A Will Eternal

One month later, the Outer Sect disciples on Violet Cauldron Peak were about to go crazy. Bai Xiaochun had virtually made a career out of being a Sect Uncle, and everyone there knew it.

They quickly came to find that it didn’t matter where they went, they were likely to run into a very pure and fair young man, slender, with a certain proud look on his face that he tried to cover up, but was unable to. As he swaggered along, he would loudly clear his throat whenever he encountered another disciple, and if they pretended they didn’t recognize him, he would immediately introduce himself.

Their throats began to go hoarse from speaking the words ‘Sect Uncle Bai’, and yet… they had no choice but to continue doing so. After all, Bai Xiaochun was the Junior Brother of the sect leader, and in terms of seniority, he outranked everyone. Any disciple who dared to offend him was essentially violating sect rules.

Eventually, people went to Big Fatty Zhang to ask for help. In turn, he made a huge fanfare about seeing Bai Xiaochun off… to visit Green Crest Peak.

Another month passed, and the disciples of Green Crest Peak… were also driven crazy.

That was especially true of Chen Fei and his two friends, who were soon frightened out of their minds. Once Bai Xiaochun began to do the rounds at Green Crest Peak, he would frequently look for them. Despite the fact that they would instantly begin to blabber greetings to ‘Sect Uncle Bai’, that didn’t end things.

Bai Xiaochun was quick to nitpick, and if they showed even an iota of disrespect, he would imply that he would report them to the Hall of Justice. Chen Fei and his friends began to shake with fear, and were soon treading on thin ice no matter where they went. In the end, they finally ratted out Qian Dajin. After giving them another good thrashing, Bai Xiaochun finally let them off the hook. Sighing, he left Green Crest Peak, all the while blaming himself for what was going on.

“The Outer Sect disciples all know me, but I haven’t had a chance to meet any of the Inner Sect disciples. And then there’s Qian Dajin. Does he really think I’ve forgotten about him?” After a long moment of thought, Bai Xiaochun nodded deeply at the prospect of the immense pleasure he was about to experience. With that, he hurried off to find some Inner Sect disciples.

In the following days, Bai Xiaochun made appearances on all three of the mountain peaks, most of the time in the areas occupied by the Inner Sect disciples. Considering his status, he could go almost anywhere in the Spirit Stream Sect.

However, he quickly lost interest. The Inner Sect disciples all happened to be in secluded meditation, and he hardly saw a single one even after a few months passed. That was especially true of Qian Dajin, whose immortal’s cave was constantly under the protection of several spell formations.

“I refuse to believe this just a coincidence!” Bai Xiaochun thought as he stood there in front of Qian Dajin’s door. He tried to break through the spell formations, but considering they were there to protect the immortal’s cave of an Inner Sect disciple, they were simply too powerful. Seeing that it was impossible for him to succeed on his own, he decided that it would be best to go get some help in breaking them open.

However, it was at this point that two people appeared off in the distance, racing in his direction. They were Inner Sect disciples, one tall, one short, and as they closed in, they didn’t even make a show of clasping their hands in greeting.

The first one to speak was the tall one. Voice cool, he said, “Sect Uncle Bai, how about you give my clan’s Young Lord a bit of face and forget about what happened with Qian Dajin? Oh, by the way, that Young Lord is none other than Shangguan Tianyou.”

From the young man’s tone of voice, he made it clear what he expected Bai Xiaochun to do.

Shangguan Tianyou was the most respected among the three great Chosen of the three mountain peaks of the south bank!

Latent talent such as his had been rare for at least a thousand years on the south bank of the Spirit Stream Sect, and although he was only an Outer Sect disciple, there was no question that he would soon reach Foundation Establishment. Because of that, many of the elders in the sect viewed Shangguan Tianyou as being a bit different from everyone else. Many people even hoped that he would eventually be able to outdo the disciples of the north bank, and as such, a lot of resources were being put into his training.

That in turn caused Shangguan Tianyou to have a lot of fans, especially on Green Crest Peak.

Bai Xiaochun’s expression was the same as ever. In the past, he might have started to get scared. However, his general fear of death did not indicate that he lacked courage. In fact, as long as a situation didn’t carry the threat of death, he was actually quite dauntless.

Because of his current status, there was virtually nothing and no one in the sect who could threaten his life, and therefore, he simply turned his nose up and stared at the two newcomers with a slight smile.

