I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 35
Not only could cultivators inside not get out, but even messages could not be sent out — yet those outside could still enter. This formation worked in mysterious harmony with the natural divine power barrier at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge, the only difference being that those within the formation could still use spiritual energy.
In this way, the demonized ones inside Heaven-Shaking Peak could not send out messages, while any who remained outside could still come in. Not only was it like catching a turtle in a jar, but if luck held, they could even catch everything in one net.
Trapped inside the circle, fiercely struggling against over a dozen late-stage Golden Core cultivators, Li Xinglun had no idea that his master was playing an even bigger game than he imagined. At first, Li Xinglun had guessed that Changkong Zhuoyu was being as arrogant as the legends of Xue Qianjie — storming Heaven-Shaking Peak alone, one man and one sword catching his enemies off guard and subduing most of the demon sect’s experts before slowly taking control. Who would have thought that Changkong Zhuoyu was even more outrageous — he locked himself inside along with all the demon sect people. Even when regular mortals came to challenge a sect, it was never this brazen!
Unfortunately, at this moment Li Xinglun had no chance to stop him. Just fending off the enemies before him with a wooden sword was already exhausting enough; where would he find the strength to worry about whether his master was doing something outrageous while he wasn’t looking?
Without his disciple to restrain him, Changkong Zhuoyu tilted his chin proudly and declared to the demon sect crowd: “Now none of you will escape.”
The demon sect experts, who had just received the message and hurried over, heard his words before they even arrived. The Sect Master gave a glance, and a Protector immediately flew up into the sky — sure enough, when he reached a certain point he was stopped by an invisible barrier. The Protector used his best move to attack the formation, but the formation’s backlash struck him down hard, creating a deep pit in the ground where he landed. He didn’t climb out for quite a while, clearly done for.
Before Changkong Zhuoyu had even really made a move, two Soul Transformation Protectors — the Black Turtle and White Tiger — had already lost their ability to fight.
One must understand, Soul Transformation cultivators were already rare in the cultivation world. The demon sect had only a dozen or so, and the Four Protectors were among the strongest. As for Great Ascension, the demon sect had only two — the current Sect Master and the Vice Sect Master who constantly eyed the Sect Master’s position.
The Sect Master of the demon sect descended before Changkong Zhuoyu, carrying a chill about him. When he realized he couldn’t see through Changkong Zhuoyu’s cultivation, some of the chill faded, and he lowered his stance slightly, imitating the righteous sects by cupping his hands and saying: “This one is Xuan Minglie. May I ask your esteemed name?”
Changkong Zhuoyu was about to answer when his eyes flickered. His gaze fell on the circle of light he had drawn earlier. With a wave of his hand, the circle dissipated, revealing more than a dozen late-stage Golden Core cultivators lying on the ground. Only Li Xinglun still stood, gripping that wooden sword — though he was now covered in blood, his face unrecognizable.
Li Xinglun radiated killing intent, his cold gaze sweeping over the demon cultivators. Clearly only mid-stage Golden Core in strength, yet his eyes were so chillingly ruthless that everyone who met his gaze couldn’t help but shiver.
But when his gaze fell on Changkong Zhuoyu, the killing aura suddenly softened, and his eyes became gentle. He spoke: “Master.”
His voice was so tender it could melt hearts. Changkong Zhuoyu, who had kept his chin arrogantly raised, lowered it to meet Li Xinglun’s eyes, and softly replied: “Disciple. You won.”
“Good thing I didn’t shame Master.” Li Xinglun wiped his face with his sleeve and slowly walked to stand before Changkong Zhuoyu. His steps were slow but steady — probably only Changkong Zhuoyu could tell how heavily wounded he was, unable to move faster.
Changkong Zhuoyu casually tossed out a meditation cushion: “Rest a bit.”
The cushion looked very familiar — very much like those used by Mount Shu disciples for meditation. Who knew whether it had been given to him by Sage Yipin or taken by his master himself… most likely given. His master might have a bit of a temper, but he never stole — even back when he desperately wanted the Hundred Flowers sect’s tea leaves, he hadn’t resorted to petty theft, keeping a straight face and asking obliquely, only to end up with a pile of poison.
Li Xinglun plopped down at Changkong Zhuoyu’s feet, hand on the wooden sword’s hilt, sitting there with his master watching the demon cultivators. Despite his serious injuries, just being at Changkong Zhuoyu’s side made him feel safe enough to focus on healing.
Only then did Changkong Zhuoyu deign to acknowledge the long-neglected Xuan Minglie. With hands clasped behind his back, he said arrogantly: “I am Changkong Zhuoyu. A much better name than yours.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
He had no time to heal — the Sect Master’s glare alone could almost pierce them both to death!
Stifling his fury in the face of Changkong Zhuoyu’s power and that terrifying formation, Xuan Minglie held himself back. Ever since reaching Great Ascension, he rarely had to show such forbearance — but once he figured out what Changkong Zhuoyu was up to, he swore to tear out this man’s Nascent Soul and refine it into a pill!
“So it’s fellow Daoist Changkong. May I ask what brings you to Heaven-Shaking Peak? If you need a seat of power, with your strength, you’d surely be second only to me if you joined Heaven-Shaking Sect.” As he spoke, Xuan Minglie glanced at the Vice Sect Master half a step behind him, hoping to use this outsider to eliminate his ever-ambitious deputy.
