Chapter 688: An Old Friend
Duke Deathcrier’s expression flickered slightly, and Bai Xiaochun looked very nervous.
Even as Bai Xiaochun’s turned to look off into the distance, two beams of light streaked toward them, unleashing sonic booms as they pierced through the air. Soon, two people became visible!
One of them was a wizened old man wearing a black robe. His eyes were cloudy, and his face slack. He seemed fused with heaven and earth, so much so that he was even invisible when inspected with divine sense.
He glanced briefly at Bai Xiaochun, then looked at Duke Deathcrier and smiled, simultaneously clasping hands in greeting. Duke Deathcrier clasped hands in return.
Next to the old man was a young man in a violet robe. There was something tyrannical and haughty about him, especially his eyes, which were piercingly sharp. His cultivation base was in the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage, which made him seem like an unsheathed sword, ready to chop anything to pieces.
The young man glanced briefly at Bai Xiaochun, chuckled coldly, and then looked away at the Necromancer Kettle.
Seeing how seriously Bai Xiaochun was taking the arrival of these two, Duke Deathcrier transmitted a message.
“He’s the heir apparent of the nine serenities king… Prince Zhou Hong. He has a reputation for being cruel and callous, and has killed many people in his time!”
Bai Xiaochun swallowed hard. Although he wasn’t sure exactly how he knew it, but just looking at Zhou Hong, he could tell that he had reached the Nascent Soul stage by using deva beast souls. Perhaps he knew it because he had a Heaven-Dao Nascent Soul. Zhou Hong looked incredibly impressive. He was an heir apparent, and surely had some demigod-level secret magics. Obviously, he was a chosen the likes of which were not to be provoked.
“I bet I could beat him in a one-on-one fight. But considering who his father is, I probably shouldn’t mess with him.” Even as Bai Xiaochun made this decision, more light appeared off in the distance, two beams that contained two women.
One of them was an old woman wearing a voluminous white robe. Her expression was placid, but the young woman next to her was clearly the bossy and domineering type. Her eyes brimmed with the desire to do battle, and despite the fact that she wore violet gloves, and was very beautiful, she was clearly the violent type.
As soon as the young woman appeared, Zhou Hong’s eyelid twitched with trepidation, as though he didn't dare to look at her. When Bai Xiaochun saw that, he gasped quietly.
At this point, Duke Deathcrier transmitted more information. “Princess Xu Shan, daughter of the spirit advent king…. A violent girl, the type who will lose her temper if you say one wrong thing….”
“How come all of these Wildlands chosen seem completely brutal…?” Bai Xiaochun thought, his own eyelid twitching. “This Xu Shan reached the great circle using deva beast souls, and has an incredibly powerful fleshly body!” Considering the fact that even Zhou Hong seemed to fear Xu Shan, Bai Xiaochun didn’t dare to look at her for more than a moment.
However, before he could look away, their eyes locked, and Xu Shan glared at him. From the look in her eyes, she was itching to fight him, but thankfully, the old woman next to her cleared her throat, and Xu Shan backed up a few steps in disappointment.
Bai Xiaochun could see how violent of a girl she was; she wanted to attack him for merely looking at her….
“This place is way too barbarous. The Wildlands definitely isn’t a suitable place for me!” Even as he sighed, more beams of light approached, this time containing dozens of people. These were the chosen children of various groups in the Wildlands, all of them escorted by Dao protectors. None of the Dao protectors were devas, like those sent by the heavenly kings, but most of them were half a step into the Deva Realm.
After arriving, the newcomers fanned out. Some of them joined Zhou Hong, while others went to stand near Xu Shan. Some of them gathered together in smaller groups, where they looked off into the sky, as if they were waiting for someone.
“Little Wolfgod, Li Tiansheng, Zhao Dongshan, Miao Lin’er….” As the chosen arrived, Duke Deathcrier would tell Bai Xiaochun their names. And as he did, Bai Xiaochun’s heart continued to pound.
Little Wolfgod was a young man with a perpetual expression of killing intent on his face, and eyes that radiated brutality. Li Tiansheng seemed a bit better, but had a sinister look to him that left Bai Xiaochun feeling very uncomfortable. Zhao Dongshan was particularly burly, as though the blood of savage giants ran in his veins. He looked like a small mountain as he stood there, holding an enormous wolf tooth club in one hand.
Most of the chosen were men, with few women. However, there was one woman who caught Bai Xiaochun’s eye. She was none other than the one Duke Deathcrier had introduced as Miao Lin’er. She wore very revealing clothing that well-accentuated her lithe frame, and made her quite the center of attention among the other chosen.
