I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 59

Previous  |  Next

“Of course, you can also understand that Changkong Zhuoyu is essentially the Heaven-Mending Stone, just that over the long years it developed sentience.” The Azure Bird continued, “I don’t understand why Sect Master Yin would risk his life just to win you a few years of time. Even if you refuse, in the end you must still become the main divine artifact sealing the demon realm.”

Li Xinglun stood before Changkong Zhuoyu, withstanding the Azure Bird’s pressure and staring straight at her: “You mean, my master will ultimately, like those demonic creatures, be sealed upon the body of the Candle Dragon?”

“Exactly so,” the Azure Bird’s attitude toward Li Xinglun was still poor, only restrained by Changkong Zhuoyu’s status from attacking outright. “The Heaven-Mending Stone ought to be a sentient yet emotionless existence, just like me — an ancient relic left in this world, whose sole purpose is to maintain the stability of the Three Realms and Six Paths. The calamity of the human realm threatens not just the human realm but the entire Three Realms and Six Paths. Even if we are reduced to dust, we must prevent the calamity. What do you think, Star Lord of Tribulations?”

“Master!” Li Xinglun immediately turned to look at Changkong Zhuoyu, his heart full of unease.

That lively, vivid Changkong Zhuoyu — who seemed to be the only color in this world — was actually to be sealed together with those demonic creatures upon the body of the Candle Dragon, and then, over countless years, both sides would wear each other down to nothing… Such an ending he could not allow!

The Azure Bird had said that Changkong Zhuoyu was born as the Star Lord of Tribulations for the sake of the human calamity, while he, Li Xinglun… was destined to stop the Star Lord from falling to darkness…

Blood surged to his head, and Li Xinglun’s eyes gradually became suffused with crimson as he tightly grasped Changkong Zhuoyu’s hand, waiting for his master’s answer.

Given his master’s character, even with his eyes closed Li Xinglun could guess what Changkong Zhuoyu would say. He would say, “Since I was born to stop the calamity, I will do my utmost to seal the demonic creatures. When the time comes, my disciple, carve my name upon the body of the Candle Dragon so that the entire cultivation world will know my name.” Something like that.

Changkong Zhuoyu was exactly that kind of person.

Even knowing this, Li Xinglun still looked at him, letting his eyes slowly stain red, his gaze nearly despairing as he waited for his master’s reply.

Changkong Zhuoyu… was also deeply conflicted. He had always thought of himself as a great and mighty figure. Yet in the end he really was nothing — just a stone that had stood guard atop Kunlun for countless millennia.

“What… should I do, disciple…” Under Li Xinglun’s gaze, Changkong Zhuoyu asked helplessly. “Disciple, after regaining my memory I’d planned to give you all my treasures, cultivation methods, and such. You see, you’ve been my disciple for so long, yet I haven’t taught you anything. Disciple, do you still want to be my disciple?”

Li Xinglun’s eyes, almost entirely blood-red, slowly faded back to pure black. He released Changkong Zhuoyu’s hand and pulled him into an embrace, suppressing all the hostility in his body and speaking as gently as he could: “I don’t want anything. I just want… just want to be with Master, to traverse the great mountains and rivers and spread Master’s name throughout the cultivation world. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t a great figure before. With your strength, you’ll sooner or later become one of the most eminent people in the cultivation world. As long as you stay by my side, that’s enough.”

The nearly despairing plea tightly enveloped Changkong Zhuoyu. He wanted to say, “But I will soon be sealed upon Heaven-Shaking Peak,” yet in Li Xinglun’s embrace he couldn’t bring himself to speak. In the end, he could only raise his hand and gently pat Li Xinglun’s back.

He too wanted to wander the cultivation world with his disciple, even if they didn’t become great figures. It didn’t matter — just idly traveling and resting wherever they wished would be good enough.

But…

A tear slid from Changkong Zhuoyu’s eye, yet it didn’t fall. Instead, it was carried up into the sky by the heavenly gale of the thirty-three heavens, finally shattering upon the Jade Pool Palace into fragments that refracted a rainbow of light.

His helpless expression gradually hardened. The Azure Bird and Wanqi Xian had been watching him and Li Xinglun all along. Wanqi Xian seemed stunned by this series of revelations, his face stiff and unable to speak, while the Azure Bird still stood there, as beautiful and quiet as ever, like a delicate artifact devoid of its master’s emotions, looking so fragile.

The Sacred Yao Spirit, despite being only a trace of Nüwa’s divine thought, could play petty tricks and bargain — far more like a living being than the Azure Bird.

