I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 49
Changkong Zhuoyu did not immediately request to meet the other yao elders. Instead, he set up camp in the Eight-tailed Fox’s cave, waiting for Li Xinglun to finish cultivating.
The Eight-tailed Fox seemed to be meeting someone like Changkong Zhuoyu for the first time — completely incomprehensible. How could someone sneak into the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, run into the valley’s Grand Elder, get exposed for pretending to be Nüwa’s heir, and yet still calmly stay in the Grand Elder’s cave, even guarding his own disciple as he cultivated? Over the years, people had come to the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, but who among them dared to be this arrogant and righteous? The Eight-tailed Fox had seen plenty of skilled liars, but never anyone quite like Changkong Zhuoyu…
Alas, the Eight-tailed Fox felt its own vocabulary was inadequate to accurately describe Changkong Zhuoyu.
What it found most baffling was itself. If anyone else had been this brazen, the Eight-tailed Fox would have attacked on the spot, just as its ancestors had, turning the two of them into meat pies to feed to the young foxes. Yet upon seeing Changkong Zhuoyu, it inexplicably felt no real anger — only speechlessness — as if from the very start it had been helplessly tolerating him. As long as he didn’t truly harm the little foxes of the Green Hills, the Eight-tailed Fox wouldn’t raise a hand.
And this… watching Changkong Zhuoyu softly stroking Qingxin’s fur, clothed all in white like a divine being, cradling a small fox in his arms with a serene and peaceful expression — it even gave the Eight-tailed Fox a sense of quiet years passing.
Seeing how he adored Qingxin, he probably wouldn’t harm the fox clan…
The massive white fox thought this and gently closed its beautiful eyes. Changkong Zhuoyu, meanwhile, was holding a six-tailed fox, leaning against the stone wall beneath the white fox’s body. Man and fox together painted a warm and beautiful scene.
However, when Li Xinglun opened his eyes, he did not find the scene beautiful at all. After three months of closed-door cultivation, the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was his master surrounded by a cluster of little foxes, from one tail to six tails, all kinds, while Changkong Zhuoyu beamed with joy, crouching down to pet each one.
Li Xinglun felt a lump in his chest, as though he were about to fall straight from Nascent Soul back to Foundation Building. {Why are people in Chinese novels always so jealous without a reason? }
“Oh? Disciple, you’re awake?” Thankfully, Changkong Zhuoyu was attentive to his disciple; he noticed even the slightest change in the spiritual energy within the formation. He immediately sensed Li Xinglun awakening, gently put down the little fox in his arms that was snuggling against him, carefully stepped over one fluffy ball after another, and walked slowly to Li Xinglun to release the formation.
As soon as the formation dissipated, Li Xinglun reached out and hugged Changkong Zhuoyu, trying to drive away all the fox scent from him, leaving only his own.
Burning with jealousy, Li Xinglun even thought: if he grew fur and shrank down, would his master like him even more?
A chorus of little foxes chirped: “Who is this? It was supposed to be my turn for cuddles — why is he ignoring me?”
“I heard from Qingxin that he’s the disciple. Humans seem to value direct disciples a lot, right? Like how the Grand Elder especially favors Qingxin.”
“What a beautiful person. I hope the Grand Elder doesn’t eat him, sob sob sob.”
“Are people outside all this good-looking?” asked a shy little one-tailed fox, still just a kit.
Li Xinglun nearly twisted his nose in anger. But luckily, at that moment, Changkong Zhuoyu began checking him thoroughly to see how far his cultivation had progressed. With his master’s hands on him, Li Xinglun immediately forgot what he had been angry about, his heart brimming with joy.
“Late Nascent Soul…” After the inspection, Changkong Zhuoyu patted Li Xinglun’s shoulder proudly. “No one in the cultivation world has ever cultivated this fast — a year and a half to reach late Nascent Soul. Hm… probably another half-year and you’ll be at Soul Transformation. Should I start preparing a magical treasure to help you resist the heavenly tribulation? At your pace, you’ll ascend in another year.”
“All thanks to master’s teaching,” Li Xinglun replied with a faint smile. “Late Nascent Soul already puts me among the experts of the cultivation world. In the future, if you want to fight anyone below Soul Transformation, you won’t even need to lift a hand — a few disciples will be enough.”
At Golden Core he could already take on a dozen peak Golden Core cultivators; now at late Nascent Soul, even several others at Nascent Soul wouldn’t faze him.
And this strength was despite Li Xinglun suppressing his own cultivation. The spiritual energy in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley was simply too abundant, and the divine power helped him break through without obstacles. He could have advanced to Soul Transformation already, but he held back. As much as he longed to become stronger, such speed was too defiant of Heaven's Order; if he rushed into Soul Transformation now, he’d likely suffer later at Great Ascension. He had to stabilize his cultivation stage at late Nascent Soul before breaking through.