“When you meet an important person like me, but fail to offer formal greetings, it shows what great gall the two of you have, doesn’t it?” He flicked his sleeve. “Who might it be that egged you on into such impertinent disrespect? Might it have been Shangguan Tianyou?”

The two Inner Sect disciples’ expressions flickered, and the tall one’s gaze turned sharp as he stared at Bai Xiaochun.

“Sect Uncle Bai,” he said, “you’d do best to pick your words a bit more carefully.”

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, and before he could continue speaking, Bai Xiaochun suddenly vanished. A blast of wind swept across the Inner Sect disciple, who stared in shock as Bai Xiaochun appeared directly in front of him.

His speed was so incredible that the two Inner Sect disciples hadn’t even seen him move. Before they could react, Bai Xiaochun stretched his palm back and swept it toward the tall disciple’s face, causing a sound like thunder to rumble out.

Almost instantly, a protective shield sprang up from within the young man’s robe, the result of a magical device given to all Inner Sect disciples. However, in almost the same instant that the shield appeared, Bai Xiaochun’s palm landed, and it shattered into a thousand pieces. It was completely incapable of standing up to the incredible power of Bai Xiaochun’s palm.

A massive slap rang out, and the tall disciple instantly saw stars. His mind thrummed, and he almost felt like he had been crushed by a mountain. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as he slammed into the ground, tumbling backward like a kite with its string cut. After rolling along for several dozen meters, shrieking the entire way, he finally lapsed into unconsciousness.

Everything happened so quickly that the short disciple could do nothing more than stand there, mouth agape, mind spinning. After a moment, he began to edge backward, glancing first at his unconscious comrade and then back at Bai Xiaochun. Then he took a deep breath, and swallowed hard.

“Y-you… you….” he stammered, pointing shakily at Bai Xiaochun. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that Bai Xiaochun’s fleshly body power would be so shocking.

It seemed on par with the eighth level of Qi Condensation….

Bai Xiaochun turned slowly to look at the short disciple, and then said, “Can an Inner Sect disciple really gesture so rudely to someone of the elder generation?”

Then he began to walk forward.

Shrieking, the short disciple turned tail and fled. However, before he could get very far, the sound of a screaming wind filled the air as Bai Xiaochun bore down on him and once again unleashed a mighty slap.

It was at that very moment that a stern, sinister voice rang out from down below.

“Stay your hand!” Suddenly, a newcomer appeared on the scene.

However, Bai Xiaochun paid him no heed. His palm moved too quickly, and the short Inner Sect disciple was sent flying. Teeth spun through the air, and blood spattered. The disciple’s neck seemed to be on the verge of breaking as he flew off to the side, unconscious.

With that, Bai Xiaochun shook out his hand and looked at the person racing up from further down the mountain. It was a middle-aged man with a cultivation base in the ninth level of Qi Condensation, a level of power similar to Chen Heng.

The man glared furiously at Bai Xiaochun and said, “Didn’t you hear what I just said, Bai Xiaochun? Dammit! You’re–”

Bai Xiaochun lifted his chin, smiled, and interrupted, “Sect Nephew, are you looking to get slapped as well?”

From the actions of the two disciples moments ago, as well as this man’s words, it was clear that they didn’t have the least bit of respect for him, and furthermore, even disdained him to some degree, as though they felt that they completely outranked him. Inner Sect disciples like that were completely contemptible as far as he was concerned.

Bai Xiaochun’s words caused various expressions to flash across the man’s face, and he bit back his next words. Bai Xiaochun’s impressive display of fleshly body strength left him breathless and in complete shock. Now that the man thought about it, he realized that, considering Bai Xiaochun’s status, it didn’t matter what he did here, the Hall of Justice wouldn’t care a bit.

The middle-aged man stared at Bai Xiaochun for a long moment, suppressed his fury, and then explained his purpose in coming. “Bai Xiaochun, my clan’s Young Lord wishes for you to go offer him formal greetings.”

He had actually been sent by Shangguan Tianyou to order Bai Xiaochun go offer formal greetings.

In his opinion, his clan’s Young Lord was making a mountain out of a molehill. Bai Xiaochun had lucked his way into being an important person, and was more of a clown than anything else. He had killed a few weak members of some cultivator clan, and it was only by chance that the sect ended up making a big deal about him. That certainly didn’t earn him the right to be given face by a Young Lord who was already making his meteoric rise, and would certainly reach the Gold Core stage and forge a legend in the future.

In fact, this man actually felt that being sent to fetch Bai Xiaochun to come offer greetings was a bit below his status.

