In the end, the spell formation had been so troublesome for Bai Xiaochun that he had resorted to the Undying Emperor’s Fist to break it, and then used a Heavencleaving Good Fortune Pill to recover. Without falling back on that strategy, he wouldn’t have been able to prevail.

Feeling more than a bit angry, he quickly went from one chosen to the next and stabbed the Eternal Parasol into them. He made sure to shove it especially deeply into Zhou Hong, and took plenty of life force.

Most people screamed, but Zhou Hong simply gritted his teeth and glared at Bai Xiaochun wordlessly.

“What?” Bai Xiaochun said. “Still think you were in the right? Fudge! You stirred up trouble with me back in the Necromancer Kettle, then you tried to get Sun Yifan and Sima Tao to do your dirty work for you, and now you pull this little stunt?” Bai Xiaochun really did want to just wipe Zhou Hong out of existence right here, but reminded himself that he couldn’t forget how powerful Zhou Hong’s father was....

“If your dad wasn’t a demigod, Lord Bai would have already killed you!” Bai Xiaochun snorted coldly, and sucked even more life force out of him until there was almost none left. At that point, he felt his Tempered Bones beginning to thrum.

Extracting the Eternal Parasol, he cast his senses inward to observe something warm flowing through him, originating within his bones. A tremor ran through him, and then he felt both his defensive powers and his overall strength increase.

As of this moment, he was breaking out from the Tempered Bones level into... the Powered Bones level!

“Hmph! You people have powerful backgrounds, but so do I!” Normally, his breakthrough in the Undying Bones would have been a cause for joy. But right now, he didn’t feel excited at all. Furthermore, despite the words he had just uttered, he was actually feeling very nervous.

“You have to pull through for me this time, Giant Ghost King!” he thought. “I’m really in trouble! I might not be your son, but I’m your son-in-law, right? That counts as being half a son, at least!” Sighing, he pondered that he really had been maligned in this situation. He was innocent! He hadn’t done a thing! He had been minding his own business conjuring some flame when these crazy people burst onto the scene and started a fight.

“What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t fight back, I would have gotten killed! And I didn’t want to kill anybody either. That was an accident!” The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. He wanted to simply flee, and yet knew that there was really nowhere to flee to.

If he was going to end up as a fugitive in the Wildlands, then he might as well just reveal his true identity as Bai Xiaochun.

“If it really goes that far... then I’ve been thoroughly defeated. The Wildlands beat me! I can’t believe that both of my identities are going to be put on the wanted list.” As Bai Xiaochun considered all these matters, he truly wished he could cry. Furthermore, he didn’t dare to try to perform another spirit enhancement on his nascent soul right now, otherwise people would easily be able to figure out who he really was.

“What do I do? Ai... what a headache!” Sighing, he finally sent a message to the Giant Ghost King explaining that he had killed a few people. The Giant Ghost King didn’t respond at first. Then he cursed Bai Xiaochun a bit, and then went to handle matters.

Bai Xiaochun actually felt a bit better after the Giant Ghost King cursed him, and mused that it was not in vain that he had been so loyal to the man....

“And then there’s Xu Shan and Chen Manyao, they’re the ones that caused this whole mess....” Throughout the course of the fight, many of the people who had come to attack him had specifically mentioned those two young women, which was very telling. “Those two caused the problems, then ran!”

Bai Xiaochun’s thoughts were causing him to feel more and more depressed. It was at this point that his expression flickered, and he looked up into the sky. Intense rumbling sounds were echoing out, and incredible pressure began to weigh down everywhere.

Two enormous faces appeared up above, one of them that of a middle-aged man, the other an older man. Deva auras also erupted out, sealing down the entire area and turning into something like a prison.

“Devas....” he thought, his eyes widening. Obviously, these were people from the clans of some of the chosen who had attacked him, and were two of the ten heavenly dukes of Arch-Emperor City.

In addition to them, there were also numerous auras belonging to half-devas. Bai Xiaochun’s eyes flickered; it currently felt as if innumerable deadly weapons were all targeting him and him alone.