Maintaining his embrace of Li Xinglun, Changkong Zhuoyu addressed the Azure Bird: “Will Sect Master Yin stay like this? I have some words I’d like to say to him. May I enter the formation?”

“He will,” the Azure Bird’s expression revealed a faint trace of puzzlement. “Yin Changkong will persist until his oil runs dry and his lamp goes out. Once he dies, the demon realm’s entrance will fully open. He is very strange…”

“What about him seems strange to you?” Seeing a trace of human emotion on the Azure Bird’s face, Changkong Zhuoyu was puzzled.

“Ever since he became Sect Master three hundred years ago, Yin Changkong has often come to the Jade Pool. He comprehended the Dao through the Kunlun divine formation; his cultivation aura is similar to the Jade Pool’s. Kunlun has always carried the Jade Pool’s legacy. It’s not wrong to call him my junior.” The Azure Bird’s expression revealed another trace of nostalgia. “Because he is a direct junior, I told him about the calamity long ago. As Kunlun’s sect master, using the sect master’s token and the Jade Pool’s secret techniques, he could directly control the Heaven-Mending Stone. He could have easily broken the barrier, controlled the Heaven-Mending Stone, and resolved the calamity. The Heaven-Mending Stone is the foremost of the nine divine artifacts. The other divine artifacts would have gathered automatically at its call. Yet…”

Holding his master, Li Xinglun nearly ground his teeth to pieces hearing this. The Azure Bird kept calling Changkong Zhuoyu the Star Lord of Tribulations, someone born to meet the calamity, yet used terms like “Primordial Wilderness relic” and “divine artifact” to describe him — never truly seeing him as a living being. Of course, the Azure Bird’s attitude toward Li Xinglun was even worse, looking at him as though he were already dead.

Li Xinglun’s hatred and killing intent nearly became tangible, but the Azure Bird didn’t care and continued: “Yin Changkong didn’t need to die. Yet he willingly paid the price of his eight hundred years of cultivation and the annihilation of his soul just to exchange for a few short years of freedom for the Heaven-Mending Stone. Isn’t that strange?”

It is strange… Changkong Zhuoyu looked at the figure within the formation, a faint sense of familiarity rising in his heart. It felt as though, many years ago, someone had kept speaking to him, saying many things he couldn’t remember but which left traces in his heart.

“Not… strange at all…” Wanqi Xian, silent until now, suddenly spoke. “In Senior Azure Bird’s eyes, the Heaven-Mending Stone is just a weapon. But in my eyes and my master’s, the Kunlun divine formation is our ‘Dao.’”

“Dao?” the Azure Bird said to Wanqi Xian, “Kunlun is the head of the righteous sects. The ‘Dao’ it carries is the righteous energy of heaven and earth, not some object.”

“The divine formation is not just an object,” Wanqi Xian gritted his teeth. “If you were him, I would have already died when I fell from the sky onto Kunlun five hundred years ago. But back then, the formation held me up with the gentlest strength. For ten years I never heard it speak, yet every time I cried I could feel as if someone between heaven and earth was saying, ‘Children are such trouble, always crying,’ pretending to be an old man. Later, when I asked Master about the formation, he told me the formation was originally a child but was slowly growing up. It may grow slower than people, but it is always learning. The whole of Kunlun is under its protection. We live in its embrace. That kind of filial attachment, Senior Azure Bird, you wouldn’t understand.”

The Azure Bird tilted her head slightly, seemingly interested. She said, “Every sect has a formation protecting it. Yet none are like yours.”

“They are the same!” Wanqi Xian said. “Mount Shu’s Twin Swords of Purple and Azure are their unyielding sharpness, Emei’s Yin-Yang Mirror is their balance of firmness and gentleness, and Kunlun’s Heaven-Mending Stone embodies the righteous Way of the world. Our three sects have always been so, fighting against demonic energy for ages. If we didn’t hold to our ‘Dao,’ we would have long been consumed by demonic energy.”

“You’re making me embarrassed…” Changkong Zhuoyu touched his face, feeling it warm. Some words he said himself never embarrassed him, but hearing others praise him made him uneasy. But his disciple was different — his disciple always knew how to praise him just right.

So he patted Li Xinglun’s shoulder and said: “Disciple, don’t cry yet. Let’s first go see Sect Master Yin. Maybe there’s still a way. Of course I don’t want to die either. There are still so many things I want to do with you.”

