A Will Eternal

Everyone in the two sects began to snicker. Then, they simply looked away from the Heavenhorn Sword, their hearts filled with disdain.

Everyone knew that they were gathered to fight for a share of soon-to-be-redistributed resources. Because of that, the number of people who participated was crucial. If the River-Defying Sect could only produce one person who qualified, then there was no suspense in the matter. The River-Defying Sect… would be lucky to get one percent of the resources in the end.

The Starry River Court cultivators were especially aware of why this redistribution of resources was happening. Not only were they very complacent, they simply couldn’t hide their disdain for the River-Defying Sect.

Chen Yunshan was the only one present whose eyes flickered with killing intent; he already hated Bai Xiaochun down to his guts. Not only had the events of the previous month plagued his nightmares afterwards, he had been punished by the sect, and had become a laughingstock among his contemporaries. Because of that, his rancor continued to fester day by day.

Glaring at Bai Xiaochun, he thought, “It’s too bad we’re not allowed to kill anyone in here, otherwise you’d be dead!”

As for the people from the Polarity River Court, they weren’t interested at all in the River-Defying Sect. To them, this was merely a mission to accomplish for the sect. Everyone here was to be rewarded, and they couldn’t help but feel some disdain for the River-Defying Sect, who had only brought one person.

Rumbling sounds filled the air as the Heavenhorn Sword shot down from the sky. After coming to a stop some distance above the ground, the three patriarchs led Bai Xiaochun and Bruiser off of the sword and down to the ground.

Bai Xiaochun was panting, and his eyes were wide as he took in the crowd of cultivators from the two sects. He almost couldn’t believe that all of them were in the Core Formation stage. Each and every one was clearly an outstanding individual, and Bai Xiaochun’s heart was already starting to fill with an intense sensation of danger because of it.

“How… how could there be so many of them…?” he thought, a miserable expression on his face. The mere idea of having to compete with more than forty other top experts to get the legacy seals seemed almost too much for him to take.

The three patriarchs were also frowning as they looked over the forces from the Starry and Polarity River Courts. As for the Nascent Soul cultivators leading the two groups, they merely looked over and gave faint smiles. Clearly, they weren’t interested in chatting.

Compared to these two sects, the River-Defying Sect looked quite weak.

“So,” Chen Yunshan said all of a sudden, “it turns out the River-Defying Sect doesn’t just have one person. They have a beast, too. I guess that brings their total to one and a half.” He started laughing, and was soon joined by others from his sect.

Another cultivator called out, “I think it’s a bit more than one and a half. Look at this guy! Just how many paper talismans does he have stuck on himself? And look at that huge black wok on his back!”

More laughter rose up as the Starry River Court cultivators began to mock Bai Xiaochun’s outfit.

As for the cultivators from the Polarity River Court, when they saw Bai Xiaochun and Bruiser, a few of them were unable to conceal the glitters of greed that rose up in their eyes. Clearly, they could see how amazing of a creature Bruiser was.

Bruiser couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy having so many Core Formation cultivators staring at him. Almost instantly, the scales that covered his body began to stand on end, although the armor and paper talismans he was wearing made it impossible for anyone to see that. However, they could see the violet flames which sprang out beneath his feet, and the roar which echoed out from his mouth.

Bai Xiaochun had been feeling a bit anxious, but Chen Yunshan’s words, and the gazes which caused Bruiser to feel so anxious, stirred up his anger.

And yet, anger did little. Compared to the two other sects, the River-Defying Sect… really was too weak.

The three patriarchs were already starting to regret having brought Bai Xiaochun to participate in this challenge. Earlier, they had assumed that his battle prowess and precious treasures would be enough to allow him to get at least a few of the legacy seals and come away unscathed, no matter how many of the other Chosen wanted to harm him.

Besides, the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect had already laid down rules for how the fighting over the legacy seals would go. No one was allowed to kill any of the other Chosen, an arrangement which was for the benefit of all four sects. After all, none of them wanted their Chosen disciples to die in a place like this.

Because of all that, the three patriarchs had felt comfortable bringing Bai Xiaochun here. Even if he didn’t come away with much in terms of the legacy seals, at least he could get to know some of the other Chosen in his generation, and get some precious fighting experience.

But now that they realized he would be single-handedly facing dozens of opponents, the three patriarchs were starting to hesitate.

In that moment, a booming like thunder filled the sky, and an enormous silver battleship appeared out of thin air!

As the ship appeared, countless bolts of lightning crackled about in all directions, destroying the clouds around it as it descended.

That battleship belonged to… the strongest of the four Middle Reaches sects, the Dao River Court!

In almost the exact same instant that the battleship appeared, numerous figures flew off of it and began to descent at top speed. It took only a moment to determine that there were more than forty of them….

