I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 67
No one knew the Demon Realm better than Changkong Zhuoyu.
Tens of millions of years ago, when the demonic creatures repeatedly tried to break through the barrier, he had seen, within the chaos, a sea of blood. In that world there were only two colors — red and black. Innumerable evil beings were born from the sea of blood, only to be swallowed by black mist. They possessed none of the awareness of living beings, only the instinct to invade and devour. Their desire to enter the human realm was not to rule it, but because the small Demon Realm could no longer satisfy their hunger — they wanted to devour more.
These mindless, soulless beings could, once inside a human body, use human intelligence to fulfill their greed. Such terrifying entities must never be allowed to run rampant in the human world.
Yet there was one man who willingly entered the Demon Realm, maintaining his reason amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, battling endlessly with these creatures for a thousand years. In ancient times, Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva descended into Avīci Hell to save all beings; now, Xue Qianjie entered the Demon Realm for Changkong Zhuoyu... Li Xinglun had already given everything he could for Changkong Zhuoyu. Today, even if it meant going against the purpose for which he was created, against the mission Heaven’s Order had given him, Changkong Zhuoyu was determined to rescue Li Xinglun.
"Everything is ready," Yin Changkong said, gazing complexly at the white-robed figure — the Kunlun divine artifact who, with some lingering boyishness, seemed always to preserve a pure and upright heart. At last, under one man’s endless sacrifice, he had grown.
Standing atop Kunlun Peak, his face showed no emotion, as if all feeling had entered the Demon Realm with that man. In this moment, Changkong Zhuoyu seemed no different from the cold-hearted Azure Bird.
"Is that so?" Changkong Zhuoyu said lightly. "Then let’s begin."
He pointed toward Mount Shu, and his palm closed slightly. A clear sword cry rang out — upon the Sword Mound of Mount Shu, a blade that seemed no different from common iron let out a resonant hum. In an instant, all swords sang together. Two streaks of light, one azure and one violet, flew a thousand li in a blink, and on Kunlun Mountain two dragon shadows of azure and purple appeared.
Faster even than the Twin Swords of Purple and Azure was that iron sword, which obediently landed in Changkong Zhuoyu’s palm. The moment he gripped it, it turned entirely crimson, its blade flowing like blood, answering his call.
Once, when he had tried to draw the sword, it had refused to acknowledge him. Now, with his heart aligned to Xue Qianjie’s, it rested meekly in his hand, as if he were its true master.
"Your name is Dripping Blood," Changkong Zhuoyu said. "By blood swear your oath, by your body offer sacrifice, prove the Dao through slaughter, and use evil to defeat evil. Born of mountains of corpses and seas of blood without changing your original heart, guarding the righteous path of the human world through the vicissitudes of time — the first divine artifact forged by a cultivator."
The Dripping Blood Sword, which had never had a name, thrummed at his words. Crimson blood flowed from Changkong Zhuoyu wrist onto its blade. That blood, filled with the power of an ancient god, was absorbed bit by bit until the blade shone like translucent blood jade.
Already tempered by Xue Qianjie, now with Changkong Zhuoyu’s divine blood, it finally became a true divine artifact, humming in his palm with excitement.
"I am not your master," Changkong Zhuoyu soothed the sword, then lifted his gaze toward the heavenly gales of the Thirty-Three Heavens. "He is there."
With that, he swung the sword toward the sky. Blood light tore the heavens, and the Plain Cloud Realm Banner descended from the winds. The heavenly gales lost their bindings and scattered instantly, sweeping toward Kunlun Mountain.
The Dripping Blood Sword dove into the sea of blood and vanished. Changkong Zhuoyu murmured, "Bring him to me."
Already prepared, Yin Changkong took out the sect master’s token. "Activate the Celestial Star Formation."
The Celestial Star Formation was an ancient divine array. Yin Changkong had found its record in the Jade Pool. In today’s cultivation world, no one could lay the same array as in the era of the ancient gods; its myriad functions were lost, leaving only the ability to separate the mortal world from the cultivation world — to keep the demonic creatures from entering the human realm.
Centered on the three great sects, specks of starlight appeared in the sky, forming a net that shrouded all the demonic energy spilling from them.
Changkong Zhuoyu looked up. Countless hideous creatures tore through the sky, flying toward Kunlun, but every one of them veered away from him.
With the Twin Swords of Purple and Azure by his side, and as the foremost of the Nine Great Divine Artifacts, even mindless beasts dared not approach.