The Azure Bird opened her mouth to say, “There is no…”

But before she could finish, Changkong Zhuoyu cut her off: “Don’t speak. You’ll just say there’s no other way, that I must die, that my disciple is destined to destroy the human world or something. He’s already upset enough — don’t bully him more.”

Blocking the Azure Bird’s words, Changkong Zhuoyu turned to Li Xinglun and said: “Come, disciple. Let’s go see Sect Master Yin. I have many questions for him. Don’t worry — what difficulty could possibly defeat me?”

Ever since entering the Jade Pool, Changkong Zhuoyu had been in a dazed state. Yet now, after learning the entire truth, he still showed that inexplicable confidence, just like when they were at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge.

That expression once helped Li Xinglun, consumed by hatred at the bottom of the gorge, to find his way again. And now it once again pulled him out of the abyss of despair.

Li Xinglun let go of Changkong Zhuoyu, the red fading from his eyes, revealing a faint smile: “Master, I’ve always wanted to ask you something, though I don’t know if I should.”

“Of course you should. A teacher is here to impart the Way, teach skills, and dispel doubts. Any question should be asked of your master.”

“How does one manage to be as confident as you, no matter the situation?” Li Xinglun wasn’t mocking Changkong Zhuoyu but was genuinely curious — where did his master’s confidence come from?

“Of course it comes from strength!” Changkong Zhuoyu patted his not-so-broad chest firmly, full of confidence.

Li Xinglun silently shook his head. Forget it — Master’s confidence probably came from being molded by Nüwa herself. After all, those people either became gods or something close to gods. Hou Yi even challenged ten Golden Crow divine birds alone. How could a lump of clay like them compare?

Changkong Zhuoyu’s confident little expression even helped Wanqi Xian gradually return to normal. With concern, Wanqi Xian said to Changkong Zhuoyu: “The divine formation… no, I should call you Senior Changkong. Senior, my master…”

“Of course we’ll find a way to save Sect Master Yin as well,” Changkong Zhuoyu said firmly. “We’ll enter the formation. I want to hear Sect Master Yin’s thoughts personally.”

This Kunlun Sect Master, who had done everything to free him from his duty of guarding Kunlun and let him become a real person, was someone Changkong Zhuoyu absolutely would not abandon to waste away like this.

“We’re entering the formation,” Changkong Zhuoyu said.

“Impossible…”

“I don’t want to hear you speak now,” Changkong Zhuoyu once again cut off the Azure Bird. “Since you believe what the Heavenly Book records, that you’re a ‘Primordial Wilderness relic,’ that you’re an ‘object’ meant to maintain the stability of the Three Realms and Six Paths, then listen to my orders. Because the Heavenly Book says it, doesn’t it? That the Star Lord of Tribulations will lead cultivators to resolve the calamity. Then, to fulfill your mission, you must obey me.”

The Azure Bird: “…”

Why did it inexplicably seem to make a little sense?

This brief hesitation allowed the Azure Bird to fail to stop the three of them. Under Changkong Zhuoyu’s lead, the three successfully reached the point where the heavenly gale was strongest — the outer perimeter of the formation Yin Changkong was desperately maintaining.

Changkong Zhuoyu could almost be called the progenitor of all formations in the human realm. In ancient times, when the ancient gods sought to maintain the seals on the three demon realms, and the Queen Mother of the West strove to support the Jade Pool, they had carved the essence of all the formations of that era into Changkong Zhuoyu himself. The Kunlun divine formation was the origin of all formations in the cultivation world; even if it was also an ancient divine formation, he could still unravel and rewrite it.

If he were only the Heaven-Mending Stone, he would not possess such power. But over the long years, Changkong Zhuoyu had been absorbing and learning this knowledge. Since antiquity, all attacks from those who tried to break the Kunlun divine formation were absorbed by him. He absorbed all manner of cultivation methods, saw all kinds of people. Though unconscious at the time, he inscribed all of it onto the divine stone, and over countless millennia, used his slowly awakening sentience to understand and digest it bit by bit.

{Oh... So that's why Xue Qianjie went into the Kunlun formation the first chance he got, and that's why it didn't attack him. Within it he found his peace and released the fierce energy of his sword.}

He had always been learning and improving. Such a formation was no longer a challenge for him.

After circling around the outside of the formation, Changkong Zhuoyu said: “I understand now. Actually, temporarily supporting the Jade Pool Palace is relatively easy. The most important thing about this formation now is to stabilize the heavenly gale of the thirty-three heavens. Once the divine formation is unraveled, the ground will lose the foundation supporting the heavenly gale. If the gale runs rampant through the human realm, Kunlun will be destroyed. Disciples above the Nascent Soul stage may survive, but those below the Golden Core stage would likely be shredded by the gale.

