Chapter 181: Uncrushable….
After thinking the matter over for some time, he finally sighed and said, “Nah, it’s not worth even thinking about it. Things are great here in the Spirit Stream Sect….” Suppressing the pain he felt in his heart, he put the medicinal pill away in his bag of holding.
If he left, he would miss the Spirit Stream Sect too much. Now that he was in Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment, everyone from the patriarchs to the servants treated him with the warmth of family.
Most importantly, there were plenty of new Outer Sect disciples who didn’t know him very well. Nor had he spent sufficient time in public on the north bank. He would really be missing out on a lot if he left the sect now.
In the days to follow, Bai Xiaochun spent time every day practicing cultivation. However, when he wasn’t cultivating, he would clasp his hands behind his back and stroll through both the north and south banks, smiling like someone from the Senior generation.
He would often mysteriously appear in areas where the Outer Sect disciples gathered. At first, cries of excitement would fill the air, but soon, strange expressions would begin to appear on the faces of the Outer Sect disciples. Eventually, they realized that they were seeing Bai Xiaochun more than a dozen times every day.
It didn’t matter what they were doing, they would often look up to find Bai Xiaochun standing there, a faint smile of praise on his face. Eventually, they grew numb to what was happening, and the strange expressions grew even more common.
The Outer Sect disciples weren’t the only ones to experience such a thing. Inner Sect disciples and even the elders were all annoyed to find that Bai Xiaochun, instead of tending to important affairs, would often stroll around and wait to be called Sect Uncle Bai. It was just like what had happened years ago.
Thankfully, Bai Xiaochun was much more restrained than he had been before. After once again experiencing the sensation of being the center of attention, he decided to stay in his immortal’s cave on Mount Daoseed and concoct medicine.
“To cultivate the Undying Heavenly King, I need vital energy. Therefore, I need to concoct a tier-4 medicinal pill!” Bai Xiaochun’s grand aspiration of becoming a master apothecary was what kept him so focused on medicine concocting.
Furthermore, he had never forgotten what Li Qinghou had told him, that after he reached Foundation Establishment, he should once again try to perfect his Lightning Detox Grand Magic. In the following days, lightning and thunder became common on Mount Daoseed, much to the astonishment of the Foundation Establishment elders there.
Disciples from the other mountain peaks saw the countless bolts of lightning descending upon the mountain, and were also shocked. People began to ask around, and before long, stories about Bai Xiaochun’s previous antics began to spread again. Soon, everyone was talking about it, leading to gasps and expressions of shock.
“Sect Uncle Bai did something like that? I don’t believe it!”
“Heavens, did that really happen?”
Many of the disciples who weren’t familiar with Bai Xiaochun had a hard time believing the stories. However, the frequency of the lightning didn’t reduce by even a little bit. In fact, it increased. At the same time, black smoke began to rise from Bai Xiaochun’s immortal’s cave, and before long, the legendary acid raid began to fall.
Acid rain ran in rivulets down almost half of Mount Daoseed. Of course, Bai Xiaochun was concocting tier-4 medicinal pills, to which tier-3 pills couldn’t even compare. Soon, the area affected by the acid rain grew, reaching both the south and north banks. Eventually, all seven of the mountain peaks were affected.
A nightmare had descended once again. Countless disciples looked around in shock as their garments slowly dissolved.
“Bai Xiaochun is concocting pills again!!”
“Can’t he just let people live in peace!?!?!?” The south bank had already gone through something like this before, so as soon as they realized the acid rain was coming, there was a bit of an uproar, but nothing too dramatic.
However, the people from the north bank had never experienced anything quite like it. Soon, howls of rage rose up, and the north bank mountain peaks began to go mad.
“What’s going on!? What’s happening!?”
“Heavens! I can’t believe acid rain is falling! Wait a second, didn’t I hear a story recently about acid rain…?”
Screams and howls filled the north bank as the disciples there descended into madness. The four peak lords and the elders were also furious, and soon found that the culprit was none other than Bai Xiaochun!
Before Bai Xiaochun reached Foundation Establishment, the disciples of both banks would most surely have formed a mob to go pelt him with stones.
But now, all they could do was exchange dismayed glances. Despite their rage, Bai Xiaochun was not the same Bai Xiaochun that he had been before. He was now a Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment expert, legacy echelon-designate, and a Foundation Establishment elder. A person like that was not someone who ordinary disciples could casually provoke. Even the elders could only stew in their frustration. As for the peak lords, they knew how much the prime elders valued Bai Xiaochun, and thus, could do nothing other than go to the sect leader and hope that he would see reason.
When Sect Leader Zheng Yuandong heard their complaints, he smiled wryly. After all, the legacy echelon-designate was someone very important. Sadly, Li Qinghou had already gone into secluded meditation, otherwise he might have been able to set Bai Xiaochun straight.
Zheng Yuandong tried to persuade Bai Xiaochun that there was more to life than cultivation, and that he should go out of the sect to get some experience in life. After all, without tempering, not even immortal steel could be forged into an immortal sword.
He even explained that as long as he stayed in the Eastwood Continent, he would never be in much danger, but would still be able to gain experience.
