A Will Eternal

Ten days had passed since Bai Xiaochun left the Hall of Devil Slayers and the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. All of Bai Xiaochun’s Dao protectors were very nervous. Although none of them really knew much about the mission he was on, after spending a significant amount of merit points, they managed to dig up more information about the Foundation Establishment cultivator he was supposed to track down and kill. What they found was that this cultivator had a fairly significant background.

They immediately tried to get in contact with Bai Xiaochun to inform him of what they had discovered, only to find that for some mysterious reason, he was impossible to reach!

Perhaps it was because of how distant the Eternalflux Continent was, or perhaps there was some other reason. In any case, he was currently out of contact.

Even as they stewed in their nervousness, Feng Youde, the Nascent Soul Daoist master who was the hallmaster of the Hall of Devil Slayers, was sitting in a temple meditating.

By now, he had long since put everything which had occurred with the new recruits out of his mind. He didn’t even care whether or not they lived or died on their missions; throughout the years, too many disciples of the Hall of Devil Slayers had died to even count.

Generally speaking, the first missions assigned to new recruits weren’t very difficult, and had a high survival rate. Several days ago, he had asked Master Cloud-Dao a few perfunctory questions regarding the missions that had been assigned, and had then proceeded to focus on cultivation.

As he sat there in the temple, he suddenly realized that something in his bag of holding was flickering with bright light. Frowning, he opened his eyes and wondered who it was that had dared to displease him by interrupting his meditation. Looking down, he used divine sense to scan a jade slip in his bag of holding, whereupon his expression flickered and his eyes widened.

He even gasped, and soon, an expression of bewilderment and incredulity could be seen on his face.

“The Heavenspan emissary is summoning me!?!?”

He only knew a bit about the Heavenspan emissary, who was a very enigmatic figure, and was said to have come from the Heavenspan Sea to stay temporarily in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. Even the sect’s demigod patriarch treated the emissary with respect.

An eminently important person like that was someone the hallmaster would normally only be able to gaze at from a distance, and yet now, he was being personally summoned! Feng Youde’s normally kind-looking face was now twisted with anxiety. Not daring to tarry, he rose to his feet and hurried out of the temple he had been meditating in, transforming into a beam of light that shot up past the second level rainbows and directly toward the summit of the first level rainbow.

The entire area was sealed off by a restrictive spell, but after the spell scanned Feng Youde, he was let through. For some reason, that only caused his nervousness to mount.

The first level rainbow of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect was occupied by the sect’s demigod patriarch, and more recently, by the mysterious Heavenspan emissary.

After Feng Youde was let past the defensive barrier, he didn’t dare to actually set foot onto the rainbow, and merely waited above it, hands clasped and bowing deeply.

“Feng Youde, hallmaster of the Hall of Devil Slayers on Sky Quarter Rainbow, is here to request an audience with the Heavenspan emissary.”

Almost immediately, a blurry figure stepped out of thin air, looked Feng Youde up and down, and then led him down toward the rainbow.

Feng Youde’s anxiety continued to build as the blurry figure led him to a valley filled with birdsong, the fragrance of flowers, and strong spiritual energy, as well as a pond filled with seven-colored fish swimming lazily about. Closer inspection revealed that the fish looked very much like infant dragons.

Adjacent to the pond was a log cabin, within which a figure could be seen playing a zither. The music floating up from the zither was graceful, and yet filled with a twinge of killing intent. Somehow, it affected the spiritual energy in the valley, causing vague images of wild beasts to appear, beasts that were shocking to the extreme.

Feng Youde took a deep breath, then walked forward to a position roughly 300 meters from the log cabin. At that point, the pressure weighing down on him was so intense that he didn’t dare to proceed any further. Clasping hands, he bowed deeply and said, “I am Feng Youde. Greetings, Heavenspan Emissary.”

His expression couldn’t have been more respectful. This emissary was a person who even the demigod patriarch respected, so whether it was in terms of cultivation base or background, Feng Youde knew well that being disrespectful in even the slightest aspect wasn’t an option.

After a long moment passed, the voice of a young woman drifted out from within the log cabin. “Feng Youde….”

The mere fact that she had spoken his name caused Feng Youde’s expression to turn even more somber. Yet again, he bowed deeply.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” the young woman continued. “I called you here today because I have a task in mind for you….”