To ease Sect Master Yin’s burden, we must first resolve the heavenly gale of the thirty-three heavens.”

“How do we do that?” Wanqi Xian asked eagerly, most concerned for his master’s safety.

Changkong Zhuoyu swayed twice in the gale, strong enough to shred even a Great Ascension cultivator, stroked his chin, and said: “This heavenly gale is powerful indeed. Sustaining it does require a sufficiently strong foundation. But if this power can be directly used in the formation, it might sustain things for a while.”

He turned back to the Azure Bird, who was still untangling her thoughts, and said: “I don’t really want to talk to you, but some things still need your help. The divine artifact of the Jade Pool — could it be the legendary Plain Cloud Realm Banner?”

“That is correct.”

The Plain Cloud Realm Banner was also called the Gathering Immortals Banner. One name referred to the cloud realm, the other to gathering immortals. Whenever the Queen Mother of the West held a grand event at the Jade Pool, she would unfurl the Gathering Immortals Banner, and all immortals above the thirty-three heavens would know to come to the gathering.

“So it is,” Changkong Zhuoyu said. “Since the idea is to draw the demonic energy onto the Candle Dragon’s body, naturally there must be a method to attract it. The Dark Yin Bell is yin, the Plain Cloud Realm Banner is yang, and coupled with Emei’s Yin-Yang Mirror to harmonize yin and yang, the power of these three divine artifacts operating together can absorb ninety percent of the demonic energy between heaven and earth. The Buddhist sect also needs a supreme Buddhist treasure to destroy demons. This way, the nine divine artifacts can completely absorb and dissolve the demonic energy. Where is the Plain Cloud Realm Banner in the Jade Pool now?”

The Azure Bird hesitated. Changkong Zhuoyu immediately said: “I am the foremost of the nine divine artifacts. The other artifacts are attracted to me. Even if you don’t say, I can find it.”

“It’s not that I won’t say, but that the Plain Cloud Realm Banner can only be retrieved under one condition,” the Azure Bird shook her head. “You cannot achieve it.”

“How would we know if we don’t try?” Changkong Zhuoyu lacked many things — money, spirit stones, magical treasures, status — but never confidence. “If I’m not mistaken, the Plain Cloud Realm Banner is right within this heavenly gale of the thirty-three heavens.”

Wanqi Xian looked shocked, but the now-calm Li Xinglun analyzed rationally: “That is to say, the reason the heavenly gale of the thirty-three heavens has persisted from the Primordial Wilderness to this day is because the Gathering Immortals Banner has been continuously absorbing and maintaining it.”

They both looked at the Azure Bird. Though she didn’t answer, her expression already confirmed the master and disciple’s guess.

Wanqi Xian, though exceptional himself, hadn’t interacted much with Changkong Zhuoyu and couldn’t quite keep up with this master-disciple pair’s thinking. He could only ask blankly: “So the Plain Cloud Realm Banner can’t be taken out? If it’s removed, the gale will completely lose control?”

“Just the opposite!” Li Xinglun cast a scornful glance at Wanqi Xian, convinced that his master would never fancy someone with this level of intelligence, and said with relief: “Since the Plain Cloud Realm Banner can gather the heavenly gale, that means it can control the gale. As long as someone can enter the gale and retrieve the Plain Cloud Realm Banner, my master can simultaneously rewrite the formation and use the Banner as the formation’s center. The power of the gale will then become the source of spiritual energy for the formation, and Sect Master Yin can be freed from the formation. Of course this is just a stopgap. The gale won’t last long, but it’s better than letting Sect Master Yin burn out right now.”

“So… so that’s it… but can it really be done?” Wanqi Xian looked at the raging gale beneath their feet. This was, after all, the same heavenly gale that had been used to test cultivators seeking godhood — without reaching the god realm, it was impossible to withstand it.

Changkong Zhuoyu’s plan might work, but he still had to stay here to control the formation. At the moment when the Banner was retrieved, he would need to rewrite the formation swiftly enough to rescue Sect Master Yin without letting the formation collapse.

With their current strength, only the Azure Bird could possibly achieve that. Though she hadn’t yet reached the god realm, she might manage it for just an instant.

“I won’t go in.” The Azure Bird, seeing through Wanqi Xian’s thoughts, bluntly refused.

“Didn’t count on you,” Li Xinglun said. He still bore the hatred of his sect’s destruction at the Azure Bird’s hands, only restraining himself for now. Sooner or later he would settle that score. “I’ll go.”

