Sighing, Bai Xiaochun pushed away his memories of the Blood Stream Sect, then sat down cross-legged in one of the rooms in the honor guard station in the Beast Conservatory. He wanted to call Bruiser over to keep him company, but soon realized that after returning to the north bank, Bruiser was suddenly nowhere to be found.

“Bruiser’s definitely up to no good again!” When he thought about all the things that Bruiser had done in the past, and the fact that they now had almost equal cultivation bases, not only did he feel it to be unfair, it also made him nervous.

“This won’t do! I have to spend as much time as I can cultivating. I have to break out of mid Foundation Establishment and into late Foundation Establishment!” Taking a deep breath, he produced the little turtle and began shaking it back and forth.

The turtle’s head, limbs, and tail flapped and flopped against its shell as Bai Xiaochun shook it. It almost looked like a rag doll.

After shaking it for quite a while, though, no fragrant aroma appeared. Bai Xiaochun was not happy.

“I suffered untold trials and tribulations, experienced untold danger, all to get this little turtle. So what if I got tricked into thinking it was a relic of eternal indestructibility? At least this fragrant aroma can benefit me!” Glaring at the turtle shell, he shook it even harder, causing more knocking sounds to ring out. After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, some streams of fragrant aroma wafted out from inside.

Bai Xiaochun’s spirits were instantly lifted. Taking a deep breath, he absorbed the fragrance into himself through his mouth and nose, then began to work with the Violet Qi Heavenspan Incantation. Almost immediately, the energy of heaven and earth in the area began to rush toward him, creating an invisible vortex. At the same time, a sound like a roaring wave could be heard, as something very similar to a Tideflow began.

Because of the explosive influx of energy, the fourth of his nine spiritual seas began to show signs of crystallization.

Simultaneously, the cup of Heavenspan River water that he’d absorbed continued to melt and fuse into his fourth spiritual sea. Bai Xiaochun was more excited than ever.

“It’s working! Hahaha! This little turtle isn’t completely useless after all!” Bai Xiaochun settled his qi and cleared his mind, then immersed himself in the process of crystallizing his fourth spiritual sea. As time progressed, it grew more and more stable.

After an entire night passed, it was only about twenty percent complete, and he was starting to get a bit anxious. However, there was nothing else he could do. Patience was required when it came to provoking changes in the fourth spiritual sea.

Three days passed by in a flash. Bruiser had returned, mouth overflowing with a pile of multi-colored bras. He’d been about to jump on Bai Xiaochun to wrestle with him, but when he realized that he was in the middle of cultivation, a serious expression gleamed in his eyes, and he placed himself outside the door to stand guard.

To Bruiser, none of the people or beasts in the Spirit Stream Sect, nothing in heaven and earth, was more important than Bai Xiaochun. Bai Xiaochun was his own heaven!

If anyone attempted to interrupt Bai Xiaochun’s cultivation, or do anything else harmful to him, Bruiser would protect him with his life!

All of the battle beasts on the north bank could sense how serious Bruiser had gotten, and as a result, the north bank became very quiet. The beasts’ masters were shocked to find that the beasts began to, of their own initiative, fly over to the Beast Conservatory, seemingly to stand guard at its borders.

That was especially true of the beasts which resided in the Beast Conservatory itself.

One evening, when Bai Xiaochun’s fourth spiritual sea was about ninety percent crystallized, Ghostfang Peak on the north bank and Green Crest Peak on the south bank apparently reached their highest level of energy buildup, and glowing light shot up from them into the air, just like it had with Mount Daoseed. Within moments, rumbling that could shake heaven and earth filled the air, and two pillars of light appeared in the sky.

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Deafening rumbling could be heard as the ground quaked. The sky trembled as the two pillars of light shot through the clouds, causing the vortex up above to grow even more massive.

All of the disciples in the sect detected what was happening and looked up, eyes shining. Almost immediately, conversations broke out.

“The second wave is going to leave soon!”

As the pillars of light continue to cause everything to shake and rumble, quite a few people headed toward Green Crest Peak and Ghostfang Peak! Numerous beams of light could be seen racing through the air as the Spirit Stream Sect’s second wave of teleportations began!

The first wave, which had left only a few days before, had been led by Patriarch Li Zimo, and had been made up of around 2,000 people. That group was already stationed in the Luochen Mountains. As for the second wave, it contained far more people than the first wave, nearly 5,000.

