A Will Eternal

The pill furnaces exploded!

Not just a handful, but all one hundred of them, one after another in a rapid-fire chain reaction.

It happened in a single breath of time, and despite the fact that Bai Xiaochun had been prepared, he simply wasn’t fast enough to contain the effects of a hundred pill furnaces all exploding at the same time! The force unleashed was shocking. Thankfully, he had his deva cultivation base, and very tough skin, otherwise… he would either have been killed, or at the least, badly injured.

“Noooo!” he screamed. His immortal's cave shook violently, and yet, that was not what worried Bai Xiaochun most. Most hair-raising was… the thick black smoke that blasted out at high speed in all directions.

The medicinal efficacy of this smoke vastly surpassed that of the previous smoke. Because of the deva power that Bai Xiaochun surrounded himself with, he was protected from its effects… but others nearby did not have that luxury.

As he let out a long cry of misery, the smoke covered the blue rainbow in its entirety. But things didn’t end there. The smoke spread out toward the other rainbows, completely covering three of them before finally coming to a stop.

Bai Xiaochun’s vision went dim, and his mind felt like it was being struck by heavenly lightning. He knew… that he had caused a major disaster.

“I'm finished. Kaput….” This was definitely not how he had envisioned things turning out, and it felt very unfair. Why did he, an awesome apothecary with incredible skill in the Dao of medicine, always cause strange things like this to happen?

Meanwhile, the disciples who were on the three affected rainbows stared around in shock. Some reacted quickly enough to speed away in the face of the black smoke, but others were inundated.

“Dammit, what is this stuff?!?!”

“Smoke? Heavens! How could there be toxic smoke inside the sect?!?!”

“Wait, are we under attack!?!?”

The three rainbows instantly devolved into chaos. Li Xiandao, Bai Zhentian, and Patriarch Steel Veins were all shocked, and rushed out to provide aid. When they saw how three of the other rainbows were covered in the smoke, their hearts were gripped with madness.

Thankfully, the smoke went away rather quickly. The entire thing only lasted for a bit more than ten breaths of time. Then, everything went back to normal.

It was only at that point that people realized that the sound of the explosion had come from the blue rainbow.

“Elder Bai is definitely concocting medicine again!!”

“Heavens! When is this going to end? Elder Bai isn't concocting medicine, is he? He’s trying to destroy the entire sect!”

It only took moments for countless angry gazes to fall onto the blue rainbow. “Can't anyone stop him? If things keep going on like this, what are we supposed to do?!"

However, there was nothing more that they could do than glare. Any other person, even a Nascent Soul expert, would already have been surrounded and attacked, but Bai Xiaochun’s status in the sect was too high. After all… he was a deva, and one of only six prime elders, a fact which filled the hearts of all disciples with fear.

Li Xiandao hesitated about what to do, and finally decided to do nothing. Bai Zhentian reacted similarly. However, Patriarch Steel Veins smiled wryly, and then sent Bai Xiaochun a message of inquiry.

Bai Xiaochun replied immediately. “This was the last time. I guarantee it!”

Deeply worried, he did his best to explain the matter, and then sank down into thought.

Although no one else had any clue at the moment, he was very well aware that, despite the fact that the smoke had dissipated without seeming to affect anyone, it would be, at most, three days… until the effects were seen. At that point, tens of thousands of disciples… would all break up with their Daoist partners.

Bai Xiaochun knew that a disaster like that was simply too much.

“People say that if you break up someone’s relationship, you shorten their lifespan. Heavens! I might have just ruined the relationships of tens of thousands of disciples…. If I don't fix this, nobody in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect will be able to get a Daoist partner…. This generation of the cultivation world will be significantly harmed. And it will all be my fault!”

That thought made Bai Xiaochun feel like his head was about to explode. Scowling on the verge of tears, he gritted his teeth and murmured, “No! I can’t let that happen. I have to concoct an antidote!”

He took a few deep breaths, and then nervously pulled out some more medicinal plants. His goal: create a medicinal pill that could dispel the effects of the uncaring fruit.

“I didn’t want this to happen!” he grumbled guiltily. “I was just trying to concoct that Turn Off Pill….” He suddenly realized that not having someone around to tell him what to do wasn’t that good of a thing after all….

Although his position in the sect ensured that no disciples would curse or attack him, he still felt bad. In fact, it had actually been better back when people did come after him.

Besides, he didn’t even want to think about what would happen if the demigod patriarch happened to come back right now…. Shivering, he headed back into his private chamber to start working on a new pill formula.

One day. Two days. Three days…. On the afternoon of the third day, only about six hours before the uncaring fruit’s effects would begin to manifest, Bai Xiaochun leaped up, hair disheveled, and eyes flashing with madness. Staring at the jade slip he held in his hand, he cried, “I did it! I created the antidote formula!!”

He threw his head back and laughed uproariously.

“Fear not, Fellow Daoists of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. I am here to save you!” With that, he ignored his exhaustion and set to work concocting the medicine.

In order to maximize the chances of succeeding, he used three hundred pill furnaces. He was putting everything on the line in the hopes of negating the effects of the uncaring fruit.

As time passed, he concentrated fully on the three hundred pill furnaces. None of them showed any signs of exploding, and whenever the slightest irregularity cropped up, he would make adjustments immediately. Finally, when there was only one hour left until the effects of the uncaring fruit manifested, the three hundred pill furnaces turned bright red, and sent a pungent odor out in all directions.

When Bai Xiaochun detected that odor, he finally relaxed a bit.

“Excellent. In order to negate the effects of the uncaring fruit, I added in black crabapple, which can affect all sorts of various human emotions and desires. By combining those effects with certain other types of plants and vegetation, I can definitely negate the uncaring fruit!” Although he was excited, he hesitated for a moment. According to his calculations, the effects of the uncaring fruit would begin to manifest at any moment. One last time, he sent his divine sense out through the sect, and could already see some disciples heading toward their Daoist partners with somber expressions on their faces….

There was no time to waste, and neither was there time to hand out pills one by one. Eyes burning with determination, he waved his hand out in front of him.

Immense force erupted out and landed on the three hundred pill furnaces… which exploded, resulting in a thunderous boom that vastly surpassed any of the previous explosions. At the same time, a massive shockwave spread out in all directions!

Everyone in the entire Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect heard the deafening boom, and many felt their cultivation bases destabilizing as a result. Quite a few were even struck senseless.

“Heavens! Don’t tell me Elder Bai is concocting medicine again!?!?”

“I can’t hear anything! Did you just say something?”

“I'm gonna go crazy!!”

As the cries of surprise and alarm rose up, the blue rainbow shook violently. Worse, a massive wave of black smoke rushed out from Bai Xiaochun’s immortal's cave!!

This time, even the violet rainbow, where the demigod patriarch lived, was affected. Everything was covered with black smoke!

The entire Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect was enveloped in blackness, striking shock and fear into the hearts of all present.

“Heavens! What… what kind of smoke is this!?!?”

“Where did you guys go? I can’t see anything….”

“Run! This smoke is so acrid, it must be poison! Aggghhhh!!”