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

30. 932

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Chapter 932: Are You Egging Me On?

When Bai Xiaochun's face appeared up in the air, the Master Cloud Lightning whom Bai Xiaochun had not yet encountered happened to be flying along through the swamp in another location, his expression very grim.

When he sensed the deva fluctuations rolling out, his eyes flashed with cold light.

He was essentially the older brother of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, who had once existed as one person with one body. Although a cultivation accident had split them into two, their minds were still connected, and they could communicate with each other via a secret magic.

The older brother already knew about everything which had occurred between Bai Xiaochun and his other half. As the fight had been playing out, he was in the plains area, separated from the desert by the swamp.

At that time, he had been too far away to be of any help, but had immediately begun to race toward the desert. Now that he was here in the swamp, and had suddenly detected Bai Xiaochun's aura, he called out to his younger brother via their secret magic.

"Bai Xiaochun is in the swamp! Hurry over, and we can fuse together and kill him!"

The younger of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings was just about to leave the swamp and enter the plains. However, upon receiving the message, his eyes flashed angrily, and he turned and headed back into the swamp.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun was shooting like a meteor toward Big Fatty Zhang.

Because they hadn't been very far apart to begin with, his aura was already able to descend on the area around Big Fatty Zhang.

As it did, the huge spider that had just risen up suddenly shivered. From the look in its eyes, it apparently viewed Big Fatty Zhang as being special for some reason. Ignoring the pressure from Bai Xiaochun, it leaped into the air, howling as it shot toward Big Fatty Zhang.

Shocked, Master Lightning Origin and his companions fell back. However, before they could move very far, the spider shot out several strands of black silk, which wrapped around the entire group. Blood sprayed out of Big Fatty Zhang's mouth as he was then dragged down into the waters of the swamp.

Master Lightning Origin and his companions reacted with utter despair, and struggled to free themselves, but were unable. Just like Big Fatty Zhang, they were dragged down. At the same time, black mist began to pulse on all of their faces. From the way it wriggled and writhed, it almost looked like they were covered with black spiders.

Big Fatty Zhang was the weakest of the group, and was the most adversely affected. He immediately passed out, whereas the more powerful cultivation bases of Master Lightning Origin and his companions enabled them to fight back a bit longer.

As the spider sank down into the swamp and dragged Big Fatty Zhang and the others with it, a sound like heavenly thunder burst through the air. Bai Xiaochun's enraged face appeared up above, and shouted, "How dare you!!"

The swamp below immediately sank down because of the pressure, revealing Big Fatty Zhang and the others.

As for the huge spider, it shivered and tried to escape.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun's expression distorted as he transformed into a beam of light that shot down toward the depression in the swamp.

At the moment, Bai Xiaochun wasn't thinking at all about conserving spiritual energy or the power of his fleshly body. Waving his hand, he sent his flying shuttle whooshing out in front of him.

The shuttle sent the swamp water shooting out in all directions, simultaneously destroying countless leeches and larvae. By this point, Big Fatty Zhang and the other captives were completely out in the open, albeit tied up with black silk.

Without any hesitation, he grabbed the silk attached to Big Fatty Zhang and yanked him upward. That in turn caused the huge spider to be pulled up out of the swamp, to hang in midair.

The spider stared at him with hateful, crimson eyes. Aware that it couldn't escape, it sprayed a huge amount of black silk at him.

"Have a death wish?!" Bai Xiaochun shouted angrily. Back before he had arrived, it might have made sense for the spider to ignore him. But now that he had unleashed the power of his cultivation base, it made sense for the spider to give up on its prey. And yet, it went beyond that and attacked him.

Bai Xiaochun was not happy at all that it had tried to take Big Fatty Zhang away so forcefully, and the matter was even worse considering the black spider marks on Big Fatty Zhang's face, which were clearly venomous. Although many people would be unable to assess such a bizarre poison, as a grandmaster of the Dao of medicine, Bai Xiaochun instantly realized that it was a type of venom which affected the soul!

And its function… was to kill the host!

Eyes flashing with cold light, Bai Xiaochun performed an incantation gesture, sending his flying shuttle forth to sever the silk threads that bound Big Fatty Zhang.

At this point, the image of a crescent moon appeared in one of Bai Xiaochun's eyes. He was well aware that there were many entities in this swamp that should not be provoked, and that if a fight broke out, it needed to be ended quickly. Therefore, he called upon… the Sun-Moon Vast-Sky Incantation!

The first level of the incantation involved summoning a moon. At the moment, he had cultivated the technique to the point where he could summon a partial moon. As he utilized the technique, a shocking crescent moon appeared up in the sky.

Moonlight instantly spilled down in astonishing fashion, causing all of the lands to turn silver.

When that light touched the black spider silk, it melted away. A look of shock and terror appeared on the spider's face, and it tried to sink down further into the swamp. However, it was too slow! An image of a moon had already appeared on its back!

"Fallen Moon!" Bai Xiaochun growled. Brilliant light shot down from the moon onto the spider, causing the moon mark on its back to expand rapidly. An agonized shriek could be heard from the spider as the moon symbol dug deep into it. The spider trembled, and then green, viscous fluid began to seep out from inside of it. Then, even as it hoped to try to escape into the swamp, it exploded!

It had been destroyed in body and soul!

Only when the spider died did the black marks on Big Fatty Zhang and the other cultivators vanish.

Master Lightning Origin and his three companions had not yet lost consciousness, so they were able to see everything which had just happened. When they saw the traces of the venom vanish, they immediately turned and fled in three different directions, their faces as ashen as death.

Never could any of them have imagined that chasing Big Fatty Zhang would end with a deva patriarch from the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect coming over in a fury.

"You pick on my Eldest Brother and then think you can just leave?" There was no way Bai Xiaochun would simply let them escape. Pulling the still unconscious Big Fatty Zhang with him, he took a step forward and waved his finger, sending the flying shuttle shooting toward the first of the three cultivators from the north.

A scream echoed out as, in the blink of an eye, the shuttle stabbed through the man, and then headed toward the second. After cutting down the second, it shot at high speed toward Master Lightning Origin.

It was in this very moment that the enormous face of Master Cloud Lightning appeared up above in the sky.

"Do you dare, Bai Xiaochun?!?!"

Bai Xiaochun was not surprised at all at the sudden appearance of Master Cloud Lightning, and in fact, had detected his impending arrival earlier. However, in his urgency to save Big Fatty Zhang, he had ignored him. Now, he glared up at the face and said, "Are you egging me on or something?! I absolutely hate it when people egg me on!"

Without any hesitation, he sent the flying shuttle shooting forward with greater speed.

Even if the monkey-like Master Lightning Origin had been more nimble, he wouldn't have been able to dodge out of the way. Expression that of despair, he shrieked, "Master, save--"

Before he could finish speaking, the flying shuttle stabbed through his forehead.

Bai Xiaochun hadn't set out with the intention of killing these people. However, their actions would have led to Big Fatty Zhang's death if he hadn't come to save him in the nick of time.

The sight of his apprentice being killed caused Master Cloud Lightning to howl, "Bai Xiaochun!!"

His face swirled together into a beam of light that shot directly toward Bai Xiaochun with deadly, destructive power!

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Chapter 933: Youre Doing This On Purpose

If Heavenspan Island was the imperial palace, and the Celestial was the emperor, then the demigod patriarchs from the riversource sects would be analogous to the four heavenly kings, such as the Giant Ghost King.

As such, Bai Xiaochun and Master Cloud Lightning were like two powerful subordinates of two heavenly kings. Although they were technically on the same side, in truth… there was enough tension between them to lead to deadly conflict. On the outside, the demigod patriarchs would ensure that their followers didn't get into conflicts such as the current one.

But inside a trial by fire like this, where deaths were expected, then even if one killed the other, they could easily explain it away after leaving.

Master Cloud Lightning had been forced to simply watch as Bai Xiaochun pushed his other half to near destruction. Then, that same person went on to personally kill his apprentice.

Because of these grievances both old and new, Master Cloud Lightning was furious. As he supplanted heavenly will with his own, the huge face in the sky began to send crushing pressure down.

Master Cloud Lightning howled at the top of his lungs, shooting through the air toward Bai Xiaochun with such shocking speed that lightning bolts began to rise up around him!

It only took the blink of an eye for more than 100,000 lightning bolts to build up, making it seem as if the entire world had become a world of lightning, with Master Cloud Lightning as its sovereign!

Bai Xiaochun's pupils constricted. He could immediately tell that this Master Cloud Lightning was much stronger than the other he had faced. Both were in the mid Deva Realm, but the one from before had apparently just made his breakthrough. The one he faced now seemed to have been in the mid Deva Realm for quite some time, and was actually very close to stepping into the late realm.

From that, Bai Xiaochun could tell that single-handedly dealing with this version of Master Cloud Lightning would be similar to handling someone even more powerful than Chen Hetian, Li Xiandao or Bai Zhentian.

In fact… this was the most powerful enemy he had ever faced in the Heavenspan region!

There was no time for thinking or planning. Bai Xiaochun shot backward, throwing the unconscious Big Fatty Zhang into his bag of holding. Even as he did, tens upon tens of thousands of heavenly lightning bolts slammed into the spot he had just occupied.

As heaven and earth shook violently, the enraged Master Cloud Lightning performed an incantation gesture with his right hand, causing the heavenly lightning to begin to compress and converge on in his hand in the form of an enormous bow!

"Time to die!!" he howled, pulling back on the bowstring, which caused an arrow of blackish-violet lightning to form. This was no magical item; it was a divine ability unique to Master Cloud Lightning. Thunder crackled as a supremely destructive power began to build up, and then pierced through the air toward Bai Xiaochun.

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually took place in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. Bai Xiaochun didn't seem worried at all. Not only did he not regret killing Master Lightning Origin, his wrath was now completely focused on Master Cloud Lightning.

"You really think I'm afraid of you, fool?!" he shouted. Although he feared death, after all of the things he had experienced in life, he had come to know that now was the type of situation in which to put his poor little life on the line!

If he didn't, then it would surely be lost….

Instead of backing up, he advanced, waving his hands out in front of him as he barked, "Living Mountain Incantation!"

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Countless rocks and bits of rubble shot forth to adhere to his body. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a 300-meter-tall stone golem.

Bursting with energy, he clenched his hand into a fist and punched out, landing a blow directly on the blackish-violet arrow of lightning.

Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as, at the same time, the enormous face of Bai Xiaochun slammed into the enormous face of Master Cloud Lightning. As the ground quaked violently, the blackish-violet lightning arrow collapsed, and cracks spread out over Bai Xiaochun's Living Mountain Incantation form.

In the end, the arrow was no match, and was destroyed, allowing Bai Xiaochun in stone golem form to continue on toward Master Cloud Lightning.

Master Cloud Lightning took a deep breath, and cold light flashed in his eyes. Waving his left hand out in front of him, he gritted his teeth and said, "Cloud Lightning Forefather: First Transformation!"

Almost instantly, Master Cloud Lightning's body began to twitch and writhe, almost as though snakes were dancing about beneath his skin. A vicious expression gripped his face, and he let out a howl like that of a wild beast.

At the same time, he began to grow larger, until he was fully 30 meters tall. No longer did the right and left halves of his body look so disparate. Although one side was burlier and more filled in than the other, he looked much more proportional.

At the same time, his aura transformed, filling with an explosive energy that made him seem at least three times as strong as before!

Shockingly, a red halo of light sprang up to surround his person, which was clearly a powerful defensive ability.

After completing his transformation, Master Cloud Lightning looked up, and both of his mismatched eyes were bright red. Radiating madness and animal ferocity, he lunged toward Bai Xiaochun's stone golem form.

Bai Xiaochun was so startled that his eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

"He can actually shapeshift!! And this is just the first transformation? That must mean there's a second and a third…. Dammit! There's nothing I hate more than fighting shapeshifters!" However, now was not the time to ponder the situation. Eyes burning with ferocity, he jumped forward to meet his enemy's attack.

"I'll fight you so fast and hard you won't be able to transform a second time!" Utilizing the Mountain Shaking Bash to accelerate rapidly, he shot toward Master Cloud Lightning.

When they collided, a massive boom rocked all heaven and earth. The shockwave sent water flying up everywhere in the swamp, and caused numerous creatures to flee in all directions. Nothing dared to get close to Master Cloud Lightning and Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun's stone golem form was significantly damaged, but at the same time, the red halo surrounding Master Cloud Lightning was about to collapse. Blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth as he staggered backward from the force of Bai Xiaochun's attack.

"I can't believe this guy got so strong after transforming!" Bai Xiaochun thought, his qi and blood churning madly inside of him. However, he continued to press the attack. As for Master Cloud Lightning, he looked up, his hands flashing in a double-handed incantation gesture.

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Second Transformation!!"

Bai Xiaochun's eyelids twitched as Master Cloud Lightning again grew larger. Now he was 60 meters tall, and his body looked even more symmetrical than before! Furthermore, he was three times as strong again!

This time, instead of a red halo surrounding him, it was orange! This level of defense left Bai Xiaochun stunned.

"Another transformation?" Not only was Master Cloud Lightning much more powerful, but it was very irritating to Bai Xiaochun that, despite what he had said moments ago about not providing an opportunity for a second transformation, Master Cloud Lightning had gone and done just that.

"Well, you won't get an opportunity for a third transformation!" he shouted. Even as he prepared to attack, Master Cloud Lightning spoke in a loud voice.

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Third Transformation!

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Fourth Transformation!!

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Fifth Transformation!!!"

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Chapter 934: What Divine Ability Is That?!

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

It was impossible to determine whether he intentionally did it in response to Bai Xiaochun's words. Either way, Master Cloud Lightning transformed several times in a row, causing intense, thunderous rumbling to echo out as he grew from a height of 60 meters to 90 meters.

Then, he went from 90 meters to 120 meters, and finally 150 meters. Although the two halves of his body were not perfectly symmetrical, they now matched much better than before.

His surging energy had reached a shocking level, and as he hovered there in the air, he actually looked like the forefather of all humanity, burly and tough, emanating intense pressure that would shake the minds of anyone who could sense it. Clearly, this version of Master Cloud Lightning was vastly more powerful than before.

Furthermore, he was surrounded by a glittering shield of light that was so dazzling that it seemed… completely impenetrable!

Bai Xiaochun was stunned…. And he was also convinced that Master Cloud Lightning had intentionally transformed multiple times in a row to mock him.

"It's time for you to die, Bai Xiaochun!" Master Cloud Lightning shouted in a voice that shook all heaven and earth.

Bai Xiaochun shivered, his eyes crimson from the humiliation he had just suffered, and his rage mounting by the second.

"You're pushing things too far, Master Cloud Lightning. If you can do all that shapeshifting, why not do it all from the start? There was no need to wait until now and then intentionally humiliate me!" Without any warning at all, he launched into the Throat Crushing Grasp, backed by the Mountain Shaking Bash.

In the blink of an eye, he was blasting forward with lightning speed. He even used the Undying Hex, adding more speed, and placing him directly in front of Master Cloud Lightning.

A thump sounded out as the Throat Crushing Grasp landed on the multicolored shield of light surrounding Master Cloud Lightning. Then, indescribable force shot back into Bai Xiaochun's arm, like a wave of power that completely destroyed the power of the Throat Crushing Grasp!

He actually pierced through three layers of the shield, only to be stopped by the fourth.

In almost the same moment, Master Cloud Lightning attacked in quick and violent fashion. He waved his arms, causing numerous lightning bolts to shoot out, which transformed into silver snakes that slammed into Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun's stone golem form couldn't stand up to the force, and collapsed, sending countless bits of rubble and rock showering out in all directions. Even as Bai Xiaochun's true form was revealed, the lightning bolts lashed toward him.

Shaken by how perilous the situation was already, Bai Xiaochun quickly performed a double-handed incantation gesture and then waved his hand out in front of him. Frigid qi exploded out, and nine frigid projections appeared, which leaped to intercept the lightning. Bai Xiaochun didn't retreat by even a step; he currently wasn't really thinking, and was acting on fighting instinct alone. Ignoring the lightning, he took a step forward, and simultaneously clenched his right hand into a fist!

A black hole sprang up that sucked in all of his aura, all of his qi and blood, all signs of life. His body twisted and distorted, withering in bizarre fashion.

He was unleashing… the Undying Emperor's Fist!

The intense pressure that suddenly weighed down on the area caused Master Cloud Lightning's face to fall. Panting, he gave up on any thoughts of fighting, and began to back up as quickly as possible.

Even as he began to move, intense rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth as a huge, shadowy figure appeared behind Bai Xiaochun. He wore imperial robes and an imperial crown, and seemed to be looking down condescendingly on all creation.

Master Cloud Lightning's heart began to pound, and his mind spun. The shield of light around him flickered as he sped away, and yet, his retreat had begun too late….

The fist struck!

A projection of Bai Xiaochun's face filled the sky, and a paramount energy spread out. Rumbling filled heaven and earth, and all of the lightning bolts which had surrounded him shattered into pieces!

The image of a fist appeared, an image which caused Master Cloud Lightning's mind to be overtaken by madness. Crushing all the lightning in its path, it sped forward and then slammed into the multi-colored shield!

The shield was capable of rebuffing Bai Xiaochun's Living Mountain Incantation, even when combined with the Mountain Shaking Bash and the Throat Crushing Grasp. But… it was incapable of standing up to a quintuple-power Undying Emperor's Fist!

A massive boom echoed out as the shield shattered into bits! Then, the fist went on to smash into Master Cloud Lightning, sending him tumbling backward like a kite with its string cut, blood spraying out of his mouth. As he flew backward, he shrank from his previous 150-meter height down to 120 meters.

Apparently, that was his only way of standing up to the domineering, destructive power of Bai Xiaochun's Undying Emperor's Fist.

And yet, that wasn't enough! As Master Cloud Lightning skidded to a halt, he coughed up another mouthful of blood, simultaneously shrinking from a height of 120 meters down to 90 meters. Then he coughed up a third mouthful of blood… and shrank to 60 meters, 30 meters… and then returned to his original size! Finally, he coughed up a fifth mouthful of blood! It took all of that to survive Bai Xiaochun's Undying Emperor's Fist!

300 meters away, he finally righted himself and looked up, eyes flickering with venom. Then, he chuckled coldly.

"That was what I was waiting for. The fist strike my other half described…. Very strong indeed. But… not strong enough to kill me. Next… I'm going to combine with my other half. When that happens, Bai Xiaochun… you're dead!" His eyes flickered as he snorted coldly, then suddenly shot away with a spectacular burst of speed.

He left some divine sense behind though, apparently waiting for a response from Bai Xiaochun. He was also prepared for a situation in which Bai Xiaochun started to chase him. However, he was confident in making him regret such a decision by severely injuring him with another trump card.

"Based on what my other half told me," he thought, "if he gives chase, he'll be doing so in a severely weakened state…. In that case, I might not even need to combine with my other half to kill him!" Even as he plotted about what to do next, Bai Xiaochun heard the words he had uttered moments ago, and his pupils constricted.

This version of Master Cloud Lightning was far stronger than the last one he had faced. Therefore, it was easy to imagine what level of cultivation base and battle prowess he would achieve by combining. He would definitely be very difficult for Bai Xiaochun to deal with.

His best option was to end the fight right now.

Just when he was about to start moving, though, he hesitated. "Did he say that on purpose to try to trick me?"

But then, his eyes shone with determination.

"Even if it's a trick, I still need to do something. I can't give him a chance to combine with his other half!" Considering what type of enemy he was facing, he knew that he only had one option, no matter how much it pained him to resort to it. Without the slightest hesitation, he locked down on one of his drops of Undying Blood, and then used the method described in the Undying Codex… to crush it!

As the Undying Blood shattered, a shocking blood qi erupted, filling his entire body. A red mist surrounded him as… he felt himself accelerating at rapid speed.

At the same time, his current state allowed him to rapidly absorb the energy of heaven and earth in the area, turning him into something like a black hole that could absorb all living things.

The air around him distorted and cracked, and at the same time, his energy surged. Master Cloud Lightning nearly let out a shriek of terror. Trembling, he realized that the sensation of deadly crisis which was rising inside of him vastly surpassed what he had felt when facing the Undying Emperor's Fist.

"What divine ability is that? Dammit! That fist strike of his actually wasn't his trump card!!" Master Cloud Lightning felt like every inch of him was screaming in terror. There was no time for thought or planning. Even as Bai Xiaochun closed in, surrounded by swirling red mist, Master Cloud Lightning drew upon every ounce of energy he could muster to flee in the opposite direction!

At the same time, Bai Xiaochun looked up at him. His eyes were red, almost like blood. He looked completely different from before, a vicious predator… whose eyes shone with bloodthirsty light!

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Chapter 935: Godkiller

When Bai Xiaochun looked up, it was as if the entire world had turned the color of blood. Waves began to roll out across the water that made up the swamp, and the countless entities which lived within it sensed Bai Xiaochun's aura, and instinctively began to tremble!

Master Cloud Lightning's heart was racing faster than it ever had in his entire life, and his mind was spinning in terror.

"Dammit, how could this Bai Xiaochun be so strong!?!?" he howled in his heart. "He's not in the early Deva Realm!!"

All of a sudden, he realized how arrogant he had been, and cursed his decision to anger Bai Xiaochun. Even worse was his childish decision not to flee when he could have.

He felt like slapping himself in the face over and over again, and yet, all he could do was try to flee at top speed.

It was in that moment that Bai Xiaochun looked up. Because of the red mist which surrounded him, it was impossible for anyone to see his blood-red eyes clearly.

And the voice with which he spoke almost didn't seem to be his own….

"God… killer!"

As soon as the words escaped his lips, he suddenly vanished, becoming a streak of blood-colored light that pierced through the air at indescribable speed. In fact, it moved so quickly that it seemed capable of moving through time!

It was much faster than any type of teleportation. In the blink of an eye, he was upon the fleeing Master Cloud Lightning, and before the man could even react, slammed into him!

A scream echoed out into the air, and Master Cloud Lightning trembled violently. He immediately began to wither up, a sensation that filled his heart with indescribable terror.

"How… how can he move so fast!?!? He's… he's absorbing my life force!!" Multicolored light flared as Master Cloud Lightning tried to fight back, and yet, he was no match at all for Bai Xiaochun's Godkiller technique.

Within moments, Master Cloud Lightning was nothing more than skin and bones, his face ashen and tinged by the shadow of death. The flame of his life force was already flickering on the verge of being extinguished.

It happened too quickly. A single blow, and almost all of his life force was sucked away in shocking fashion. Trembling, Master Cloud Lightning let out a shriek of despair.

"No!!"

Immense regret filled him, and yet, in that moment of ultimate calamity, he suddenly realized that there was something strange going on with Bai Xiaochun. He seemed dazed within his blood mist, as though he weren't even conscious.

A tremor passed through Master Cloud Lightning as hope suddenly appeared within his despair. Knowing that now was not the time to ponder the situation, he took a deep breath and unleashed another divine ability which reversed the withering from before. Then, multicolored light shone brightly as he gritted his teeth and shot downward toward the swamp below!

In an instant, he was inside of the swamp, and yet a moment later, Bai Xiaochun looked down… and followed him!

The entire swamp vibrated. In the briefest moment, hordes of leeches were killed, not by the vibration, but by Bai Xiaochun's blood mist, which sucked away at all the life force around it.

It wasn't just the leeches, but the larvae and other entities in the swamp as well. Anything that got too close to Bai Xiaochun ended up dead!

"So, there is something strange going on with him," Master Cloud Lightning thought. "That magical technique is completely terrifying! It has to have a weakness!!" He was delighted to have escaped with his life; obviously, Bai Xiaochun was in some sort of semi-conscious state, and had descended into the swamp itself, not to chase Master Cloud Lightning, but to absorb the life force that it contained.

That gave Master Cloud Lightning the chance he needed. As Bai Xiaochun absorbed the life force in the area, Master Cloud Lighting began to speed through the swamp itself. Although doing that was dangerous, it wasn't as dangerous as dealing directly with Bai Xiaochun.

There was clearly something strange going on with Bai Xiaochun, and yet, he didn't even think about looking over his shoulder to try to determine what it was. Bai Xiaochun's magical technique was simply too terrifying, and left Master Cloud Lightning with only one thought in his head… unless he managed to combine with his other half, he had to stay away from Bai Xiaochun at all costs!!

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the bedraggled Master Cloud Lightning was quite a distance away. At that point, he burst out from the swamp water. He was covered with leeches and larvae, but didn't even take the time to remove them. Gasping for breath, he shot forward as quickly as possible, glancing over his shoulder, a look of terror on his face.

"That Bai Xiaochun is a complete monster! He just won't die! He's definitely one of the biggest enemies of the north!! But even if he turns out to be stronger than he's already shown himself to be, he still isn't in the mid Deva Realm. Once I combine with my other half… I'll definitely be able to kill him!" Having reached this point in his train of thought, he once again made contact with his other self, and then sped off into the distance.

Meanwhile, now that Bai Xiaochun had dropped down into the swamp itself, a dramatic vortex had begun to spread out in all directions….

The leeches in the swamp were fleeing madly this way and that, as were the larvae.

Even more powerful life forms were doing the same, including spiders, giants, and other terrifying creatures.

As the storm spread out in all directions, all life forms that it touched had their life force drained away, leaving them withered in death….

It lasted for the time it takes two incense sticks to burn….

Then, a boom filled the swamp as Bai Xiaochun shot up into the air. There was no blood mist around him any longer. His face was ruddy, and a look of incredulity could be seen on his face. He was also trembling uncontrollably.

At the moment, he wasn't even thinking about Master Cloud Lightning. Instead, he shot off to a location with some land where he could sit down cross-legged and examine himself closely.

After a long moment passed, his eyes opened, and they flickered with terror.

"Dammit! What just happened? How come I lost consciousness when using the Godkiller technique? What's the deal?!?!" As he thought back to what had just occurred, his heart shivered with fear.

One thing he was certain of was that after he lost consciousness, his mind was not taken over by any other entity. His body had been acting of its own accord… to absorb as much life force as possible from around it.

The mere thought of that caused Bai Xiaochun to shiver in anxious fear.

"No way. Before, I had no idea how the Godkiller actually worked. But now that I do, I can't use it. It's too dangerous." The feeling of having just lost control of his own body was completely horrifying.

A long moment passed. Suddenly, a look of surprise appeared on his face, as he realized that the destroyed drop of Undying Blood was now fully recovered!

He could only imagine how much life force he had absorbed in those two incense sticks' worth of time in the swamp….

"If only I could control it, then it would be a much better divine ability." Feeling torn, he looked down at the swamp and then scanned it with divine sense, only to find that it didn't contain any life force at all….

Even distant reaches of the swamp were completely vacant of any life force fluctuations.

"How much did I absorb…?" Shaken, and eyes wide, he suddenly felt a bit excited.

"Hahaha! Who would have thought that I'm so awesome! Even after losing consciousness because of the Godkiller, I still accomplished a lot!" He then began to travel through the swamp a bit, whereupon he discovered that there were indeed some signs of life force here and there. However, as soon as he neared, they would vanish, clearly in an attempt to avoid him.

That only got him more excited though. At one point, he patted his bag of holding, pulled out Big Fatty Zhang, and touched his forehead. Big Fatty Zhang's eyes opened, and he looked around blankly for a moment before noticing Bai Xiaochun. At that point, he immediately jumped up and prepared to say something.

However, Bai Xiaochun beat him to the punch. Clasping his hands behind his back and sticking his chin up, he said. "Eldest Brother, you were ambushed in this swamp. I got so mad that I forced all of the living beings in the swamp to apologize to you. As a result, from this moment on, they will avoid us at all costs. Don't believe me? Go around a bit and see what happens!"

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Chapter 936: Terror-Stricken By The News

Big Fatty Zhang was a bit taken aback. He looked at Bai Xiaochun, then looked around them at the swamp, a strange expression on his face. As far as he was concerned, only an idiot would believe what Bai Xiaochun had just said. After all, he knew Bai Xiaochun well, and was used to how he would brag and try to show off. And yet, that same understanding of Bai Xiaochun also caused him to hesitate for a moment.

"Although Xiaochun does like to brag," he thought, "he doesn't usually exaggerate things too much. Could it really be true that all the weird bugs and things in the swamp… will avoid us?" After a moment of hesitation, he sent some divine sense out, and was shocked to find that there wasn't a single life force fluctuation in the area.

To Bai Xiaochun's pleasure, the two of them proceeded forward through the swamp, with Big Fatty Zhang feeling more shaken with every moment. Before long, he sensed a flicker of life force up ahead. However, as soon as he detected it, it raced away in the opposite direction.

After that same thing happened a few times, he looked over at Bai Xiaochun, a strange expression on his face.

"What do you think, Eldest Brother? It's like I said, I gave them all a strict warning. Hmmmphh! How dare they ambush my Eldest Brother! It was a kindness on my part to hold back from wiping out the entire swamp." Bai Xiaochun felt prouder of himself with every moment that passed. Although the Godkiller technique was somewhat perverse, it was very effective.

That was just how Bai Xiaochun was. No matter what situation he found himself in, he could always find the bright side.

To Big Fatty Zhang's continued shock, the two of them proceeded along through the swamp as smoothly as if it were their own front yard. Everything was quiet, to the point where Big Fatty Zhang even began to daydream a bit here and there.

At one point, a leech didn't flee in timely fashion, and Big Fatty Zhang managed to grab it. Being so close to Bai Xiaochun caused the leech to let out a shriek of despair, and it even seemed to be pleading for its life. When Big Fatty Zhang relaxed his hand, it whooshed away, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

They also ran into another spider, the same type which had ambushed Big Fatty Zhang earlier. As soon as the spider saw Bai Xiaochun, it shivered and fled in the opposite direction….

Not even Bai Xiaochun could ever have guessed that the creatures in the swamp would end up so terrified of him.

"Could it be that, because of some strange quality of the swamp, when I was unconscious, I let out… even more of that blood mist than I realized was possible?" Eventually, he came to the conclusion that this must be the case. He actually had no idea how much life force he had absorbed, but the fact that it was enough to re-form a drop of Undying Blood was terrifying to think about.

Thankfully, Master Cloud Lightning had been frightened so badly that he fled. A craftier opponent might have taken advantage of that moment of unconsciousness to attack him.

One of the most exaggerated things to unfold in the swamp after the main incident was when they happened across a pack of gaunt wolves that were relying on their incredible speed and dexterity to harass a cultivator. That cultivator happened to be Sun Wu from the Dragon Totem Ghost Sea Sect!

