A Will Eternal

Bai Xiaochun was very excited, and yet, within moments, his face turned ashen, and his heart began to pound!

He had never dared to hope that this was the special spell formation that would lead 50,000 kilometers outside of the city. He had assumed it was just an ordinary spell formation that would put him a short distance away.

However, he had come to the conclusion that, unless Lu Shiyou had been lying about that special formation, he would find it soon.

After all, he had tried out quite a few other spell formations up to this point, nearly seventy percent of the total amount. That being the case, his chances of finding the long-range teleportation formation would only increase as time went on.

And yet... this formation he was standing on was definitely the formation he had been looking for! Unfortunately, although it might seem as though this formation was the one that would save his life, Bai Xiaochun now realized that it was also a potentially deadly catastrophe!!

There was no time to ponder the situation. He quickly reached out with his right hand and then pushed it down toward the surface of the portal, causing the light to grow even more intense.

A very serious look filled his eyes, a look that was tinged with madness. He knew that this moment was one of extreme danger; the Cai Clan patriarch had been holding back out of fear, keeping much of his cultivation base power in reserve in case he needed to defend against a deadly trump card. It was only because of that fact that Bai Xiaochun and the giant ghost king had made it this far.

But now, with the light of the teleportation formation rising up, the Cai Clan patriarch had no reason not to go all out....

And that was exactly what happened. The anger in the Cai Clan patriarch’s eyes faded, replaced by intense determination. Although he still felt hesitant because of the potential danger, he knew that he had to make a move now. Even if this Bai Hao did have one more trick up his sleeve, the consequences of letting him escape were too severe.

Without the slightest hesitation, the patriarch drew upon the full power of his cultivation base, causing the sky to vibrate and bolts of lightning to appear everywhere. Up above him in the air, a huge face appeared, which resembled his own face in every aspect.

The patriarch took a step forward, and as he planted his foot onto the ground, countless lightning bolts began to fall, making it look like a rain of gold was descending onto the earth.

Bai Xiaochun was wracked with anxiety. Never could he have imagined that he would find the special teleportation formation under these circumstances. His plan had been to put some distance between himself and his enemies when he activated it, which would have given him plenty of time to escape.

But that was not how things were playing out.

“I’m finished,” he thought. “Kaput. It’s all over.... What do I do, what do I do...? Even if I handed the giant ghost king over now, this old patriarch wouldn’t let me off the hook!” He wanted to cry, but no tears would come. It wasn’t that he didn’t consider simply throwing the giant ghost king out of the teleportation portal. That might buy him some time, but in the end, the Cai Clan definitely would not let him go free, nor would the Chen or Bai Clans.

Besides, after the giant ghost king got his cultivation base back, then Bai Xiaochun knew that the only thing which would await him would be a grisly death.... He had the restrictive spell, and the giant ghost king’s promise. However, Bai Xiaochun was certain that if he handed the giant ghost king over, that would constitute breaking their agreement.

“Fudge. I guess I need to go for broke!!” In the blink of an eye, his eyes went completely bloodshot. He feared dying, but when death loomed, and he was out of options, he would be gripped by madness. During moments like that, he would not waver; he was not the type of person who liked to gamble, but in moments like this, gambling was the only option.

He would gamble on being able to hold out until the teleportation formation was fully activated!

His four clones were all weak and injured, but they appeared in the open now, surging with energy. For the first time, Bai Xiaochun released the giant ghost king, setting him down onto the surface of the spell formation. Then he looked up, his eyes shining with madness as he prepared to face the Cai Clan patriarch directly.

“Prepare to die, Bai Hao!!” the patriarch said, his voice rumbling as if it were the will of the heavens. It even seemed to contain magical laws of heaven and earth, and was accompanied by countless bolts of lightning that, as they fell from the sky, formed together into an enormous battle-axe.

As the battle-axe of lightning descended, the Cai Clan patriarch leaped up into the sky and grabbed it, and then... viciously swung it down toward Bai Xiaochun!

Given the speed of his attack, there was no way that he wouldn’t land the blow before the teleportation completed!

