Even the earth seemed like it was about to crack into pieces!

On numerous battlefields throughout the lands, cultivators from the Wildlands and the Heavenspan region all looked around, all of them equally shaken by the premonition that the world was about to be torn apart.

“What’s going on?!?!”

“Heavens! Why is the sky crumbling?!?!”

Core Formation cultivators, Nascent Soul experts, and even devas were shaken. Many from the River-Defying Sect were included. Demigod experts from both sides gasped in open shock.

Mistress Red-Dust was caught completely unprepared. She, like most other Wildlanders, assumed that the Celestial was responsible.

Only a handful of people knew the truth. For example, in Arch-Emperor City, deep within the third part of the city that was buried underneath the ground, in a crumbling pagoda, was the gravekeeper. As he sat there cross-legged, he opened his weary eyes.

He looked particularly old, and fairly radiated an aura of decay. By now, he was like an oil lamp on the verge of winking out, his eyes cloudy as he slowly raised his head skyward.

“The Undying Codex... mastered.... I think I know what the Celestial plans to do. Bai Xiaochun, I hope that in the end... you don’t hate me.... There’s nothing else I can do.... This is my mission, the entire point of my existence....”

In the illusory Underworld River was the reigning Hell-Emperor, Bai Hao. As he stood there looking out on heaven and earth, he murmured, “Master....”

In addition to those two, there was another person who understood what was happening. He was... the reigning Arch-Emperor!

Although he had been made little more than a puppet by the Grand Heavenmaster, he was still the Arch-Emperor. The blood of the imperial clan ran in his veins, and as he sat there on the Dragon Throne in the imperial palace, he shivered.

It was a reaction that came from sensing someone else who cultivated the same technique as him. It came from his blood, and even his soul. After all, the Arch-Emperors also cultivated the Undying Live Forever Technique!

“Someone... has succeeded the Blood Ancestor, and reached the great circle of the Undying Codex!” The despair that had filled the Arch-Emperor’s eyes was suddenly replaced with hope.

Those three were the only ones in the Wildlands who knew the truth of what was happening. When it came to the forces from the Heavenspan Region, as the sky seemed to crumble, a shocking aura erupted out from Heavenspan Island.

“The great circle of the Undying Codex....” The Celestial rose to his feet within the Palace of the Dao. Throwing his head back, he laughed uproariously. At the same time, tears began to stream down his cheeks, and they were not tears of joy. However, the determination in his eyes did not fade.

“The strategy I didn’t wish to employ is playing out perfectly.... Is it destiny, gravekeeper...?”

In the sect headquarters of the River-Defying Sect, the enormous Blood Ancestor shivered imperceptibly. Had Bai Xiaochun been there, he would have been able to hear a voice speaking that almost seemed to be an illusion.

“I held my breath yesterday, to awaken today!”

The world shook for what seemed like a never-ending moment. As for Bai Xiaochun, he took a deep breath as he rose to his feet, the fragments of his old self crumbling off of him. The magical item around him trembled violently, as though it were trying to keep him in check, an instinctual response of the world itself, and the will of the baby girl.

“The great circle of the Deva Realm.... I’ve mastered the Undying Codex....” Bai Xiaochun closed his eyes to feel the boundless life force flowing within him. After a moment, he opened his eyes, which shone with the only color that existed in the world around him.

“Time to go home....” he said softly. He looked up at the face of the baby girl, and met her gaze. He didn’t say anything. Everything that needed to be said was visible in his eyes.

At this point, Bai Xiaochun didn’t care if she had some other plans that she hadn’t explained to him. With his cultivation base and shocking fleshly body power, he was fairly certain that he could handle her if necessary.

Mixed emotions could be seen in the eyes of the baby girl as she quietly said, “Congratulations.... The great circle of the Undying Codex.... I will abide by our agreement for the rest of my life. You may use the magical item of the north three times. If you can kill the Celestial, then you will be my master for all time!”

The baby girl didn’t waste any more time. Her eyes began to shine with mysterious light, causing the entire magical item to tremble. The lands cracked as a huge stone gate suddenly rose up from nowhere!

As the majestic stone gate rose up, the world around it crumbled away into emptiness, until nothing existed except for the gate!

“From here,” the baby girl said slowly, “you can return to the northern ice plains!”

Bai Xiaochun looked at the gate, his eyes shining with anticipation. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. At the moment, he felt more than a little nervous about what the world outside might be like, considering how much time had passed.

“I wonder how the River-Defying Sect is doing...?” With that, he blurred into motion, heading directly toward the stone gate.

As for the ghost face, he was weak and nervous, but at the same time, excited. As the world collapsed around him, he fixed his gaze on the gate and began to fly toward it, more focused on escaping than the Celestial was focused on escaping the lands of Heavenspan.

However, because of all the life force which had been drained from him, he was very weak, and could no longer use the teleportation secret magic he had prepared. If he did... he would destroy himself in the process.

“Take me with you!!” he wailed. “You can put any restrictive spells on me that you want. I’ll... I’ll be your ghost slave! Once my cultivation base is back, that would mean you had a quasi-celestial ghost slave at your command!!”

In response, Bai Xiaochun stopped in place and looked back at the ghost face. He had considered this possibility before, but had abandoned the idea. After all, he wasn’t completely confident in using such methods of enslavement.

Without the magical item to suppress the ghost face’s cultivation base, there was no saying what he could do. And Bai Xiaochun didn’t want to put himself face-to-face with one of the most powerful enemies in the world.

After some more consideration, he simply turned and continued on toward the gate.

“Take me with you, Bai Xiaochun!!” the ghost face shrieked anxiously. He tried to fly forward, but the world of the magical item suppressed him. The baby girl looked at him, and he suddenly felt as if he were about to be crushed. There was no way for him to even move. All he could do was watch wide-eyed as Bai Xiaochun slowly approached the gate.

“Bai Xiaochun!!” he shrieked.

“Shut up!” Bai Xiaochun said with a frown, turning to look at the ghost face. “I’ll never trust you, no matter what you say. Just wait here. After I’m a demigod, then I’ll let you out.”

“You... you....” The ghost face felt like he was about to collapse mentally. After all of the hanging in there, all with the goal of escaping, he was now having his hopes dashed to pieces. Considering the determination he saw in Bai Xiaochun’s eyes, he knew that there was no hope left.

“Heaven damn you, Bai Xiaochun! Curse you!!”

Bai Xiaochun sighed loftily, musing to himself that only a fool would trust anything the ghost face said.

Now that he had achieved his cultivation base breakthrough, and was in the great circle of the Deva Realm, with a demigod fleshly body, he couldn’t have been in higher spirits.

“I could crush you to death with a single slap of my palm, Chen Hetian! And I’m not afraid of any of you northerners anymore either. Not even your demigod!” Filled with excitement at the thought of how shocked everyone would be to see him, he stepped forward into the stone gate.

Instantly, the gate began to emit rumbling sounds, and then, he vanished.

When he reappeared, he was back on the plains of the north. A warm breeze suddenly touched him, not anything like a heatwave, but enough to be considered pleasant.

He could immediately sense the spiritual energy of the Heavenspan Sea, which was a wonderful feeling.

“Hold on, I should be in the north.... How come the wind isn’t cold?” When he examined his surroundings further, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“Did the Frigid Matriarch send me to the wrong place? Is this... really the north?” He found himself looking around at a jungle filled with lush vegetation....

Furthermore, visible throughout the greenery were countless little moonflowers. Bai Xiaochun’s expression flickered.

“Moonflower, baby....”