Cultivators from the south were adept at shapeshifting, and at the moment, the green-skinned Sun Wu was using that ability to full effect. Occasionally, he would change into the shape of a vicious, brown centipede that would weave in and out of the attacking wolves.

No matter what he did, however, he couldn't escape the more than 1,000 wolves, who kept him completely surrounded. Visible in the area were a few dead cultivators, which bore testimony to how long the fighting had been going on.

Off to the side was the leader of the pack, a wolf who was little more than a skeleton, with cold, sneering eyes, and energy comparable to a deva.

Sun Wu was already sinking into despair, and was fairly convinced that he wouldn't be able to escape from this calamity. From what he could tell, the only reason the wolves hadn't killed him already was in the hopes of using him to lure out more prey.

He knew that unless a deva came to rescue him, nobody would be able to help him. He was going to die one way or another, and furthermore, was not the type of person who would violate his own principles simply to save his life. Therefore, he was shifting in and out of centipede form in the hopes that the shapeshifting fluctuations would serve as a warning to any other cultivators in the area.

As soon as Bai Xiaochun and Big Fatty Zhang approached, the wolves began to shiver and howl. Then, the entire pack of 1,000 turned and fled with their tails between their legs.

The leader of the pack was the first to start running, and moved especially quickly. However, before it could get very far, Bai Xiaochun's voice rang out sonorously.

"Stay! The rest can go, but you stay!" The rest of the wolves vanished into the swamp. In the blink of an eye… only one wolf out of 1,000 was left behind.

That wolf stood there trembling, the cold arrogance in its eyes replaced by fear. However, it didn't dare to flee, and instead dropped down onto its belly and tried its best to wag its tail.

Big Fatty Zhang was used to scenes such as this, but Sun Wu was completely stunned. Panting, he looked over at Bai Xiaochun, and almost immediately recognized him.

Even still, he was shocked. Although it made sense for a deva to be able to scare the wolves away, it was completely astonishing that a single word could cause the leader of the pack to not only refrain from fleeing, but also to grovel on the ground.

Filled with gratitude at having just been rescued, Sun Wu hurried over to Bai Xiaochun, clasped hands, and bowed deeply.

"Many thanks for saving my life, Senior Bai!"

Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat. He had begun to feel a bit awkward showing off constantly for Big Fatty Zhang, so now that he had someone new to work with, he definitely had to make a good impression.

Therefore, he made a beckoning motion with his right hand, prompting the shivering wolf to hurry over in front of him. The wolf didn't do anything at all when Bai Xiaochun bopped it on the head. It even wagged its tail vigorously.

Sun Wu's jaw dropped in exaggerated fashion; he was almost incapable of reconciling the image of the tail-wagging wolf with the cruel and vicious beast he had seen earlier. They didn't seem like the same creature….

Bai Xiaochun looked around at the surrounding corpses and found that none were eastern cultivators. Therefore, he snorted and said, "I'll spare your life this time!"

The wolf shivered, although it was impossible to tell whether it was from fear or joy. It gave a few whimpers, then turned and fled into the swamp.

Having driven off the wolves, Bai Xiaochun turned to Sun Wu, who shivered and once again bowed formally.

Off to the side, Big Fatty Zhang cleared his throat, looked at Sun Wu, and then looked back at Bai Xiaochun.

"You're from the south?" Bai Xiaochun asked.

"Yes indeed, sir. I'm from the Dragon Totem Ghost Sea Sect."

Bai Xiaochun thought back to Master Thousand-Ghost, whom he had defeated with a single stare. He nodded.

"Very well. You can follow me out of the swamp if you'd like."

Sun Wu was overjoyed. So far, the swamp had been a nightmare for him, so as far as he was concerned, being able to join Bai Xiaochun was a stroke of good fortune. Bowing incessantly, he said, "Many thanks, Senior Bai!"

Laughing heartily, Big Fatty Zhang hurried over and lifted him up from his bowing.

"We must be connected by destiny," he said with a smile. "Come come. Why don't you tell us how you southerners have been doing in this trial by fire?" Big Fatty Zhang was very curious about the south, and Sun Wu was very eager to speak. Other than confidential matters, he was very free with his words.

After going on for a bit, his expression suddenly flickered.

"Oh, I just remembered something! Three days ago, I saw an eastern cultivator trapped in a dangerous location. Although I wished I could save him, not even I dared to get too close…. I think saving him would have required an entire team working together…. He called himself Song Que, and he asked me to tell anyone from the east that he needed help…."

"Que'er?" Bai Xiaochun murmured, a look of shock appearing on his face.

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Chapter 937: Hes Still A Child

The trial by fire was made up of four separate lands: a desert, a swamp, a plain, and a jungle, each of which was filled with all sorts of hidden dangers. As for how many people remained alive from the four rivers, no one knew.

By now, it was very obvious to Bai Xiaochun why the requirement to enter the trial by fire was set at the Nascent Soul stage…. Anyone under that level wouldn't even be able to move around.

Even Nascent Soul cultivators… faced deadly peril at every turn!

For example, Sun Wu was in the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage, and was considered a top chosen. He was widely viewed as the most likely disciple in his sect to become a deva, and yet he had been placed into a situation of almost certain death at the hands of those wolves.

Considering how dangerous the trial by fire was, as soon as Bai Xiaochun heard Sun Wu mention the name Song Que, and how he had asked for help, he began to pant. Song Que had always been testy with Bai Xiaochun, and didn't like him very much, but he was his nephew. That was even more the case now that Bai Xiaochun had taken the next step with Song Junwan.

If the situation weren't more dire, Bai Xiaochun might have been inclined to pull a prank on him. But this place was too dangerous. Therefore, he immediately asked Sun Wu to take him to the location where he'd seen Song Que.

Sun Wu didn't dare to be deceptive in any way. He immediately told Bai Xiaochun all the details, after which Bai Xiaochun shot in that direction. Sun Wu and Big Fatty Zhang followed along nervously.

The three of them became bright beams of light that shot through the sky over the swamp.

Bai Xiaochun was so nervous, and was moving so quickly, that he left Sun Wu and Big Fatty Zhang behind. About half a day passed, and he was already closing in on the location where Song Que was trapped.

As the fluctuations of his aura spread out into the area, he sent some divine sense out to ascertain the situation. Afterward, he sighed in relief.

"Que'er sure is a fortunate child!" Sticking his chin up, he mused about how truly lucky Song Que was. After all, whenever he got into danger, Bai Xiaochun always seemed to come rescue him.

Song Que was currently in a violet pool of water, surrounded by countless floating eyes, each one of which was several meters wide.

Shockingly, there were cultivators sealed inside many of the eyes….

There were men and women from all four of the river branches, most of them already skeletons, although a few were in a partial state of decomposition….

Two of them were still gasping for breath, one of those two being… Song Que.

Black tendrils of smoke were wrapped around him, almost like snakes, slowly absorbing him. Thankfully, the Song Clan patriarch had given him a legacy treasure from the clan that had kept him alive so far. Without it, he would have long since died.

The legacy treasure was a cloak, the soft light of which prevented the black smoke from piercing into his body.

It was clearly a fantastic, powerful item, and yet, as time went on, it was clearly being worn down, and the light it emitted was beginning to grow faint.

In fact, given the level of Song Que's cultivation base, not even that cloak should have enabled him to hang on this long. However, for some unknown reason, only a few days ago, the eyes had suddenly become much weaker, almost as if they had aged.

That had given Song Que some hope, and had helped him use the power of the cloak to hang on a bit longer.

However, he knew that unless someone came to save him… he would not be able to unseal himself and escape. And that meant that he would definitely meet his end eventually.

"Don't tell me that I, Song Que, am actually going to perish in this trial by fire!" he thought bitterly. Already, his joints were growing stiff, and his cultivation base was beginning to fade.

"I refuse to give in! I still haven't defeated that damned Bai Xiaochun! I still haven't trampled him beneath my feet! I still haven't had my revenge on him! I survived for year after bitter year in the Wildlands, I refuse to believe that a measly trial by fire is going to be the death of me!!

"I, Song Que, am a person blessed by luck. No matter what deadly crises I've faced in my life, I always come out on top. From Qi Condensation all the way to the Nascent Soul stage, it was always like that. I'm not going to die here!" Howling, he struggled to free himself until he went blue in the face. That was when he noticed that, all of a sudden, the surrounding eyes were trembling.

The eyes who had no cultivators in them blinked in terror, and then turned and vanished into the swamp.

The violet pool had once contained so many eyes it was impossible to count them all. But now, ninety-nine percent of them were gone…. The few dozen that remained began to blink rapidly to unseal the cultivators and corpses inside of them, spit them out, and then flee.

The eye which held Song Que seemed particularly hesitant. However, after a moment, Song Que felt a powerful force gripping him, and he was thrown out into the open. Within moments, the eye which had held him sealed for so many days had vanished into the swamp.

Song Que stood there with a blank expression on his face, looking around in confusion. Everything had happened so quickly that he wasn't really sure how to react.

One moment ago, the area had been filled with innumerable vicious eyes, but now… not a single one was in sight. It was almost as if the events of recent days had been a dream.

"Could it be… could it be that those eyes can only exist for a certain period of time, after which they vanish?" Although he couldn't be sure if his speculation was true, his heart was currently pounding with joy at having escaped certain death. Excited, he began to study his surroundings when, all of a sudden, he looked up into the sky, and his eyes went wide.

Much of the spiritual power inside of him had been drained away, but he could still focus enough on his eyes to see very clearly that, there, off in the distance… was Bai Xiaochun, smiling broadly.

It was at that point that Bai Xiaochun's voice reached Song Que's ears.

"Hi, Que'er…."

Song Que's expression darkened. Then he saw that two people were following Bai Xiaochun, one being Big Fatty Zhang, and the other being Sun Wu, whom Song Que had previously begged for help.

If by this point Song Que didn't realize why the eyes had vanished, it would have revealed him to be a complete idiot. Therefore, he simply turned to fly away.

When Bai Xiaochun saw that Song Que was flying away, he was not happy at all.

"How could you be so impolite, Que'er!? I can't believe you didn't even say hello to me!" With that, he made a grasping motion, causing Song Que's expression to turn even grimmer as he was grabbed by an invisible force and dragged over to Bai Xiaochun.

Upon seeing Bai Xiaochun, Song Que acted as though he had just caught sight of a diseased animal. That increased Bai Xiaochun's displeasure, and was also a big loss of face, considering that there were other people present.

"Que'er, I am a member of the elder generation, and am also your uncle. You know, I'm well within my rights to criticize your actions if I want to!"

Song Que was feeling very frustrated and depressed. As far as he was concerned, being captured by those vicious eyes had actually been a lot better than being trapped by Bai Xiaochun. After all, the eyes could inflict physical pain, but Bai Xiaochun inflicted mental torture.

And yet, Song Que didn't say anything. He actually wasn't sure what to say. His action of turning to leave had actually been instinctual. He hadn't put any thought into it whatsoever.

He could tell that Bai Xiaochun was displeased, and therefore, he braced himself and prepared to offer an explanation. It was at around this time that Big Fatty Zhang and Sun Wu arrived. Sun Wu didn't seem to notice the awkwardness of the situation, but Big Fatty Zhang knew Song Que fairly well, and could guess what was going on. He had also heard some of Bai Xiaochun's words. Therefore, his eyes lit up, and he leaped forward.

"Xiaochun, Que'er is still just a child. He's always been the filial type, so what happened just now was probably just a misunderstanding…. Que'er, you need to listen to your Uncle Fatty. What you did just now was wrong. Your Uncle Bai came here to save you, and yet you didn't even say hello? Look, I know that you're a good kid. Come offer greetings to your uncle, and then… well, your uncle's close friends are also members of the senior generation…." From the look in Big Fatty Zhang's eyes, it was clear that he very much looked forward to what was going to happen next.

Song Que's expression turned grimmer as he glared at Big Fatty Zhang. He almost felt like his blood was about to start flowing backwards. For Bai Xiaochun to take advantage of him was one thing, but for Big Fatty Zhang to do the same pushed Song Que to the point where he felt like his head was about to explode.

And then he thought about the possibility that he would have to call all of Bai Xiaochun's friends Uncle and Aunt, and his mind began to spin.

"Big Fatty Zhang!"

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Chapter 938: Moonflower

Song Que's shout seem to vent all of his depression and frustration. However, Big Fatty Zhang had simply been too biting, and even though Song Que didn't want to, he suddenly envisioned himself greeting all of Bai Xiaochun's friends.

"Uncle Baocai…. Uncle Tianyou…. Aunt Xiaomei…. Uncle God-Diviner…." As far as Song Que was concerned, it would be worse than heavenly tribulation. Trembling, he glared with bloodshot eyes, not at Bai Xiaochun --didn't dare to do that-- but rather, at Big Fatty Zhang. From the look on his face, if one more wrong word was uttered, he would fly into a rage and attack.

Big Fatty Zhang was actually startled by Song Que's shout, and started to get a bit nervous. After all, Song Que had quite a reputation in the Blood Stream Sect. However, considering that Bai Xiaochun was standing right there, it didn't seem likely that Song Que would actually do anything. Besides, Big Fatty Zhang really looked forward to the prospect of being addressed as an uncle.

That having been said, he was still surprised at Song Que's reaction to such a small thing.

Off to the side, Sun Wu was stunned by what he was seeing. He had no idea of the backstory involved, and only knew that Bai Xiaochun was a deva patriarch.

From Sun Wu's perspective, a Nascent Soul cultivator like Song Que was a junior to Bai Xiaochun, something completely and utterly natural….

"No wonder Senior Bai was so anxious to get over here. As it turns out, his Daoist partner is Fellow Daoist Song's aunt…." Considering that, Sun Wu also felt that Song Que was acting a bit disrespectfully.

"Senior Bai hurried over here as quickly as he could to save Song Que, who didn't even offer greetings? And then he just turned to leave? No wonder Senior Bai is angry…." Although Big Fatty Zhang's demands had seemed a bit excessive, Sun Wu could still understand them.

Finally, he put a warm smile onto his face, looked at Song Que, and said, "You did well to put your trust in me, Fellow Daoist Song. Clearly, the heavens have blessed you. Who would have thought that you were so close to the exalted Senior Bai? I can only be envious of the fact that you are a junior to him!"

Song Que wished he could say something, but couldn't think of anything to say. Big Fatty Zhang was trying to take advantage of him, and Sun Wu was making it worse. Although he wanted to start arguing, the truth was that Sun Wu really had saved his life.

Song Que's frustrations built and built, until he felt like he was about to go crazy. Finally, he simply threw back his head and howled at the top of his lungs. As he did, Bai Xiaochun sighed.

To see Song Que acting this way actually left Bai Xiaochun feeling a bit bad.

"Alright, Big Fatty Zhang. Leave Que'er alone. The child has had it very rough. Que'er, you shouldn't be going around alone. Come with me, alright? It will be a lot safer that way."

Song Que felt like crying when he heard that. Bai Xiaochun's words had touched directly on the most sensitive part of his heart. In the face of such bald-faced provocation from Big Fatty Zhang, it was very moving to see Bai Xiaochun being so kind.

However, even in the moment that his gratitude swelled, Bai Xiaochun looked over and said something that ruined everything….

"Calm down, Que'er. Be a good boy, now. I'm not going to let anyone bully you!" Fearful that Song Que was taking everything the wrong way, Bai Xiaochun reached out and tousled his hair.

"AAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Song Que howled, his heart overcome by madness and humiliation at having eight generations of extremely bad luck heaped upon his head.

From the moment he had met Bai Xiaochun to now, his life had been an endless stream of frustration. As he howled, his weak spiritual power and tenuous hold on his emotions caused a stream of blood to spray out of his mouth. Then he flopped down onto the ground, unconscious.

"He passed out again…?" Bai Xiaochun murmured, feeling a headache coming on. Big Fatty Zhang stared down at him in shock, puzzled at how poorly Song Que took a simple joke….

"Look at how mad you got him, Eldest Brother. Ai… Well, you just carry him on your back for now."

Big Fatty Zhang was also scowling on the verge of tears at the strangeness of it all. From what he could remember, Song Que was definitely not like this. Hoisting Song Que onto his back, he looked over at Bai Xiaochun.

"Xiaochun, what did you mean when you said that he passed out 'again'? He's passed out before in the past?"

"Oh, you have no idea. The poor child was harmed mentally back in the Wildlands. Whenever he gets too excited, he passes out. It's fine…. He'll wake up in the next two or three days." Clearing his throat, Bai Xiaochun quickly changed the topic of conversation, and then led the shocked Big Fatty Zhang and Sun Wu off into the distance.

As the group flew along through the swamp, ten days passed by. Soon, they were getting close to the edge of the swamp, beyond which was a vast plain covered by a sky as overcast as the swamp's.

Although things had remained peaceful and quiet during their journey through the swamp, Bai Xiaochun had not come out without certain gains. In his hand, he held a seed.

It was emerald green, and pulsed with a frigid qi that turned his entire hand cold as he held it.

The seed had once been a flower, which he had encountered a few days ago.

The petals of that flower had resembled moons, and despite being somewhat stunted in appearance, looked very unique growing alone in the middle of a swamp. Upon approaching the flower, Bai Xiaochun had noticed how it seemed to notice him, and then try to shrink down into the ground below. Curious, he had gone closer, which was when he had noticed that the frigid qi emanating from the flower closely resembled the frigid qi that came from cultivating the Frigid School Will-Evolving Incantation.

Surprised, he had expended a bit of effort to dig up the flower. By the time he got to it though, it had shriveled up into a seed.

After some study, Bai Xiaochun realized that in the process of blooming, the flower would absorb frigid qi from the surroundings. Unfortunately, there wasn't much frigid qi in the swamp, which had prevented the flower from growing to its full potential.

"Maybe with enough study, I can put this flower to use in my own cultivation of frigid qi. I think I'll call it a moonflower." With that, he continued to lead his small group along. Along the way, they saw corpses here and there, some from the other three rivers, and some from the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect.

The sight of the corpses caused everyone's moods to sink. Song Que had long since regained consciousness. Originally, his expression had been very grim, but after traveling along and seeing all the corpses, his attitude changed.

"What kind of trial by fire is this…?" That same question floated in the minds of everyone present. As for Big Fatty Zhang, Song Que, and Sun Wu, they knew that without Bai Xiaochun there to protect them, they would all have likely died inside the swamp….

"Maybe this so-called trial by fire isn't actually about finding an apprentice for the Celestial… but all about that exit!" Such were the thoughts of Bai Xiaochun. By now, they had been within the trial by fire for about two months.

During that time, he had confirmed that ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators simply could not survive. Even those who were in the great circle could only rely on incredible battle prowess and pure luck to pass through any of the four main areas.

Because of that, Bai Xiaochun was fairly certain… that even if the Celestial really wanted an apprentice, it wasn't necessary to pick one via such a deadly trial by fire.

That left only one obvious solution to the riddle….

"The Celestial's true goal is to find that so-called exit….

"In that case… it would mean that even he doesn't know where it is. And that means… that not even the Celestial is truly familiar with the lands in this trial by fire!!

"This supposed trial by fire is merely a casting out of pawns. He's just hoping that if he throws enough people into the mix, someone will find the exit!

"There must also be some other secret at play here. Otherwise, why would the Celestial make up a story about accepting an apprentice? That was just… to trick people into coming!" The more Bai Xiaochun analyzed the situation, the more unsightly his expression became. Of course, he also couldn't be certain that his analysis was correct.

Either way, the trial by fire was very dangerous. Both the desert and the swamp left him feeling very jumpy.

Without his Godkiller technique, he would have been in even more danger in the swamp.

All of these thoughts got him even more worried about the other people left in the trial by fire. Originally, there had been over a thousand, but now, it was likely that more than half were dead.

As for the others, they would surely have come to the realization that the trial was dangerous beyond imagination, and that something fishy was going on.

However, such realizations did little good…. Clearly, until someone found the exit, everyone would be facing death at every corner.

Even the supremely powerful Bai Xiaochun was still feeling a lot of pressure. Although he had calmed the swamp down, he knew that was only on the surface. During his travels, his divine sense had revealed on numerous occasions that there were things hiding in the depths.

Such entities didn't reveal any hostility when his divine sense touched them, but he also knew that without his Godkiller technique, they would have been deadly threats.

"What the hell kind of place is this?!" Even as he pondered the situation, he finally left the swamp and entered the endless plain.

Wind scraped across the plain, which seemed to be filled with nothing more than an undulating sea of grass, interspersed with occasional corpses that had been gnawed at by unknown teeth….

The sight caused Big Fatty Zhang, Song Que, and Sun Wu to feel jumpier than ever. From the sight of the few corpses they could see, it was obvious that the plain was a very dangerous place.

After flying over the grass for about ten days, Bai Xiaochun's face suddenly fell. He had just detected a burst of killing intent, something that caused the air to grow cold around him. Backing up, he shouted, "Eldest Brother, get everybody out of here. Don't worry about me!!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a sound like rumbling thunder echoed across the plain, and two huge faces appeared up above in the sky.

They belonged to none other than… the twin Master Cloud Lightnings!

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Chapter 939: Split Them Up!

When Bai Xiaochun saw the two enormous faces of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings up in the sky, his heart began to pound. He had already tangled with them more than once in this trial by fire, and now here they were together. It had the potential to be a big problem, and therefore, he immediately sent Sun Wu, Big Fatty Zhang and Song Que away.

"This time, you're dead, Bai Xiaochun!" howled the faces up above, their voices echoing like heavenly thunder. Subsequently, one of them shot toward Bai Xiaochun, and the other headed in the direction of Big Fatty Zhang, Sun Wu and Song Que.

Obviously, they didn't just plan to kill Bai Xiaochun, but also the people under his protection.

This new development occurred in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. When Bai Xiaochun realized what was happening, his anxiety spiked. Knowing that his three companions would never be able to escape, he swished his sleeve to gather them into his bag of holding.

As he did, cold gleams flickered through the eyes of the faces high in the sky. Clearly, their hatred for Bai Xiaochun ran very strong and deep!

It didn't matter that Bai Xiaochun had used his Godkiller technique on Master Cloud Lightning. Now that his two halves were able to team up, they were more confident and prepared than ever. Therefore, it was without the slightest hesitation that they attacked.

The younger brother of the two was adept in matters of speed, so he shot through the air toward Bai Xiaochun. As for the older brother, he was at the peak of the mid Deva Realm, and his attack consisted of countless bolts of lightning that transformed into a shocking hand which reached out toward Bai Xiaochun as if to grab him!

"DIE!!" they howled simultaneously.

Bai Xiaochun was feeling quite nervous, and could tell that the situation was already very dangerous. There was no time for thought or planning. As he backed up, he performed an incantation gesture with both hands, and then waved them out in front of him.

"Waterswamp!!" he shouted. Instantly, water vapor roiled out across the plain, turning it into an enormous swamp.

"Kingdom!!"

It sounded as if the world were being ripped open. The twin Master Cloud Lightnings' faces both flickered. Considering that both of them had fought Bai Xiaochun before, they had assumed that they had already seen all of his techniques. Never could they have imagined that they would encounter another unfamiliar move.

Furthermore, the watery swamp around them filled them with a sensation of profound danger. Rumbling sounds echoed out as a row of spikes rose up from below. Mountain-toppling, sea-draining force roiled out as the spikes transformed into claws, which were attached to a huge hand. At this point, a shocking howl erupted into the air.

The energy shaking the area made the sky quiver, seemingly on the verge of collapse. The twin Master Cloud Lightnings were both stunned. Because of his speed, the younger brother was a bit closer, and bore the initial brunt of the blow. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was sent tumbling backward. Meanwhile, the other half of Master Cloud Lightning went all out with his lightning attack. In the blink of an eye, his lightning hand made contact with the claws.

The sky shook and the lands quaked as the lightning palm shattered in the face of the all-powerful Waterswamp Kingdom's claws. However, this opponent of Bai Xiaochun's surpassed Chen Hetian and the other devas he had fought in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. Therefore, the Waterswamp Kingdom rapidly faded away.

As it did, Bai Xiaochun retreated with lightning speed. After all, he knew that he would never be able to win against the combined force of both Master Cloud Lightnings, especially considering that he couldn't control his Godkiller.

Taking advantage of the moments in which the Waterswamp Kingdom was still fading away, Bai Xiaochun fled, and was soon heading toward the horizon.

"Now we'll make him enjoy the bitterness of being chased!" The twin Master Cloud Lightnings gritted their teeth. Eyes shining with killing intent, they became bright beams of light that shot after Bai Xiaochun, thunderous sound waves rolling off of them in all directions.

From a distance, it almost looked like they had combined with each other, but closer examination would reveal that the process was not complete yet. However, even their current level enabled them to surpass the limits of the mid Deva Realm, and achieve speed… comparable to the late realm!

What made Bai Xiaochun even more nervous was that the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were continuing to merge together, and as they did, the resulting aura contained power that caused his scalp to tingle with fear.

"What complete bullying! They bullied me in the staring contest, but couldn't beat me in a fight, so now they're ganging up! The Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect is full of bullies!" Heart pounding, he called upon the Undying Hex for a burst of speed. Behind him, rumbling sounds echoed out as the twin Master Cloud Lightnings continued to merge, and also send attacks his way.

From a distance, it was possible to see lightning bolts slamming repeatedly into Bai Xiaochun, with the resulting explosions sending black smoke billowing out around him, which would reduce his speed. And with every moment that passed, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings got closer.

Feeling very nervous, Bai Xiaochun called out, "Uh… Fellow Daoists Cloud Lightning, don't push things too far, okay? I have a trump card designed specifically for you two. Even I'm afraid of what will happen if I use it."

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings snorted coldly and continued to close in, their murderous auras raging. Bai Xiaochun was a blur as he used his Mountain Shaking Bash to avoid the lightning attacks, and the Undying Hex to buy speed.

Unfortunately, his anxiety only continued to mount. When he had used the Waterswamp Kingdom moments ago, he had clearly seen how incredibly powerful the twin Master Cloud Lightnings would be if they fully combined. And that was now happening as he watched!

"I can't let things go on like this. I need to prevent them from combining…. Damnation! What technique can actually split a person in two? I need to prevent them from getting together… I need to split them up… hey!"

In that critical moment, an idea struck him without any warning.

"Split them up?!" he thought excitedly. Maintaining full speed, he secretly pulled out a Breakup Pill, and at the same time, produced his flying shuttle. After using a secret magic to conceal the pill inside the shuttle, he hurled it back at the twin Master Cloud Lightnings.

"Eee? Fellow Daoists Cloud Lightning, that's your flying shuttle, right? Aiya, I randomly happened across it a while back, and based on the aura, I can tell it's yours. Alright, just take it back!" Both of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were visibly taken aback by his words.

Never could they have imagined that Bai Xiaochun, who had previously acted so imperious and disdainful, would go and say something like this.

However, before they could do anything other than be surprised, Bai Xiaochun performed an incantation gesture and shouted, "Detonate!"

The flying shuttle exploded, sending out a shockwave that completely enveloped the twin Master Cloud Lightnings.

The detonation also burst the Breakup Pill, sending a black mist roiling out in all directions.

Bai Xiaochun didn't bother to even look back at the result, and simply picked up more speed. As he did, a violet bolt of lightning shot out from the black mist and the fragments of the flying shuttle.

That lightning bolt was none other than the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, their expressions unsightly and their murderous auras boiling.

"A hidden poison pill? You think trash like that can hurt me? In my combined state, I'm impervious to all poisons!" Both of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings spoke at the same time, their voices combining in bizarre fashion. It was at this point that Bai Xiaochun realized there were soul fluctuations within the voice that gave a bit of insight into the twin Master Cloud Lightnings' current state. Clearly, they were not yet fully combined, and needed more time to complete the process.

"The Breakup Pill didn't work?" he thought, disappointed. "Don't tell me that it only works between men and women? Or was the dose too weak?"

He considered turning to fight, but also had the feeling that if there were any major weaknesses because of their partially-combined state, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings wouldn't be pursuing him so aggressively.

"They must be trying to trick me!" he thought. Not willing to risk it, he gritted his teeth and continued onward.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings frowned and exchanged a glance. Yet again, they found Bai Xiaochun's behavior to be incongruous. In their estimation, the fact that the combining process was not complete should have prompted Bai Xiaochun to turn and fight. Of course, the truth was that… they could finish combining with each other at any time they wished.

The only downside was that their combined state would only last for a short time. Therefore, they hoped to wait until close-quarters fighting actually broke out before starting the clock.

"It doesn't matter if this Bai Xiaochun is clever. He's going to die beyond the shadow of a doubt!" Snorting coldly, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings picked up speed, and began to close the distance.

And thus the true chase began….

The day passed, then the night…. Bai Xiaochun had a powerful fleshly body, and incredible restorative powers. Therefore, he could maintain top speed for a long time. Occasionally, he would toss out some Breakup Pills, although it wasn't possible for him to hit Master Cloud Lightning directly….

"Fudge! I refuse to believe that my Breakup Pills aren't working!" Unwilling to accept defeat, he continued to throw out pills….

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Chapter 940: Not Meant For Each Other...

"After all this running, he's still got energy left?!" The twin Master Cloud Lightnings both frowned at the sight of Bai Xiaochun fleeing. "We can't stretch things out any longer!"

Taking a deep breath, they decided that now was the time to finish combining their two halves. However, it was also in that moment that their expressions flickered, and they looked up into the sky.

Bai Xiaochun sensed the same thing they had. Gasping for breath, he turned back to see that an enormous face had taken shape up above, surrounded by so much swirling black mist that it was difficult to make out its facial features. However, it was profoundly sinister as it looked at the three other devas.

"Master Thousand-Ghost!" the twin Master Cloud Lightnings exclaimed. However, they didn't slow down in their pursuit of Bai Xiaochun.

This newly-arrived deva was none other than Master Thousand-Ghost, who had been searching for other southern cultivators on the vast plain. After detecting the fluctuations of battle, he had sent his divine sense over to see what was happening.

Now that he had assessed the situation, he decided to continue on with his own affairs. As far as he was concerned, friction between the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect and the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect had nothing to do with him. Almost as soon as it appeared, his face began to fade away.

Seeing that Master Thousand-Ghost was leaving caused the twin Master Cloud Lightnings to both breathe sighs of relief. After all, if Master Thousand-Ghost interfered, it could very well make it impossible for them to get to Bai Xiaochun.

However, it was in that moment that Bai Xiaochun's eyes lit up, and he cried, "Hold on a moment, Fellow Daoist Thousand-Ghost! There's a chosen from the south named Sun Wu, right…?"