“Impossible!” Wanqi Xian said. “Junior brother, you’re only at peak Nascent Soul!”

Who are you calling junior brother? Li Xinglun glared at Wanqi Xian with extreme displeasure.

“This…” Wanqi Xian, having misspoken in a moment of urgency, awkwardly explained: “It’s just… when I was little, Senior Changkong raised me. I’ll never forget his kindness; he treated me like both master and father. And you are Senior Changkong’s disciple, younger than me, so naturally, junior brother…”

Li Xinglun ground his teeth, but there was no time to argue about their relationship. He turned to Changkong Zhuoyu and said: “Master, if it’s just for an instant, I should be able to do it.”

Using swordsmanship to draw upon the gale’s power, and in that instant finding a path into the gale to retrieve the Plain Cloud Realm Banner — sounded simple but was actually extremely dangerous, with the risk of being torn to pieces at any moment.

“I’m not afraid of being torn apart,” Li Xinglun continued. “Even if I’m left with just one arm, I’ll bring the Gathering Immortals Banner to you. Then, as long as you can use it to control the gale and recover my body, I can heal. Most importantly, I know the way of divine cultivation; I can at least temporarily control the Plain Cloud Realm Banner.”

His gaze was unusually determined — not reckless bravado nor a death wish, but a true conviction that he could do it. That he could, with just his peak Nascent Soul strength, venture into the gale and retrieve an ancient divine artifact.

Changkong Zhuoyu stared at Li Xinglun for a moment, then nodded: “Go. I believe you. You are no Fallen One, but someone who can resolve the calamity alongside me.”

“Yes, Master.” Li Xinglun’s smile grew soft. He gripped the nearly indestructible beast bone, stepped out from Changkong Zhuoyu’s protection, and leapt into the gale.

Just before entering, he swung the beast bone quickly. Each time it touched the gale, a piece of the bone was shaved away, gradually honed into sharp edges by the wind. {Hello, beast-bone iron crimson sword.}

And under Li Xinglun’s sword, a path actually appeared within the gale. It was much smaller than when Changkong Zhuoyu had done it atop Kunlun’s peaks, but it was indeed a breach.

“How… how is he doing that?” Wanqi Xian was shocked. Not to mention a Nascent Soul cultivator — even someone like himself at peak Soul Transformation could not do such a thing!

“Little Xian,” Changkong Zhuoyu very naturally called Wanqi Xian, “since I met my disciple, he has always been doing things that should have been impossible. Have you ever seen a twenty-two-year-old Nascent Soul cultivator?”

“He… is actually that young?” Even Wanqi Xian had only reached Nascent Soul at over a hundred years old. How on earth had Li Xinglun done it?

How indeed? Changkong Zhuoyu himself didn’t know. From the moment they met, he had been protecting this disciple, while Li Xinglun, under his wing, had chased after him with all his might. Changkong Zhuoyu’s strength was enough to make any who wished to stand at his side falter, but Li Xinglun never gave up — no matter how bloodied, he kept running, striving to catch up.

And in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley, when Li Xinglun injured Elder Guiche with a single strike, his footsteps had already touched Changkong Zhuoyu’s shadow.

Changkong Zhuoyu, at least, was an ancient divine artifact. It had taken countless millennia to attain such strength. But what did Li Xinglun have? He was just an ordinary human, yet he had achieved what no ordinary cultivator could.

“I really…” Changkong Zhuoyu said emotionally, “I really am not only handsome and strong but also wise. How did I manage to spot such an outstanding disciple?”

Wanqi Xian: “…”

Why did it seem… that Senior Changkong was not at all like the serene, detached master he had imagined?

“Of course he’s not without something special,” the Azure Bird still said coldly. “The Time-Space Wheel was forged by the ancient gods from Pangu’s bones. To control it, one ancient god forcibly fused Pangu’s blood into himself, absorbing the power that created heaven and earth in order to wield it. Li Xinglun carries that ancient god’s bloodline. Even if it is but a trace of Pangu’s power, it is still the power of creation. Otherwise, how could he fall from heaven?”

“Shut up.” Changkong Zhuoyu, unable to bear it any longer, grabbed Wanqi Xian and hurled him at the Azure Bird. He’d wanted to hit this cold, haughty immortal for a long time!

Author’s Note:  
Li Xinglun: Master, where does your confidence come from?

Changkong Zhuoyu: From being a handcrafted premium model facing mass-produced ones.

~ Chapter End ~

Previous  |  Next