I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 2
With just a moment’s daze, Li Xinglun snapped out of it, his gaze pulling away from Changkong Zhuoyu’s face. This man’s aura was unfathomable. The white mist that had shrouded him gradually dissipated, and the immortal-like white robes became even clearer.
Recalling the sensation when he had touched Changkong Zhuoyu earlier, it didn’t feel like touching fabric at all. Yet this man had claimed to be wearing clothes…
Li Xinglun broke out in a cold sweat. Could it be that the white mist entrenched in this corner of the Soul-Breaking Gorge, so forbidding that even the creatures dared not approach, was this man’s magical treasure? A robe that could turn into dense fog and obscure sight, and even in this gorge — where spiritual energy of heaven and earth couldn’t be used — could be freely retracted… Changkong Zhuoyu might speak in a confused and strange way, but his strength was definitely not to be underestimated.
Thus, Li Xinglun straightened himself and respectfully cupped his hands. “Senior Changkong, your profound power humbles me.”
Hearing Li Xinglun admit that his looks and clothes were inferior, Changkong Zhuoyu gave a slight nod. The immortal-like expression on his face didn’t change much, yet somehow one could clearly see a faint sense of smugness.
Although unsure how to regard this powerful yet eccentric senior, Li Xinglun still decided to befriend him. If Changkong Zhuoyu truly possessed a treasure that could ignore the divine power of the Soul-Breaking Gorge, then there was a chance they could leave.
“Senior,” Li Xinglun probed, “I’ve been here in the Soul-Breaking Gorge for over a month now and have explored it completely, but found no way out. How long have you been here? With your profound power, you must have a way to leave?”
Changkong Zhuoyu’s expression froze. He didn’t remember anything — not even how long he’d been here. In fact, he didn’t even know where this place was.
Ever since he woke up, Changkong Zhuoyu felt little animals constantly moving around him, sniffing and rubbing against him. Feeling drowsy, he didn’t want to get up, but the animals disturbed his sleep so much that he released the white mist to keep them out and enjoy his dreams.
It wasn’t until Li Xinglun clumsily touched him just now, tickling a sensitive spot, that he finally woke up fully. Awake now, his mind was blank, and everything he did was simply imitating Li Xinglun. He had a vague impression that whenever someone saw him, they would marvel, which gave him an inexplicable confidence — he was sure he was incredibly powerful.
Since he believed himself to be so great, how could a mere little gorge defeat him? He nodded with an inscrutable air. “Of course, there is a way.”
Li Xinglun’s eyes lit up, his fingers trembling with excitement. Everyone assumed he had died after falling into the Soul-Breaking Gorge — if he really could climb back out, he could take revenge in secret!
That night’s massacre remained vivid in his mind. The Li family was just a small clan in the cultivation world, the strongest expert in their history not reaching the Nascent Soul stage. They had always kept their heads down, never provoking trouble — so why had such a disaster befallen them?
{Cultivation states in this story: Qi Refinement, Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Great Ascension. The title ‘expert’ refers to cultivators at Nascent Soul state or above.}
His parents and brothers were beaten until their souls scattered, his sisters were taken as furnaces. To avoid humiliation, his eldest sister severed her own meridians, while his younger female cousins had their meridians sealed and were taken away.
Only he escaped under the protection of his family. To preserve even a glimmer of hope, Li Xinglun had leapt into the Soul-Breaking Gorge to seek life in the midst of death. Even if he had to crawl step by step, he would climb back up and find the culprits who destroyed his family!
So long as he could leave, he was willing to bow to anyone.
“Senior,” he said politely, suppressing his emotions, “I… I do not wish to end my days here in this gorge. I still must transcend a tribulation and ascend — I must leave this place.”
{Transcend a tribulation and ascend — leaving the mortal realm and ascending to the immortal realm. Ascension tribulation — the ordeal that strikes when attempting to ascend to the immortal realm; Heaven's punishment for humans who attempt to discard their mortal nature, disobeying the Heavenly Order of things.}
Several times he swallowed back the words ‘carrying a deep blood feud’. That night’s attackers, clad in black, moved with strange techniques unlike any righteous sect, yet he had never heard of any demonic path with such sinister methods. Without the strength to utterly defeat them, he would not reveal his identity. Even if he escaped, he would use an alias.
Unfortunately, he had already carelessly revealed his name to Changkong Zhuoyu. Hopefully, this man would remain foolish… Li Xinglun sighed deeply.
While his thoughts raced, he did not realize that the serene-looking Changkong Zhuoyu before him already had mush for brains.
Changkong Zhuoyu merely believed himself powerful and invincible, but whether he could actually leave the gorge, he had no idea!
Faced with Li Xinglun’s expectant gaze, Changkong Zhuoyu had no choice but to steel himself and say, “I can probably fly and carry you out.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
For some reason, that answer sounded particularly unreliable. Still, he clung to a shred of hope. “The Soul-Breaking Gorge suppresses spiritual energy… but judging by how your white mist turned into clothing just now, you must still be able to use it, right?”
“Probably,” Changkong Zhuoyu answered awkwardly. “Give me a moment to recall how to circulate my true essence. After waking up, I even forgot my cultivation technique.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
Changkong Zhuoyu then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind. His long hair draped carelessly over his shoulders, his white robes fluttered gently in the breeze — he truly looked the part of a transcendent immortal, inspiring confidence.
Seeing him like that, Li Xinglun decided to reluctantly believe him once, crouching nearby to wait for him to gather his true essence.
He waited an entire day and night.
When the next day’s sun climbed high, Changkong Zhuoyu finally opened his beautiful eyes, a confident smile on his lips. He stood up, raised his left hand toward the sky, and uttered: “Rise.”
