I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 34
"Some who have succumbed to demonic corruption used baleful energy to destroy Heaven-Shaking Peak’s protective formation. Once the seal of the demon realm loosens and even a trickle of demonic energy escapes, it comes straight to Heaven-Shaking Peak, seizing the opportunity of the new moon night to enter and continuously corrupt the people of the demon sect," Li Xinglun said. "Presumably, these people have already formed a faction within the demon sect — they may have even taken control of the entire sect."
"It won’t be that easy," Changkong Zhuoyu shook his head. "The three great formations have always guarded the entrance to the demon realm with utmost effort. In these years, not much demonic energy should have leaked out. This faction is likely not large, merely lying low in the cultivation world, waiting for the right moment to coordinate inside and out, destroy the three great formations, and open the entrance to the demon realm."
Recalling what had happened earlier at Mount Shu, Li Xinglun secretly nodded. "So you’re saying that the three great formations will eventually lose their effect?"
"Of course," Changkong Zhuoyu nodded. "Nothing in this world can last forever — not even divine artifacts. The three great formations are maintained by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but at this rate, they’ll eventually drain it dry. So, at a certain point in time, to protect the living beings of the world, the three great formations will naturally collapse. When that day comes, it will be a day of calamity for the human world. The Twin Swords of Purple and Azure allowed you and me to enter precisely because they’ve already grown weary, needing to conserve strength to face the impending catastrophe. Before that, they won’t recklessly expend power."
"When the time comes, we’ll have to rely on ourselves." Li Xinglun stroked the Time-Space Wheel on his thumb, lost in thought.
Once the three great formations fail, the entrance to the demon realm opens, demonic energy corrupts humans, and people begin slaughtering one another. The murderous air, baleful blood aura, and so forth will nourish the demonic energy, and the human world will soon become a demon realm — this paradise would cease to exist.
This wasn’t something they could control. For now, the most important task was still to find the demon cultivator who knew how to track people by bloodline. And if they could conveniently find and eliminate the corrupted ones within Heaven-Shaking Peak, all the better.
"Ah," Changkong Zhuoyu raised his head with a look of melancholy. "It really is as though Heaven has entrusted me with a great mission — no matter where I go, great events unfold. Could it be that I was born to save the world from calamity? Thinking of it this way, all my past identities make sense — they were all for today!"
Li Xinglun didn’t speak; he simply reached out boldly and touched his master’s long hair, thinking to himself that having hair really was better — it was best not to shave.
He was already used to Changkong Zhuoyu’s occasional thoughts, and didn’t find anything odd about hearing such words from his master’s mouth.
Whether or not it was Heaven’s will, since they had encountered this matter, they had to handle it.
Reasoning logically, Li Xinglun figured they would need to stay at Heaven-Shaking Peak for a while, get familiar with the demon cultivators here, understand the situation, then secretly infiltrate, trace the source of the baleful energy, and find the corrupted ones. This process was bound to be fraught with danger; they might even get hurt. This would be when his wits would come in handy!
Just as he thought this, Changkong Zhuoyu flew upward, all the way above the demon sect. With a single stroke of his wooden sword, he split open the minor formation above the demon sect and brought Li Xinglun straight in.
Li Xinglun: “...”
Weren’t they supposed to sneak in and not take on the entire demon sect single-handedly? Weren’t they here to figure out who was corrupted? Was swaggering in like this really okay?
Changkong Zhuoyu’s move instantly alarmed the entire demon sect. By the time they landed on the mountain peak, many demon cultivators were already waiting with magical tools in hand.
At this moment, clad in dark robes, Changkong Zhuoyu looked like a Shura emissary from hell. He spoke in a loud voice: "Please inform the sect master of the demon sect to bring everyone at Heaven-Shaking Peak to pay respects to their new sect master."
Li Xinglun: “...Master, weren’t we supposed to avoid alerting the enemy?”
Changkong Zhuoyu exclaimed, “Ah, I forgot.”
"What if the corrupted ones run away!" Li Xinglun felt that even if he had another heart, it still wouldn’t be enough to worry for his master.
"Then we’ll catch them like turtles in a jar," Changkong Zhuoyu sighed. "In fact, I originally wanted to keep a low profile. Being surrounded by everyone at Mount Shu wasn’t pleasant at all. But alas, I’m destined not to be an ordinary man — my brilliance can’t be concealed wherever I go. I simply can’t keep a low profile."
Li Xinglun: “...”
It was clearly you yourself… Never mind, as long as Master is happy.
"How exactly do we catch them like turtles in a jar?" Li Xinglun gripped the sword in his hand. It too was a wooden sword. They really had gotten a lot of wooden swords from the divine tree at the bottom of Soul-Breaking Gorge, all because they were afraid that if Changkong Zhuoyu went off-script and split a mountain again, their swords would break — so Li Xinglun made several more.
Thus the two of them had always used such shabby wooden swords against everyone.
Originally, Changkong Zhuoyu hadn’t intended for Li Xinglun to fight, but then he thought about how Li Xinglun had advanced to the Golden Core stage but hadn’t yet fought anyone. If he were an ordinary Dao cultivator, it would be fine, but he was walking the sword cultivator’s path — the kind that grows stronger through battle, needing combat to stabilize his cultivation stage.
