I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 66

Previous  |  Next

 Changkong Zhuoyu returned to Kunlun, and Yin Changkong, who had been waiting outside the formation for him, suddenly felt that he was somehow different. That stern face was no longer something he forced himself to wear, but rather...

He had truly grown.

Now, Changkong Zhuoyu carried a fierce and murderous air as he said to Yin Changkong, "Since all Nine Divine Artifacts have appeared, there’s no need to wait any longer. We’ll give the Azure Bird a break — first, we move the treasures and spirit cultivators from the Jade Pool, then I’ll directly break the formation and open the passage between the human realm and the demon realm."

"W–wait!" Sect Master Yin, seeing the urgency in Changkong Zhuoyu’s expression, quickly said, "But right now, most of the cultivators in the realm aren’t ready at all. If we take the initiative to trigger the calamity, can they even handle it? And… why the rush? Even if you don’t want the Azure Bird to keep exhausting her strength and die in the formation, at the very least… you should think of a way to release her properly, shouldn’t you? Li Xinglun hasn’t returned yet."

"He’s always been here," Changkong Zhuoyu said calmly. "He’s never left me — all these years, he’s been protecting me. There’s no such thing as a way to set him free. Hesitation only wastes time. The human realm’s calamity should have come a thousand years ago. He’s bought me a thousand years — I should let him be free."

A thousand years… What kind of person could be trapped in the demon realm for a millennium and still hold the entrance, preventing demonic energy from invading the human realm? The human realm had countless people — there was no need for Li Xinglun to shoulder this burden alone. As his master, having been protected by his disciple for so long, it was time for him to act like a master.

"Who are you talking about?" Yin Changkong and Wanqi Xian were utterly confused.

"Xue Qianjie," Changkong Zhuoyu said through clenched teeth, holding back the urge to cry. "He is my disciple, Li Xinglun. A thousand years ago, he entered the demon realm, and for all this time, it wasn’t the Three Great Divine Artifacts that guarded the human realm — it was him alone. For a thousand years, I’ve felt no invasion from the demon realm. I believe he’s still alive. But there’s only one way to bring him back to the human realm — to open the passage between the realms!"

The revelation was too much for Wanqi Xian to digest. He couldn’t help but ask, "How could anyone survive alone in the demon realm for so long? That would require unimaginable strength — even the ancient gods might not manage it."

It wasn’t that the ancient gods lacked such power, but that anyone with feelings or desires, after so many years in the demon realm, would be corroded by demonic energy, becoming neither human nor demon. The weak would turn into mindless demonic creatures, while the strong would become full-fledged demons, powerful as the ancient gods but stripped of all emotion, left with only slaughter and greed.

Could Li Xinglun… really endure this long?

"That’s why I must bring him out!" Changkong Zhuoyu said firmly. "Right now, both righteous and demonic forces are gathered here. Once you’ve moved the spirit cultivators and the Map of Mountains and Rivers from the Jade Pool, I will trigger the calamity myself. Waiting passively for unknown dangers is cowardice. We must strike first."

Without giving Yin Changkong a chance to refuse, he flew straight to Kunlun’s main hall and used the sound transmission formation there to project his voice across every corner of Kunlun Mountain —

"Hear me, all of you — I am Changkong Zhuoyu. In three days, the calamity will be upon us. Whether you are ready or not, there is no more time. We must meet it head-on — our success or failure will be decided then."

These words instantly threw Kunlun into an uproar.

Elder Yin rushed to find his sect master, pale-faced. "This… the divine formation — no, Senior Changkong, what is he talking about? Weren’t we supposed to have three to five more years to prepare before the formation is broken?"

Yin Changkong had already pieced the situation together. Thinking of Li Xinglun holding the line alone, he glanced at his disciple and understood Changkong Zhuoyu’s feelings. Sternly, he said, "Three days to go to the Jade Pool and bring down the spirit cultivators is already a blessing. Don’t cling to false hopes — all of our peace has been bought by one man’s sacrifice. Move quickly. In three days, whether the Jade Pool is emptied or not, Changkong Zhuoyu — no, the Heaven-Mending Stone — will open the Three Great Divine Formations."

While Yin Changkong still had some time to react, he took the sect master’s token, swiftly gathered Kunlun’s core disciples, and flew toward the Jade Pool, leaving Wanqi Xian and Elder Yin to manage affairs. Elder Yin coordinated with the heads of various sects to set up formations to cleanse the demonic energy that would spill over when the calamity began, while Wanqi Xian led Kunlun’s weaker disciples to other sects, hiding them away — if they couldn’t hold, these disciples would be the hope of the future.

At Tianyin Temple, Master Wuyin already knew much of what he should and shouldn’t know through the Karma Lamp. After a brief exchange with Yin Changkong via voice transmission, he immediately told the temple’s high monks, "Please, brothers, contact every great temple and lay down barriers across the cultivation realm and the human realm within three days. Not a wisp of demonic energy must enter the human world."