When Master Thousand-Ghost heard that, he stopped in place. Then, mysterious, sinister light shone in the eyes of his huge face as he turned to look at Bai Xiaochun again.

Bai Xiaochun immediately slapped his bag of holding, pulling Sun Wu, Big Fatty Zhang and Song Que out into the open.

"Fellow Daoist Thousand-Ghost, your disciple Sun Wu was in big trouble, and I rescued him. Doesn't that mean the Dragon Totem Ghost Sea Sect owes me a favor?!"

Master Thousand-Ghost was taken aback. Sun Wu was indeed a chosen from the southern river, and if Bai Xiaochun had rescued him, it meant that the south truly did owe him a favor.

At any other time, Master Thousand-Ghost would have immediately nodded in agreement. However, he could see that the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were just about to combine forms. Considering the weakened state Bai Xiaochun was obviously in, even if he joined forces with him, the two of them would still not be a match for Master Cloud Lightning.

And thus, he hesitated.

In that moment of hesitation, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings' faces fell, and they both cried out, "Master Thousand-Ghost. This is a personal issue between us and Bai Xiaochun. Please refrain from interfering, and we will give you a wonderful gift after everything is over!"

In response, Master Thousand-Ghost's eyes flashed with determination. Waving his right hand, he pulled Sun Wu away, along with Big Fatty Zhang and Song Que. At the same time, his voice echoed out, as bizarre and mysterious as an evil ghost.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, you saved Sun Wu, and I will repay you by saving these two disciples from your sect. In fact, not only will I save them, I will ensure that they leave this trial by fire in safety."

Bai Xiaochun smiled bitterly in response. However, he had known that Master Thousand-Ghost would not just interfere without good reason. And for him to have offered to save Big Fatty Zhang and Song Que left Bai Xiaochun feeling a bit more at ease. Flicking his sleeve, he quickly transmitted an explanation to Big Fatty Zhang and Song Que.

And thus, the three lower-level disciples were all whisked away by Master Thousand-Ghost.

It only took a moment for Master Thousand-Ghost to be far away in the distance. At that point, the eyes of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings flashed with cold light, and they proceeded with their earlier plan of completing the process of combining.

The withered sides of their two halves merged together, and in the briefest of moments, they became a single person!

In that moment, a burst of energy swept out in all directions, creating a shocking windstorm.

A 3,000-meter-wide tempest ravaged heaven and earth as, at its very center… a man appeared, tall and burly, like an immortal devil!

His eyes flickered with anger as his black hair whipped about. There was something netherworldly about him now, something indescribably monstrous!

Rifts were torn open into the air around him, as though it couldn't handle the pressure radiating off of him. The slightest movement of his hand would cause thunderous rumbling sounds, and his will was so powerful that it was already beginning to drive Bai Xiaochun's will away.

He was strong!

Very, very strong!!

Bai Xiaochun could clearly sense that the combined Master Cloud Lightning's cultivation base far surpassed the mid Deva Realm. It was in the late realm, and in fact, very close to… the great circle!!

Feeling deeply shaken, Bai Xiaochun began to back up. However, that was when the combined Master Cloud Lightning looked over at him with a derisive smile.

Then he took a step forward, a step which seemed to bend space, instantly bringing him directly next to Bai Xiaochun, where he waved his hand.

That casual motion sent out terrifyingly destructive power in the form of a black spark of electricity. Bai Xiaochun's scalp tingled in terror, and all of his flesh seemed to be screaming along with it. Without any hesitation, he performed an incantation gesture to send out a defensive blast of energy.

A huge boom rang out as he flopped backward like a kite with its string cut, blood oozing out of the corners of his mouth. He flew more than 3,000 meters away before finally grinding to a halt.

"I can't believe this guy got so powerful after combining his two halves!" Bai Xiaochun thought. If it weren't for his incredible fleshly body power, he would have already been torn to pieces. All of a sudden, he realized that it was a really good thing he had only tried to use Breakup Pills, and not Aphrodisiac Pills. That would have been far too dangerous….

Before Bai Xiaochun could even stand up straight, Master Cloud Lightning's voice echoed out, as cold as the dead of winter.

"I said you'll die this day, Bai Xiaochun. And that means you won't have a chance to see the light of tomorrow!" With that, Master Cloud Lightning took another step forward, and was just about to unleash another attack when….

All of a sudden, his face fell, and a second, unique voice spoke from his mouth!

"Brother, I don't think the two of us are meant for each other. We'll never be happy if we forcibly try to stick together!"

A spasm ran through Master Cloud Lightning's perfectly combined body. Unexpectedly… a second version of himself suddenly appeared! Apparently, the younger of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings wasn't willing to remain in a combined state.

A look of shock and horror overtook Master Cloud Lightning's face, combined with an expression of intense disbelief.

"What's going on?!?!" Nothing like this had ever happened to Master Cloud Lightning. It was as if there were two different consciousnesses within him that were rejecting each other…. His aura was destabilizing, and seemed like it might collapse at any moment. Even worse, his left hand began to struggle with his right hand….

Bai Xiaochun was overjoyed, and if it weren't for the intense fear which still gripped his heart, he would have begun to dance wildly.

"The Breakup Pills are finally working!!"

Even as Master Cloud Lightning began to split apart, Bai Xiaochun howled, causing an enormous, shadowy figure to appear behind him!

The figure wore an imperial crown and imperial robes, and exuded the most domineering of airs. Bai Xiaochun clenched his hand into a fist, causing a black hole to appear that sucked in all of his life force, making him seem almost like he was dead.

However, the intense fluctuations that rolled off of his fist caused the air to distort with destructive power. Ripples spread out over the plain, crushing the grass flat as a fist appeared!

Undying Emperor's Fist!!

Quintuple power!

Bai Xiaochun began to thrum with incredible energy as the shadowy emperor behind him merged with his fist, which then shot directly toward Master Cloud Lightning!

In that critical moment, Master Cloud Lightning's heart pounded like mad. As the two consciousnesses within him struggled, Bai Xiaochun's fist strike approached. Any advantage Master Cloud Lightning had seized earlier was now gone, and it had happened so fast that he didn't have any time to contemplate how to respond.

However, he was a veteran of many battles, and thus wasn't caught completely off guard. Crackling sounds could be heard, like that from a fire. Master Cloud Lightning's hair then turned white as he burned his longevity to temporarily negate the effects of the Breakup Pills.

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Sixth Transformation!!"

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Seventh Transformation!!"

"Cloud Lightning Forefather: Eighth Transformation!!"

Master Cloud Lightning's energy suddenly surged in heaven-shaking, earth-shattering fashion. He rapidly grew larger, until he was 240 meters tall, with a savage aura that made it truly seem as if the forefather of all humanity had appeared in the flesh!

He was burly and broad-shouldered, with wild, disheveled hair, and eyes that shone with madness. The sky trembled above, and the vast plain quaked around him. As of this moment, he had surpassed the will of the heavens, and was an embodiment of magical laws!

"Be destroyed!" he shouted, his voice crackling like heavenly thunder.

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Chapter 941: That Form Of Address...

It was almost like heaven was colliding with the earth. Bai Xiaochun's Undying Emperor's Fist engulfed everything in the area, unleashing quintuple his ordinary fleshly body power to create a force that was like a meteor that could destroy the world!

Master Cloud Lightning's Forefather Transformation was similarly a peak-level divine ability, something that could fundamentally alter the structure of one's body!

The forefather of all humanity was none other than the legendary ancestor of everyone in the Heavenspan Realm. Of course, the forefather's body that was created by this technique couldn't compare at all to the actual forefather. And yet, even a sliver of that forefather's strength could give Master Cloud Lightning the ability to crush everything in his path.

As the meteor and the lightning slammed into each other, a huge boom echoed out!

A massive shockwave roared out across the vast plain, destroying all of the plants and vegetation it touched!

There were also many living things hidden underneath the grass which were transformed into nothing but ash….

Many other cultivators in the trial by fire also noticed what was happening.

"What's going on?!?!"

"Heavens! Those fluctuations…. Don't tell me some devas are fighting!?!? But even a fight between devas shouldn't cause fluctuations like that!"

Everyone was completely and utterly shocked. As for Master Thousand-Ghost, he suddenly stopped in place and turned to look back in the direction of the battlefield he had just left, his pupils constricting.

"Master Cloud-Lightning is strong. Everybody knows that. But this Bai Xiaochun… I can't believe he's able to fight back, and send out fluctuations like this…." A thoughtful look suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in a location near the border between the jungle and the vast plain, Du Lingfei and that strange young man were together with their team, traveling along.

They had already explored the desert, the swamp, and the jungle, and were now working on the plain.

When the fluctuations reached them, Du Lingfei suddenly turned and looked over her shoulder.

"Ignore it," the strange young man said coolly. Not even those shocking fluctuations seemed worthy of his notice.

Du Lingfei nodded in response. All she could tell at the moment was that the fluctuations were coming from some distance away. There was no way for her to tell any detailed information about what was happening. Without putting much more thought into the matter, she proceeded along deeper into the plain.

As the shockwave rolled out from the point of impact between Bai Xiaochun and Master Cloud Lightning, the lands were ripped to pieces, and a huge crater appeared. As for Bai Xiaochun, blood sprayed out of his mouth as he was flung violently backward.

His vision swam and then began to fade, and he could feel stabs of pain throughout his body. He currently felt so weak that he wasn't sure he could even lift his hand.

His fleshly body power was mostly drained, but his cultivation base was still in place. Drawing upon its power, he turned into a beam of light that shot off into the distance.

His aura was unstable, and his heart was pounding. The backlash from his attack had been significant. Master Cloud Lightning's divine ability had been shockingly powerful, so strong that, for the first time, the Undying Emperor's Fist couldn't stand up to the force, and had been vanquished.

However, Master Cloud Lightning's forefather incarnation had also been crushed. Bai Xiaochun's Undying Emperor's Fist could destroy someone in the mid Deva Realm, and could still be shocking to someone in the late realm!

Unfortunately for Master Cloud Lightning, were it not for his misgivings, he could easily have dispelled the attack. But instead… he ended up in worse state than Bai Xiaochun.

He was trembling from head to toe, and his combined form was beginning to split apart again. At the same time, strange words were spilling from his mouth.

"Brother, let's split apart. From now on, you're you, and I'm me!"

"Little brother, you can't be like this! We're the same person…."

Master Cloud Lightning felt like he was about to go crazy. When in his combined state, his divine soul was complete. And yet despite that, he still seemed to have split into two parts who were arguing and rejecting each other.

At the same time, his body seemed to be going back and forth between wanting to split apart and wanting to stay together. The overall sensation had him hovering on the verge of mental collapse.

Finally, he threw his head back and roared, drawing fully upon his secret magic to suppress the second consciousness within him and maintain his combined state. However, his aura was weakening, and he was now barely as powerful as he had been when he had first started the process.

"I'm gonna kill you, Bai Xiaochun!!" he howled, shooting after Bai Xiaochun at rapid speed.

Bai Xiaochun gasped at how powerfully Master Cloud Lightning was being affected by the Breakup Pills. It was a good thing he had concocted such pills to begin with, otherwise, it would have been a terrifying challenge to face the combined Master Cloud Lightning.

The man really was too strong after combining, and seemed far too powerful to deal with.

"Not even my Undying Emperor's Fist did any good. Don't tell me I'm going to have to use the Godkiller again…." The vile repercussions of using the Godkiller technique were almost too painful to think about.

"Complete and utter bullying. He ganged up on me in the staring contest, and now he's ganging up on me again!!" He was very displeased by the whole situation, and yet was helpless to do anything about it. It was quite depressing.

"Dammit! I guess the Breakup Pill dosage was too low. I need to up the strength!" Even as he scrambled to think of what exactly to do next, numerous lightning bolts shot down toward him.

Scalp tingling with fear, he dodged out of the way, and then threw out a Breakup Pill. Master Cloud Lightning's eyes widened, and he leaped off to the side. By now, he truly feared Bai Xiaochun's medicinal pills.

"This guy's pills are completely malicious!!" he thought. Obviously, he had long since connected the dots, and come to realize that his current difficulties were because of the medicinal mist that Bai Xiaochun's pills had created earlier.

The thought of how Bai Xiaochun's pills could affect him caused his killing intent to grow stronger by the moment. By this point, the chase had led to the border of the plain, where it began to give way to the jungle.

Master Cloud Lightning's relentless pursuit had pushed Bai Xiaochun into a state of madness, and he was just preparing to go all out by using his Godkiller technique.

However, just as he was about to destroy a drop of Undying Blood, he suddenly saw a group of people off in the distance….

He recognized them immediately. Du Lingfei was there, as well as that strange young man, the two of them flanked by a handful of special guards. By now, it had been several months since he had first encountered them.

Almost as soon as he caught sight of them, Du Lingfei saw him, and her eyes widened at the sight of Master Cloud Lightning chasing him with murderous intentions.

Master Cloud Lightning also noticed Du Lingfei and her group.

Having been a deva patriarch in the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect for many years, he was very well aware of Du Lingfei's status. Even if he were more powerful than he currently was, he wouldn't dare to do anything rash in front of her. Therefore, he slowed down a bit in his pursuit of Bai Xiaochun, although he didn't stop completely.

In his opinion, the grudge between himself and Bai Xiaochun was a personal matter, and Heavenspan Island usually didn't interfere in such things. As long as he acted respectfully, he could continue his chase. However, he did prepare a quick explanation.

Not forgetting to clasp his hands as he continued to give chase, he addressed Du Lingfei in respectful fashion and said, "Goddess Du, this matter between Bai Xiaochun and myself is--"

However, before he could finish his statement, Bai Xiaochun interrupted him with words that nearly caused him to fall out of the sky….

"Wifey, save me! Save me, oh my wifey of mine!"

Then he shot toward Du Lingfei and her group at top speed.

His voice rang out loud and clear for everyone to hear, and brimmed with profound passion and sincerity.

As soon as Du Lingfei heard Bai Xiaochun's words, her jaw dropped. And there was little need to mention the special guards around her. Their eyes went wide with disbelief as they stared at Bai Xiaochun rushing toward them.

As for the young man in the group, he looked at Bai Xiaochun with a cold gaze.

However, the shock Master Cloud Lightning felt surpassed the combined shock of everyone else. He was dumbfounded, completely swept away, even more so than he had been by the chaos of the Breakup Pill. Shivering incredulously, he tried to determine whether or not he had just heard correctly….

Stammering, he said, "Wh-what… what did you just call Goddess Du…?"

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Chapter 942: Frustrated Master Cloud Lightning

The words Master Cloud Lightning had just heard seemed almost completely impossible.

To see him reacting with such fright was very pleasing to Bai Xiaochun. Feeling very proud of himself, he hurried forward until he was right in front of Du Lingfei.

Puffing his chest out pompously, he turned to look at Master Cloud Lightning and loudly said, "Didn't you hear what I just said!? This is my wifey! Hmmmphh! In that case, do you know who my father-in-law is?! Let me make it clear, Master Cloud Lightning. The reason I never mentioned this before is that I, Bai Xiaochun, am the type of person who likes to keep a low profile! But you had to go bully me left and right, leaving me no choice in the matter! I could only ask for my wifey to come save me. By this point, you've probably figured out who my father-in-law is, right? Yeah, exactly. He's the master of Heavenspan Island, the exalted Celestial!"

Bai Xiaochun's words crashed into Master Cloud Lightning like a mountain. His face fell, and his eyes bulged on the verge of popping out of his skull. His mind spun out of control, and his heart began to pound violently in his chest….

Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that the quarry he had been harrying would have an identity like this, a status and background of such import…. The idea that he had been trying to chase down and kill the son-in-law of the Celestial left him completely bowled over.

And yet, he still couldn't quite accept the situation.

"I was just about to catch him! I was just about to put him to death…. Why? Why did this have to happen?!?!" Master Cloud Lightning felt like his head was about to explode.

He wouldn't have believed it was true at all, except… that Du Lingfei simply stood there looking shocked, not offering a single word of rebuttal. In fact, what was worse was that a slight flush could be seen on her face as she looked over at Bai Xiaochun, a slight glare visible in her eyes.

The look on her face dashed any last strand of hope Master Cloud Lightning had left. Of course, there was no way he could have noticed the strange glint that flashed through the eyes of the young man when Bai Xiaochun mentioned that the Celestial was his father-in-law.

Bai Xiaochun was getting more excited at how stunned Master Cloud Lightning looked. At the same time, he wished that he could go on with more information and explain that he also had a demigod for a father-in-law, and that his apprentice was the Hell-Emperor. That would probably scare Master Cloud Lightning to death!

"Hmph! Now do you dare to provoke me?" The frustration and fear he had felt during the chase had now vanished, to be replaced by joy and delight.

He had truly been put into a bad position by Master Cloud Lightning, and had been unable to escape. In fact, he had nearly met his death, only to make a stunning comeback in which he seized the ultimate advantage.

"Things are not over between us, Master Cloud Lightning!" he said proudly, swishing his sleeve. "Were it not for the fact that I didn't want to reveal my identity, I would have long since killed you. And yet you repeatedly bullied me over and over again! I will not forget this. You just wait and see what happens in the end!"

As Bai Xiaochun spoke, louder and louder, Master Cloud Lightning's face drained of blood, and his eyes began to turn blank. To him, it was like existing inside of a dream.

"I… I offended the Celestial's son-in-law…." He was afraid, truly afraid, so much so that he wanted to cry! After all, the Celestial was basically the emperor of the lands of Heavenspan, which meant that his son-in-law was essentially on the same level as a demigod. Master Cloud Lightning, on the other hand, was a lowly deva, a person who could be disposed of by a mere thought from a person like that.

"I…." Considering his current mental state, Master Cloud Lightning was incapable of maintaining his combined form. His two halves split apart, and then, ashen-faced and despairing, stepped forward with clasped hands. Bowing, they tried to offer explanations.

At around that time, the young man next to Du Lingfei cleared his throat and continued along as he had been before, completely ignoring Bai Xiaochun. Du Lingfei had recovered, and gave Bai Xiaochun an enigmatic smile. Then she turned to Master Cloud Lightning, the smile gone. Looking extremely lofty, she said coolly, "Fellow Daoist Cloud Lightning. Xiaochun loves to play pranks, so don't take him too seriously. In terms of whatever grudge you have with him, the best thing would be to resolve the matter as soon as possible."

Her words were spoken in a very formal tone, and seemed to imply that Bai Xiaochun's words from moments ago had been a joke.

But Master Cloud Lightning didn't take them that way. After all, he didn't miss the fact that Du Lingfei had addressed him as Fellow Daoist Cloud Lightning, but had referred to Bai Xiaochun as… Xiaochun.

That revealed the truth about everything, and sent a tremor through Master Cloud Lightning. As for Du Lingfei, she was apparently worried that her message hadn't come across clearly enough. Therefore, she walked over to Bai Xiaochun, straightened up his clothing, and then whispered a few words into his ear. Then, she ignored Master Cloud Lightning as she caught up to the young man and the special guards.

The matter couldn't have been more clear now to Master Cloud Lightning, whose vision was beginning to go dim from the shock and terror.

As for Bai Xiaochun, he simply stood there and blinked a few times. Du Lingfei hadn't said anything special to him moments ago, just to stay safe, and that she still had some important business to attend to.

However, he was very pleased with the show she had put on. Crossing his arms, he stuck his chin up and looked arrogantly at the twin Master Cloud Lightnings.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings were feeling completely overwhelmed with bitterness. They exchanged glances, neither of them quite sure about what to do now. They had been caught completely unprepared by this unexpected turn of events. In one moment, they had been shouting in triumph as they closed in for the kill, only to find the situation completely reversed the following moment.

Both of them howled with grief in their hearts, extremely displeased with how Bai Xiaochun had blatantly led them on. After all, if they had known the truth from the beginning, they would never have ended up in this horrible situation.

"This Bai character's true trump card isn't that fist strike, or that blood mist which causes him to lose consciousness. It's not even those weird medicinal pills of his. It's his relationship with the Celestial!

"What are we supposed to do now…?" As the twin Master Cloud Lightnings stood there feeling torn about what to do, Bai Xiaochun casually remained in place watching them, arms crossed. Occasionally he would snort coldly, but wouldn't say anything. In that way, he allowed the pressure to build up for the twin Master Cloud Lightnings.

Under normal circumstances, they would have just turned and left. But they knew that they had offended Bai Xiaochun too deeply. Now that his identity had been revealed, they had to take their sect into consideration as well.

"Um… Bai, old pal, that was just a misunderstanding earlier…."

"Yeah, exactly. Hahaha! Our Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect has been good friends with your Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect for a long time…."

Both of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings felt very embarrassed at this point. Very rarely would they ever give up face in this manner, a fact which was obvious from both their words and the way they pursed their lips.

Bai Xiaochun's eyes widened into a glare. Obviously, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were not being very sincere. However, he knew what to say and how to say it. These two were feeling very bitter about their loss, and therefore, it was probably best to quit while he was ahead. He cleared his throat.

"Very well. Since it was a misunderstanding, there's no need to bicker. However, that little chase of ours left me in pretty bad shape. I also lost a deva soul, as well as a manual for something called the One Hundred Cloud Lighting Forefather Transformations. Ai." Clearing his throat in meaningful fashion, he looked over at the twin Master Cloud Lightnings.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings' hearts crumbled, and inwardly, they cursed Bai Xiaochun for his shamelessness. The divine ability to which he referred was a secret magic from the north, and wasn't something they could simply hand over to him, not even if they were in a passive position like they were now. However, they also realized that if they didn't surrender it, the situation would be difficult to resolve. Therefore, one of the twins produced a crystal from his bag of holding, within which was sealed a deva soul.

"Eee? Oh, you did find my deva soul!" As it turned out, the Li Xiandao method actually worked quite well. Bai Xiaochun took the deva soul, examined it briefly, then frowned. "Fellow Daoists Cloud Lightning, you shouldn't have! Oh, by the way, in addition to the lost deva soul, I also happened to lose a bunch of spirit stones. And seven or eight precious treasures. Plus a whole bunch of medicinal pills!" With that, he looked up unblinkingly.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings felt like they were about to explode. However, they had no choice but to suppress their anger at the excessive demands.

"Dammit, why couldn't this guy just die? With all the things he supposedly lost, he could fill a whole treasure house!"

No matter how frustrated they were though, they could only grit their teeth and gather all of the things he had demanded.

Bai Xiaochun was feeling quite proud. Just when he was about to continue on in this fashion, the ground suddenly trembled as surely as if an earth dragon were moving about below.

Then, a massive, thunderous crash filled the air.

The energy released vastly surpassed that which had been released during the fight between Bai Xiaochun and Master Cloud Lightning. By about ten times! The plain, the jungle, the swamp and the desert… all began to shake violently!!

Something really big was happening!

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Chapter 943: A Copper Coin!!

The entire trial by fire shook violently, including the desert, the swamp, the plain and the jungle!

Of the hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators who had survived all of the dangers thus far, most had either gotten lucky, or possessed extraordinary cultivation bases or intelligence.

However, all of them were deeply shaken by what was happening. They weren't the only ones to react in such a way. The other living beings who existed within the trial by fire were trembling at the realization that a huge catastrophe was imminent. Soon, screams and cries began to rise up from within the lands of the trial by fire.

"What's happening?!?!"

"The lands are quaking, and even the sky is churning. What's going on!?"

By now, most of the surviving cultivators had gathered into groups of three, four, or five. Furthermore, many such groups had already set up methods of communicating with each other. After all, in a dangerous place like this where no one knew what exactly was going on, it was more important than ever to stay abreast of events elsewhere.

Therefore, many people began to pull out transmission jade slips and send messages back and forth.

Before long, shocking news began to spread….

"Someone… found the exit to the trial by fire. It's in the desert! However, a wall is blocking the way out, and we need to join forces to break through it!!" It was astonishing news. After all, because of how dangerous this trial by fire was proving to be, many people had already begun to give in to despair.

Now that the exit had been found, countless eyes went bloodshot. Some people were still thinking about the prizes at stake, and others just wanted to escape. Either way, all of them began to head toward the desert.

Bai Lin, Zhao Tianjiao, and various other powerful experts from the other rivers all began to head in the same direction.

Master Thousand-Ghost was currently in the swamp when he got the news. His eyes flickered as he suddenly transformed into a mist of ghosts that headed toward the desert, taking Sun Wu, Big Fatty Zhang, and Song Que with him.

In the jungle, Guru Spirit Immortal from the Exalted Zodiac Moon Domination Sect transformed into a shooting star that split the air in the direction of the desert.

On the vast plain, Du Lingfei and her group all looked in the direction of the desert. The young man in the group was clearly very excited, and his eyes began to shine brightly.

"There it is… at long last!" He threw his head back and laughed uproariously, his energy surging, although he kept it suppressed. Finally, he flicked his sleeve, picking the rest of the group up with power far beyond that of a deva as he flew up into the air.

In that same moment, a young woman could be seen in the desert, sitting atop a huge sandworm, a broad smile covering her face. She waved her finger at the sandworm, which immediately withered up and transformed into black smoke that she absorbed into her finger. Shockingly, she was surrounded by tens of thousands of sandworms, although instead of their usual vicious deportment, they all were trembling in terror at her aura.

"I used to raise you little earthworms to feed my three ghosts. Who would ever have thought that you would grow up to be so big?" A smile spread out across the young woman's fair face.

She was none other than… Hou Xiaomei!

However, if Bai Xiaochun were here to see her, he would immediately recognize that her aura was not that of Hou Xiaomei!

"Well I guess it doesn't matter… as long as I'm back." She covered her smile with her hand, and yet, that didn't conceal… her bizarre dual pupils!! Chuckling, she blurred into motion, heading toward the location of the exit that had been found in the desert.

As everyone in the trial by fire stirred into motion, Bai Xiaochun and the twin Master Cloud Lightnings both received messages via jade slip.

"Someone found the exit!" The twin Master Cloud Lightnings' eyes went wide. Ignoring Bai Xiaochun, they both turned and blasted off into the distance.

The news had come to Bai Xiaochun from Big Fatty Zhang, who, thanks to Master Thousand-Ghost, was now able to send messages at a much greater range. Bai Xiaochun looked at the information, and his heart began to thump in his chest.

"The exit is in the desert? But I went through the whole desert and never found a thing!" He suddenly felt bad that he hadn't taken a bit more time to thoroughly search the desert….

"Well, too late to worry about it now…." he thought, sighing. Of course, by this point, everyone in the entire trial by fire would be hurrying in the same direction.

Considering how far away he was right now, it didn't seem there would be much of a chance to come out as a winner. Of all the places the exit could have appeared, why did it have to show up in the desert?

"Wait. No. There should still be time! I have to at least go check it out!" Gritting his teeth, he also began to speed toward the desert.

As he traveled along, strange things began to happen long before he even got close to the desert. Rumbling sounds echoed out, and a shocking aura began to fill the air.

Off in the direction of the desert, the sky had begun to turn yellow, and furthermore, a brilliant light appeared that was apparently some sort of defensive shield.

The color of the sky and the defensive shield seemed to be connected in some way.

"What kind of place is this exit? Why does it have a shield?"

In almost the same moment that the shield appeared, the swamp, plain, and jungle all began to rot and wither!

In the plain, over which Bai Xiaochun currently flew, the grass began to dry up and die, revealing black soil beneath. The living beings that remained in the plain all trembled and passed away. The entire plain… was transforming into a land of death!!

Even the black soil seemed to lose any life that was in it. It began to dry up and crack….

Bai Xiaochun was completely shaken by what he was seeing.

It wasn't just the plain. Any living beings that remained in the swamp were dying, and the swamp itself was going dry. Cracking sounds could be heard as crevices opened up everywhere….

It was also the same in the jungle.

It only took a few breaths' worth of time for the entire trial by fire, with the exception of the desert, to be transformed into a realm of death!

Bai Xiaochun wasn't the only one to be shocked by this. All of the cultivators hurrying toward the desert felt very ill premonitions because of the withering, dying lands around them.

"What the hell kind of place is this?!"

A powerful aura of death began to fill the air, causing the entire world they were in to begin to grow dark and sinister, as if it were a realm of ghosts!

Everything was happening too quickly. Within moments, no clouds were visible in the sky, only turbid darkness filled with the faint images of evil ghosts, who looked down on the land with greed and hunger!

Because of how the other three areas were withering and dying, the brightly lit desert became more eye-catching than ever.

By now, the cultivators flying toward the desert had abandoned all thoughts of becoming some apprentice of the Celestial. They just wanted to escape with their lives!

Bai Xiaochun was so nervous he was panting. Furthermore, he was actually familiar with this particular sinister aura, although right now he was too flustered to think about that. After a few hours passed, he was in the swamp, continuing on toward the desert, when he noticed something off in the distance!

A spot of white light could be seen on the ground, very eye-catching because of the darkness around it. Before, the swamp had been filled with murky liquid and decomposing soil. Because of that, this light hadn't been visible. But now… with the lands withering away, and crevices opening up everywhere… that white light was very conspicuous.

"What's that?" Bai Xiaochun thought, surprised. He changed directions, flying over until he was above the very spot with the light. At that point, the ground shook, shifting the soil to reveal… a magical device!!

It was… a copper coin!!

The instant Bai Xiaochun saw that, his eyes went as wide as saucers, and his mind began to spin!

"Impossible!!"

Note from Er Gen: Guess whose copper coin that is? It's been there for a while now. Hahaha!

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Chapter 944: I Took A Wrong Turn...

Bai Xiaochun hovered there panting, his mind reeling and his heart racing. Never could he have imagined that something like this would happen. It was true that he was shocked by how dangerous the trial by fire had turned out to be, but this new development surpassed anything and everything in terms of how astonishing it was.

The truth was that… this copper coin left him completely and utterly flabbergasted, to the ultimate degree!

Even after a very long moment passed, he wasn't even close to calming down. Eventually, he made a beckoning gesture with his right hand, causing the copper coin to fly up into his palm. Then he looked at it closely, during which time his expression flickered with a variety of thoughts.

"How is this even possible…?" he murmured. The copper coin that rested in his palm was none other than… the copper coin which had once belonged to Master God-Diviner!!

Engraved on the surface of the coin was his very name! Master God-Diviner!

Bai Xiaochun clearly remembered the moment in which Master God-Diviner lost this coin, and how he had howled in grief….

As his fingers closed around the coin, he began to shiver uncontrollably, and think back to the moment when he, Master God-Diviner, and Song Que had been traversing the Deadmire. They had been sucked onto the strange bone galleon, whereupon Bai Xiaochun suggested to Master God-Diviner that he perform a divination to figure out how to escape. Master God-Diviner had pulled out this very copper coin, but had dropped it, whereupon it fell into a crack on the deck of the ghost galleon….

