I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 51

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None of the ten elders had guessed that the moment Changkong Zhuoyu descended, he would immediately say to Li Xinglun, “Disciple, can you see anything in this white mist?”

“No.” Li Xinglun shook his head. In his eyes, this place was just a vast whiteness, and he couldn’t even see his master standing right next to him.

“But… I can see.” Changkong Zhuoyu spoke weakly.

“What?” Li Xinglun never imagined that here — where even the yao elders had lost parts of their bodies — Changkong Zhuoyu could actually see.

“Mm… quite clearly, too.” Changkong Zhuoyu said. “I’ll describe it for you. This valley isn’t very deep, far shallower than the Soul-Breaking Gorge, only about a hundred meters. We don’t need to keep floating so cautiously. If you drop about three meters more, we’ll reach the ground.”

Just as Li Xinglun was about to land, he heard Changkong Zhuoyu say again, “Wait — move a bit east before you descend. Where you were about to land, there’s a Dark Serpent lying there.”

Li Xinglun: “...I remember the Dark Serpent is recorded in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* as a great yao. Why is it just a yao beast?”

“Hmm… it looks like a Dark Serpent, but many aspects don’t quite match. Probably because it has no intelligence, it wants to cultivate but doesn’t know how, so it ended up like this — quite ugly.” Changkong Zhuoyu’s face wrinkled up in distaste. Too bad Li Xinglun couldn’t see how adorable his master looked at that moment.

“Do they have any intent to attack us?” After landing, Li Xinglun felt solid ground beneath his feet rather than some slimy creature, and finally asked.

“They probably noticed someone entered,” Changkong Zhuoyu explained. “Before we landed, these yao beasts stayed completely still. The moment we landed, they started to move. But it seems they only know someone’s here, not where. Their bodies twist all around… ah — two yao beasts just bumped into each other and started biting one another. How bloody…”

Li Xinglun: “…”

He had come down prepared to die, never expecting his master to carry the valley’s pass.

“So these yao beasts even fight each other?” Changkong Zhuoyu sighed. “Then over time, wouldn’t there be fewer and fewer yao beasts in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley? Ah — that tiger-skinless-looking yao beast just had its head bitten by the Dark Serpent. It’s wailing miserably…”

Li Xinglun immediately sensed something was wrong. “Master, I didn’t hear anything. How far are they from us?”

“Just ten meters away. So loud my ears hurt.” Changkong Zhuoyu rubbed his ears. “You didn’t hear? Then I guess the white mist doesn’t just block sight — it also blocks sound and smell.”

“Seems so,” Li Xinglun nodded. “But master, since we entered the mist, we haven’t used sound transmission. Why can we still talk?”

“Ah…” Changkong Zhuoyu suddenly realized this too. After thinking a bit, he said, “Could it be… I can hear your voice, but you… can only hear mine?”

“That seems to be it…” Li Xinglun guessed. “Seeing and hearing me — that’s your power. But why can I hear your voice? It should be that I can only hear you. Master, you’re right — perhaps you really are Nüwa’s successor. You’re special in this mist.”

“Exactly!” With his disciple’s recognition, Changkong Zhuoyu’s little nose lifted proudly, and his voice became louder.

“Ah!” That proud voice instantly turned into a cry.

“What’s wrong?” Li Xinglun asked with concern.

“These yao beasts… they’re all moving together now, running toward us. Could it be they can also see in the mist?”

“No…” Li Xinglun sighed, helplessly rubbing his master’s head. “Master, don’t forget — you’re special here. Your voice, these yao beasts can all hear it!”

So the moment they landed, the yao beasts stirred and even fought — all because of Changkong Zhuoyu’s voice.

“Ah!”

“What now?” Li Xinglun vaguely sensed something was off.

“They seem to have pinpointed my voice and are running straight here.” Changkong Zhuoyu rolled up his sleeves. “Let me test the strength of these ancient yao beasts.”

Li Xinglun really had no way to deal with him. He picked up his master on his back and said, “Two fists can’t beat four hands. You already said this place is crawling with yao beasts. Even if you’re amazing, master, you can’t take them all at once. Let’s retreat to a safe spot — you direct me.”

“Then why are you carrying me?” Changkong Zhuoyu asked, lying on his disciple’s back with his butt supported by two hands.

Li Xinglun took a deep breath. “Because when you run, you make noise. Didn’t you notice we can’t fly here, just like at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge? Luckily we can still use true essence — but flying out is restricted. No wonder so many die here.”