Bai Xiaochun could already see how arrogant of a person Shangguan Tianyou was. Considering his own status, if he didn’t come in person, or if he chose to just send a message, it might be acceptable. But instead, he actually wanted Bai Xiaochun to go visit him! “Even if he’s a Chosen, do you really think an Outer Sect disciple can order me to offer him greetings? He should be the one coming to greet me!”

The middle-aged man flicked his sleeve, sending out a blast of wind. “Bai Xiaochun,” he grated furiously, “for my clan’s Young Lord to ask you to go visit him is a huge show of face. Do you know how many people wish they could go offer formal greetings? You–”

Before he could finish speaking, his face flickered, and he leaped backward. However, he was just a bit too slow. Bai Xiaochun appeared directly in front of him and reached back his palm.

“How dare you!!” The man’s cultivation base was in the ninth level of Qi Condensation, and he unleashed all of its power, simultaneously performing an incantation gesture that summoned numerous wind blades. However, even as the wind blades appeared in front of him, Bai Xiaochun’s palm smashed into them, crushing them like twigs. They couldn’t provide even the slightest bit of protection.

The palm proceeded onward almost as if nothing had attempted to block its way, landing almost instantly on the man’s face.

A slapping sound echoed out, followed by a scream. The middle-aged man staggered backward thirty meters or more before finally lurching to a stop.

With that, Bai Xiaochun swished his sleeve and snorted arrogantly. “You’re not even as powerful as Chen Heng. No wonder you’re such a lackey! Screw off!”

The man looked back at Bai Xiaochun in astonishment. He was shaking visibly, and his cheek was already swelling up. Blood oozing from between his teeth, he quickly fled.

After the man left, Bai Xiaochun looked back toward Qian Dajin’s immortal’s cave with narrowed eyes. He was the type of person who feared death, and as such, if someone tried to kill him, he would seek revenge upon them no matter what.

It didn’t matter if Qian Dajin asked for help from Shangguan Tianyou, there was no possible way Bai Xiaochun would let him off the hook. Although Bai Xiaochun’s actions in the sect recently had seemed somewhat casual, he had actually long since carried out a thorough investigation about Qian Dajin.

“You think you can hide away in there?” he thought. “You think I have no way of making you show your face?” With a cold snort, he turned to leave.

Based on his current status, what happened next was no surprise. A jade slip from the Hall of Justice appeared, a mission. It took only a moment for it to pass into Qian Dajin’s immortal’s cave, and hover in the air in front of him.

It was just like what had happened with Bai Xiaochun. Qian Dajin was being forced to accept a very dangerous mission outside the sect. A bitter smile appeared on his face, as he realized that he had no choice but to emerge from hiding to carry out the mission…. However, he still clung to the hope that being outside of the sect might help him avoid catastrophe.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the lengths to which Bai Xiaochun would go to exact his revenge. He had already arranged for several such missions to be assigned to Qian Dajin. Furthermore, he’d asked for some help from Hou Yunfei. The Hou Clan had a Foundation Establishment patriarch, and access to other deep reserves. Considering how important Bai Xiaochun was to them, and coupled with the urgings of Hou Yunfei and Hou Xiaomei, they had become a powerful ally.

With the help of the Hou Clan, it was a foreordained certainty that Qian Dajin would be struck with misfortune during the course of trying to carry out the missions.

It wasn’t that the Hall of Justice was unaware of what had occurred with Qian Dajin, and how it led to Bai Xiaochun’s fall in combat. However, despite the fact that the news was never spread publically, internal records had been maintained.

Now that Bai Xiaochun was back and wanted to settle accounts, there was little they could do to stop him. In fact, it was almost as if they owed him, and were simply allowing him to do what he wanted. To top it off, there were even some people who had already come to view Qian Dajin as dead.

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Hi everyone, I’m back! Sorry for the long absence, starting from here on out, I will be focusing full time on translating A Will Eternal! I’m still in the middle of jet lag recovery after my vacation in California, so there will be no set schedule at first. However, I will quickly settle into a rhythm, and plan to be doing 12-14 chapters per week initially. As time progresses, that number will slowly increase. In the past, I posted chapters seven days a week no matter what. For the next few weeks, I might take a day off here and there during the week. We’ll see!

In the process of working on the final edited version of ISSTH, I’ve made quite a few changes to term conventions for the Er Gen multiverse, including capitalizations. Starting with this chapter, AWE will also conform to those same conventions. As time permits, I will go back to change the previous AWE chapters to conform.

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