A Will Eternal

The instant the words left Bai Xiaochun’s mouth, all heaven and earth seemed to darken. At the same time, an enormous hand materialized in the sky above, which shot down toward Reverend Devourer.

Even as the hand descended, causing the lands below to quake, the air seemed to solidify, sealing the area around Reverend Devourer so that he couldn’t move!

When Reverend Devourer sensed what was happening, his eyes nearly popped out of his skull because of the shock.

“Y-you… you… you broke through to the Archaean Realm?” It seemed to him like the magic at work surpassed anything celestials could utilize, as though the Essence power of an entire world were being unleashed. Not even Celestial Virūpākṣa could do something like that.

Face completely expressionless, Bai Xiaochun waved his hand, causing intense rumbling sounds to echo out, as though the sky were being shattered. Reverend Devourer let loose a long cry of despair, performing a double-handed incantation gesture as he unleashed trump cards of all types. A black mist sprang up around him, as well as countless shadowy fiends, but such efforts were as helpful as throwing a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood.

The shadowy fiends were crushed out of existence as the enormous hand closed in, snatching Reverend Devourer up in one fell swoop!

At that point, Bai Xiaochun casually flicked his sleeve, sending the despairing Reverend Devourer straight into his bag of holding!

It all happened with ruthless efficiency, and within only ten breaths of time. The fluctuations were still rolling out across the lands as the people in Megarock City looked on, terrified and tongue-tied!

Moments later, the city devolved into a hubbub as people finally started to react!

“Heavens! That's Bai Xiaochun!!”

“King Heavenspan, Bai Xiaochun!!”

“He's back… he crushed Celestial Devourer in one move! That's… that's impossible!!”

Even as the shouts rose into the air, Bai Xiaochun performed an incantation gesture with his right hand, and then waved his finger down toward the ruins of the grand hall in the middle of Megarock City. As a result, the dust and rubble of the destroyed hall began to form together into the shape of a stone pagoda. Floor after floor took shape, seemingly without end, until it finally reached Bai Xiaochun’s feet, making him seem like the paramount entity of all creation!

Sitting down cross-legged, he looked out at the lands and calmly said, “Those who wish to leave may do so now. Those who wish to stay, hear my words. This immortal domain… now belongs to Bai Xiaochun!” 

He bolstered the words with his cultivation base, and powered them with his Daoseed and Willpower. As a result, they echoed out far and wide, passing beyond the borders of Megarock City and into the ears of roughly half of the Vile-Emperor Dynasty cultivators in that immortal domain.

“If you refuse to cooperate with this new arrangement, Vile-Emperor… then come fight me!” That final sentence was bolstered by his Daoseed and Willpower to reach even further!

Bai Xiaochun was sure that people would relay his words to the Vile-Emperor, and that soon… the emperor would come for him!

When the time came, he would use Prince Ur-Demon and Reverend Devourer as bargaining chips.

It took only moments for the second immortal domain in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty to be completely astir.

“Something big is about to happen!!”

“Heavens! It’s an invasion! We’re being invaded!!”

“Dammit, this King Heavenspan is completely crazy! Isn’t he worried that the Vile-Emperor will come and execute him!?!?”

“This must be some ploy by the Saint-Emperor Dynasty! It looks like the two dynasties are finally going to go to war!!”

Although everyone was talking about the situation, no one actually believed that Bai Xiaochun qualified to demand an immortal domain for himself. Everyone was completely confident in how strong the Vile-Emperor was.

Before long, word of Bai Xiaochun’s return spread from his current immortal domain into other parts of both the Vile-Emperor Dynasty and the Saint-Emperor Dynasty.

Upon hearing the news, the Vile-Emperor frowned slightly. He was of a different opinion than the masses. He knew that Bai Xiaochun was the new owner of the fan that was the legacy of a sovereign. Furthermore, decades had passed. Obviously, Bai Xiaochun wouldn’t be doing what he was doing if he wasn’t confident in the outcome.

“I bet he has some trump cards ready to use…. Well, I might as well force his hand as early as possible.” Eyes narrowing, he sent some divine sense out to Celestial Virūpākṣa, as well as the old woman he had resurrected years ago.

“Virūpākṣa. Ren Ling…. The two of you go arrest Bai Xiaochun!”

Virūpākṣa and Ren Ling didn’t know as much about Bai Xiaochun as the Vile-Emperor. However, they realized that, after such a long absence, he wouldn’t return in such a high-profile manner if he wasn’t confident in the outcome.

Obviously, Bai Xiaochun had some trump cards at his disposal, and therefore, the two celestials immediately understood why the Vile-Emperor had assigned them this mission. As powerful representatives of the Vile-Emperor, it was their duty to attempt to find out what secret weapons the enemy might have.

It was in somewhat taciturn fashion that both Virūpākṣa and Ren Ling flew toward the teleportation portal in Vile-Emperor City and headed toward the dynasty’s second immortal domain.

After they left, the Vile-Emperor actually emerged from his imperial palace and secretly followed them to see what would happen!

Although it was shocking that Bai Xiaochun had occupied Megarock City and captured Reverend Devourer, the people of the Vile-Emperor Dynasty weren’t very worried about the situation. After all, they had complete faith and confidence in the Vile-Emperor!

In fact, many cultivators began to head to Megarock City in the hopes of seeing how exactly the Vile-Emperor would put King Heavenspan in his place.

There were also many Heavenspan Realm cultivators undercover in the same immortal domain who heard the news. Gritting their teeth, they came out of hiding and headed toward Megarock City to see what would happen.

By the time Celestial Virūpākṣa and Celestial Ren Ling arrived outside of Megarock City, there was already a crowd of several hundred thousand cultivators present who had come to watch the fight.

And that wasn’t even to mention the cultivators who already resided in the city, and were watching with glittering eyes as the scene played out.

Bai Xiaochun ignored all of them. It didn’t matter that so many people didn’t believe what he had said before, and that none of them had left when he gave them the opportunity. That just meant there were more people to bear witness to what was about to happen.

“The bigger the audience… the more this fight will shake the Eternal Immortal Domains!” By this point, his eyes were alive with the desire to do battle. He had spent many years on the treasured fan, but the anger he felt in his heart had not been sated by the death of the Vile-Prince. He still needed to vent! This was also the time to make a name for the Heavenspan Realm in the Eternal Immortal Domains!

Upon detecting the approach of Celestial Virūpākṣa and Celestial Ren Ling, Bai Xiaochun calmly looked up in their direction, then smiled coldly.

“The Vile-Emperor is really playing it safe,” he thought. “He’s an archaean, but he’s sending celestials to try to find out what my trump cards are…. Well, it’s too bad that celestials don’t even qualify to see my secret weapons!” 

Celestial Virūpākṣa could see Bai Xiaochun sitting there on the stone pagoda, and frowned at the sight of his faint smile. He could sense that something seemed off, but the Vile-Emperor’s decree had been clear. Despite the sensation of imminent danger, he gritted his teeth, unleashed the power of his cultivation base, and summoned a massive tempest that transformed into a huge hand that shot toward Bai Xiaochun as if to grab him.

Celestial Ren Ling was the only celestial in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty who hadn’t had any dealings with Bai Xiaochun. After all, back when he had made a scene in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty, she was still recovering from having been resurrected. And so, she wasn’t as apprehensive as Celestial Virūpākṣa. Even though her battle prowess had been reduced, she was still cruel and vicious, and as she advanced, she transformed into an enormous black falcon that shot toward Bai Xiaochun with lightning-like speed.