Even after descending into the lower decks of the galleon, Bai Xiaochun had never seen the coin again. It had vanished without a trace.

But now… here in this trial by fire, he found it!

Shivering and shaking, he looked up into the sky, feeling as cold as ice.

"What is this place…?" he thought, swallowing hard as he looked at the murky, leaden sky. All of a sudden, an idea popped into his head, an idea which, as he continued to think about it, caused his face to drain of blood.

"Don't tell me that this trial by fire… is actually located… inside of that bone galleon?!?!" Mind reeling, he tried to convince himself that it couldn't be possible. After all, Heavenspan Island with its trial by fire, and the Deadmire with its bone galleon, were two different locations.

No matter how he tried to reconcile it, it seemed impossible to connect the two together. How could the bone galleon and the trial by fire possibly be linked?

But… the presence of the copper coin seemed to indicate otherwise!

"If this place is part of that bone galleon, then that could explain why the Celestial sent the cultivators from the four rivers here to find an exit. It would also explain that extremely jarring teleportation we experienced." The more he pondered the subject, the more alarmed he became, and the more he came to be convinced that there was a monumental secret tied up within this trial by fire.

But what was the secret?!

The truth was that he actually didn't want to know. He couldn't ever forget what he had seen on deck 3 of that bone galleon: a vanity, with… a faceless, one-armed ghostess sitting in front of it!

"It's a good thing I had Great-Grandpa Gravekeeper's command medallion to protect me!" He absentmindedly rubbed his bag of holding, where that very same command medallion still resided. At that point, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, the thought of the ghostess still caused his hair to stand on end.

"Maybe I'm overthinking things…." he thought, scowling on the verge of tears. However, it was at this point that he remembered seeing the bone galleon later on in the Deadmire, and realizing that it clearly had more than three decks….

At that point, his fear grew more intense, and he looked up at the sky again, expression that of disbelief.

"Don't tell me… that we're below deck 3?" Not wanting to sit around thinking about the matter, he hurried onward. And yet, he couldn't clear his thoughts.

"It must be a coincidence…. Wait, hold on. If this is really the bone galleon, and the copper coin fell down through a hole in the deck, then that hole should still be there. If I can't find any hole, then… then it means I'm just thinking too much into it…." Taking a deep breath, he cautiously flew straight up into the sky.

Feeling so nervous he almost couldn't breathe, he continued upward, higher and higher.

He didn't move too quickly, and kept his divine sense spread out around him at all times to look for danger. At the same time, he searched for any holes or rifts that would indicate a passage to another location.

However, after searching about for some time, he didn't find any such rift in the murky sky. Gradually, he began to relax a bit.

"Hahaha! I knew it was just a coincidence!" Forcing a smile onto his face, he continued to search back and forth for a bit, but didn't find any evidence to support his theory. Even that couldn't fully dispel his suspicions, though.

"Maybe it's a different coin. Or maybe someone found it and brought it here." Neither option seemed very likely. However, he didn't have any other evidence to work with. So after a bit more thought, he decided that the best thing would be to go see what was happening in the desert.

Having made up his mind, he took a deep breath and began to fly toward the desert. But then, a tremor ran through him, and his eyes widened.

Face falling, he craned his neck to look at a certain spot up ahead in the sky!!

Although that spot seemed ordinary in nature, when scanning it closely with divine sense… a rift was clearly visible!!

It wasn't very large, and it actually flickered in and out of existence. Without getting very close to it, and examining it with powerful divine sense, it wouldn't be visible. In fact, to Nascent Soul cultivators, it wouldn't be detectable at all.

Only a powerful deva expert like Bai Xiaochun, who was closely searching the area, would ever notice it.

"There really is a hole…." he thought, his heart starting to pound. He looked at the rift, and then looked down toward the general area where he had discovered the copper coin. After making a quick calculation, he threw the coin down in the same trajectory he guessed it would have fallen if it emerged from the rift. Sure enough, it landed only a few meters away from its original location….

His mind began to spin even more violently.

"It really is the bone galleon!!" he shrieked. To him, that rift was like a fiendish monster. After all, the bizarre nature of the bone galleon had left a deep and terrifying impression on him.

Whether it was the three ghost faces on the flags on the deck of the ship, the mural on deck 1, or the skeletons and rocking chair on deck 2, they all left him trembling in fear….

There was also how Song Que and Master God-Diviner had lost their minds, and the most nerve-wracking thing of all… the ghostly mother on deck 3!!

Bai Xiaochun was absolutely certain that, without the gravekeeper's command medallion, he would have most certainly died on the bone galleon.

"The thing about accepting a new apprentice was a complete smokescreen. The Celestial obviously had some other reasons for bringing the cultivators of the four rivers here to help him find the exit. He obviously couldn't get onto the bone galleon by going into the Deadmire, thus the use of teleportation. Furthermore, he apparently didn't dare to just come here by himself….

"All the evidence points to the conclusion that… he wants something inside the bone galleon, and is using the lower-level cultivators to get it!! In turn, that means… that the Celestial has been in the trial by fire all along!!" Shivering, he thought back to the young man who had been traveling with Du Lingfei.

"Back when I slapped that guy across the side of the head, I could tell that he didn't feel like a demigod…." Sweat began to pour down his face. "I actually slapped the Celestial….

"Wait, if the Celestial is here… then that means Gongsun Wan'er is probably here too!" The only person Bai Xiaochun feared more than the Celestial was Gongsun Wan'er. All of a sudden, he had no desire whatsoever to get out of the desert. He needed to find Big Fatty Zhang and his other friends, and then hide somewhere until the dust settled.

Even as he came to this conclusion, a mysterious and sinister voice suddenly echoed out from the rift he had just discovered.

"Now that you're here, why don't you come in and look around…. After all, this isn't your first time aboard."

Bai Xiaochun let out a yelp of shock, then began to stammer, "This is a misunderstanding. That's all, a misunderstanding…. Um… I took a wrong turn…."

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Chapter 945: First Time Here?

Even as Bai Xiaochun attempted to flee, a powerful gravitational force emerged from the rift.

It didn't affect the air, or the ground below, or anything else in the entire world. Neither did it emit fluctuations that would be noticed by anyone else.

However… it did exert massive force on Bai Xiaochun, so much so that it felt as if his soul and cultivation base would be ripped out of him!

He could struggle against it, and perhaps escape, but in the process, his soul would be torn away from him and swallowed up by the rift!

To Bai Xiaochun's horror, he found that it was the same with his cultivation base, and even his blood. In fact, as he struggled, blood began to ooze out of his pores and fly through the air toward the rift.

It seemed like he might be torn to pieces at any moment. At the same time, though, the sinister, female voice continued to speak into his ear, describing what she clearly envisioned to be a most wonderful image.

"Stop struggling. Let me absorb your divine soul, and your blood… and eventually, the only thing left behind will be a skeleton….

"Save me some effort. Help me turn you into a most delectable feast…."

Bai Xiaochun screamed inwardly as he suddenly visualized… himself, with his divine soul sucked away, his cultivation base gone, bereft of blood, flesh, internal organs, and even his head…. The only thing left behind was a skeleton which crashed down onto the ground, held in place only because it was made of Undying Bones….

Years later, a passerby would be overjoyed to find such a precious treasure, and would turn his skeleton into medicinal pills, or a magical item, or perhaps even a skeleton puppet….

"Nooo…." Slowly, his mind went blank because of the intense gravitational force. Soon, the power reached a point that defied imagination, and in despair, he stopped struggling. At that point, he became of streak of bright light that shot into the rift.

With Bai Xiaochun gone, the rift closed up and disappeared. The entire time, nobody noticed what had occurred, neither Du Lingfei nor the young man with her, both of whom were trying to break through the shield of light in the desert.

Also near that shield was Hou Xiaomei, her eyes gleaming with anticipation, but her brow slightly furrowed as she looked off in the direction of the swamp. A moment later, the shield in the desert trembled as though it might collapse, and Hou Xiaomei looked over at it, the anticipation in her eyes growing more intense.

"At long last… I can return…. I wouldn't be doing this unless there were no other choice, Ghostmother…. I very much look forward to the joy on your face when you see me again…."

As the shield shook violently back in the desert, Bai Xiaochun's vision was finally growing clear, revealing a very familiar scene….

He was in a room that looked very much like a lady's bedchamber….

There was a bed covered in dust and cobwebs, a vanity, and a cracked mirror….

A scream escaped his lips, and he spun to leave, only to find that there was no exit in sight….

Seated at the vanity was a woman in a long, red gown. Her back was to him as she combed her hair and softly sang that familiar, spine-tingling song….

Tears of terror threatened to spill out of Bai Xiaochun's eyes….

"What do I do, what do I do…!?" he thought. He felt like his scalp was about to explode, and wished for nothing more than to escape. And yet, there didn't seem to be any way to do that. Without any hesitation, he pulled out the gravekeeper's command medallion and gripped it tight in his hands.

"Don't eat me, Big Sis…." he blurted in a quavering voice. Not quite sure of what to say, he began to babble a bit. "Uh… do you know the gravekeeper? He's my Master! You and I are probably on the same team….

"Oh, right. There are some people outside who mean you harm, Big Sis. Why don't you go check the situation out? No need to worry about me…. I didn't want to come here. You… you dragged me here, Big Sis…."

It was at this point that the woman's shoulder moved, as though she were about to turn and look at him.

"Don't look back!" he shrieked. "Just… don't look back. If you have anything to say, you can--"

In the middle of his sentence, the woman stopped singing. Continuing to comb her hair, she quietly said, "This is your first time here."

"Huh?" he replied. Then, he began to nod his head vigorously. "Um, if you say it's my first time here, Big Sis, then of course it's my first time…."

"Now that you're here," the woman said, her voice undulating in bizarre fashion, "I can't help but wonder what you're thinking about as you stand there…."

A look of confused surprise appeared on Bai Xiaochun's face. "Wait, first time? No, this is my second time. And you're the one who brought me here!"

"Nobody brought you here…. And your two friends are still right above us." She waved her finger at the mirror, causing an image of the bone galleon's deck 2 to appear. There, Song Que and Master God-Diviner stood on either side of the rocking chair, completely unmoving, blank looks on their faces.

The image, combined with the woman's words, struck Bai Xiaochun like a thunderbolt, causing him to gasp.

"Impossible! How could this be happening…? I left this place. I went back to the River-Defying Sect. I went back to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. I… I was in a trial by fire. That's how I got here…." Not only did he not trust the woman's words, he refused to believe that everything that had happened after he left the bone galleon, including the events in the River-Defying Sect and the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, were all mere fantasies….

And yet, there was something strange about the woman's voice which made it almost impossible to control his mind, and forced him to start thinking about the past.

As he did that, he unknowingly began to relax his grip on the command medallion….

"You never left…." the woman continued in her bizarre voice. Her shoulder trembled, and she slowly began to turn her head. However, she didn't stop combing her hair. In fact, she started combing it faster and faster….

She almost seemed to want to rip the hair out of her head! It was a bizarre scene that left Bai Xiaochun feeling profoundly shocked, but at the same time, somewhat blank.

"Anyone who looks at my face will descend into a fantasy of their own making…. This really is your first time here. However, it is not your first time… seeing my face." As she spoke, her head continued to turn. Within moments… she would be facing him directly!

Bai Xiaochun's face was completely blank, and he was shivering. As he descended into chaotic memories, his grip on the command medallion loosened!

The command medallion dropped to the ground, and the woman turned completely around! Her face was featureless, to the point where it almost looked like a blank sheet of white paper!!

But then a slit spread out on her face, which opened into something like a bizarre mouth. Then she lunged toward Bai Xiaochun as if to swallow him.

In that moment… Bai Xiaochun suddenly stooped down and picked up the command medallion. When he looked up, his expression wasn't blank at all, and he was shoving the command medallion out toward the mouth!

"Since you're scared of this thing, let's see if you dare to eat it!" Everything from moments before had been an act! He had decided to throw caution to the wind and create an opportunity for himself!

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Chapter 946: Youre Not Hou Xiaomei!

It all happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. Furthermore, the long-haired woman had clearly never considered that her powerful divine ability actually wouldn't affect Bai Xiaochun.

However, she was an extraordinary being, and despite the fact that it seemed to Bai Xiaochun that she couldn't possibly avoid his strike, she actually chuckled, and then vanished into thin air.

A moment later, she reappeared back at her vanity, combing her hair. It was almost as if everything that had happened moments ago had been an illusion. As for Bai Xiaochun, he stood there, his face ashen and his heart pounding in his chest.

Actually, her divine ability hadn't been completely ineffective. Bai Xiaochun had indeed begun to slip into a strange state of thought. However, it had only lasted for a moment before the scrap of Willpower he had inside of him, which he had feared lost when he formed his Heaven-Dao Nascent Soul, suddenly reared up for a brief moment.

That brief moment was all the time he needed to recover his mental faculties. That was also when he quickly came up with the plan to make an opportunity for himself, and unleash a counter attack.

However, not even such preparations were effective against this woman. The fact that she had simply vanished and then reappeared back at the vanity left Bai Xiaochun feeling quite shaken.

"She didn't vanish because of her speed. No… she… looked like she actually went back in time to the moment from before!" The mere thought that this woman had such an incomprehensible magical technique filled him with even more alarm than before. Scowling on the verge of tears, he decided that he should try to work things out with her.

Just as he opened his mouth, though, the woman chuckled.

"Interesting. No wonder the gravekeeper of this world picked you…. Your Will… is a bit different from the other people I've seen here…. Including you, there are two people on this ship that I'm particularly interested in…."

Bai Xiaochun stood there, confused by what exactly the woman was talking about. Suddenly, she turned her head again, not to look at him, but to look at a spot on the ground between the two of them!

Although the wood of the deck seemed ordinary in nature, as soon as she looked at it, it began to blur….

"Finally here…." she said, and her featureless face suddenly distorted, almost like a piece of paper being crumpled up. Gasping, Bai Xiaochun looked down at the ground.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

It was almost as if someone was attacking the ground from beneath. Massive force struck it, causing intense rumbling sounds to echo out as the floor of the bedchamber rocked violently. Then, another boom could be heard, and it shattered!

To Bai Xiaochun's shock, the woman began to laugh a bizarre, ghostly laugh. And at the same time, several beams of light shot up through the floor!

Although they looked like huge beams of light, they were actually thin threads, within which were cultivators! At first, they were very small, almost like miniature people, but moments later, they grew to normal size.

There were seven or eight of them, and all of them wore expressions of profound excitement.

"I'm first!!"

"Hahaha! I'm going to get a Millennial Longevity Pill!"

However, even as their voices and laughter continued to echo about, they looked around and saw where they were standing. They saw the vanity and the woman, and then the broken mirror. The woman turned, opened her gaping maw, and lunged at the entire group.

She was on them in the blink of an eye, and before they could even shout in alarm, they were swallowed up.

Then, crunching sounds rang out, sounds that caused Bai Xiaochun's spine to tingle, and his face to drain of blood.

Things weren't over yet, though. A moment later, a few dozen more people flew out, a second wave of cultivators.

"This place is dangerous!!" Bai Xiaochun shouted, looking over this second group. Then, it was to his profound anxiety that he realized he recognized one of the faces. "Xiaomei! Get out of here!!"

He was about to rush over to Hou Xiaomei when he realized that there was something very strange about her aura. And when he looked into her eyes, it was to his profound shock that he realized she had two pupils!

A bone-chilling laughter rang out that he found very familiar.

"I'm finally back!" Hou Xiaomei said. When he heard her voice, his eyes went wide with incredulity, and he stopped in place, beads of sweat popping out all over his head.

"That voice. That laughter…. You're… you're not Hou Xiaomei! You're Gongsun Wan'er!! What did you do to Hou Xiaomei!?!?"

The girl who appeared to be Hou Xiaomei was none other than Gongsun Wan'er, whose eyes shone with sinister light as she smiled and said, "You still remember me, sweetie? Don't worry, how could I possibly hurt your Xiaomei? I'm just standing in for her to play with you a bit."

At this point, Gongsun Wan'er slowly turned to look at the woman sitting at the vanity, who was still combing her hair. Brow furrowed slightly, she said, "I really hate it when people use my vanity."

"This vanity is mine," the woman replied in a raspy voice. "And you… are also mine. Did you think that if you hid your soul in that body, and then masked your aura, I wouldn't know you had come?" Suddenly, that gaping maw appeared again, to lunge toward Gongsun Wan'er this time.

However, the instant the mouth appeared, Gongsun Wan'er chuckled, and sent out a stream of black smoke that became a gaping maw of its own.

Then, the two of them began to fight back and forth, right there in the bedchamber!

Booms rang out, and the room began to rock back and forth. The shockwaves of the fighting caused the newly arrived cultivators to cough up blood and stagger backward, their expressions filled with shock and confusion.

None of them understood why, after finding the exit to the trial by fire, they were suddenly in a lady's bedchamber, a bedchamber that was profoundly dangerous.

Bai Xiaochun's mind was in chaos; events were unfolding too rapidly to process. Despite his confusion, though, he could sense that there were two souls within Hou Xiaomei's body. One belonged to that bizarre girl, and the other, was Hou Xiaomei's true soul, although it was currently sealed and suppressed!

"Xiaomei…." Despite how anxious he felt, he knew that there was nothing he could do right now. The force being unleashed by the fighting flung him backward, where he slammed into the wall. Then, cracking sounds filled the air as the wall shattered!

Revealed beyond the wall was… a severely damaged staircase that led to the deck above!

It was in this same moment that a third wave of cultivators shot up through the hole in the bedchamber. Included in that group were Du Lingfei and the young man.

In the moment that they burst onto the scene, an energy erupted out that seemed to shake the entire battleship, and it came from that young man.

In that moment, the young man's skin began to split and fall apart, as if he had been wearing it as an outer layer. A face appeared that seemed threatening without being angry, with eyes that contained heavenly bodies, and an aura that surpassed the most paragon entities in all heaven and earth. He was none other than…

"The Celestial!!" Bai Xiaochun shrieked in his heart. Although he had guessed that this would happen, to see his suspicions confirmed right in front of him caused him to suddenly think about what he had done so recently.

"I… I actually smacked the Celestial on the side of the head?!"

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Chapter 947: Reasons

Bai Xiaochun was feeling torn in countless directions. On the one hand, he was worried about Hou Xiaomei. On the other hand, his palms itched at the mere sight of the Celestial….

It would be hard for him to be more anxious and more unsure of exactly what to do.

As the Celestial's energy rose higher and higher, he turned into a series of afterimages that shot toward the faceless woman. Snorting coldly, he said, "Did you think that hiding in the Deadmire would keep you safe, Ghostmother, you old bitch?! Did you really think I wouldn't be able to get to you?!"

The Celestial attacked, summoning a projection of the entire Heavenspan Realm and sending it shooting toward Ghostmother!

Gongsun Wan'er did the same thing. Together with the Celestial, she attacked Ghostmother with full force!

The sudden turn of events was too sudden. The vanity was instantly blasted to bits, and the resulting shockwave swept out, catching any cultivators who were too slow to react with deadly force. Miserable screams rang out as they were shredded to pieces!

However, Ghostmother managed to evade the attack. Vanishing, she reappeared off to the side, her face featureless, and yet contorted with rage.

"You're nothing but a quasi-celestial, Daoist Heavenspan. You aren't even capable of imagining what true celestials are like. The fact that you sacrificed your own people, and came in here in disguise, shows that you don't even deserve to be a true celestial. True celestials protect their people! Because of that point alone, it's clear the gravekeeper made the right decision to reject you.

"However, I do have to thank you for bringing this clone back to me, this clone formed from the very arm of mine that Gu Tianjun severed with his sword!

"The whole reason I entered this place to begin with is because of this clone. She is the reason I was suppressed and limited by the gravekeeper and the will of this world. Here in the Deadmire, I'm unable to communicate with the world beyond, and unable to leave…. But now, things are coming to an end. You people have been waiting for me… and I've been waiting for you!" Ear-splitting laughter rang out from Ghostmother as she skirted the Celestial, and then shot toward Gongsun Wan'er. Although it was impossible to see her face, she seemed to radiate an air of excitement and anticipation.

"You deserve to be my clone, not the other way around!" shrieked Gongsun Wan'er. "We both want to get out of this world. We both want to get home! This time, I'm going to consume you, and I'm going to become the new Ghostmother!" Instead of evading, she actually sped up toward Ghostmother.

As the two of them began to fight back and forth, the Celestial snorted. He didn't seem at all affected by Ghostmother's snide comments from moments ago. Unfazed, he joined in the fighting, causing massive booms to rock the entire battleship. The bedchamber was being destroyed, and any cultivators who attempted to enter it and were struck by the fluctuations were instantly killed.

The battle between these three was the type that was far too dangerous for anyone to be present for. Even Bai Xiaochun, a deva with an incredibly tough fleshly body, was still coughing up blood, and was currently scrambling for the staircase.

That seemed to be the only exit. In fact, the surviving cultivators who could see it were all doing their best to reach it.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings were among them, as was Guru Spirit Immortal from the Exalted Zodiac Moon Domination Sect. Both of them seemed to be in bad shape.

The fighting between the Celestial, Gongsun Wan'er, and the Ghostmother continued to intensify. At the moment, Heavenspan Seawater was forming into a fist-sized sphere that then began to accelerate toward Ghostmother.

Gongsun Wan'er, for whom this battle was supremely important, suddenly opened her mouth and spat out… a rusted sword! Intense pressure erupted off of the sword as it then shot toward Ghostmother.

This was the third time Bai Xiaochun had seen this sword. The second was during Gongsun Wan'er's battle with the gravekeeper, and the first time… was when he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator! It was… a sword which had fallen from beyond the heavens!!

It was the enormous sword… that contained the so-called Fallen Sword Abyss!!

"So, you took Gu Tianjun's sword and made it your own…. How amusing." Chuckling, Ghostmother waved her hands out in front of her, causing ghost qi to erupt out in the form of a huge black hole which expanded out toward the Celestial and Gongsun Wan'er.

As the booms of battle rang out, Bai Xiaochun finally scrambled onto the staircase and, without the slightest hesitation, began to run up it.

Based on the conversation he was hearing, Bai Xiaochun was now getting a fairly good idea of what was going on.

"The Celestial never had any intention of accepting a new apprentice. And this didn't have anything to do with him restoring his cultivation base. In fact, it didn't even have anything to do with the four rivers. It was all… a plot revolving around the bone galleon!!

"Because the galleon is in the Deadmire, the Celestial can't reach it by ordinary means. Therefore, he sent the cultivators of the four rivers into its depths… to find a way to get onto the main part of the ship by other means, and at the same time, remain undetected!"

By this point, Bai Xiaochun was also fairly certain of the origin of the bone galleon, and it left him completely and utterly shocked. After all, it was back in the Wildlands that he had learned… that another world existed beyond the heaven and earth in which he lived!

Many years ago, in that wider world outside, this Ghostmother had been sailing this bone galleon near the border of the Heavenspan Realm, and was then attacked by someone named Gu Tianjun. In the end, she took his sword, but not before he severed her arm!

Because of some strange circumstances, her severed arm somehow fell down into the Heavenspan Realm. That was also how the Fallen Sword World came to be….

Despite losing her arm, and having her cultivation base fall a bit, Ghostmother managed to escape. However, she couldn't bear to part with her arm, and had paid a spectacular price to re-enter the Heavenspan Realm and begin a search for it.

However, her interference was immediately detected by the gravekeeper, who embodied the will of heaven and earth. Calling upon his profound powers, he had sealed the vicious and crafty Ghostmother in the Deadmire!

There, she had been unable to communicate with the outside world, let alone return to it. At the same time, she was unable to search for her severed arm…. And thus she had remained sealed in the Deadmire for countless years…. Most likely, the gravekeeper had been at the peak of his power and strength when he created the seal which imprisoned her.

As for the enormous sword which had fallen from the heavens, and the Heaven-Dao aura it contained, it ended up the eastern Lower Reaches, were it became a training ground for Foundation Establishment cultivators!

The countless souls that the sword had killed in the past were the banesouls which inhabited the Fallen Sword World. And one of them… was the incarnation of Ghostmother's arm!

That was the little girl that had possessed Gongsun Wan'er!

The soul that was the severed arm of Ghostmother had long remained inside the sword, unable to awaken, and unable to access its old memories. However, thanks to Bai Xiaochun's medicinal pills, that girl woke up!

After she recovered her memories, she wished to leave, and yet, had not been willing to return to her true self in the Deadmire. Instead, she entered into an alliance with the Celestial!

That huge battle which had been fought in the Wildlands had all been in the hopes of returning to her home in the outside world while her true form remained sealed!

It was a good plan, until the gravekeeper called upon the Five Yin Organs Secret Magic. That had been enough to seriously injure the girl clone, and send her fleeing from the scene of battle.

The gravekeeper had simply let her go, the reason being… that he had already made an agreement with Ghostmother! The two of them… would give that girl clone no choice but to opt for a second path!

That second path was another plan in which she and the Celestial would somehow sneak into the Deadmire and open a way into the depths of the bone galleon.

Then they would find an opening that led to deck 3! Their end goal was for the clone to consume her true form, become the new Ghostmother, and repay the Celestial in the only way she could…. After returning to her own peak cultivation base state, she would take her ship and the Celestial… to the world beyond!

Clearly, the Celestial had reservations about the clone, and was worried she might have secret plans of her own. Therefore, he had sent a large group of cultivators into a supposed trial by fire. Not only would there be more people to find the passageway they were looking for, but the Celestial would be able to hide among them. In all aspects, it was much safer for him this way!

Furthermore, the reason why he had brought Hou Xiaomei to Heavenspan Island was because she was perfectly suitable to help Gongsun Wan'er hide her aura and arrive undetected by Ghostmother.

And of course, little did the Celestial and the clone know that the entire thing was an elaborate trap!

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Chapter 948: The Deadmire

That was Bai Xiaochun's assessment based on everything he had heard just now, as well as the things he had learned back in the Wildlands.

Even if his analysis was not completely accurate in every aspect, he was confident that it was relatively correct….

And he couldn't help but think about the gravekeeper…. The truth was that, even back in that spectacular battle in the Wildlands, everything had gone according to the gravekeeper's plans!

"He really set everything up perfectly!!" Bai Xiaochun knew that the gravekeeper had actually hoped to kill the Celestial during that battle. Now, it seemed obvious… that the gravekeeper's killing intent was showing through in this backup plan!

This situation with the bone galleon had only unfolded because of the original failure to put an end to the Celestial!

"That's why he gave me his command medallion. It was to keep me safe as I passed through the Deadmire, but also… to make sure I wasn't killed during the final phase of this plan with the Celestial!" Bai Xiaochun was completely shocked, and simply couldn't imagine what kind of mind could come up with such a convoluted and meticulous plan!

"The Celestial… is definitely going to lose again!" After all of these realizations, Bai Xiaochun was feeling more and more uneasy. He didn't care about the Celestial, and was fairly certain that the man would be able to keep Du Lingfei safe. What Bai Xiaochun was worried about was Hou Xiaomei.

"Back when I saw Hou Xiaomei on Heavenspan Island, I don't think she had been possessed. But the next day… that strange, sinister aura I sensed was no illusion!

"Just now, there were definitely soul fluctuations inside of her body, which means she hasn't been completely consumed…. The only way to save her is to get her soul out of that body!" Unfortunately, it was to his bitterness that he realized that his current cultivation base wasn't high enough for him to participate in the fight.

Even the shockwaves from the fighting were too destructive for him to handle. Vision swimming, he stumbled up the staircase, leaving deck 3. At the top of the stairs, he looked around and found that he was on deck 2!

He almost turned to head back down the stairs. However, based on the fluctuations coming from the fighting down there, he knew that he couldn't go back. Even as he stood there trying to decide what to do, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings stumbled out of the staircase, followed by Guru Spirit Immortal. As for the other Nascent Soul cultivators who had entered the bedchamber during the fighting, most had been killed by the destructive shockwaves of the battle.

The Celestial had placed Du Lingfei and her group into his bag of holding, keeping them safe.

Deck 2 was just like Bai Xiaochun remembered it. The rocking chair was there, slowly moving back and forth, with the two corpses kneeling in front of it in their strange, partially-fused state. Everything else was rife with sinister frigid qi.

But there was something different about the situation this time. Bai Xiaochun was no longer in the Nascent Soul stage. After glancing at the scene, he sent his divine sense out and onto the rocking chair. In that instant, it stopped moving.

He took a step closer.

Last time, he had been very interested in the two corpses, and had been almost fatally attracted to the auras of the Undying Codex and the Live Forever Codex which remained on them.

Unfortunately, at that time, he had not possessed a deva cultivation base, and had been virtually overwhelmed by fear and a sensation of crisis. As a result, he had eventually just fled for his life.

But this time, things were different. He was well aware that he would most likely not get a third chance to observe this scene, and therefore, he needed to take advantage of the moment.

Without any more hesitation, he hurried over toward the rocking chair. As for the twin Master Cloud Lightnings and Guru Spirit Immortal, they reacted differently. This was their first time here, so as soon as they stepped out into the room, they looked around in shock.

By the time they noticed Bai Xiaochun, he had already reached the skeletons and grabbed ahold of them. In that moment, his expression flickered.

The moment he touched the skeletons, he could sense the Undying Blood inside of him suddenly surge to life. At the same time, a majestic sensation of qi and blood erupted from the golden corpse which had cultivated the Undying Codex. That aura immediately rushed into his hand, and a moment later, he had another drop of Undying Blood inside of him!!

He couldn't have been more shocked by what happened. However, now was not the time to think about practicing cultivation. Therefore, he suppressed his surprise and quickly put the two corpses into his bag of holding.

"What was that you just grabbed, Bai Xiaochun!?" Guru Spirit Immortal said, his eyes glittering. Despite the fact that they were in a moment of critical danger, the old man still could not suppress his greed.

As for the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, if they hadn't already come to know a bit about Bai Xiaochun's background, they would have reacted the same way. But right now, with the Celestial only one deck below, they didn't dare.

Bai Xiaochun completely ignored Guru Spirit Immortal. After putting the corpses into his bag of holding, he shot toward the next staircase. Last time, he had been unable to return to deck 1, but now that he had a deva cultivation base, he was able to identify the method to do so.

However, even as he began to move, Guru Spirit Immortal stepped over to block his way.

