A Will Eternal

When Bai Xiaochun appeared outside of the trials, and the sect leader’s voice echoed out, everyone who had been watching his performance was left completely shaken.

It only took moments for countless fervent gazes to be turned in Bai Xiaochun’s direction. Normally speaking, he would have given everyone an opportunity to approach and offer words of praise. But he was in no mood for that now.

As soon as he had that power of a deva, he shot into the sky, transforming into a beam of light that sped directly toward the teleportation portal.

He had no idea how much time had passed, and anxiously wished to get back to the Hall of Devil Slayers on Sky Quarter Rainbow to save Big Fatty Zhang!

As he left, numerous discussions broke out amongst the audience. Bai Xiaochun was now listed among the absolute most high-level disciples within the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect!

He was in the top 10!!

Although no one was sure of what he had experienced within the violet trial, they did know that the violet portion of the rainbow now had a tenth star!

It was easy to imagine how, in the days to come, Bai Xiaochun’s name would continue to rise to unprecedented heights within the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect.

However, Bai Xiaochun was not in the mood to revel in the glory of his achievement. He pushed forward with all the speed he could muster until he was at the teleportation portal, where he vanished, to reappear moments later on Sky Quarter Rainbow.

As soon as he stepped off of the teleportation portal there, he saw numerous Sky Quarter Rainbow cultivators gathered, looking at him with expressions of awe as they called out greetings.

“Greetings, Elder Brother Bai!”

Bai Xiaochun was too nervous about Big Fatty Zhang to do more than simply nod in response, and then hurry on his way. Considering he was now in late Core Formation, he could move faster than ever as he shot off in a beam of light.

Literally nothing could have blocked his path, although no one attempted to do so, not even when he passed directly through some of the other Ten Halls.

Because he was in the top 10 of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars, he had a special place in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, as well as special privileges. Thus, he arrived at the Hall of Devil Slayers in less time than it takes an incense stick to burn.

Instantly, numerous cultivators emerged to offer formal greetings, their faces filled with respect. Back before he had challenged the trials, everyone in the Hall of Devil Slayers had only pretended to respect him, and secretly scorned him for relying on a powerful backer to become important.

Some of them had changed their tune a bit after he got into the top 400. But now that his name was on the violet portion of the rainbow, everything had changed.

“Greetings, Elder Brother Bai!”

“Elder Brother Bai….”

More and more people appeared, and more voices rang out. There were some people Bai Xiaochun recognized, including Master Cloud-Dao, who was waiting outside the main temple. As soon as Master Cloud-Dao caught sight of him, he clasped hands and bowed in deep and exaggerated fashion.

“Congratulations, Elder Brother Bai!”

Master God-Diviner, Xu Baocai, and Chen Manyao were also waiting outside of the main temple, and when they caught sight of Bai Xiaochun, excited expressions appeared on their faces.

Bai Xiaochun nodded to everyone, then walked into the temple looking very serious. The first thing he saw was the gaunt, skeletal form of Big Fatty Zhang, sitting there cross-legged in the middle of the temple, a pained expression on his face. Clearly, his life force was so faint that it was almost nonexistent, and a strong aura of death surrounded him. Had Feng Youde not been there the entire time bolstering him with his Nascent Soul cultivation base, Big Fatty Zhang would have long since slipped into death.

“Daoist Master, I’ve brought the power of a deva!” Looking trepidatiously at Big Fatty Zhang, Bai Xiaochun quickly pulled out the wood-type leaf he had just received.

Feng Youde looked up and made a grasping motion, causing the leaf to fly over and come to a rest above Big Fatty Zhang’s head.

Expression somber, Feng Youde performed an incantation gesture and pointed out at the leaf, which began to tremble and emit a greenish glow. At the same time, green strands of energy emerged from the leaf and began to bore into Big Fatty Zhang.

Big Fatty Zhang shivered, and the look of pain on his face faded away. Almost immediately, a faint, ruddy glow could be seen on his cheeks, and the mist which surrounded him began to swirl back inside of him. Instead of spreading out in all directions like it had been, it was taking form inside his dantian region.

