A Will Eternal

Time passed quickly. Seven days. During that time, many cultivators from Middle Peak came for formal visits. Obviously, they all brought gifts with them, hoping to resolve any past differences they’d had with Nightcrypt.

Bai Xiaochun dealt with most of the people in the same way he’d dealt with Master God-Diviner. As a result, not only did his reputation in the Blood Stream Sect improve, but quite a few people were so thankful that they also implied that they wanted to become his followers.

Bai Xiaochun was very pleased, and couldn’t help but muse that he had handled everything perfectly. In fact, he decided that he would continue to use such methods in the future.

Eventually, it came time for the official ceremony to install Nightcrypt as the blood master. On that day, all cultivators of the Blood Stream Sect were present. Prime elders, blood rippers, and even four of the patriarchs showed up to bear witness to Nightcrypt taking his position!

As the grand elder of Middle Peak, Song Junwan formally presented the blood master robe to Bai Xiaochun. As soon as the garments settled onto his shoulders, Nightcrypt’s somber features grew even more solemn.

All of the cultivators of Middle Peak, including Song Junwan, dropped to their knees to kowtow.

“Greetings, Blood Master!”

Their voices echoed out for all to hear, accompanied by a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering eruption of blood qi from the mountain peak itself, which rose up like a pillar into the sky.

As of this moment, Nightcrypt’s name had become formally inscribed into the historical canons of the Blood Stream Sect. It was official. He was… Middle Peak’s blood master.

The cultivators from the other mountain peaks didn’t kowtow, but they did clasp hands and bow. Although Nightcrypt wasn’t the blood master of those other mountain peaks, he was still a blood master, and was thus a figure deserving of respect, someone that no one in the sect could possibly dare to offend.

Bai Xiaochun looked around at the kowtowing cultivators, and inside, sighed a thousand sighs as countless thoughts raced about in his mind.

It had been many years since anyone had occupied Middle Peak’s Blood Master Temple, but from this day forth, it would be called Bai Xiaochun’s immortal’s cave. Without his express invitation, no one would be able to set even a foot inside.

Not even Grand Elder Song Junwan could do so.

The ceremony lasted for most of the day. Toward the end, the blood masters and grand elders from the three other mountain peaks came to offer formal greetings, and then a feast was held in Blood Master Temple.

The atmosphere was jovial, and no one got the impression that Nightcrypt wasn’t fit for the position. Song Junwan sat next to him to attend him, and when she looked over at him occasionally, although mixed emotions could be seen in her eyes, they also glowed brightly.

Throughout the entire occasion, Bai Xiaochun never saw Xuemei, nor Patriarch Limitless. Eventually, the feast ended, and the guests departed. Bai Xiaochun sat alone in Blood Master Temple, looking off into the distance, relishing the feeling… of power.

“The lives of everyone on Middle Peak… are in my hands.” he murmured to himself. As he watched the setting sun, he could sense the fluctuations emanating out of Middle Peak, and the resonance it formed with him.

That was one of the unique abilities of a blood master. Furthermore, his powers weren’t necessarily limited to Middle Peak. If required, he could step in for the blood masters of the other peaks to suppress people on those mountains.

“Du Lingfei doesn’t want to see me,” he murmured to himself. “However, I already have the answer to my question.” He shook his head. The fact that he had been formally installed as blood master indicated that no one in the Blood Stream Sect was aware of his true identity.

That much was clear, much to Bai Xiaochun’s relief.

“Everyone has the right to make their own choices. I guess this is your choice.” After a bit more thought, he finally put the matter to rest.

Bai Xiaochun didn’t want to stay in the Blood Stream Sect any longer than necessary. Whether it was for his own personal reasons, or for the fact that war would soon break out, he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“It’s almost time to say goodbye….” He sighed and looked down the mountain toward Grand Elder Song Junwan’s immortal’s cave.

As the blood master, there were many methods he could employ to get into Song Junwan’s immortal’s cave. As far as her restrictive spells, and the attendants outside the cave, he could deal with them all as easily as flipping over his hand.

However, he couldn’t go about the task casually. In the end, he called upon his authority as the blood master to assign Song Junwan a special mission.

She would be sent to a legacy pocket realm within the Blood Stream Sect. Normally, it was a place where the blood masters would go to reach Core Formation when they reached the great circle of Foundation Establishment. As for Song Junwan, she was reaching the point of breaking through to Core Formation, so being able to enter that pocket realm would be of incredible benefit.

Normally, it was a place that only blood masters could enter. Not even the patriarchs could easily arrange for others to go in. Only the blood masters themselves could hand that right over to another person.

