A Will Eternal

There were some puppets higher up with golden armor, whose shocking power was comparable to the legacy echelon cultivators or the blood rippers. There weren’t many such puppets, but those few that were engaged in the fighting shone like brilliant stars.

There weren’t just Profound Stream Sect cultivators involved in the fighting. Their forces were bolstered by Pill Stream Sect cultivators who had surrendered. Because of that, the Profound Stream Sect was still strong.

The actual battlefield was so wide it was difficult to see one end from the other. It was large enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of cultivators. In each and every place where people were fighting, deadly struggles played out.

Clearly, the Profound Stream Sect was at a disadvantage, and were suffering setback after setback. If it weren’t for the grand spell formation protecting the city, they would long since have been defeated.

What was most shocking to Bai Xiaochun wasn’t any of that, though. Visible within the spell formation were numerous wooden-faced Pill Stream Sect cultivators, who were fueling the formations with their own cultivation bases.

Most of the Pill Stream Sect cultivators had essentially been enslaved by the Profound Stream Sect. Originally, the goal had been to assimilate them into the sect, but the suddenness of the invasion forced the Profound Stream Sect to abandon such plans. Now, the cultivators were little more than human-shaped spirit stones used to support the grand spell formation.

All-in-all, it was a shocking scene. This was the first time that Bai Xiaochun had ever seen a truly large-scale war being fought.

There was no wind on the battlefield, only the stench of blood that spread out in all directions, seeped down into the ground, and even seemed to pervade the insides of the cultivators who were fighting.

Rivers of blood flowed on the ground, and corpses could be seen everywhere. Some were mutilated beyond recognition, while others were intact. Either way, the blank eyes which stared out seemed to contain a longing for life that would never be fulfilled.

Bai Xiaochun panted at the sight of the blood and death. Although he was no stranger to killing, to see fighting on such a large scale left him completely conflicted inside.

One half was screaming and urging him to flee this danger as quickly as possible.

The other half caused his heart to start pounding, and his mind to fill with the desire to wade into battle and fight with complete and utter madness.

He took a deep breath as the reality of the situation sank in. He knew that many of his friends were on this battlefield, and after seeing what it was like, there was no way he could flee.

A tremor ran through him as a sensation of utter determination rose up inside his heart. Then, he shot forward at top speed. Few people took note that he’d stepped out into the field of battle. However, Bruiser, who was in the middle of fighting one of the Profound Stream Sect’s enormous battle beasts, suddenly shivered and let out a long cry.

It was a cry of joy, and as it rang out, the rest of the Spirit Stream Sect’s battle beasts suddenly found their cultivation base and battle prowess slowly rising.

Because of that, both their fighting ability and their healing ability improved. Despite being somewhat surprised by this, the battle beasts were delighted.

At the same time, on the periphery of the battlefield, two Qi Condensation disciples, one from the Spirit Stream Sect and one from the Blood Stream Sect, were in the midst of despair. Over and over again, they were being pushed back across the battlefield by four raving and bloodthirsty Profound Stream Sect disciples.

The two Qi Condensation disciples chuckled bitterly and exchanged a glance. After working together in recent days, they had struck up somewhat of a friendship. But now, death loomed over them, and there didn’t seem to be any hope.

“I didn’t like you people much at first, but if there’s another life after this one, I hope that we can fight together again!”

“Hahaha! It’s a deal!” Originally, they had been on two different squads, but the rest of their comrades had already died in battle. Now they stood shoulder to shoulder, laughing as they prepared to fight to the death.

It was in that very moment that a figure appeared, glowing with violet-tinged, blood-colored light. Before the four vicious Profound Stream Sect disciples could do anything, the light flashed by them, and their eyes went wide as their heads flew off of their bodies.

Bai Xiaochun had arrived!

The two cultivators he'd just saved stared at him in shock for a moment before crying out in surprise.

“Exalted Blood Master....”

“Sect Uncle Bai!”

Bai Xiaochun turned and looked at the pair. He had seen from a distance that they had obviously become friends during the deadly fighting.

Such friendships would be very important as the two sects merged. Bai Xiaochun nodded at them, then flickered back into motion, heading to another part of the battlefield. Wherever he went, no one could stand up to him.

His Undying Live Forever Technique had reached the point where his fleshly body power was beyond description. At the same time, his defensive abilities were shocking.

Few people could withstand a blow from him, and every fist strike he launched contained deadly power. That was especially true of his Throat Crushing Grasp, which took down one enemy after another.

