Of the five Dao protectors Bai Xiaochun had brought with him, the only one unaccounted for was Song Que. The other four had all returned to Bai Xiaochun’s side.

  Even Chen Manyao was behaving herself. To Bai Xiaochun, it felt completely wonderful to have people relying on him for reasons other than his cultivation base. It was something he often thought about during his meditation sessions.

  Now that Big Fatty Zhang was back, Bai Xiaochun felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. Big Fatty Zhang was different than Master God-Diviner and Xu Baocai. Their friendship had begun on the very first day that Bai Xiaochun became a part of the cultivation world.

  In fact, almost as soon as Big Fatty Zhang arrived at the Azure Dragon Society, he became its second most important figure, with a standing higher than Master God-Diviner and Xu Baocai. Of course, Master God-Diviner and Xu Baocai took this in stride; they were well aware of how close Bai Xiaochun and Big Fatty Zhang were.

  As the Azure Dragon Society expanded and grew more powerful, not only did they compete with the Celestial Sky Society with their Fantasy Pills, but in other areas as well.

  However, such efforts couldn’t be met with success quickly, and needed a lot of merit points to be invested. At the moment, the Fantasy Pills were still the bread and butter of the Azure Dragon Society.

  Bai Xiaochun didn’t actually have a hand in such matters; he delegated the authority to Big Fatty Zhang and the others. Overall, Bai Xiaochun was completely pleased with how amazing he was. The only thing that he wasn’t happy about was that he actually didn’t own his own immortal’s cave; everything in Sky City was rented out by the sect.

  After making some inquiries, he learned that it would be easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than to find someone in Sky City who owned their own property. The only way to get one would be to have someone very powerful backing you.

  Unfortunately, Bai Xiaochun didn’t have any powerful backers, so he had no choice other than to abandon the idea. Instead, he focused on his cultivation, using much of his profits from the Azure Dragon Society to purchase spirit medicines and spirit food to increase the speed of his progress.

  It was only after spending about 1,000,000 merit points that he finally reached the point where he had successfully cultivated the third level of the Undying Live Forever Technique from the toes of his left foot all the way up to his calf!

  When that part of his leg pulsed with the power of his Undying Tendons, he could send astonishing fluctuations rolling out from it, fluctuations that could shake heaven and earth with intense power.

  The power in his left leg vastly surpassed that of his right leg, and was the source of the most incredibly fleshly body power he had at his disposal.

  After a few tests, Bai Xiaochun realized that he hadn’t just experienced an increase in strength, but also speed. At the moment, his left leg could move at least twice as fast as his right!

  Of course, even before that, he had been one of the top figures in his cultivation level in terms of speed, thanks to his Undying Heavenly King Body and Heaven-Dao Gold Core. Therefore, anyone who saw his speed now would be left gasping with shock!

  In fact, thanks to this increase in speed, Bai Xiaochun actually felt as if the other parts of his body were sluggish.

  “One day, when I finish cultivating the Undying Tendons, then when I burst out with full speed……” Having reached this point in his train of thought, Bai Xiaochun’s eyes shone with anticipation.

  Back in the Middle Reaches, in the River-Defying Sect, it would have taken a very long time to reach this point, even with the help of the Blood Ancestor. But here at the source of the river, in the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, the indescribably strong spiritual power, plus the vastly superior spirit medicines and spirit food, made everything completely different!

  The only catch was that acquiring those resources required merit points, and a lot of them. Thankfully, that was exactly what Bai Xiaochun had!

  In addition to his success with his Undying Tendons, the vast quantity of merit points at his disposal ensured that his Frigid School Will-Evolving Incantation also advanced by leaps and bounds.

  The Heavenspan River water here was much different than in the Lower or Middle Reaches. It was so much stronger and purer that the lesser versions could hardly compare. At one point, he even spent tens of thousands of merit points to buy an entire a bowlful.

  Eventually, he reached the peak of the Frigid Acolyte level. With the wave of a hand, he could cause frigid coldness to fill a 300-meter area, within which would appear a single blurry frigid shadow.

  Bai Xiaochun could switch positions with the frigid shadow at will; if used correctly in combat, it was a trick that could help him win in an unexpected way, and perhaps even turn a defeat at the hands of a powerful opponent into a victory!

  Bai Xiaochun was very excited about this, and even set up a special training ground to practice in. After sealing the place so that he was completely alone, he performed some tests. Upon summoning the frigid shadow in a location inside the 300-meter frozen area, he could take a step forward and then instantly take the shadow’s place. It was almost like a teleportation! After familiarizing himself with the process, he was left so excited that it was difficult to put into words.

