A Will Eternal

The bell tolled seven times, which was the summons for the cultivators from the four rivers to go see the Celestial.

The sound of the bell, coupled with the dazzling sunlight reflecting off of the golden sea water, made for a spectacular scene.

In the middle of the main island, the three mountain peaks caught the sunlight and reflected it, making for a particularly eye-catching scene. At the same time, the silent pressure weighing down grew more intense.

At about this time, the special guards who were tasked with leading the groups of cultivators into the main island appeared outside of the various residences. The person who had come to lead Bai Xiaochun was a beautiful female cultivator, and was not the same person that had led him to the residence the day before.

It was impossible to tell which river branch she had originally come from. However, considering that Bai Xiaochun was a deva, she treated him with the utmost deference. Even though she was an initiate special guard here on Heavenspan Island, she still didn't dare to act inappropriately in front of a deva.

The initiate special guards were only in the Core Formation stage, but even Nascent Soul experts would treat them politely. Despite that, the guards would not dare to use their status as an excuse to treat a deva improperly.

After all, devas were very important people to the Celestial, far more important than an initiate special guard.

The woman led Bai Xiaochun along a winding path deep into the mountains.

Their destination looked like a celestial paradise, complete with singing birds and blooming flowers. Lush vegetation grew everywhere, and spiritual energy abounded. There were also spirit beasts that dashed to and fro among the greenery.

Furthermore, Bai Xiaochun noticed quite a few varieties of extremely rare spirit plants!

In the outside world, they would be almost impossible to find, but here on Heavenspan Island, they grew everywhere!

He was quite taken aback. He even noticed some shocking medicinal plants which were supposedly extinct. If he took one of those plants outside, everyone in the world would go crazy….

“Such extravagance….” he thought. Although he had seen many extraordinary things in his life, he still had to swallow down his astonishment, and work hard to resist the urge to reach out and harvest some of the plants.

As he walked along, he saw more and more rare spirit plants, and also… extraordinary magical items!

Some of them even had spirit automatons, and flew about in groups as if they were alive. It was truly a shocking sight.

Occasionally, rivulets and streams could be seen, within which flowed water that wasn’t golden, but rather, violet…. Based on what Bai Xiaochun could sense, the spiritual energy in that violet water surpassed even the golden sea water!

He could also sense auras near the streams and rivulets that were shockingly impressive. From what he could tell, they belonged to plants, magical items, or possibly… deva-level spirit beasts!

Everything that he saw reinforced his assessment that this was a shocking and extravagant place. Although Arch-Emperor City in the Wildlands had been impressive, it couldn’t compare to this at all.

This really was a celestial paradise!!

The initiate special guard who was leading him glanced over occasionally to size him up. When she saw how shocked he was, she felt very pleased. She was proud to be an initiate special guard, and thirsted for the day when she might get a promotion to being a full special guard.

Bai Xiaochun didn’t notice her change in attitude. All he could think about was how he was on a virtual mountain of precious items. Just about everything around him could increase his cultivation base or add to his longevity. He almost couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and touch them.

Eventually, they reached the very depths of the island, a location very close to the three mountain peaks. At one point, Bai Xiaochun got the distinct sensation that they had just passed through some invisible barrier.

A sound met his ears like a rushing waterfall, and he looked up to see something completely unexpected!!

Waterfalls poured down from the summits of the two mountains on the right and left. It was almost like water cascading from the highest heavens, which then collected in a huge lake in the middle of the island!!

The very center of Heavenspan Island wasn’t a flat plain…. It was actually an enormous lake!

It was a lake of violet water, and the three towering mountain peaks rose up from the very middle of it! The waterfalls from the two side mountains fed the lake, and created not only a thunderous roar, but also, a vast quantity of water vapor.

Numerous palaces could be seen within the mists, which rose up along with the three mountain peaks.

There were so many luxurious palaces constructed on the three mountains that Bai Xiaochun couldn’t even count them all.

There was an enormous statue on the central mountain peak, which Bai Xiaochun instantly recognized. It depicted… the Celestial!

At the feet of the statue was the largest and most magnificent palace in all of the Heavenspan Realm!

The Palace of the Celestial!

The entire area had come to be known by a special name…. The Palace of the Dao!

Bai Xiaochun was completely shaken. Because of how much mist filled the area, the Palace of the Dao was difficult to see clearly. However, it was still possible to make out countless palace maids and numerous special guards, all of them standing silently with looks of proud arrogance in their eyes.

The female cultivator led Bai Xiaochun to a huge public square at the edge of the lake, just across from the main mountain peak. From this location, it was possible to look up and see the huge statue of the Celestial, which seemed to prop up the very heavens.

There were already quite a few cultivators gathered in the square, all of whom were looking up at the statue, eyes burning with veneration.

Big Fatty Zhang and Bai Xiaochun's other friends were there, all of them seemingly overwhelmed with emotion. When they and the other cultivators from the eastern Heavenspan River noticed Bai Xiaochun, they hurried over.

“The Palace of the Dao is the most extravagant palace I’ve ever seen in my life!”

“Did you guys see the medicinal plants? I saw an immortal asura orchid on my way over! Heavens! Those orchids only grew in ancient times! Supposedly, if a mortal ate one, he would immediately rise to the Core Formation stage!!”

“That’s nothing. I saw a two-headed dragon! Did you hear me? A dragon! With two heads! You almost never see those in real life!”

Everyone was very excited, and couldn’t stop talking about everything they had seen.

The truth was that the Palace of the Dao really was a profoundly shocking place.

Bai Xiaochun looked up at the huge statue of the Celestial, which was remarkably lifelike. Based on what he remembered of the Celestial, this statue looked exactly like him in every way.

In fact, he happened to notice that there on the statue’s forehead… was a lock of blood-red hair!

He suddenly shivered. At the same time, he heard a voice speaking loudly from among the nearby cultivators from the Nine Heavens Cloud Lightning Sect. It was the twin Master Cloud Lightnings!

“Do you see that blood-hair on the exalted Celestial’s forehead? According to the legends, that’s actually a precious treasure of life force, forged by the Celestial himself. It contains boundless power, and is a rarely-seen type of good fortune containing unfathomable mysteries!”

The instant Bai Xiaochun heard the twin Master Cloud Lightnings introducing that blood-hair to the other cultivators, his anxiety and guilt grew.

He couldn’t help but have a bit of a guilty conscience. Besides, if the Celestial found out that he had actually absorbed the blood-hair… he might very well refine Bai Xiaochun to replace it!

“That blood-hair wasn’t as amazing as the twin Master Cloud Lightnings makes it sound. All it did was push me to the great circle of the Undying Bones!” All of a sudden, he thought about what would happen if his relationship with Du Lingfei went to the next step, and the Celestial ended up as his father-in-law.

If it was his father-in-law who found out later that he had absorbed that hair… it probably wouldn't be as big of a deal….

Having reached this point in his train of thought, he blinked a few times, and then looked around for Du Lingfei.