A Will Eternal

It took a while for Bai Xiaochun to regain his composure. At that point, Big Fatty Zhang took another drink from his jug of alcohol, then hesitated for a moment before lowering his voice and saying, “Xiaochun, I discovered a monumental secret. I'm not sure if I should even say it out loud….”

Bai Xiaochun looked at him, clearly taken aback. He could see that Big Fatty Zhang seemed confused about what to do, as though he wanted to reveal what he knew, but at the same time, wanted to keep it a secret.

If this were any other person, he would assume they were trying to be deliberately mystifying. But this was Big Fatty Zhang, and he knew that he wouldn’t do that. Furthermore, considering the level of Bai Xiaochun’s cultivation base, he was able to sense that Big Fatty Zhang’s Will was different from that of others.

Although Big Fatty Zhang was still only a Nascent Soul cultivator, his Willpower surpassed that of most demigod experts, and was close to that of a celestial!

Back in the Heavenspan Realm, Bai Xiaochun wouldn't have been able to tell. But as a celestial, he understood much more about how the larger world worked.

Obviously, there was something special about Big Fatty Zhang, some inner quality of his that was related to Will. It was almost as if he were blessed by Will itself in some special way.

It had been many years ago that Big Fatty Zhang began to perform spirit enhancements in accord with Will. That had a lot to do with it.

“I wonder if that’s why he began to dream of leaving the Heavenspan Realm….” Bai Xiaochun thought. With that, he waved his right hand, sending out some cultivation base power that added a further layer of concealment and protection to the spell formation protecting the embassy.

Reaching out into Big Fatty Zhang’s mind with divine sense, he said, “Tell me with your divine sense. I can guarantee that for the next ten breaths of time… not even an archaean could eavesdrop on us!”

Big Fatty Zhang visibly relaxed, and without the slightest hesitation, explained himself via divine sense.

“Xiaochun, I know a secret about the Vile-Emperor!! It’s really hard to explain, and I'm not even sure how to put it into words. And I'm worried that telling you about it, even with the defenses you’ve set up, could lead to a disaster! If you want to know the details, the best thing would be for me to take you to see it in person. Then you’ll understand!” Big Fatty Zhang’s divine sense operated with incredible quickness, perhaps because of his Willpower. In only ten short breaths of time or so, he explained as much as he could about the circumstances surrounding this secret.

Back when he had arrived in the Eternal Immortal Domains on Ghostmother’s battleship, spirit enhancement was something that no one in the Eternal Immortal Domains had even heard of.

As soon as Big Fatty Zhang’s abilities became known, it caused a huge stir in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty. Even the Vile-Emperor himself was pushed into a state of frenzied anticipation. He had Big Fatty Zhang perform numerous spirit enhancements to see the results. Afterward, he issued orders giving Big Fatty Zhang a high standing, but also… to assign him a mission!

That mission was… to perform a spirit enhancement on the shocking trident around which was coiled the bone dragon that housed Vile-Emperor City!

Because of that, Big Fatty Zhang came to have a special place in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty, and became quite famous. However, Big Fatty Zhang knew his own limitations. When performing spirit enhancements on ordinary items, failures weren’t anything he would worry about. But when it came to that spear, he knew that if he failed in the enhancement, the spear would suffer a major backlash. In fact, the worst case scenario would involve the spear collapsing. And that would likely result in his own death.

Therefore, Big Fatty Zhang held back. He told the Vile-Emperor that he was only strong enough to perform a fivefold spirit enhancement, and that it would take a full sixty-year-cycle to complete it safely.

He was the only person in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty who could perform spirit enhancements, so there was no way for anyone to determine if he was telling the truth or not. Even if they suspected he was not, there would be no way to confirm it. Therefore, after some consideration, the Vile-Emperor agreed.

However, the people of the Vile-Emperor Dynasty continued to study spirit enhancements. And eventually, the Heavenspan Realm collapsed, and its people were scattered everywhere. As it turned out, the Vile-Emperor Dynasty began to enslave them, all with the hope… of cracking the secret of spirit enhancements!

