The thought of those two deva souls made him think of who had given them to him. One had come from Patriarch Frigidsect, and the other had come from… Du Lingfei!
“So, you shouldn’t try to pursue the path of the Heaven-Dao Nascent Soul. It’s a dream, a fantasy that could never become reality. You should aim for deva beast souls. They are rare, but are more plentiful than deva souls. According to my Master’s calculations, there are probably fifty or so deva beast souls in the Wildlands, although nobody can be completely sure.” After offering a few more warnings and reminders, Zhao Tianjiao finally left, leaving Bai Xiaochun standing there alone, looking at the distant shore growing closer and closer.
“We’re almost there…. Ten years! What am I supposed to do for ten years?” Bai Xiaochun sighed.
Three days passed by in a flash, and the battleship continued to near the shore. One afternoon, virtually all the cultivators on board spontaneously began to gather on the main deck.
From there, it was possible to see an enormous green city rising up where the land met the ocean, part of which was a huge harbor.
The power of spell formations filled the area, as well as the flicker of magical symbols. Waiting on the docks were quite a large number of cultivators.
The ship began to slow down, and two hours later, the cultivators onboard were close enough to see the people on the dock with their naked eye.
Rumbling sounds could be heard as the huge battleship slowly came to a stop roughly five kilometers away from the harbor itself. At that point, eight somber-faced Nascent Soul cultivators flew out from the city to receive them, followed by large numbers of Core Formation cultivators.
“Greetings, Senior Chen!”
“Please accept our congratulations, Senior Chen!”
Voices rolled out like waves as Chen Hetian and the five Nascent Soul cultivators appeared. After nodding in response to the greetings, they simply flew off into the city.
Some formalities were exchanged, and then Bai Xiaochun and the rest of the hundreds of Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars flew out over the five kilometers of the Heavenspan Sea into the East Sea City.
The entire way, the Core Formation cultivators who had emerged from the city were sizing up the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars, and made no attempt to conceal their disdain. Obviously, these were seasoned veterans who were looking at a group of new recruits.
Bai Xiaochun also took the opportunity to measure up the Core Formation cultivators from East Sea City. It didn’t take long for him to realize that, without a single exception, they all had intensely murderous auras, even those who were in the Early Core Formation stage. These were people who were no strangers to killing, and their eyes even had a crimson tinge to them.
According to what Bai Xiaochun had heard, that crimson tinge came after killing large amounts of vengeful souls. Apparently, it was the outworking of some sort of natural law, and there was no harm to it whatsoever. Furthermore, it made a person seem quite threatening.
Before long, they were in the city, and unexpectedly, nobody came out to receive them. However, one of the East Sea City cultivators who was in the great circle of Core Formation handed everyone a command medallion.
“Welcome to the sect outpost. This is your one and only authentication device, so don’t lose it! If you go out into the Wildlands and try to come back into the Great Wall without it, you will be refused entrance. Be very careful with it.
“There are no official arrangements for any of you. This is a trial by fire that is set to last for ten years. During that time, you have to go out into the Wildlands at least three times. Make sure records are kept of any such outing. If you don’t meet that requirement, then when the ten years are up, you won’t be allowed to return to the sect.
“Finally, let me remind yourself to take good care of yourselves. Remember… you are only allowed to stay in East Sea City for a single day. For every day beyond that in which you remain, the total length of your trial by fire will be increased by an entire month. After leaving East Sea City, be very careful to control your usage of spiritual power.” With that, the man turned and flew off into the city.
Bai Xiaochun was already very anxious. This unfamiliar East Sea City had actually seemed like a pretty nice place, and he had initially planned to stay here for as much of the ten-year period as possible, only to find out that he couldn’t.
The Starry Sky Dao Polarity Superstars exchanged glances. Obviously, everyone had their own plans and goals in this unfamiliar location, and it only took moments before people began to disperse and head off in different directions.
1. In Chinese, the names of these military ranks make it clear how many soldiers are under the command of a given rank. A captain leads 100 men, and a colonel leads 1,000. The details about the ranks will be recorded in the AWE glossary for future reference. Included in the info on the glossary is a super-minor spoiler in terms of a lower rank that isn’t mentioned in this chapter, but will come up fairly soon.
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Chapter
462: You People Just Wait!
Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath as a very serious expression played out on his face.
Back when he was on the eastern Heavenspan River, he had always felt as the River-Defying Sect were still nearby. But now, he was in a completely strange place, with virtually no familiar faces around whatsoever.
It was with a very somber expression that he looked over at Song Que and his other Dao protectors and said, “In a strange place like this, we have to stick together more than ever! Song Que, Master God-Diviner, Chen Manyao, as my Dao protectors, the time has come to show your true skill and ability!”
With that, he flicked his sleeve, eyes shining brightly.
“For the most part, I have been the one to protect the lot of you, whether it was in Sky City or on Sky Quarter Rainbow, and even on the battleship. But now… the time has come for you to protect me. Here’s the plan, we’ll–” Before, he could finish speaking, Chen Manyao cleared her throat.
“I need to leave now, Xiaochun….”
“Huh?” Bai Xiaochun blurted.
“It’s not that I don’t want to stay and help you out. But… you know the situation. I… I want to go home.” She gave him a profound look that seemed to say she didn’t wish to part with him. It even contained other, unique implications. A long moment passed. Then she sighed and took a curtseying bow.
“We’ll meet again if destiny will have it….” With that, she turned and disappeared into East Sea City. Although her departure was a bit sudden, it wasn’t completely unexpected to Bai Xiaochun. He knew that her home lay beyond the Great Wall, and that one of main reasons for coming with him was because she wanted to return there. She had said as much even back in the River-Defying Sect.
Bai Xiaochun sighed and looked over at Song Que and Master God-Diviner. Just when he was about to explain his plan to them, Song Que snorted coldly. Looking around at East Sea City, as well as the lands beyond, he thought to himself, “This is the perfect place for me. I, Song Que, am the type of person who likes to live in the middle of extreme danger. The more brutal a place is, the more opportunities there will be for deadly training. That is the only way to get more powerful. This is my chance to crush Bai Xiaochun ten times over!”
Heart surging with heroic aspirations, and face covered with a look of utter determination, he didn’t even deign to look at Bai Xiaochun as he said, “Bai Xiaochun, whether it was in the Blood Stream Sect, the River-Defying Sect, the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, or on that battleship, I was never able to measure up to you…. But this time, in this place, I will finally surpass you. This is my last opportunity, and I won’t let it slip by!”