There was another bit of news that Xu Baocai hadn’t uncovered, and in fact, very few people were aware of yet.
And that was… the Celestial planned to pick his new apprentice by means of a trial by fire. Apparently, there was an arcane pocket realm on Heavenspan Island that could be entered by anyone from the Nascent Soul stage to the Demigod Realm!
No one knew exactly what would happen inside that pocket realm, but they did know that there was one main requirement…. The first person to get out of it would become the Celestial’s fifth apprentice!
Furthermore, the top 100 people who emerged from the pocket realm but didn’t become an apprentice would get a special reward!
The mere chance to become an apprentice of the Celestial was viewed by countless people as a matter of unheard-of good fortune. That alone was enough to drive people crazy, even devas.
However, what captured Bai Xiaochun’s interest was not the matter of becoming an apprentice, but rather, the special reward!
The runners up… would get a medicinal pill!
They were pills personally concocted by the Celestial, pills that were extremely rare, pills that were called… Millennium Longevity Pills!!
A single such pill would give a person an extra 1,000 years of longevity, and it was no exaggeration to call them immortal pills. Despite being a grandmaster apothecary, not even Bai Xiaochun would be able to make pills like that.
One of the reasons was that among the ingredients was a marvelous type of vegetation that had long since gone extinct!
Bai Xiaochun could tell that Millennium Longevity Pills would be extremely valuable, even to the Celestial!
For cultivators who were at a bottleneck with their cultivation, and had limited time, a Millennium Longevity Pill would be a crucial way to buy more time to make a breakthrough.
It could help Nascent Soul cultivators become devas, and could help devas prepare to become demigods!
As could be imagined, Bai Xiaochun was especially attracted to such pills. After all, his main focus in life was to live forever. Therefore, to have Millennium Longevity Pills dangled right in front of him caused his eyes to go bloodshot and even twitch because of the internal struggle.
How could a thousand years of longevity not profoundly affect him?
Unfortunately, his encounter with the Celestial back in the Wildlands had left him with a very bad feeling. For him to accept an apprentice at this particular critical moment… seemed very suspicious!
Had the Celestial not received a grievous injury, it might seem less odd. But Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but wonder why he would suddenly be interested in an apprentice, given his current state.
Xu Baocai could see that Bai Xiaochun felt torn about the matter, and couldn’t help but wonder why. From what Xu Baocai could tell, Bai Xiaochun could participate and not even try to win. Even considering that it was a competition among chosen from all four of the river branches, Xu Baocai was still convinced that Bai Xiaochun would fare extremely well.
Bai Xiaochun didn't feel comfortable explaining his hesitation to Xu Baocai. He simply sat there, unable to prevent his heart from racing. After sending Xu Baocai away, he sighed.
“To go? Or not to go?” He shook his head, pondering what the best decision was.
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Chapter
915: Setting Sail
Bai Xiaochun sat there stewing about the matter for three more days. On the afternoon of the third day, a Dharmic decree came down from the demigod patriarch that was spread to all corners of the eastern Heavenspan River region.
The decree contained two announcements. The first declared that a battleship would be setting sail for Heavenspan Island in one month. Anyone who wished to participate in the trial by fire to become an apprentice of the Celestial needed to be on that ship by then!
The second announcement was that… in addition to selecting an apprentice, the Celestial was holding the trial by fire… to award medicinal pills to increase longevity!
The 1st place winner of the trial would become the Celestial’s apprentice!
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winners would be given a Millennial Longevity Pill.
The 5th through 10th place winners would win a Quincentennial Longevity Pill, which would bestow 500 years of longevity. Everyone else down to the 100th place winner would receive a Centennial Longevity Pill!
The announcement caused a huge stir, especially among the cultivators who were camped outside of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect. And many of the sect disciples who had been on the fence about the matter were immediately thrown into a state of madness.
“Millennial Longevity Pill!?!? With that pill, I could definitely realize my dream of becoming a deva!”
“I might not be able to win one of those Millennial Longevity Pills… but I could definitely get a Centennial Longevity Pill! I’m gonna go for it!!”
Commotions spread to the most remote mountains of the eastern Heavenspan River. Even many eccentric rogue cultivators were so excited that they decided to participate!
Longevity pills were especially attractive to aging cultivators, who would go to almost any lengths to get them.
As the eastern Heavenspan River went crazy, the other three riversource sects sent out similar news, leading to similar results in the other river branches. It wasn’t just chosen disciples who responded. Anyone who held even the slightest bit of confidence decided to participate in this trial by fire!
Even the other devas in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect were excited, as well as experts from the Middle Reaches sects. The Nascent Soul cultivators from the Starry, Dao, and Polarity River Courts all hurried in the direction of the main sect….
The Nascent Soul cultivators in the River-Defying Sect, such as Song Que, were equally excited. Even Master Limitless decided to participate!
Li Qinghou hesitated over the matter for a short time before deciding to stay put.
When Bai Xiaochun realized that even more cultivators would be participating than he had originally imagined, he began to vacillate even more.
About a week later, Big Fatty Zhang came and asked if he would be willing to help. Big Fatty Zhang was worried that his cultivation base was too low, and yet still wanted to search for good fortune in the trial by fire.
At that point, Bai Xiaochun sighed and gritted his teeth. He obviously couldn’t become the apprentice of the Celestial. How could he possibly do something like that, considering that he was the Hell-Emperor’s Master!? However, he had been losing sleep and forgetting to eat recently because of those longevity pills.
“Fine, I’ll go for it! Even if I don’t get a Millennial Longevity Pill, maybe I can get one of the 500-year ones!”
Having made his decision, he decided to start getting ready. For one thing, he needed to be ready to help Song Que, Master Limitless, and the others from the River-Defying Sect. On the other hand, he also needed to prepare plenty of medicinal plants and pills.
“There’s definitely going to be a bunch of fighting and killing in that trial by fire. Ai… I have to go in extra prepared.” Thankfully, his status as a prime elder gave him easy access to plenty of resources.
Because he didn’t know how long he would be gone, he also decided to put together an even bigger stockpile of life force pills than he had already built up.
And then there was the matter of Big Fatty Zhang. Unlike Song Que, Big Fatty Zhang was in late Core Formation, and didn't quite meet the requirements to participate. Although helping him make a breakthrough ahead of time would be difficult, Bai Xiaochun was certain he could do it.