I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 60

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Had what Changkong Zhuoyu threw been some kind of immortal artifact, with the Azure Bird’s strength, it would have shattered before it even touched her. Unless Changkong Zhuoyu produced some heaven-defying divine artifact, it could never harm the Azure Bird. And given how poor Changkong Zhuoyu was — since entering the cultivation world, the weapons he and his disciple had used were merely wooden swords carved from trees at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge, a paper fan exchanged for a few taels of silver by copying books, a fan snatched from Xuan Minglie’s hand, and a beast bone casually picked up by Li Xinglun in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley… truly, pitiful.

But what Changkong Zhuoyu threw was Wanqi Xian. When the Azure Bird saw a living person — someone she even knew — being hurled toward her, it was beyond anything she could have imagined. The calm mask on her face cracked slightly; she couldn’t pulverize Wanqi Xian the way she destroyed other artifacts. After all, Wanqi Xian was the future Kunlun sect master, destined to be one of the pillars of rebuilding the human realm after the tribulations. He could not come to harm. So the Azure Bird spread her wings and caught Wanqi Xian.

Wanqi Xian, completely powerless as he was grabbed and flung out by Changkong Zhuoyu, wore an utterly bewildered expression. Having followed his master in handling sect affairs for many years, he thought he had seen all manner of storms, even participating in a righteous-versus-demonic battle where his Nascent Soul was gravely injured. He believed there was no situation he hadn’t faced. Yet he never expected that one day, he himself would be used by the elder Changkong as a weapon… no, as a projectile against a bird, and that this bird would cradle him in its wings.

The moment the Azure Bird caught Wanqi Xian, the smell of singed feathers spread from her body. She quickly let go of Wanqi Xian, who remained completely unharmed, but her own beautiful azure wings were already engulfed in crimson flames.

The Azure Bird’s expression did not change; she summoned a seven-colored divine radiance to shield herself, intending to extinguish the flames. But the fire only burned more fiercely. The crimson flames consumed not just her feathers but also her spiritual energy. The more she tried to channel her true essence to put out the fire, the more vigorous it grew. Before long, her wings were racked with searing pain, and the flames began to burn her very flesh.

“What is this thing!” The Azure Bird glared angrily at Changkong Zhuoyu, yet she did not harm him.

Changkong Zhuoyu was the foremost among the nine divine artifacts. Not only could the Azure Bird not harm him, but even if she could, she wouldn’t. After all, the Heaven-Mending Stone was more important than she was. This was the Azure Bird’s logic, and no one could change it.

“The feather of the ancient yao Guiche,” Changkong Zhuoyu lifted his chin proudly. “I obtained it in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley. Just now, I wrapped it with divine power and placed it on Wanqi Xian. When you caught Wanqi Xian with your wings, I withdrew the divine power. The feather of Guiche becomes a calamity upon falling — its fire can burn for three days and nights without being quenched. In the Primordial Wilderness era, a single feather could destroy an entire race.”

The Elder Guiche was not a pure-blooded great yao Guiche, but a descendant with only faint bloodlines. He used the ancient Guiche feathers to forcibly reshape his clan over generations into the appearance of the Guiche, becoming one of the ten elders of the Mystic Fog Yao Valley. After the Elder Guiche bullied his disciple (though it was clearly Li Xinglun who beat up the Elder Guiche), the fiercely protective Changkong Zhuoyu secretly stole this feather while everyone was distracted.

Originally, once the feather left its body, the Elder Guiche should have noticed immediately. However, when Changkong Zhuoyu took the feather, he quietly communicated with the Sacred Yao Spirit, who owed him a favor. The Sacred Yao Spirit cast an illusion to prevent the Elder Guiche from noticing for a time. By the time he realized, he had already lost the power of the yao feather and reverted to an ordinary yao.

Changkong Zhuoyu originally planned to use the feather to burn a demonic fiend should he encounter one. Now that he met the Azure Bird, he conveniently used it to settle a small score on behalf of his disciple. Changkong Zhuoyu was very protective — though his disciple chose to endure and not settle accounts with the Azure Bird, as his master, he still had to reclaim some interest for his disciple.

This was not the flame the Elder Guiche had used against Li Xinglun, but the true divine fire of the ancient yao god. The Azure Bird might be closest to godhood, but she was not a god. Her power, though high among current cultivators, was still insignificant in the face of an ancient great yao. Even a single feather left her powerless.

