I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 36
Xuan Minglie really wanted to raise his axe and ruthlessly chop down on Changkong Zhuoyu’s head. Unfortunately, this man’s cultivation was truly unfathomable. In front of the Heaven-Shaking Sect disciples, Xuan Minglie couldn’t afford to lose face — otherwise, the vice sect master, whose strength was about the same as his, would seize the opportunity to wrest power from him.
To accomplish great things, one must endure. Xuan Minglie silently swallowed a mouthful of blood and continued presiding over the formation, laboriously absorbing the meager spiritual energy atop Heaven-Shaking Peak and painstakingly arranging the formation.
Thirty-six Bloodthirst Banners were planted by the disciples of the demonic sect in every corner of Heaven-Shaking Peak’s summit. Each banner was wrapped in a chilling aura of resentment — countless vengeful souls must have been absorbed into these banners to condense so much baleful energy.
Once the thirty-six banners were set, the entire summit was instantly swept by icy winds. Already a place of year-round snow and frost, it now became even more bone-chilling. Even the two Protectors, Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird, who were in the Soul Transformation stage, felt a little cold; their hands, clutching their artifacts, trembled slightly.
Changkong Zhuoyu took the opportunity to observe everyone. Everyone seemed to be secretly shivering, except for the lead Xuan Minglie and another demonic cultivator. This cultivator’s strength was no less than Xuan Minglie’s, at the level of Great Ascension. However, he seemed at odds with Xuan Minglie. While everyone busied themselves with the formation, he and his subordinates merely stood by with arms folded, watching from the sidelines.
According to his understanding of formations, Changkong Zhuoyu judged that with the lack of spiritual energy, it would take Xuan Minglie at least an hour to fully set up the formation. Waiting that long was rather boring, and since his disciple was still recovering from injuries and couldn’t play with him, he thought he might as well spar with these idle folks.
But Changkong Zhuoyu hadn’t forgotten his most important task — finding the source of the baleful energy and the one who had succumbed to demonic transformation. Now that Xuan Minglie’s men were all moving and showing their abilities, a demonized person would reveal abnormality once they acted. An ordinary person might not notice it, but having encountered the entrance to Mount Shu’s demon realm, Changkong Zhuoyu could spot it at a glance. At present, none of Xuan Minglie’s subordinates seemed to be the demonized one. Fighting them was meaningless — better to test this bystander.
So, Changkong Zhuoyu took a step forward. The two Protectors beside him nervously gripped their artifacts, ready to die rather than let him advance another step. Truly bothersome.
Changkong Zhuoyu was about to slap them both away when the corner of his eye caught sight of the artifacts in their hands, and his palm paused slightly. “Vermilion Bird Feather? Azure Dragon Reverse Scale?”
The true Four Sacred Beasts were different from the spirit beasts rumored to dwell in the Jade Pool Paradise of Kunlun. Those spirit cultivators merely carried a trace of the bloodline of the Four Sacred Beasts. Even this tiny sliver of power was enough to grant the spirit beasts overwhelming innate advantages: both their cultivation talent and their physical strength were incomparably powerful.
Moreover, they had no need for specific cultivation methods — they were born already intelligent, relying on the sliver of inherited memory contained within the Sacred Beast bloodline to cultivate.
As long as the spiritual energy was abundant and enough time passed, they would naturally take on their true form {probably, the same as the divine beasts of old}.
In addition, the bodies of spirit beasts were exceptionally tough, and it was common for people to use their tendons, bones, and skin to refine magical artifacts. In fact, their bodies themselves were already magical artifacts, capable of withstanding heavenly tribulations head-on with nothing but their flesh.
If such a trace of bloodline was already so formidable, then the power of the Four Sacred Beasts themselves was completely unfathomable. Back in ancient times, the Sacred Beasts’ power could rival that of the ancient gods, and artifacts made from their remnants left in the mortal world could even rival immortal artifacts.