When Song Junwan heard about the arrangement, she looked at Bai Xiaochun with shining eyes. Apparently, this act resolved even the slightest remaining reservations she had in her heart. As for Bai Xiaochun, he could hardly stand the look in her eyes, and inwardly cursed her vixen ways.

After handling Song Junwan, he also arranged for the attendants who guarded her immortal’s cave to be sent off on a task. The result was a rare occasion: Song Junwan’s immortal’s cave was left completely unguarded.

It wasn’t anything very noteworthy as far as the sect went. No one would ever dare to try to break into a grand elder’s immortal’s cave. Besides, there would be little point to doing such a thing.

After everything was arranged and taken care of, Bai Xiaochun strolled out of Blood Master Temple and walked along the paths of the Middle Peak. The sky above was a muted orange color, and a gentle wind caressed his cheeks. No one else could be seen as Bai Xiaochun slowly approached Song Junwan’s immortal’s cave.

After crossing the lake of blood, he found himself in front of the main door. Reaching out, he placed his hand onto the surface of the door. He could now control all spell formations on Middle Peak, so all it took was a slight push to send it swinging quietly open.

As the door opened, his heart began to beat faster, and his eyes shone with keen anticipation. He had been in the Blood Stream Sect for quite some time now, and from the time he had been a completely nobody all the way to his current situation, he had done everything in order to acquire the relic of eternal indestructibility.

As of this moment, his goal was at hand!

“I wonder… what exactly the relic of eternal indestructibility is?” Taking a deep breath, he strode into Song Junwan’s immortal’s cave. He was familiar with the place, and quickly walked into the inner sections of the cave, where Song Junwan’s bedchamber was located.

Looking around, he saw decorations which clearly identified it as a woman’s room. He almost felt like he was doing something a bit perverted. He cleared his throat.

Calming himself, he performed an incantation gesture and then waved his finger, causing blood qi to form into a sword, which he sent stabbing down into the ground.

He began to dig a large hole, going deeper and deeper until he hit something that seemed to be made of metal, something so tough that when the sword qi hit it, the qi collapsed.

In fact, even though he could see the item with his naked eye, it was completely invisible to divine sense.

“Eee?” Leaping down into the bottom of the hole, he found himself standing on what appeared to be a black sheet of iron.

“This is the place!” Reaching down, he rubbed the iron sheet, which caused a cold sensation to pierce him down to his bones. After trying several different ways to dispel the stabbing cold, he drew upon the Undying Live Forever Technique and finally blotted it out.

Once again, he performed an incantation gesture with his right hand, forming a sword with blood qi, which he used to hew out more space along the edges of the iron sheet. Gradually, more of the metal was revealed.

Furthermore, a magical symbol became visible. It was very complicated and ornate, and Bai Xiaochun wasn’t sure how to read it. However, in the very center of the symbol was an indentation that seemed to be the exact shape of a medicinal pill.

Instead of pulling out the medicinal pill he had concocted back in the Spirit Stream Sect, he studied the iron sheet a bit more. Suddenly, he gasped.

“This is Middle Peak, which is actually the middle finger of the Blood Ancestor…. I wonder if this iron sheet is actually a ring on the giant’s finger? A ring belonging to the Blood Ancestor!”

With that, he thought back to the moment when he had accepted the legacy, and had momentarily become the Blood Ancestor. Now that he thought about it, he was certain that a ring had indeed existed on the middle finger!

“There are all types of magical devices of holding. I wonder… if this ring is actually a ring of holding?” After a bit more thought, he slapped his bag of holding and produced the medicinal pill, which he carefully placed into the indentation in the magical symbol.

In the instant that it clicked into place, it melted, and the magical symbol lit up, causing blinding light to shine out. Thankfully, the light was contained by the immortal’s cave, otherwise it would have been visible from quite a distance.

Bai Xiaochun’s heart was pounding as he backed up and looked at the magical symbol. Gradually, the light began to fade away, and cracking sounds could be heard. Bai Xiaochun watched as the magical symbol changed shape, as though a sealing were being undone. Soon, it transformed into the shape of a door.

Bai Xiaochun stood there, staring at the door for a long moment before finally gritting his teeth.

“I’ve come this far, I can’t stop now. Let’s see what exactly this relic of eternal indestructibility really is!!” Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and vanished into the door.

When he reappeared, he was in another location, surrounded by blurry darkness. He wasn’t sure how large of a space he was in, but he could see that right in front of him was a palm-sized turtle shell.

On top of the shell was a golden leaf!

Other than those two items, nothing else was visible.