So Changkong Zhuoyu soared into the air, drew a huge circle on the ground with his wooden sword, then with a sweep of his long sleeve, tossed ten peak Golden Core stage demon cultivators into the circle. After doing all that, he landed behind Li Xinglun, raised his foot, and kicked his disciple into the circle.
The moment Li Xinglun entered the circle, it was shrouded in light, and he could only hear Changkong Zhuoyu say: "Don’t come out until you’ve defeated these few small fry. My disciple must be able to win with few against many, weak against strong, and overthrow those above."
Li Xinglun: “...”
So his master wanted a cultivator who had just reached mid-Golden Core after starting Foundation Building a year ago to face ten peak Golden Core demon cultivators alone? And these people had countless magical treasures, while he had… just a wooden sword?
Being trusted too much by Master was also a kind of trouble!
Not to mention how Li Xinglun fought those ten fully armed and far stronger demon cultivators inside the circle, outside the circle, Changkong Zhuoyu’s casual display already made the demon cultivators who were about to charge forward stop in their tracks.
Even a late Nascent Soul expert couldn’t guarantee that they could trap over ten peak Golden Core cultivators with a wave of their hand — this man was at least in the Soul Transformation stage.
Moreover, judging by his attire, bearing, and attitude toward his disciple, this person was clearly ruthless. Among demon cultivators, there were those who treated their disciples badly, many even absorbing their disciples’ power to grow stronger. But when it came to their personal disciples, they were always protective. Yet this man nonchalantly shoved his only Golden Core disciple into the circle, using a cruel trial to teach him. If he was so ruthless to his own disciple, how much more ruthless would he be to outsiders?
When he’d said just now that the demon sect experts should come and pay respects to the new sect master, it probably wasn’t a joke — he really had the strength to back it up!
This wasn’t someone they could handle.
The lead Soul Transformation demon cultivator sent a message to a confidant. At the very back of the crowd, a demon cultivator quietly left to report to the sect master and the other demon sect experts.
Their task now was to buy time, wait for the demon sect experts to arrive, and take down this brazen man.
In the Soul Transformation expert’s mind, no matter how strong Changkong Zhuoyu was, it was impossible for him to defeat all the demon sect experts combined.
This time, the demon cultivators, who usually preferred to strike first and talk later, held back, put away their magical tools, and cupped their fists: "Even if I’m to die, at least let me know at whose hands. I am one of the Four Protectors of Heaven-Shaking Sect — Guardian White Tiger…"
Before he could finish the next line — “My name is XX, may I ask your esteemed name?” — Changkong Zhuoyu struck him flying with one palm.
"Hmph, I thought someone who dared call themselves White Tiger would have some real skill. But with such pathetic ability, you’re not even fit to groom a white tiger." Changkong Zhuoyu arrogantly raised his head, his expression cold as he looked down at the crowd.
Dressed in dark robes in the darkest hour before dawn, he seemed to merge with the darkness, each movement exuding mysterious power.
This man didn’t play by the rules at all! Seeing the White Tiger Protector lying on the ground, spitting blood, his dantian shattered by a single palm, the demon cultivators dared not advance. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was their nature. Faced with such a powerful Changkong Zhuoyu, how could they dare act rashly? That would be courting death.
But they didn’t dare run either. In the demon palace behind them was their cruel and powerful sect master. If they dared flee now, that too would mean death.
So they stood there, trembling before Changkong Zhuoyu. Each step he took forward, they retreated a step — utterly spineless.
Seeing this, Changkong Zhuoyu no longer bothered trying to assert dominance. This group was too weak — even the strongest among them wasn’t worth more than a slap. Fighting them was less interesting than sparring with Sage Yipin.
In the eyes of the cultivation world, there were disciples at Qi Refinement and Foundation Building, cultivators at Golden Core, experts at Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation, and venerables at Great Ascension. But in Changkong Zhuoyu’s view, only Great Ascension cultivators barely counted as opponents — the rest were all weak.
"Hand over all your spirit stones — only middle and upper grade ones. Don’t make me do it myself," Changkong Zhuoyu said lightly.
So… this expert had come to rob them?
Though suspicious, these “weak” demon cultivators still reached for their pouches, took out their spirit stones, and placed them on the ground.
With a wave of his hand, the spirit stones flew to him. He counted them — just enough. He’d originally planned to save some for himself, but it seemed that wouldn’t happen this time.
He looked up at the sky. Dawn’s light was already appearing on the horizon; the sun was about to rise, and Heaven-Shaking Peak’s formation would soon repair itself.
He had to act while the formation still had flaws. Once it fully recovered, it would be harder to rewrite it.
With a flick of his wooden sword, the spirit stones floated in mid-air. The stars above seemed a hundred times brighter than usual.
He drew a pattern in the air with his wooden sword — incomprehensible to others — and the spirit stones arranged themselves into its shape, emitting a dazzling light. Under this glow, Heaven-Shaking Peak’s formation kept changing until the spirit stones were fully consumed and vanished into the air. Only then was the formation transformed.
By now, the sun had laboriously climbed above the horizon. The first ray of sunlight shone on Changkong Zhuoyu’s face as he revealed a chilling smile: "Heaven-Shaking Peak’s formation has been rewritten by me. Now, entry is permitted but exit is forbidden. We can begin catching them like turtles in a jar — no need to worry about anyone escaping."
~ Chapter End ~
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