A Will Eternal

The ghost face lay in his hiding spot, staring blankly into the sky at the face of the baby girl. After a moment passed, he sighed, his heart filled with both bitterness and excitement. “So, the detestable Bai Xiaochun finally broke through….”

It had not been an easy thing to endure through all of these years of torment. But now that Bai Xiaochun had broken through, and the spiritual energy from the four regions in the world was depleted, the ghost face was certain that a critical moment had arrived.

“That soul is about to become the spirit automaton…. When that happens, that damned Bai Xiaochun is definitely going to have the automaton open the world….” The ghost face’s expression was one of excitement and anticipation. After all, he knew that once he was free and in the open, his cultivation base would return to normal.

When that happened, he would finally be able to make Bai Xiaochun regret his own existence.

Right now, he needed to do everything in his power to make Bai Xiaochun believe that he was so harmless he wouldn’t even be threatening to a fly. In fact, he even hoped that he could get Bai Xiaochun to come try to capture him. If that happened, he would cooperate fully, all because of his confidence that his secret magic would enable him to escape later.

“However, I can’t place all my hopes in that damned Bai Xiaochun. If he's a complete waste of brains that can’t see my value, and doesn’t plan to capture me, well… I'm still not afraid!” A cold gleam flickered deep within the ghost face’s eyes. The truth was that he had been preparing for his moment for two years already.

Although his cultivation base had been suppressed all the way down to the Nascent Soul level, he had still managed to build up a reserve of divine soul power that he could use in one powerful attack.

It was an attack based, not on battle prowess, but on the power of teleportation. It would cost him nearly half of his divine soul, but in a situation in which Bai Xiaochun didn’t try to capture him, he could use it to break out into the open on his own!

“Two plans. Whichever I go with, I’ll succeed for sure, and restore my cultivation base! You just wait, Bai Xiaochun!!” Even as his heart surged with excitement, his expression flickered.

“He’s coming!” he gasped. Bai Xiaochun's terrifying aura was now closing in at top speed! He quickly suppressed his trembles of excitement and plastered a blank look on his face as he stared up into the sky. Anyone who looked at him would think that his expression was one of dazed despair. However, his heart was alive with the utmost levels of caution and prudence.

Before long, heaven and earth trembled, and even the air distorted as Bai Xiaochun appeared. He stopped above the ghost face, hovering in the air, a proud expression on his face as he flicked his sleeve.

“There’s something I need your help with, you rascally ghost.”

The ghost face’s heart twitched at being called a ‘rascally ghost’, but he didn't dare to let that show on the outside. Trying to look as dazed as possible, he continued to stare blankly up into the sky.

When Bai Xiaochun saw that the ghost face didn’t seem to have any intention of responding, he cleared his throat and then resorted to a more threatening glare.

“Look at me, you rascally ghost!” he growled, unleashing some cultivation base fluctuations of the great circle of the Deva Realm. Instantly, wild colors flashed in the sky as Bai Xiaochun’s will filled the entire area.

His will was so strong it affected the whole world of the magical item, making it seem as if his every thought and action was backed by magical law! His gaze was the gaze of heaven, and the pressure weighing down from him was heavenly might!!

In fact, he seemed like the very personification of all heaven and earth!

He also glowed with glorious light that almost seemed to clothe him as he hovered there in the air, spectacular in every aspect.

Although many ordinary people would not be able to see the evidence, and would only be awed by his general appearance, the ghost face could see more deeply….

“Deva Shapes Heavenly Will…. World Raiment….” The ghost face shivered. After all, Deva Shapes Heavenly Will was the ultimate expression of the Deva Realm, and indicated that the cultivator in question truly had merged with heaven and earth. That cultivator’s will had become the will of the heavens, and his very thoughts were the thoughts of all creation.