No wonder these two Protectors dared to block him — they had immortal artifacts. Presumably, the other two Protectors, who had already been knocked down and coughing blood, also possessed immortal artifacts, but Changkong Zhuoyu had moved too fast for them to bring them out. After all, wielding an immortal artifact was no simple matter. Activating one required immense true essence — not just anyone could use them.
Since coming to the cultivation world, Changkong Zhuoyu had seen little in the way of supreme artifacts other than the Twin Swords of Purple and Azure. He was naturally intrigued by immortal artifacts left behind by the Four Sacred Beasts. For now, he spared the vice sect master and in a flash appeared before the Azure Dragon Protector. Reaching out, he snatched the Dragon Scale Blade forged from the Azure Dragon’s Reverse Scale. The Protector spat blood and collapsed as his link to the immortal artifact was forcibly severed.
The demonic cultivators who had been eyeing Changkong Zhuoyu menacingly now trembled. Some of the more cowardly even began to quietly back away, ready to flee from Heaven-Shaking Peak. They’d seen powerful cultivators before, but one so strong as to casually seize an immortal artifact — this was beyond their ability to contend with!
Sweat beaded on Xuan Minglie’s forehead as he continued setting up the formation. He no longer dared to be sure that the Dark Yin Bloodthirst Formation could trap Changkong Zhuoyu. Just what kind of monster was this?
As his fingertip traced the patterns on the Dragon Scale Blade, Changkong Zhuoyu inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity. Injecting his true essence, the blade’s originally black edge turned jade green, and dragon scale patterns emerged along the blade. With a light swing, a breath of dragon roared out from the blade’s wind, knocking down a third of the thirty-six newly planted Bloodthirst Banners.
Xuan Minglie: “...”
Glancing at the fallen banners, Changkong Zhuoyu said apologetically, “Sorry, that wasn’t intentional. Just an accident.”
With that, he flipped his hand in the air, and the fallen banners immediately stood upright. With another downward press, twelve banners were firmly fixed to the ground — more stable than those still being supported by demonic cultivators’ magic.
Xuan Minglie: “...”
The Vermilion Bird Protector, still reluctantly standing guard over Changkong Zhuoyu, was trembling so badly that he could barely remain upright. Of the Four Protectors, only he was left.
Changkong Zhuoyu’s gaze swept over the Vermilion Bird Protector, and he said blandly, “Shall I take it by force, or will you hand over the Vermilion Bird Token yourself?”
The Vermilion Bird Protector was also someone who could accomplish great things and was ruthless to himself. He immediately severed his link to the Vermilion Bird Token. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as he painstakingly handed the token to Changkong Zhuoyu before collapsing.
Of the Four Protectors, the Vermilion Bird Protector suffered the least injury.
With the Vermilion Bird Token in hand, Changkong Zhuoyu infused it with true essence. A clear phoenix cry echoed across Heaven-Shaking Peak, and the Vermilion Bird’s phantom appeared in the air, the token becoming entirely translucent and fiery red.
Looking at the Sacred Beast artifacts one by one revealing their true forms in his hands, Changkong Zhuoyu furrowed his brows slightly, a startling conjecture forming in his heart. He lightly stamped his foot, and the White Tiger and Black Tortoise Protectors, who were lying on the ground, flew to his feet. As usual, he took their Sacred Beast artifacts. The Black Tortoise Protector was better off — when the formation rebounded earlier, he’d already used the Black Tortoise Wall to defend, and the artifact was in his hand, so it was simply taken away. The White Tiger Protector was miserable — his artifact was still stored inside his body, and Changkong Zhuoyu forcibly drew it out using the power of the three immortal artifacts. When the White Tiger Whip tore out of his body, the Protector screamed and fell silent, his fate uncertain.
Changkong Zhuoyu had barely made a move, yet the Four Protectors were utterly defeated, and even their immortal artifacts were snatched away. The demonic sect disciples all retreated a step — none dared to make another move against him.