In this human realm, only one had truly attained the god realm: Changkong Zhuoyu, who cultivated into a human form from the Heaven-Mending Stone!

“Elder Changkong…” Wanqi Xian looked at the Azure Bird with some pity. “Senior Azure Bird, she only…”

“No need to plead for her. I won’t kill her.” Changkong Zhuoyu’s expression gradually turned cold. “My disciple suffered the extermination of his clan, his family seized, and was forced to cultivate the Blood-Severing Art — all because of her. Because of what she did before anything even happened, based solely on a line in the Heavenly Book! Little Xian, you never saw how little Xing was back then, tormented by the loss of his family. If one day Li Xinglun truly becomes a Fallen One, it will be because he was forced, not because of fate.”

Amid the Azure Bird’s shrieks, the firelight reddened the Jade Pool Divine Peak. Wanqi Xian said with a complicated expression, “But… as it stands, you are indeed the Star Lord of Tribulations…”

“Wanqi Xian,” Changkong Zhuoyu looked him in the eye. “Even though I don’t remember, I’ll still use this as an example. Back then, I saved you not because Heaven decreed you shouldn’t die, but because I didn’t want you to die. Now I’m willing to work to save the human realm from catastrophe — not because the ancient gods commanded me to, but because I myself wish to do something for this beautiful world. There is no such thing as destiny. The Heavenly Book is merely an algorithm extrapolating the most probable outcome, not a predetermined one. Do you understand?”

Like the Sacred Yao Spirit, who from the moment she was placed in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley by Nüwa was destined to be absorbed by her successor — yet she refused, and strove for herself. And now, she succeeded in preserving her consciousness. That was her effort, and also Changkong Zhuoyu’s choice.

“This human realm will be fine. I will not be sealed into the Candle Dragon’s body to battle demonic energy to the death as the Heavenly Book claims, and my disciple will not become the sinner who destroys the human realm. This is not as the Heavenly Book records, nor as fate dictates, but the result of mine and my disciple’s effort, the effort of all cultivators in the realm, and the effort of your master, Sect Master Yin. These things cannot be decided by a few words in the Heavenly Book.” Changkong Zhuoyu spoke solemnly.

{Either this is a red flag, or Xue Qianjie has already changed the past sufficiently to allow this wish to become true, while himself dissolving in the demon realm. It would be sad if this is so.}

Hearing his words, Wanqi Xian was stunned. For cultivators who desperately sought to comprehend Heaven’s Order and believed all was predetermined, Changkong Zhuoyu’s reasoning sounded rather heretical. Yet he was the most orthodox of divine artifacts, full of righteous energy, untouched by demonic taint. What made Changkong Zhuoyu stray from his original path was his master, Yin Changkong.

While Wanqi Xian was still digesting Changkong Zhuoyu’s words, the Azure Bird reverted to her true form, screeching as she charged into the heavenly gale. Having resided in the Jade Pool for so many years, it was impossible she hadn’t tried to control the gale before. Though she couldn’t fully command such a terrifying force imbued with the might of heaven and earth, cultivators practiced by channeling spiritual energy of heaven and earth into themselves, so with her cultivation she could at least borrow the gale slightly. The ancient divine fire was indeed formidable, but after so many years without its original owner’s control, it could still be countered.

A burning Azure Bird plunged into the space-rending gale; wind and fire tangled in the heavens. At that moment, Changkong Zhuoyu curled his lips and began rapidly rewriting the formation.

“Elder, my junior brother hasn’t come out yet…”

“He’ll come out soon.” Changkong Zhuoyu said firmly, his hands moving faster and faster as he released incantations.

Just as the formation began to change, a bloody, barely human figure emerged from the wind and fire, holding an iron sword {hello~} in one hand and a plain flag in the other!

“Master!” That bloodied figure let out a hoarse cry, throwing the flag through the air.

Changkong Zhuoyu caught it with one hand, dashed into the formation, scooped up the cross-legged Yin Changkong, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and planted the Plain Cloud Realm Banner into the center of the formation.

The moment the banner entered the formation, the heavenly gale was drawn to it, and the rewritten formation voraciously absorbed its power. A formation that normally couldn’t withstand such might actually held under the main array of the Plain Cloud Realm Banner, absorbing not only the gale but also the nearly featherless Azure Bird.

