A Will Eternal

Bai Xiaochun only looked at the scene for a moment before averting his gaze. And it almost wasn’t necessary to mention the spirit automaton up in the sky. Originally, he had been proudly waiting for Bai Xiaochun to make a fool of himself.

But now, he was completely and utterly stunned, to the point where he almost didn’t dare to believe that what he was seeing was true. The Dark Concocters had gone completely mad. The screams, the gasps, the bellows, and even the occasional sighs of contentment mixed together until the spirit automaton shivered and rubbed his eyes.

“This is impossible…” he muttered to himself. “I’m definitely seeing things…. Hahaha! That’s right. It’s an illusion. Just an illusion….”

As of this point, his understanding of life was changing completely.

Unfortunately for him, after double- and triple-checking, and even checking his ears to make sure they were working properly, he realized that the scene in front of him was real. At that point, he gasped, his mind reeling.

“They’re… they’re the Dark Concocters! Even the sovereign feared them! Dammit! They… they must not be the <em>real</em>Dark Concocters!” He wanted to cry. Never could he have imagined that the shameless cheater Bai Xiaochun would actually be more terrifying in pill concocting than the Dark Concocters.

“It’s fine. I’ll still be the victor here. The Dark Concocters’ true strength lies, not just in their ability to concoct mystery pills, but in their tenacity and unyielding nature. That is what makes them truly terrifying!

“I can say with absolute confidence that, once the Dark Concocters come back to their senses, they will work hard to rise to the top again. They will not allow anyone to pass this level!” The spirit automaton was almost going hysterical trying to comfort himself. After all, even though he wasn’t ready to admit it, Bai Xiaochun was almost too terrifying to deal with.

As for Bai Xiaochun, as he hovered in midair, he contemplated throwing out some more medicinal pills. However, after patting his bag of holding, he realized that his stores were running too low.

“No. As an apothecary myself, I understand how people like us think. Successful apothecaries have to be tenacious and unyielding. Giving up is not an option. You must have obsessive focus!” He glanced worriedly back at the Dark Concocters, well aware that although he could temporarily put them at a disadvantage, they would eventually regain their senses. And when that happened, the fact that he was running low on pills would be problematic. Eventually, he would run out, and then he would most likely suffer a defeat at the hands of these imps. And he could hardly stand to think about what that would entail.

After some thought, his eyes glittered, and he patted his bag of holding.

“How could I have forgotten that I have another outstanding asset other than my medicinal pills? And that is none other than my concocting methods themselves…. Strange things always happen when I concoct. In the past, I would have to work hard to avoid such scenarios, or contain the effects. But here… strange effects are exactly what I need!

“As far as the ingredients… I don’t have too many, but the Dark Concocters surely do….” Having reached this point in his train of thought, he burst into motion. Taking advantage of the how the Dark Concocters were in the grip of madness, he headed toward the nearest of their tribal headquarters.

Just as he had guessed, the mountain homes of the Dark Concocters were filled with endless supplies of medicinal ingredients. There were beast bones, medicinal plants, strange rocks and pebbles, and other things that he had never seen before. A quick glance proved that, although these things looked real, just like the entire world around them, they were actually partly real and partly illusory.

However, they would suffice to concoct some medicinal pills. As for what kinds of pills they would make, it was hard to say at the moment. But Bai Xiaochun didn’t need to spend time considering the subject. He just needed the Dark Concocters to surrender!

“If I want to get past this level, I have to make these Dark Concocters bow their heads!” Taking a deep breath, he sped from one tribal headquarters to another, using all of the skills he had developed in the Wildlands to perfect effect. He was like a locust that swept through the mountains, taking everything down to the grass and roots.

Unfortunately, there was a huge number of tribal headquarters, some large and some small. Despite how skilled he was at this sort of thing, he didn’t have time to visit them all. After about two hours passed, he had gone through about seventy percent, which was when the imps began to regain their senses.

As they regained lucidity, and thought back to all of the dreadful things that they had done in the past two hours, they began to shout loudly in rage.

“I’m gonna kill you!!”

“The Dark Concocters will destroy you or die in the attempt, test tube!!”

“You’re dead! Aaaaaaggggghhhhh. I hereby swear that in the end, either you will exist, or the Dark Concocters will, but not both!!”

Innumerable imps raged with more madness than they ever had in their entire lives. It was a level of fury that reached into the heavens, spawned by a humiliation the likes of which could never be expunged!

By now, they no longer wanted Bai Xiaochun to be their test tube. The only thing they wanted to do was torment him for 10,000 years!

All of them began to produce mystery pills that had either been passed down through the generations in their clans, or that they had personally concocted. From the way their murderous auras raged to the heavens, it seemed they would be willing to destroy the world if it meant getting their hands on Bai Xiaochun.

One could only imagine the battle of medicinal pills that would erupt if they found him!!

However, by the time the Dark Concocters devolved into a maelstrom of anger, Bai Xiaochun had already taken steps to prevent them from finding him. Having learned from his initial mistake of staying in one place, he was now moving from place to place via teleportation. On the one hand, he was truly shocked by how quickly the imps had recovered, but on the other hand, wasn’t willing to just give up.

“Hmph! You people just wait. Things aren’t over yet!” He quickly produced a collection of small pill furnaces, as well as a few larger ones, and began to concoct.

“You think I’m afraid of a little war of attrition?” Gritting his teeth, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture and began to divide the medicinal plants up and then throw them into the pill furnaces, which quickly began to vibrate.

Once Bai Xiaochun started concocting medicine, he would quickly sink into a state of madness. His eyes were already bloodshot as he focused, not on making pills, but on creating unusual side-effects.

Before long, the Dark Concocters found his current hiding place, where the pill furnaces were already bright red, and showing signs of imminent explosion. In the past, Bai Xiaochun would have been shocked and terrified at such a sight, but now, he was beaming with joy. Flicking his sleeve, he sent the pill furnaces flying out into the open.

He didn’t even aim them. He just sent them flying out randomly. Moments later, booms began to ring out one after another, followed by the enraged roars of the imps. At that point, he vanished, reappearing in another hiding place, where he continued his concocting work.

Three days passed, and the Dark Concocters were even more angry than before. To them, the past three days had been pure torment. Not only was the force of the exploding pill furnaces tremendous in general, but Bai Xiaochun had especially large pill furnaces that were extremely shocking to the diminutive Dark Concocters.

And there was more to it than that…. On the third day, dark clouds formed in the sky, and acid rain began to fall.

When the acid raid hit the imps, their clothing melted, and they were wracked with incredible pain. Even the ground began to corrode, as did the mountain peaks.

“Heavens! This is no ordinary acid raid. This stuff is hypertoxic!!”

“Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!!”

The imps were completely swept up in raging madness. But then, violet lightning bolts began to fall from the sky, smashing into the ground over and over again in completely relentless fashion….

Soon, none of the Dark Concocters dared to even go out into the open. They could only cower in their mountain caves. And yet… the biggest tribulation of all had yet to come.

Mist began to seep into their caves….

It was extremely pungent, and to the horror of the Dark Concocters, it contained some of the effects of both Aphrodisiac Pills and Fantasy Pills. In the past, they had experienced this horror for two short hours, but now… it was happening without stop!!

“Heavens, how could this be happening!?!?”

“No, just let me die….”

“This is impossible! What sin did we Dark Concocters commit!? Why is God punishing us in this way!?!?”

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