Li Xinglun stored the divine power he absorbed in his dantian, planning to comprehend it slowly later. He vaguely felt that Nüwa had sealed her divine power in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley not to help the yao break through, but to hide a bit of her own cultivation insights within it — the insights of an ancient great deity, more precious than any treasures of the world.
When the time came, he and his master would study it together, raising his master’s cultivation as well. No matter how strong Changkong Zhuoyu was, he was only unrivaled among current cultivators; compared to the ancient gods, he was still far behind. Nüwa’s insights would surely benefit him greatly.
Li Xinglun was imagining the two of them finding a secluded valley, his arm pressed to his master’s chest, channeling the divine power into him… For some reason, the thought of cultivating together this way made him quite excited.
As he fantasized, he suddenly felt something soft at his hand. A fluffy creature had somehow crawled between them, climbing up Changkong Zhuoyu’s back!
No — not just one, but a whole group of foxes, all trying to climb onto his master and separate them.
Li Xinglun’s eyes darkened with killing intent. He’d never been good-natured, just good at enduring. As a blood cultivator, his thirst for blood was even stronger — he’d just always hidden it in front of Changkong Zhuoyu. But now, seeing these presumptuous little foxes crawling onto his master, Li Xinglun only wanted to turn blood into blades and make them all his dead souls.
Just as he was about to unleash carnage in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, the Eight-tailed Fox, Qingyuan, woke up. Slowly opening his eyes, he said to Changkong Zhuoyu, “Now that your disciple has emerged, shall we begin the ceremony?”
Li Xinglun looked at his master, full of doubt. Changkong Zhuoyu immediately used a sound-transmitting technique to explain everything to him.
“No!” Li Xinglun replied at once.
What a joke — they didn’t even know for sure if his master was really Nüwa’s heir. If they recklessly started the ceremony and it turned out he wasn’t, wouldn’t he be destroyed?
“Why not?” Changkong Zhuoyu looked puzzled. “I really am the orthodox heir of Nüwa. The Twin Serpents of the Hundred Flowers sect said so. Those sacred beasts have passed down the truth for generations — they wouldn’t be mistaken. I have to obtain my rightful power as soon as possible so I can lead all cultivators against the demon realm’s invaders. Besides, there’s another good piece of news I want to tell you — this Eight-tailed Fox Grand Elder said I’m not only Nüwa’s heir, but also the Queen Mother of the West’s—”
“I never said that!” The Eight-tailed Fox, furious now that Changkong Zhuoyu forgot to use sound transmission, snapped. “What is wrong with your master? Is he gifted at twisting others’ words? No matter what I say, he insists on his own ideas. When did I ever say he was the Queen Mother of the West’s heir? If the Bluebird hears this, won’t she blame the Green Hills for making trouble for her?”
The Eight-tailed Fox, to its credit, remained clear-headed despite being brainwashed by Changkong Zhuoyu for three months. Unlike the inexplicably convinced cultivators of the righteous sects, it still clearly recognized that Changkong Zhuoyu was a big troublemaker. That insight was rather impressive.
Although Li Xinglun really wanted to shake the Eight-tailed Fox’s hand to express his wholehearted agreement, propriety demanded he stand by his master. So he stepped in front of Changkong Zhuoyu, chest out. “Grand Elder, you’re mistaken. My master has the bearing of a divine man — even the most exalted identity would suit him. Besides, when we fought the Sacred Beast divine artifact before, my master already displayed considerable strength. He simply didn’t understand the situation at the time. You may not have explicitly said it, but you gave him a hint and a choice. That’s not so different from saying it outright, is it? After all, without your mention of the Jade Pool, my master would never have thought to associate himself with the Queen Mother of the West — would he?”
Changkong Zhuoyu felt his disciple’s words were perfect, hitting him right in the heart. With his disciple backing him, even his own spine straightened. To be honest, ever since crawling out of the Soul-Breaking Gorge, every time he received a new identity, his disciple was always by his side. Without that support, he might not have made it this far.
Changkong Zhuoyu had just spoken casually, but Li Xinglun was more ruthless — his aim was to firmly establish the idea that “Changkong Zhuoyu is the Queen Mother of the West’s heir, as stated by the Eight-tailed Fox Grand Elder,” because if his master really tried to go to the Jade Pool and turned out not to be, they could still blame the Eight-tailed Fox and avoid some of the wrath.
Of course, the Eight-tailed Fox understood what Li Xinglun was doing. It immediately roared, “Fine! You really want to die, don’t you? Changkong Zhuoyu, to stop me from attacking you, you even used our Green Hills kits as shields. And your disciple is even worse — trying to make the Green Hills break with the Jade Pool. If you’re so eager to die, I’ll start the ceremony now. If Changkong Zhuoyu truly is Nüwa’s heir, I’ll lead all of the Green Hills to bow in submission. If not, the great deity Nüwa herself will punish you!”
Author’s note: Eight-tailed Fox: You despicable human — using your looks to seduce our kits into shielding you — how despicable!
Changkong Zhuoyu, holding a pile of fluff, utterly confused: Huh??
~ Chapter End ~
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