I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 56
By rights, they had entered the Mystic Fog Yao Valley from the Hundred Flowers sect, so when they exited, their location should also have been the Hundred Flowers sect. However, the Mystic Fog Yao Valley was not situated at any specific location in the human realm but connected to it through the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
“So, as long as you follow the formation’s rules, you can appear wherever you wish,” Changkong Zhuoyu said to Li Xinglun.
“This is…” Li Xinglun looked up at the towering mountains around them. “At the foot of Kunlun?”
“That’s right.” Changkong Zhuoyu tilted his head back proudly. “While I was in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, I already had a rough understanding of the fixed formation structure of the Map of Mountains and Rivers. Therefore, when leaving the valley, I could use the power of the formation to appear anywhere in the human realm.”
“Even so, the Map of Mountains and Rivers should still be somewhere in the human realm, right?” Li Xinglun said.
“Exactly.” Changkong Zhuoyu nodded. “Moreover, it’s a very safe place. Even if someone emerges from the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, they would be immediately transported away from there.”
“Since the Mystic Fog Yao Valley’s formation carries the traces of the Queen Mother of the West, and the Eight-tailed Fox once said that as a child he had visited the Jade Pool, then the location of the Map of Mountains and Rivers can only be at the Jade Pool,” Li Xinglun said.
“As expected of my disciple — you guessed it at once.” Changkong Zhuoyu reached out and patted Li Xinglun’s shoulder.
“The Jade Pool has always been a paradise for spirit cultivators. If you ask me, I don’t believe there wouldn’t be a divine artifact there. So among the two remaining divine artifacts, at least one must be at the Jade Pool,” Li Xinglun said. “But to enter the Jade Pool, you first have to go through Kunlun…”
He looked up at the towering mountain. It had been over two years since the last Mount Shu gathering. He wondered if they had found the missing Kunlun sect master and whether the divine artifact in the formation was still there, now that the Kunlun divine formation had been broken…
“My disciple, don’t worry. We’re just returning to our own sect,” Changkong Zhuoyu said, hands on hips, looking up at Kunlun Mountain with a pride that seemed to claim the mountain as his own. “Besides, you’ve been away for so long; it’s time you came home and had a look.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
To this day, Changkong Zhuoyu still firmly believed he was Yin Changkong… To be honest, Li Xinglun didn’t believe it.
The strength Changkong Zhuoyu displayed was already far beyond the scope of the cultivation world, yet he seemingly hadn’t even used his true power so far. If he really were Yin Changkong, Li Xinglun couldn’t imagine what kind of crisis could have caused him to fall to the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge and lose his memory. Up to now, Li Xinglun had every reason to believe that Changkong Zhuoyu was actually a divine will left behind from the ancient gods’ battlefield, which by some chance had become human — it was impossible he was Yin Changkong.
But if he spoke his guess aloud, his master would surely be hurt. Li Xinglun couldn’t bear to see Changkong Zhuoyu looking upset, especially if that sadness was caused by him — then he wouldn’t even be able to hold his master in his arms to comfort him.
So Li Xinglun selfishly kept his guess to himself and instead agreed: “Exactly. I wonder if Martial Uncle has cultivated well after receiving Master’s jade slip. Maybe the Sumeru Ruler has become even more perfect.”
Although he felt a bit disingenuous saying ‘Martial Uncle,’ Li Xinglun was now quite used to lying with a straight face and soon suppressed his discomfort.
“Yes, I’m really worried. I should have stayed by his side to help answer his questions,” Changkong Zhuoyu’s robe changed into a blue Daoist robe, and his expression became very… elder-like.
Li Xinglun: “…”
Fine. As long as Master was happy.
Because Kunlun was Changkong Zhuoyu’s own sect, this time they did not conceal their movements but went directly up Kunlun Mountain, without notifying anyone — who needed to notify their own family?
The once mighty Kunlun divine formation had already disappeared. The current protective formation was one re-established by Kunlun. Unlike before, when an ancient divine artifact anchored it, now it had to be guarded manually. Each day, a Nascent Soul true disciple led two Golden Core inner disciples to protect it, along with five Foundation Building outer disciples guarding outside the formation. If anything happened, they would immediately send a message talisman to the elders in the sect.
Changkong Zhuoyu did not hide their movements. As soon as they reached the outside of the formation, they were spotted by a Foundation Building disciple. Fortunately, he now had the air of an immortal master. Even though Li Xinglun’s blood-soaked aura made him look nothing like a righteous cultivator, the Foundation Building disciple saw Changkong Zhuoyu’s righteous demeanor and neither attacked nor sent a message. Instead, holding his magical implement, he asked: “Who are you? Do you have a righteous sect token?”
