I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 33
On the night of the new moon, no moon rose into the sky, and the myriad stars shone especially bright. Li Xinglun gazed at the heavens, and in the instant night fell, he felt a bone-chilling cold.
Cultivators practice by absorbing the chaotic spiritual energy of heaven and earth and transforming it internally into power suited to themselves. Buddhist cultivators draw on Buddha power {merit}, Daoist cultivators pursue the Great Natural Way (the Dao) and thus wield spiritual power, sword cultivators channel sword energy, and demonic cultivators wield what can also be called demonic power.
For all these forces, the cultivation world collectively refers to them as true essence, without making any strict distinctions. After all, no matter how one cultivates, these forces ultimately transform into immortal energy, sharing the same origin and returning to the same destination — the differences lie only in the process, making it unnecessary to devise so many complicated names.
Yet these different processes feel quite distinct to those who walk them.
What made Li Xinglun feel so bone-chillingly uncomfortable was the power of Heaven-Shaking Peak gradually emerging as the formation activated. No wonder those below the Golden Core stage weren’t even qualified to enter Heaven-Shaking Peak. Li Xinglun merely felt discomfort now, but if he were still at the Foundation Building stage, this force might have pressed him to the point of suffocation. Heaven-Shaking Peak was a place where, without sufficient strength, one could not even guarantee survival.
Meanwhile, Changkong Zhuoyu was utterly unaffected. He raised his head to look at the mountains slowly materializing all around, seemingly lost in thought.
Li Xinglun straightened his back, doing his utmost to acclimate to this sensation. If he wanted to follow in Changkong Zhuoyu’s footsteps, he could not let this trifling discomfort defeat him. He had to grow stronger — much stronger.
As this resolve formed in his mind, a surge of sword intent rose from his heart. Even though there was no sword in his hand, the sword energy within him began to help him resist the oppressive force around him.
Changkong Zhuoyu raised his eyebrows slightly. It seemed his disciple had been influenced by both himself and Sage Yipin; though it was a mental technique Li Xinglun had comprehended on his own, in the end he still walked the path of a sword cultivator.
A path not easy, but destined to soar skyward with a single stroke.
Seeing that Li Xinglun was gradually adapting to the surrounding power and could already resist the accumulated baleful energy of Heaven-Shaking Peak with his own sword energy, Changkong Zhuoyu finally turned his attention to the mountains. Soon enough, the flaws in the formation revealed themselves to him.
Changkong Zhuoyu’s conviction that he was indeed Yin Changkong was closely tied to his mastery of formations. Aside from the Kunlun sect master who had achieved enlightenment through the Kunlun divine formation, who else could claim near mastery of all the world’s formations? To his eyes, even the intricate protective formation of the demonic sect’s mountain was riddled with flaws — though in truth it ranked just below the ancient divine formations. After all, it was already quite remarkable for a formation set by cultivators to reach this level.
“This formation has stood for over ten thousand years,” said Changkong Zhuoyu, “and has been refined over several generations. By rights it should not be in such a state.”
He held the jade Buddha in his hand. Sensing the surrounding power, the statue grew slightly warm.
This meant that on each new moon night, the statue was actually protecting the townsfolk from harm. Otherwise, the force that merely made Li Xinglun uncomfortable would have been utterly unbearable for the people of the town.
“No wonder the righteous sects never concern themselves with this place,” Li Xinglun realized. “If the formation fails, this town will inevitably become uninhabitable and fall to ruin. In fact, if not for this Buddha’s protection, on the very first night that Heaven-Shaking Peak manifested, the people of the town would have gone mad from the baleful energy.”
The lives of those who moved away from the town had all been spared by this Buddha.
Changkong Zhuoyu gazed at the mountains and said, “Given Heaven-Shaking Peak’s terrain, there shouldn’t be this much baleful energy. Gathering all this bloody, murderous energy would require the slaughter of hundreds of thousands in an accursed place. Though demonic cultivators do sometimes gather and use baleful blood energy, or employ crude arts such as draining others’ vital essence, most still gain strength by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth — their cultivation method is merely different from that of Daoist cultivators. Not everyone needs baleful energy, so why has Heaven-Shaking Peak become like this? Spending long periods in such an environment, even the most accomplished cultivator would soon lose their heart and fall under the sway of inner demons. Even demonic cultivators can’t withstand such control.”
“Master, do you mean that Heaven-Shaking Peak wasn’t originally like this?”
“That’s possible,” Changkong Zhuoyu replied. “We really must ascend the mountain and see why it’s become this way. Though they’re demonic cultivators, this is a time when both righteous and demonic paths have united to weather the worldly catastrophe — we shouldn’t remain mired in notions of right and wrong. Besides, this was my sect a thousand years ago; if trouble arises, I have to do something about it.”
Li Xinglun: “...”
Ever since Master donned the identity of Xue Qianjie, he seemed much more confident.
“You shouldn’t come,” Changkong Zhuoyu frowned. “The baleful energy is too strong here. It could affect your mental state. I fear you might lose control and fall to the demonic path. Better if—”
“Master,” Li Xinglun interrupted, “I will not leave you.”
If he couldn’t even withstand this much baleful energy, how could he ever stand shoulder to shoulder with Changkong Zhuoyu?