"We're all devas here, Bai Xiaochun! Since we all arrived at the same time, we should split any treasure evenly! You think you can just take it all for yourself?!"

"Screw the hell off!" Bai Xiaochun was worried about Hou Xiaomei, and was also privy to many other secrets that no one else was aware of. Therefore, he had no patience to deal with an irritating old man like this.

He immediately utilized his Mountain Shaking Bash, shooting forward with incredible speed, and simultaneously unleashing shocking pressure. Guru Spirit Immortal's face fell, and he quickly dodged to the side.

With that, Bai Xiaochun passed him and sped up the staircase.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings followed behind, and Guru Spirit Immortal did as well, with various expressions flashing across his face.

In almost the exact same instant that Bai Xiaochun stepped onto deck 1, deck 2 exploded, sending wood splinters flying around in all directions. At the same time, the fight between the Celestial, Gongsun Wan'er, and Ghostmother spilled over into the former location of deck 2.

Deck 1 looked just like it had before, without the slightest change. The fascinating, life-like mural could still be seen on the bulkheads. Of course, Bai Xiaochun had already looked at it in the past. Therefore, he barely glanced at it before rushing toward the next set of stairs, which led up to the main deck.

As soon as the twin Master Cloud Lightnings and Guru Spirit Immortal reached deck 1 though, they were immediately drawn into the mural.

Bai Xiaochun ignored them. In the blink of an eye, he was in the cabin above deck 1, and then… out on the main deck of the bone galleon!

The sky was murky and dim, and the ship was surrounded by a sea of bones. There were three flags visible, with three enigmatic ghost faces on them, rippling despite the lack of any wind…. Because of everything he had seen, because of the pressure weighing down on him, and because of the aura of the Deadmire that he recognized, the final, last bit of hesitation in him disappeared.

"We really are back in the Deadmire…." he murmured. Even as he looked around, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings and Guru Spirit Immortal stumbled out onto the deck, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

Moments later, three other figures burst out onto the main deck!

"You can't escape, Ghostmother!" Gongsun Wan'er shrieked. "I will consume you!!" As she shot toward Ghostmother, the expressionless Celestial also advanced. Between the two of them, they continued to shove Ghostmother backward across the battlefield!

Moments later, the handful of lucky cultivators who had survived the trial by fire began to emerge. When they found themselves on the main deck, and saw the fight going on in the air above them, they trembled with shock, and some even cried out loud in alarm.

"Heavens! That's… that's the Celestial!!"

"Where… where are we?!"

"The exit led to a ship? How is that possible?!?! What is this place? Are we even still in the lands of Heavenspan…?" Bai Lin and Zhao Tianjiao were present, although they were badly injured, and were being held up by Big Fatty Zhang.

The only one who didn't react with complete surprise was Song Que…. Trembling, he looked around in disbelief, and then glanced over at Bai Xiaochun for confirmation.

"We're in the Deadmire." Bai Xiaochun said, his mood dropping rapidly with every moment that passed.

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Chapter 949: As Arrogant As Him!

In response to Bai Xiaochun's words, the surrounding cultivators gasped in shock.

"The Deadmire?!?!"

"That region which connects the Heavenspan region and the Wildlands? That Deadmire?!"

"Heavens! I can't believe we ended up here!!"

These were all Nascent Soul cultivators who had experienced the deadliness of the trial by fire, and were now bearing witness to a battle involving the Celestial himself. Therefore, to hear that they were also in the Deadmire pushed them toward the brink of mental collapse.

The danger they had come to face surpassed anything they could have imagined before setting out on this endeavor.

No one could possibly have known that the supposed trial by fire was actually taking place in the depths of an enormous bone galleon, much less that the Celestial's proclamation of accepting a new apprentice was actually a complete sham!

Perhaps to call it a 'sham' was a bit of an exaggeration. Presumably, the Celestial would indeed select an apprentice after the matter was ended. But for all intents and purposes, the cultivators who had been brought here were being used through and through. It was a feeling that left them feeling profoundly cold inside, although they didn't dare to reveal that openly.

Now they were here in the Deadmire, a fact that caused despair to stab deep into their hearts. Meanwhile, up above them, the Celestial and Gongsun Wan'er were teaming up against Ghostmother in a battle of completely epic proportions.

Booms rang out constantly, causing the bone sea that filled the Deadmire to ripple and distort. Many of the bones shattered, as did the sky above.

The Celestial's Daoist magic sent a shocking projection of the Heavenspan Sea into action, and Gongsun Wan'er was going all out, fighting with even more ferocity than she had displayed in her battle with the gravekeeper. She was holding nothing back in her attempt to consume Ghostmother.

Bai Xiaochun was feeling very nervous as he craned his neck to observe the fighting overhead. Of course, he didn't care at all about Ghostmother and the Celestial, only Hou Xiaomei. Unfortunately, he didn't qualify to participate in the battle.

Even as he looked on, the Celestial's eyes glittered, and he shouted, "Don't forget our agreement! I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you complete your fusion!"

As his words echoed about like thunder, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture, which caused the Heavenspan Sea projection to transform into a sealing mark that shot toward Ghostmother.

This was the most powerful move the Celestial had used so far. The truth was that he had actually been significantly injured during the fight with the gravekeeper, and although he had suppressed those injuries, his battle prowess had been significantly reduced because of it.

But now, he was sparing no cost to attack with full force.

As the weight of the Heavenspan Realm weighed down, massive winds screamed, and the Deadmire trembled. Meanwhile, the converged waters of the Heavenspan Sea seemed to have locked Ghostmother in place. Although she had no facial features, her face was clearly contorted with rage.

Reaching out to point at Ghostmother, the Celestial said, "You are within my world now, and you will be weak!"

The projection of the Heavenspan world flickered, causing Ghostmother's aura to slowly weaken.

"You're mine, Ghostmother!" Gongsun Wan'er shrieked, turning into a blur of afterimages that shot through the air to appear directly in front of her rival. There, she spat out masses of black smoke, which formed into the face of a girl. Looking profoundly excited and greedy, the girl opened her mouth and lunged at Ghostmother.

In that critical moment, Ghostmother's voice suddenly floated out, soft, but somehow sly and treacherous. "Are you talking to me, Daoist Heavenspan? Or her?"

Then she performed a double-handed incantation gesture, sending black smoke pouring out of her hands to form countless evil ghosts, which smashed into the world projection.

Gongsun Wan'er's eyes flickered, and the Celestial frowned.

"Another useless move?" the Celestial said, snorting coldly. Taking a step forward, he waved his right arm out in front of him, causing the air to distort and winds to scream as an enormous hand appeared. Radiating shocking power, the hand shot directly toward Ghostmother.

The world projection began to shrink down, and the Celestial's all-destructive hand closed in. Ghostmother's aura was weakening by the moment. In that dangerous juncture, Ghostmother went still, then let loose a piercing scream.

"Heavenly Ghosts Slaughter the World!" Suddenly, her body shattered into pieces, which became roiling black smoke that spread out in a ring, in two rings, then in three rings. Soon, nine rings of black smoke had formed, in the middle of which was an evil ghost.

Looking profoundly shocking, the ghost roared and began to charge forward. At the same time, the rings of black smoke began to spin rapidly, transforming into something like a tornado!

The nine-layered tornado emanated a terrifying aura that struck fear into Bai Xiaochun's heart. It seemed like the type of thing that could destroy all magical laws in heaven and earth, including the world projection that had been unleashed by the Celestial.

When the Celestial's enormous hand slammed into the tornado created by Ghostmother's divine ability, it was the Celestial's attack that shattered. Then, the black smoke from the tornado swirled back into the shape of Ghostmother.

However, she looked blurrier than before, and was also retreating at top speed.

"So, Daoist Heavenspan, you really can call upon the power of this world. I underestimated you!" Even as Ghostmother retreated, Gongsun Wan'er picked up speed, becoming almost nothing more than a huge mouth of smoke as she got closer and closer.

Moments later, the weakened Ghostmother began to fight with Gongsun Wan'er, a sight which was completely riveting to both Bai Xiaochun and the rest of the crowd.

Bai Xiaochun was actually less shocked than everyone else. After all, this was not his first time witnessing the Celestial, and the way he wielded the power of the world via projection.

Clearly, the Celestial had managed to weaken Ghostmother enough to give Gongsun Wan'er an advantage. Gongsun Wan'er continued to try to consume Ghostmother, whose aura weakened with every moment that passed!

Normally speaking, Gongsun Wan'er would never have been a match for Ghostmother. If control over one's soul could be described with percentages, then Gongsun Wan'er only had about twenty percent control, whereas Ghostmother had eighty.

But now… as Gongsun Wan'er harried Ghostmother, she rose from twenty percent to thirty. And then forty. And finally… fifty percent!

Ghostmother was clearly feeling very anxious, and was having a very difficult time escaping because of the pressure of the world projection.

As for the Celestial, he hovered in midair watching the scene with cold eyes. He didn't step in to help directly, but continued to send pressure weighing down through the world projection. This same technique had been unable to control the gravekeeper, the reason being that both the Celestial and the gravekeeper were of this world. But when it came to people who were not of this world, the power of the world had the advantage.

Various emotions flickered across Bai Xiaochun's face. The truth was that he didn't know who he supported in this fight. The only thing he did know was that he feared for Hou Xiaomei's safety.

Before long, Gongsun Wan'er had sixty percent control, as well as the clear advantage. At that point, a cold smile appeared on the Celestial's face.

"It seems Ghostmother really is weakening," he murmured to himself. "If this is some sort of trick, then I have to say, it's a very daring one. And if I lose to it, well, I'd have no choice but to accept it." After a moment, his eyes flashed with determination. Then, in the moment in which Gongsun Wan'er reached seventy percent control, he spread his arms wide and spoke in a voice that seemed to represent the world itself!

"Slave Seal, activate!" The world projection twisted and distorted, and in the blink of an eye, transformed into an enormous sealing mark that descended toward Gongsun Wan'er!

The sealing power on display was fearsome to say the least, and even contained the power of time. Clearly, there was energy at play which had been building up for a long time!

Bai Xiaochun could sense that fact, and was shocked. Although he didn't recognize this sealing mark, he could tell that if it landed on Gongsun Wan'er, there would be no way for her to resist it, and she would definitely become the Celestial's slave!

And that was the Celestial's true plan. A person as arrogant as him, the ruler of an entire world, couldn't possibly put all his hopes in a person who might not win in the end. After all, how could he be sure that Gongsun Wan'er would actually take him with her when she left? However… if he sealed her and made her his slave, then he could be completely certain of the final outcome!

The sealing mark was incredibly powerful, and truly had taken a long time to prepare. In fact… he had begun to prepare it years ago, back when they first met and had begun working out the plan that culminated in this epic battle in the Wildlands!

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Chapter 950: One Divine Ability After Another!

As the sealing power erupted out, the world projection became like a dome, both enveloping Gongsun Wan'er, and rapidly shrinking down around her.

As could be imagined, once it shrank down enough, Gongsun Wan'er would become a slave of the Celestial!

Strangely, Gongsun Wan'er didn't seem surprised at all by what was happening. Eyes shining with strange light, she said, "You've been preparing for quite some time, haven't you, Daoist Heavenspan, you bastard. You were waiting until the moment I began to consume my primary form?

"But did you really think I wouldn't be ready for something like this…? You're a real joke, you know that? Remember… the reason for your defeat is that you don't truly understand the world you exist in, and also… because you have no idea how powerful the bone galleon really is!!" Shrill laughter rang out from Gongsun Wan'er's lips as the bone galleon beneath the feet of Bai Xiaochun and the other cultivators suddenly trembled.

Black light began to spill out from every bone that made up the galleon, which swirled and formed together into a beam that shot toward the eight trigrams mirrors above the cabin door.

"I didn't need to even prepare for this moment, Daoist Heavenspan, you bastard. Back when we were fighting the gravekeeper, you didn't dare to try to seal me, but now… you feel confident. Unfortunately, you had no idea that… all I needed was this very bone galleon! I am Ghostmother's severed left arm, and that left arm… controls the sealing magic contained within this battleship! The truth is that I've also been waiting… for you to attack me!

"Devil-Conquering Mirror! I summon thee!"

More laughter erupted from Gongsun Wan'er as the black light from the ship was sucked into the eight trigrams mirror. Then the mirror began to vibrate, after which it shot into the air, a streak of black light that headed directly toward the Celestial.

A grim expression overtook the Celestial's face as he waved his right hand out in front of him. Heaven and earth trembled, and yet, the intense black light did not shatter. However, it was shoved backward, whereupon it formed together into an enormous figure!

It was a hulking warrior clad in black armor, with green, flaming eyes. Based on the fluctuations rolling off of him, this figure did not originate in the Heavenspan Realm.

After forming, the warrior immediately closed in on the Celestial again.

"Power. Energy. Harmony. Healing…." After uttering these words, the black-armored warrior's energy began to rise rapidly. At the same time, he shot toward the world projection sealing mark.

Energy radiated out that could end the heavens and crush the earth as, to the shock of Bai Xiaochun and all the onlookers, the world's sealing power began to weaken!

An extremely unsightly expression appeared on the Celestial's face. Although he had known all along that, while he was plotting against Gongsun Wan'er, she would likely be plotting against him, he had never imagined that her plan would be to use the bone galleon itself against him!

If he hadn't been so badly injured back in the Wildlands, he would have had many tools at his disposal to deal with the situation. But his cultivation base was currently unstable, and his battle prowess significantly weakened. As such, his rage continued to build.

"Well, even still, it doesn't matter…. It's not like I only have one trick up my sleeve!" Eyes flashing, he waved his right index finger… which flew off of his hand and rapidly transformed into an enormous boulder!

It was dark violet, and other than being one of the Celestial's actual fingers, didn't seem extraordinary in any way. However, it did emanate an aura that led everyone who sensed it to gasp!

It was an aura that seemed capable of crushing all types of fiends and devils!

It immediately flew up to the world projection seal, fusing into it to bolster its power. Then, the incredible sealing power shot toward the black-armored warrior, who was incapable of standing up to it, and was forced backward across the field of battle.

"Heavenly devil stone!" Gongsun Wan'er blurted, her face falling dramatically. "Dammit! Even outside of this world, heavenly devil stones are rare! How did you get one?!?!"

Even where she came from, heavenly devil stones were objects not often seen, and using them required a massive wastage of resources.

Using such an object on one's own people was useless. But using it on cultivators from other worlds was especially effective, and could easily suppress them!

It was a moment of profound crisis, forcing Gongsun Wan'er to abandon her attempts to consume Ghostmother. Howling, she performed an incantation gesture with her right hand and then waved her finger through the air to summon the ancient sword of Gu Tianjun, which came from beyond the heavens. Grabbing it in her hand, she slashed it at the incoming sealing mark!

At the same time, the black-armored warrior erupted into flames, and his green, fiery eyes burned hotter than ever.

"Intuition. Awareness. Dimension. Creation. Absolute!!" The black-armored figure's aura erupted with insane power, causing cracks to spread out all over it. As that happened, energy from outside of the world began to spill out of him. [1]

Apparently, it was actually burning itself up to acquire an explosive burst of power to use in a deadly attack!

As the warrior began to grow blurry, his energy rose up into the sky, where a huge vortex formed. Through that vortex, it was possible to see what could only be the world beyond this heaven and earth. By destroying itself, the black-armored warrior was able to draw upon magical law that did not conform to the Heavenspan Realm!

If that magical law arrived and collided with the magical and natural laws of the Heavenspan Realm, even for the slightest moment… the resulting detonation could very likely be enough to break the world projection seal!

The scene playing out for Bai Xiaochun and the others on the battleship was almost too much to take in. In one moment, the Celestial and Gongsun Wan'er had been working together, only to have the situation suddenly reversed.

Ghostmother seemed too weak to do anything, whereas Gongsun Wan'er, who was Ghostmother's left arm, and could control the sealing power of the bone galleon, was going to the lengths of destroying the treasure that was the eight trigrams mirror. By combining the power from beyond the heavens with the sword she held in her hand, she was preparing to break the sealing mark that continued to descend onto her.

As for the Celestial, despite having been so badly wounded in the Wildlands, he had come to this conflict fully prepared. Not only had he unleashed the sealing mark that was the world projection, but he also had a heavenly devil stone. Both of those were weapons specifically targeting Gongsun Wan'er, and were things that he was confident she couldn't evade while in the middle of consuming Ghostmother.

At the moment, it was impossible to say who had the advantage. As the black-armored warrior collapsed to pieces, and the natural and magical laws from the outside world descended, Gongsun Wan'er drew them into her sword and prepared to slash at the sealing mark….

Which was when everything suddenly changed!!

A scornful smile spread out on the Celestial's face as he coolly said, "Considering how long that sword has been in my world, did you really think… that you could control it so easily? I just let you think you could!"

His eyes suddenly shone with bright light, light that seemed to perfectly match the light shining off of the sword! Then, he extended his left hand and waved his finger at the sword!

Gongsun Wan'er's face flickered, but before she could actually do anything in response, she lost control of the sword! The point suddenly swiveled and flew, not toward her, but toward the huge vortex up in the sky!

Bai Xiaochun's eyes were wide as saucers. The moment was so tense that he forgot to breathe. The twists and turns in this battle were almost too much for him to process. Everyone had so many plots and schemes going that it was hard to understand it all. It was especially shocking that the Celestial had actually secretly gained control of the fallen sword years ago, but left it there and allowed Gongsun Wan'er to awaken and fuse with it….

Bai Xiaochun shivered at how adept the Celestial was at hatching complex plots. It was really terrifying!

"Just how many years has he been planning all of this? Don't tell me he knew that Gongsun Wan'er would wake up from the very beginning?"

"No!!" Gongsun Wan'er screamed despairingly. The sword moved with incredible speed, like an arrow shooting up to pierce the sky. And as soon as it reached the vortex, it exploded!

Terrifying destructive power erupted out, completely wiping out the magical and natural laws that were descending from beyond!

Although the vortex seemed unwilling, it began to fade away. The black-armored warrior's eyes began to turn dark, and with a sigh, it collapsed into pieces!

Yet again, a shocking reversal had taken place. The Celestial had perfectly countered every one of Gongsun Wan'er's moves. And now, the world projection sealing mark began to shrink down over her once again!

"You will become my Dharma slave, who I will use to pilot this battleship…. I will draw upon the magical and natural laws of the outside world to open the gate, and leave this place! There is a new Hell-Emperor now, and he isn't strong enough to get in my way. As for the gravekeeper, he grows weaker every day. Who can possibly stop me!?!?" The excitement was clear in the Celestial's voice. As the sealing mark shrank down and down, it seemed obvious… that victory was at hand!

But then….

A profound, mysterious voice suddenly rang out in Gongsun Wan'er's mind!

"You have a choice to make now, left arm of mine. Become the Dharma slave of Daoist Heavenspan. Or… come back to me, and allow me… to take you home!"

1. The nine words spoken by the black-armored figure are nine "magical words" that come from ancient Daoism. Later they were appropriated by the Japanese, where they came to be associated heavily with ninjitsu. They also have special associated hand signs (incantation gestures) that you can see here. The Chinese version is not very well documented in English from what I could find, but you can search for the Japanese version by googling kuji-kiri

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Chapter 951: Bai Xiaochuns Oath

"You…." The instant the voice echoed out into Gongsun Wan'er's mind, she understood everything. Bitterness filling her heart, she replied to the voice in her mind. "So, you were gambling this entire time…. That's not like us…."

"You're right," Ghostmother replied, "it's not like us. But… the gamble paid off!" Ghostmother couldn't help but think back to the agreement she had made with the gravekeeper all those years ago, and how he was the one who had come up with this entire plan…. He was definitely a person worthy of deep respect.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from the last remaining bit of will from that most ancient individual…." The truth was that from the moment she had arrived in this world, she had been gambling!

After losing her left arm, her cultivation base had dropped, making it difficult for her to control the bone galleon. Even worse… without the sealing power available in her left arm, she couldn't activate the Devil-Conquering Mirror to draw upon her most powerful divine ability… her Three Ghost Flags!

Those three flags were one of the main reasons she had become Ghostmother to begin with. In the world beyond this world, she had paid a heavy price, and also called upon the help of a powerful expert, to capture three evil ghosts whose cultivation bases were analogous to the celestial level, and seal them into three conjoined flags.

When combined, those three flags constituted the most powerful magical item she possessed, especially the middle one with the laughing-crying ghost face. Before being sealed, that ghost had been only one step away from breaking out of the Celestial Realm. Although it never had reached the Archaean Realm, it could definitely be considered half-archaean!

All three of the evil ghosts' cultivation bases had been reduced because of being sealed, but when the three flags were used together, they could push Ghostmother's battle prowess to a level that was shocking even in the world beyond the heavens.

Unfortunately, the three evil ghosts were unstable and difficult to control, which was why she had asked an archaean to forge the Devil-Conquering Mirror. Normally speaking, that mirror was enough to keep the evil ghosts in check, although there was still some level of difficulty in controlling them fully. And that was why she had used a secret magic to brand herself with an eternal magical symbol, placed onto her left hand, which allowed her to summon and control the three evil ghosts.

After her left arm was lost, Ghostmother experienced a significant drop in her overall power. She couldn't control the sealing mark in the Devil-Conquering Mirror, and therefore… when the Celestial returned her left arm to her, she could only gamble on the outcome!

She had gambled that the ever-suspicious Celestial wouldn't trust anyone fully, and would eventually make a move on Gongsun Wan'er. And of course, this was all based on information given to her by the gravekeeper, based on his personal analysis!

She had also gambled that her left arm, personified in Gongsun Wan'er, would have made other preparations. Therefore, the moment when the Celestial began to fight Gongsun Wan'er was the moment for Ghostmother to make her comeback!

In truth… it wasn't quite correct to say that she had been unable to fight back against the Celestial's world projection. Instead, she had allowed Gongsun Wan'er to begin to consume her in order to create all of the opportunities needed!

"You win…" Gongsun Wan'er replied in her mind. "Take me home…." Of course, that conversation happened in the brief time it takes to snap a finger.

There were no other options available to Gongsun Wan'er. She didn't want to become a slave of the Celestial, and therefore, she simply closed her eyes and lapsed into silence.

The instant she closed her eyes, the black smoke around her took the shape of Ghostmother.

"You…!" the Celestial gasped, his face falling. He had gone all out to bolster the strength of his sealing mark, but in the moment before it completely locked down Gongsun Wan'er, Ghostmother appeared next to her.

"Ghost Trio, your time has come!!"

Intense rumbling sounds filled the air, the source being one of the three flags on the bone galleon, which exploded violently.

A roar of rage erupted out as a huge ghost face materialized, radiating shocking energy that surpassed the Demigod Realm and came close to the Celestial Realm!!

The ghost had three horns, dark violet skin, and was fiendish in appearance!

The instant the ghost face appeared, it shot toward the world projection sealing mark, causing the Celestial's face to flicker. The Celestial prepared to intervene, but before he could….

A rumbling sound even more intense than the previous one erupted into the air. The second flag exploded, and a second ghost face flew out!

This ghost was green, with numerous eyes! Furthermore, when it opened its mouth, even more eyes were visible inside!

Its energy was just as close to the Celestial Realm as the other ghost's, and in fact, was a bit more powerful! It was like a fiendish monster that, upon being unleashed, charged directly toward the world projection sealing mark!

The Celestial was clearly very anxious by this point, and was just preparing to take defensive action to block the two ghost faces when… a third appeared!

The third flag exploded, unleashing even more brutally powerful fluctuations, along with vicious, cackling laughter.

"You finally freed me, Ghostmother…." said a voice that shook all heaven and earth. It was like a combination of countless evil ghosts all roaring at the same time, causing everything in the area to tremble violently.

This ghost face was half black and half white. It was clearly laughing, but at the same time, seemed to be crying. Or perhaps it would be better to say that it was clearly crying, but seemed to be laughing at the same time.

It was bizarre to the extreme, to the point where anyone who looked at it would be so shaken they began to tremble physically!

The Nascent Soul cultivators on board felt their life force being sucked out of their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, and no matter what they did to try to defend themselves, it was useless.

Bai Xiaochun gasped, and began to tremble in fear. He actually recognized this most powerful of the ghost faces. It was the very same face that had smiled ferociously at him from within the flag back when he first saw the bone galleon!

This ghost face was so shockingly powerful that… it seemed to be perfectly on par with the Celestial!!

Bai Xiaochun wasn't the only one to be visibly taken aback. The Celestial was clearly struck with profound anxiety at the sight of these three ghost faces shooting toward his world projection sealing mark.

They were moving so quickly that it was obvious there was no way to stop them from reaching their target!

When they struck, the resulting boom was so loud it threatened to shatter the world. A huge depression appeared in the sealing mark, which clearly could not stand up to a celestial-level strike. Cracks spread out across its surface, and then it shattered….

Even more shocking to Bai Xiaochun was that, as the sealing mark shattered, the laughing-crying ghost face's eyes lit up with a gleam of greed, and he began to consume the destroyed fragments.

With every piece that he swallowed, the excitement in his eyes grew more intense.

"Delicious…. Hahaha! It's been a long time since I've enjoyed flavor like this…. This world seems full of tasty things. I want to eat them all!!"

"How dare you, you vile thing!!" the Celestial howled. He was just about to step forward to attack when the laughing-crying ghost face turned and looked at him, eyes shining with bizarre light.

"Ah, a quasi-celestial…. I think I'll eat you too!" Laughing loudly, the ghost face abandoned the shattered remnants of the sealing mark and shot toward the Celestial. The other two ghost faces looked on, clearly terrified of the laughing-crying ghost face. However, after a moment, they joined in to attack the Celestial.

Everything was happening too quickly. Everyone on the bone galleon was having their life force sucked away from them, and as a result, were completely ashen-faced and in despair. The devas had it a bit better off, and in fact, Bai Xiaochun wasn't losing any life force at all.

However, his eyes were completely bloodshot as he stood there glaring at Ghostmother! He looked like he was about to explode!

Now that the world projection sealing mark had been destroyed, and the three ghost faces were harrying the Celestial, Ghostmother once again turned into a huge mouth that turned to consume Gongsun Wan'er. And of course, Gongsun Wan'er was still occupying Hou Xiaomei's body!

Hou Xiaomei shivered, and black smoke began to pour out of her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It rapidly transformed into the image of a young girl, who looked around bitterly at the world around her, and then glanced back at Hou Xiaomei.

"Don't hurt her…." she murmured. Then she closed her eyes, and her soul body was swallowed up by Ghostmother.

At that point, another soul body emerged, which belonged to none other than Hou Xiaomei. It too began to float toward Ghostmother….

Bai Xiaochun felt like his heart was being torn apart. Blue veins bulged out on his neck and face, and his eyes turned more bloodshot than ever. Then, he shouted out in a voice that even attracted the notice of the Celestial and the three ghost faces!!

"Ghostmother!! If you want to consume Gongsun Wan'er, that's your business. But if you hurt Hou Xiaomei, then I, Bai Xiaochun, swear an oath that, whether I have to go to the highest heavens or the deepest hells to do it, I will kill you!!!"

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Chapter 952: The Bone Galleon Sets Sail!

Bai Xiaochun's voice was hoarse, despondent, and yet filled with indescribable determination. As he spoke, it seemed as though his words resonated with the natural laws of heaven and earth, causing them to echo out in explosive fashion.

Ghostmother was currently absorbing Gongsun Wan'er, and as a result, her facial features were becoming clear. Her eyes, nose, and mouth all appeared, revealing the face of a lovely young woman!

She had fair skin and entrancing eyes, and overall, was incredibly beautiful!

Her previously severed left arm was growing back, and within moments, looked as ordinary as ever. At the same time, a devastatingly powerful aura sprang up from her.

"Are you threatening me?" she asked, looking at Bai Xiaochun with eyes as entrancing as the stars in the sky.

However, Bai Xiaochun was not entranced in the least. Seemingly hovering on the brink of insanity, he grated, "No. Not a threat. Just… a promise!"

Bai Xiaochun wasn't really thinking about what he was saying. If he were, then considering his personality, he wouldn't ever dare to say something like this to Ghostmother. But… that was just one of the contradictions that was part of Bai Xiaochun.

Although he feared death, whenever he saw someone he considered to be a friend or family member in trouble, he would not flee or act with cowardice!

In this moment, Bai Xiaochun didn't even know what fear was. All he knew was that Hou Xiaomei's life was on the line. In fact, he had already decided that, if he had to, he would call upon his apprentice, and even summon the gravekeeper if necessary, to stop Ghostmother!

From the madness in his eyes, it was possible to tell what he was thinking, and how determined he was…. Ghostmother could see it, and it shook her deeply. She could already sense the will of the world around her thrumming in response to the oath that he had just sworn!

For some reason, her heart began to pound. In her eyes, Bai Xiaochun was nothing but a mere deva. Were it not for the gravekeeper's command medallion that he had, she could crush him to death without even thinking about it. However, her intuition was telling her… that if she consumed Hou Xiaomei's soul, then one day in the future, she would end up facing an incredibly powerful foe because of it!

In response to that sudden feeling, Ghostmother's eyes flickered, and the huge mouth she had summoned to consume Hou Xiaomei's soul suddenly vanished. Waving her hand, she sent Hou Xiaomei's soul flying back into her body.

"Not a bad physical body. Plus she's strangely connected to this kid. I guess she would make a good choice for an apprentice." Having made her decision, she waved her arm, sending the unconscious Hou Xiaomei flying into her sleeve. With that, she turned back to the bone galleon.

Bai Xiaochun's eyes nearly welled up with tears of blood, and he was panting heavily.

Meanwhile, the Celestial continued to fall back in the face of the three ghost faces.

"Ghostmother!" he cried urgently. "We had an agreement! We--"

"We had an agreement?" she interrupted. She laughed. "What a joke!"

The scorn in her eyes couldn't have been clearer. Before, she had been forced to put on an act, but now, there was no one in this world other than the mysterious gravekeeper who she would possibly fear.

She didn't even care about this quasi-celestial. Were he not so tied together with the power of the world around him, she might have killed him and turned him into a fourth flag!

"Unfortunately, he is bolstered by the power of the world, which would make him very hard to kill right now…. If only I could break out of the Celestial Realm and into the Archaean Realm…. Then I could ignore the natural laws and kill him. Right now, though, only someone from these lands could kill him without worrying about the blessing of the world."

To be openly scorned by Ghostmother in front of so many other cultivators caused an unsightly expression to appear on the Celestial's face.

He was really having a hard time accepting this. Moments ago, victory had been in sight, but now the tables had been completely turned. Not only did his plan to make Gongsun Wan'er a slave fail, but now, Ghostmother was back in a position of power.

