Bai Xiaochun was absolutely confident about what was to come. Over the course of the following month, he continued to spar with the archaean slave, becoming more familiar with the use of the Undying Sovereign’s Fist, and even making it more powerful.
Other than the Waterswamp Kingdom, this was his most powerful divine ability, something that could shake even archaeans.
From the look of it, his bad luck was going to be a thing of the past. The Undying Sovereign’s Fist could crush anything in its path, and would soon cause Bai Xiaochun to bask in the warm glow of good luck.
Eventually, at long last… Bruiser woke up!!
When it happened, Bai Xiaochun could sense the Daoist Tower of Life and Death tremble a bit. Blurring into motion, he headed to the tower, sent some divine sense inside, and then performed an incantation gesture.
A black stream of light flew out from the tower, swirling through the air until it sensed Bai Xiaochun’s aura, whereupon it shot toward him.
Bai Xiaochun did nothing to avoid the beam of light. In fact, he smiled, stepped toward it, and threw his arms wide. As the black beam neared, it resolved into the shape of Bruiser. He was clearly excited and happy, and immediately pounced on Bai Xiaochun, yipping a bit and licking him all over the face.
Bai Xiaochun laughed in delight, hugging Bruiser, who had assumed an appropriate form for the occasion. He looked mostly the same as before, although he was about as tall as an average person and sturdily built. Especially noteworthy was that his cultivation base was now in the Demigod Realm!
Combined with his impressive frame, his demigod aura was enough to leave anyone shaken who saw him. Then there were the black flames which roiled out beneath his feet, and his razor-sharp teeth. He looked quite vicious and intimidating. However, in Bai Xiaochun’s eyes, he was the same little Bruiser from back in the Heavenspan Realm.
“Bruiser!” he exclaimed.
Bruiser howled in response, rolling around excitedly on the ground and occasionally leaping high up into the air.
Anyone from the Spirit Stream Sect who saw Bruiser acting like this would be visibly shocked. After Bai Xiaochun had left the sect all those years ago, Bruiser had always acted particularly domineering and vicious. He had fiercely protected the sect under any and all circumstances, and many new disciples were actually scared of him.
But now… he was acting just like he had when he was young. In fact, he even shrank down to the size of a hand, then bit down onto Bai Xiaochun’s pant leg and began to drag him along.
Bai Xiaochun couldn’t have been happier.
“Come on, Bruiser. Dad’s going to take you for a walk. This is going to be our home from now on.” Bursting with delight, Bai Xiaochun took Bruiser on a tour of the fan, starting with the world in the fan face.
Bruiser was very curious about everything, and was very thorough in examining the place. Eventually, they returned to the Daoist Tower of Life and Death, which was when he suddenly spun in place and pounced on a certain area off to the side.
As he did, a shriek rang out, and Bai Xiaochi stumbled out of thin air. Pointing at Bruiser in shock, he said, “That thing can see me?!”
Similarly surprised, Bai Xiaochun said, “Bruiser, meet Bai Xiaochi. You keep an eye on this fellow, he's not very trustworthy.”
Bai Xiaochun was very pleased with how spectacular Bruiser was for being able to see Bai Xiaochi.
As for Bai Xiaochi, he immediately shrieked, “Hey, you said I could change my name!”
Bai Xiaochun roared with laughter, then made a few teasing comments. Then he led Bruiser off for another walk, when suddenly, fluctuations began to roll out of the Daoist Tower of Life and Death.
Not just one set of fluctuations. Four!!
Bai Xiaochun immediately recognized two of them. They belonged to Song Junwan and Zhou Zimo. The other two… were also familiar. After all the years that had passed, Bai Xiaochun had come to recognize the auras of his unborn children!
“They’re gonna give birth now!?” Stunned, Bai Xiaochun sent some divine sense into the Daoist Tower of Life and Death, simultaneously rushing back toward the door. As he approached, the door opened, and Song Junwan and Zhou Zimo appeared, looking somewhat confused, holding their bellies as they walked out into the open.
Upon catching sight of Bai Xiaochun, their jaws dropped.
“Xiaochun?”
“Bai Xiaochun!!”
At this point, Bai Xiaochun could see that they were not about to give birth. Rather, the unborn children inside of them were simply moving around actively now that they were awake.
Although he was relieved, he was also starting to feel a bit guilty and awkward. To be facing two women, both of whom bore his unborn children, left him feeling somewhat unsure of what to say.
Blinking a few times, he said, “Hey there, how are you two?”
“How the hell do you think?” Song Junwan snapped, stepping forward as if she intended to attack him. She had always had a short temper, and although there were tears in her eyes, she couldn’t help but think back to all the bitterness she had endured over the years, and how long she had been pregnant.
Zhou Zimo, the Mistress Red-Dust of the past, also had a sizeable temper. And it was only made worse by the unclear relationship between her and Bai Xiaochun, and the fact that she had been pregnant for years now. Then there were all of the life-or-death situations she had faced. As of this moment, she was glaring daggers, and even began to walk forward as if to start fighting.
Bai Xiaochun had never thought about what would happen in his moment. In the past, he might have fought back, but now they were his Daoist partners, both of of whom were pregnant. How could he possibly dare to strike them? And they obviously wouldn't let him off the hook if he tried to escape.
“Ah, whatever. If they want to beat me up, then so be it. Nobody’s here to watch anyway.” With that, he raised his hands high into the air in defeat.
Then, the fists and feet began to rain down on him, provoking occasional yelps of pain. Before long, it was to his delight that he realized his celestial cultivation base allowed him to sense what the two women were thinking. When he was sure that their anger had been sated, he reached out, grabbed the two of them, and flew to the top of the mountain in the fan face, where he had long since hewn out an immortal's cave.
“Get your hands off me!” Song Junwan said, glaring.
“How impudent of you, Bai Xiaochun!” Zhou Zimo said icily.
“Both of you shut the hell up!” Bai Xiaochun said. Before either of them could respond, he took them into the immortal's cave….
Off in the distance, Bruiser looked on solemnly. Bai Xiaochi stood next to him, looking curious.
“Hey bro,” Bai Xiaochi said, “what do you think they're doing in there? Why were they fighting just now? And how come my master couldn’t beat them? He’s in the late Celestial Realm!”
Bruiser looked disdainfully out of the corner of his eye at Bai Xiaochi. He almost couldn’t stand to be in the presence of someone who was obviously such a simpleton.
“Even after not being able to beat them in a fight, he then took them into his immortal's cave? Are they going to practice some cultivation or something?” Bai Xiaochi scratched his head curiously.
“I think I need to go see for myself.” His curiosity was especially piqued by the odd sounds he could hear coming from the immortal's cave. Even as he took a step forward to go investigate, Bruiser blocked his path.
However, Bai Xiaochi was simply too curious, and considering his powers within the fan, there was no way that Bruiser could actually stop him. Passing Bruiser by, he entered the immortal's cave….
Bruiser looked on, shaking his head.
Before long… a howl of rage could be heard from Bai Xiaochun, accompanied by a yelp from Bai Xiaochi as he was ejected from the immortal's cave….
“I was trying to help you, milord! I can’t believe you actually attacked me!!”
“Shut up!!” Bai Xiaochun shot back, clearly flustered. After all, Bai Xiaochi’s sudden intrusion into his immortal's cave had been quite startling.