The gravekeeper seemed even older than before, so much so that he looked like he had just climbed out of a grave. He was very different from before, and fairly radiated a sense of weakness.
“I'm very old…. I've been around for far too long. I suspect that when that sovereign created me, he didn’t expect for me to exist for this much time. My original fate was to perish along with the opening of the Worldgate.” It seemed as if the gravekeeper didn’t mind the fact that he was growing extremely old at all.
“I don’t have much time left, so I decided to take action earlier. Unfortunately… not even calling upon forbidden magic was I able to kill him.
“Acting in the way I did reduced my time even further…. In addition, the wounds caused by the forbidden magic have pushed the world closer to the brink of collapse.” The gravekeeper shook his head, regret shining in his eyes.
As of this point, Bai Xiaochun felt like he understood everything. The gravekeeper was not just regretful for having failed in killing the Celestial in the recent battle. He regretted not having done so earlier. Because of the various limitations he faced, he had allowed the Celestial to keep living and grow into what he was today.
In fact, he had taken action today in the hopes of making up for some of those past mistakes!
“I knew from the beginning that I might fail to kill him. But I decided to try anyway…. The truth was that, even before you came to the Wildlands, I had already begun to make arrangements for what happens after I die.” The gravekeeper sighed and looked over at Bai Xiaochun.
“The successor of the Hell-Emperor?” Bai Xiaochun asked hesitantly, his heart beginning to pound. The gravekeeper nodded, causing Bai Xiaochun’s heart rate to increase even more. As far as Bai Xiaochun was concerned, if he hadn’t been able to put the puzzle pieces together, it would have meant he was a complete idiot. After all, it seemed obvious that the gravekeeper had noticed how outstanding he was, and that he wanted him to accept his legacy and become the next Hell-Emperor!
The mere thought of becoming the Hell-Emperor got Bai Xiaochun profoundly excited. However, he cleared his throat and humbly said, “Um… Great-Grandpa, the truth is that I’m not really that outstanding…. However, I can say that I’m ready! Uh, right. What does the successor of the Hell-Emperor actually have to do?”
The gravekeeper looked deeply into Bai Xiaochun’s eyes and said, “He will enter the Underworld River, and deliver his soul to the Underworld Palace. He will guard the sovereign’s tomb and watch over the cycle of reincarnation. He will defend the Worldgate, and refuse to open it for anyone who is illegitimate!”
Bai Xiaochun was a bit taken aback. The last part of what the gravekeeper had just said seemed interesting, but there was something a bit unsettling about the first part.
“Great-Grandpa, what do you mean by ‘deliver his soul to the Underworld Palace’? If his soul goes into the Underworld River, doesn’t that mean… that he has to die?” When he saw the gravekeeper nod in response, he gasped, and his face turned as white as a sheet.
“Great-Grandpa, er…. Look, I'm really not very outstanding. I'm just a regular person! I get restless easily, and have a lot of faults. If I’m in charge of the Underworld River, bad things will probably happen. It’s too big of a responsibility for a kid like me. Um… why don’t you pick someone else? I’ll… I’ll see you later, Great-Grandpa!” He took a step back, but before he could do anything more, the gravekeeper’s hand shot out toward him as if to grab him.
Bai Xiaochun let out a yelp.
“I'm really not the best choice, Great-Grandpa! Wherever I go, I accidentally cause huge disasters! I don’t want to cause a disaster for you! I--”
“Pipe down! I’m not so much of an idiot that I would pick you to be my successor!” As it turned out, what the gravekeeper had grabbed was not Bai Xiaochun, but his bag of holding. All of a sudden, Bai Hao’s soulhoarding pagoda flew out into the open and came to rest on the gravekeeper’s palm.
“The person I've picked to be my successor isn’t you,” he said coolly, “it’s Bai Hao.”
“Huh?” Bai Xiaochun replied, visibly stunned. Previous Chapter Next Chapter
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Chapter
843: The Celestial’s Blood-Hair
Chapter 843: The Celestials Blood-Hair
Bai Xiaochun wasn’t the only one to be stunned. Bai Hao sat there inside his soulhoarding pagoda, his jaw hanging open and his mind spinning.
The sudden dramatic turn of events was almost too much to take. During the dramatic battle, Bai Hao hadn’t dared to come out into the open. Upon returning to the Underworld River, he had cautiously peered out into the world, listening to the gravekeeper and even feeling excited that his Master was about to become the Hell-Emperor.
Never could he have imagined that the gravekeeper would suddenly grab him… and then say that he was the one who was supposed to be the successor.
Worried that Bai Xiaochun might misunderstand the situation, he anxiously said, “Senior, sir… you must have made a mistake, I--”
Off to the side, Bai Xiaochun looked on, stunned. Actually, he wasn’t displeased at all. In fact, there was only one thing he was thinking. “My apprentice is going to be the next Hell-Emperor? Heavens, is this really happening…? If my apprentice becomes the next Hell-Emperor, then nobody in the Wildlands will ever dare to provoke me!!”
He was feeling very excited about the whole thing. Obviously, nobody would ever dare to cause problems for him from now on. If they did, he could have his apprentice wave his hand and crush them! He was essentially going to become invincible….
“Nine Serenities King? Grand Heavenmaster? Chen Haosong? Who will dare to provoke me? Who will dare to glare at me!?!” Profoundly pleased, he slapped his thigh, threw his head back and laughed uproariously.
“Wonderful!” he said loudly. “You have made an excellent choice, Great-Grandpa. This apprentice of mine is the perfect fit to be the Hell-Emperor! In fact, nobody in all the Wildlands is more suitable!” Seeing that Bai Hao was about to jump in and say something, Bai Xiaochun waved his hand dismissively in the way that a Master should.
“As your Master, Bai Hao, I will represent you to accept the offer. It's set!”
A profound gleam could be seen in the gravekeeper’s eyes as he looked at Bai Xiaochun and then Bai Hao. No one would ever have been able to guess the gravekeeper’s plan ahead of time. The truth was that he had never considered Bai Xiaochun as a possible successor. Furthermore, Bai Hao was only one of several that he had been watching!
For example, there was Zhou Yixing, and the soul of the Luochen Clan chosen that Bai Xiaochun had killed. And there were others…. He had many candidates, including the people on the Hell-Emperor Stele. However, the reason that Bai Hao had risen up from among all those candidates to become the official successor had less to do with the gravekeeper and more to do with… Bai Xiaochun!
The truth was that Bai Xiaochun was more important to the gravekeeper than any of the other people on the list of candidates. Naturally, the gravekeeper didn't want him to become the Hell-Emperor. He had a more important mission in mind for Bai Xiaochun….
It was for this reason that Bai Xiaochun happened to encounter Bai Hao when he was teleported into the Wildlands. Back then, when Bai Xiaochun had made his departure, the gravekeeper had appeared, with a very profound look in his eyes.
It was also for this reason that Bai Xiaochun ended up encountering Bai Hao’s soul in the Necromancer Kettle….