His Mountain Shaking Bash made it difficult to even see him on the battlefield. Even when Profound Stream Sect cultivators managed to surround him, he would unleash fury like that of a wild beast. Booms rang out, and bones were crushed. Not a single enemy could keep Bai Xiaochun locked down!

“The Undying Live Forever Technique is obviously a technique designed to be unleashed in battle!” Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and retracted all of the power of his magical techniques. He had already learned to use them only at the right moment in the fight, which enabled him to maximize their effectiveness.

Using only his fleshly body power, he bashed into a Profound Stream Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even as the blood was still raining down, he spun and sent a fist strike toward someone trying to stab him in the back.

A look of profound shock appeared on the face of that cultivator in the moment before his arm exploded. Screaming, he fell back, and yet Bai Xiaochun’s right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, sending blood-colored light shooting out of his finger to form a blood sword. Moments later, the enemy was stabbed dead.

Not pausing for even a moment, Bai Xiaochun sped off into the distance. Relying on his speed, agility, and fleshly body power, he was like a fish in water.

Everywhere he went, if there were any Blood Steam Sect cultivators fighting, they would tremble as their cultivation base and battle prowess increased. As a result, their impassioned battle cries grew even louder.

Eventually, he reached an area in the middle of the battlefield where cultivators from Fragrant Cloud Peak were operating an enormous spell formation giant.

Another nearby giant looked particularly familiar; it was the ninth spell formation incarnation from Mount Daoseed. Originally, that spell formation had been meant for Bai Xiaochun to control.

Without him, the giant’s battle prowess had been significantly weakened, even more so than the other giants in the area. As of this moment, it was locked in combat with a black-armored puppet.

There were three types of puppets on the battlefield; green, black, and gold. The green puppets were the ordinary type. Black puppets were more powerful, and less common. The gold ones were the rarest. As for the black puppets, they came in various sizes, and the ones that were 300 meters tall had traces of gold visible in them.

In terms of battle prowess, those gold-fringed black puppets vastly surpassed the other black puppets.

This particular black puppet wielded a greatsword as it strode forward. Because the spell formation giant was relatively unprepared, it made it easy for the black puppet to stab the sword clear through it.

The giant distorted, and the people inside of it coughed up blood. Their eyes flickered with madness, and yet there was nothing they could do except watch the sword viciously slashing at the giant.

Rumbling sounds echoed out; it appeared as if the giant were on the verge of collapsing.

Suddenly, a voice spoke out scornfully from within the black puppet. “The Spirit Stream Sect spell formation incarnations are famous everywhere under heaven, especially the ninth formation from Mount Daoseed. How disappointing to see it in action today.”

The puppet twisted its sword, and the spell formation giant teetered closer toward collapse. Everyone inside of it was laughing bitterly. Without Bai Xiaochun, they were like a dragon with no head. Many of the incarnation’s abilities were rendered useless, and at the moment, it seemed they would simply have to let the formation collapse and then fight to the death.

However, in that moment, a cold snort echoed out.

“Break formation!” A sealing mark shot out and landed onto the spell formation incarnation. The people inside trembled, and then their eyes flashed with joy as they looked at the person flying toward them.

It was Bai Xiaochun. The group inside the spell formation began to laugh loudly, simultaneously performing double-handed incantation gestures. As Bai Xiaochun’s sealing mark fused into the giant, the incarnation suddenly began to dissolve.

Rumbling could be heard as it grew dim and faded away, and the people inside immediately scattered and then shot toward Bai Xiaochun.

“Re-form!” Bai Xiaochun roared, his hands flashing in an incantation gesture.

In the blink of an eye, they formed back up in midair, and at the same time, Bai Xiaochun’s hands blurred with incantation gestures, unleashing the power of the original formation!

Rumbling echoed out as a new spell formation giant took form. It was much taller than any of the other giants, and was completely corporeal. It looked exactly like a primeval giant, although its facial features closely resembled Bai Xiaochun’s.

Its eyes opened, and Bai Xiaochun looked out, his gaze as piercing as a razor-sharp sword.

“You really wanna see how powerful the ninth Mount Daoseed formation is? I’ll give you a good look!” Bai Xiaochun’s energy spiked, and he took a step forward, causing all the lands to shake.

The black puppet looked at him in shock, but then its eyes gleamed with the desire to do battle.

“Bai Xiaochun?!”