoth Sea-Forming Scripture! The first person to reach Foundation Establishment is from the Spirit Stream Sect!!"

"Heavens! I can't believe it's the Spirit Stream Sect. Who is it? Ghostfang maybe? Shangguan Tianyou?"

"Is it Bai Xiaochun?" The disciples from all four of the sects were shocked, but among the Spirit Stream Sect disciples, there was a stir of excitement.

Shangguan Tianyou looked up with bloodshot eyes and let out a maddened roar as he stared at the huge dragon in the vortex connecting to the heavens. "That's not Ghostfang. It's Bai Xiaochun!!"

Gnashing his teeth, he turned to find more enemy disciples to slaughter.

Another two hours passed, and Fang Lin finished his second Tideflow. Another vortex appeared above him, within which was a huge cauldron. It was bronze, and covered with carvings of suns, moons, and stars. It seemed profoundly ancient, as if it were capable of melting all of heaven and earth.

It was none other than the Heaven-Earth Furnace Cauldron!

As soon as the cauldron became visible, everyone knew who it was that had reached Foundation Establishment second.

"It's Fang Lin from the Pill Stream Sect!!"

It was at that very moment that a third tornado suddenly shot up into the sky to connect to the heavens.

A third person was reaching Foundation Establishment!

Almost immediately, the vortex turned the color of blood. From the look of things, it had to be Song Que!

"Heavens! Song Que from the Blood Stream Sect!!"

"He can kill Foundation Establishment cultivators, and is the first person to provoke a strange sign with his first Tideflow. I heard that Master Limitless did the same thing 800 years ago!"

"Maybe Song Que is going to follow the example of Master Limitless, and reach the peak of Earthstring Foundation Establishment, nine Tideflows!"

Now, three vortexes were vying for the earthstring energy, sending it surging in three different directions. But then… a fourth tornado sprang up in the depths of the Fallen Sword World.

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Chapter 155: Breaking The First Shackle!

The fourth tornado sprang up in a plain, where a grand spell formation had been set up. Glittering light spread out in all directions from the formation, in the middle of which sat a lone Qi Condensation disciple.

He was a handsome young man wearing the robes of the Profound Stream Sect. As he performed his breathing exercises, magical symbols flowed back and forth across his body, each one of which seemed to carry incredible destructive power. Occasionally they would converge into something that looked like an iron chain wrapped around him.

The pulsing energy of destruction that seemed to radiate from the young man was none other than a sign of the Exterminating Obliteration Technique!

That young man was none other than the number one Chosen from the Profound Stream Sect, the first person in the past 3,000 years to successfully cultivate the Exterminating Obliteration Technique, Nine-Isles. He was able to unleash a force of obliteration that could exterminate all living things. It could wipe out anything and everything, and could even form obliteration threads; according to the information compiled by the other sects, such threads were as powerful as Mortal-Dao Foundation Establishment.

"In that battle with Ghostfang, neither of us came out on top. Just wait until after Foundation Establishment! I'll fight with you again, and then I'll completely destroy one of the number one Chosen in the Spirit Stream Sect!" Killing intent flickered in Nine-Isles's eyes as he took a deep breath and performed a double-handed incantation gesture. Instantly, a whirlpool formed inside of him, exploding with gravitational force as a tornado shot up into the heavens. There, an enormous vortex appeared.

Rumbling sounds filled the air as enormous quantities of earthstring energy flowed toward it.

As of this moment, four enormous vortexes could be seen in four different areas, splitting the Fallen Sword World into four parts.

The rest of the disciples in the Fallen Sword World were getting very anxious. Four people were in the middle of Foundation Establishment, and vast quantities of earthstring energy was being gobbled up. Everyone knew that the earthstring energy was limited, and if they didn't hurry, their own chances at Foundation Establishment would be dashed, and they would be nothing but minor players compared to those who had succeeded.

The fighting grew more brutal, and almost instantly, casualties mounted.

Even as the disciples fell upon each other with bloodshot eyes, the lake above Bai Xiaochun exploded with a crashing sound as he concluded his third Tideflow.