“This damned Bai Xiaochun does have some shocking talent. Not every deva reaches Deva Shapes Heavenly Will, nor are many capable of summoning the World Raiment…. That usually appears only when someone is about to step into the Demigod Realm.” The ghost face was feeling quite torn. After all, the only thing that lay beyond Deva Shapes Heavenly Will was the Demigod Realm!

In the Deva Realm, a cultivator would merge his will with heaven and earth, borrowing the power of creation to accomplish what they wished. But demigods… opened up a world of their own. When their spiritual soul became a true divine soul, their demigod will could outshine heaven and earth, and in fact, could even suppress them!

When Bai Xiaochun noticed that faint glimmer of shock in the ghost face’s eyes, he felt quite pleased with himself. It was a wonderful thing to be so eye-catching, especially when the person looking at him was capable of fighting the Celestial, and also wanted to kill him.

There was a flicker of motion, and Bai Xiaochun appeared next to the ghost face. Suddenly, it was possible to see the dark glow of the Eternal Parasol in his hand.

“I'm lacking a bit of life force for my cultivation. You, a mighty quasi-archaean, would likely have a lot of life force. Mind lending me a bit? Although, I guess it's not like you can refuse, right?” Licking his lips, he stabbed the Eternal Parasol toward the shivering ghost face.

The ghost face wanted to fight back, but knew that it wouldn’t do any good. Furthermore, considering that the entrance to the magical item would be opening soon, he gritted his figurative teeth and focused on his anticipation of future revenge. Slowly and calmly, he closed his eyes.

“Just hang in there… for three more days. I lasted for two years already. Only three more days!”

However, the ghost face vastly underestimated the power of the Eternal Parasol to drain life force. As soon as it entered his body, a massive gravitational force erupted from inside the parasol.

The ghost face’s eyes snapped open and shone with disbelief as a scream escaped his lips. At the same time, his life force began to charge into the Eternal Parasol as rapidly as a wild mustang.

Within only a few breaths of time, a full two percent of his total life force was gone. It was so startling that his immediate reaction was to start struggling. However, after reminding himself that it would only be three days until the spirit automaton woke up, he held back.

“I have to hang in there!!”

When Bai Xiaochun realized how much life force was flowing into him through the Eternal Parasol, his eyes began to shine brightly. Although he had known that the ghost face would have exceptional life force, it definitely surpassed his expectations.

Immediately, his Undying Blood, which was currently roughly eighty percent complete, began to seethe madly.

“This guy is basically a huge Life Force Pill. Maybe I should just consume him like an actual medicinal pill….” Heart pounding, he shoved the Eternal Parasol in a bit deeper, causing the life force to flow even more freely. Meanwhile, the ghost howled inwardly as a full ten percent of his life force faded away.

Terrified, he was about to start struggling when he noticed the look in Bai Xiaochun’s eyes, and shivered.

“He’s gonna gobble me up!! Heavens! Why is he doing this!? Dammit! Go eat someone else, why don’t you?!?! I… I have to just hang in there!!” The ghost face was scared out of his mind, but thankfully for him, Bai Xiaochun had come to the conclusion that consuming the ghost face like a pill would be too dangerous.

Sadly for the ghost face, Bai Xiaochun’s facial expression didn’t match his decision, causing the ghost to hover on the brink of complete mental collapse.

Time passed. Soon, forty percent of the ghost face’s life force had been absorbed by Bai Xiaochun. The ghost face’s divine soul was already showing signs of instability and withering. On several occasions, he considered putting up a fight, but the look in Bai Xiaochun’s eyes scared him too much.

After reaching the forty percent point, Bai Xiaochun took a break. Extracting the Eternal Parasol, he went off to find a suitable location to do some meditation, and properly utilize all the life force.

At that point, the ghost face sighed with relief. Looking around bitterly at the world, he focused on his anticipation of the end of the three-day period….

“Bai! Xiao! Chun! Just wait until I get out of here! I’ll definitely take back all of that life force, with interest! I can’t believe you want to eat me! Are you even human!? I'm gonna eat you!!”