No one was aware of the impending arrival of the huge fan, not even the archaean emperors!
However, in the moment that Bai Xiaochun became a celestial, all living beings in the two dynasties heard the name Bai Xiaochun ringing in their ears!
It was as if the spirit of heaven and earth were announcing to all creation that a new celestial had arrived!
It was just as Gongsun Wan’er had explained some time ago. All living things proceeded through their lives as though they were climbing a ladder. Everyone had Will, and beyond that was the Daoseed, both of which could affect the wider world.
Back in Saint-Emperor City, the eyes of the three celestials glittered brightly as they looked over at Bai Xiaochun’s blessed land, and the boundless energy which currently swept out from it into the larger world.
Mixed emotions could be seen in the eyes of the Saint-Emperor. He knew that, as of this moment, Bai Xiaochun from the Heavenspan Realm had made a major step in pursuing his personal Dao. Furthermore, instead of there being two major factors that made him important to the Saint-Emperor, there were now three!
He was now a celestial!
The Saint-Emperor consciously suppressed the frustration and anger he had felt because of the lotus roots.
All of the officials in the Saint-Emperor Dynasty, even Heavenly Marquis Liu, stood there in silence, shocked at how smoothly Bai Xiaochun had stepped into the Celestial Realm.
As for the Vile-Emperor, he was just as shaken as the Saint-Emperor was. And then there were the cultivators from the Heavenspan Realm, scattered throughout the two dynasties, whose hearts surged with excitement as that mysterious voice spoke to them.
In Godsifter Prefecture, the Giant Ghost King had been sitting sullenly in his preceptoral manor, grumbling about how destitute he and his followers were. All of a sudden, he shot to his feet, his eyes shining with unprecedented brightness.
“Bai Xiaochun is a celestial!?!?” He threw his head back and laughed uproariously.
The Grand Heavenmaster was speeding along through the wastelands of a neighboring prefecture when, all of a sudden, he turned to look in the direction of Saint-Emperor City. Mixed emotions could be seen in his eyes, including relief, happiness, and determination.
“I need to go see the Giant Ghost King….” he murmured. Turning, he began to head toward Godsifter Prefecture.
The Giant Ghost King and the Grand Heavenmaster weren’t the only ones to be excited. In the Vile-Emperor Dynasty, Bruiser had taken it upon himself to protect Song Junwan. No matter what insidious motives people had, with Bruiser there, she was safe.
Bruiser’s battle prowess had improved steadily, placing him within the Deva Realm. It was as the two of them were traveling along that both heard a voice speaking to them.
A tremor ran through Song Junwan, and Bruiser suddenly looked up in the direction of Saint-Emperor City.
“Bruiser, Xiaochun just became a celestial!” Song Junwan could not have been more elated. After arriving in the Eternal Immortal Domains, she had been significantly enlivened by three particular pieces of news.
The first was that the Saint-Emperor had appointed Bai Xiaochun as Duke Heavenspan. The second came not long after that. She got a message from Patriarch Spirit Stream, stating that he, Li Qinghou, and some others were banding together. The River-Defying Sect was being re-formed! In fact, she and Bruiser were right in the middle of heading to that very location.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of trying to get to Saint-Emperor City. It was just too far away. Right now, the closest safe place was with Patriarch Spirit Stream.
There within the Vile-Emperor Dynasty, Patriarch Spirit Stream, Li Qinghou, and the others who had already gathered together were all extremely excited. They had a bitter life right now, but as of this moment, their hope only continued to solidify!
“The fact that Xiaochun is a celestial will inspire everyone from the Heavenspan Realm!” Patriarch Spirit Stream threw his head back and laughed, a laugh filled with relief and anticipation. “Qinghou, it was not in vain that we reached out to so many River-Defying Sect disciples. More and more will be joining us in the coming days! Saint-Emperor City is too far away for us to reach, but I have faith that Xiaochun will find us sooner or later!”
A broad smile covered Li Qinghou’s face, making him look almost as young as he had been when he first caught sight of that youngster atop Mount Hood….