"Gravekeeper, you bastard, you've blocked me at every turn," he growled to himself. "You did it in the Wildlands, and now here I can see the traces of your hand…. I refuse to accept this! I vow to escape from this world!! I rule this world!!" He truly felt like going mad. After all, if it weren't for his serious injuries, things would have turned out very different this day.

Before he could say anything else, Ghostmother touched down onto the bone galleon. Although she looked spectacularly beautiful, she also was profoundly scornful.

"Now the time has come to leave his world… and go home. Vile Celestial Bone Galleon: set sail!" With that, she waved her hand, causing rumbling sounds to fill the air, and the entire ship to vibrate. At the same time, the sea of bones surrounding it was transformed into ashes….

Crevices snaked out across the surface of the Deadmire, from within which bone spikes emerged…. In fact, from one of the largest crevices emerged… a sinister bone tail!!

It was almost as if some enormous creature were about to climb out from under the ground! Many of the cultivators that remained felt a massive force slamming into them, causing blood to spray out of their mouths as they were hurled off of the ship!

Bai Xiaochun was included among them….

At the same time, the bone galleon began to rise up into the sky. Countless gasps could be heard as… the main body of the ship, which up to this point had never been seen… became visible!

"This… this…."

"Heavens! The bone galleon is actually only part of something larger! The bigger part… was hidden beneath the surface of the ground!!" Bai Xiaochun was just as shocked as everyone else to see an even larger bone ship rising up from the ground!

More precisely, what had been visible before was only part of the larger bone galleon. Now that the bone sea was destroyed, and the Deadmire was falling apart, the full, ancient ship was being revealed!

Shockingly, it was… an enormous lizard made from bones!!

It was so large that it was almost impossible to look at from one end to the other! Furthermore, the bone galleon which had been visible before… was only part of the lizard's head!

This shocking development went beyond what anyone could have imagined!

Numerous cultivators, including Bai Lin, Zhao Tianjiao, and others familiar to Bai Xiaochun, were so astonished they coughed up blood.

Rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth as Ghostmother threw her arms wide, causing the sky to distort and a vortex to appear.

Through that vortex, Bai Xiaochun could see what appeared to be another world…. Although it wasn't clear enough to make out any details, he could sense it beyond the shadow of a doubt!

"Time to go home!!" Ghostmother cried. The Deadmire began to collapse as the huge bone lizard shot up toward the vortex!

From a distance, it almost looked like that lizard was punching a hole into the sky!

It was at that exact same moment that Bai Xiaochun realized that, not only was Hou Xiaomei being taken away, but there were other cultivators stuck on the bone galleon as well. In fact, there were dozens!

And one of them was… Big Fatty Zhang!

Big Fatty Zhang stood on the deck, trembling as he looked up at the vortex. Then he looked at Ghostmother with her upraised arms. At that point, a tremor passed through Big Fatty Zhang, and he recalled the dream he had experienced….

"Is this the new world…?"

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Chapter 953: She Awakens!

As the bone lizard rose up into the sky, the three ghost faces were tugged unwillingly away from the Celestial and toward the vortex.

However, the laughing-crying ghost face seemed far more defiant than the other two.

"I like this world… I don't want to leave! I want to stay…." However, no matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't escape from the control of the bone galleon, and was dragged ever upward.

Soon, the bone lizard was only moments away from entering the vortex. Down below, a look of indescribable longing could be seen on the face of the Celestial.

In terms of attitude, his was the polar opposite of the laughing-crying ghost face. He had long yearned to be able to reach the peak of the world he lived in, and then step beyond it. However, after all this time, he was still stuck in the same place. It was almost as if he were in a huge prison!

He didn't want to live in this world. He wanted to leave it. If he forced his way out… the world would be destroyed, and everyone in it killed. And yet, he still wanted to leave!

Big Fatty Zhang and the other cultivators stuck on the bone galleon were heading into extreme danger. But for the Celestial, that ship and that vortex represented the future.

The Celestial burst into motion, becoming a beam of bright light that shot toward the vortex!

However… not only did he feel pressure pushing at him from above, but the lands below also tugged him down. It was actually impossible for him to even get close to the vortex!

In fact, the will of the world which was part of him recognized what he was doing, and began to tremble on the verge of collapse. At that point, a howl of defiant rage escaped the Celestial's lips.

"Gravekeeper, you bastard! One of these days… I will escape this place!!" His words shook the world like heavenly thunder, and even caused lightning bolts to appear in the air around the huge bone lizard.

A sea of lightning appeared, almost like a huge hand that then grabbed at the lizard.

The Celestial was using his last bit of power to try to prevent the bone galleon from leaving!

Tinged with the power of the Heavenspan River, the lightning hand was golden as it closed in on the bone lizard.

However, before the hand could actually touch the lizard, Ghostmother chuckled coldly and performed a double-handed incantation gesture. Instantly, black smoke erupted from the lizard and shot toward the golden lightning hand.

Rumbling sounds filled the air as the two made contact. Clearly, the lightning hand was no match for the smoke, as it began to tremble and fall to pieces. Before it could be completely destroyed, though, the laughing-crying ghost face suddenly used an unknown technique to change directions and shoot toward the hand.

This sudden turn of events caught Ghostmother by surprise, and a murderous aura sprang up from her. Even the Celestial was shocked. However, he reacted quickly, and sent the golden hand speeding toward the laughing-crying ghost face!

A huge boom rang out as the laughing-crying ghost face… was snatched up by the Celestial's huge hand.

Then… as the hand descended back toward the Celestial, and then opened up, the laughing-crying ghost face was nowhere to be seen….

The Celestial stood there, eyes flickering with thought.

When Ghostmother saw what had occurred, her murderous aura grew even more intense, and yet, she didn't say anything. Looking back down at the world below one last time, she turned her attention away, and sent the bone lizard into the vortex….

However, it was in that moment that something happened that not even the Celestial could ever have predicted. Down in the destroyed bone sea, a figure shot up into the air at high speed!

It was none other than… Bai Xiaochun!

"Ghostmother, give Hou Xiaomei and my Eldest Brother back to me!!" He had long since decided to throw caution to the wind; he simply couldn't stand idly by as Hou Xiaomei and Big Fatty Zhang were taken into that vortex.

He moved with incredible speed, shooting up toward the disappearing bone lizard. As for the cultivators who remained down below, they looked on with surprise and astonishment.

The Celestial's eyes narrowed. From what he could tell, everything that was happening reeked of the gravekeeper's meddling, and he couldn't help but be suspicious about why the gravekeeper hadn't made an appearance.

"The old ghost's schemes run too deep…. I refuse to believe that he did all this simply to hurt me. There must be some other goal he's working toward!"

Ghostmother looked down from the bone lizard at Bai Xiaochun, and could see the bloodshot madness in his eyes. However, it didn't matter how fast he was going, there was no way for him to catch up to the bone lizard. Before he could even get close, it was in the vortex and fading away!

In the last moment before it was gone, Ghostmother's lips moved as she transmitted a message to Bai Xiaochun.

"Don't worry, I have an agreement with the gravekeeper. Because of that, I will keep your friends safe. The girl has unique qualities that conform to the techniques I cultivate. I will take her as an apprentice. As for the other cultivators onboard, I will keep them safe."

Bai Xiaochun hovered there in midair, looking powerlessly at the disappearing vortex.

"Xiaomei… Eldest Brother…." At the moment, he felt completely helpless and lonely.

He suddenly thought back to the dream Big Fatty Zhang had told him about…. Clearly, his Eldest Brother had anticipated this moment for a long time.

Bai Xiaochun could only hope… that Ghostmother was telling the truth….

As he grew older, as he advanced his cultivation base and increased his longevity, Bai Xiaochun was coming to realize… that growing up came with a price.

This wasn't his first time feeling it. He had experienced this same sensation often in the past. And it always left him feeling powerless. The only thing he wasn't sure about was whether to blame himself or the world around him.

He just wanted to practice cultivation and be happy. He just wanted to live his life and smile and laugh….

Pain and bitterness gripped his heart as he wondered if he would ever see Big Fatty Zhang and Hou Xiaomei again….

"Hopefully so…." he murmured to himself. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice how, as the vortex vanished and the Deadmire collapsed, the restrictive spells in the area began to unravel.

There was now nothing in the Deadmire to cause problems for cultivators. Perhaps, after many years passed, the area would return to its normal state… and people would be able to pass through it freely!

The Celestial left to chase the laughing-crying ghost face, and didn't take anyone with him, not even Du Lingfei. Du Lingfei looked up at Bai Xiaochun, mixed emotions visible on her face. She seemed to be in a bleak mood as well, but she managed to take a deep breath, fly up, and grasp Bai Xiaochun's hand.

"Xiaochun, don't be sad…. I'm sure that you'll see them again one day."

Bai Xiaochun looked over, and could tell that, as she clasped his hand, she was trying to pass all of the warmth and hope she could into him. After a long moment, he nodded.

There were less than 200 cultivators left on the shattered bones below. All of them were wounded in one way or another. Even Du Lingfei, despite having been in her father's bag of holding, had been affected by the battle with Ghostmother and Gongsun Wan'er.

No one was hurt too badly, but all of them would need time to recover. Soon, the entire group began making their way toward the exit of the Deadmire.

Not only did they need to get to a place where they could focus on recovering, but they also needed to determine where exactly they were. Whichever branch of the river was nearest, they would make their way to the riversource sect there, and then use teleportation portals to get home.

They traveled in silence, their hearts heavy. The twin Master Cloud Lightnings, Guru Spirit Immortal and Master Thousand-Ghost were devas, and as such, leaders within the group, but even they were wounded, and were still trembling in shock from everything that had happened. The trial by fire was not at all how anyone had expected it to be. Profound secrets had been laid bare, secrets which surpassed the imaginations of everyone present.

Eventually, they reached the end of the Deadmire, and found themselves looking at a world of snow and ice. When the twin Master Cloud Lightnings felt the frigid qi in the area, their jaws dropped. They weren't the only ones. The other cultivators from the north all looked around, eyes sparkling with delight.

"The north! We're in the north!!"

"I can sense the frigid spiritual energy of the north!!"

This part of the Deadmire… was attached to the northern Heavenspan River region!

Bai Xiaochun was still dispirited and downcast. However, it was in that moment that his expression flickered, and he looked down at his bag of holding.

"Is something wrong?" Du Lingfei asked curiously.

"No. It's nothing…." he replied, avoiding the topic. However, waves of shock were battering his heart. Just now, he had sensed that, within the coffin that Patriarch Spirit Stream had given him, the sleeping baby girl… had murmured something to him!

"The aura of home…."

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Chapter 954: The Hostile Northerners

Bai Xiaochun was quite certain that he wasn't hearing things. Whether it was the voice in his head, or the fluctuations coming from his bag of holding, he was certain that…

"She's awake!!" Shaken, he sent a stream of divine sense into his bag of holding to check on the coffin. However, all observations indicated that the baby girl was sleeping, her eyes closed, not a trace of life force on her whatsoever.

Because of how many people were around, he couldn't very well take out the coffin and examine it closely in front of them. Therefore, he buried his questions in his heart, looked over at Du Lingfei, and shook his head.

"No. It's nothing…."

Before Du Lingfei could respond, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings chuckled coldly. "Of course it's nothing. What, you find out you're in the north, and you're scared all of a sudden?!"

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings had been suppressing their anger for too long now. Bai Xiaochun had killed their beloved apprentice, creating a grudge that could only be resolved by death. However, the details of Bai Xiaochun's identity had caused intense fear to spring up in their hearts. Not only had they not dared to try to kill him, but being worried that he would try to get revenge on them, they had already considered giving him some gifts to smooth things over.

But after everything which had occurred later, and given that the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were devas, they were easily able to see… how the Celestial actually viewed the situation.

"The Celestial doesn't really view him as a son-in-law…. Although he's in some sort of relationship with Du Lingfei, unless the Celestial approves of it, he's just like any other deva. In any of the other rivers, I might need to fear him, but this is the north! Even if he's a dragon normally, he's a worm to me here!"

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings chuckled coldly, and did nothing to mask the cold gleams in their eyes. The truth was, just as they had been musing, in the north, which was controlled by their sect, they would have the upper hand when dealing with Bai Xiaochun.

In response to the twin Master Cloud Lightnings' words, the other surrounding cultivators' expressions flickered. The cultivators from the south and the west didn't say anything; they didn't want to get involved in any posturing right now. But things were different with the northerners.

Virtually all of the northern cultivators' eyes glittered. Now that they were surrounded by frigid qi, their cultivation bases could rotate more rapidly than before. Looking over at Bai Xiaochun and the other easterners, they adopted the same, hostile attitude as the twin Master Cloud Lightnings.

The eastern cultivators wanted to make a stand of sorts, but the dangers they had faced recently, and the fact that they were now in the north, sapped them of any ability to do so.

As for Bai Xiaochun, under normal circumstances, he would not have simply accepted the twin Master Cloud Lightnings' ridicule, and the hostility of the northern cultivators. But right now, he was in no mood for such things. His heart still hurt because of Hou Xiaomei and Big Fatty Zhang. Furthermore, he was still feeling shaken that the baby girl had spoken to him.

The only thing he wanted to do was go to the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect's teleportation portal and leave this place. Furthermore, he had no desire to go back to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. He wanted to go back to the River-Defying Sect, and take some time to calm down and recover.

Therefore, it was in rare fashion that he didn't even respond. The twin Master Cloud Lightnings said more snide things, and the northern cultivators continued to glare at him in hostile fashion, but he just walked onward.

He felt like returning to the east on his own, and the truth was that he had his ways to do that if he wanted to. But he couldn't leave the other eastern cultivators behind on their own. If he did, they could very well end up suffering because of it.

When the twin Master Cloud Lightnings saw Bai Xiaochun's reaction, they laughed coldly, but ceased any sarcastic jibes. After all, the visiting cultivators were just passing through, and would reach the teleportation portal soon.

"He's just lucky!" The truth was that the twin Master Cloud Lightnings had hoped that Bai Xiaochun would start arguing with them, and provide an excuse to fight. Although they probably couldn't kill him, they could at least injure him in a way that would take dozens of years to recover!

Du Lingfei never got to reply to Bai Xiaochun. However, the look in her eye when she saw the northerners' hostility was noticed by the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, and was another main reason why he didn't take any action.

And thus, the cultivators left the Deadmire and headed into the northern Heavenspan River region. The northerners were all very excited, whereas the cultivators from the other three river branches were much more reserved.

The lands around them were frozen, the sky was dark, and an icy cold breeze blew constantly, providing the only sound to be heard…

There were ice mountains everywhere, jagged and sharp, and profoundly cold. Occasional flurries of snowflakes would rise up, but considering the cultivation bases of the travelers, they would melt as soon as they touched them.

In surroundings like these, mortals would quickly freeze to death. But even the weakest of these cultivators were in the Nascent Soul stage, and thus, they were unharmed.

Before long, they caught sight of a mighty, golden river which flowed off into the distance. It was none other than the northern Heavenspan River!

In the north, where it was so cold that virtually nothing could live, the Heavenspan River water flowed eternally, and was not frozen….

"So this is the north…." Bai Xiaochun murmured, looking around and thinking about the Spirit Stream Sect, and the Frigid School….

There was little talk as the cultivators turned into bright beams of light and shot through the freezing lands toward the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect.

Before long, that mighty and majestic sect was on the horizon. Eventually, Bai Xiaochun looked up and saw… an enormous and shocking waterfall at the end of the Heavenspan River!

Just like the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, the waterfall connected the sea above with the river below, fueling the flow of the river.

At the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, the area surrounding the waterfall was filled with lush vegetation. But the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect was different. The area surrounding the waterfall was a vast expanse of frozen white.

Furthermore, flanking the waterfall on either side were two enormous statues of ice!

They were majestic to the point of defying description, and radiated a shocking energy and profound pressure.

The statue on the left depicted a scholarly and refined middle-aged man. He was gazing up into the heavens, and even stretching out his right hand out toward the sky!

His hand was empty of any physical object. However… it propped up a majestic white cloud, so large that it appeared to be a land mass of some sort.

In fact, countless buildings existed on the cloud, and beams of light could be seen flying to and fro between them. Those beams of light were obviously cultivators!

Bai Xiaochun gasped at the sight of it. Based on what he remembered learning of the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect, he realized that the cloud in the hand of that statue must be… the sect's Cloud Order!

"In that case, the Lightning Order must be on the right." He shifted his gaze to the statue on the right, which also depicted a middle-aged man. However, this man was by no means scholarly and refined. He looked like a warrior, with blazing, threatening eyes. Furthermore, lightning danced to and fro all over him.

There was a cloud in his upraised left hand as well, but this cloud was black. It looked like a storm cloud, and much like the white cloud on the other side of the river, was covered with buildings and filled with cultivators.

In addition to the difference in color, this cloud appeared to be filled with silver lightning bolts, as well as the muffled rumble of thunder.

It was none other than the Lightning Order!

"The Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect ranks their disciples by cultivation base. First heaven disciples are the lowest ranked, with ninth heaven disciples being the highest…. Furthermore, their sect is split into two orders, those being the Cloud Order and the Lightning Order…." At this point, his gaze drifted upward, beyond the clouds being held up by the statues… to two coffins, one large and one small!

The large coffin was pitch black, and emanated an air of extreme ancientness, as though it had existed for countless years within the stream of time. Within that coffin, Bai Xiaochun could just barely make out deva fluctuations….

"That must be the equivalent of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect's blue rainbow. That's where their devas reside…. That means the smaller coffin must be the home of the demigod." Having reached this point in his train of thought, he focused his gaze on the ultimate pinnacle of the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect….

There, was a crystal coffin!

It was only thirty percent the size of the pitch-black coffin, but it occupied the highest location in the sect, and emanated a shocking aura.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings looked around at the shocked expressions on the faces of the surrounding cultivators, smiled, and said, "Welcome to the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect."

The northern cultivators were all visibly excited to be home after such a deadly ordeal. In almost the same moment that the twin Master Cloud Lightnings spoke, piercing whistling sounds erupted from within the sect, and numerous beams of light shot down from the two clouds, as well as from the black coffin.

There were also deva fluctuations! One, two, three, four!!

Four sets of deva fluctuations pushed away the will of the heavens as four enormous faces appeared up above, to stare down at the newly arrived crowd!

The gazes of one of those faces suddenly shifted to focus on Bai Xiaochun, and then spoke in a voice that echoed like the roar of heavenly thunder!

"You… killed a disciple from the north, didn't you… Bai Xiaochun!?!?"

This deva clearly had ill intentions, and was domineering to the extreme.

Bai Xiaochun's eyelid twitched….

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Chapter 955: Menacing And Overbearing

Of these four northern devas, three were men and one was a woman. The woman was not middle-aged, but neither was she young. However, she was very beautiful, albeit grimly frightening. Of the three men, two were older, and one was middle-aged. The latter was very handsome, with sword-like eyebrows and eyes that glittered like stars. Bai Xiaochun had seen quite a few handsome male cultivators in his time, but had to admit that none of them could compare to this man in terms of good looks.

In fact, it left him feeling a little prickly. This middle-aged cultivator was just too handsome. Plus, he had a very high cultivation base. Considering how his eyes glittered, he was clearly the type who female cultivators would find incredibly attractive.

By this point, the cultivators from the west and south, including Master Thousand-Ghost and Guru Spirit Immortal, had all backed away from the eastern cultivators.

Zhao Tianjiao and Bai Lin both had nervous expressions on their face. As for Song Que, he wasn't quite sure how to feel. Although he was nervous, he was also itching to see what Bai Xiaochun would do.

After all, it seemed like an irresolvable situation. The northern devas probably wouldn't dare to actually kill Bai Xiaochun, but it seemed unlikely that they would hold back from unleashing their fury on him.

Song Que was right in his assessment. The twin Master Cloud Lightnings had sent messages on their way back, which led to the northern devas immediately coming to cause problems for Bai Xiaochun upon his arrival.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings chuckled coldly, their eyes flickering with icy light. "Hmph! Maybe we can't handle him alone, but with everyone together, it should be easy!"

Bai Xiaochun suddenly felt the pressure building up. Although he was in a despondent mood, this sudden development with the devas caused his heart to begin to pound. Without the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect had four devas. However, if the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were counted….

Then Bai Xiaochun wasn't sure if that meant they had six devas or five…. Either way, he would be completely dominated. And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that there was a demigod in that crystal coffin up above.

To have four enormous deva faces staring down at him caused him to groan inwardly. In fact, if the twin Master Cloud Lightnings weren't present, he would definitely look around in confusion and ask who Bai Xiaochun was….

But now, he had no choice but to take a deep breath and stare back with bloodshot eyes.

"I'm a mighty and majestic deva!" he thought. "Even if my bones get broken and my blood gets spilled, I can't let myself look scared!" Heart thrumming with madness, he stepped forward, looked up at the faces and… slipped his arm around Du Lingfei's waist.

Du Lingfei had already been trying to think of a way to resolve the situation, but before she could even do anything, Bai Xiaochun stepped forward and put his arm around her.

Shocked, she looked over. To any observer, Bai Xiaochun would look impressive to the extreme, the type of person who looked down condescendingly on all creation…. Then, in front of all of the cultivators from the north, west, and south, and as the eastern cultivators looked on nervously to see how things would play out, Bai Xiaochun leaned over and kissed Du Lingfei loudly on the cheek….

Song Que's eyes went blank with shock, and the twin Master Cloud Lightnings frowned. The northern devas looked on in shock… especially the handsome cultivator, whose eyes began to burn with anger.

"Wifey," Bai Xiaochun said loudly, "since our dad, the exalted Celestial, is gone, that leaves it up to us to patrol the north. Oh, I seem to remember that you have an Elder Brother here, right? Could you put in a good word for me with him? Actually, since we're already here in the north, we should probably go offer some formal greetings!"

Song Que gasped out loud. Zhao Tianjiao and Bai Lin stared with eyes as wide as saucers. As for Master Thousand-Ghost and Guru Spirit Immortal, they looked on with expressions of complete disbelief.

Although the twin Master Cloud Lightnings had been aware of the general situation, they could never have guessed that Bai Xiaochun would so shamelessly bank on his tenuous connection to the demigod patriarch.

The other northern devas were clearly hesitating. The truth was that even they were scared of Du Lingfei. At the same time, they were profoundly struck by how shameless Bai Xiaochun was!

"A mighty and majestic deva who seeks help from a woman! What kind of a clown is this guy?!"

"This Bai Xiaochun is exactly like the rumors say he is! He's treacherous, crafty, and has no sense of shame!!"

Bai Xiaochun couldn't care less what the crowd was thinking, and even gave a proud harrumph. As far as he was concerned, only an idiot would start a fight in a situation like this.

Du Lingfei was feeling very out of sorts. Face scarlet, she glared over at Bai Xiaochun, opened her mouth, and was about to say something when an enraged shout interrupted her from above.

"Get your filthy hands off of her, Bai Xiaochun!!" It was none other than the handsome, middle-aged deva, who became a bright beam of light that shot down toward Bai Xiaochun.

He had a mid Deva Realm cultivation base, and drew fully upon it, becoming a destructive meteor that bore down on Bai Xiaochun in the blink of an eye.

Bai Xiaochun was a bit surprised by this handsome cultivator's outburst, but there was no time to ponder the situation. Without any hesitation, he clenched his left hand into a fist and punched out into the air toward the man.

A rumbling boom could be heard, and Bai Xiaochun fell back a few paces, as did the handsome cultivator. At the same time, a murderous aura sprang up from Du Lingfei, and she shouted, "What do you think you're doing, Feng Chen!?"

Pointing angrily at Bai Xiaochun, Feng Chen said, "Lingfei, I can't believe this cretin would dare to sully you in my presence! I'm going to kill him!"

Bai Xiaochun was more than a little surprised at how this handsome Feng Chen addressed Du Lingfei. Blinking a few times, he looked at Du Lingfei and said, "You two know each other?"

Before Du Lingfei could reply, Feng Chen blurred into motion, attacking Bai Xiaochun yet again. At the same time, the other devas began to move in Bai Xiaochun's direction.

Bai Xiaochun gasped at the sensation of so much killing intent directed at him. There were four devas coming at him from all directions, making escape impossible. No matter which way he dodged, he would be facing a dangerous attack. At this point, cracking sounds filled the air as he roared and drew upon the Living Mountain Incantation!

Without any hesitation, he used the Mountain Shaking Bash, the Undying Hex, and a quintuple-power Undying Emperor's Fist!

The frigid coldness in the area suddenly grew more intense. The four northern devas were clearly surprised by this shocking fist strike, and yet none of them backed up. Instead, they continued on with full force to meet it.

A huge boom rang out, and Bai Xiaochun staggered backward. At the same time, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings leaped into the fray. Now there were six devas working together. As they closed in, they sealed off the spiritual power in the area, making it more difficult to utilize divine abilities.

At this point, Bai Xiaochun let out a shout as he got ready to crush one of his drops of Undying Blood. After all, he had no other options at his disposal; these people were being complete bullies, leaving him with only his Godkiller technique, which he couldn't control very well!

"Cultivators from the other three river branches," he said, "back up immediately!" It was a critical moment in which Bai Xiaochun was just about to use the Godkiller. Only a few breaths' worth of time had passed since the northern devas made their move, and already, it was a dangerous situation.

At this point, Du Lingfei looked up at the crystal coffin and spoke in a loud voice, "Elder Brother Zhou, is this how you treat your Junior Sister when she brings people for a visit?! According to the rules my father set for the trial by fire, deaths would be unavoidable. Don't tell me the north plans to use governmental authority to avenge private grudges?!"

The instant Du Lingfei finished speaking, laughter rang out from the crystal coffin. Then, the sky flashed with bright colors as a young man appeared out of thin air. He waved his hand, and although it didn't seem like he exerted any power to do so, massive force exploded in the air between Bai Xiaochun and the other devas!

The six northerners' divine abilities were instantly suppressed, and a gentle force shoved them backward. Things didn't go as smoothly for Bai Xiaochun, though. His divine abilities were forcefully crushed, and a powerful force slammed into him.

He grunted, coughing up a mouthful of blood as he staggered backward several steps. Gasping for breath, he looked up with bloodshot eyes at the young man hovering up above, radiating demigod fluctuations.

A very grim expression overtook Bai Xiaochun's face. Were it not for his unusually strong fleshly body, the blow from just now would have seriously injured him.

The young man glanced at Bai Xiaochun, then shifted his gaze to Du Lingfei, toward whom he smiled and said, "Little Junior Sister, do you really need to talk to your Fourth Elder Brother like that? Well, I guess I shouldn't get into any bickering. Men, activate the teleportation portal and send these cultivators back home to the other three river branches!"

Immediately, elders from the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect activated the teleportation portal, causing rumbling sounds to fill the sect. Master Thousand-Ghost and Guru Spirit Immortal offered respectful greetings to the demigod patriarch, and then led their subordinates to the teleportation portal. Within moments, they vanished.

Bai Xiaochun suppressed his rage, and led his own people toward the teleportation portal, surrounded by the sarcastic gazes and cold comments of the northern cultivators, as well as the naked killing intent of the devas.

However… it was in that moment that intense fluctuations which surpassed the demigod's suddenly descended onto the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect. The demigod's face fell, and even Du Lingfei looked surprised. Bai Xiaochun and the easterners looked up to see an enormous magical symbol descending from the sky. At a certain point, the symbol shattered, and a solemn voice echoed out in all directions!

"Bai Xiaochun is hereby appointed as a special guard to the emissary. He will assist Heavenspan Emissary Du Lingfei… in an inspection tour of the north!"

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Chapter 956: Three-Point Covenant

It was a Dharmic decree from the Celestial himself!

Bai Xiaochun was visibly stunned, as were the northerners and easterners. Thoughtful expressions could be seen on the faces of Du Lingfei and the demigod.

Silence prevailed for a long moment before Bai Xiaochun finally regained his senses. At that point, sweat began to drip down his forehead. After all, he knew that everyone in the north disliked him.

"Uh… I'm probably not a good fit. Let's just go back to the east." Feeling like he might start crying at any moment, he made a beeline for the teleportation portal.

However, in the moment he started moving, the demigod snorted coldly and waved his hands, causing powerful invisible bonds to wrap around Bai Xiaochun and prevent him from taking another step.

Bai Xiaochun could then do nothing but watch anxiously as all of the easterners hurried over to the teleportation portal, and then disappeared.

As of this point, Bai Xiaochun was now the only person left from one of the other sects, and he was surrounded by countless glaring northerners.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings and the other devas were all cracking sarcastic jokes amongst themselves. After all, it would have been one thing if Bai Xiaochun had been promoted to the position of emissary. But he was now nothing more than a guard. Therefore, there were plenty of ways the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect could cause problems for him.

"Who would have thought that you would end up staying here, Bai Xiaochun? Well, I hope you enjoy your stay in the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect."

"It doesn't matter how you threw your weight around back in the east. Here in the north… you'll have no choice but to bow your head!"

The devas had already decided that, even though they couldn't kill Bai Xiaochun, considering they were on home ground, they would definitely come up with plenty of ways to torment him.

All of the other lower-ranking cultivators were laughing and joking as well. After all, it was a rare thing to be able to make fun of a deva without fearing any consequences.

It all made sense. Bai Xiaochun had killed Master Lightning Origin, sowing a deep personal grudge between himself and the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, a grudge which extended to include all of the north.

Bai Xiaochun knew that there was no getting around it.

"I don't want to stay here…." he wailed inwardly. As for Du Lingfei, a wry smile appeared on her face. Although she wasn't sure exactly what her father was thinking, she did have business here in the north. Although she hadn't anticipated having Bai Xiaochun around at the same time, there was nothing she could do to change it.

At this point, Feng Chen cast a cold glare at Bai Xiaochun, then walked forward and clasped hands in formal fashion to the demigod patriarch and Du Lingfei.

"Patriarch," he said loudly, "I can accept the fact that this Bai Xiaochun has been appointed as a Heavenspan special guard, and will be stationed here in the north. But… considering how dangerous of a person he is, I suggest that we place some limitations on him, effective immediately!"

Bai Xiaochun wanted to offer a retort, but at the moment, the bonds placed on him by the demigod made it impossible to speak. All he could do was curse inwardly.

The other devas, especially the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, agreed immediately, and began to voice their assent.

"It makes perfect sense! He might be a special guard, but he's also a foreign deva. We can't just let him do whatever he wants in our sect!"