However, Bai Xiaochun merely shook his head and said that he really enjoyed life in the sect.
With that, he immersed himself in his research, and the same madness that had once gripped the south bank soon began to spread through the entire sect. However, just when it reached a boiling point, Bai Xiaochun suddenly stopped concocting pills.
There he sat in his immortal’s cave, sighing. His efforts at tier-4 medicinal pills were all failures. No matter how he persisted, problems always cropped up.
“Maybe my skill in the Dao of medicine is too low. Trying to force the matter now won’t do any good. If I want to concoct tier-4 medicinal pills, I have to improve my skill in the Dao of medicine!” Feeling enlightened, he went to visit Li Qinghou, but unfortunately, Li Qinghou was still trying to reach the Gold Core stage, and couldn’t emerge from secluded meditation.
Bai Xiaochun took out the Frigid School Medicine Manual, but no matter how he examined it, it didn’t make sense. It was as if he could understand the characters themselves, but the words and sentences they formed were completely unintelligible.
“If my skill in the Dao of medicine could be considered low-level, then the Frigid School Medicine Manual must be high-level. I’m missing some fundamental understanding regarding the Dao of medicine.” Although Bai Xiaochun was left scowling, the disciples of both the south and north banks, the elders and peak lords and the Foundation Establishment elders on Mount Daoseed were all sighing in relief.
As usual, they had underestimated Bai Xiaochun….
For the moment, he couldn’t work on tier-4 spirit medicine, but he could cultivate the Violet Qi Heavenspan Incantation. Furthermore, at a certain point, the Violet Qi Heavenspan Incantation, in combination with the protomagnetic powers of gravity and repulsion, delivered a burst of inspiration regarding his dream technique: the Human Controlling Grand Magic.
“I’m such an idiot!
“The Human Controlling Grand Magic doesn’t actually need to directly control the opponent! If I figured out a way to control their clothing, I could control the movements of their body!
“Furthermore, I could rely on the protomagnetic powers of gravity and repulsion to do that instead of pure control power!” The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. Eyes shining brightly, he rushed out of his immortal’s cave.
As he walked along, he ran into a lot of people, but none of them were appropriate to help confirm whether his theory was correct or not. Eventually, he left Mount Daoseed and headed toward Green Crest Peak. Suddenly, he saw a familiar face.
“Chen Fei?” he said, eyes shining.
**
Chen Fei was walking proudly down a path on Green Crest Peak, followed by two burly men who were fawning over him and showering him with flattery.
“Congratulations on completing the trial by fire to enter the Inner Sect, Elder Brother Chen! You’re finally going to be an Inner Sect disciple!”
“Hahaha! From now on, Elder Brother Chen, you’re in Green Crest Peak’s Inner Sect! The whole world is at your fingertips! Next step, the heavens!”
Chen Fei’s stuck his chin up as he walked along, reveling in his pride. After all the years that had gone by, he had finally advanced from the Outer Sect to the Inner Sect. As he strutted along smugly, he was about to respond to the two men when he suddenly heard someone calling out his name.
A twinge of displeasure ran through his heart. Snorting coldly, he looked around and said, “Everybody on Green Crest Peak calls me Elder Brother Chen! What blind fool dares to disrespect me by using my full name!?”
Seeing no one in the immediate vicinity, he subconsciously looked up into the air, and saw Bai Xiaochun flying toward him.
“It’s Bai Xiaochun!! Sect Uncle Bai!!” Chen Fei’s scalp began tingling so hard it felt like it might explode. A piercing shriek escaped his lips, and all of his smugness and pride collapsed. The two burly men on either side of him also began to shake in anxiety and fear.
Those two men were the same men who had ambushed Bai Xiaochun with Chen Fei all those years ago, only to be taught a harsh lesson in return. Of course, as Bai Xiaochun’s status in the sect grew, their fear of him also increased.
That had been compounded by the fact that Qian Dajin ended up being suddenly sent out on a dangerous mission. He had never returned, and rumor had it that he had died outside the sect. The presumption, of course, was that Bai Xiaochun was behind it all, which left them even more terrified than before.
Eventually, though, they came to believe that Bai Xiaochun had forgotten about them. Gradually, they relaxed, convinced that there would be no further negative ramifications. But now, Bai Xiaochun had come seeking them out, and the result was that their hearts were pounding in terror.
Trembling, Chen Fei quickly clasped hand and bowed deeply. “Disciple Chen Fei offers greetings, Sect Uncle Bai. Sect Uncle Bai, you are the most powerful person in the sect, a cultivator whose legend will be passed down through the ages, someone who will live as long as the heavens, invincible in the whole world!”
The two burly men also shouted similar words until their voices grew hoarse.
Bai Xiaochun was shocked to find that Chen Fei really was so gifted at speaking. Looking very serious, he said, “Cut the crap! Do you really think Bai Xiaochun is the type of person who likes to be brown-nosed!?”
However, despite the words coming out of his mouth, a gleam of approval could be seen in his eyes, and even a bit of encouragement.
—
Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin. Transcendent Patrons: Daoist Elder N, BLE, ttre208