“No need,” Changkong Zhuoyu still stood with hands behind his back. “I’ve grown bored of being Sect Master of the demon sect. I’m here to clean house.”
“Pfft—” Li Xinglun spat a mouthful of blood.
“Disciple,” Changkong Zhuoyu asked with concern, “can you still hold on?”
There was even a faint trace of guilt in his voice.
“It’s fine. This is not due to internal injuries,” Li Xinglun said, wiping the blood from his lips.
Back when Changkong Zhuoyu did outrageous things, he could at least hold back from vomiting blood. But now, already wounded, hearing those words, he couldn’t restrain himself — a mouthful of blood sprayed out. Truly dragging his master down.
“Grown bored, cleaning house?” Xuan Minglie, uncharacteristically arguing, realized this man was completely unreasonable. Losing patience, he immediately ordered: “Formation! Dark Yin Bloodthirst Formation!”
Changkong Zhuoyu had originally intended to capture Xuan Minglie first, but hearing him call for a formation, he paused. He was deeply interested in formations and wanted to see this one.
Normally, in a battle — especially one against many — if someone tried to set up a formation, the opponent would do everything to stop it. At the Great Ascension stage, a cultivator could use a immortal artifact to briefly reach the level of an immortal, but it wouldn’t last long, or else they would attract heavenly tribulation. But formations were different — drawing on the power of heaven and earth, they could even exhaust an immortal descended to the mortal realm. No ordinary cultivator could oppose a sect’s grand formation alone.
But Changkong Zhuoyu was different. His comprehension of formations was at an unimaginable level. What others saw as a killing move, he might just tweak a bit and make it his own.
To stop him from interfering, Xuan Minglie sent the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird Protectors to guard him, in case he struck suddenly and disrupted the formation.
Watching the Black Turtle Protector still crawling from his pit and the White Tiger Protector still coughing blood, the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird Protectors stood before Changkong Zhuoyu with grim resolve, summoning their strongest artifacts and watching him intently.
Changkong Zhuoyu had no intention of attacking. Instead, he took the opportunity to press a hand to Li Xinglun’s back and channel true essence into him to help him heal. The moment his palm touched Li Xinglun’s back, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged into him at a terrifying speed, instantly draining the entire energy in the square before the demon sect’s main hall.
Xuan Minglie, in the midst of arranging the formation: “…”
“To devour heaven and earth… someone actually mastered such a demonic art, and even cultivated it to this level without being struck dead by heavenly tribulation?” Xuan Minglie gasped.
Among demon cultivators, there was a certain technique known to almost every sect — and all knew that whoever mastered it would stand at the pinnacle of the cultivation world — yet no one dared to practice it. This was ‘Devour Heaven and Earth’.
Once initiated, there were no bottlenecks. As long as the mind technique ran, spiritual energy would flood in endlessly, breaking through any barriers and allowing one to reach Great Ascension within mere decades.
The only problem was… heavenly tribulation.
To Heaven's Order, even murderous, soul-stealing, or yin-yang stealing {draining sexual essence} techniques were more forgivable than ‘Devour Heaven and Earth’. For anyone who had reached Great Ascension, it was clear: Heaven's Order was a law of the universe, tolerating techniques within its bounds. But this technique fundamentally challenged the law itself — Heaven's Order simply could not allow it to exist. Anyone practicing it would face much harsher trials – Foundation Building tribulations at the level of Golden Core, Golden Core tribulations at the level of Nascent Soul, and by the time they reached Nascent Soul, the tribulations would be as fearsome as those faced by righteous cultivators in the Great Ascension stage.
No cultivator in history had ever survived practicing ‘Devour Heaven and Earth’ beyond Golden Core — so it had become a joke in the cultivation world. Everyone knew it, but no one dared practice it.
And yet here was Changkong Zhuoyu, who had somehow cultivated this technique all the way to Great Ascension. What kind of monster was he?
By now, the spiritual energy atop Heaven-Shaking Peak was nearly drained. What was he supposed to use to complete the formation? For the first time, Xuan Minglie felt a helplessness he couldn’t shake.
Fortunately, Changkong Zhuoyu merely sent a stream of true essence to Li Xinglun and didn’t intend to drain the entire spiritual vein of Heaven-Shaking Peak. Seeing Li Xinglun close his eyes and begin meditating, he once again clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Xuan Minglie.
Noticing that Xuan Minglie stood there, dejected and idle, making no move to continue the formation, Changkong Zhuoyu asked in surprise: “Why haven’t you finished the formation yet? Don’t you see I’m waiting?”
“Pfft—” The Black Turtle Protector lying on the ground spat a mouthful of blood on Xuan Minglie’s behalf.
Author’s note:
Changkong Zhuoyu (squatting on the ground for two hours, chin in hand): Why isn’t your formation done yet? My disciple’s already late-stage Golden Core and about to form his Nascent Soul.
Xuan Minglie: You’ve already drained all the spiritual energy to help your disciple form his Nascent Soul — what do you expect me to use for the formation!!
~ Chapter End ~
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