"That's right. Patriarch, a mere glance at this Bai Xiaochun and one can see that he harbors ill intentions. The best thing would be to put some rules in place to keep him in check."

Bai Xiaochun's anxiety began to mount, and Du Lingfei frowned.

Although the demigod patriarch hadn't openly agreed with Feng Chen, neither had he interrupted or refused. Therefore, Feng Chen smiled and clasped hands again.

"Patriarch, I suggest that as long as Bai Xiaochun is in the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect, he must abide by a three-point covenant!

"First, he will not be allowed to reside in the black coffin. He can stay in the Cloud Order, and will not be allowed to step off it a single pace. If he does… he'll be confined in the Lightning Order's Lightning Penitentiary!!"

Bai Xiaochun's heart was racing like mad, but all he could do was curse madly inside.

Feng Chen could guess how Bai Xiaochun was reacting, and even went so far as to look over and stare at him as he continued speaking.

"Second. He will not concoct pills while in the north. His Dao of medicine is bizarre, and so powerful that it can destroy even a riversource sect. Therefore, he must abide strictly by this second point. If he does not, he will not just be locked up in Lightning Penitentiary, but he will also be placed on death row and executed!"

The words were spoken with utmost solemnity, and caused a bit of humiliation to enter into the madness that raged in Bai Xiaochun's heart. After all, considering what had happened recently in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, he hadn't planned to do any pill concocting….

"And now the third point…. Hmph! The spiritual power of heaven and earth in the north belongs to us northern cultivators. How could we possible just give it to a foreigner to use in cultivation? As long as Bai Xiaochun is in the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect, if he absorbs the slightest sliver of spiritual power, he will be locked up in Lightning Penitentiary!"

This three-point covenant was cruel and harsh, to say the least. All of the surrounding northern cultivators were convinced that it would have Bai Xiaochun completely locked down and bereft of hope. Even the twin Master Cloud Lightnings were shocked, and looked over at Feng Chen with complete approval.

Everything Feng Chen had said made sense, and seemed to be designed for the benefit of the north. Even the somewhat unreasonable third demand met with the approval of all of the surrounding cultivators.

After all, the spiritual energy in the north did belong to the northerners, so for a person from the east to take it was basically theft!

Bai Xiaochun felt like he was going insane, and was even trembling. However, he was still incapable of doing anything other than scream in his heart.

"Bullies! Complete and utter bullies!!"

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the situation. And although he wasn't sure what exactly Du Lingfei was tasked with doing up here, he was fairly convinced that the Celestial was doing this in revenge for being slapped in the trial by fire.

Du Lingfei was currently looking coldly at Feng Chen, and doing nothing to conceal her anger and murderous aura.

"This is absurd," she said coolly. "To enforce a three-point covenant like this on a Heavenspan special guard is a complete joke!"

Feng Chen hesitated, but didn't respond. A moment passed, and the demigod chuckled.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," he said. "Let's do it."

"Fourth Elder Brother," Du Lingfei said, "you--"

"I'm not sure about the details of your relationship with Bai Xiaochun, Little Junior Sister. But you can rest at ease. As a special guard, he will not lose his life here so long as he doesn't kill any northern cultivators. By the way, I need to remind you… that this is the north." Chuckling again, he turned and vanished.

As he left, the bonds holding Bai Xiaochun in place faded away. He had seen how Du Lingfei leapt to his defense, and had also seen the cold attitude of the demigod patriarch, and it filled him with a sense of hopelessness.

"Ah, whatever," he thought, sighing. "I'll just do my best to behave. I hope boo's inspection tour will end soon…."

Du Lingfei looked very anxious. Considering that her father was still injured, and given how badly the trial by fire had gone, it wasn't just the demigod from the north who was feeling displeased with the Celestial….

And thus, with no way to change the outcome of events, Bai Xiaochun scowled on the verge of tears as he was 'escorted' to the white cloud above the statue of the refined and scholarly man. There, he was given the same residence that a first heaven disciple of the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect would get.

It was simple and crude, and in a remote location on the cloud. When Bai Xiaochun saw that, he sighed and tromped inside, scowling the entire way.

Days passed, and soon Bai Xiaochun felt like he was going crazy. Wherever he went in the Cloud Order, people glared at him, even ones with very low cultivation bases. These were people he could kill without any effort, and yet they looked at him with the same scorn they would show a prisoner with a lower cultivation base than their own.

If he ever got close to the border of the Cloud Order, a stream of deva divine sense would lock onto him.

Obviously, if he stepped off of the cloud, he would be imprisoned.

He also couldn't practice cultivation. He could sense that he was constantly being monitored, and therefore, if he absorbed some of the spiritual power of heaven and earth, he would be violating the three-point covenant, and would be punished.

He had never been restricted in this way before, and it was reaching the point where he couldn't take it. For the first time in his life, he actually wished he could do some pill concocting. In this place, he wouldn't feel a scrap of guilt if anything strange happened. In fact, he would hope for it to….

"And yet… these bastards actually said I can't concoct pills!!"

Trivia note: The "three-point covenant" is a common Chinese idiom that literally refers to some laws made by Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. Later, the idiom came to refer to general rules and agreements. Here, it's being literally used to mean a rule with three stipulations

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Chapter 957: The Celestials Apprentice!

"How is a person supposed to live like this?!?!" To Bai Xiaochun, it felt like being trapped in a pit of despair. By this point, he was absolutely furious at the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the situation. He couldn't beat six devas in a fight, and that wasn't even mentioning the demigod patriarch. Therefore, he simply had to endure.

"Grin and bear it!" he growled, tugging furiously at his hair. He had never been in such torment in his entire life, a situation in which all he could do was sit there and stare off into the sky.

He couldn't cultivate his Sun-Moon Vast-Sky Incantation. And when it came to his Undying Blood… he didn't have enough life force to work with.

Other than sitting around bored, the only thing he could do was… sit around bored. Eventually, Du Lingfei came over to see him, and could tell from his disheveled state how dispirited he was, and that he was having a difficult time enduring.

"Xiaochun, just wait a little bit longer," she said comfortingly. "And absolutely, positively do not do anything rash. I have an important mission to accomplish here for father. I'll try to get it done as quickly as possible, and then we can leave this place."

Bai Xiaochun nodded dully, not even glancing at her as he continued to stare out into nothing.

Du Lingfei sighed, looked at him for a long moment, and then flew out of the sect.

Several more days passed, during which Bai Xiaochun simply sat around with nothing to do. Eventually, the northern devas realized that he was going to behave himself. However, they simply snorted coldly and proceeded to keep a very close eye on him.

There was nothing else Bai Xiaochun could do other than stare off into the distance. The truth was that he really had no idea of what else to possibly do. He tried reaching out to the little turtle, but didn't get even a single response.

As for the baby girl in the coffin, he didn't dare to bring her out, not with so many eyes monitoring him day and night.

Eventually, he had been sitting around bored for about half a month. One evening, he was sitting there as listless as usual, watching the deep red sunset, and the moon climbing up into the sky.

It was in that very moment that, without any warning, he heard a faint sigh.

Along with the sigh, he sensed certain fluctuations in his bag of holding….

"The aura of home…."

Bai Xiaochun very nearly gasped, but managed to keep himself under control. Despite the tsunamis of shock battering at his heart, he kept the expression of boredom on his face.

Without the slightest hesitation, he spoke into his mind, "Are you speaking to me, true spirit?!"

A long moment passed in which he got no response. Anxious, he was just contemplating taking the coffin out to look at, when the same faint voice was again transmitted into his mind.

"It's me…. Thank you for letting me once again feel… the aura of home…."

Bai Xiaochun was feeling very deeply shaken. To have the baby girl awaken in his moment of profound boredom had him feeling extremely excited. Therefore, he didn't hesitate to respond.

"How are you able to wake up without a River-Defying Pill?"

"My body isn't awake," continued the voice, "only my mind…. The north used to be my home, and the spiritual energy here is very beneficial to me…. If I can absorb enough of it, then it will be just as effective as a Hundred Breaths River-Defying Pill…. Unfortunately, even my mind can't stay awake very long right now…."

Worried that she would fall asleep soon, he quickly went on with the conversation. "The aura of home? Patriarch Spirit Stream once told me that the Spirit Stream Sect used to be a riversource sect from the north… the Frigid School. Is that what you're talking about?"

"The Frigid School…." The baby girl laughed softly, a bitter laughter that seemed filled with reminiscence. "You're right. The Frigid School…. Once upon a time, I was the Celestial's top apprentice. In his campaign against the Arch-Emperor Dynasty, I killed multiple heavenly kings. I eventually helped him drive the dynasty completely out of the Heavenspan River region…. Later, it was to help him defend the northern river region that I founded the riversource sect here… the Frigid School!"

"What?" he said, stunned. He had originally been interested in talking mostly because he was so bored. Never could he have imagined that a single question on his part would reveal astonishing secrets! It seemed almost unbelievable that this baby girl had once been the Celestial's top apprentice. After all, the current apprentices of the Celestial were the demigod patriarchs of the four riversource sects.

"How did…." he began, but then hesitated.

"You want to know how I ended up like this, and why the Frigid School was replaced by the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect…?

"Well, the answer is simple…. The Celestial wanted it that way. Otherwise, there is no way that Zhou Daoyi… could have possibly been a match for me, even if he was a demigod!"

Bai Xiaochun's eyes went wide, and he began panting. This new information from the baby girl was simply too astonishing. He simply couldn't imagine what the Frigid School's demigod expert could possibly have done to cause the Celestial to ignore the Master-apprentice bond and kill her. And why was she still around, a discarnate soul in the form of a baby girl?!

The baby girl could sense what Bai Xiaochun was thinking. After a moment of silence, she continued, "Child, I'm prepared to give you some spectacular good fortune, if you dare to take it!"

After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Is it dangerous?"

This time, half an incense stick's worth of time passed before her voice thrummed in his mind again.

"I'm very curious why the Spirit Stream Sect would possibly give my coffin to you…."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Bai Xiaochun decided to explain himself a bit. "Uh… I guess it must be because I like to play things safe. Hahaha…."

Ignoring him, the baby girl continued. "Back when I realized the Celestial was planning to kill me, I made plenty of preparations. Although my true self died, I managed to send out a soulclone…. The soulclone possessed the body of a true spirit, and erased all traces of my aura from it. Because of that, it was impossible for the Celestial to detect me.

"However, I only possessed the true spirit because my first plan failed. I originally wanted to possess a world treasure! The world treasure was not completed in time. If it had, then given the Celestial's cultivation base at the time, I might have been able to take him out!"

Unable to hold back, Bai Xiaochun asked, "World treasure?"

"The lands of the north in their entirety form the foundation of a world treasure. It was forged starting from the very depths of the ice here…. Do you understand what type of magical item I'm talking about? A world treasure!" In this moment, the baby girl seemed completely domineering and powerful!

As for Bai Xiaochun, his eyes were nearly popping out of his skull.

"You took all of the lands of the north and used them to create a treasure? But… the north is so huge…." After all, the north was just like the east, almost like a continent in terms of size.

And yet, here this baby girl was saying that those lands were used as the foundation of a magical item, albeit one that was never completed….

Despite being a deva, this sounded like nothing more than a fairy tale to Bai Xiaochun.

"Heavens!" he thought. "I was just bored and wanted someone to talk to! Who would have thought that the conversation would be as monumental as this!?" He couldn't help but look down at the ground below and think about the idea of it being part of a huge magical item.

At this point, the baby girl continued speaking. "I can sense that after all the years which have passed, the magical item… has fully taken shape. I need your help to finish the process. Once I become the spirit automaton of the treasure, I can repay you… by bonding the item to you!

"The only requirement I have… is that you kill the Celestial!

"The treasure will be incredibly powerful. It will take all of the lands of the north, remove them from the Heavenspan Realm, and transform them into… a frigid greatsword!

"The cultivators who live in the north, as well as any other living beings who have proliferated here, will not die. They will live in the world of the magical item. And once the sword is bonded to you… you will be its owner and master!

"At the same time… when I fuse with the world treasure, I can give you access to the boundless spiritual energy of heaven and earth that has built up in it over the years. In a very short period of time, your cultivation base… may very well jump all the way into the Demigod Realm!

"That is the good fortune I wish to give you… And now, you need to tell me whether or not you dare to take it!" The baby girl spoke with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron!

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Chapter 958: Ill Sell Medicine!

Bai Xiaochun almost couldn't control his breathing, and his eyes shone with intense brightness.

The mere thought of this good fortune caused him to visualize himself wielding a massive sword forged from the northern lands. He would sweep across all creation, and countless individuals with weaker cultivation bases than himself would gaze at him with awe and fervor.

That would truly be the peak of life! He could imagine how he would throw his head back and laugh uproariously, then flick his sleeve, stick his chin up and coolly say, With the flick of a sleeve, I, Bai Xiaochun, reduced all heaven and earth to ashes….

As he continued to imagine the scene which would play out when he became the ruler of the north, he saw the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, the furious Feng Chen, and even the demigod patriarch, all standing next to him, their hands tucked into opposite sleeves as they bowed and scraped….

Already, his excitement was building. However, after a moment, he hesitated. To have something amazing like this just fall out of the sky into his lap seemed a bit odd. At the same time, he figured that it wouldn't be good to seem too eager.

Therefore, he cleared his throat and hesitantly said, "Well, the thing is--"

However, before he could say anything else, the baby girl interrupted. "I can't stay awake for very long before needing to sleep again…. Tell me your answer the next time I wake up…." Then her voice faded away into nothing.

"Huh?" Surprised, he called out into his mind a few more times, but got no answer. Shaking his head, he came to the conclusion that the baby girl really had fallen unconscious again.

"She passed out way too quickly! I wasn't even finished talking!" At this moment, his heart was itching with anticipation. The good fortune the baby girl had offered him was simply too enticing.

Sadly, there was nothing he could do about it now. The baby girl was too weak, so he would have to wait until the next time she woke up before continuing to discuss the matter. Sighing, he tried to figure out if the girl had intentionally fallen asleep right at that moment….

After analyzing the matter a bit, he couldn't be sure, so he started thinking about what he would say the next time he could talk to her.

In the following days, he continued to look bored, but the truth was that with this new topic to ponder, he had plenty to think about.

Ten days passed by in a flash. Bai Xiaochun waited and waited, but the baby girl never woke up. It reached the point where he was so anxious for it to happen that it felt like ants were marching across his heart day and night.

At the same time, he had gotten used to life in the north. He followed all the rules, neither leaving the Cloud Order, concocting pills, or absorbing any of the energy of heaven and earth in the area.

Because of how well he behaved himself, the northerners, while they still didn't like him, also couldn't find anything to complain about.

He was still kept under close watch, though. Even the six devas would occasionally keep tabs on him. Countless disciples in the Cloud Order would talk about him, and even laugh coldly sometimes as they looked at his residence from afar.

"Bai Xiaochun has a reputation for being really aggressive, but now that he's here in the north, he had no choice but to bow his head! You know, it feels great to be able to bully a deva like this."

"Deva? Ha! Here in the north, he can't do anything! You guys should have seen it when he got put in his place. It was hilarious!"

"You know, I heard stories about Bai Xiaochun before. Supposedly, he causes disasters everywhere he goes. I'd always assumed he was some kind of superhuman monster, but I guess those were just exaggerations!"

Talk like this floated around the entire time. Although Bai Xiaochun wasn't interested in listening to it, his keen deva divine sense made it almost impossible not to.

"This is outrageous! I can't believe they're being so sarcastic even though I'm behaving myself!" The more he heard, the angrier he got. Furthermore, considering that the baby girl wouldn't wake up, it eventually got the point where time seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl.

"Enough is enough! I don't care if I have no freedom, I have to work on my cultivation!" Bai Xiaochun had never thought of himself as a person who was truly into cultivation. But now that he was in the north, he had really begun to miss it.

After all, whenever he was in seclusion practicing cultivation, it was almost like being asleep. Time would fly by incredibly quickly.

"My Undying Blood needs life force, but I don't have access to any cultivation resources, and I can't bring that golden skeleton I found out into the open…. My Sun-Moon Vast-Sky Incantation requires the energy of heaven and earth, but the northerners won't let me absorb any…." It was a really frustrating situation, like an endless useless cycle. No matter what ideas he came up with, nothing seemed viable. There had to be a way to circumvent the three-point covenant and figure out a way to work on his cultivation!

A few days later, he looked up, hair disheveled and eyes bloodshot, yet shining with bright light. Smacking his thigh, he laughed loudly.

"I, Bai Xiaochun, am a complete genius!! Hahaha! Won't let me leave the Cloud Order? Fine, I won't! Won't let me absorb the energy of heaven and earth! Fine, I won't! Won't let me concoct pills? Fine, I won't! I can always go sell medicinal pills!"

He was already starting to get excited at the prospect of selling some medicinal pills to earn spirit stones.

Then, he could use those spirit stones to work on his Sun-Moon Vast-Sky Incantation. As far as how quickly he could progress, it would all come down to how many spirit stones he could get.

"Ordinary medicinal pills won't be easy to sell. However, I have two types of pills that will definitely work!" With that, he excitedly slapped his bag of holding to produce two medicinal pill bottles.

Looking down at them, his eyes began to burn with passion and pride.

"Everybody needs an Aphrodisiac Pill once in a while! And once you consume a Fantasy Pill, you'll never want to go back!" Sighing, he mused that it was a good thing he had concocted so many medicinal pills in his spare time back in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. Without the stockpile he had built up, he would really be at a dead end here in the north.

He had already figured out the best way to go about selling pills. Obviously, he couldn't just sell these two types, so therefore he would add in some other miscellaneous items as well, and sell everything together. After getting everything ready, a bit of hesitation lurked in his heart. But then the thought about how outrageous the northerners were being, scorning and ridiculing him constantly. And then there was the blood feud between the Frigid School and the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect. At that point, he gritted his teeth.

"You people are forcing me to do this!" he murmured, rushing out the door.

As soon as he was out in the open, the gazes of countless northerners locked onto him, gazes of ridicule and mockery. Just as many of them had said openly, it was their first time being able to openly bully a deva, and it was something many of them had come to enjoy.

Because they had the tacit approval of their demigod patriarch, none of the disciples were worried about any consequences. However, at this point, Bai Xiaochun didn't care. In fact, the more people who were paying attention to him, the better.

After swaggering around a bit to make sure plenty of people had noticed him, he selected a public square near where people in the Cloud Order gathered for trials by fire.

Within the square were nine gates that led into nine separate arcane pocket realms. It was very similar to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect in that the disciples who went into the pocket realms would be ranked according to their performance. As a result, it was a big center of competition for the disciples.

After finding a suitable location, he sat down, spread a white cloth out in front of him, and started pulling things out of his bag of holding. In front of him on the white cloth, he arranged magical items, medicinal pills, and other random items. At the moment, he didn't put any Aphrodisiac Pills or Fantasy Pills up for sale.

After arranging everything properly, he waited for customers.

His actions had garnered quite a bit of attention, and before long, disciples were heading over to see what was happening. When they did, jaws dropped, and many of them began to openly laugh.

"He set up a vendor stall? A mighty deva is selling stuff on the street? Hahaha!"

"Looks like we really drove him crazy. He can't leave, can't concoct pills, and can't practice cultivation. Now he has no option other than to sell random stuff on the street!"

The cultivators in the public square weren't the only ones to notice and start poking fun. Even the devas in the black coffin noticed, and sent down streams of divine sense to observe.

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Chapter 959: Four-Point Covenant

However, the devas didn't have the time to literally watch over Bai Xiaochun every hour of every day. And considering the three-point covenant which was in place, it didn't matter how shockingly powerful Bai Xiaochun was. He wouldn't be able to do much.

Another half a month went by. Every day, Bai Xiaochun would set up his vendor stall, and although he didn't do much business, he worked as hard as he could to attract the northern disciples, providing loud descriptions of the various magical items and medicinal pills he was offering for sale.

On one particular day when he was sure that there was no deva divine sense watching him, he leaned forward to a burly fellow who was browsing through his medicinal pills.

"Hey man," he said quietly, "I have some special medicinal pills right over here. Want to have a look?"

This was the burly man's third visit, and Bai Xiaochun had been observing him carefully. It was only after confirming that he didn't seem suspicious that he finally decided to make him an offer.

"What medicinal pills?" the man asked, instantly on guard.

With a flourish, Bai Xiaochun produced a Fantasy Pill.

The unique aura which emanated off of the pill caused the burly man's eyes to widen. Eyes glittering, he grabbed it. Not even bothering to ask how much it cost, he tossed Bai Xiaochun a spirit stone, then walked off.

One spirit stone for one Fantasy Pill wasn't even enough to cover the production costs. Clearly, the burly man felt that Bai Xiaochun was lucky just to be able to sell things in the north. Actually, that attitude was prevalent among almost all of the northerners.

Bai Xiaochun's eyes narrowed as he looked down at the one spirit stone. However, he didn't mind. He simply sat there, occasionally hawking his wares to the passersby. As time went by, he would identify disciples he deemed trustworthy, and would offer them Aphrodisiac or Fantasy Pills.

"As hostile as these northerners are, I still treat them in very moral fashion. I only sell Aphrodisiac Pills to the female disciples, and not to the men. As for the Fantasy Pills, they only go to the male disciples, not the women."

He sighed at the realization that his greatest weakness was how good and honest he was.

Even as he shook his head, a particularly burly and fierce female cultivator appeared in front of him.

"Is there a male cultivator you've taken a liking to?" he asked. "All you need is one Aphrodisiac Pill, and he'll be yours forever…."

When the woman grabbed the Aphrodisiac Pill, her particularly meaty fingers nearly crushed it, scaring Bai Xiaochun half to death. Grabbing her hand to stop her from breaking it, he said, "You can't crush it here! Ai, maybe this pill isn't for you…."

The female cultivator immediately threw him a bag of spirit stones, turned, and hurried off.

Bai Xiaochun stared in shock before putting the spirit stones away. Soon, he began to sell Uncaring Pills, which were a byproduct of his experimentation with the uncaring fruits back in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect.

"Have you heard of my Aphrodisiac Pills? Don't worry, this is the antidote. If you take an Uncaring Pill, it will keep you safe from the effects of an Aphrodisiac Pill!"

"Listen… your Cloud Order has a lot of really tough female cultivators, and pretty much all of them have come to buy Aphrodisiac Pills from me. Just… be careful out there!"

He was very careful about who he sold the three different pills to, and would only pick from repeat customers that he had observed carefully. Because of that, the pills didn't cause a big commotion in the sect. However, slowly but surely… they began to make their way out into the sect.

Virtually everyone who bought a Fantasy Pill would come back a few days later, enchanted and excited, hoping to buy more.

Of course, every time they came back, Bai Xiaochun charged more than the last time. He also made sure to explain the downsides of the pill. After all, as an apothecary, he had a duty to act morally, and thus, would not withhold his mercy, even from the northerners.

"I can't control the strange, unexplainable things that always happen during the concocting process. However, when it comes to the completed pills, I absolutely have to tell my customers what to watch out for." Bai Xiaochun was fully convinced that this was the right thing to do.

He did the same with the Aphrodisiac Pills and the Uncaring Pills, which were slowly becoming more popular. It was almost shocking how much cultivators wanted pills like that.

Aphrodisiac Pills stimulated instinctual behavior, whereas Fantasy Pills fulfilled one's dreams. As for the Uncaring Pills, they counteracted Aphrodisiac Pills, and at the same time, also served to negate the effects of Fantasy Pills. Because of that, the Uncaring Pills actually sold a bit better than the other two.

Before long, the cultivators in the Cloud Order came to the realization that the Aphrodisiac Pills and Fantasy Pills were almost like poison in terms of how vicious they were. And yet, there were still quite a few people who weren't convinced, and eventually reached a state in which they were nearly addicted, and would buy them by any means possible, even secretly.

There were a few grandmasters of the Dao of medicine in the Cloud Order who managed to get their hands on the pills to research them…. One of them was Ouyang De, who was considered to be the top apothecary grandmasters in the Cloud Order. As such, he came to understand the Fantasy Pills and Aphrodisiac Pills better than anyone else.

"Even before Bai Xiaochun came to the north, I wanted to have a chance to research some of his medicinal pills. Finally… my opportunity has arrived!" Chuckling coldly, he looked down at the Fantasy Pill resting on his palm.

"Let's see if this lousy Fantasy Pill really works!" Considering his skills with medicinal pills, his research had led him to the conclusion that there wasn't anything particularly special about the pill.

"The only way to know the truth is to try it personally!" Although he was confident in his own Dao of medicine, he had also acquired an Uncaring Pill, just in case something unexpected happened.

As soon as he popped the Fantasy Pill into his mouth, it melted, and a tremor passed through him. He closed his eyes, and suddenly felt like he was floating. As for the Uncaring Pill in his hand, his grip went slack, and it tumbled off to the side…. Three days later, his eyes opened. He was covered in sweat, and his expression was blank for a very long moment before he murmured, "I achieved my Dao and became an immortal…."

The same thing happened to many cultivators in the Cloud Order. Virtually everyone who consumed a Fantasy Pill would completely ignore the antidote, and would instead revel in the absurd and wonderful experiences that they experienced.

Soon, the Fantasy Pills outpaced the Aphrodisiac Pills in terms of sales. In fact, the Fantasy Pills became like a brewing storm that grew larger and larger in the Cloud Order.

More and more disciples were secretly buying them. Eventually, it reached the point where the whole thing was out in the open. Ouyang De even went and bought a huge stockpile of Fantasy Pills, all in one shot.

Bai Xiaochun's profits increased rapidly. Much to his excitement, he soon reached the point where he could cultivate the Sun-Moon Vast-Sky Incantation.

However, he was also aware that the matter of selling pills couldn't be kept a secret for very long. It wouldn't be long before the devas caught wind of the matter.

And that was exactly what happened. Fantasy Pill sales had gone through the roof. Almost everyone who tried one got addicted. In a short half a month, almost all of the Cloud Order disciples fell in love with Fantasy Pills.

It reached the point where there were simply too many people involved, and soon, accidents started happening. Some disciples weren't able to control themselves after consuming a pill, and would ignore Bai Xiaochun's instructions to always stay in their immortal's caves when under the influence.

"Fly, fly, fly… I'm a mighty bird…."

"Hahaha! Hahaha! I finally became a demigod!!"

"Hit me! Come on, do it. Hit me!!"

The devas finally noticed what was going on. The crazed behavior of a few of the disciples led to an investigation, and the truth was revealed. In less than a month, almost all of the disciples in the Cloud Order had begun consuming Fantasy Pills on a regular basis!

It was a huge affair, and the northern devas were immediately enraged!

They quickly issued orders that Fantasy Pills were prohibited in the sect, and anyone who consumed one would be expelled. The disciples were initially alarmed, but as they awoke from their reveries and began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, they came looking for Bai Xiaochun.

"How shameless of you, Bai Xiaochun! You tricked us into taking Fantasy Pills!!"

"That's right. This is all because of Bai Xiaochun. Dammit! Give me back my spirit stones!"

"He made me take the pills. If it wasn't for him, I would never have even tried one. Damn those Fantasy Pills!"

Some people were afraid, and others regretted spending their spirit stones on the Fantasy Pills. For other reasons as well, everyone started blaming Bai Xiaochun.

Even as the angry mob formed, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, Feng Chen, and the other devas came to the Cloud Order.

"You violated the covenant, Bai Xiaochun!" Feng Chen shrieked. "Do you have a death wish or something?!?!"

A boom rang out as a powerful divine ability slammed into Bai Xiaochun's residence, sending him stumbling out into the open.

"I violated the covenant?" Bai Xiaochun yelled angrily, finally glad to be able to let off some steam. "Oh really? Tell me, Feng Chen, which part of the three-point covenant did I violate?! Did I leave the Cloud Order? Did I concoct pills? Did I absorb any of the energy of heaven and earth from the north? Which point in the covenant did I violate, huh? Come on. Tell me!"

"You…." Feng Chen said, pointing at Bai Xiaochun. However, after a long moment, he realized he had nothing to say. Just as Bai Xiaochun had said, he hadn't violated any of the rules set forth in the three-point covenant….

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings were extremely angry, and yet, had no way to vent their anger.

Bai Xiaochun glanced at the devas, who were all standing there unable to say a single thing, then looked around at the Cloud Order disciples, his eyes sparkling.

"And what about all of you? Let me ask you… did I actually force any of you to buy my pills?

"Didn't I tell you of all the possible consequences?

"Didn't I offer to sell you an antidote?

"Didn't I remind you to be careful where you consumed the pills?

"Are you just too used to bullying me or something? Did you forget that I'm Bai Xiaochun? I'm also a deva, remember? You northerners always push things too far!!" Bai Xiaochun finally released all of the frustration that had been building up over the past months. His voice echoed out like thunder as a huge version of his face appeared overhead, striking fear into the hearts of all the disciples.

In that moment of deadlock, the voice of the demigod patriarch suddenly echoed out from the crystal coffin high above!

"Henceforth, there is no three-point covenant. Instead, we will have a four-point covenant!

"Bai Xiaochun is not permitted to sell anything in the north. If he violates this rule, he will immediately be imprisoned in Lightning Penitentiary!"

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Chapter 960: I Can Still Plant Flowers

Along with the demigod patriarch's words came a powerful force that spread out through the sky and drove away the enormous face of Bai Xiaochun. In response, Bai Xiaochun grunted and staggered backward several paces.

Aura teetering unstably, he looked up at the crystal coffin high above. Meanwhile, Feng Chen, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, and other devas stared at Bai Xiaochun with slight smiles on their faces.

The surrounding disciples breathed sighs of relief. They had been feeling very shaken by Bai Xiaochun moments ago, but the words of the demigod patriarch had driven away his aura. Now that the disciples were completely recovered, they looked at Bai Xiaochun with expressions of loathing.

Although most of them would secretly take more Fantasy Pills if they could, now that the devas and the demigod were present, the only thing they dared to do was show implacable hatred toward Bai Xiaochun.

"Now that you're in the north, it doesn't matter that you're a deva!" That was what most of the people were thinking. In terms of the three-point covenant having a fourth stipulation added to it, it indicated that the matter with the medicinal pills had come to an end.

The fact that Bai Xiaochun was still confined to the Cloud Order and couldn't concoct medicinal pills left everyone feeling very pleased.

"Fudge!" he thought. "One of these days, I'll make sure these northerners sweat bullets when they're in front of me!"

As his anger built, he couldn't help but think about the world treasure the baby girl had mentioned. Although he had been on the fence before, his mind was now mostly made up.