Song Que had made much progress over the last year in the Vile-Emperor Dynasty. He had participated in many deadly fights, causing a powerful murderous aura to build up in his bones. He had chosen not to go to Patriarch Spirit Stream. Instead, he was like a lone wolf, prowling the vast immortal domains of the Vile-Emperor Dynasty in a constant journey to grow stronger.
He was now on the cusp of a breakthrough, half a step into the Deva Realm!
When the voice spoke to Song Que about Bai Xiaochun becoming a celestial, he stopped in place. After a moment of silence, he smiled. And yet, the determination never left his eyes. Turning, he vanished into the night.
There were quite a few lone wolves like Song Que. For example, there was Zhou Zimo. Because of her deva cultivation base, as well as her extreme caution, no one had any idea who she truly was. Furthermore, she didn’t go around slaughtering people like Song Que. Instead, she gained power.
Over the course of the past year, she had come to control five entire sects. Despite that, no one was ever able to get any hint about who she truly was.
Because she had five sects under her control, Zhou Zimo was in a much better position than most of the other lone wolves from the Heavenspan Realm. Whether it was her cultivation, or her access to information, she was far beyond the masses. When she heard the voice murmuring Bai Xiaochun’s name, she was undercover in a sixth sect, one that she hoped to soon gain control of. A tremor passed through her, and she rubbed her belly, a radiant smile playing out on her face.
“Hey little buddy, that useless dad of yours is pretty awesome, isn’t he?”
In Vile-Emperor City was a certain immortal's cave that was kept under heavy guard. Inside, a middle-aged man sat cross-legged, listening to the voice speaking Bai Xiaochun’s name. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
“Bai Xiaochun…. You may be a step ahead of me, but that won’t matter in the end!” Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, whereupon energy began to build up to break a barrier within him!
As the Eternal Immortal Domains were shaken, Bai Xiaochun was there in his blessed land in Saint-Emperor City, bursting with excitement at the feeling of the dandelion-like Daoseed inside of him.
“I finally broke through!”
A long moment passed, after which he waved his hand, causing the Daoseed to float out from inside and hover in front of him. A strange light flickered in his eyes as he studied it closely.
“So this is a Daoseed, huh….” It was covered with innumerable magical symbols, and contained boundless Will. In fact, because he had cultivated the Frigid School Will-Evolving Incantation, it was easy for him to identify the strand of Willpower that had long existed in him, which was now part of the Daoseed.
After a long moment, he looked away, and the Daoseed floated back into him. At that point, he took a deep breath and assessed his cultivation base power, which now vastly surpassed the level of a demigod.
If he were to face Ghostmother right now, he was confident that he wouldn’t need to slowly whittle away at her. Given his current cultivation base, he would be able to cleave the defensive shields of her battleship apart with a single blow!
Furthermore, because of his level of control over his Willpower, he felt as if he were at the peak of all creation, and that a single thought of his could affect the minds of all living beings.
He suddenly thought back to the time over the Eternal Sea when Gongsun Wan’er had used her Daoist magic of Willpower. In that moment, it was as if all living things had been completely incapable of resisting her or fighting back. Were it not for the scrap of Willpower he had possessed back then, not even his heaven-defying powers of regeneration would have saved him!
As of this moment… Bai Xiaochun was absolutely certain about one particular thing he could now do!
Although it would be difficult, he could… control the Will within all living beings around him!
He closed his eyes for a long moment, and then opened then. “Before, I didn’t understand why there was no further path for the Undying Live Forever Technique after becoming a celestial….
“But now I know….
“The human body has five mountains, five shackles, that lead to the Undying Live Forever Technique. Although it seems to end with the Mahayana Realm, the truth is… that the final step comes by deepening the previously built foundation! Progress comes, not by advancing along a path others have already walked, but rather… by forging one’s own Dao!
“Even the powerful Arch-Lord was defeated by the sovereign from beyond. That just goes to show that following the methods that others have attempted will lead to a dead end.
“With the proper foundation, progress comes based on one’s personal experiences, thoughts, and decisions. Presumably, it would be the same, not just with the imperial clan from the Heavenspan Realm, but with the Vile-Emperor and the Saint-Emperor too!” At long last, Bai Xiaochun understood.