“Anything, Emissary! Whatever orders you have, I, Feng Youde, will do everything in my power to see them accomplished!” The determination in his voice could sever nails and chop iron, and anyone who heard it would be convinced that he would go to any and all lengths to keep his word.

A moment passed, and the young woman spoke again. “You have a disciple in your Hall of Devil Slayers named Bai Xiaochun. Make sure that nothing untoward happens to him during his time on Sky Quarter Rainbow. If you keep him safe until he reaches the Nascent Soul stage and joins the parliament of elders, I will bestow upon you a bit of good fortune that will see you reach the Deva Realm!”

Feng Youde was taken aback by her words. He was a Nascent Soul cultivator and hallmaster of the Hall of Devil Slayers. Being the wily fox that he was, he understood that in some situations, the less you knew, the safer you were.

That was especially true when it came to powerful people like the Heavenspan emissary. The less he understood about this situation, the better. Furthermore, when he heard about good fortune that would help him become a deva, his eyes immediately shone with bright light. Were any other person to make him such an offer, he wouldn’t believe it, but this was a promise from the Heavenspan emissary! As such, he completely and utterly trusted the young woman’s words!

“Deva Realm….” he murmured, eyes glittering with excitement. Of course, his desire to reach the Deva Realm was intense, but the current level of his cultivation base made it such that, although becoming a deva wasn’t impossible, it was becoming less and less likely by the day. Therefore, the words of the Heavenspan emissary couldn’t have been more enticing to him. Clasping hands, he bowed even more deeply than before.

“Fear not, Emissary. I will do exactly as you say, beyond the shadow of a doubt!!” Brimming with excitement, he turned and left, flying back toward Sky Quarter Rainbow in a beam of prismatic light.

Along the way, he couldn’t stop bubbling with excitement over the thought of the good fortune which had been mentioned, and how this could very well be his lucky break. He tried to bury his excitement, and yet, it was impossible for him prevent his eyes from glittering brightly.

“I can’t believe this Bai Xiaochun prompted someone so powerful to personally issue orders about him!” For some reason, the name Bai Xiaochun seemed familiar to him, but at the moment, he couldn’t put a face to the name. Whoever he was, Feng Youde was already determined to take good care of him during his time in the Hall of Devil Slayers, keep him out of any sort of danger, and groom him all the way to the Nascent Soul stage.

“Hahaha! It seems my chance at the Deva Realm is just around the corner!” With that, he pushed forward with a bit more speed, quickly arriving at Sky Quarter Rainbow and the Hall of Devil Slayers.

“Send for Master Cloud-Dao immediately!” he said. There were simply too many disciples in the Hall of Devil Slayers for him to remember them all by name, and therefore, the best way to deal with them was through Master Cloud-Dao.

After all, Master Cloud-Dao was responsible for the records of all the disciples and their mission assignments. As Feng Youde’s most trusted assistant, he had done a wonderful job of managing things over the years.

Just as Feng Youde was settling down in his temple, Master Cloud-Dao arrived. Fearful of keeping Feng Youde waiting, he had even used a secret magic to arrive as quickly as possible, which was why the lingering sound of sonic booms could be heard outside. After landing outside the temple, he quickly straightened up his garments, put an ingratiating smile onto his face, and hurried inside.

Upon entering, he saw that the kindly-faced Feng Youde was not sitting in his chair at the head of the hall like he usually did. Instead, he was pacing back and forth, his expression tinged with a delight that most people would not notice. However, after working closely with him as an aide for so long, Master Cloud-Dao couldn’t help but notice it.

“Greetings, Hallmaster!” Master Cloud-Dao said. Looking like the picture of a toady, he continued, “Congratulations, and please accept my most sincere felicitations! From the healthy glow on your face, disciple can tell that some momentous event has occurred!”

Upon hearing Master Cloud-Dao’s words, Feng Youde laughed heartily.

“Oh you!” he said, smiling and wagging his finger. “If you spent less time working on reading faces and more time on cultivation, you might break through to the Nascent Soul stage!”

Master Cloud-Dao chuckled with the realization that he had judged the situation correctly. “Disciple–”

However, even as he prepared to offer some more flattery, Feng Youde swished his sleeve and interrupted, “Alright, that’s enough with the adulation. We have a disciple in the Hall of Devil Slayers named Bai Xiaochun, right?”

Master Cloud-Dao’s jaw dropped. “Huh? Bai Xiaochun?”