In terms of the secret Big Fatty Zhang wanted to tell Bai Xiaochun, it had something to do with the spirit enhancements he had performed on that trident. Up to now, he had taken the trident up to the level of a threefold enhancement.

Every time he performed an enhancement, he would experience a vision, something that was apparently unique to him.

Big Fatty Zhang’s guess was that it had something to do with his spirit enhancement abilities. After all, not even the Vile-Emperor had been aware of his visions.

Bai Xiaochun could see how cautious Big Fatty Zhang was being, and how seriously he was taking the matter. Eyes flashing, he decided not to beat around the bush.

“When can I go see it?” he asked.

“Right now!” Big Fatty Zhang replied. He had been keeping this secret in his heart for far too long, and hadn’t dared to even think about it. It was a secret that was so significant that it could affect all of the Eternal Immortal Domains!

That was why he had almost immediately decided to tell it to Bai Xiaochun. He was worried that if one day he unexpectedly died… perhaps the secret would be buried in the sands of time. Another factor was that each time he performed another spirit enhancement on the spear, the vision would grow more difficult to see.

“I bet that with two more enhancements, it will disappear for all eternity…. Not even performing more enhancements on the spear would produce the vision.” Without the slightest hesitation, he rose to his feet.

Bai Xiaochun could tell that this was a matter of utmost importance. Masking both his aura and Big Fatty Zhang, he waved his hand, causing them to vanish and appear outside in Vile-Emperor City.

Big Fatty Zhang was very familiar with the city, and quickly led Bai Xiaochun along a little path that led to a remote palace deep in the valley.

It was located in a sort of ravine right next to the huge trident, where there was a slight gap between the spear and the lands around it.

This palace was the residence the Vile-Emperor had given to Big Fatty Zhang, to make it easy for him to perform enhancements on the spear. Just outside of the palace was the huge spear itself!

From here, it was possible to see the three silver designs that were evidence of the successful enhancements Big Fatty Zhang had performed in the past.

At this point, Big Fatty Zhang didn’t say anything. He just pointed at the spear.

Were this any other person than Big Fatty Zhang, Bai Xiaochun would have hesitated at the suspicious nature of what was happening. But right now, he didn’t hesitate to walk right up to the spear.

As he neared, he could sense a fierce aura coming from the trident, as though it had slaughtered too many lives to even count. All of the hair on his body stood on end. It almost felt like he was about to descend onto a deadly battlefield.

Thankfully, the trident was protected by a sealing mark that prevented most of that aura from escaping. Even still, only someone with a Nascent Soul cultivation base or higher would be able to get near it. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to even build Vile-Emperor City on the bones that hung on the spear.

“Do I need to actually perform a spirit enhancement…?” he thought. His methods of performing spirit enhancements were different from others. But in the end, they all stemmed from the same general principles. When it came to high-level enhancements, he would have to use his turtle-wok. And even for lower-level enhancements, it was generally much easier and simpler to just use the wok. But when it came to a mere fourfold enhancement, he could do it on his own if necessary. After all, he was a heavenly necromancer who had learned his skills in the Wildlands, which was the home of spirit enhancements.

Reaching out, he summoned a four-colored flame, and then carefully placed it onto the surface of the trident.

Almost as soon as his hand made contact with the trident, the flame melted into it, and his expression flickered. In that moment, he heard an anguished scream in his head.

“I refuse to accept this! I refuse to bring shame to my ancestor!!”

Along with the scream came a shocking vision!

Shockingly, he was looking at the Vile-Emperor!

Except, there wasn’t just one Vile-Emperor; there were two!

They were currently fighting a battle to the death. The vision wasn't perfectly clear, but Bai Xiaochun could clearly see the lightning-like attacks, and then, one of the Vile-Emperors fell in death!

He died screaming, stabbed to death by this very same trident. By the time the trident was pulled out of his body, he was dead in body and soul! And then his body faded away!!