At the moment, however, he had nothing else to do but use his spirit stones to start doing a bit of cultivation. They wouldn't last for too long, but he was out of other options. Therefore, he set to work cultivating. Ten days went by, but even after plenty of thought during that time, he didn't have any ideas on how to get out of this new impasse.

It was at that point… that the baby girl woke up for a third time.

Even as he was working on his Sun-Moon Vast-Sky Incantation, her voice echoed quietly into his head.

"Have you made a decision yet?"

Taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth and spoke out into his mind.

"There are a few things I want to say. First of all, let me just point out that this whole thing is very sudden. I find it hard to believe that you plan to just give me this good fortune and let me become your master. You must have another goal you're working toward. However, considering where you come from, I guess I have no choice but to just trust you.

"By the way, I want to know why exactly the Celestial wanted you dead. You never explained that.

"Another thing. Patriarch Spirit Stream called you a true spirit, and said that the mission of the Spirit Stream Sect is to keep you safe. But I'm not him…. My mission is to keep the River-Defying Sect safe, keep my friends safe, and keep myself safe. If you do have some other goals you're working toward, don't use me to get them! If you try something like that, then let me tell you, you will be bringing a huge amount of trouble on yourself. And it will mean trouble for me too, which I don't want. Worse, you would turn the thousands of years of protection that the Spirit Stream Sect gave you into an absurd joke!" There was a determination in his words that he was sure would strike a bit of fear into the heart of the baby girl.

Actually, he wasn't really sure about any of the things he had just said. He just knew that this baby girl seemed suspicious. Therefore, he had long since come up with this little speech to give her.

The baby girl didn't respond at first. After a long moment passed, she said, "Trouble onto myself? What do you mean?"

Bai Xiaochun had anticipated this turn in the conversation. Eyes brightening, he decided to truly frighten the baby girl, and said, "Do you know who my Master is?"

"No…." the girl responded, sounding a bit surprised.

"The gravekeeper!" Bai Xiaochun replied dramatically.

He was fairly certain that the baby girl was completely shocked by this news. However, before she could say anything else, he continued to speak.

"Do you know who my apprentice is?"

Before she could reply, he provided the answer. "The reigning Hell-Emperor!"

The baby girl was clearly shocked, that much was obvious by the fluctuations he could sense.

At that moment, he felt very proud of his background and status. Of course, it was very disturbing that, despite having such qualifications, and never using them to go around bullying people, the first thing that happened when he came here to the north was that he ended up being severely bullied.

"Therefore, if you lie to me, then you would have an enemy, not just in the Celestial, but in two other powerful people." The threat in his words was very clear. In response, the baby girl maintained her silence for a moment. The truth was that she had a secret magic which allowed her to assess whether or not his words were true, and therefore, didn't even need to try to figure out if he was being honest.

A long moment passed. When she spoke into his mind again, her voice was completely calm.

"I am a discarnate soul with incomplete memories. Only by becoming one with the magical item will I be able to recall the true reason why the Celestial wanted me dead.

"As far as you becoming my master, view it as an agreement between the two of us, with the main stipulation being that you have to kill the Celestial!

"I'm not keeping anything secret from you. As for the thousands upon thousands of years that the Spirit Stream Sect has kept me safe, well… I won't bite the hand that feeds me. The only thing I want… is revenge!!"

In response to the baby girl's strongly spoken words, Bai Xiaochun's eyes began to shine with determination.

"Very well," he said. "I agree. I'll help you fuse with the world treasure. As far as killing the Celestial goes, that will have to wait until my cultivation base is high enough. Besides, I have no personal enmity with him. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how I'll be able to make it happen."

"You will…." the baby girl said, her voice tinged with a profound smile.

Somewhat taken aback, Bai Xiaochun was about to ask what she meant when she changed the subject to explain more about the world treasure.

"The north is my home…. Back when it was a flourishing place, the frigid qi here was the best thing in the world for me.

"In order to fuse with the world treasure, I need to do two things. First… get to the entrance, which is not in the sect itself, but is out in the northern ice plains. When the time comes, I can tell you the specific location."

Bai Xiaochun's eyes flickered. He always liked to have everything planned out in detail before doing anything, and it was only because of how badly the northerners were treating him that he made this decision so quickly. The truth was that he still had some reservations.

The main thing he was curious about… was what the baby girl meant when she said you will.

There was something about her words that he found very unsettling.

"The second thing I have to do is open the entrance. I need this true spirit body of mine to awaken for one hundred breaths of time. That will be enough for me to open the entrance.

"To prepare for that… I need you to collect plenty of northern frigid qi…." Even as she spoke into his mind, his bag of holding vibrated. He quickly sent some divine sense inside, and found that a green leaf had appeared out of nowhere. It floated up from the coffin, out of his bag of holding, to appear right in front of him.

"Frigid qi?" he said hesitantly. The four-point covenant stipulated that he couldn't absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. But after some thinking, he realized that frigid qi probably didn't count. After all, spiritual energy came from the Heavenspan Sea, whereas frigid qi naturally filled all of the icy lands of the north.

As he considered this, the baby girl continued to speak into his mind.

"Collect the frigid qi into that leaf. When it becomes an ice leaf… then that means it has enough frigid qi to keep me awake for a hundred breaths of time!

"When you've done that, we can go open the entrance to the world treasure. As for how exactly you collect the frigid qi, I'll leave that up to you." By this point, the baby girl's voice sounded very weak.

"My divine soul is very weak. I need to sleep again. Once you create that ice leaf, send it into this coffin, and I'll awaken…. All my hope rests in you…. You're on your own now…." With that, the baby girl's aura faded away.

Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times, and then sighed. The truth was that he hoped his attempt to frighten the baby girl hadn't caused any friction between them.

The whole matter was actually a good thing for her, for him, and for the River-Defying Sect.

After she was gone, he looked at the leaf and began to consider what to do next.

"How does this leaf absorb frigid qi?" He looked down at the ground beneath his feet. The Cloud Order was built on a massive cloud, a cloud that contained frigid qi. After a bit of thought, he put the leaf down on the ground, but even after waiting for quite some time, he didn't see any frigid qi going into it.

If it weren't for the four-point covenant, he would have many ways to collect the qi he needed. But now, things weren't so easy.

Eventually, he sighed and prepared to put the leaf into his bag of holding. However, as he did, his eyes suddenly went wide as he noticed something in his bag of holding that he'd forgotten about. It was… a seed.

"Moonflower…. I can graft the leaf onto a moonflower!" He had discovered the moonflower on the bone galleon, and after some research, had come to realize that it grew by absorbing frigid qi.

"The four-point covenant doesn't say anything about planting flowers…." At this point, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

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Chapter 961: Voracious Moonflower

Smacking his bag of holding, he produced the moonflower seed. "The bone galleon and Ghostmother both come from beyond the heavens. I guess these flowers must come from there too."

Examining the seed for a long moment, he began to perfect his plan. Eventually, his eyes began to shine brightly.

"Hahaha! The heavens never truly bar one's way!" He couldn't feel more pleased about the fact that the four-point covenant really didn't say anything prohibiting him from planting flowers.

Feeling very exhilarated, he walked out of his residence and looked around for a good place to plant the seed. Eventually, he rubbed his chin and murmured, "It probably isn't safe to plant it outside. These northerners are all so unreasonable…. Ah, whatever. I'll just plant it inside."

Fully convinced that this was the best way to do it, he walked back inside and got to work. Although the ground in the Cloud Order was different from ordinary ground in some ways, in most ways, it was the same. It took a bit of work, but he managed to dig a sizeable hole right in the middle of the room.

Before long, he reached the white, fluffy soil that made up the land of the cloud, which also caused a bit of frigid qi to emanate up into the room. Eyes sparkling, he carefully placed the moonflower seed down into the cloud soil.

Having accomplished that, he sat off to the side, eye sparkling with anticipation and excitement. Almost as soon as the cloud soil was piled back over the seed, it began to tremble as if it were alive.

It was a trembling that stemmed, not from fear, but from excitement. Even Bai Xiaochun could sense how emotional the seed was, and it caused his eyes to shine even more brightly.

"Be a good little moonflower, now. Grow fast and strong…." Licking his lips, he spent the whole night standing watch. Very shortly after planting the seed, he could see the frigid qi streaming up from the cloud, nourishing it. By morning, the seed had sprouted.

As of this moment, Bai Xiaochun really felt like he was on an important mission, and spent day and night tending to the newly sprouted moonflower.

Half a month went by in a flash, and he didn't leave his residence even once during that time. Meanwhile, the talk around the sect hadn't died down at all, and the cultivators were watching his residence closely.

He wasn't in the mood to eavesdrop; he was completely focused on the moonflower. It was already about a hand high, and even had some tiny leaves. Bai Xiaochun was very happy.

In terms of the leaf the baby girl had given him, he had already grafted it onto the moonflower. As the moonflower grew, the leaf began to build up frigid qi.

Everything was going according to plan, and Bai Xiaochun couldn't help but laugh out loud at how things were going.

"Hahaha! There's nothing that Bai Xiaochun can't figure out how to do!" Feeling more proud of himself than ever, he waited for another seven days to pass. At this point, he started to feel slightly discontent.

He had come to find that after grafting the leaf onto the moonflower, it was growing much slower.

"So slow! If things keep going like this, it'll never get enough frigid qi!" Shaking his head, he contemplated the situation for a bit until he came up with an idea of how to catalyze the plant into faster growth.

Normally speaking, catalyzing plants was easy to do. There were plenty of methods within the Dao of medicine to do such a thing. The easiest way was to use specific medicinal pills. After thinking about it for a bit longer, he looked around carefully, and then sent his divine sense outside.

"The four-point covenant says that I can't concoct pills, or sell them. It doesn't say anything about feeding them to flowers." With that, he fished around in his bag of holding for a handful of medicinal pills, which he crushed and scattered over the moonflower.

As soon as the powder landed, the flower twitched and began to glow with bright light. Almost immediately, it began to suck in the powder.

As it did, the moonflower began to visibly grow faster. In fact, its roots actually extended further down into the cloud.

That, in turn, allowed it to absorb more frigid qi, which instantly caused the temperature in Bai Xiaochun's residence to drop.

Eyes shining with confidence, he took out some more medicinal pills, crushed them, and dropped them onto the moonflower. The moonflower was like a bottomless pit when it came to medicinal pill powder. It continued to grow larger, sending its roots even further down and out, until they filled a 300-meter area.

Brimming with confidence, Bai Xiaochun continued to feed the plant medicinal pill powder.

"You like everything! What a precious little flower!" Over the three short days which had passed, the moonflower had consumed over a hundred different types of medicinal pills, and was now over a meter high.

Its stalk was as thick as an arm, and it had hand-sized leaves. There was also a bud at the top of it which had not yet bloomed. Under Bai Xiaochun's care, the flower was growing at incredible speed.

As for the leaf he had grafted onto it, one of its veins now looked like ice, which he was thrilled about. Soon, the moonflower's roots spread out to fill a 1,500-meter area, which caused Bai Xiaochun's smile to beam radiantly. Then, he pulled out more medicinal pills and began to crush them.

If this were the River-Defying Sect or even the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, Bai Xiaochun might have taken some time to think about the effects of the flower on the surroundings. But here in the north, he wasn't worried about it at all, and in fact, it didn't even occur to him to check….

"I'm not violating the four-point covenant!" he told himself. For the following half month, he continuously crushed pills and fed them to the moonflower….

The moonflower had already reached a shocking height and size, taking up almost all of his residence.

He couldn't help but gasp at the sight of it. At the same time, he realized that, thanks to his constant care… the flower looked different from before.

It almost seemed conscious in a way, and at the same time, apparently liked him. Every time he touched it, the flower would wriggle contentedly.

When Bai Xiaochun saw that, his eyes glittered.

"You're conscious? Alright, be a good flower, now. You need to stop growing, otherwise my room is going to fall apart! Things aren't easy here in the north, so if you destroyed my house by growing too big, it could really cause some problems." After offering some more strict warnings, he took out some more medicinal pills to feed the flower. By this point, he didn't even need to crush them. He would just toss them to the flower, which would grab them with its leaves and absorb them directly.

The flower apparently understood what Bai Xiaochun had told it. From that day on, it didn't grow any larger within the room. However, its roots continued to expand constantly, voraciously even. By now, its roots had spread throughout the Cloud Order. Furthermore… because moonflowers were not from the Heavenspan Realm, there was something special about them that made them almost impossible to detect. Therefore, no one noticed what was happening.

However, as it grew, it absorbed more and more frigid qi, to the point where the cultivators in the Cloud Order began to notice that something was off…. First of all was the mere fact that there seemed to be less frigid qi than usual.

In fact, in some places, the frigid qi was so lacking that the snow began to melt…. Eventually, the devas took notice of what was happening.

Bai Xiaochun occasionally checked what was happening outside, and when he realized the stir, he patted the moonflower and said, "Moonflower, baby, we don't have much time left. Sooner or later, something bad's going to happen. Not that I care about that, but we can't delay the plan. Is there any way you can grow a bit more quickly? We really need more frigid qi in that leaf." The moonflower quivered, and sent a very vague message back to him. Bai Xiaochun immediately understood. Eyes shining with determination, he pulled a big stack of medicinal pills out of his bag of holding and began handing them over.

The moonflower's leaves eagerly swept up the medicinal pills, after which… a massive rumbling sound filled the entire Cloud Order!

All of a sudden, green sprouts shot up from the ground all over the Cloud Order. Almost as soon as they appeared, they began to suck in the frigid qi, and at the same time, blossom with tiny flowers that looked like moons.

Almost immediately, the frigid qi in the Cloud Order experienced a sharp decline!

The Cloud Order cultivators looked around at the moonflowers, dumbfounded. Within moments, people began to cry out.

"How could there be plants growing in the Cloud Order?!"

"What… what kind of flower is that?"

"Heavens! I've never heard of plants appearing in the Cloud Order before…. Aren't all the plants and vegetation that appear in the north specially adapted for the cold?"

Soon, the entire Cloud Order was devolving into a huge commotion.

"It's so hot… why… why am I sweating?!?!?!"

"Hold on, the frigid qi in the Cloud Order… is so weak!!"

"Heavens! My igloo, it's… it's melting!!"

Because of the sudden decline in frigid qi, the entire Cloud Order was starting to melt. In fact, the resulting liquid began to drip down the arm of the huge ice statue that held up the white cloud.

The entire sect was soon astir. The devas flew over, expressions of incredulity on their face.

Before they could even get to the Cloud Order, though, the frigid qi declined so rapidly that all of the ice buildings began to collapse. And that was only the beginning. To everyone's stupefaction, the thumb of the enormous ice statue, which was now filled with roots… suddenly… began to melt, sending water pouring down the statue….

That caused the entire white cloud to tilt to one side. As for the devas, they stared at the thumb of the statue in utter shock.

"Am I… am I seeing things…?" the twin Master Cloud Lightnings murmured.

Shocked, Feng Chen said, "The pride of the north… the ice statue of the northern battle god… his thumb… is gone?"

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Chapter 962: Locked Up!

Massive rumbling sounds filled the Cloud Order as buildings collapsed, and freezing water poured down in all directions. Countless disciples flew out into the air and then stared down at the ice statue with its missing thumb.

After a momentary silence, there was a huge uproar.

"How could this be happening…?"

"What is that plant…?"

"Heavens! What's going on here? How come so much strange stuff is going on…? First it was those Fantasy Pills, and now the battle god's thumb is gone…."

Moments later, the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, Feng Chen, and the other devas shivered. Expressions flickering with madness, they erupted with rage.

"Bai Xiaochun!!"

"It was definitely you, Bai Xiaochun!!"

Heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roars could be heard as the furious devas shot toward Bai Xiaochun's residence.

When the other cultivators from the Cloud Order heard the shouts of the devas, their eyes lit up with ferocious expressions, and they turned to look in Bai Xiaochun's direction.

"Dammit! This was definitely Bai Xiaochun's handiwork!!"

"He's a walking disaster! If he has it out for us disciples, that's one thing, but how could he possibly go so far as to damage the Cloud Order's battle god statue!?!?"

"Kill Bai Xiaochun!!"

Amidst all the shouting, the devas arrived in full fury. Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun was inside his residence, nervously watching the frigid qi pouring into the leaf.

In the blink of an eye, the leaf was seventy percent ice. Clearly, if he had enough time, then it would be a simple thing for him to create the ice leaf the baby girl had asked for.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time. When he heard the shouting outside, he quickly grabbed the leaf and threw it into his bag of holding. At the same time, he urgently told the moonflower, "Get back into seed form!"

The moonflower didn't need any prompting. It could sense the critical danger, and within moments, it wilted and went dry. All of the life force in the plant was sucked back in until it was nothing more than a seed.

There was no time for Bai Xiaochun to look at it closely. Grabbing it, he threw it into his bag of holding along with the leaf.

It was in that very moment that a huge boom rang out, and his residence exploded.

Bai Xiaochun tumbled off to the side, looking very bedraggled. Surrounding him were countless furious Cloud Order disciples, plus the twin Master Cloud Lightnings, Feng Chen, and all the other devas. Everyone looked like they were out for blood.

"Feeling suicidal, Bai Xiaochun?!?!" the twin Master Cloud Lightnings raged. Now that Bai Xiaochun's residence was destroyed, the withered husk of the moonflower was out in the open, visible to everyone present.

"We didn't kill you for selling those Fantasy Pills, so then you went and struck at the foundation of the north! You will die this day, Bai Xiaochun!!"

Feng Chen was so angry that his eyes overflowed with killing intent. Without any hesitation, he shot toward Bai Xiaochun and unleashed a divine ability of the trump card level.

Bai Xiaochun dodged out of the way and then shouted out in a loud voice, "Are you northerners rebelling against the lands of Heavenspan or something?!

"You've had it out for me from the moment I arrived! First you had your three-point covenant, and I just endured. Then after I sold some medicinal pills, you changed it to a four-point covenant!

"Now I just planted a flower, and you're trying to say I broke the agreement?"

By now, he had decided to throw caution to the wind; he really had reached the point where he couldn't stand the north.

"You want to attack me, so you have to come up with a bunch of excuses, don't you!?" Unleashing the power of his cultivation base, he caused a huge face to appear up in the sky.

The twin Master Cloud Lightnings and Feng Chen were both frustrated to the extreme by the unspeakable suffering they were enduring. Bai Xiaochun couldn't have been more annoying to them, especially Feng Chen, who had come to find that his idea of the three-point covenant was turning out to harm himself more than anyone.

Back when he came up with the idea, he could never have imagined how much of a disaster Bai Xiaochun could be. A three-point covenant wasn't nearly enough to contain him, and in fact, it seemed to make him worse.

Even more frustrating was how sharp-tongued Bai Xiaochun was, and how special his status was. They obviously couldn't kill him no matter how much they hated him, a fact which was profoundly vexing to all of the devas.

By now, their hearts were filled with regret. If they could go back in time, they definitely wouldn't have placed any restrictions on Bai Xiaochun, and would have just let him do whatever he wished….

The devas weren't the only ones who felt so torn. The ordinary disciples were both enraged, but at the same time, were wailing in their hearts. Only now did they truly realize how much of a catastrophe Bai Xiaochun could be.

"This is all Feng Chen's fault! He started out in the Lightning Order. That's why he had Bai Xiaochun put in the Cloud Order! He's had it out for us all along!"

"That's right! Send Bai Xiaochun to the Lightning Order! Release the Cloud Order from this torment! Our battle god… is missing a thumb!!" The Cloud Order disciples were truly enraged, and soon, many such shouts filled the air.

When Feng Chen heard what everyone was saying, a very unsightly expression appeared on his face, and his hatred for Bai Xiaochun deepened.

When the demigod patriarch saw the deadlock, he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Even he was starting to feel very annoyed with Bai Xiaochun.

However, it was exactly as Bai Xiaochun had said. He hadn't violated the covenant in any way….

"I shouldn't have agreed to any covenant…. We can't keep this up. Whenever we tell him not to do something, he thinks of a way to cause a bigger disaster." Frowning, the demigod considered kicking Bai Xiaochun out of the sect. However, considering all the restrictions they had placed on him, if they simply let him go after what he had done, it would be a huge loss of face for the north.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, a cold flicker appeared in the demigod's eyes. Instead of making a personal appearance at the Cloud Order, he sent out a Dharmic decree!

"Henceforth, we will have a five-point covenant! Within the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect, Bai Xiaochun will not tend flowers, plants, animals, or ghosts. He will not forge equipment or concoct pills. He will not plant, refine, raise, or work with anything!!"

His voice echoed out like heavenly thunder, filling the entire sect. However, the cultivators from the Cloud Order and the devas did not react like they had in the past. Instead they were worried, and couldn't help but wonder how long it would take before the covenant needed a sixth point, and then a seventh….

Every time Bai Xiaochun found a loophole, they would be in deep trouble. Eventually… they could even imagine a scenario in which Bai Xiaochun managed to kill them all, and destroy everything in the northern Heavenspan region.

The northerners weren't particularly happy with the demigod's Dharmic decree, and neither was Bai Xiaochun. As far as Bai Xiaochun was concerned, these northerners were completely outrageous. How could they possibly have added another stipulation to the covenant!?

Gritting his teeth, he decided to throw caution to the wind yet again. He opened his mouth to speak, in the hopes of getting the demigod to simply kick him out.

However, that was when a second Dharmic decree was issued!

"Heavenspan Special Guard Bai Xiaochun, despite not having violated our agreement, harmed the foundation of the Cloud Order. For this crime, he shall be exempt from the death penalty, but will not escape all punishment. Lock him up in Lightning Penitentiary! Until the Heavenspan emissary leaves, all of his freedoms will be restricted! If he resists, take his life!"

Bai Xiaochun tried to speak up in his defense, but as soon as the Dharmic decree echoed out through the sect, a burst of power shot down from the crystal coffin. It transformed into an enormous hand of lightning that grabbed him and forcibly threw him into the black cloud on the other side of the waterfall.

The devas were very excited by this, especially Feng Chen, whose eyes shone brightly. There was little need to mention the ordinary disciples, who went wild with joy upon hearing Bai Xiaochun's fate.

"He's finally gone!!"

"Even demigods would be tormented by the lightning in Lightning Penitentiary! Bai Xiaochun brought this upon himself!"

"This is exactly how it should be!"

Cheering filled the Cloud Order, and the devas all sighed in relief as they looked over at the black lightning cloud.

A scornful gleam passed through the eyes of the twin Master Cloud Lightnings. "No matter what heaven-toppling abilities he has, in the north, he has no choice but to bow his head!"

Meanwhile, the demigod patriarch in the crystal coffin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking over at the Lightning Order's black cloud, he decided that he really had managed to save face for the north. Furthermore, he was absolutely certain that Bai Xiaochun wouldn't cause any problems in Lightning Penitentiary.

After all, the worst prisoners imaginable were locked up in Lightning Penitentiary. Although the prison wasn't very full, even demigods who were locked up inside would be tormented to no end, much less devas.

"Things are finally going to quiet down." The demigod patriarch closed his eyes.

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Chapter 963: What?! Aaaiiiieee!

The Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect had two ice statues, one holding up the pure white Cloud Order, the other holding up the pitch black Lightning Order!

At the moment, a piercing shriek was echoing out deep within the black cloud that housed the Lightning Order. Of course, it was Bai Xiaochun.

"I hate the north!!"

It was a shriek filled with bitterness and defiance. However, no matter how loudly he screamed, his voice did not go beyond… Lightning Penitentiary, where he had been imprisoned for three days already.

He was already wracked with despair. Within the depths of the black cloud, he was surrounded by layer upon layer of restrictive sealing spells, creating a cell that was only about 30 meters of space in which he could move around.

Beyond the borders of the cell were innumerable lightning bolts, each one as thick as an arm and abounding with so much destructive power that it caused Bai Xiaochun's face to go pale.

"Complete and utter bullying!!" he muttered, shivering as he sat there, looking out at the darkness and the lightning. Calling out to the heavens and cursing the hells brought not even the slightest response. As far as Bai Xiaochun was concerned, this was the unluckiest he had ever been in his entire life.

"Completely ridiculous. Three-point covenant, four-point covenant, five-point covenant…. All of that I could deal with. But I can't believe they actually locked me up!" He felt like he was about to go crazy, and couldn't come up with any effective methods to do anything about the situation.

Not only could he not escape, every few hours, lightning would gather around his cell and then strike him repeatedly.

There was only one way to deal with the shocking lightning, and that was to draw upon his cultivation base power. Unfortunately, Lightning Penitentiary was cut off from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which led Bai Xiaochun to the conclusion that, eventually, he would run out of power to stave off the lightning.

"What am I supposed to do?" he sighed. Right now, his main hope was that Du Lingfei would finish her mission soon and come to free him.

"I'm gonna remember this, you northerners!" he said loudly. "You just wait. After I become a demigod, I'm going to get my revenge!" With that, he let out a roar of frustration.

However, as soon as he did, a sarcastic chuckle could be heard from off to the side.

"Become a demigod? Even then you won't be able to get revenge."

"Who's there?!" Bai Xiaochun said, looking around. His divine sense had been restricted as soon as he was thrown into his cell, but his ordinary senses had not. However, during the past three days, he hadn't detected any signs of life anywhere nearby.

As he looked around vigilantly, he saw the clouds off to the side seething, and then gradually turning translucent, revealing another cell roughly 300 meters away.

It was also thirty meters across, formed by countless restrictive spells. Just like his own cell, it was surrounded by dancing lightning, which occasionally shot into the cell to strike at an emaciated figure who sat there cross-legged!

It was an old man wearing threadbare garments. He was little more than skin and bones, and his aura was very weak. Whenever the lightning struck him, he would shiver slightly, and yet, his expression never changed. Apparently, while he couldn't stop the physical torment of the lightning bolts, his mind had long since grown used to the pain.

His hand was currently settling back down onto his knee; apparently, not even the restrictive spells could completely hold his will in check, allowing him the basic ability to control the clouds around him.

When Bai Xiaochun looked into the old man's eyes, it felt like his eyes were being stabbed, eliciting a gasp.

"Listen, kid, I'm a demigod, and even I'm stuck here. So my advice is that you adjust that little oath of yours. Maybe you can aim for becoming a celestial?" The man grinned, and as his yellowish teeth were illuminated by the lightning, he looked particularly sinister. Bai Xiaochun shivered.

"I've been in here for years now," the man continued, "and I can tell you that people who get locked up here don't tend to last for long. Now that I think about it, it's been a while since anybody new came around.

"Come come, kid. Can you dance? Do a sexy little dance for me, and if I like it, I might just give you a secret magic that can help you deal with the pain." The old man eyed Bai Xiaochun up and down, eyes shining with a bizarre light as he chuckled.

Bai Xiaochun had been startled by the man's sudden appearance, but had now recovered. And he could sense that he and this man were similar in that, after having been locked up, they both got a bit braver.

Glaring at the man, he said, "Shut up, old man. I worked as a prison guard in the past, and eventually I lost track of how many prisoners like you I mopped the floor with." Snorting coldly, he stuck his chin up and looked away.

The old man laughed heartily. "The stubborn type, huh? I really like young bucks like you. You know, 3,000 years ago there was another stubborn punk who got locked up here. He only lasted a month before he was twisting and turning in front of me, begging for my secret magic. Whenever you're ready, I'll be waiting for you."

Apparently, he was very pleased at the additional amusement that Bai Xiaochun had brought into his life

Bai Xiaochun was already feeling quite annoyed at this man's gaze and laughter. After giving him another good glare, he ignored him. After all, he just needed to wait for Du Lingfei to finish her mission, and then she would come back and think of a way to get him out.

Two hours later, the lightning around his cell began to build up more and more, creating something like a lightning storm around him.

When the lightning storm struck, he drew upon his cultivation base to defend himself. The sight of all that lightning was really shocking. After all, the destructive power in only one bolt wasn't anything to really worry about, but from what he could tell, there were hundreds of thousands of them.

He wasn't the only one to have to deal with the lightning in that moment. The old man was also struck. However, the man's expression didn't so much as flicker because of it. Instead, he looked over at Bai Xiaochun with ill intentions flickering in his eyes.

"You still have spiritual power now, so you can defend yourself. But in another ten days or so, you'll run out…. And that's when you'll really start to 'enjoy' yourself.

"The power of the lightning builds up over time, you know. Eventually, it reaches the point of being the most horrific suffering in heaven and earth." Although the old man trembled physically as he spoke, it didn't affect his voice at all.

"You know what I love to hear the most? The screams of people getting struck by lightning. I just close my eyes and revel in the beauty of it…." Licking his lips, he gazed at Bai Xiaochun, his eyes brimming with malice.

Bai Xiaochun was in no mood to pay any attention to the man. The lightning continued to strike him for a full hour before finally fading away. In the process, a large portion of his spiritual power was drained away.

He now only had seventy percent left, a fact that caused an unsightly expression to appear on his face.

"This isn't going to work…." he thought, looking around apprehensively at all the lightning. After some calculations, he came to the conclusion that his spiritual power really would be drained in about ten days.

Although he was confident in his fleshly body power, the fact that this old man, a demigod, was in such tattered shape, left him worried that he wouldn't be able to match up.

Five more days flew by. Whenever the lightning struck, his spiritual power levels got lower and lower, and the cackles of the old man grew louder.

Bai Xiaochun was feeling very frustrated. On the sixth day, however, he suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the surrounding lightning bolts.

He had considered many options, but none had seemed viable. That meant he only had one choice left….

"Back on the Heavenspan Sea, when Eldest Brother was going through his tribulation, I actually consumed the tribulation cloud. That cloud had lightning in it… and in addition to the destructive power it contained, it also had life force!

"I'm pretty sure my apprentice was helping me back then, so it's hard to say… if I can do the same thing in here." After vacillating for some time, he saw the lightning building up into a storm, and he gritted his teeth.

"Might as well give it a shot!" He rose to his feet, drawing upon his cultivation base, although not in a way to defend himself.

Hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts swirled into a massive storm than then pierced into his cell and appeared right in front of him. Just as it was about to smash into him, he roared, opened his mouth, and sucked in a breath!

The old man was initially stunned, but then began to laugh in mocking fashion.

"Another fool who thinks he can consume the lightning. Looking to die, huh? Years ago, I called myself the Lightning Ancestor, and was the only rogue cultivator demigod in the north. But not even I dared to try to consume lightning bolts. Over all the years that I've been here, I've seen a lot of-- uh… what?" All of a sudden, the old man's eyes bulged so wide that they nearly dropped out of his head.

"Freaking… w-w-what… what are you doing?!?!"

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