“Two devas,” he thought, heart pounding loudly in his chest. “Nine half-devas, and countless other soul cultivators....” Arch-Emperor City had the biggest collection of top experts in the entire Wildlands, and as such, devas weren’t exactly a rare sight. However, when considering the Wildlands as a whole, they were definitely not common.

Bai Xiaochun was feeling more nervous than ever. In contrast were Zhou Hong and the other chosen, all of whom sat there looking like nothing more than skin and bones. When they saw the two devas appear, the excitement in their eyes was immediately apparent.

The two devas looked down at Bai Xiaochun and the people around them. They saw how the life force of the chosen had been damaged, including many of the heirs apparent. At that point, unsightly expressions could be seen on the faces of the devas.

Soon, their gazes locked onto Bai Xiaochun, gazes that were filled with killing intent. Considering their status, they didn’t actually need to do anything in this situation; their mere presence here made their attitude clear.

“Seize this Bai Hao!” said the middle-aged deva, his voice booming with heavenly might.

In response to his cold voice, the nine half-deva heavenly marquises all surged with killing intent. Those heavenly marquises were clearly incensed by the sight of their chosen heirs reduced to such pitiable states. There were even two marquises who had members of their clans among the dead.

Within moments of the heavenly duke issuing the order, nine beams of light were shooting toward Bai Xiaochun!

There was no time for thought or planning; Bai Xiaochun immediately fled backward. As he did, the space he had just occupied collapsed into rubble in a crashing boom.

If he had been even a moment slower in evading, he would have been caught in that destruction.

His heart was racing, but at the moment, he couldn’t think of what to do. He could only trust that the Giant Ghost King would be able to smooth things over. In the meantime, he had no choice but to flee in the face of the nine half-deva heavenly marquises.

Bai Xiaochun had faced a half-deva in the form of the Junior Champion King, but these people were different. During that fight, the Junior Champion King had just broken through into that level, whereas these nine heavenly marquises had long since stabilized their cultivation bases. They were fully and truly half-devas, and had been for years. They were elites among half-devas!

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Each and every one of them would be a match for Bai Lin without question!

If Bai Xiaochun fought them one at a time, he might be confident enough to win. But to face all nine at once left him with no choice other than to simply run.

RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!

The nine heavenly marquises didn’t hold back at all. They directly used their trump cards, causing brilliant light to shine in the air as magical techniques and divine abilities shook heaven and earth. It was almost as if a bizarre, nine-fingered hand were reaching out to grab Bai Xiaochun!

The hand was so terrifying that Bai Xiaochun was shaking in fear. For some reason, he had the feeling that if that hand touched him, then not even his powerful fleshly body would be able to hold out. He would be killed in body and soul!

“If you don’t hurry up and fix this, Giant Ghost King, then my poor little life is going to be over!” He was shrieking inwardly, and sweat poured down his face. He couldn’t have been more aware that if he was even the least bit slow, then that nine-fingered hand would close around him!

“If you people have what it takes, come at me one by one!” he shouted angrily. Thankfully, he was capable of shocking speed which, when combined with his cultivation base, made him incredibly fast. Most importantly, he had broken through to the Powered Bones level, which gave him an added bit of speed.

Numerous afterimages appeared as he sped away, making it impossible for the divine abilities of the heavenly marquises to even touch him. However, he couldn’t fight back, only buy time.

The nine heavenly marquises frowned. The fact that they had attacked together showed how seriously they took this opponent, and yet, his incredible speed was making it temporarily impossible to deal with him.

It was at that point that the middle-aged heavenly duke up in midair snorted coldly. The face which represented him rippled inward on itself until it took the shape of the heavenly duke himself. Then, he waved his right index finger at the fleeing Bai Xiaochun.

Even as he began to move his hand through the air, though, Mistress Red-Dust’s enraged voice echoed out.

“Stay your hand, Chen Haosong!!”