“Token? Righteous sect?” Changkong Zhuoyu asked blankly. What was that?
Perhaps because Changkong Zhuoyu was so good-looking, the Foundation Building disciple blushed slightly and said, “You don’t seem to be some demonic fiend. You must be a senior who has just emerged from seclusion? You don’t know — the human realm calamity is imminent. To resist it together, the cultivation world has temporarily set aside the righteous-demonic divide. Three months ago, Sage Yipin of Mount Shu and Xuan Minglie, Sect Master of Heaven-Shaking Peak, made a pact. Until the calamity passes, anyone willing to contribute to resisting it is considered part of the righteous sect. To enter Kunlun, you need a token issued by the righteous sect. If you want to ascend the mountain, you must state your purpose and hand over the token, and I’ll pass it to the elder overseeing the formation. He will decide whether to let you up.”
“I see.” Changkong Zhuoyu nodded repeatedly. It seemed his earlier efforts had not been in vain — Sage Yipin, who cared about the greater good, had begun to let go of old grudges and cooperate with the demonic sect, and Xuan Minglie was also beginning to restrain the demonic cultivators so they could ally with the righteous path.
And with the Eight-tailed Fox, who had taken a soul oath despite his reluctance, most of the power of the cultivation world was now united.
“My disciple, it seems we do stand a chance of stopping the human realm calamity,” Changkong Zhuoyu sighed.
“All thanks to Master,” Li Xinglun sincerely replied this time.
Only he had followed Changkong Zhuoyu closely and knew that the establishment of the righteous-demonic pact was entirely thanks to Master’s efforts. That was why, even knowing Xuan Minglie was deliberately intending to harm Li Xinglun while carving the blood mark on him, they endured and still let Xuan Minglie control Heaven-Shaking Peak — for the sake of the greater good. Now it seemed, Master’s efforts had not been in vain; they could indeed stop this calamity.
Since this Foundation Building disciple was so polite, Changkong Zhuoyu and Li Xinglun also didn’t act unreasonable or try to force their way in. Changkong Zhuoyu assumed the demeanor of a sect leader and said very courteously, “We’ve been in seclusion for over a year and didn’t expect such changes in the cultivation world. We are aware of the human realm calamity. We came here for that matter. Please inform Elder Yin that an old friend has come to visit.”
With that, Changkong Zhuoyu took out a message talisman from the jade slip Elder Yin had given him earlier.
At that time, Elder Yin had already foolishly believed Changkong Zhuoyu was Yin Changkong and left him the talisman to help his disguised senior brother return to Kunlun.
The Kunlun disciple accepted the talisman, saw it was indeed Kunlun craftsmanship, and noted Elder Yin’s soul imprint on it — it could not be faked — and immediately took it into the formation to deliver the message.
Changkong Zhuoyu and Li Xinglun waited patiently. While waiting, Changkong Zhuoyu felt a bit uncomfortable and said to Li Xinglun, “Disciple, I don’t think I’ve ever entered a sect this peacefully before.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
Wasn’t that the truth — they had forced their way into the Hundred Flowers Valley by overpowering Scholar Bai, struck the Twin Swords of Purple and Azure out of Mount Shu directly, fought the entire Heaven-Shaking Peak, and as for the Mystic Fog Yao Valley… if they really took the Sacred Yao Spirit, the valley would be dissolved, and the enmity even greater.
Thinking of this, Li Xinglun couldn’t help but wipe a cold sweat. Their journey so far had teetered on the edge of hostility with the entire cultivation world, yet not only had they avoided becoming enemies, they even united the cultivation world — truly miraculous.
It was all thanks to this extraordinary man, Changkong Zhuoyu. Li Xinglun looked at his master, who was waiting patiently, and smiled slightly.
He believed that this journey to Kunlun and the Jade Pool would also succeed in uniting the human cultivators and the spirit cultivators. This was Changkong Zhuoyu’s charm — no one else could replicate it.
Kunlun’s efficiency was worthy of the foremost righteous sect. In less than fifteen minutes, Elder Yin led Kunlun’s elite disciples down the mountain.
“Mas…” Seeing Changkong Zhuoyu, Elder Yin’s eyes reddened, and just as he was about to call out “Senior Brother,” he saw Changkong Zhuoyu raise a finger to his lips, and Elder Yin promptly swallowed his words.
That’s right — Senior Brother had been pretending to be missing, secretly searching for the demons who broke the Kunlun divine formation and working in his own way to stop the human realm calamity. He couldn’t guess Senior Brother’s wise intentions, but at least he couldn’t ruin his plan.