"Amitabha." Dozens of high monks rose as one, their expressions serene in the face of life and death, and left Kunlun Mountain bathed in Buddha light.

The righteous sects moved quickly, but other sects were left bewildered — they had no idea what was happening, only that they’d been told the calamity would come in three days. Was this a joke, or the truth? They gathered in the Kunlun main hall and saw Changkong Zhuoyu seated in the chief’s position, exuding a killing aura. Most were sect leaders or important figures in the demonic sects, and while nine-tenths of them had seen him before, a few, oblivious to propriety, stepped forward and said, "Changkong Zhuoyu, I know your strength is profound, but you can’t just sit in Kunlun’s chief seat. Are you planning to lead the cultivation world? Even Yin Changkong, Kunlun’s sect master, may not have the strength to lead all cultivators, yet you — a nameless nobody — dare…"

Before the man could finish, Changkong Zhuoyu flicked his sleeve, and the first person to speak out was sent flying, smashing into the main hall wall, blood covering his face, his life or death uncertain.

"You—" The crowd erupted in anger; some even brought out their artifacts, ready to fight.

"If you still have time to waste on such nonsense before the calamity, whether there’s one more of you or one less doesn’t matter." Changkong Zhuoyu looked down at them from above. "In three days, the calamity will come. I will control the Nine Divine Artifacts to seal the demonic energy. But the demon realm’s miasma is vast, and some will slip through. Be ready to protect yourselves — if anyone is demonized, they will be treated as demons, without mercy."

This time, Changkong Zhuoyu was determined to rescue Li Xinglun from the demon realm as quickly as possible. As for everyone else’s lives or deaths, he had no mind to care. In the past, he would have carefully arranged everyone according to cultivation and mental techniques, matching them by the five elements to form defensive formations, ensuring they could fight together and minimize casualties. Now, his thinking had changed — he was no savior. Cultivation was always a defiance of heaven, with death a constant companion. Every cultivator had a duty to protect their own world.

"Ridiculous!" someone shouted — a cultivator stepping forward and pointing at Changkong Zhuoyu. "Who are you to claim you can control the Nine Divine Artifacts? If the calamity is truly coming in three days, and that fact can’t be changed, shouldn’t we sit down now to decide who should wield them? The Three Great Sects and the Buddhist order can take one each — that still leaves five. We cultivators may not be as strong as you individually, but together, we could control an artifact. When the calamity ends, the ownership can naturally be—"

Changkong Zhuoyu had barely raised his hand to swat this fool when another hand pierced the man’s chest from behind. His body collapsed instantly, his Nascent Soul drifting in confusion, not even aware of what had happened.

The victim’s senior brother quickly collected the Nascent Soul, and the sect’s disciples all raised their weapons against the attacker. "Xuan Minglie, are you trying to start a righteous–demonic war now?"

Xuan Minglie took the cloth handed to him by a subordinate, slowly wiping the blood from his hands. He glanced lazily at that sect’s leader and said, "If I wanted a war, I’d have crushed his spiritual consciousness and pulled out his Nascent Soul to refine into pills or forge artifacts. Leaving him alive was me being merciful."

"Then you—" Were it not for fear of Xuan Minglie’s formidable strength, and the fact that his Heaven-Shaking Peak had brought most of its top experts this time, they would have attacked already.

"Of the Nine Divine Artifacts, my demonic sect holds three. You’re talking about reassigning the other six right in front of me — it’s you hypocrites who are provoking a fight." Xuan Minglie’s eyes held no regard for them at all. Against the Three Great Sects, he might hesitate, but against such a small sect, exterminating them would be effortless. Taking a man’s body and letting him live was already an act of grace.

"Fellow cultivators," that sect master said, eyes bloodshot as he stored away his junior’s Nascent Soul, "the calamity is upon us — do we really intend to fight alongside such villains? Aren’t you afraid of being attacked from both sides? The righteous experts are all here now. With the Three Great Sects leading us, let’s first rid the world of demons, then battle the monsters of the demon realm!"

"Mount Shu will not engage in infighting at this time," Sage Yipin said, holding the Thorn Cutting Sword, with a group of sword cultivators behind him, all exuding a fierce sword aura. "The Twin Swords of Purple and Azure were drawn by Fellow Daoist Changkong. No one in Mount Shu can wield them now — we are willing to entrust them to him. Three days from now, Mount Shu will follow his orders."

"Kunlun as well," Elder Yin said breathlessly, having just arrived. "The sect master has ordered it — all of Kunlun will heed Senior Changkong’s command."

"You…" That sect master was nearly hysterical — why were the Three Great Sects all bowing to this unknown figure? "What about Emei?"