“I see! Go west — ahead, there’s a mad bull charging straight at us.”

As soon as he spoke, more yao beasts heard and began stampeding toward them. Even though Li Xinglun couldn’t see or hear them, he could sense the immense pressure through intuition, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Sound transmission!” he shouted.

Hearing his disciple’s roar, Changkong Zhuoyu finally remembered they could still use sound transmission, and shut his mouth. Once he stopped speaking, the yao beasts lost their direction and started biting each other where his last voice had sounded.

“Magnificent…” Changkong Zhuoyu transmitted by sound into Li Xinglun’s ear. “Disciple, I think if we keep using this trick a few more times, these yao beasts might kill each other off.”

“No.” Even at this moment, Li Xinglun could still calmly analyze. “Earlier, the Eight-tailed Fox said that the valley is entirely controlled by the consciousness of the Sacred Yao Spirit — Nüwa’s divine thought. These yao beasts are probably her tools to eliminate those with malicious intent. The Sacred Yao Spirit would never let them all perish.”

As if in agreement, the moment he spoke, the ground shifted. The battling yao beasts suddenly changed direction, flailed uselessly, and soon spent all their energy before falling still again — just as when they’d entered the valley.

“As expected,” Changkong Zhuoyu said, observing everything. “You’re right, disciple. They’ve all dispersed. But the way they dispersed… ah, so that’s it.”

“What happened?” The thought that the Sacred Yao Spirit might be watching made Li Xinglun immediately switch to sound transmission as well.

For someone with profound skill, they might sense the use of secret sound transmission through the surrounding spiritual energy — but they couldn’t know the content. Perhaps someone with an extremely strong divine sense could forcefully insert themselves into their conversation, but Changkong Zhuoyu would notice and stop them. At this point, sound transmission was the safest.

“There’s a formation at the valley floor,” Changkong Zhuoyu said excitedly — he always got like this when talking about formations. “A formation formed with the white mist to control us and the yao beasts. No wonder the Eight-tailed Fox said only someone recognized by the Sacred Yao Spirit could see it. The terrain shifts with its will, and the mist blocks all five senses — so no one can feel the ground moving. That way, if it doesn’t want to appear, no one can find her.”

Li Xinglun, however, focused on another point. “If the terrain is under her control, then how did those elders escape? Even if they understood the valley, if it didn’t want to let them go, they couldn’t leave, right?”

In fact, as he said it, Li Xinglun already knew the answer.

The nine elders hadn’t escaped on their own or because of the Eight-tailed Fox‘s warnings — the Sacred Yao Spirit let them go. It protected the Mystic Fog Yao Valley and didn’t want the mid-tier yao here to die. But at the same time, it punished them: even when letting them leave, it took part of their bodies as penalty.

Compared to some treasure, such a fully self-aware Sacred Yao Spirit was far more troublesome.

“Master, does it intend to let us go alive?” Li Xinglun asked.

“Doesn’t seem so.” Changkong Zhuoyu glanced around. “The yao beasts keep moving toward us, and… the ground under our feet probably shifts into the yao herd no matter where we try to flee.”

“Do you have a way?” Li Xinglun wasn’t disheartened — on the contrary, he felt excited at Changkong Zhuoyu’s words.

“Of course.” Changkong Zhuoyu’s sound transmission brimmed with pride. “When have I ever lost at formations?”

“So what should we do, since it controls the formation?”

“Rewrite the formation, take control of it — and summon it here whenever we wish to see it!” Changkong Zhuoyu declared proudly.

Imagining his master’s likely expression, Li Xinglun couldn’t help but smile brilliantly. In the white mist full of yao beasts, with Changkong Zhuoyu on his back, only the Sacred Yao Spirit hidden in the dark could see that dazzling smile.

“Disciple, since my footsteps would agitate the yao beasts, and it might adjust the formation unpredictably, I won’t land. You carry me — let’s drag her out together!”

“As master commands — I would carry you through all lifetimes,” Li Xinglun said obliquely.

But Changkong Zhuoyu didn’t realize, still lying on his back, directing grandly: “Jump southwest — step on that frog’s head for a boost, then land on the rock southwest.”

They couldn’t fly at the valley bottom. If they tried to reach their destination in one leap, the Sacred Yao Spirit would change the terrain again. They had to reach each spot precisely, using the yao beasts themselves.

