A Will Eternal

After the spirit automaton left, the level faded away, and Bai Xiaochun snorted coldly as he was teleported back out onto the damaged fan.

“That spirit automaton has gone for too long without someone in charge of him. How rude! Seems I’ll have to discipline him a bit more in the future.” The more he thought about that analysis, the more correct it seemed. Furthermore, now that he knew the spirit automaton was currently awake, it didn’t seem like a good idea to challenge any more levels.

“I’ll wait another month. He’ll be asleep by then, and I can go back in.” Having reached this point in his train of thought, he looked around one last time before heading back to Mistysea Prefecture.

By now, nearly a year had passed since the incident in Murknine County. Mistysea Prefecture advanced on a daily basis, becoming more and more of a bustling place as increasing numbers of Heavenspan cultivators found their way there.

Both the Grand Heavenmaster and the Giant Ghost King were proud and excited by how things were taking shape, as was Bai Xiaochun.

Considering he was taking a break from challenging the levels in the damaged fan, he spent most of his time working with the Grand Heavenmaster and Giant Ghost King to manage affairs in the prefecture. Soon, a month had gone by.

Just when Bai Xiaochun was thinking about going back to the fan, something dramatic occurred!

Overnight, spiderweb appeared in the four northern prefectures controlled by the Vile-Emperor Dynasty. It was just like what had happened back in Murknine County. The difference was that last time, only a single county had been affected, but this time… sixteen entire counties in the northern four prefectures were covered so quickly no one had a chance to react!

No one managed to flee the affected areas, nor send messages of warning. Overnight, the northern four prefectures became a land of death!

Because of how quickly it happened, and because Celestial Deadfall was gone, leaving no other celestial behind to watch over the area, it all happened literally overnight!

What made Bai Xiaochun shiver with fear the most was that, even though he was so close in Mistysea Prefecture, and had acute celestial senses, he hadn’t been able to detect anything happening!

Only after the spiderwebs had appeared in full did he suddenly realize that all heaven and earth was filled with something like a sensation of rot, something that could absorb life force… some familiar, evil aura!!

It was the very same aura he had personally encountered back in Murknine County!

And yet, the crisis continued to build. Apparently, those four northern prefectures were not the limit. Almost as soon as Bai Xiaochun detected the aura… he realized that spiderweb had already appeared in places in Mistysea Prefecture!!

Shaken, he immediately dispelled any thoughts of going to the damaged fan, and instead rushed toward the border. Meanwhile, the Grand Heavenmaster and Giant Ghost King were already getting information about what was happening, and they were both stunned.

Word quickly began to spread through the second immortal domain, leading to widespread astonishment. There were many people who didn’t even dare to believe it was true.

After all… it was a matter involving four entire prefectures!

There was no celestial in those four prefectures, but there were dozens of demigod experts, and hundreds of devas, not to mention the countless other cultivators of lower levels. Collectively, they made up nearly a third of the entire second immortal domain.

For so many cultivators, and so many powerful experts, to suddenly vanish overnight, without a single one being able to escape or send news, was a terrifying event that struck fear into the hearts of everyone in the second immortal domain.

Events continued as the spiderweb expanded. It was around evening by the time Bai Xiaochun reached the border. The spiderweb was visibly expanding, building up in various areas in Mistysea Prefecture.

The Grand Heavenmaster, the Giant Ghost King, and Zhou Yixing all looked around in despair, and yet, Bai Xiaochun was actually more nervous than they were. He had personally witnessed what went down in Murknine County, and as he closed his eyes and thought back to all of that, it only served to reinforce how he couldn’t let it happen in Mistysea Prefecture.

“Dammit!! What are the Saint-Emperor and Vile-Emperor up to?!?!” Bai Xiaochun couldn’t keep breathing calmly as the spiderweb expanded at rapid speed, and was in such a state of helplessness that his face was pale white.

