A Will Eternal

The door to his private chamber became like a door closing him off from the entire world.

He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and settled his emotions. It took some time, but he pushed aside all extraneous thoughts, and when he opened his eyes again, they shone with utter determination!

He was now in a state that he rarely entered. His cultivation base had steadily climbed over the years, and considering all of the things he had experienced, and all the twists and turns that had come in his life, at some point, Bai Xiaochun realized that he had grown up.

After visiting the reconstructed Heavenspan Realm, and looking back on the path he had walked, his heart had steadily grown more and more calm.

At the same time, he had begun to formulate the very thoughts that the Eternal Mother had eluded to....

“The Mortal Renegade’s Dao is one of complete extermination of everything. It takes the starry sky and snuffs it out like a candle, casting everything into darkness, and turning all life into death!

“The reverse of his Dao would do the opposite. It would cause the extinguished starry sky to spark with new life.... If the Mortal Renegade represents nirvanic extermination, then my Dao must be one of radiance and light!” Bai Xiaochun’s eyes glittered as he contemplated the subject; this was actually the entire goal of this session of secluded meditation!

As for how to go about it, Bai Xiaochun already had an idea. In fact, it had something to do with a plant he had acquired long ago!

Closing his eyes, he issued a soft call in his heart, a call that caused his private chamber to tremble. In fact, the entire imperial palace shook physically, and eventually, all of Arch-Emperor City!

The inhabitants looked around in bewilderment, although not for long. Moments later, a crevice opened up within the city, from which emerged a huge, vine-like plant. Moments later, a second vine appeared, then a third and a fourth.... In the blink of an eye, hundreds of them had risen up, and were dancing in the breeze.

“What are those things?!?!”

“Heavens! I can’t believe a plant like that exists beneath Arch-Emperor City!!”

“That aura... it surpasses the Demigod Realm! It’s more like the Celestial Realm!!”

Amidst the uproar, the plants responded to Bai Xiaochun’s call, and as they danced, they began to shine with moonlight that rose into the air and swirled above the city.

As everyone watched in awe, the moonlight converged, creating a shining moon whose light shook the hearts of everyone present. It was almost as if an actual moon were now present, hanging directly above Arch-Emperor City, shining brightly. Then, the moon began to fall.

Before anyone could react, it shot toward Bai Xiaochun’s private chamber. The Grand Heavenmaster and other top experts initially attempted to interfere, but were then instructed by Bai Xiaochun’s divine sense to back away. As they did, they watched the shining moon slowly disappear into Bai Xiaochun’s meditation chamber.

Inside the chamber, Bai Xiaochun reached out with his right hand to grasp the shining light, which flickered and jumped with pleasure, as if he were its lord and master.

A smile broke out on Bai Xiaochun’s face as he sent some divine sense out, causing the light in his hand to glitter, and then revealing a seed made of moonlight, the glow of which sent soft radiance into every corner of the private chamber.

It was none other than his moonflower!

He had planted the moonflower beneath the city years ago, when he initially went into seclusion, leaving it as a secret weapon to be used in the defense of the city. However, it had never been necessary to defend the city in such a way. Now, as he formulated his plan for how to achieve a breakthrough, he realized that the moonflower was actually key!

More precisely, he remembered that, back in the original Heavenspan Realm, the moonflower had eventually reached a point in its growth where it transformed into countless dandelion seeds, which spread out into all heaven and earth. He had witnessed that event with his own eyes.

It had been a very profound moment, and was something he could never forget, not even after all the things he had experienced afterward. [1]

“If I want to walk the opposite path as the Mortal Renegade,” he murmured, “then I need to reignite all of the extinguished flames that filled the starry sky of the past.... To do that, I need the strength of the moonflower....”

He had come up with this idea some time ago, and now that the time had come to put it into action, his eyes shone with determination.

“Other methods might work as well, but there isn’t enough time.... The fastest way will be to fuse with the moonflower, and borrow its ability to multiply and spread, thus sending seeds of my own divine sense out into the void....” Certain that this was the best idea, he unhesitatingly covered the moonflower seed with divine sense.

Having accomplished this, he closed his hand over the seed, which vanished. When it reappeared in his mind, it immediately began to sprout, sending tendrils throughout his body. Before long, he had fused with the moonflower, a process which did not harm either of them. In fact... if his plan succeeded, and he brought light to the dark void outside, then the moonflower would be his companion plant, and in some respects, would be another Eternal Flower!!

The moonflower understood that, and in its excitement, did nothing to oppose the process. As it fused with Bai Xiaochun, it slowly fell into a state of slumber, handing control of itself over to him.

It was hard to say how much time passed. Bai Xiaochun was so involved with his work that he forgot everything else. Soon, he had become the moonflower itself, whereupon soft moonlight radiated off of him, which floated out of his meditation chamber and up into the sky.

At first, there were only about ten motes of light, which entered the void and began to drift away from the Eternal Immortal Domains. However, those motes of light soon began to multiply. Eventually there were 100, then 1,000, then 10,000.... Eventually the numbers climbed higher. 1,000,000. 10,000,000. 100,000,000. Soon, the number was too high to count, an endless stream of light which rose up from Bai Xiaochun and sailed out into the sky, and the void beyond.

They looked like glowing dandelion seeds made of moonlight, and they were very eye-catching, drawing the attention of all the living beings in the Eternal Immortal Domains. Although no one knew exactly what they were, or what their purpose was, they could sense the powerful flame of life force they contained.

After all, they weren’t just a manifestation of Bai Xiaochun’s divine sense. They also contained his life force, his Dao, and everything else that made him up....

Within the meditation chamber, his body slowly withered, growing older and older until all that was left behind was an empty husk. His soul, his Dao, his cultivation base, and all other aspects of him had entered the dandelion seeds, and were spreading out through the void.

They did not move about aimlessly. They all had specific destinations, those being the destroyed ruins that filled the void... the places where light had once burned, but was later extinguished.

Every time such a location was found, a dandelion seed would settle down and sprout....

Days began to slip by. Although everyone in the Eternal Immortal Domains was still nervous about the impending catastrophe, they knew that both the Saint-Emperor and Bai Xiaochun were both working hard to provide hope.

And the only thing that everyone else could do was wait, and work on their cultivation. Although advancing their cultivation bases would do little good in the end, no one was willing to abandon any possible advantage. And of course, it served to calm their hearts.

There were still people who abandoned themselves to despair. But the celestials of the two great imperial dynasties did their best to quell such trends, and dispose of any individuals who had lost their humanity.

And thus, life went on in the Eternal Immortal Domains, and affairs mostly stabilized....

Eventually, ten years had gone by. Xiaobao was now ten years old, and his personality was very much like his father’s. Whenever Hou Xiaomei and the rest of his family saw him acting mischievous and fearing death, they couldn’t help but look over wistfully at Bai Xiaochun’s meditation chamber.

Inside the chamber, Bai Xiaochun sat there cross-legged, unmoving for an entire decade....

1. The moonflower turned into dandelion seeds in chapter 972