Seeing that, Bai Xiaochun’s nervousness immediately began to fade. Finally, Feng Youde took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

“With the help of the power of a deva, your Eldest Brother’s Core Formation should proceed smoothly from here on out. However, he did drain a lot of his life force. The process should take a full half year before it’s complete.” He sighed. “Fine… you can leave him here for me to watch over.”

“Many thanks, Daoist Master!” Bai Xiaochun said excitedly, clasping hands and bowing deeply. Then he looked over one more time to confirm that Big Fatty Zhang was safe, which was when he realized how exhausted he was.

The fight with the statue of Gongsun Wan’er had been a huge draw on both his cultivation base and his energy in general. Coupled with all the anxiety he had felt regarding Big Fatty Zhang, everything returned to hit him at once. Now that he was sure Big Fatty Zhang was safe, he left the temple and returned, not to his immortal’s cave, but rather, one of the empty residences in the Hall of Devil Slayers, where he sat down to do some breathing exercises and recuperate.

He rested for three days straight.

During that time, the commotion which had begun three days before continue to sweep through the sect, and Bai Xiaochun’s name grew more famous than ever. Soon, the details of his background became more commonly known. As such, the cultivators in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect… came to know of the River-Defying Sect.

After all… two of the top 10 Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars… were from the River-Defying Sect!

“This River-Defying Sect… is extraordinary!”

“It’s hard to even wrap your mind around the fact that two River-Defying Sect hostages are in the top 10!”

“I heard that when Bai Xiaochun came from the River-Defying Sect, he brought some Dao protectors with him…. I bet those Dao protectors are incredible too!” Slowly but surely, the identities of Bai Xiaochun’s Dao protectors came to be known.

Song Que. Big Fatty Zhang. Xu Baocai. Master God-Diviner. Chen Manyao. Those five names gradually became the subject of much discussion. Xu Baocai didn’t think much of the matter, and actually basked in the glory, whereas Song Que had a hard time accepting it.

In fact, on the fourth day, Song Que left his immortal’s cave and headed toward the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars trials to prove that, although he might not be Bai Xiaochun’s equal, he was still not far behind.

Because he was one of Bai Xiaochun’s Dao protectors, a lot of people paid attention to his run, and when he ended up being ranked within the 600s, it caused quite a stir.

After Song Que was Chen Manyao, who placed around the same as Song Que, neither very high nor very low.

Master God-Diviner didn’t really want to go, but ended up being convinced, and after going all-out, reaching a rank in the 900’s.

Xu Baocai hesitated about whether or not to go, and in the end, didn’t dare to try. As far as he was concerned, if he couldn’t get into the top 1,000, then it would be too embarrassing to try.

Xu Baocai didn’t challenge the trials, but Song Que, Chen Manyao, and Master God-Diviner all did, and it caused the name of the River-Defying Sect to rise to even greater heights. Eventually, the peak lord of Sky Quarter Rainbow personally sent down instructions to notify the River-Defying Sect of what had occurred, and to give them a bit of a reward.

The reward itself didn’t count for much, but the peak lord’s attitude did. Furthermore, the performance of Bai Xiaochun and his Dao protectors ensured that the other three great sects in the Middle Reaches were even more hesitant than before to cause any problems for the River-Defying Sect.

That was especially true because of how both Bai Xiaochun and Gongsun Wan’er had reached the top 10. The other three sects were shocked, and immediately did their best to contact the River-Defying Sect and improve relations.

In response to all of this, the patriarchs of the River-Defying Sect were very excited.

Patriarch Frigidsect threw his head back and laughed uproariously. “Ah, Xiaochun. Wherever the kid goes, he becomes a star. Nothing can keep him down!”

The other disciples in the sect were overjoyed, especially Hou Xiaomei and Song Junwan, as well as Bai Xiaochun’s other friends.

A month went by in which Bai Xiaochun’s name continue to rise in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, to the point where literally everyone had heard of him, even the devas.

As for Big Fatty Zhang, he never awoke, but was in stable condition. He was no longer gaunt and skeletal, and the mist which surrounded him was slowly merging into his body. He had passed the moment of deadly crisis, and within a few months, would have formed his Will Core and stepped into Core Formation!