Even though he was in the mid Celestial Realm, and also had the Greatsword of the North, whatever had come out of that egg sack could destroy all of Murknine County with a single palm strike. From what Bai Xiaochun could tell, only an archaean could deal with that level of power.

Bai Xiaochun could already surmise that there was no life left in the northern four prefectures. Eyes bloodshot, he set about trying to set up a spell formation to prevent the spiderweb from expanding.

Unfortunately, even if his spell formation had been stronger, it would still have crumbled in the face of the spiderweb. It already covered a large portion of Mistysea Prefecture, causing the land to turn gray, the mountains to crumble, the rivers to dry up, and the vegetation to wither away. Everything was wasting away into dust.

“Xiaochun, we have to take our people and go. That’s our only option!!” The Grand Heavenmaster had poured blood, sweat, and tears into the development of Mistysea Prefecture, so it caused his heart to drip blood to utter words like this.

Gritting his teeth, the Giant Ghost King added, “Xiaochun, the Grand Heavenmaster is right. Leaving is the only option. Neither the Vile-Emperor nor the Saint-Emperor will do anything right now. To them, it would be worth it to have this spiderweb erase us from Mistysea Prefecture!”

Even Zhou Yixing offered similar bitter words of advice.

Somewhat in a daze, Bai Xiaochun looked around at Mistysea Prefecture. Everything was happening too quickly. Never could he have imagined that the land that, over the past few years, had been slowly transformed into a foundation for his people, would change almost overnight.

He even sent some divine sense out to check on the cultivators in the prefecture, and found that some of them had blank expressions, and seemed on the verge of ravenously devouring everything around them. Eyes bloodshot, he closed his eyes and said, “Fine. We leave.”

His voice was filled with pain and helplessness. No one wanted to leave, not any more than they had desired to leave the Heavenspan Realm.

Mistysea Prefecture had become their new home, but now… in the face of certain peril, they had no other choice.

His heart twinged with pain, but he knew that he was powerless to reverse the situation. Gritting his teeth, he took out the Greatsword of the North, and then used the power of his mid Celestial Realm cultivation base to send the cultivators from Mistysea Prefecture inside of it.

The truth was that the people were the foundation of Mistysea Prefecture, and therefore, no matter where they went, it wouldn’t be long before they could create a second Mistysea Prefecture!

The Grand Heavenmaster, the Giant Ghost King, Zhou Yixing and other powerful experts forced themselves to keep a good attitude as they issued orders. Although Mistysea Prefecture was large, the Grand Heavenmaster had organized it well, and hadn’t slacked off in any regard. Therefore, as the spiderweb kept expanding, and Bai Xiaochun worked as hard as he could, virtually all of the people in the prefecture were sent into the greatsword.

Soon, the Greatsword of the North was nearly full to capacity. Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun hovered there in the air, watching the spiderwebs continue to fill the prefecture….

All of the buildings and structures, even Bai Xiaochun’s mansion, were slowly swallowed up.

And of course, things didn't stop there. After finishing with Mistysea Prefecture, the spiderweb began to expand further south into the second immortal domain. And for some unknown reason, it began to move more quickly through the other prefectures.

Bai Xiaochun had no choice but to retreat in the face of the spiderweb. The entire time, his face was grim and his eyes sharp. He was simply waiting to see what would happen. From what he could tell, it was definitely a case of the Saint-Emperor and the Vile-Emperor holding back for some specific purpose.

Whatever it was, the loss of an entire immortal domain did not seem like a price either would be willing to pay.

“They have to come!” he thought, clenching his hands into fists. Expression flickering, he realized that Celestial Aged Spirit had appeared some distance off, his expression one of undisguised grimness and anger.

Upon nearing, he looked at Bai Xiaochun and said, “The emperors really are cruel, aren’t they!?”

By now, his own prefecture was filled with cries of shock as the spiderweb spread through it. Many cultivators attempted to flee, but weren’t fast enough.