At this moment, nobody was paying attention to the giant ghost king, or the strange gleam in his eye. The truth was that he had been profoundly shaken by Bai Xiaochun’s words and actions. He was a wily old fox, a ruthless and ambitious person who didn’t trust anyone except his direct relatives. But the words Bai Xiaochun had spoken had caused a bit of warmth to appear in his heart. Of course, that warmth would only last for so long. Furthermore, Bai Xiaochun’s previous actions, if analyzed carefully, did not really match up with his words. However... after the long-range teleportation portal appeared, he was doing something that would forever make up for any deficiencies in his previous actions!

No matter what anyone said, as of this moment, Bai Xiaochun really was living up to his word, and was risking his life to keep the giant ghost king safe....

Most importantly, Bai Xiaochun had released the giant ghost king in order to take action!!

The giant ghost king was even more profoundly moved than he had been at the realization that Bai Xiaochun really wasn’t planning to throw him over to his enemies.... Although the king was a fundamentally ruthless individual, even he could not help but be shaken by what was happening.

The events which had played out on this day were profound, to say the least. It was in this moment that the giant ghost king took a deep breath, and at the same time, a shimmer of determination appeared in his eyes. As the Cai Clan patriarch closed in, the giant ghost king reached up and pushed his hand down onto his forehead.

Rumbling sounds could be heard as his forehead opened up, and a golden drop of blood flew out and shot toward Bai Xiaochun.

“Bai Hao, this is a drop of my soul blood. Absorb it, and you will have access to power equivalent to half a step into the Demigod Realm. Take my crimson spear... and attack with everything you’ve got!!” He sounded very weak as he spoke the words, and as the soul blood flew out of him, he seemed to age visibly, until he looked like little more than skin and bones. His aura was so weak that he was like a candle flickering in the wind; even his eyes clouded over.

He only had three drops of soul blood in total, each of which was extremely important. Of course, anyone who absorbed one of those drops of soul blood would experience a huge boost to their cultivation base, except that boost would only last for a short time. However, it would give the recipient enlightenment regarding the natural laws of devas and the magical laws of demigods!

At the moment, it was with complete and utter determination that the giant ghost king sent his soul blood flying toward Bai Xiaochun!

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. Bai Xiaochun’s jaw dropped as the giant ghost king’s words entered his ears. And then, the drop of soul blood hit his chest and sank inside.

A wave of heat exploded out inside of him, causing blue veins to bulge out on his face and neck. At the same time, a scream of intense pain erupted from his lips.

Cracking sounds could be heard, and his entire body thrummed from the power of the soul blood.

All of a sudden, monumental changes occurred to his cultivation base. His aura surged upward with indescribable speed, pushing him out of the Gold Core stage and into the early Nascent Soul stage. In the blink of an eye, he was in the great circle, and then beyond it. He was a deva, and yet, things weren’t over yet! His aura was almost instantly in the great circle of the Deva Realm, only half a step from the Demigod Realm!

He was... half a step into the Demigod Realm!!

He threw his head back and let loose a protracted roar, his hair whipping around him. As of this moment, all of the giant ghost king’s accumulated knowledge of devas filled his mind, as well as much of his enlightenment regarding the Demigod Realm. Although that enlightenment wasn’t complete, to Bai Xiaochun, it was profoundly precious. This was a type of good fortune that could be encountered by chance, but never searched for and found!

It would make his future cultivation advance much more rapidly than before, and would help him avoid many mistakes. In fact, it was highly likely that it would enable him to surpass the giant ghost king himself!

Right now... anything and everything was possible!

That was the power of soul blood! It could not truly push someone to new heights permanently, but would still be dramatically helpful in the long run!

As for the Cai Clan patriarch, his face fell, and he blurted, “Soul blood!!”

Never could he have imagined that the selfish and callous giant ghost king would actually give out a drop of his soul blood. The patriarch’s killing intent grew more intense, and he began to push his lighting axe down with even greater speed.

The attack he was unleashing contained indescribable energy of heaven and earth, as if nature itself were furious, and intent on punishing all living beings. Lightning filled the sky as the enormous axe bore down on Bai Xiaochun.