There were men and women among the cultivators, and all of them seemed to radiate an air that transcended the mortal world, as well as shocking cultivation base fluctuations. All of them… were cultivators who had stepped into Core Formation in less than a single sixty-year-cycle!

Middle Reaches sects controlled much larger territories than Lower Reaches sects, and also had access to much more resources. Furthermore, the energy of heaven and earth in the area was far stronger. Because of that, the sects here had many, many more Chosen than Lower Reaches sects did. It almost wasn’t even possible to compare the two regions.

Along with the more than forty Core Formation cultivators, an intense pressure began to weigh down as the same white-haired old man appeared who had made the final decision in the grand hall on Mount River Defiance a month ago.

The old man looked over the collected cultivators, and didn’t seem to be surprised at all that the River-Defying Sect only had Bai Xiaochun with them. Smiling faintly, he said, “I would like to welcome the emissary from the presiding sect to oversee our four sects’ competition for the legacy seals!” Even as the words left his mouth, the clouds up above swirled together as if driven by a powerful wind, rapidly forming into the shape of an enormous eye!

As the eye looked down, it radiated terrifying ripples that caused all light to dim.

Instantly, the cultivators of the Starry River Court and the Polarity River Court rose to their feet, clasped hands and bowed. It was the same with the Dao River Court cultivators, as well as Frigidsect, Master Godwind, Crimsonsoul, and Bai Xiaochun.

Next, a booming voice spoke. “The rules covering this competition for legacy seals are the same as always. Killing… is not permitted. Anyone who intentionally ends the life of another will be destroyed in body and soul!”

Instantly, colorful light sprang up from the temple in the middle of the huge spell formation. The stones began to tremble, and the pressure weighing down began to fade away, making it possible for the cultivators to now enter the temple.

“Let the competition begin!” said the voice. Instantly, the forty cultivators from the Dao River Court began to fly toward the temple.

In the blink of an eye, the disciples from the Starry and Polarity River Courts followed. As for Bai Xiaochun, he gritted his teeth, and then took Bruiser along in the same direction.

As he went along, he mentally reviewed everything he knew about the legacy seal competition. He knew that upon entering the temple itself, he would be teleported to a strange dimension. In the very middle of that dimension was a towering mountain surrounded by shocking spell formations that made it very difficult to approach the mountain itself.

A hundred legacy seals were located inside of the mountain, and would fly out in succession to the surrounding area, where the cultivators could fight over them.

Whoever acquired and absorbed the most would get some type of technique!

Bai Xiaochun and Bruiser followed the group through the stone spell formation. Considering that Bai Xiaochun was cautious by nature, he didn’t hurry, and by the time he reached the temple itself, the other the disciples from the three sects had already entered.

Finally, he took a deep breath and looked over at Bruiser.

“Bruiser, remember to stick close to me. There are going to be a lot of bad people in there.” Bruiser gave a soft howl and nodded his head. Bai Xiaochun took a moment to straighten his garments, his paper talismans, and the big black wok. Then he gritted his teeth and stepped into the temple.

The moment Bai Xiaochun and Bruiser entered the temple, the light around them faded away, and jarring rumbling sounds could be heard. Outside the temple, intense pressure once again weighed down, making it impossible for anyone to approach the temple. At the same time, a light screen was projected into the air above the temple, cast by the stone spell formation.

Clearly visible on the light screen were the names of all four sects, next to which were glowing circles, faint and barely visible. The three patriarchs from the River-Defying Sect all exchanged glances. Those glowing circles represented the number of legacy seals acquired by the various disciples in the legacy zone.

As the circles glowed more and more brightly, they would create columns of light which… would make it instantly obvious how many legacy seals each sect had acquired!

Outside of the stone spell formation were the Nascent Soul cultivators of the various sects, who numbered in the dozens or so. At the moment, the red-haired old man from the Starry River Court looked courteously toward the Nascent Soul experts from the Polarity River Court and the Dao River Court.

“The Dao River Court will definitely take first again,” he said with a slight smile. “As for second place, well Brother Ouyang, I know that the Starry River Court can’t compete with the Polarity River Court. Therefore, we haven’t set our goals too high. Third place will do.” The red-haired old man chuckled.

The cultivator whom the red-haired old man had referred to as Brother Ouyang was a middle-aged man wearing the robes of the Polarity River Court. Smiling, he said, “Brother Zhou, you’re overthinking things. Let’s just wait and see who takes second and third place.”

Despite his words, his expression was one of utmost confidence.

As the cultivators of the three sects chatted, they completely ignored the River-Defying Sect.

Master Godwind, Frigidsect, and Crimsonsoul all had unsightly expressions on their faces as they sat there silently.