…Nothing happened.
Completely unfazed, Changkong Zhuoyu shifted his palm into two fingers pointing skyward and said again: “Rise!”
…Not a wisp of wind stirred.
He was a persistent man. Such a minor setback wouldn’t discourage him. He changed his gesture to thumb and pinky pointing skyward: “Rise!!”
…Still nothing.
Undeterred, he kept switching hand signs, left and right hands alternating, boldly facing each failure.
“Rise!” “Rise!” “Rise!!!”
When he finally formed a lotus gesture, Li Xinglun couldn’t stand it any longer. He wiped his face, stood up, and said, “Believing in you was my greatest mistake.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Changkong Zhuoyu quickly grabbed his hand. “I really do remember — this is how I used to fly!”
Li Xinglun took a deep breath, suppressing his urge to beat him, turned and smiled faintly. “Brother Changkong, normally you can fly just by circulating true essence and drawing on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth — no need for all these foolish gestures. But here in the Soul-Breaking Gorge, spiritual energy simply can’t be used!”
“I see,” Changkong Zhuoyu replied, completely unconcerned about whether Li Xinglun called him senior or brother, his face brightening in realization. “That makes sense. I knew I was amazing — how could I forget how to fly so easily?”
“So those characters carved high on the cliff — they’re clearly left by someone with great power who flew up to carve them, likely from the time of the ancient god war. They couldn’t possibly have been carved by you. You didn’t sever your past — you simply stayed here so long you became foolish.” Li Xinglun cruelly pointed out the truth.
But Changkong Zhuoyu wasn’t angry at his rudeness. Instead, he argued, “I think I wrote them.”
You think you can fly too!
Originally ready to snap, Li Xinglun — already darkened and full of pent-up rage after the massacre and being trapped here — held back. But seeing Changkong Zhuoyu’s moonlit, serene face, full of unwavering belief, the words stuck in his throat.
At last he merely tugged at the corner of his lips and said, “Whatever makes you happy.”
He turned to leave. This section of cliff was too smooth to climb — better to try at the cliff where he had fallen.
But after only two steps, Changkong Zhuoyu called out: “Look back.”
Li Xinglun turned, only to see Changkong Zhuoyu not with his feet planted and fingers pointing at the sky this time, but with the tip of his foot lightly touching the ground as he leapt dozens of meters up — right to the spot with the carved words. With one hand on the cliff, and somehow holding a dagger, he carved the exact same seven characters: ‘Sever the past; in the death tribulation discover life.’
The script was identical!
When he landed gracefully, his demeanor calm and elegant, his face carried a hint of pride.
“Well?” Changkong Zhuoyu handed the dagger to Li Xinglun. “I told you I carved it.”
Li Xinglun took the dagger, another black line appearing on his face. This was his own dagger, which he had kept in his clothes — he didn’t even know when Changkong Zhuoyu had taken it.
Hope filled his heart again. Li Xinglun’s expression became respectful. He cupped his hands and said, “Senior, your power is profound — it was my poor sight. How high can you fly? Could we escape this gorge?”
“I’ll try,” Changkong Zhuoyu said readily. He leapt —
And landed only at the height of the carved characters.
Li Xinglun: “…”
A bad feeling crept over him.
Sure enough, Changkong Zhuoyu bounced up and down like a child on a trampoline, no matter how many times he jumped, always reaching only the height of the characters.
This wasn’t circulating true essence — it was just martial arts.
“Senior must have entered the dao through martial arts — your lightness skill is impressive.” Li Xinglun looked up at the characters. “But the cliff top is still much higher.”
Yet Changkong Zhuoyu maintained his confidence, unfazed by reality, and said to Li Xinglun, “Although I can’t jump all the way at once, after a few more jumps, we’ll surely get out. I can carry you on my back.”
This man truly had no airs, and his silly honesty somehow softened the darkness in Li Xinglun’s heart. He nodded. “You’re right. We’ll plan carefully — we will get out. If heaven intends to destroy me, then I refuse to believe in heaven anymore!”
A tinge of blood-red glinted in Li Xinglun’s eyes — he was already teetering on the brink of demonic cultivation. Were it not for the gorge suppressing spiritual energy, he might have already fallen into the demonic path.
Just then, thunder rumbled from the clear sky above, as if warning this cultivator on the verge of falling.
Li Xinglun raised his head fearlessly and looked toward the heavens. If heaven had eyes, then why had the Li family, who for generations had done good deeds and followed Heaven’s Order, meet such an end?
“How can you say that?” Changkong Zhuoyu objected, dissatisfied. “Heaven brought you to me — of course it’s not trying to destroy you.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
The red in his eyes faded under Changkong Zhuoyu’s infuriating confidence. “Brother Changkong, where does this unwavering confidence of yours come from?”
Changkong Zhuoyu thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know. I just feel… I must be someone very powerful. Because I’m so strong, even severing all my past, this confidence remains in my heart. You can’t see how amazing I am here in the gorge — but once we’re out, you’ll understand.”
Li Xinglun no longer wanted to believe him. “If we really get out, I’ll gladly kneel and worship you as my master. The Soul-Breaking Gorge has trapped countless cultivators since the war of the gods — even Great Ascension-stage masters couldn’t escape. You and I…”
“Exactly!” Changkong Zhuoyu clapped. “A figure like me can’t go without a disciple to serve tea and water. It’s settled — I’ll take you out, and you’ll become my disciple.”
Li Xinglun: “…Let’s escape first.”
He was too exhausted even to argue anymore.
~ Chapter End ~
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