A Will Eternal

Bai Xiaochun took action so quickly that Celestial Aged Spirit didn’t have time to send his message. Before he could do anything, he saw a head-sized chunk of flesh sailing toward him through the air.

Stunned, he sent some divine sense out, and when he realized that it was a chunk of sovereign-level flesh, his heart began to race. Abandoning his idea of sending any messages, he grabbed the flesh and looked it over. Doing his best to suppress his excitement, he put it away and then looked over at Bai Xiaochun, a strange expression on his face.

“I seem to remember you getting your hands on the entire lizard….” he said in an odd tone. Considering the state of the chunk of flesh he had been given, he could guess at some of the punishment Bai Xiaochun had inflicted on the lizard….

Clearing his throat, Bai Xiaochun said, “You really have sharp eyes, Aged Spirit old pal. Here, take three more pieces.”

With that, he took out three more pieces and tossed them over.

Stunned, Celestial Aged Spirit quickly caught the three pieces and looked them over too. Based on his calculations, together with the first piece, they made up something like twenty to thirty percent of the entire lizard.

“Look, we’re all on the same team,” Bai Xiaochun said, sounding very grand and righteous. “What’s the point in bickering with each other. Am I right? From what I remember, the Saint-Emperor said we just had to find the thing, and we would all be rewarded.

“This is all just a misunderstanding. You guys never gave me a chance to explain the situation. Right now, all of us Saint-Emperor Dynasty celestials can get our hands on some good fortune.

“It’s not a meritorious service performed by me alone, and therefore, I absolutely have to share the rewards. I’m not the greedy type, you know. Just now, Aged Spirit old pal, I gave you an entire leg of that big lizard!” Celestial Aged Spirit cleared his throat. Based on what he could tell, the flesh he had really did seem to be from a leg. Considering that, it really was a situation of sharing in the meritorious service.

Seeing the excited look in Aged Spirit’s eyes, Bai Xiaochun cautioned, “And so, we really can’t let the Saint-Emperor down. You take good care of that flesh. That’s the most important thing!

“Actually, I’ve thought everything through already. That was a really bad misunderstanding before, so I think the best thing would be to call Gu Tianjun and the other celestials over. I’ll share some of the flesh with all of them, and then we can all get out of this place together. In the end, we’ll all share equally in performing our meritorious service!” Aged Spirit looked at Bai Xiaochun and could already tell what he was thinking.

And it was true that the situation had dragged on for too long. Even Aged Spirit had reached the limits of his patience. Nodding, he proceeded to send messages via jade slip to Gu Tianjun and the others.

Both Bai Xiaochun and Celestial Aged Spirit knew that standing around waiting was too dangerous, so they found a village that hadn’t been reduced to dust and hid inside one of the buildings there.

Chen Su was the first to arrive. After looking around carefully, he followed the trail left by Celestial Aged Spirit’s divine sense into the village. Before long, he was there in the room with Bai Xiaochun.

Before he could say anything, Bai Xiaochun grandiosely handed over a chunk of one of the lizard’s other legs.

“Chen, old pal, here. Take this! I was a big dunce earlier. Although, I have to point out that you guys were a bit impulsive. After all, I would never take all the credit for myself in a venture like this!”

Chen Su reacted much the way Celestial Aged Spirit had, and a strange expression appeared on his face. He had already been informed of the general situation before coming, but even still, felt it to be odd.

“And here are three more pieces, old pal!” Smiling sincerely, he handed over three more chunks. Of course, Chen Su gasped in much the same way Celestial Aged Spirit had earlier.

He looked at Bai Xiaochun, then at the mysterious chunks of flesh. Because much of the sovereign aura had already been extracted by the spirit automaton, they were much weaker than before, and yet, no one knew that. Chen Su looked at the pieces and, just as Bai Xiaochun had already determined, realized that they were enough for him.

