I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 25

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The Sumeru Ruler was Elder Yin’s life-bound artifact. Even bringing out his life-bound artifact made it clear he was already furious, prepared to fight to the death against the person who not only stole Kunlun Sect’s secret techniques but also dared to impersonate Yin Changkong.

Elder Yin’s Sumeru Ruler looked like an ordinary jade ruler, but it held hidden mysteries. Elder Yin was the person who understood formations the best in all of Kunlun. From the moment he entered the Dao, he had spent his days seated before the Kunlun divine formation, comprehending its workings. In his heart, if the demonic cultivator Xue Qianjie could gain insight into the Dao after twenty years within the Kunlun divine formation, then so could he.

Though he never reached Xue Qianjie’s heights, Elder Yin still managed to refine eighty-one formations into his Sumeru Ruler — an impressive feat.

Most importantly, when the Sumeru Ruler was forged, Elder Yin inscribed within it three formations. The first was the Spirit Gathering Formation, providing the artifact with an endless stream of spiritual energy. The second was the Universe-in-Sleeve Formation, making the space inside the ruler as vast as the entire Kunlun Mountains, enough to hold countless formations. The third was the Two Principles Formation — “From the Supreme Ultimate arises the Two Principles; from the Two Principles arise the Four Forms; from the Four Forms arise the Eight Trigrams; and the Eight Trigrams bring forth all things.” The Two Principles Formation was the foundation of all formations. These three formations were both the foundation and terror of the Sumeru Ruler. They determined its potential for future growth, providing it with space, energy, and limitless change. Yin Changkong once said this Sumeru Ruler would grow infinitely with Elder Yin’s understanding of formations. Should Elder Yin one day ascend, and inscribe divine formations, too, into the artifact, it would become an immortal artifact.

But even now, the eighty-one formations it contained could force an opponent to the brink of despair. Yin Changkong was undisputedly the foremost figure of the righteous sects, and Elder Yin was second. Even Sage Yipin did not dare claim he could wrest second place from Elder Yin.

There were only two ways to defeat the Sumeru Ruler. The first was to possess an unparalleled understanding of formations — to break each one as it was deployed until all eighty-one were undone, forcing Elder Yin to concede. The second was to be like Sage Yipin — a sword cultivator of supreme attainment — and face the Ruler with unshakable resolve, enduring until Elder Yin’s true essence was exhausted and the Spirit Gathering Formation could no longer sustain him, at which point he could be defeated in one strike. But Sage Yipin had never clashed with Elder Yin in earnest; they had only sparred. If they were to truly decide a winner, it would take until both were spent. But before that happened, Sage Yipin would already be trapped within the formations and unable to extricate himself — that alone was enough for him to concede.

When Elder Yin brought out the Sumeru Ruler, it meant he had already secured an invincible position.

Within the righteous sects of the cultivation world, the only one who could assuredly defeat the Sumeru Ruler was Yin Changkong’s Spring-Autumn Brush.

In fact, Elder Yin and Yin Changkong, those two senior brothers, had both comprehended the Dao through the Kunlun divine formation. The difference was that Elder Yin was rigid, only following traditional formations one after another, while Yin Changkong had fully grasped the essence of formations. With a single Spring-Autumn Brush, he could casually write the annals of spring and autumn, and with one stroke, rewrite any formation with ease. Not just eighty-one — even thousands or tens of thousands of formations — so long as they did not depart from the source of formation principles, would all be effortlessly rewritten by the Spring-Autumn Brush.

This was something Sage Yipin had secretly told Changkong Zhuoyu before the duel.

Because of that battle, Sage Yipin firmly believed that Changkong Zhuoyu was a righteous man, a man as honest and sharp as his sword. Whatever he did now must surely be due to his lost memories. Thinking back, he had once foolishly believed himself to be Xue Qianjie, and if Sage Yipin had not known of Xue Qianjie’s true fate, he might have become the entire righteous path’s enemy. Looking at it this way, thinking he was Yin Changkong now… wasn’t such a big deal after all. At most, it just meant being Kunlun’s enemy… Hahaha…

Li Xinglun stared woodenly at Sage Yipin. Was this really something to laugh about? He was about to die of worry — whether Elder Yin won or lost, the end result would still be to become Kunlun’s enemy. They were already at death’s door with the Hundred Flowers sect master; adding Kunlun on top of that…

At that point, the only place in the cultivation world that might tolerate them would be Heaven-Shaking Peak. But Li Xinglun truly couldn’t guarantee that, once there, Changkong Zhuoyu’s nature wouldn’t provoke the entire demonic sect against them as well… Well, it was entirely possible!

If Kunlun and Heaven-Shaking Peak both became their enemies… Li Xinglun dared not even imagine that scene.

Yet that careless Changkong Zhuoyu was still smiling at Sage Yipin: “Sage Yipin, don’t worry. I am Yin Changkong. With ties this deep to Kunlun, how could I become their enemy?”

Sage Yipin: “…”

Li Xinglun: “…”

At this point, Sage Yipin had to ask the question that Li Xinglun had long wanted to ask: “Friend Changkong, I truly don’t understand — where does your confidence come from?”

Changkong Zhuoyu pondered a moment, then raised his head and said, “Innate, I suppose.”

Sage Yipin: “…”

“Sage Yipin, don’t worry. Why don’t you tell me more about how I used the Spring-Autumn Brush? The more you say, the more likely I might remember how to use it.”

“…Friend Changkong, could it be you really suffer from mind-confusing disorder? The Spring-Autumn Brush is the sect master Yin’s life-bound artifact. Even if he lost his memory, he wouldn’t have discarded his life-bound artifact unless faced with a deadly crisis,” Sage Yipin said.

