A Will Eternal

The Undying Emperor's Fist was currently the most powerful divine ability at Bai Xiaochun's disposal. Especially the quintuple strength version. After all, even back when he wasn't a deva, he could still use it to fight with someone in the mid Deva Realm.

Now, he was in the early Deva Realm, and although he had not yet stabilized his cultivation base completely, he could still fuse with heaven and earth. Furthermore, he was a rare Heaven-Dao deva, which in itself made up for many of the weaknesses caused by not having a chance to stabilize his place within the realm. As such, he had just unleashed... what was essentially a perfect attack!

With it, he completely blasted away three devas. Of course, these were not ordinary devas, and they had been working together. Although they had been grievously wounded, they had not yet reached the point where they couldn't keep fighting. However, the shocking attack they had just sustained didn't just wound them physically; it was a severe blow to their courage!

The drastic phenomena caused by the fist strike caused everyone in the River-Defying Sect to be shaken to the core, regardless of their rank in the sect.

The shockwave from the attack was still spreading out, and yet, things weren't over yet. Even as blood sprayed out of the mouths of the three devas, and they fell back in terror, Bai Xiaochun's eyes flickered. Although he didn't look any different from before, the truth was that he had been significantly drained in terms of fleshly body power. He hadn't been completely emptied out, but was vastly weaker.

And yet, no one would be able to discern that from his facial expression. He had no special plan in mind, and yet, took another step forward.

As he did, his cultivation base surged, and his will strengthened. The enormous face in the sky above grew clear, and seemed to radiate the energy of the Undying Emperor's Fist, causing the lands below to quake violently. Then, Bai Xiaochun's foot landed, and he growled, "The River-Defying Sect is not the type of place that you can visit uninvited, and then leave without permission!"

The same words roared out from the mouth of the face up in the sky, making Bai Xiaochun seem dramatically impressive to everyone watching.

Except for Chen Hetian, Li Xiandao and Bai Zhentian, whose eyes suddenly glittered.

"Something's off here!"

"What's the point of being so wordy in the middle of a fight...? Wait, don't tell me that he's actually out of power because of that fist strike?"

"Is he trying to get us to retreat?"

The three deva's spirits lifted. Without hesitation, they all spun in place, transforming into flashes of light that, instead of fleeing, shot directly backward toward Bai Xiaochun.

Their energy surged as they prepared powerful attacks. Although they were still being cautious, they were not holding back in terms of deadliness.

However, in almost the same moment as they began to speed back toward Bai Xiaochun, he smiled. And as soon as the devas saw that smile, their hearts lurched in their chests.

"Not good!"

"Dammit, he tricked us!!"

Suddenly, a mark appeared on Bai Xiaochun's forehead, which opened up into a third eye. The power of his Heavenspan Dharma Eye erupted out, sending violet light shooting toward the three devas.

Before they could react, the light surrounded them, making them feel as if a huge, invisible hand had grabbed them. Simultaneously, Bai Xiaochun performed an incantation gesture with both hands and then waved them out in front of himself.

"Frigid domain!"

Rumbling sounds could be heard as indescribably cold air erupted out from Bai Xiaochun. Everything in the area began to freeze over, and at the same time, 27 frigid projections materialized.

Each of the 27 projections looked exactly like Bai Xiaochun, and as soon as they appeared, they pounced on the three devas!

From the murderous aura which surrounded the projections, it was easy to imagine what would happen if they reached them. Although they wouldn't be killed, they would definitely suffer grievous fleshly body injuries.

Now was not the time for the devas to ponder the situation. Thunderous rumbling sounds erupted from Chen Hetian as he drew upon a secret magic that caused three rifts to open up on his face. Bone was visible beneath those rifts, and after they were fully open, Chen Hetian was suddenly given access to immense power.

He struggled mightily against the power of the Heavenspan Dharma Eye, and then suddenly shot backward 3,000 meters, placing him a safe distance from any of the frigid projections.

Only he knew the true price he had just paid to evade that attack. The three rifts which had been sliced open onto his face reduced his longevity by at least a sixty-year-cycle, and also dropped his cultivation base by roughly half a realm.

It caused his heart to drip with figurative blood, and yet, he had had no other options. In fact, he wasn't the only one to make such a decisive, drastic decision. Bai Zhentian and Li Xiandao both used similar secret magics, and paid extremely heavy prices to retreat from the frigid projections.

As a result of their quick retreats, the frigid projections pounced on nothing but thin air, and then faded away into nothing!

Although they had seemed impressive and dangerous earlier, the truth was that they weren't backed by very much power. That caused extremely unsightly expressions to appear on the faces of Chen Hetian, Li Xiandao and Bai Zhentian.

However, as of this point, they already weren't willing to trust their senses. Originally, they had taken Bai Xiaochun to be strong in appearance only, which was why they had attacked. Although he had counter attacked with what was essentially a feint, they were now too unnerved and hesitant to try again.

The threat of Bai Xiaochun's Undying Emperor's Fist was simply too great, and they currently had no way of assessing his true strength.

Even as they hesitated, Bai Xiaochun stuck his chin up, waved his sleeve, and looked at them with cold, domineering eyes.

"Chen Hetian. Eccentric Bai. And you, third guy who I don't know. Do you want to fight, or not? If not, then screw the hell off!" As his voice echoed like thunder, the cultivators of the River-Defying Sect looked up with looks of profound excitement.

The three devas had very unsightly expressions on their faces, and had hearts filled with anxiousness. On the one hand, they feared escalating the fight, but on the other hand, didn't want to back down.

It was in that very moment of hesitation that the three devas suddenly looked up. There, off in the distance, the clouds churned as numerous beams of light appeared. Within moments, a massive formation of troops became visible.

One figure after another shot out into the open. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Soon, it was fully 100,000!! Battle cries filled the air, making it clear that a shocking army was incoming.

It was none other than Bai Lin, Zhao Tianjiao, Patriarch Steel Veins... and the armies of the five legions!

"Who dares to harm one of my major generals!?!?"

"The Hall of Steel Veins campaigned for years at the Great Wall. Now that one of my major generals is back, who dares to cause him grief!?!?"

"You've pushed things too far, Patriarch!"

"Master..."

As the voices rang out, the newcomers suddenly caught sight of the battlefield, and their eyes went wide with disbelief.

Those who had cultivation bases at the level of Bai Lin or higher could sense the lingering fluctuations that would result from the death of a deva's nascent divinity. And those who could not sense such things could see the shattered fleshly body of Patriarch Starry River, as well as his severed head!

Even more shocking was the current state of Bai Xiaochun and the other three devas.... Bai Xiaochun hovered there in the air looking completely domineering and arrogant, facing Chen Hetian, Li Xiandao and Bai Zhentian, all of whom had blood dripping down their faces, and were clearly weakened and in very bad shape.

Furthermore, it was obvious that the three devas had been working together... and yet weren't a match for Bai Xiaochun!

Everyone, Bai Lin included, was left gasping in shock. Most taken aback of all was Patriarch Steel Veins.

"He struck fear into the hearts of three devas?!" he thought. "He actually injured all of them!?"

His eyes flickered in a way that no one would be able to detect. As a powerful deva expert, he was able to clearly sense the evidence of the deaths of Patriarch Starry River and Patriarch Dao River.

Furthermore, he could easily see how badly wounded the three devas were, as well as the evidence of how the fight had ended!

"They... just used secret magics!?! This Bai Xiaochun actually forced Chen Hetian, Li Xiandao and Bai Zhentian... to use dangerous escape magics!?!?!?"