Up in the heavens, the dragon roared, and inside Bai Xiaochun, a third spiritual sea appeared above his second. This spiritual sea was even larger than the previous one.

"The power of the dragon has ended. Now it's time for the power of the mammoth!" Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. Eyes crimson, he let out a powerful roar as an enormous mammoth appeared around him. It lifted its front feet up, and then slammed them back down into the ground.

BOOM!

A fourth whirlpool appeared inside of him, even larger and more shocking than the third. Up above in the sky, the third vortex had grown still, but now a fourth, even larger vortex could be seen!

Within that vortex was the image of an enormous mammoth, bellowing as the surrounding vortex spun rapidly.

Two hours later, Fang Li followed closely behind with his own fourth Tideflow vortex. As for Song Que and Nine-Isles, they were approaching the conclusion of their own third Tideflows. After two more hours passed, they began their fourth!

Song Que was putting on a particularly stunning performance. An enormous face could be seen in the vortex of his fourth Tideflow, a face with a blood moon on its forehead. Clearly, the speed with which he was absorbing the earthstring energy surpassed everyone else.

"Song Que is already on his fourth Tideflow. I can't believe how quickly he's absorbing the earthstring energy. It's terrifying!"

"Dammit! Is he really going to try to do the same thing as Master Limitless? Is he going to reach the peak of Earthstring Foundation Establishment with nine Tideflows?"

"This is bad. If someone reaches eight Tideflows, they'll absorb so much earthstring energy that it will be difficult for anyone else to succeed! I have to get more earthstring energy as quickly as possible!"

Deep anxiety filled all hearts. As of this point, twenty hours had passed since Bai Xiaochun began stepping into Foundation Establishment. It was at this point that, all of a sudden, a fifth tornado shot up into the heavens!

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

As it grew larger, it formed a vortex, beneath which was a mass of black mist. Within that mist was none other than Ghostfang.

The sight of five vortexes spinning in the sky caused all necks to crane as the disciples looked up at them. Time passed. It didn't take long before Ghostfang's first and second Tideflows were finished. When his third Tideflow vortex appeared, a huge mountain ghost appeared, revealing his identity to all.

"Ghostfang! It's Ghostfang from the Spirit Stream Sect!"

"He obviously cultivates the Mountain Ghost God-Dazing Magic!"

"Bai Xiaochun. Fang Lin. Song Que. Nine-Isles. Ghostfang!"

As of this moment, five inhuman cultivators had risen up from the crowd of cultivators from the four sects! They were definitely the first wave who would reach Foundation Establishment!

Bai Xiaochun was in the lead. His fourth Tideflow was almost half completed. Next was Fang Lin, who was only about two hours behind Bai Xiaochun. Song Que and Nine-Isles were next, being about four hours behind Bai Xiaochun.

In last place was Ghostfang, who was slower by twenty hours!

Currently, Bai Xiaochun's fourth whirlpool was spinning rapidly, absorbing massive amounts of earthstring energy. The power of the mammoth was pushing his fleshly body inexorably toward the first of the five shackles of mortality.

With every blast of power, he would shake visibly. He had already cultivated the Dragon Mammoth Sea-Forming Scripture to the point where he could make contact with the first shackle. But now, because of his Undying Live Forever Technique, he was not just at the point of making contact with it, he could break through it!

He was about to break through the first shackle!

"By borrowing the might of the mammoth and the earthstring energy, I can break through the first shackle during my fourth Tideflow!" Eyes crimson, he let out a shout and once again unleashed a surge of power.

Thunderous crashing resounded in his mind as he battered away at the shackle over and over again. His body hovered on the brink of crumbling, but he hung on. After a few more hours passed, there were only about eight hours left before the fourth Tideflow would end. By now, massive amounts of Tideflow power were exploding out inside of him.

BOOOMMMM!

Blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth, and cracks appeared all over his skin. His attack on the first shackle was actually proving to be much more difficult than he'd imagined. Even by borrowing the earthstring energy in the form of the Tideflow, he still hadn't succeeded in breaking through it, not even after thousands upon thousands of attempts.