Abbess Miaoxin of Emei stepped forward. She didn’t know Changkong Zhuoyu well, but before coming, the Yin–Yang Mirror had shown his image. She had seen his strength when he resealed Mount Shu’s Sword Tomb with a single strike. Back at Emei, they had gathered all their experts to divine a sliver of hope in the calamity — and the mirror had shown only one figure: Changkong Zhuoyu.

“Emei has no objection. We will follow Fellow Daoist Changkong’s orders. In the face of calamity, the greater good takes precedence.” Abbess Miaoxin was still not entirely convinced of Changkong Zhuoyu, but she trusted the Yin–Yang Mirror. It was Emei’s greatest treasure, equal in standing to the Heaven-Mending Stone in Kunlun or the Twin Swords of Purple and Azure in Mount Shu — its authority was beyond question.

That the three great pillars of the righteous path were all willing to obey an "unknown" man left the smaller sects baffled. The sect master who had been confronting Xuan Minglie looked dazed; they could not understand why.

"Even if the righteous path stands united, what about the demonic sects? Every one of them harbors ulterior motives. Who knows if they won’t betray us at the last moment? Xuan Minglie just injured one of my disciples!" the small-sect master protested in a final bid.

"If Xuan Minglie hadn’t struck, I would have." Changkong Zhuoyu was impatient and could not stand their endless squabbling. "As my subordinate, Xuan Minglie’s action this time was entirely to my liking."

His words set the hall abuzz, but Xuan Minglie and his four Protectors did not refute him. Instead, they bowed deeply and said, "We will obey all commands from the Venerable Lord."

"You… you… he’s the leader of the demonic sects!" The small-sect master was on the verge of madness.

Sage Yipin, an impatient man by nature, had no desire to argue further. With a sweep of his sword aura, he forced the man’s sect to retreat to the edge of the hall, nearly out the doors. "Haven’t you heard? Changkong Zhuoyu went alone to Heaven-Shaking Peak, subdued it with his strength, and secured the pact for the righteous and demonic paths to face the calamity together."

"Who exactly is Changkong Zhuoyu?" the small-sect master shouted in one last show of defiance.

Changkong Zhuoyu did not bother to answer him. He had far more important matters to arrange. Rising to his feet, he released the divine power he had cultivated for tens of thousands of years for the first time.

Divine power was not like true essence or spiritual energy; it was a suppression inherent to the species itself. Cultivators could not withstand it — the weaker ones dropped to their knees instantly, while even the strongest, such as Sage Yipin, could not help but bow their heads, unable to meet his gaze.

Then, a cold, clear voice sounded in everyone’s minds: "I, Changkong Zhuoyu, am the Star Lord of Tribulations in this calamity, once the Kunlun Divine Artifact — first among the Nine Divine Artifacts. I have taken human form in response to the calamity, to unite all beings in resisting it."

Only now did he reveal his true identity before the cultivation world.

The hall fell silent. This was the Kunlun Divine Artifact! Nearly every cultivator had heard tales of Kunlun, the leader of the righteous path, and of its divine formation — the strongest artifact in the realm, which none could control. Yin Changkong had merely comprehended the divine formation for a few centuries and become the foremost cultivator in the world. Elder Yin and Wanqi Xian had also reached the heights of talent by meditating upon it. And now, the artifact itself stood before them in human form — how could they not be stunned?

Even Sage Yipin, who knew Changkong Zhuoyu well, couldn’t hide the admiration in his eyes. Unlike the Twin Swords of Purple and Azure of Mount Shu, which often lay dormant or were used to invite trouble, the Kunlun Divine Artifact was the unshakable pillar of the righteous path — a living legend.

No one doubted his words. The suffocating divine power he had just unleashed was proof enough.

The small sect leader who had been the loudest fell silent. To challenge the Kunlun Divine Artifact was to challenge Kunlun itself — in the cultivation world, that was a death sentence.

Seeing that his revelation had silenced the hall, Changkong Zhuoyu was satisfied. By habit, he turned to look for Li Xinglun, ready to share his pride — “Disciple, didn’t your master impress you this time? I didn’t slip up at all. And my true identity really is that of a great figure — the entire cultivation world’s cultivators are under my command, waiting for me to lead them. I’ve never lied to you."

But… Li Xinglun was not there.

Changkong Zhuoyu froze mid-turn. Thankfully, under the weight of his divine might, no one noticed. There was no one to squeeze his hand and whisper, "Show off later, focus now." No one to praise him without hesitation.

This time, his disciple was not by his side.

He bit his lip and forced himself to turn back. So what if their karma was gone? So what if one cycle of fate had come to an end? He was the Kunlun Divine Artifact, the only artifact in the human realm to take human form and stand at its pinnacle. Without karma, he would forge it anew — he would pull Xue Qianjie from the demon realm, become his savior again, entangle their fates again, and once more be bound to Li Xinglun for life.

