A Will Eternal

The demigod patriarch gazed at Bai Xiaochun with a profound and enigmatic look before slowly fading away into nothing.

He took Chen Hetian, Li Xiandao and Bai Zhentian along with him when he went, which was a good thing for them. If he hadn’t, Bai Xiaochun wouldn’t have let them leave unscathed. He had already been glaring at them menacingly before acquiring the open approval of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect.

To see them fading away with the demigod patriarch was a bit irritating.

“So stingy! It’s not like I would actually kill them or something.” However, he was so flushed with success that he didn’t dwell on such negativity. After all, Zhao Tianjiao, Bai Lin, and the cultivators from the Hall of Steel Veins were all still present, and he needed to thank them.

Patriarch Steel Veins wore a broad smile when he spoke, treating Bai Xiaochun, not with superiority, but as an equal.

Bai Lin seemed to have endless sighs in his heart, and the truth was, he couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened back at the Great Wall. Zhao Tianjiao reacted similarly. Both men seemed to have been deeply affected by what Bai Xiaochun had accomplished, and both of them were determined to return to the sect and go directly into secluded meditation to work on their cultivation!

Among the tens of thousands of other cultivators who had come, many were war buddies from the Great Wall. Some had also been Bai Xiaochun's direct subordinates. All of them were very excited to see him, and didn’t hesitate to accept his invitation to stay in the River-Defying Sect to celebrate.

The patriarchs of the River-Defying Sect were thrilled about what was happening, and threw a feast to thank everyone who had come to offer their aid.

That night was like a dream for most of the disciples of the River-Defying Sect. Their nervousness from earlier became joy, and of course, their esteem for Bai Xiaochun grew even greater.

At the same time, their anticipation for what was to come for the sect grew more intense!

The patriarchs reacted similarly. It was as if an enormous weight had been lifted off their shoulders, and their faces were covered with smiles for the entire night.

The following morning, the cultivators from the Hall of Steel Veins left.

After seeing them off, Bai Xiaochun sighed, relieved that he had at long last settled all of the issues that the River-Defying Sect faced.

He could well imagine how, in the coming days, the River-Defying Sect… would be the number one sect in the eastern Middle Reaches cultivation world of the Heavenspan River. From now on, the other three sects… would be subsidiaries of the River-Defying Sect!

“But… it's still not enough!” he thought. He glanced down at his bag of holding, and his eyes began to shine with determination. If the River-Defying Sect truly wanted stability, they couldn’t just have a single deva. If one of the current patriarchs could become the sect’s second deva, even if it was only the Mortal-Dao Deva Realm, then the River-Defying Sect could be considered truly stable in its position.

After all, the demigod patriarch’s Dharmic decree had made clear that Bai Xiaochun would need to return to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect soon. That meant that his time in the River-Defying Sect was limited.

“I can’t wait too long before leaving, that wouldn't be good…. Therefore, I need to make sure that one of the patriarchs becomes a deva before I leave!” One of the reasons he was so confident in being able to make that happen was the rainbow spirit thistle he had acquired during a shakedown in the Wildlands. [1]

Considering his skill in the Dao of medicine, he was sure that, with the cooperation of the Pill Stream Division, he could use that rainbow spirit thistle to concoct… a Deva Pill!

Deva Pills were very rare, and extremely difficult to concoct. Although he was confident that he could produce one, he didn’t have enough ingredients to make multiple copies.

As for which patriarch he wanted to become a deva, he decided not to worry about it. Although he would surely be able to give input, it was a sensitive subject, and therefore, the best thing would be to let the patriarchs decide among themselves.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, he sent a message to Patriarch Spirit Stream and Patriarch Blood Stream, informing them of his plan. Then he went into his secluded meditation facilities to start working.

**

The entire River-Defying Sect was abuzz with talk of Bai Xiaochun. As for Song Junwan, her position in the sect had already changed. In the past, people knew that she was close with Bai Xiaochun, and because of that, she had been treated differently. However, it hadn’t been very obvious.