Endless hordes surged toward the Celestial Star Formation. Cultivators fought bitterly; when a cultivator was demonized, their neighbor would kill them without hesitation and take their place. Even as corpses piled up, they would not yield a step.
Yin Changkong’s arrangement had its effect: each formation node paired cultivators who bore grudges or opposed one another. Righteous and demonic sects fought side by side without mercy. Soul lamps in countless sects went dark, while oath plaques in Xuan Minglie’s hands shattered one after another.
After this battle, the rift between righteous and demonic sects would deepen. Even knowing it was for the greater good, no sect could easily forgive such slaughter. Yet before this tribulation, all had to cooperate, even if it meant fighting beside those who had just slain their own disciples.
The Celestial Star Formation held for three days and nights. Even with the power of the heavens, the constant battle drained them. Fewer and fewer could fill the ranks, and still the demonic creatures poured endlessly from the three great sects’ seals, with no sign of stopping.
"Why haven’t you deployed the Map of Mountains and Rivers?" called the Emei sect master. "Our comrades here are dead or wounded — we can’t hold much longer!"
Yin Changkong replied, "The demons have not fully left the Demon Realm. Deploying the map now will only alert them, and we won’t be able to catch them all."
"I’ve nearly broken all my swords," the Sage Yipin said hoarsely. "My disciples are gone, my sect is ruined — Shu Mountain will soon live up to my name, utterly impoverished."
"Hmph, at least your mountain gate still stands. My Candle Dragon’s body seems to draw these creatures — they’ve chewed away half of Heaven-Shaking Peak," Xuan Minglie said grimly. He held the Dark Yin Bell, luring the demons toward the peak. Protected by the artifact, he was safe — but the demonic cultivators stationed there suffered horribly, some half-eaten yet still alive, their screams echoing.
"It will take at least two more days," Yin Changkong said reluctantly, "before they’ve all emerged."
"Impossible — we can’t last a day!" the sect masters shouted together.
It wasn’t stinginess; in three days they had exhausted all their stores. The surviving disciples would have to start from nothing, their sect grounds stripped bare.
Yin Changkong said nothing. As the array’s leader, his energy was spent even faster. The Kunlun sect master’s token, passed down for millions of years, had already shattered; only the divine pill from the Jade Pool kept him on his feet.
If demonic energy spilled into the mortal realm, once they saw its beauty, no map could deceive them.
"Heh." A cold voice came through the array to every ear.
Suddenly, a vast force poured into the formation, filling each star position with one or more spirits. The starlight blazed brighter than ever, stronger even than when fully manned.
"Azure Bird!" Yin Changkong’s blood ran cold. "You slaughtered all the spirit cultivators to fuel the array! They were all beings of the Jade Pool — now they’ll never reincarnate! Why—"
"Silence," the Azure Bird said coldly. "The Jade Pool raised them for millions of years — they will repay the mortal realm. I told you: the human world matters most. This tribulation will wash the cultivation world in blood. Heaven wills the mortal realm to flourish — we must follow Heaven’s Order."
"But..." Yin Changkong saw her behind him. "You’ve lived with them for millennia — how can you..."
"You’re all too useless," she said without a trace of emotion. "Do you know why the array lacks power?"
"We can’t summon the true heavenly fire," he said. "Our fire is nothing like that of the ancient era."
The Azure Bird spread her wings, vast in the air. "I am the Azure Bird, before the phoenix, attendant to the Queen Mother of the West. If I burn myself, I can summon true heavenly fire."
He hesitated. She added, "I kept a spark of the Guiche’s fire."
"Azure Bird, you..." As Kunlun’s master, Yin Changkong, who cared for all under heaven, could not understand her lack of mercy — for others or herself.
Life and death meant nothing to her. She saw only the result.
Blue feathers were consumed by flame; the last Azure Bird burned herself. Ninefold heavenly thunder-fire descended to honor her spirit. The Celestial Star Formation became a great net, locking the demons in the cultivation world, not a wisp reaching the human realm.
With the Jade Pool’s spirits all sacrificed, the tide turned.
Three days later, the Demon Realm’s gate ceased spewing creatures, but the Celestial Star Formation was collapsing.
All the while, Changkong Zhuoyu had kept his gaze skyward, but Xue Qianjie never appeared. At last, he closed his beautiful eyes, his expression cold as the Azure Bird’s.
"Nine-Tailed Fox, deploy the Map of Mountains and Rivers."
~ Chapter End ~
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