Wanqi Xian: “…”

As the gale’s power was fully drawn in, Changkong Zhuoyu carried out Sect Master Yin, casually tossed him to Wanqi Xian, then quickly struck eighty-one incantations to complete the formation before turning to tightly embrace the nearly unconscious bloodied figure.

“Master…” This figure had nothing left of its body but black-bright eyes amid a mass of red. Any other cultivator would have long since died, but Li Xinglun was a blood cultivator — he still lived!

Changkong Zhuoyu hugged his disciple with heartache, kissed Li Xinglun’s bright eyes, and said in a trembling voice, “Disciple, your plan succeeded. The Azure Bird has replaced Sect Master Yin as the center of the formation. Given her character, even if she realizes she was tricked, she’ll still hold out for the sake of the Jade Pool divine palace.”

This was the plan Li Xinglun and Changkong Zhuoyu had agreed on when Li Xinglun entered the gale. Even with the Plain Cloud Realm Banner, such a hastily constructed formation could not last long without a main array bearer. After all, the banner was not created to sustain formations like the other three divine artifacts. The best move was to find someone to replace Sect Master Yin. Changkong Zhuoyu himself would not, and Li Xinglun and Wanqi Xian lacked the strength. The most suitable candidate present was the Azure Bird.

But she would never agree willingly.

Familiar with his master’s character, Li Xinglun had simply written “feather, fire, wind, Azure Bird, replacement” in Changkong Zhuoyu’s palm, and the two, almost of one mind, immediately understood each other.

The fiercely protective Changkong Zhuoyu agreed without hesitation. His disciple endured for the sake of himself and the human realm, but as the master, he couldn’t just watch his disciple suffer without intervening.

Almost losing his consciousness, Li Xinglun’s eyes seemed to hold starry seas after Changkong Zhuoyu kissed his eyelids. He wanted to say something, but Changkong Zhuoyu knocked him out {XD} and told Wanqi Xian, “Take your master into the divine palace.”

The two of them carried their injured masters into the Jade Pool divine palace. All the spirit cultivators were on the mountain peak, and for a long time, the only one residing in the divine palace had been the Azure Bird.

Inside the palace, Changkong Zhuoyu laid Li Xinglun on the seven-colored glazed bed, sniffed the air, and began rummaging around.

“Master…” Wanqi Xian, unable to secure the only bed in the palace, had to lay his master on the floor. After checking his condition, he found that Yin Changkong’s strength was almost completely spent, his very true essence nearly depleted. Even if saved, he wouldn’t live long.

Ordinarily, Wanqi Xian might have quietly shed a few manly tears, then settled his master down, given him the best pills to nurse his body, and resolutely shouldered the burden of Kunlun.

But now… Wanqi Xian looked at Changkong Zhuoyu. “Elder Changkong, what are you doing?”

“In the ancient legends, the Queen Mother of the West was most skilled in alchemy,” Changkong Zhuoyu said as he rummaged. “Didn’t Chang’e ascend to the moon after eating her elixir of immortality? The ancient gods left so much behind — I refuse to believe the Queen Mother of the West didn’t leave any pills.”

He lay on top of a cabinet, sniffing around without a shred of dignity. But at this point, Wanqi Xian no longer questioned him. He simply watched silently, waiting for him to create another miracle.

Yes — a miracle.

Changkong Zhuoyu seemed born to bring miracles to those in despair.

Sure enough, after rummaging a while, he came back hugging a pile of porcelain bottles, sniffing each one and tossing it aside, then another and another. After throwing dozens of bottles, his eyes lit up, and he told Wanqi Xian, “This one — restores qi and essence.”

Wanqi Xian took the bottle, shook it — nothing came out.

So he handed it back to Changkong Zhuoyu, not even bothering to think.

Changkong Zhuoyu opened the stopper, sniffed, confirmed there was indeed a pill inside, but why didn’t it come out? Thinking for a moment, he placed the bottle in his palm, gently exhaled true essence into it, and a seven-colored divine pill popped out.

Holding the divine pill in his hand, Changkong Zhuoyu thought for a moment, then casually picked up Li Xinglun’s iron sword and cut the pill into no fewer than sixteen portions, handing one to Wanqi Xian.