She didn’t seem to care about that, and even wore a carefree smile. When she noticed that Bai Xiaochun was looking at her, she covered her smile with her mouth. As she swayed forward, her long, milky legs were prominently displayed, causing Zhao Dongshan, who was right next to her, to start panting.
Bai Xiaochun stole a further glance. Heart pounding, he couldn’t help but analyze her objectively. “These Wildlander women dress quite daringly, but they don’t measure up to my Song Junwan.”
Although the Wildlanders were all handsome and even beautiful, they all had murderous auras that indicated they had killed many people.
“I'm here representing the giant ghost king, so where are the giant ghost king forces? Why isn’t anybody coming to stand by me?!” Bai Xiaochun was starting to feel as if something was off. “Maybe they’re not here yet? Or maybe they’re keeping their identity secret?”
After looking around at the growing crowd, he tried to guess who it might be that the giant ghost king had arranged to come help him…. However, after a bit of time, his suspicions about the matter only continued to grow.
More people continued to arrive, roughly half of them being Dao protectors. Most of the Dao protectors just stood there quietly, although a few chatted with each other.
The other half were the Nascent Soul chosen who would be going into the Necromancer Kettle. Bai Xiaochun sized them up, and could see some of them doing the same with him. Some of them looked at him with scorn, while others had icy expressions. Some seemed curious. Most of them knew at least a little bit about him.
Bai Xiaochun was getting very nervous; very few of these people seemed to have anything but ill will toward him. Even as he stewed in his anxiety, everyone suddenly went quiet. Even Duke Deathcrier’s eyes seemed to grow unusually focused as a beam of light suddenly appeared off in the distance!
There was only one person approaching, with no Dao protector. However, the fantastic energy radiating off of him seemed enough to crush all of the other chosen in the area.
He was a young man in a green robe, with a placid expression that seemed to indicate nothing in the world could possibly faze him. As he approached, the other chosen clasped hands in greeting, especially those who had not joined the other larger groups.
“Well met, Junior Champion King!”
“Greetings, Junior Champion King!”
Many voices rang out, although the young man completely ignored them. After reaching a certain point, he simply hovered in place with his eyes closed. He never even looked over at Bai Xiaochun.
Although a slightly defiant look could be seen in Zhou Hong’s eyes, he kept it in check. Xu Shan from Spirit Advent City seemed more intent than ever on getting into a fight, and from the look of things, was vastly more interested in this junior champion king than she was in Bai Xiaochun.
“He’s the son of the war champion king,” Duke Deathcrier explained, “which is why he is called the junior champion king. His name is… Gongsun Yi!”
Bai Xiaochun sighed. From what he could tell, this junior champion king was already in the great circle, and was almost on the verge of being half a step into the Deva Realm.
Just when he was thinking about asking Duke Deathcrier where his own helpers were, another beam of light appeared.
This time, there were three people, with two of them being particularly eye-catching. One of them was a handsome young man, and the other was a girl who could only be described as a matchless beauty. As soon as they appeared, everyone instantly looked over at them.
“The second prince….”
“That’s… the grand heavenmaster’s apprentice, Chen Manyao!!”
Even as the buzz of conversation rose up, Duke Deathcrier began to make the introductions. However, Bai Xiaochun’s mind was spinning, and he didn't even hear Duke Deathcrier talking. The complete focus of his attention was on that spectacularly beautiful young woman!
She was none other than Chen Manyao, and she looked just as beautiful as Bai Xiaochun remembered, with the fairest of skin, and a beautiful figure. The way her long hair swirled around her made her seem like an immortal goddess, and would cause virtually any man who saw her to gasp.
However, she carried some sort of undispellable anxiety with her, and seemed soft and tender in a way that only served to accentuate her incredible beauty!
“Chen Manyao….” Although no one could tell, Bai Xiaochun was suddenly being filled with very complex emotions. This was his first time in the Wildlands… to see a familiar face!
Chen Manyao, disciple of the River-Defying Sect…. She had accompanied Bai Xiaochun to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, but after the journey to the Great Wall, had disappeared without a trace. Although Bai Xiaochun had guessed that she eventually ended up at home, he had always felt a bit worried for her. As of this moment, he suddenly thought back to many memories from the River-Defying Sect….
He remembered how she was the one who had orchestrated the incident with the love letters, which had been such a cause of irritation to Hou Xiaomei and Song Junwan…. He also remembered how infatuated Xu Baocai had been with her….
Of course, Chen Manyao’s current cultivation base was very different than the last time they had met. She now radiated a strong Nascent Soul aura; clearly, she had encountered profound good fortune after returning to the Wildlands.
Almost immediately, Bai Xiaochun found himself lost in thoughts of how much he missed the River-Defying Sect. And yet, as of this moment, he was in the Wildlands, very, very far from home.