Xuan Minglie’s heart sank into despair. He thought perhaps it would be better to just let this man take over the Heaven-Shaking Sect and be done with it. Why bother struggling and setting up the formation anymore?
After the dragon’s roar and the phoenix’s cry came the tiger’s roar and the tortoise’s hiss. The Sacred Beast immortal artifacts all revealed their true forms, and Changkong Zhuoyu stood among the phantoms of the Four Sacred Beasts, like a god descending to earth.
“You... who exactly are you?” Xuan Minglie’s mind was in turmoil. He had no idea when the cultivation world had produced such an expert, nor who could wield all four Sacred Beast immortal artifacts at once.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Four Protectors were only in the Soul Transformation stage — the combined power of the Sacred Beast immortal artifacts was enough to defeat a Great Ascension stage expert, and they were one of Heaven-Shaking Sect’s greatest weapons. The Four Protectors served only the sect master. Anyone who wanted to become sect master of Heaven-Shaking Sect first had to secretly eliminate the Protectors and have his own trusted men seize the immortal artifacts before challenging the sect master. Back then, Xue Qianjie had single-handedly defeated the old sect master and the Four Protectors. However, he hadn’t killed them, letting them remain in their positions, never even taking them seriously.
Changkong Zhuoyu didn’t answer Xuan Minglie’s question but instead looked up at the four immortal artifacts floating in the air, a slight realization dawning in his heart.
Almost every great sect had a divine artifact left behind by the ancient gods to resist mortal calamities. Yet, as the number one sect of the demonic path, Heaven-Shaking Sect had none. The three righteous sects thought Heaven-Shaking Sect was unworthy of wielding a divine artifact. But in truth, whether righteous or demonic, they all could ultimately cultivate to immortality. This meant that at their core, there was no real difference. In ancient times, the gods warred year after year, and there was no distinction between good and evil — only sides.
“These four artifacts can be combined,” Changkong Zhuoyu said to Xuan Minglie. “Heaven-Shaking Sect must have a method to merge the four artifacts. Separately, they are immortal artifacts. Once combined — they are a divine artifact.”
Xuan Minglie: “...”
This was a secret passed down only to the sect master of Heaven-Shaking Sect — how did Changkong Zhuoyu know...
Ah, forget it. There was probably nothing this man couldn’t do. Why bother setting up the formation? Might as well just hand over the position of sect master now, Xuan Minglie thought despondently.
“Kunlun, Mount Shu, Emei, Heaven-Shaking Peak... four divine artifacts... not enough...” Changkong Zhuoyu murmured. {Here he still didn't consider the Dark Yin Bell, which is number five.}
Not enough. In the Central Plains, nine was the ultimate number. If the divine artifacts left by the ancient gods truly existed to resist mortal calamities, then there must be nine divine artifacts in this world.
Li Xinglun opened his eyes after his brief recovery — it was already late-stage Golden Core. He didn’t care about his cultivation level but immediately looked toward Changkong Zhuoyu. Seeing his master surrounded by the phantoms of the Four Sacred Beasts, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly rose and approached. “Master... this is...”
Still wearing his profound expression, Changkong Zhuoyu turned to Li Xinglun and suddenly broke into a radiant smile. “Disciple, if I can unleash the true power of the Sacred Beast immortal artifact, perhaps there’s even more...”
Li Xinglun immediately sent a sound transmission: “Master, which life do you intend to assign the reincarnation of the Sacred Beasts to?”
Changkong Zhuoyu: “...”
He racked his brains for half a day, countless storylines flashing through his mind, but ultimately couldn’t figure out how to insert that identity. So he could only turn angrily to Xuan Minglie and shout, “When will your formation be ready? Stop wasting my time!”
Xuan Minglie: “...”
~ Chapter End ~
Comments
Post a Comment