A Will Eternal

Somewhere in the void, in the ruins of the Immortal World, next to the sovereign’s head, Bai Xiaochi was paying close attention to everything. He saw Bai Xiaochun shiver, and then weaken in unprecedented fashion. He seemed to be instantly drained of energy, and blood began to ooze out of the corners of his mouth as he toppled down and away from the statue.

However, at the same time, the qi flow, which had remained unmoving this entire time, stirred, and thirty percent of it shot toward Bai Xiaochun!

That portion of the qi flow entered Bai Xiaochun, causing him to shiver. Soon, he was back on the treasured fan, looking exhausted, but excited. As the thirty percent of the qi flow entered him, his cultivation base power suddenly formed a resonance with the ruins of the Immortal World!

It caused his mind to reel as shocking transformations occurred to his cultivation base. As of this moment, Bai Xiaochun was sure… that if he could absorb the rest of that qi flow, and formed a complete resonance with the ruins of the Immortal World, then his cultivation base… would definitely break through to the next level!!

“What did you see?” Bai Xiaochi asked anxiously.

“I saw….” Strange light flickered in his eyes as he recalled what he had just experienced. He remembered being Zhou Chen, and how he had forgotten that he was Bai Xiaochun. It was as if he had actually become Zhou Chen.

More precisely, everything he had said, and even his thoughts, were all memories… recollections of things that had occurred in the past!

Bai Xiaochun looked over at Bai Xiaochi. “The Immortal Imperator’s name… was Zhou Chen?”

Bai Xiaochi shivered. Looking back in shock at Bai Xiaochun, he quietly said, “So you really did succeed….”

Although everything he had said before was true, and he really did hope that Bai Xiaochun would be able get that qi flow, he had believed it to be too hard. And when Bai Xiaochun had fallen moments ago, his hesitation had grown.

But now, he found out that Bai Xiaochun had actually succeeded!

“I saw… the Immortal Imperator as a youth….” Bai Xiaochun closed his eyes and thought back to everything he had seen. Frowning, he realized that he was still somewhat under the effects of what had just happened. As soon as he thought back to the sovereign’s brother, a swell of fondness rose up in his heart.

“If I continue with this, the emotional effects will probably get more serious…. But I have to do it. I need this qi flow to achieve my cultivation base breakthrough!” After considering matters for a bit, he decided that although there were some risks, he could accept that. Eyes flashing with determination, he once again flew up toward the sovereign’s head. Having been through the process once before, and having already acquired thirty percent of the qi flow, he quickly unleashed his Sutra of the Future and Sutra of the Former.

His mind began to reel, and he felt the same thing as last time. His mind went blank. Time passed, and then he opened his eyes.

Blinding sunlight stabbed into his eyes, but he didn’t close them. He stood outside a valley of black clouds, tall, handsome, and the very picture of righteousness and vitality!

However, there was something that pained him in his heart, a feeling that he couldn’t dispel.

The last time he had entered the sovereign’s memories, he had been young, but now, Zhou Chen was middle-aged. Many things had happened since his youth, and he had accomplished much.

He wasn’t alone outside of the valley of black clouds. A few hundred people were at his side, all of them cultivators, and they were flanked by thousands more cultivators. Clearly, they had this area locked down tight!

Even further back were tens of thousands of cultivators, gathered in ranks, causing immense pressure to weigh down on the area. All gazes in the area were fixed on one thing…. Standing in front of Zhou Chen, with his back to the valley of black clouds, was a middle-aged cultivator in a black robe, with long black hair and blood smeared all over his face!

He was also handsome, but in a vicious, evil way. His eyes were violet, and his expression was ice cold. The murderous aura he radiated could shake heaven and earth, and could not even be suppressed by the tens of thousands of cultivators in the area!

Unfortunately, he was injured, with his chest caved in, and his right leg broken. The pain involved must have been intense, but he simply stood there looking out… not at the tens of thousands of cultivators, but at one person!

That person… was Bai Xiaochun, or rather, Zhou Chen!

“Brother…” Bai Xiaochun said, his voice filled with pain. He almost seemed to be pleading, although he didn’t realize it. “Come back with me. I can be your guarantor! It’s not your fault you did all those things. I….”

His pain and guilt stemmed from how, years ago, he had pled with his Master to go search for his brother, Zhou Fan. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to find him. At that point, he had sworn to avenge his death, and had gone crazy practicing cultivation. Later on, he had exterminated the entire White Locust Dynasty, which at that time had come to dominate all of the Immortal World’s Lower Three Heavens. Eventually, the world returned to normal, and Zhou Chen felt that he could breathe a sigh of relief. However, he was never able to forget about that older brother of his.

Years later, he came to find that the Immortal World had nine heavens, and that he lived in the Lower Three Heavens. Eventually, he became one of the most well-known figures there, the subject of much adoration. That was when Zhou Fan reappeared. He led the forces of the Black Locust Dynasty, which were far more terrifying than the White Locust Dynasty. As they spread through the Lower Three Heavens, consuming everything in their path, they added the power of their victims to Zhou Fan’s cultivation base.

It was a vile, terrifying technique that caused widespread alarm among the cultivators of the Lower Three Heavens. A bitter war was fought for many years…. It was a difficult, deadly era, that culminated in this event.

“I’ll even give up my shot at reaching the Middle Three Heavens if it will keep you safe….” Bai Xiaochun continued. “Brother, please, come with me….”

Mixed emotions could be seen in the eyes of the black-robed Zhou Fan. However, he shook his head, and his eyes turned as cold as ice.

“From now on, Little Chen… you and I… are not family!” Looking around at the surrounding cultivators, he smiled mockingly, then turned and walked into the valley of black clouds.

No one attempted to stop him. As far as they were concerned, stepping into that valley meant that he was already dead, exterminated!

In apparent confirmation of their assumption, as Zhou Fan walked into the clouds, they began to eat away at his body. He trembled as he walked forward, his flesh rotting off, bones becoming visible…. As he corroded, waves of black locusts erupted from inside of him, shrieking in pain as they tried to escape. Before they could, they were obliterated by the clouds….

Everyone else sighed in relief. But not Bai Xiaochun. Pain gripped his heart as he watched his brother being eaten away by the clouds. Finally, he stepped forward and called out in a loud voice, “Brother, why are you doing this? Tell me? Why?!?!”

Zhou Fan was clearly having a hard time struggling forward. When he heard his brother’s voice, he stopped for a moment, then opened his mouth as if to speak. However, he said nothing. Bowing his head, he continued onward, rotting away. By now, he was little more than bones, making a completely fearsome sight. Only his eyes continued to burn with obsession and focus as he strode deeper into the valley of clouds.

Already, it was possible for him to see something at the end of the valley, in the depths of the black clouds, something enormous. It was… a battleship!