I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 48
The Mystic Fog Yao Valley was different from the cultivation world. It was a space Nüwa had carved out from the Primordial Wilderness with her great power. The outer barrier perfectly preserved the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from the Primordial Wilderness, which was much stronger than the spiritual energy in the human world after it was divided into the Three Realms and Six Paths. Being in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley felt as if every breath drew in spiritual energy, bathing one’s entire being in it. Cultivation here yielded twice the result with half the effort.
{Always a confusing sentence for me, because 2 : 1/2 = 4, so the result would be four times the cultivation for the original effort?.. }
For the yao, cultivation was much harder than for humans. The lightning tribulation at the stage of taking human form alone claimed the lives of countless yao cultivators.
Among all cultivators of the Three Realms and Six Paths, the easiest to cultivate were the spirit cultivators, the descendants of the sacred beasts. These spirit beasts were naturally gifted, born already at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage, their bodies as tough as a cultivator’s artifact, and favored by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They hardly needed to actually cultivate—their cultivation stage rose naturally. More importantly, spirit cultivators possessed inherited memory. They never needed to worry about cultivation methods, as the techniques best suited to them were engraved in their minds from birth. At each stage of cultivation, the method for the next stage would naturally appear in their consciousness. Almost every spirit cultivator could advance smoothly without the risk of deviation. Cultivation for them was incredibly easy. But taking human form was most difficult for spirit beasts. Their blessed, sturdy bodies made the transformation a formidable challenge.
Next come the ordinary cultivators. Spirit cultivators all have excellent roots and are born suited for cultivation, but ordinary cultivators are divided into nine grades according to their spiritual roots. Those with insufficient aptitude cannot cultivate at all in their lifetime; those with good talent must still rely on effort and comprehension; and even those with talent, diligence, and comprehension may still fail to ascend without luck. Fewer than one in a hundred ordinary cultivators ever achieve ascension.
The most difficult path was that of the yao cultivators. Heaven's Order seemed excessively harsh toward them. Even a single lightning tribulation felt as though they were destined never to cultivate, as if just setting foot on the path was defying heaven, and Heaven itself sought to annihilate them at every turn.
The ancient yao were, of course, not so pitiful. In ancient times, everyone cultivated the divine way, and before divine power all races stood equal. Back then, humans were relatively weak, and many gods did not even choose to take human form, priding themselves on their own shapes. For example, Nüwa had the body of a human with a snake’s tail. She created humans, yet never thought of becoming fully human.
But ever since the Primordial Wilderness was divided into the Three Realms and Six Paths, divine power vanished, and those who cultivated the divine way had no place to stand, gradually fading from the stage. Only then did human cultivators slowly take the center stage, and the other cultivators found it harder and harder to find their place.
If not for Nüwa carving out the Mystic Fog Yao Valley as a sanctuary for the yao, their plight would have been even worse.
It was precisely because of this that Mystic Fog Yao Valley, suited for the survival of the yao, not only brimmed with spiritual energy but even contained faint traces of divine power, making cultivation easier for the yao.
The moment Li Xinglun entered the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, he immediately sensed that faint, elusive thread of divine power mixed within the spiritual energy. He was deeply familiar with divine power—the barrier of divine power at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge was something he would never forget. But the divine power there was domineering and had been refined before being released, making it unsuitable for cultivators to absorb. The divine power in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, however, was different—it had been placed here by Nüwa and others since ancient times, lingering in the world.
This power was absorbable. Li Xinglun realized this when, in a fit of rage, he frantically absorbed the valley’s spiritual energy and unleashed it. Perhaps because he had once been guided in cultivation by Changkong Zhuoyu, his absorption was astonishingly fast—he reached mid-Nascent Soul stage in a flash, and that faint, elusive divine power quietly opened a mysterious door for him.
Li Xinglun was torn. His fury had already pierced the heavens. What he most wanted was to thoroughly teach those two foxes a lesson and pull his master into his arms, maliciously telling him that the Eight-tailed Fox was indeed more beautiful. Then, when his master sorrowfully collapsed into his embrace, he would comfort him, saying that in his heart, his master was always the most beautiful.
Of course, these were only Li Xinglun’s thoughts. In reality, it took all his frantic absorption of spiritual energy just to barely withstand the Eight-tailed Fox’s killing intent.
Fortunately, although Changkong Zhuoyu liked fluffy, big tails, he cared more about his disciple. Seeing that Li Xinglun was about to enter epiphany again without warning, Changkong Zhuoyu quickly set down the Six-tailed Fox he was holding and instantly flew to Li Xinglun’s side. He swiftly tapped a few points in the void with his fan and said, “Don’t worry, my disciple—just focus on cultivating. I will protect you and absolutely won’t let anyone harm you.”
Seeing his master set down that fluffy bundle and once again arrange formations to protect him, Li Xinglun finally relaxed, closed his eyes, and began to comprehend the benefits the divine power of heaven and earth brought him.
In the past, whenever Li Xinglun entered epiphany, it was always in front of their own people. Changkong Zhuoyu only had to ensure no one disturbed him. But now it was different—the Eight-tailed Fox’s killing intent had not yet dissipated, and a fight could break out at any moment. So Changkong Zhuoyu quickly set up several more formations beside Li Xinglun. Compared to others who needed piles of spirit stones, artifacts, and assistants to arrange formations, Changkong Zhuoyu’s arrangements seemed effortless—just a few casual strokes in the air, and one profound formation after another took shape.
When the Eight-tailed Fox saw Changkong Zhuoyu unhesitatingly put down Qingxin and rush to his human disciple, his fury peaked—he was on the verge of swallowing the pair whole. But the moment Changkong Zhuoyu began weaving formations, the Eight-tailed Fox’s anger halted. He silently watched as Changkong Zhuoyu laid down over a dozen interlocking formations like weaving a net, his eyes full of doubt.
