“Do you know how much of my own blood, sweat and tears I poured into this treasured pill?!” Bai Xiaochun shouted hoarsely. “Dammit! Why didn’t you tell me the truth instead of lying to me!?!?” Crowds of Blood Stream Sect cultivators were converging on the scene to watch, and the streams of divine sense from Ancestor Peak were focused on the area.

“I told you not to get close to the pill furnace. Tell me, did you get close? Did you?!” Bai Xiaochun finally began to chuckle bitterly, his face a mask of disappointment and sadness.

There was no way for the Lesser Marsh Peak blood master and grand elder to offer a retort to Bai Xiaochun’s words. The blood master truly had told Bai Xiaochun that the pill furnace couldn’t explode, and had also promised to take responsibility for any situations which arose. Bai Xiaochun last words hit especially close to home.

The truth was that because the heat radiating from the pill furnace had continued to increase, slowly scorching everything on Lesser Marsh Peak, they actually had felt they had no other choice than to approach the furnace to take a look.

They were in the wrong, and yet, the losses sustained by Lesser Marsh Peak were so vast that they couldn’t restrain their rage. The blood master gritted his teeth and said, “You jabbering troublemaker! Lesser Marsh Peak trusted you! We asked you to concoct medicine for us, and if you had, I would have taken responsibility. But I don’t see any spirit medicine! You destroyed Lesser Marsh Peak, Nightcrypt. I demand an explanation!”

Snorting coldly, the blood master took a step forward as if to grab Bai Xiaochun, and hopefully gain something from this disaster....

“Hold on!!!” Bai Xiaochun said. Looking very serious, he took a step forward and breathed in deeply through his nose. “Something’s off here. That smell.... Do you sense that medicinal aroma...?”

The Lesser Marsh Peak blood master frowned. Snorting coldly, he proceeded toward Bai Xiaochun, but even as he did, Bai Xiaochun flickered into motion, appearing a moment later next to a chunk that had once made up the wall of the pill furnace. Looking shaken and incredulous, he pulled the chunk off to the side, revealing a medicinal pill underneath, which glowed with five-colored light!

It also emanated a strong medicinal aroma which, combined with the five-colored light, caused the eyes of everyone who could see it to go wide. Their minds began to spin, and many people even gasped or cried out in shock!

“Is that a tier-5 spirit medicine!?”

“I’ve never even seen a tier-5 spirit medicine before. Even the Pill Stream Sect only has a few people who can concoct them. Tier-5 spirit medicines are all priceless treasures!”

“A five-colored glow is one of the signs that appears when a tier-5 spirit medicine is concocted!!”

“Heavens! I can’t believe it’s actually a tier-5 spirit medicine!”

As the crowd erupted into pandemonium, Bai Xiaochun mustered his courage, reached out, and grabbed the pill. He had never imagined that he would end up concocting a tier-5 spirit medicine, and wanted to simply take it and run. However, with so many people present, that wasn’t possible.

Bai Xiaochun wasn’t the only shocked one. The Lesser Marsh Peak blood master stood off to the side, along with the grand elder and bloodstreak elders, and all of them were gasping.

When he saw Bai Xiaochun pick up the spirit medicine, the blood master suddenly started laughing good-naturedly, and his murderous aura vanished.

“A misunderstanding, that’s all. A misunderstanding. Hahaha.... I was pulling your leg just now, Grandmaster Nightcrypt.” The blood master hurried forward, his face filled with a sincere smile.

Bai Xiaochun snorted coldly. However, he couldn’t think of anything to say in response, and was already wracking his brains as he tried to figure out what to do next.

“How about this, Grandmaster Nightcrypt: Lesser Marsh Peak would like to triple our previous offer of compensation!” The blood master, the grand elder, and the bloodstreak elders all hurried forward to cluster around Bai Xiaochun.

That was when Song Junwan, who had been standing off to the side the entire time, stepped forward and coolly said, “How dare you threaten one of my Middle Peak cultivators right in front of me.”

The hearts of the elders began to pound, and an extremely unsightly expression appeared on the blood master’s face.

As the two parties faced off, an ancient voice suddenly rumbled out from Ancestor Peak.

“Nightcrypt has concocted a tier-5 spirit medicine, and is a true Chosen of the Blood Stream Sect. Let him be appointed as a bloodstreak elder of Middle Peak!

At the same time, a blurry figure appeared in midair, an old man wearing a blood-colored robe. The incredible pressure radiating off of him caused everyone in the area to feel shaken, and they spontaneously bowed their heads and clasped hands in formal greetings.

“Regarding the pill, it belongs to Lesser Marsh Peak. However, Lesser Marsh Peak shall prepare the materials necessary, and personally craft the bloodstreak battlerobe for Nighcrypt!!”

That old man was none other than the Song Clan patriarch. As soon as Bai Xiaochun realized who he was, he took a deep breath, then clasped hands and bowed.