Li Xinglun took a deep breath, vaulted off the frog’s head, and reached the southwest cliff. Changkong Zhuoyu struck the cliff and said, “Don’t move — it will shift the formation. Wait until it’s done, or it’s wasted.”

But while waiting, the irritated Sacred Yao Spirit sent several yao beasts and briefly dispersed the mist before them.

With the mist gone, not only could the yao beasts see, but Li Xinglun’s senses returned. He grabbed the oncoming fangs, flipped lightly onto the Dark Serpent, and leapt to the southeast cliff. Changkong Zhuoyu left his spiritual power on the key point of the cliff’s formation.

Few cultivators entered the Dao through martial skill; fewer still continued to hone their bodies after gaining spiritual power. No matter how high their power, their physical skill was usually mediocre. But Li Xinglun was different — he trained fast, never forgot the techniques he’d learned before Foundation Building, spent months at the Soul-Breaking Gorge practicing countless climbing methods, and gained insight from watching Changkong Zhuoyu and Sage Yipin spar at Mount Shu. Naturally, his skill wasn’t bad.

Not only was he skilled, he was agile. Under Changkong Zhuoyu’s guidance, he dodged rather than attacked, deftly weaving through the yao herd, unfazed by their clumsy strikes. Of course, the yao beasts also unleashed yao power — but with Changkong Zhuoyu on his back, his master easily repelled the overwhelming attacks. What was a death trap to the yao clan became effortless under master and disciple’s teamwork.

“Done!” After some unknown time, Changkong Zhuoyu finally said — aloud this time, not through sound transmission — “Put me down.”

Though he reluctantly released his master’s warmth, Li Xinglun obeyed, already setting a goal in his heart: once he achieved that goal, he would have his way with his master.

The moment Changkong Zhuoyu landed, a one-horned rhinoceros charged them. Its eyes were bloodshot, and its yao power suffocated them in place. Li Xinglun felt the crushing pressure, unable to move.

No wonder the yao elders couldn’t resist these yao beasts — this rhinoceros was as strong as a Great Ascension cultivator!

Master! Li Xinglun looked worriedly toward his master. Even though he still saw only whiteness, he could feel where his master stood.

A hand reached out from the mist, grasped the rhinoceros’s horn, and Changkong Zhuoyu’s voice rang out: “Sacred Yao Spirit, I’ll give you one chance — come out yourself. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.”

When he finished, the Sacred Yao Spirit didn’t appear — instead, the mist receded, and a horde of yao beasts, finally able to see, roared with excitement at the sight of them.

“So, no negotiation then.” The mist around Changkong Zhuoyu thinned. Dressed in white, holding a fan, lips slightly parted, he said coldly, “Then don’t blame me for being rude!”

With one hand, he lifted the massive rhinoceros and casually hurled it into the yao herd. The beasts howled as it crashed into them — and before they could react, a violent whirlwind engulfed them. Holding his fan, Changkong Zhuoyu gave a gentle wave — and every yao beast rose into the air, trapped in the storm.

Outside the valley, the Eight-tailed Fox and the other yao elders saw the mist spiral up, the valley floor laid bare. From above, they saw Changkong Zhuoyu and Li Xinglun clearly. A mere hundred meters — nothing to the ten elders. They heard Changkong Zhuoyu’s loud proclamation: “Your domain — I claim it!”

Beams of spiritual light burst from where Changkong Zhuoyu had struck, interwoven with beams opposite, forming a luminous web that lit the entire valley.

As the beams appeared, the mist scattered, and the valley floor shifted dramatically — pieces linked by the light moved around. The whirlwind deposited each trapped yao beast into the light’s enclosure. With Changkong Zhuoyu’s will, the yao beasts were moved far away, and the center of the formation slowly approached him.

At the formation’s center stood a divine statue — Nüwa, distinct even from a hundred meters above.

A three-legged bull — humanoid but missing a leg — leapt out and roared from atop the valley: “Changkong Zhuoyu, what are you doing to our Sacred Yao Spirit?!”

No one, human or yao, had believed he could leave alive — yet he not only survived, but seized control of the entire Mystic Fog Yao Valley!

As if finding the commotion above tiresome, Changkong Zhuoyu glanced up, waved his hand, and shrouded the ten elders’ sight with mist.

“This…” The ten elders exchanged looks — when had the human world produced such a figure? Was this power truly not that of an immortal or a god?

~ Chapter End ~

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