When Bai Xiaochun saw that both Chen Su and Aged Spirit had been pacified, he breathed an inward sigh of relief. At the same time, he was very pleased that his strategy was working.

“Sima Yunhua shouldn’t be a problem,” he thought. “But I bet Gu Tianjun isn’t going to be easy to please. Although I’ve already figure out the best way to divide the chunks of flesh up into five portions….” Eyes glittering, he began to chat with Chen Su and Aged Spirit.

None of them really had any bad blood between them, and they were all celestials. Furthermore, both Chen Su and Aged Spirit were naturally pleased that Bai Xiaochun had taken the initiative to split things up with them. Before long, they were having a truly entertaining conversation. Slowly but surely, their opinions of Bai Xiaochun were changing.

Before long, whistling sounds could be heard off in the distance, and the three turned to find Gu Tianjun and Sima Yunhua approaching.

As soon as Gu Tianjun saw Bai Xiaochun, killing intent flared in his eyes, and he prepared to attack. But before he could, Bai Xiaochun took out his trump card, tossing a huge pile of sovereign flesh over to him.

Even the powerful Gu Tianjun was visibly moved by the sight of all that flesh, and by the intense aura emanating off of it. Waving his sleeve, he caught the chunks and put them into his bag of holding.

“There’s no way you’re not moved!” Bai Xiaochun thought, feeling very pleased with himself. He had made some special preparations with the chunks of flesh he had given to Gu Tianjun, ensuring that their sovereign aura was particularly strong. And the effect was even greater when they were lumped together.

Backing up a few steps, he tossed some chunks of flesh to Sima Yunhua and then said, “Listen everyone, the most important thing now is that we get out of here safely! Now that I’ve split that lizard up into five parts, we’re all in this together!”

As his voice echoed back and forth in the room, Sima Yunhua took the chunks of flesh and examined them closely, eyes glittering.

As for Gu Tianjun, his brows were slightly furrowed. Although he obviously coveted the full rewards, now that everyone had an equal share of the flesh of the lizard, he obviously couldn’t demand them for himself.

And what Bai Xiaochun had just said made sense. The most important thing wasn’t getting a larger reward, it was making sure that the Vile-Emperor Dynasty celestials didn’t rob them.

If Gu Tianjun obstinately tried to pick a fight with Bai Xiaochun now, it was likely that the other three celestials would interfere. And at this point, infighting could be detrimental to them all.

Upon realizing all of these things, Gu Tianjun’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Bai Xiaochun for a long moment. He had to admit that Bai Xiaochun’s methods were very effective.

Finally, he snorted coldly and stepped back, making it clear that he was backing down. At that point, Aged Spirit, Chen Su and Sima Yunhua all breathed sighs of relief. Just as Gu Tianjun had suspected, if he had chosen to press the issue, the three of them would have opposed him.

At this point, a short conversation occurred.

“From what I understand, all of the people from the Vile-Emperor Dynasty are split up as they search for Fellow Daoist Bai. That means we need to stick together. Let’s get to the exit as quickly as possible, and not stop along the way!”

“That’s right. Let’s catch them off guard, and get out of here before they can regroup!”

“There’s no time to lose!”

Off to the side, Gu Tianjun nodded. As for Bai Xiaochun, he was the least concerned of all, and quickly agreed.

After planning things out, the five of them drew upon the full power of their cultivation bases to start moving as quickly as possible. Rumbling sounds echoed out as they pierced through the air toward the exit!

Making such a visible break for the exit was obviously going to attract attention. But they didn’t care. They didn’t even bother to hide the fluctuations caused by their passage.

As they moved along, it became apparent who among them was moving faster than the others. Gu Tianjun was in the lead, followed by Celestial Aged Spirit and Bai Xiaochun, with Chen Su and Sima Yunhua taking up the rear.

As they neared the exit, they saw three streaks of light moving in their direction.

They were none other than Prince Ur-Demon, Reverend Devourer and… Gongsun Wan’er!