A Will Eternal

The instant Bai Xiaochun waved his hand, and the enormous battleship sped off into the distance, the disciples who remained behind on the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect’s rainbows erupted into excitement.

“Finally! He’s finally gone!!”

“The heavens do have eyes! The freak Bai Xiaochun has left the sect! Every day that he’s around is one lived in abject fear! I just hope he perishes over there. Let god take him as an apprentice!”

“That damned country bumpkin is finally gone! Hahaha! Keep the hell away from our Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect!”

The disciples were so excited that some even had tears in their eyes. A few even pulled out gongs and drums, and began to celebrate as enthusiastically as they did during New Year’s.

An atmosphere of joy filled the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, and the gongs and drums were soon joined by cheering and delighted laughter.

After all, Bai Xiaochun’s cultivation base was simply too high. Nobody could fight him, and everyone was jealous of him. Therefore, they normally couldn’t give vent to their feelings, and were forced to keep them bottled up. Now that he was gone, they couldn’t hold back from rejoicing.

Although the battleship was some distance off already, it was still close enough… that Bai Xiaochun was able to hear the commotion back in the sect.

He blinked a few times, and then cleared his throat, feeling very moved. Yet again, it was proven how outstanding he was. If he weren’t, then why else would people give him such an enthusiastic farewell?

As thick-skinned as ever, he turned to Song Que, Zhao Tianjiao, and his other friends and said, “It's been a long time since I've heard that sound. See? Everyone hates to see me go. And when I do, they always throw me a big farewell party.”

Song Que said nothing in response, and a strange expression could be seen on Zhao Tianjiao’s face. As for Bai Lin, he simply smiled wryly.

However, it was at this point that Bai Xiaochun stuck his chin up and said, “Hold on! If they want to see me off, then as a prime elder, how could I possibly ignore them!? Men! Stop the ship!”

Although he was making a show of accepting the ‘praise’ of the disciples, the truth was that inside, he was feeling very prickly, and had decided that he couldn’t let such behavior slide.

As the most powerful expert on the ship, no one dared to countermand his orders. Within moments, the ship had lurched to a halt.

Back in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, the disciples were in the midst of cheering wildly when, all of a sudden, someone noticed that the ship had stopped.

“Hey everybody, look! Why did the ship stop moving?!?!”

“Heavens, what’s going on?!?!”

“There’s no way that he decided not to leave, is there…?”

It only took a few moments for the entire Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect to go quiet. Countless eyes came to lock on the battleship, and innumerable hearts began to pound with restless anxiety.

On the battleship, Bai Xiaochun stood there, looking back at the sect, which was now completely empty of any sounds of gongs or drums. He cleared his throat.

“Seems they all really are going to miss me. Ah, whatever. I might as well turn the ship around and say some goodbyes.” Marveling at what a master of etiquette he was, he smiled contentedly. Zhao Tianjiao, Bai Lin, and his other friends all exchanged awkward glances….

Under Bai Xiaochun’s orders, the ship… slowly turned around and headed back toward the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect….

The disciples there suddenly felt like their heads were going to explode. Their faces fell, and their minds filled with thundering rumblings.

“What… what is he doing? Why is he coming back?!?!”

“What happened? What is he doing?!?!”

“This is all your guys’ fault! You shouldn’t have gone so overboard! He’s not leaving. Oh, what are we going to do!?”

Even as everyone descended into trembling anxiety, the voice of the demigod patriarch erupted out from the violet rainbow.

“No dillydallying, Bai Xiaochun! Do you have a death wish or something!? Turn that ship around!”

The voice echoed out with such thunderous volume that the sky trembled, and huge waves broke out on the surface of the Heavenspan Sea.

“I just wanted to go say goodbye to everyone….” Bai Xiaochun shouted. “Ah, whatever. Fine, turn this thing around and head for Heavenspan Island.”

There were no other options. He couldn’t beat the demigod patriarch in a fight, after all.

It didn’t take long for the ship to turn around again, and then sail off into the depths of the Heavenspan Sea. Soon, it vanished over the horizon.

At that point, when the disciples of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect were absolutely certain that Bai Xiaochun was gone, they sighed in relief, and then started to get excited again.

Bai Zhentian finally ended his session of secluded meditation, and walked out into the open, a smile on his face because of how wonderful life was now.

Although Li Xiandao had warmed up to Bai Xiaochun to a certain degree, he was also relieved to see him gone. At long last, his usual look of detachment appeared on his face again.

As for Chen Hetian, he had been living like a rogue cultivator outside of the sect. As soon as he heard that Bai Xiaochun was gone, he immediately grew very excited.

“The damned bastard is finally gone!” Brimming with anticipation, he headed directly back in the direction of the sect.

Golden waves rolled across the surface of the Heavenspan Sea. It was so beautiful that, even at night, cultivators would go out to take in the scenery. This was a very different scenario than when all of the chosen of the sect had gone to participate in deadly training. Therefore, everyone onboard was feeling quite relaxed.

Many people took the chance to get to know new friends. After all, they would likely be facing dangerous situations when encountering cultivators from the other three branches of the river, people with different techniques and customs.

By working in teams, they would be able to increase their chances of success. Besides, they were all from the eastern Heavenspan River. If one of them ended up as the Celestial’s new apprentice, it would mean great benefits for everyone.

Of course, the Nascent Soul cultivators treated Bai Xiaochun very respectfully. However, the scene which had played out when they were leaving the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect had been somewhat unsettling, and therefore, none of them dared to go request an audience and offer formal greetings.

Bai Xiaochun was already feeling bored. Back when he had sailed to the Great Wall, the trip had taken about half a year. Based on his current calculations, this trip would take even longer.

After considering how long the trip would take, he decided that he needed to decide on something to do to pass the time. At the moment, the best thing to do was help Big Fatty Zhang with his breakthrough.

If he succeeded, then he would be able to participate in the trial by fire, and have a chance to become an apprentice of the Celestial.

With that, he headed toward Deck 2, where he had arranged for a very nice cabin for Big Fatty Zhang to stay in.

He found Big Fatty Zhang on the balcony, gazing out excitedly at the Heavenspan Sea.

The furthest he had ever traveled in his life was first from the Spirit Stream Sect to the River-Defying Sect, and after that, to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. He had never actually left the Heavenspan River.

Although he had been in secluded meditation when Bai Xiaochun and the other chosen went to the Great Wall, when he emerged later and learned that he wouldn’t have been able to go, he felt very down. Starting from that point, he had a big goal in life.

“I want to travel to the farthest corners of the earth!” That dream was one of the reasons he had been so set on taking this trip to Heavenspan Island. However, there was another reason. Only about half a month ago, he had suddenly dreamed a very peculiar dream.

In that dream, he saw a strange world. After waking up, it was for some strange reason that he felt certain that the trip to Heavenspan Island would be a lifechanging event for him.

“After I formed my Will Core, I very rarely experienced any premonitions like this. However, whenever I did… they turned out to be true. This trip is definitely going to bring me incredible good fortune!” Even as he stood there, eyes shining with determination, Bai Xiaochun arrived.