But now, things were very different. Elders and patriarchs alike treated her with the utmost respect.

In fact, everyone who had good relationships with Bai Xiaochun were being treated differently. Especially… Li Qinghou!

Since Bai Xiaochun was effectively the ultimate leader of the sect now, and Li Qinghou was his uncle, that put him in a very high position. In fact, after some discussion, the patriarchs agreed that when the time came… Li Qinghou would be the next sect leader!

Shortly after that, the patriarchs got word from Bai Xiaochun that he planned to concoct a Deva Pill, which would make it highly likely that one of the half-deva patriarchs would finally be able to break out from the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage. Of course, the patriarchs were both delighted and deeply thankful.

Their first thought was to give the honor to Li Qinghou. Unfortunately, his cultivation base was not in the great circle, and they were worried that it would take him too long to get there. They urgently needed a deva patriarch in place in the sect, and therefore, after discussion with Li Qinghou himself, they decided that Patriarch Spirit Stream would be the one to take the pill.

After all, Patriarch Spirit Stream had lived for many, many years, even longer than Patriarch Blood Stream, whose cultivation base was at the same level as his…. Reaching the Deva Realm would give him significant longevity, and Patriarch Spirit Stream had his secret magic that further increased longevity. Even Patriarch Blood Stream had to admit that if he himself became a deva, he would eventually perish, whereas Patriarch Spirit Stream could potentially live for much longer.

Naturally, having Patriarch Spirit Stream as the deva in the sect would be the most beneficial.

Furthermore, with one deva permanently in the sect, it would make it easier for others to reach that level.

As the patriarchs discussed all of these matters, Bai Xiaochun was in his secluded meditation facilities doing the initial work in preparation to concoct the Deva Pill. The sect had acquired the formula long ago, but had never possessed the primary ingredient, and had thus been unable to concoct it.

Bai Xiaochun’s work caused the entire sect to fill with a lovely, sweet fragrance.

Bruiser particularly liked the smell, and plopped himself down in front of Bai Xiaochun’s secluded meditation chamber to breathe it in. All spirit beasts benefited from it, and even cultivators would experience a certain refinement of their cultivation bases by breathing it in.

This unexpected phenomenon caused everyone in the River-Defying Sect to be in even further awe of Bai Xiaochun. However, the aroma didn’t last for long, as Bai Xiaochun emerged from seclusion seven days later.

He immediately sent word to the patriarchs, whereupon the Pill Stream Division sent over a few dozen grandmaster apothecaries, as well as Li Qinghou, to help Bai Xiaochun in his work. They immediately set up a medicinal spell formation which allowed Bai Xiaochun to begin the final stages of his work.

His concocting session lasted for an entire month. Unfortunately, he met with failure in each attempt, losing some of his primary ingredient every time.

He was starting to get anxious, but managed to suppress his nervousness, and took the opportunity to learn from every mistake. As the saying goes, everything comes to him who waits…. It was on his seventh attempt… that he succeeded, just when he ran out of ingredients!

On that day, illusory thunder crackled, and a spirit fragrance filled the entire sect, causing a mist to spring up. The entire River-Defying Sect looked like a celestial paradise as a result.

“I finally did it!” Bai Xiaochun was a bit gaunt, but his eyes sparkled with excitement. As his laughter rang out, the patriarchs hurried over to find him holding a white, glowing medicinal pill.

A single glance at that pill caused deep desire to rise up in the hearts of the patriarchs. All of them could sense how the pill almost seemed fused with the world around it.

After a long moment, the patriarchs managed to suppress their feelings. A very serious expression could be seen on the face of Patriarch Spirit Stream as he accepted the pill. He nodded at Bai Xiaochun, clasped hands and bowed deeply to the other patriarchs, and went into secluded meditation.

The pressure he faced was immense. After all, he only had one Deva Pill, and therefore, only had one chance to succeed!