By the time Changkong Zhuoyu was certain nothing could go wrong, the formations around Li Xinglun were over twenty layers deep, directly linked to the outer barrier of the Mystic Fog Yao Valley. To forcibly break through them might even damage the valley’s barrier. At this point, even if all the great yao of the Mystic Fog Yao Valley attacked, they could not break the formations—unless they were willing to destroy this yao sanctuary altogether.
After finishing everything, Changkong Zhuoyu finally turned politely to the Eight-tailed Fox and said, “Very well, we can fight now.”
The Eight-tailed Fox: “...”
He really couldn’t figure out if this fellow was human at all—he seemed even more headstrong than a yao.
Facing Changkong Zhuoyu’s expression of “Go on, I guarantee you’ll lose,” the Eight-tailed Fox slowly spoke: “What is your connection to the Queen Mother of the West?”
{Queen Mother of the West - An ancient Chinese goddess of immortality, cosmic order, and feminine power. She is said to reside on Mount Kunlun at the Jade Pool, a heavenly paradise. She rules over immortals, bestows the peaches of immortality, and guards the balance between life and death.}
Changkong Zhuoyu: “?”
The Eight-tailed Fox said: “Don’t bother trying to hide it. When I was just a young fox, I was fortunate enough to visit the Jade Pool with the Nine-tailed elder. The Queen Mother of the West had long departed this world alongside Nüwa and the other ancient gods, but her inheritance remains at the Jade Pool. The Azure Bird once told me that the Queen Mother of the West was a master of formations. Both the Jade Pool and the Mystic Fog Yao Valley barriers were her work. Even the Kunlun divine formation among the three great human sects was laid down by her. The way you arranged your formations just now resembles those of the Jade Pool and the Kunlun divine formation, as if passed down from her line.”
Hearing the mention of Kunlun, Changkong Zhuoyu finally relaxed. He explained: “To be honest, before I lost my memory, I should have been Yin Changkong, the head of Kunlun. The Kunlun sect masters gain insight from the Kunlun divine formation, so it is natural for them to understand the Queen Mother of the West’s formations.”
“The old Daoist of Kunlun?” The Eight-tailed Fox shook his head. “Impossible. No matter how much one studies the Kunlun divine formation, it’s impossible to weave the Mystic Fog Yao Valley barrier into it. After all, the two are entirely different formations. Unless one found the Queen Mother of the West’s inheritance or her heir, it’s absolutely impossible.”
“The Queen Mother of the West’s inheritance?” Changkong Zhuoyu’s face lit up. “Could it be that the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge is connected to the Jade Pool, and after the Kunlun divine formation shattered, I fell into the Jade Pool, obtained the Queen Mother of the West’s inheritance, and was then transported to the bottom of the gorge?”
The Eight-tailed Fox felt he could barely keep up with this man’s lightning-fast imagination. Moreover, he couldn’t understand what this human was saying. He took a deep breath, suppressing his murderous intent, and said: “The Queen Mother of the West’s inheritance is guarded by her maidservant, the Azure Bird. Once someone obtains the inheritance, the Jade Pool barrier would vanish, and the Jade Pool would reappear in the world. Since there’s been no sign of that in the human world, it means no one has obtained the inheritance.”
When it came to questions of identity, Changkong Zhuoyu’s mind was always at its sharpest. The moment he heard “heir of the Queen Mother of the West,” he instantly recalled that time in the demonic palace when he could easily reveal the secret of the Sacred Beast immortal artifact. The Jade Pool was a sanctuary for spirit cultivators, who were mostly kin to the Four Sacred Beasts. It was perfectly natural that the Queen Mother of the West was connected to the Four Sacred Beasts. So in fact, he wasn’t of Sacred Beast bloodline but rather the heir of the Queen Mother of the West? This explained everything perfectly!
Temporarily burying the pain of Xue Qianjie’s departure deep in his heart, Changkong Zhuoyu felt much better now that he had a new identity. His gaze toward the Eight-tailed Fox grew softer, and he said with a bright smile: “Then I must be the heir of both Nüwa and the Queen Mother of the West. This explains everything. The ancient gods surely had a way to place both bloodlines in one person. With so many identities, I must be the savior of the coming human calamity, destined to lead the cultivators, yao, and spirit cultivators to resist it together. That must be why I have so many identities! Hahahahahaha!” {Yes, this is exactly what I predict for you... A sacrifice-saint.}
The Eight-tailed Fox: “...”
The Six-tailed Fox Qingxin stared at Changkong Zhuoyu with watery eyes, feeling that this beautiful person seemed a little…
Ah, he was just too beautiful—Qingxin couldn’t bear to speak ill of him.
The Eight-tailed Fox was even more stunned by Changkong Zhuoyu’s inexplicable confidence. He hadn’t expected anyone to be this…
Forget it. The Eight-tailed Fox suddenly felt that arguing with such a person was exhausting. He lowered his eyes, curled up comfortably in his nest, and said, “If you insist on thinking that way, then go ahead and initiate the inheritance. The Sacred Yao Spirit is guarded by ten elders. If you gain the recognition of the other Nine-tailed elders, I will agree. But let me warn you—if you are not truly Nüwa’s heir and are rejected by the Sacred Yao Spirit, attempting to deceive the ancient gods will leave you beyond redemption. Over the millennia, countless have tried to steal the yao Sacred Yao Spirit. I’ve grown tired of watching their ends. I hope you survive.”
He flicked his tail, looking at Changkong Zhuoyu with an expression that said: “Such a beautiful person—what a pity he’s about to die.”
But Changkong Zhuoyu still wore his confident smile. He firmly believed he was Nüwa’s heir!
~ Chapter End ~
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