No one would dare to defy the orders of the Song Clan patriarch.

However, the Song Clan patriarch wasn’t finished speaking. His placid voice continued to echo out through the sect. “It’s good that everyone is gathered here, as I have three important announcements to make!

“First. In eight days, the cultivators of the four mountain peaks will all sacrifice some of their blood qi to summon the Blood Stream Sect’s grand lich!

“Second. In a month, the trial by fire for the position of Middle Peak blood master will begin!

“Third. We

will

be going to war soon!”

As the Song Clan patriarch looked around at the gathered cultivators, gasps could be heard, and murderous auras began to build up.

“War!!”

“War!!!” Everyone began howling at the tops of their lungs, causing the entire Blood Stream Sect to shake. Although Bai Xiaochun was yelling just like everyone else in the crowd, he was actually feeling very anxious inside.

“Very well, you’re all dismissed!” The Song Clan patriarch looked at Nightcrypt, smiled, and then turned and vanished.

Excited at the prospect of the coming war, everyone returned to their various mountain peaks. Although Bai Xiaochun was reluctant to give up the tier-5 spirit medicine, he had no choice but to hand it over to the Lesser Marsh Peak blood master. Then, he left with Song Junwan to go back to Middle Peak.

Song Junwan didn’t say much on the way back to Middle Peak, but her eyes flashed with cold light. As for Bai Xiaochun, he was wrapped up in his own thoughts, and didn’t feel like saying anything either. When they finally arrived, Song Junwan looked over at him and said, “Nightcrypt, in the trial by fire for the position of Middle Peak blood master, I want you to stand as Dharma protector for me, to help me win the title!

“The trial by fire will be dangerous, so you don’t need to give me an answer right now. I’ll be going into secluded meditation to prepare. You can inform me of your decision after I come out.” She gave him a deep look and then headed toward the upper finger.

Bai Xiaochun watched her leave, complex feelings twisting his heart. Eventually, he found himself back in his immortal’s cave, sitting there cross-legged, more worried than ever.

Based on what the Song Clan patriarch had just said, Bai Xiaochun realized that all of the discussion amongst the Blood Stream Sect patriarchs had led to a decision. The war with the Spirit Stream Sect would happen, and in only a few months.

The next seven days passed relatively uneventfully.

Early in the morning of the eighth day, the sound of tolling bells filled the Blood Stream Sect. Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and strode out of his immortal’s cave to find that virtually all of the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the four mountain peaks were flying through the air toward the upper fingers of each of their respective mountains.

Then, eight figures appeared, flying out from Ancestor Peak. They were like giants that caused rumbling sounds to fill the area, and shone with dazzling light that made it impossible to see anything more than their outlines.

As soon as those eight figures appeared, the cultivators all dropped to their knees to kowtow.

“Greetings, patriarchs!”

Bai Xiaochun was immediately shaken. Those eight figures were none other than the eight patriarchs of the Blood Stream Sect!

Patriarch Limitless and the Song Clan patriarch were among them. There was another among the group who wore a violet robe. He seemed to surpass all of the other patriarchs as he hovered there in midair like a brilliantly shining sun.

Intense pressure immediately weighed down on the entire area.

“Everyone, release your blood qi, open the blood portal!” The voice rang out to fill the entire hand that the Blood Stream Sect rested on, shaking everything as a huge spell formation appeared.

Blood qi exploded out, starting from Lesser Marsh Peak. As the blood qi streamed from the tip of the finger, it formed a blood-colored pillar of light that shot up into the sky. Next, the same thing happened on Nameless Peak, Middle Peak, Corpse Peak, and finally, Ancestor Peak!

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Five beams of blood-colored light shot up, staining the entire sky the color of blood, and creating an enormous vortex. The cultivators of the Blood Stream Sect were shaken, and could feel their blood qi seething as they unleashed the power of their cultivation bases.

At that point, one of the patriarchs stepped forward, a middle-aged man who was strikingly handsome. There was something entrancing about him that made anyone who looked at him want to admire and trust him.

“I am Droughtflame, and I will take the lead in summoning the reserve powers of the Blood Stream Sect. I need the help of nine disciples to help refine the qi and blood!

“Xu Xiaoshan, Song Que, Xuemei, Han Dong, Zhou Zhengfeng....” Although he was speaking in a calm tone, he was a patriarch, which caused even ordinary words spoken by him to carry vast pressure. Every time he called out a name, that person would fly up into the air to stand in front of him.

Soon, eight individuals had been called forth, and the sight of the assembled group caused the other Blood Stream Sect disciples to gasp. Every single one of the group of eight were Earthstring Foundation Establishment cultivators with the power of multiple Tideflows! All of them were top Chosen in the Blood Stream Sect!

Then, Patriarch Droughtflame’s eyes came to rest on Middle Peak, and he uttered the last of the nine names.

“Nightcrypt!”