They included Xu Song, Gongsun Yun and Hou Yunfei, as well as some of the other Chosen. There were also quite a number of Inner Sect disciples, and even Outer Sect disciples.

All of them had very serious expressions on their faces, and were clearly ready to fight for the Spirit Stream Sect. As the light on the two mountains grew brighter, Foundation Establishment cultivators appeared, along with some of the prime elders.

After the prime elders, a few figures appeared who shone with golden light. Although it was impossible to make out their features clearly, they emanated fluctuations which far surpassed the prime elders. They couldn’t quite match up to the patriarchs, but the boundless sensation they gave off caused the cultivators of the Spirit Stream Sect to feel completely shaken.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Those golden figures. Could they be...?”

“Legacy echelon cultivators!!”

It only took a few moments for the golden figures to become the focus of all attention. Soon, people realized that the golden figures seemed to stir the qi flow of the entire Spirit Stream Sect.

Their every move and action caused the cultivators to tremble, and filled their hearts with boundless veneration and passion.

They were none other than legacy echelon cultivators, not the entire contingent, only a few of the whole force. Each of them was a Chosen among Chosen in their generation, the focus of all attention.

Along with the legacy echelon cultivators, one of the five patriarchs also appeared. He looked like a young man, but his eyes radiated something profoundly ancient. From the feeling he gave off, he had existed for innumerable years.

“I am Patriarch Redmoon!” he said, his expression hard and cold.

“For the Spirit Stream Sect, we will all...” Before he could finish speaking, the voices of countless Spirit Stream Sect disciple joined together to complete the sentence.

“Fight!!”

Seeing the fighting spirit of the disciples caused Patriarch Redmoon to throw his head back and laugh. Flicking his sleeve, he caused the light shining up from the two mountain peaks to explode, and the power of teleportation to erupt out. It only took a moment for all of the 5,000 cultivators to vanish.

As for the cultivators who remained behind, it wasn’t possible for them to give vent to their desire to fight. Instead, they looked around at the remaining five mountain peaks, which were glowing brighter and brighter.

They all knew that the next time one of the mountain peaks erupted with light, it would mean that the third wave was leaving.

As the teleportation of the second wave concluded, Bai Xiaochun was in secluded meditation in the Beast Conservatory, his fourth spiritual sea already ninety-seven percent crystallized.

Two hours later, his eyes snapped open, and they flickered with dazzling light. Rumbling sounds filled him as his fourth spiritual sea became completely crystallized!

Bruiser immediately detected that Bai Xiaochun had opened his eyes, and burst into the room. When he laid eyes on Bai Xiaochun, he threw his head back and let out a joyful howl.

A broad smile could be seen on Bai Xiaochun’s face, and he was just about to say something when all of the beasts in the Beast Conservatory responded to Bruiser’s howl, and joined in.

That wasn’t the end of it. All of the beasts who had arrayed themselves outside of the Beast Conservatory also joined the howl. Apparently, Bruiser’s actions had a powerful inciting effect on the emotions of all the other beasts.

The sound of countless howls filled the entire north bank, as if all the beasts were congratulating him. The cultivators there were completely shaken. However, the howls didn’t last for long before they faded away. Even still, Bai Xiaochun was deeply moved.

Eyebrows raised, he looked at Bruiser and murmured, “I... I just made a little breakthrough, there’s no need to make such a ruckus....”

Bruiser dipped his head in embarrassment.

Heart beginning to pound, Bai Xiaochun asked, “Bruiser, can you really control all of those battle beasts?”

When he saw Bruiser nod in response, his mind began to spin, and his eyes went wide. Even back when he had visited the Spirit Stream Sect as Nightcrypt, he’d gotten the feeling that the battle beasts took orders from Bruiser.

However, he’d been unable to look into the matter more closely at the time. That memory, plus what he had seen after returning, led him to a very shocking conclusion.

Now that he had confirmed his suspicion, it left him reeling. However, after a bit of time passed, he came to accept the situation.

“So that’s what a beast king can do, huh?” he murmured enviously. Suddenly, he felt very pleased with himself, and his eyes began to shine brightly. With Bruiser on his side, he controlled nearly half of the Spirit Stream Sect.

That thought got him more excited than ever. Throwing his head back, he laughed uproariously. Finally, he was starting to feel the same way he had back in the Blood Stream Sect.