“Cultivators’ bodies are too frail; they may not be able to withstand the power of the divine pill. One-sixteenth is enough.”

Wanqi Xian trusted Changkong Zhuoyu. He used true essence to catalyze the pill, pried open Yin Changkong’s mouth, and directly infused the mist-like pill into Yin Changkong’s body with his true power. Then he arranged his master in a cross-legged position, placed both hands on his back, and helped him absorb the divine pill with his own true essence.

Changkong Zhuoyu, holding the remaining fifteen portions of the divine pill, did not give them to Li Xinglun — at least not until Wanqi Xian withdrew his hands and Yin Changkong’s complexion clearly improved, his once-pale temples regaining their black color.

“Elder, the dosage of this pill is indeed perfect. Not only does it replenish my master’s depleted true essence, but it also allows his cultivation to advance another level and even reforges his body!” Wanqi Xian looked at Changkong Zhuoyu with an expression that said: ‘Elder Changkong can do anything.’

However, he then watched in stunned silence as Changkong Zhuoyu stuffed all fifteen remaining portions of the pill directly into Li Xinglun’s wounds.

Wanqi Xian: “…”

Facing Wanqi Xian’s nearly shattered faith, Changkong Zhuoyu said quite naturally, “My disciple is a blood cultivator. His body is different from ordinary cultivators’. He can absorb the power of these divine pills. Besides, he’s all bloodied and even has his eyes closed — I couldn’t find his mouth, so I just stuffed it in wherever. A blood cultivator takes blood as their root; as long as it’s in living blood, it can be absorbed.”

Wanqi Xian, numb after a day of revelations, nodded mechanically, feeling as if he could hear the sound of his childhood ideals shattering.

In Wanqi Xian’s memory, the ten years living in the Kunlun divine formation were joyful and beautiful. Every sunset was a painting. He knew the formation had a spirit, and in his mind, it must be like a dignified father — handsome yet stern, treating him and the other children justly. If he made a mistake, it would scold him severely; if he was hurt, it would cradle him while he was unconscious and gently feed him medicine, frowning and chiding, “How can a man cry just because medicine is bitter?” — yet also giving him a piece of preserved fruit afterward.

But now… all destroyed.

Changkong Zhuoyu was clearly someone with a childlike temperament, who sided fiercely with his own and liked to whimper when upset…

A venerable expert who could joke around with juniors.

Part of his memory was ruined, but the most important part remained unchanged. Even as his illusions crumbled, a faint warmth arose in his heart.

This was the unique spirit of a divine artifact nurtured by the world itself. Just like his outward appearance… beautiful.

Time passed as Wanqi Xian’s impression was broken down and rebuilt. Half a month later, Yin Changkong finally opened his eyes with a rosy complexion, while Li Xinglun… Li Xinglun had already recovered his body and entered seclusion to diligently absorb the oversized dose of divine pill his master had forcibly given him. Changkong Zhuoyu, long used to his disciple retreating to cultivate anywhere, anytime, naturally set up a formation to guard him.

As Changkong Zhuoyu sat before the formation hugging the iron sword, Yin Changkong listened as Wanqi Xian recounted everything that had happened while he was unconscious. Hearing that the Azure Bird had slaughtered Li Xinglun’s family and was now confined within the formation by Changkong Zhuoyu, Yin Changkong couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. “I controlled the formation to keep the Azure Bird from leaving because I was afraid she would become… too fanatical and do something wrong. Yet I still failed to stop him. But perhaps this is for the best.”

After saying this, he looked at Changkong Zhuoyu and asked softly, “You… are the spirit of the divine formation?”

Changkong Zhuoyu, looking at this man who bore the identity he himself greatly desired, felt a little emotional and pouted. “That’s me. But I don’t remember you.”

Unconsciously, his demeanor took on a childish tone — something Changkong Zhuoyu, who usually liked to act profound and important, only revealed before his disciple. Yet now, even toward Yin Changkong, he couldn’t help showing it. This meant that his entanglement with this man must be very deep.

“Your name is Changkong Zhuoyu?” Yin Changkong’s gaze grew even gentler.

“Mm, I named myself.” Changkong Zhuoyu replied coolly.

Sect Master Yin showed a warm smile and softly said to him, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Changkong Zhuoyu was stunned. For some reason, Yin Changkong’s expression made him feel nostalgic.