“Exactly!” Changkong Zhuoyu’s eyes lit up. “So that’s how I survived my death tribulation — it must have been when the Kunlun divine formation was broken and I fought the demonic fiend to the death. We fought all the way to the cliff at the Soul-Breaking Gorge, and finally I used the Spring-Autumn Brush to kill him. Sadly, the Brush was destroyed, and I was blasted into the gorge by his self-detonation. At the bottom, my dantian was damaged, and to heal I had to seal away my memories. But because I’d comprehended the divine formation, I understood divine power, and the ancient divine power at the gorge’s bottom happened to repair my injuries, letting me fully recover — only I forgot my past.”

This time, he said he had emerged from the Soul-Breaking Gorge, though he omitted Li Xinglun’s part, only saying that after leaving the gorge he met this disciple with exceptional talent and took him as his student.

Sage Yipin listened, eyes glazed. He turned to Li Xinglun and asked: “Has your master always been like this?”

Li Xinglun really wanted to say “yes,” but in front of outsiders he had to stand by his master. So he respectfully cupped his hands and said to Sage Yipin: “Senior, though my master has lost his memory, he never lies.”

“I didn’t say he was lying.” Sage Yipin held his forehead, feeling it was impossible to reason with this pair. Most infuriating of all, he had almost believed what Changkong Zhuoyu just said!

“Fine. Since you insist, let me tell you about the Sumeru Ruler and the Spring-Autumn Brush,” Sage Yipin relented. “If you truly lose, Mount Shu can at least guarantee your life. Then we’ll use the pretext of keeping you at the Sword Tomb to suppress the demonic realm’s seal and keep you at Mount Shu.”

Li Xinglun narrowed his eyes, finding the scene before him eerily familiar. From disbelief to faint acceptance, and in the end, whether true or not, at least plan an escape route.

Suddenly, he felt his own position was precarious.

Having just endured a fierce battle with demonic energy, Elder Yin took time to regulate his breath so he could unleash the Sumeru Ruler’s full power. During that time, Sage Yipin explained the characteristics of the Spring-Autumn Brush and Sumeru Ruler in detail to Changkong Zhuoyu. Being of the same generation as Elder Yin and Yin Changkong, and having met them many times at the Hero Gatherings, and being among the top of their great sects now, he naturally understood the two of them very well. Changkong Zhuoyu listened attentively, even picking up an ordinary brush from the guest room and sketching as he listened.

“You don’t intend to use this brush to fight, do you?” Sage Yipin finally couldn’t help but snatch the faulty brush from him.

“Why not?” Changkong Zhuoyu smiled. “All the Dao techniques, moves, and artifacts are just different applications of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The only difference is whether the artifact is sturdy enough and whether it’s disposable.”

“At the very least, find one that can withstand spiritual energy…” Sage Yipin thought for a moment. “I have a piece of ordinary spirit-gathering jade here — go to the back mountain, find some feathers from spirit birds, and refine an ordinary brush.”

At this point, Sage Yipin had completely resigned himself. Since Changkong Zhuoyu insisted he was Yin Changkong, at the very least… let him have a brush.

Thus, when he dueled Elder Yin, Changkong Zhuoyu held a completely ordinary brush, faintly glowing with spiritual light, of poor quality.

Elder Yin was so angry his nose was almost crooked. If you’re going to impersonate Sect Master Yin, at least find a decent brush!

On the spot, he activated the Sumeru Ruler, and at once nine great formations struck at Changkong Zhuoyu. But facing those formations, Changkong Zhuoyu’s expression did not change. His true essence infused into the brush, and he sketched lightly in the air — just like that, he effortlessly broke those nine formations, each imbued with the power of heaven and earth.

Elder Yin showed a look of disbelief. Just now, Changkong Zhuoyu’s movements, his bearing… were exactly like Yin Changkong!

But impossible! How could he mistake his own senior brother!

So Elder Yin pushed his true essence to the limit, intending to activate all eighty-one formations at once. Once that formation was unleashed, it would truly be a fight to the death. Either the one trapped within would perish under the killing formation, or Elder Yin would exhaust his spiritual energy and die.

Seeing Elder Yin use this move, the Kunlun disciples couldn’t help but cry out. But Changkong Zhuoyu shook his head and said: “To throw away your life over a dispute of identity is truly not worth it. Your cultivation should be used to vanquish demons — humanity’s calamity still needs your strength.”

With that, he leaped into the air, lightly tapped with his jade brush, and drew a formation around Elder Yin. At once the spiritual energy was severed, the Sumeru Ruler dimmed and fell to the ground.

Elder Yin stared dazedly at Changkong Zhuoyu, whose figure seemed to merge completely with the Yin Changkong of his memories, saying the same words: “The Sumeru Ruler does indeed hold many mysteries, but it has a fatal weakness — the Spirit Gathering Formation. The Spirit Gathering Formation is the foundation of the Sumeru Ruler. Without spiritual energy to sustain it, it becomes useless. So, to break the Sumeru Ruler, you only need to find the hidden Spirit Gathering Formation among the eighty-one and sever the energy — then it collapses on its own.”

“Elder Yin, your Sumeru Ruler needs its Spirit Gathering Formation rewritten — do you need my help?” Changkong Zhuoyu said.

“Junior Brother, your Sumeru Ruler needs its Spirit Gathering Formation rewritten — I’ll surely help you find a way,” said the Yin Changkong in his memory.

In that instant, the two figures completely overlapped. Elder Yin’s face showed an expression of utter disbelief, and he muttered: “Senior… brother?”

~ Chapter End ~

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