Using earthstring energy to try to break through the first shackle of mortality was completely unheard of. In fact, nobody other than Bai Xiaochun had ever attempted to do such a thing.

"I can definitely break through!" he thought. Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and then drew in more earthstring energy. However, he didn't use it to blast the shackle, but instead began building it up inside of him.

Eight hours later, and the fourth Tideflow was almost complete. Bai Xiaochun's eyes were shining with lightning-like brightness.

"Break! Come on, break!" Roaring, he unleashed the Tideflow he had been building up for the past eight hours. Massive rumbling sounds echoed out as it turned into something like an enormous battering ram. His body was like a wall, which the battering ram then slammed into.

Once. Twice. Three times. One blast after another came in quick succession. Soon, cracks spread out in that wall, until at last, the power of the fourth Tideflow, crushed the wall. Cracking sounds filled the air, and at the same time, Bai Xiaochun shook visibly. All of a sudden, he felt something like five enormous mountains resting on his shoulders!

Those five mountains began inside of him, but stretched out high above him. They emitted intense pressure that made him gasp, and it was only at this moment that he could sense them clearly.

All of a sudden, he had the urge to destroy those five mountains, to remove the pressure that was weighing down on him!

"Those five mountains are the five shackles of mortality!" Roaring, he sent heaven-shaking, earth-shattering energy to slam into the first of the five mountains. Under the explosive barrage, the shackle suddenly crumbled!

In that moment, blood sprayed out of Bai Xiaochun's mouth. His qi passageways, his flesh and blood, and every other part of him crumbled, and then instantly reformed.

He was left trembling as an aura began to spread out from him that surpassed anything from the mortal world. It thrived within his flesh and blood, filled his body, and made the entire world suddenly seem completely different.

There seemed to be more colors, more lustre, and at the same time, he felt lighter and more free.

Moments before, he had been shouldering the weight of five enormous mountains, but now, one of them had been destroyed.

He had broken through the first shackle of mortality!

When it happened, his fleshly body power erupted with explosive force. He instantly surpassed the fleshly body limit of Qi Condensation cultivators, and entered Foundation Establishment!

His flesh and blood, his qi passageways, his bones, all of it surpassed what was mortal.

He threw his head back and let loose a long cry which echoed out in all directions. The lake churned, and the fourth vortex up above went still. Moments later… a fifth vortex appeared!

Within that fifth vortex was a crumbling mountain!

This fifth Tideflow was not provoked by the Dragon Mammoth Sea-Forming Scripture. This mountain had nothing to do with that. It was a natural result of Bai Xiaochun breaking through the first shackle of mortality!

By this point, Fang Lin, Song Que, and Nine-Isles had all reached the end of their own fourth Tideflows. At the same time, Ghostfang completed his third.

Meanwhile, hours upon hours of intense fighting had passed for the other disciples of the four sects. It was then that the second wave of disciples managed to form their earthstring capture crystals.

The first of that second wave was Shangguan Tianyou. Virtually simultaneously, Xu Xiaoshan's vortex also appeared in the sky.

The next was none other than Beihan Lie, the dark horse of the Fallen Sword World!

Last was Zhao Rou from the Pill Stream Sect!

She sat cross-legged in a valley, and standing protectively in front of her was Gongsun Wan'er, whose face was dripping with blood. Shockingly, Gongsun Wan'er didn't have a single scrap of life force upon her!

She was dead, and yet, her corpse could still move. Although she was a bit stiff, toxic mist pulsed out from inside of her, and countless poisonous centipedes squirmed in and out of her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. If some powerful expert were to come along, they would be able to tell that Gongsun Wan'er's brain was gone, and inside of her head was a spider with a human face, controlling her corpse!

Gongsun Wan'er had been transformed into a poison puppet!

"Gongsun Wan'er, you are the first poison puppet I've created. Don't worry, soon I'll turn your brother into the second!" Eyes sparkling with vicious enmity, Zhao Rou began to meditate, and the vortex up above her rumbled into motion.

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