“I have always relied on comprehending the Kunlun divine formation to cultivate. Every time I went into seclusion, it was within the formation. The formation seemed to know what I was doing — when I secluded myself, it would automatically arrange a formation to protect me.” Yin Changkong’s face was full of fondness. “Every time I emerged, when I thanked the formation, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would grow lively, like a proud child.”

Changkong Zhuoyu: “…”

“I always believed the formation had a spirit. So when I reached the Great Ascension stage, I said within the formation: could it reward me by letting me see what Kunlun’s divine artifact truly was? The formation did not respond, but for some reason, I always felt the wind whisper in my ear: ‘How could someone as great as me appear just because you asked?’”

Changkong Zhuoyu: “…”

If it were the Wanqi Xian of yesterday, even if his master said this, he wouldn’t have believed it. But today’s Wanqi Xian recalled the newly rebuilt image of Changkong Zhuoyu in his mind and nodded firmly. Yes — this was exactly the kind of thing Changkong Zhuoyu would say.

“I tried to communicate with the formation and laid down a formation of my own within it. But mine was soon broken. Then another formation appeared before me — complicated but harmless. If I failed to solve it, I would be sent to the Kunlun sect’s main hall, unable to enter the center of the divine formation. Again and again, I calculated and deduced, and after a full hundred years, I finally solved it. And then… I saw a cloud of white mist. I reached my hand into the mist, and I’m sure I touched the fingertip of a little stone figure.” The smile on Yin Changkong’s face grew even softer. “At that moment, I thought — so this is the Kunlun divine artifact, a little child.”

Changkong Zhuoyu: “…”

As Yin Changkong spoke, the faint memories resurfacing in Changkong Zhuoyu almost made him cry. ‘Why isn’t my disciple awake yet? I want to hug him and cry.’

“What was the white mist?” Wanqi Xian asked.

“It was the spirit of Nüwa,” Yin Changkong said. “The reason Nüwa could create humans was because she bestowed ‘spirit’ upon them. According to myth, at first, she turned most of the ‘spirit’ into mist, wrapping clumps of it around clay figures. Once the figures absorbed all the white mist, they became real humans. Those who first received the spirit were incredibly powerful. But later generations of clay… could only receive a little.”

“But now my white mist is my clothing?” Changkong Zhuoyu asked through tears, puzzled. ‘How did I end up using my spiritual essence as clothing, and even tear pieces off for my disciple as a hat or a hair tie…?’

“‘Spirit’ is neither soul nor consciousness,” Yin Changkong explained. “After seeing the white mist, I returned to the library and consulted the records, eventually finding a note about Nüwa creating humans in a fragment of a Primordial Wilderness scroll. Even if Nüwa was an ancient god, she still only had one soul. No matter how powerful her divine soul was, she couldn’t create so many people just by splitting off pieces of her own mind. ‘Spirit’ is a chance — a trigger to awaken the soul — not something created. Human souls already wandered the Primordial Wilderness. Nüwa merely gave those wandering souls bodies and awakened them with ‘spirit.’ The more spirit one received, the greater the chance and the higher the future comprehension.

The spirit of the ancient gods contains immense power. Once absorbed into the body in sufficient quantity, it can even be used to forge a natal artifact, or gradually absorbed as cultivation. In short, it is an inexhaustible resource.”

Changkong Zhuoyu: “…”

It seemed that Nüwa had left “spirit” in the Mystic Fog Yao Valley too — maybe to aid her future successor, or perhaps to help weaker yao with poor aptitude. The Sacred Yao Spirit clearly gained its consciousness due to the influence of this “spirit.”

An ancient treasure that granted sentience to humans was, in Changkong Zhuoyu’s case, just a beautiful garment that could change at will.

Changkong Zhuoyu: “…”

‘Why do I feel even more like crying into my disciple’s arms?’

[Author’s note: To put it simply, “spirit” is like the golden apple of Eden — it bestows wisdom upon humans, but it doesn’t give them their souls. Humans already had souls. Nüwa gave them bodies to house their souls. As for where the souls came from — the heavens and earth produce and recycle them. After all, in myth, gods also appeared spontaneously. Who knows what they originally were…? Surely heaven and earth grew lonely and created living beings to amuse themselves.]

~ Chapter End ~

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