  After reaching the peak of the Frigid Acolyte level, his techniques all improved, and his cultivation base also advanced. Because of the frigid qi buildup in his Heaven-Dao Gold Core, his cultivation base was now at the peak of the early Gold Core stage!

  With one more step forward, he could break through into mid Gold Core!!

  Bai Xiaochun was already certain of how to head in the direction of that breakthrough. It was none other than reaching the Frigid Adept level!

  “Once I reach the Frigid Adept level, I’ll step into the mid Gold Core stage!

  “And that day isn’t too far off!” He threw his head back and laughed uproariously, musing that coming to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect really was the right choice. In fact, if he had known how wonderful Sky City was going to be, he would have come earlier.

  Even as Bai Xiaochun reveled in complacency, the hostilities between the Celestial Sky Society and the Azure Dragon Society were increasing. In fact, numerous meetings had been held in the Celestial Sky Society to try to figure out what to do about Bai Xiaochun and the Azure Dragon Society.

  Unfortunately, Bai Xiaochun was a Core Formation cultivator, something that had caught them completely unawares, and had also lost them the initiative. Their previous failed attempt to take him out had also significantly damaged their awe-inspiring reputation.

  Of even greater significance than that was that the sheer size of the Azure Dragon Society made any schemes and plots they hatched relatively useless. Furthermore, in terms of their ability to use force, although they had a powerful background, they didn’t have even a single Core Formation cultivator in their organization.

  Although everyone talked about how they came from a clan with a deva patriarch, the truth was that the top orange-robed disciples in the Celestial Sky Society were nothing but servants in that clan. As such, their background sounded very impressive, but nobody in the clan really cared that much about them.

  They really had no choice other than to report the matter to some of their superiors and hope that someone would show up to help them. However, despite having made several such requests over the past months, nobody had paid them any attention. Things to do with Core Formation cultivators weren’t very important to the clan as a whole, and definitely wouldn’t mobilize the forces of the entire clan to help them. The Celestial Sky Society would have to handle the matter on their own.

  After waiting for quite some time without getting a response, the people in the Celestial Sky Society realized what was going on, and yet, weren’t willing to just give in.

  “We can’t let things keep going on this way!”


  “That’s right. That damned Azure Dragon Society rose up too quickly and violently. If we don’t do something soon, we’re going to be playing second fiddle to them forever!”


  “But the clan has been ignoring us. Ai.”


  “I can’t believe we haven’t been able to turn up any information about the background of Boss Azure Dragon. There’s something fishy going on, I’m telling you! It’s almost as if someone has wiped out all records of him!”


  As the discussion played out, a shadowy figure sat off to the side, a person who seemed to be wreathed in flickering darkness. Suddenly, he spoke in a sinister voice.

  “Since the clan is ignoring us and Boss Azure Dragon is too mysterious, then why don’t just take the Fantasy Pills out of the picture? That would cripple the Azure Dragon Society, resolve this deadlock, and also make it more clear how to completely finish things.

  “As for exactly how to take the Fantasy Pills out of the picture, it’s simple. You people just never put enough thought into it. Just file a grievance with the sect regarding Fantasy Pills!!

  “After all, they still aren’t really legal to sell!” His words were met with silence, and yet, all of the Celestial Sky Society’s leaders’ eyes began to shine brightly.

  The person who had just spoken was none other than the boss of the Celestial Sky Society.

  After the decision was formalized, the Celestial Sky Society sprang into action. They compiled a list of all the supposed side effects and harmful aspects of the Fantasy Pill and reported them to the sect. Furthermore, they backed the effort with all the money and connections they had at their disposal.

  Three days later, an order came down from Sky Quarter Rainbow, which was announced everywhere in Sky City.

  The Sky Quarter peak lord had ordered that disciples were forbidden from purchasing Fantasy Pills!!

  And there was more! A jade slip shot through the air in a bright beam of light toward the immortal’s cave that was the headquarters of the Azure Dragon Society. It pierced through all of the defensive spell formations like a hot knife through butter before coming to a stop before Bai Xiaochun. Then, scintillating light burst out from it, along with a profoundly ancient voice.

  “Hostage Bai Xiaochun from the River-Defying Sect is to report immediately to the Sky Quarter peak lord!”
——

  Deathblade. (Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest)

  GNE.

  Logan.

  Tocsin.

  ASI a.k.a. Beerblade.

  Daoist Elder N, BLE, ttre208. ……