Elder Yin changed his address and said, “Daoist Brother Changkong, let’s go up the mountain and talk.”
At the words “Changkong,” the Kunlun inner disciples following behind Elder Yin showed a slight change of expression. They said to Elder Yin, “Acting Sect Master, this senior is…”
“I am Changkong Zhuoyu,” Changkong Zhuoyu cupped his hands and said, “an old acquaintance of Kunlun.”
“That’s right,” Elder Yin nodded vigorously. “You should treat Daoist Brother Changkong as your elder. Whatever he asks, you should fully cooperate.”
“This…” The disciples who hadn’t been to Mount Shu hesitated. How could Kunlun take orders from just anyone, no matter how handsome he was? “Acting Sect Master, this man is accompanied by a demonic cultivator… no, a blood cultivator.”
As expected of the foremost righteous sect — they immediately recognized the source of Li Xinglun’s cultivation.
Among demonic cultivators, blood cultivators were the most despised by the righteous. This was mainly because many years ago, the Blood Fiend Ancestor had slaughtered countless lives to increase his power, and it had taken the combined might of Mount Shu’s Twin Swords of Purple and Azure to eliminate him. Since then, righteous cultivators had looked down on blood cultivators.
“Daoist Brother Changkong, this is…” Elder Yin looked at Li Xinglun. At this point, Li Xinglun’s cultivation, techniques, appearance, and demeanor bore no trace of his former self. Before Elder Yin was a Nascent Soul peak blood cultivator brimming with killing intent and blood energy — he didn’t look righteous at all. People would believe he was even a demonic fiend.
“Elder Yin, have you forgotten? This is my disciple, Little Xing. You met him two years ago at Mount Shu,” Changkong Zhuoyu introduced.
“But back then… he was only at early Golden Core stage, and Daoist Brother Changkong, your disciple was clearly a sword cultivator…” Elder Yin said, conflicted.
Changkong Zhuoyu showed a deeply sad and guilty expression, patted Li Xinglun’s shoulder, and said, “It’s all because of me — his master. My disciple is the kindest and most responsible, determined to contribute to fighting the human realm calamity. But he was too young and had no time to cultivate peacefully, and the calamity was imminent. To quickly increase his strength and save more people during the calamity, Xiaoxing followed me to Heaven-Shaking Peak and asked Sect Master Xuan Minglie to perform the Blood-Severing Art on him, just to gain power swiftly.”
“I see,” Elder Yin was completely convinced and didn’t doubt a word. “Caring nothing for how others view him for the sake of all living beings — truly admirable. Daoist… Daoist Brother Changkong’s disciple is indeed as admirable as you are.”
“Amitabha. The Buddha once tested himself against demons, and Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva even descended into Avīci Hell to save evil spirits,” came a Buddhist chant, as Master Wuyin descended from Kunlun Mountain. “This young friend may walk the demonic path, but his heart is righteous — truly a model for all. Seeing you, I can’t help but think of the apparition of Sect Master Xue at Mount Shu.”
Li Xinglun: “…”
Even here at Kunlun, could they stop mentioning Xue Qianjie?
Seeing his master looking lonely again, Li Xinglun quickly said, “I am Master’s disciple. It’s my duty to share his burdens — nothing worth praising. Master came to Kunlun today to inform the righteous sect of something important. Why don’t we find a safe place to sit and talk?”
“Yes, I was so excited to see Daoist Brother Changkong that I forgot to invite you up the mountain,” Elder Yin said immediately.
He then took out the Sumeru Ruler, activating the Kunlun formation, and they were instantly transported to Kunlun’s main hall.
“Qingfeng, Mingyue, serve the seniors some tea — the best tea,” Elder Yin specially instructed the disciples. “Use the tea my Senior Brother liked most to entertain our guests. I believe they’ll like it.”
Yin Changkong’s favorite was top-grade spiritual tea, beneficial to cultivation. In Kunlun, only the sect master could drink it, and it was never served to guests. The disciples were puzzled, but since it was the acting sect master’s order, they obeyed.
Elder Yin even wanted Changkong Zhuoyu to take the seat of honor. Changkong Zhuoyu was about to sit, but Li Xinglun, worried that their identities would one day be exposed and they would be hunted by Kunlun, tugged at his master’s robe. Changkong Zhuoyu then politely yielded, letting Elder Yin sit in the main seat while he sat alongside Master Wuyin at the guest seats.
Li Xinglun’s peak Nascent Soul strength was actually enough to warrant a proper seat in the main hall, but he still stood silently behind Changkong Zhuoyu, firmly guarding his master.
~ Chapter End ~
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