A Will Eternal

Bai Xiaochun’s pupils constricted. This was his first time seeing Gongsun Wan’er after returning to the Spirit Stream Sect, and for some reason, she seemed completely different than he remembered!

The previous Gongsun Wan’er had been pretty, but not charming. The young woman he was looking at now, though, seemed to be charming down to her bones, charming in a way that would make you shiver inside.

Her facial features were the same as before, but she seemed completely different, so different that Bai Xiaochun’s scalp was tingling on the verge of explosion.

Her cultivation base fluctuations were being concealed, but something about her caused his eyes to narrow. Even his blood qi seemed to become sluggish inside of him.

“Something’s off!!” Even as Bai Xiaochun’s heart began to pound, Gongsun Wan’er turned and vanished into the crowd. Despite craning his neck and looking around, he was unable to find her again.

Slowly, the alarm he had felt began to fade away. However, he was still very certain about what had just occurred.

“How could Gongsun Wan’er have changed so much!?” Panting, Bai Xiaochun thought back to when he’d looked into her eyes, and how he’d heard her melodious laughter. For some reason, that laughter seemed familiar to him.

Of course, he had known Gongsun Wan’er for quite some time. However, there was something about the familiarity of the laughter that seemed very different.

Apparently, Hou Xiaomei could sense Bai Xiaochun’s astonishment. She followed his gaze into the crowd, but didn’t see Gongsun Wan’er.

“What’s wrong, big bro Xiaochun?” she asked.

Bai Xiaochun shook his head and declined to offer any explanation. Instead, he simply stood there thoughtfully. Slowly but surely, the tens of thousands of cultivators in the spell formation were being led to the spots that had been arranged for them. Soon, it was Shangguan Tianyou’s turn.

One of the Inner Sect disciples from the north bank approached him, clasped hands formally, and said, “Sect Uncle Shangguan, as set forth by sect decree, you will take command of the third of Green Crest Peak’s Foundation Establishment spell formations. Your will shall preside over the third spell formation. Please, Senior, accompany me, and I will show you the ins and outs of the formation.”

With that, he began to lead Shangguan Tianyou away, under the eyes of many observers.

Most of the people who had just arrived were being sent to spell formations belonging to whichever mountain peak they had come from. It was a bit different with Shangguan Tianyou, though. He was proclaimed as the leader of a spell formation, which led to quite a lot of hushed discussion.

“Sect Uncle Shangguan really does live up to his reputation. The sect obviously has high hopes for his future. They even made him the leader of Green Crest Peak’s third spell formation….”

“I was just looking around, and realized that each area in the Luochen Mountains is set aside for one of the mountain peaks. Each mountain peak has several dozen Outer Sect spell formations, a dozen or so Inner Sect spell formations, plus spell formations for the peak lord and elders. Presumably, Shangguan Tianyou is going to the spell formation for Chosen….”

“After coming back from the Fallen Sword Abyss, Sect Uncle Shangguan spent most of his time in secluded meditation, except for that time he went to challenge Ghostfang. Nobody is sure who won or lost, though….”

Bai Xiaochun’s lips twitched a bit in response to what was happening, unconvinced that Shangguan Tianyou was as amazing as people made him out to be.

Despite the buzz of conversation, Shangguan Tianyou’s expression was the same as ever as he strode along. He was used to being the focus of so many gazes. Turning to the north bank Inner Sect disciple who was leading the way, he coolly asked, “Who might be the leaders of the second and first spell formations?”

“Sect Uncle Shangguan,” the disciple replied respectfully, “from what I’ve heard, the second spell formation will be led by the elder of Green Crest Peak, and the first spell formation will be controlled by none other than the peak lord.” Shangguan Tianyou nodded, then turned to look at Bai Xiaochun and snorted coldly.

Moments later, a different disciple approached Zhou Xinqi, clasped hands, and bowed.

“Sect Aunt Zhou, I’ve come to lead the way, ma’am. You are to be the leader of Fragrant Cloud Peak’s third spell formation.”

Zhou Xinqi nodded silently. She and Shangguan Tianyou both left the teleportation spell formation, and Bai Xiaochun watched them go. Zhou Xinqi didn’t bother him much, but for some reason, he found Shangguan Tianyou very grating.

“I can’t believe that guy gets to be one of the leaders. I guess that in addition to the Inner Sect and Outer Sect spell formations, all of the mountain peaks have spell formations for the Foundation Establishment cultivators, huh? Well what about me? Where am I supposed to go?” Even as he pondered the question curiously, one of the Inner Sect disciples from the south bank approached in a beam of light.

Before he even got close, he yelled, “Is Sect Uncle Bai here…?”

He was actually sweating, and his voice was so loud that everyone in the area heard him, even Shangguan Tianyou and Zhou Xinqi, who both stopped in their tracks and looked over.

Bai Xiaochun’s eyes began to shine, and he took a few steps forward, waving to the Inner Sect disciple.

The disciple saw him and flew over, and before he even landed, was clasping hands and bowing, his eyes shining with reverence and worship.