“What if you encounter the enemy who harmed your family here?” Changkong Zhuoyu asked.
This was no hypothetical — based on their earlier suspicions, the ancient divine artifact, the Time-Space Wheel, was with the Li family. Therefore, the killer could belong to either the righteous or demonic path. Given that Heaven-Shaking Peak clearly held secrets, it became even more suspect.
It was highly likely they would uncover the truth here. When that happened, under the dual influence of the truth and the baleful energy, Li Xinglun might well succumb to madness.
“I won’t,” Li Xinglun shook his head. “If Master commands me to walk the demonic path, I shall; if Master forbids it, then even in death I will never set foot on it.”
Hearing his promise, Changkong Zhuoyu said, “In truth, even I don’t know whether I’m a Daoist or a demonic cultivator. After so many cycles of reincarnation, I’ve learned every technique there is. It doesn’t matter what you cultivate either. It’s just that, in this life I’m the Kunlun sect master. If you become a demonic cultivator, then you can no longer be my personal disciple — you’d only be a disciple of the Kunlun cast-off.”
A disciple of the Kunlun cast-off? Not the Kunlun cast-off himself? Li Xinglun was slightly taken aback. “Master, do you mean that if I fall to the demonic path, you would even abandon your position as the leader of the righteous to stay with me?”
“Of course,” Changkong Zhuoyu said matter-of-factly. “You are my disciple. Before you complete your training, how could I let you fend for yourself?”
Li Xinglun knew well how much his master valued his disguises, yet here he was, willing to abandon one for him. Though it hadn’t yet come to that, Changkong Zhuoyu was a man who always kept his word. Though unreliable and childlike at times, what he promised he always fulfilled.
“Then it’s settled. Master, you mustn’t abandon me,” Li Xinglun said. “If you leave me behind, then even if I must ascend to heaven or descend into the Yellow Springs {the Underworld, the road to reincarnation}, I’ll find you.”
His tone was reverent, but his eyes shone with unshakable determination.
Changkong Zhuoyu didn’t even bother responding to such foolish words. Having gone to such lengths to win over this dear, devoted disciple, he certainly had no intention of letting him go.
Returning the jade Buddha to the magistrate office, Changkong Zhuoyu set a formation to guard it so no one would discover it.
“No matter who placed this jade Buddha here to protect the town, it doesn’t belong to us.” At this moment, Changkong Zhuoyu uncharacteristically grew solemn. “It has its mission. Even if the town vanishes, it will still exhaust all its strength to guard this land, even as its divine power fades.”
Let it remain here and hold fast until the very end.
After hiding the jade Buddha, Changkong Zhuoyu and Li Xinglun ascended Heaven-Shaking Peak together. The formation weakened on the night of the new moon — the perfect moment to sneak in. With his deep understanding of formations, Changkong Zhuoyu knew exactly where the weak points lay, allowing them to slip in unnoticed.
Using a Gu insect gifted by the Hundred Flowers sect, he altered Li Xinglun’s aura to make him appear as a Golden Core demonic cultivator. As for himself, Changkong Zhuoyu needed no such tricks — he merely changed his robes to black and hardened his expression, and already he looked more imposing than the sect master of the demonic sect.
Li Xinglun changed his appearance, while Changkong Zhuoyu had barely spent any time in the cultivation world at all — both of them were unfamiliar faces, so there was no need to worry about being recognized by old enemies.
There were plenty of demonic cultivators on Heaven-Shaking Peak, many of whom cultivated on other peaks and had never seen each other before. That was perfectly normal and unlikely to arouse suspicion.
Of course, there were ways in Heaven-Shaking Peak to tell whether someone truly belonged to the demonic sect. But Changkong Zhuoyu’s profound strength was plain to see — no one weaker dared to question him. And before Changkong Zhuoyu, there was simply no one strong enough to challenge him. Thus no one dared doubt their identities, and the two roamed the mountains at will.
Changkong Zhuoyu was not here to tour Heaven-Shaking Peak, but to systematically search from above for the source of the baleful energy. The demonic sect’s formation was being eroded from within by this baleful energy. On ordinary days its power was enough to keep it concealed, but come the new moon, all its weaknesses were laid bare. This baleful energy seemed as though it existed precisely to destroy the demonic sect’s formation.
This had begun somewhere between one and two hundred years after Xue Qianjie had entered the demon realm. It seemed someone had always intended to destroy the demonic sect — they had simply been held in check by Xue Qianjie until now.
At this thought, Li Xinglun suddenly voiced a troubling suspicion: “Master, could it be that the corrupted cultivators didn’t only appear when the Kunlun divine formation was broken last time? Could it be… there have long been corrupted ones, lying in wait, plotting to destroy the divine formation and unseal the demon realm?”
“Not impossible,” Changkong Zhuoyu said, his face grave.
If that were true, then the demonic sect’s formation had been compromised as early as eight hundred years ago. When Yin Changkong disappeared and Kunlun’s demon realm gate released more demonic energy, where did that energy go?
The answer was already clear.
At that moment, Changkong Zhuoyu confirmed the source of the baleful energy — it emanated from the very summit of Heaven-Shaking Peak, where the demonic palace stood.
~ Chapter End ~
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