A Will Eternal

“That aura… what is it?” Bai Xiaochun closely examined the aura of the command medallion, and as he did, was shocked to find that his fatigue was rapidly fading away.

This was different from the powers of regeneration of his fleshly body. This was mental fatigue, and at the moment, his mental state was rapidly returning to its peak.

Delighted, he continued to focus his attention on the command medallion, but wasn’t able to find any more detailed clues. All he knew was that its aura really could help him recover his vitality!

“It’s not spiritual energy….” he decided. From what he could tell, it was energy from the world that the previous owner of the fan had come from, and was similar to the spiritual energy in the Eternal Immortal Domains.

“I wonder if this energy has any other uses.” Eyes sparkling, he did a few tests, even performing some breathing exercises while holding the command medallion in hand. To his shock and delight, absorbing the energy from this command medallion helped him practice cultivation at a much faster speed.

Not only did it flow through him especially quickly, he was able to absorb it much faster than ordinary spiritual energy. Furthermore, the complete mental clarity it brought made it obvious that this command medallion was a valuable treasure.

“The energy in this command medallion is better than any medicinal pill I’ve ever seen. If this little command medallion is so awesome, you can only imagine how incredible the fan itself is. It’s too bad there were so many people in it last time, making it impossible to study closely.” The next day at dawn, he opened his eyes. He was now more excited than ever, and more determined to wrest the fan away from the will that existed in it. 

He put the command medallion away and looked around to see where he was. A moment later, he was flying at rapid speed toward the capital city of the second immortal domain.

Three days later, he saw an enormous statue rising up in front of him, surrounded by crisscrossed mountain ranges, a huge city at its feet that looked like a crouching beast.

There were many cultivators in the city, and as evening fell, the din of their voices rose up high into the sky.

Bai Xiaochun eyed the city, and then cleared his throat. Although he was attempting to keep a low profile, he was a celestial after all, and one of the two most important and powerful people in this entire immortal domain. As such, keeping a low profile was really strange.

“Well, I guess I just need to get used to it. Low profile is the way to go.” Sighing, he kept his divine sense reigned in and headed toward one of the main gates of the city in the same manner that an ordinary cultivator would.

It was a very large city, with eight main gates. Usually, five of them were kept open to allow the hosts of traveling cultivators in and out. Squads of guards manned the gates, keeping an eye on the bustling throngs.

This was the capital city, where a celestial presided over the entire immortal domain, so no one would dare to act poorly here. Furthermore, the city guards all had extraordinary cultivation bases. As for the guards at the gates, they wore spectacular suits of armor, and were all in the great circle of Core Formation.

There were even deva fluctuations coming from the watchtower high above the gate. Clearly, a deva was inside who was tasked with watching over what was happening outside. It all formed a powerful threat that would surely intimidate any visitors into being very cautious.

Bai Xiaochun could see cultivators with all sorts of cultivation bases around him, waiting to pass through the strict inspection before entering the city. Although they kept their voices down, it was possible to overhear some of their conversations.

“I can’t believe they even have a deva inspecting people. I guess times really are unstable.”

“Ai, I wonder when we’ll have true peace.”

“Did you hear that war broke out in the north again…?”

“That Vile-Emperor Dynasty really is repulsive. It seems war breaks out every few years in the north….”

When he heard the things they were talking about, he blinked a few times. Most of what he knew about the second immortal domain came from reading the official records. As for the specific details of what was happening right now, he wasn't too clear. However, talk of war didn’t interest him much, so he paid little attention to that sort of gossip. As the line inched forward, he looked left and right to take in the new sights.

Occasionally, a particularly important cultivator would fly overhead and land directly in front of the gate. Even as such cultivators brushed the dust off of their shoulders, the guards at the gate would offer respectful greetings, and immediately let them in.

Such cultivators would always draw the envious attention of the crowd. As for Bai Xiaochun, he was itching to do the same thing, but continued to remind himself that he was keeping a low profile.

“I really need to get used to this low profile thing….” he thought. Gradually, the line moved along, and soon it was Bai Xiaochun’s turn. First, he paid some spirit stones, then he allowed the deva’s divine sense to scan him. Just as he was about to head into the city, beams of light suddenly began to streak toward the city gate from off in the distance.

As they neared, incredible pressure radiated out in all directions, causing clouds of dust to rise into the air. Soon, the beams of light faded, revealing dozens of figures.

Most were in the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage, but five of them were deva experts. They reeked of blood, as though they had just come from a battlefield. Leading them was a particularly burly fellow, stalwart and broad-shouldered, with a violet robe. He was the type who seemed threatening without being angry, and as soon as the guards saw him, their expressions flickered with shock. Then they treated him with even greater courtesy than any of the other important people they had let into the city earlier.

“Well met, Marquis Zi Lin!”

Suddenly, the deva flew out from the watchtower and approached. Clasping hands with utmost respect, he said, “Well met, Marquis Zi Lin!”

When the other cultivators lined up at the city gate heard this, they were visibly shocked, and even began to cry out in surprise.

“That’s Marquis Zi Lin? He serves as the preceptor of the northernmost prefecture!”

“Yeah, that's definitely him. I saw him from a distance once, when the Saint-Emperor bestowed him with the title marquis!”

Despite how shocked the crowd was, not even this burly Marquis Zi Lin was allowed to simply fly into the city. He also had to walk through the gate.

It was very thought-provoking to Bai Xiaochun, and really served to emphasize how different the capital city was. According to the rules, not even a demigod expert was allowed to fly inside of it!

Marquis Zi Lin smiled faintly, and quickly clasped hands in salute to the deva. Without saying anything else, he and his men walked toward the gate, fairly radiating murderous auras.

The guards turned to push everyone else to the side so that they wouldn't get in Marquis Zi Lin’s way. Of course, they didn’t actually need to do that; the crowd respectfully began to back up without any urgings.

Bai Xiaochun was right there in the crowd, but was already starting to feel a bit irritated. After all, he had already paid the spirit stone tax and been scanned, and therefore, should have been allowed to proceed into the city. As the crowd backed up, he remained standing in place, until he was conspicuously out in the open.

The guards were not pleased, and one of them yelled, “Hey, what are you doing standing there!?”

He even walked forward with the intention of pushing Bai Xiaochun back.

At this point, Bai Xiaochun glared at the guard, causing the man to shiver. His mind even went a bit blank. Although he didn’t recognize Bai Xiaochun, his gaze contained power that struck him all the way down to the soul, resulting in him simply standing there unmoving.

“I already paid my spirit stones!” Bai Xiaochun said loudly. “Why the hell should I have to get out of the way!” Swishing his sleeve, he ignored the crowd and turned to enter the city.

Everyone in the area was completely stunned, even Marquis Zi Lin. At the moment, none of them could assess his cultivation base, and yet, nobody seemed worried about that. In their shock, many of them began to look over at the deva expert who oversaw this particular gate.

The deva frowned. He knew that Marquis Zi Lin was a direct descendant of Celestial Aged Spirit, and therefore didn’t dare to offend him. Waving his right hand, he caused a glowing shield to spring up and block Bai Xiaochun’s way.

Bai Xiaochun didn’t do anything rash. He simply turned around, an enigmatic smile on his face as he looked at the deva and asked, “What are you doing?”