“Greetings Sect Uncle Bai! The sect leader has commanded that you will not be a part of any of the spell formations from the south or north banks. Instead, you will lead the Mount Daoseed Foundation Establishment formation!” Quite a few people heard the words spoken by the Inner Sect disciple, and conversations sprang up almost immediately as people looked over at Bai Xiaochun.

“He’s going to lead the Mount Daoseed Foundation Establishment formation?”

“Ah, that’s how it should be. Sect Uncle Bai has a Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment cultivation base. Putting him with any of the other seven mountain peaks would be a complete waste of talent. Only Mount Daoseed is suitable for Sect Uncle Bai!”

The gazes which fell upon Bai Xiaochun were those of respect and envy. Clearly, Bai Xiaochun was very important, so important that the sect valued him far more than people like Shangguan Tianyou and Zhou Xinqi.

Zhou Xinqi looked at Bai Xiaochun, then looked away and walked off. Although Shangguan Tianyou’s expression was the same as ever, his hands were clenched into fists. To be so blatantly compared to someone else caused him to grit his teeth, swish his sleeve, and then fly away.

Bai Xiaochun felt wonderful. Although Hou Xiaomei was sent to a location with other south bank Outer Sect disciples, Bai Xiaochun and Hou Yunfei arranged for her to be sent to a central location, and also be protected at all times.

With that, Bai Xiaochun followed the south bank Inner Sect disciple away. Soon they were in the middle of the ranks of the Spirit Stream Sect forces, where nine large spell formations had been burned into the ground. Each of the spell formations was fully 3,000 meters across, and emanated intense ripples and blinding light. They even seemed to be in sync with the grand spell formation that filled the entire mountain range.

Hundreds of disciples were working away busily at the spell formations, making adjustments and preparing them in various ways. The auras of the spell formations only continued to grow more and more shocking with every moment.

There were already quite a few people seated cross-legged in most of the spell formations. As for where everyone sat, those positions had already been decreed by the sect leadership, and couldn’t be altered.

Closer examination revealed that within each spell formation, eight positions for cultivators were arrayed in an eight trigrams formation. In the middle were three other positions for the leaders.

Bai Xiaochun recognized most of the cultivators in the various spell formations. They were all Foundation Establishment elders, and many of them nodded in greeting when they saw Bai Xiaochun look their way.

Bai Xiaochun was assigned to the ninth formation. The one difference between that spell formation and the other eight, was that it only had one leadership position.

“According to the orders of the sect leader, Sect Uncle Bai, you are the sole leader of the ninth spell formation, the Mount Daoseed formation!” The disciple who had been leading Bai Xiaochun clasped hands respectfully and then left. Bai Xiaochun made his way into the ninth formation and sat down in the spot in the center set aside for the leader.

At the moment, no other Foundation Establishment elders had arrived to fill in the other spots of the ninth formation. As such, Bai Xiaochun closed his eyes and opened his cultivation base to begin getting used to the spell formation.

Almost immediately, the spell formation formed a resonance with Bai Xiaochun’s Violet Qi Heavenspan Incantation. Because of that, he instantly felt as if he had become one with the formation.

His mind began to vibrate, and he was suddenly filled with the sensation that all he had to do was stand up, and he would transform into an enormous giant.

The feeling caused his mind to spin. Simultaneously, an intense light shot up from the ninth formation.

Quite a few of the Foundation Establishment elders in the other surrounding spell formations noticed what was happening, as did other cultivators in the area. The tens of thousands of cultivators from the fourth wave who were still being sent out to the various formations were all shaken, and looked over.

Soon, gasps could be heard. The light shining from Bai Xiaochun’s location in the ninth formation was creating the image of a 600-meter-tall giant. As it took shape, it was gradually possible to make out the facial features of the giant. They belonged to none other than Bai Xiaochun!

Big Fatty Zhang, Third Fatty Hei, Xu Baocai, Hou Yunfei, and all of his other friends in the different locations in the Luochen Mountains looked over in shock at the giant.

Ghostfang was sitting in position in the third formation of Ghostfang Peak, meditating. Then, his eyes snapped open, and he looked over at the giant.

Beihan Lie, Xu Song, and the recently arrived Shangguan Tianyou and Zhou Xinqi were all looking in the same direction.

As for Gongsun Wan’er, her eyes shone with a strange light.

Bai Xiaochun was a bit dazed at first. He clearly felt as if he had become a giant, as if his thoughts were the giant’s thoughts. Apparently, this giant was an external incarnation of himself!

The feeling of incredible power that coursed through him caused him to throw his head back and let loose a long, piercing cry. The heavens shook as if they had been struck by lightning, and everything in the area began to shake and tremble.

He tried to wave his arms, but his unfamiliarity with this form caused the giant to destabilize and then slowly collapse. Even still, the scene which had just played out left everyone who had seen it shocked.

Even the prime elders and legacy echelon cultivators up in the sky had been paying attention.

“So that’s Bai Xiaochun…”

“He only just stepped into the spell formation, yet can already unleash its power in an external incarnation….”

“It seems Bai Xiaochun’s techniques can form a direct resonance with Spirit Stream Sect spell formations!”

“No wonder the sect leader arranged for him to have sole leadership of the ninth formation. Normally, three cultivators are required to create the spell formation incarnation. He can do it by himself!”