Clenching his fists, Changkong Zhuoyu forced down his tears. "Three days from now, I will focus on controlling the artifacts to battle the demon realm’s monsters. As for the demonic miasma that escapes, I leave it to you all to destroy. Demonic beasts are formidable, but demonic energy can still be burned away with internal fire, so long as you avoid being tainted. Send some to aid the masters of Tianyin Temple in defending the human realm — it is the last barrier between the mundane and the cultivation worlds. Do not let a single wisp of demonic energy run rampant among mortals. Destroy any who are demonized, no matter how close they are to you. The human realm belongs to all cultivators — it is not mine alone to guard. The Nine Divine Artifacts have protected it for millions of years. This calamity is for you to defend!"

With that, he flew out of Kunlun’s main hall. There was still much to do in these three days — to decide how to move the Candle Dragon’s body into the Soul-Breaking Gorge, to design the formation that would block the demonic miasma from emerging… and to face what he would do if Xue Qianjie had already perished in the demon realm.

That last was the simplest — if Li Xinglun was gone, then what was the point of Changkong Zhuoyu struggling to keep his human form and consciousness? He had taken human form because of Xue Qianjie, sought a chance at life because of Li Xinglun. Without him, Changkong Zhuoyu would be nothing more than a stone left behind by an ancient god on Kunlun Mountain.

He secluded himself in a side hall for two days. Outside, chaos reigned. Countless sects mingled — some allies, some enemies. For now they still shared a common enemy, but the righteous feared betrayal from behind, and the demonic sects trusted no one. Yin Changkong had gone to the Jade Pool, leaving Elder Yin to manage the crowd, but he was barely holding them together, sweat streaming down his face.

Just then, Yin Changkong returned with a host of spirit cultivators from the Jade Pool.

Elder Yin wiped his brow and hurried to him. "Senior brother, you’re finally back. I… I really couldn’t hold out any longer. It’s too chaotic."

Yin Changkong gave a slight nod, then turned to the somewhat weakened Azure Bird. "Azure Bird Immortal, please have these young beasts seek out Wanqi Xian. Whether spirit cultivator or human cultivator, we must preserve our last strength."

The Azure Bird had been badly played by Changkong Zhuoyu and his disciple, yet there was no hatred in her eyes. As she had said herself, she was the closest being to a god and also the one most devoid of emotion — she had no compassion or pity, but neither did she harbor hatred. She simply did what she believed was right.

"Very well." She gave the order, and a qilin {unicorn} led many young spirit beasts away. Several clutched unhatched eggs — future spirit beasts.

"These cultivators should not be sent to aid the masters of Tianyin Temple," Yin Changkong said, shaking his head. "Guarding the human realm is vital. Could you lead the spirit cultivators yourself, Azure Bird Immortal?"

In her heart, all cultivators could die to stop the calamity, but the young — the next generation — and the mortal world were the foundation of the human realm. Those were what she would guard. To protect them, she could slaughter Li Xinglun’s entire clan without hesitation, or lead the countless spirit and Buddha cultivators of the Jade Pool to their deaths.

"Very well." She nodded again, but this time she gave Yin Changkong a look. "Try not to die. I still don’t understand what you’re thinking."

To her, Sect Master Yin was incomprehensible — he could sacrifice himself just to let the Heaven-Mending Stone become human, could help that stone trick her, and yet also save her from the formation. His resolve to defend the human realm had never wavered, but he still had his own selfish motives.

A cultivator beyond the bird’s understanding.

"If we both survive and the calamity is resolved," Yin Changkong smiled and bowed, "I will take you to see the human world. Though you’ve seen its suffering from the Jade Pool, without living among it, you cannot truly understand its love and hate. If we live, I’ll pass the sect master’s seat to Wanqi Xian and wander the mortal realm with you."

The Azure Bird nodded, spread her wings, and transformed, flying off with the spirit cultivators toward the Buddha light.

With her gone, only the Plain Cloud Realm Banner supported the great formation, trembling on the verge of collapse. If Changkong Zhuoyu reclaimed it, the Jade Pool would fall, bringing disaster to Kunlun.

Yin Changkong took a deep breath and walked with Elder Yin to the still-quarreling crowd. Producing the sect master’s token, he summoned a thunderclap that shook Kunlun Mountain, silencing everyone.

"Scatter everyone according to the five elements, breaking all existing groupings," he ordered. "No two who are close should be placed together. This way, if anyone is demonized, no one will hesitate to strike."

To the arguing crowd, he said, "This is the calamity, not a game. Be prepared to fall at any moment. If we live through this, I will bring out all the immortal wine we brought from the Jade Pool, and we will drink without end."

~ Chapter End ~

Previous  |  Next