I Might Be a Big Shot — Chapter 7
In the cultivation world, there are two kinds of face-changing pills. One creates a mask of true essence over the face after being taken. Those with a lower cultivation level than the user can only see the altered appearance, and those with a higher level still cannot discern the true face, seeing only a vague layer of spiritual energy. However, this pill loses its effect once the user breaks through to the next cultivation stage, and the original appearance returns.
As for the second kind — rather than a pill, it is more accurate to call it a kind of Gu insect. The user feeds a drop of their blood to the mother Gu, which remembers the user’s original appearance. Then, after ingesting a pill made from the child Gu and activating it with true essence, the awakened Gu travels through the body according to the user’s will and uses its poison to forcibly alter the bones and bloodline, completely changing the appearance. After the transformation, the child Gu leaves the body and returns to the mother Gu. To regain the original appearance, one must either ascend through tribulation with immense power to sever the influence of the original drop of blood, or retrieve the blood from the mother Gu and let the child Gu travel through the body again to restore the appearance.
{Gu - magical parasites, typically called insects or worms, capable of generating various curse-like poisons.}
Naturally, the one Li Xinglun wanted to choose was the second kind.
Only this art could completely conceal his true identity and erase all traces. It was painful, but thorough and final, leaving no room for suspicion.
After hearing Li Xinglun’s explanation, Changkong Zhuoyu frowned and disagreed, saying, “Facing the possibility of never being able to recover your appearance and enduring the pain of flesh and bone being cut — as your master, I truly can’t bear to see you suffer. There’s really no need for this. Why not just keep your own face? With me protecting you, can’t you still walk unhindered through the cultivation world?”
Li Xinglun was already accustomed to Changkong Zhuoyu’s habit of boasting about his strength from time to time, and he had begun learning how to respond to it. “Of course. With Master around, I fear nothing. But when an eagle wants its fledgling to learn to fly, it pushes it out of the nest. I can’t rely on Master forever; that would be too exhausting for you. What I should do is keep growing stronger so you won’t have to worry about anything.”
“…That makes sense.” Changkong Zhuoyu nodded vigorously, convinced, though still worried. “But I still can’t bear to see you suffer.”
“Master, shouldn’t we be worrying not about whether it’s painful, but about whether we can even get this face-changing pill?” Li Xinglun cleverly shifted the topic.
“That’s true. I don’t remember much about the cultivation world — why don’t you tell me where to find this pill?”
“Gu poison should naturally be searched in Miaojiang.” Li Xinglun frowned. “In the mundane martial world there is the Five Poisons sect, while in our cultivation world there is the Hundred Flowers sect. The Hundred Flowers sect is neither righteous nor demonic — they’re not considered righteous cultivators, nor are they part of the demonic path. They simply enjoy raising poisonous creatures and understanding the Dao through poison, but they never take the initiative to harm others. If others don’t offend them, they won’t offend others. If you want Gu poison, that’s fine — but you have to trade for it.”
{Miaojiang [lit. Miao territory] — refers to the Chinese borderlands housing the ethnic minority Miao. Often depicted as a mysterious, exotic, and dangerous place — home to poisons, Gu worms, shamans, and unusual magical practices, emphasizing its “otherness” from the Han Chinese heartlands.}
“Oh? And what do they want in trade?”
“I don’t know.” Li Xinglun shook his head. “The Hundred Flowers sect is very mysterious. No one knows where they’re truly located, and their contact with the cultivation world is also quite interesting — it’s done through the Five Poisons sect. The Five Poisons sect has Three Poison Trials, and only those who pass through them can request a trade. The sect will then state what they want in exchange for the desired Gu poison. That’s why, even though the Hundred Flowers sect rarely appears in the cultivation world, they’re never short of resources.”
“You even have to pass trials? What kind of trials?” Changkong Zhuoyu seemed to really enjoy listening to stories, and he listened attentively.
“I don’t know.” Li Xinglun shook his head again. “I only heard this from the elders of my family; I’ve never experienced it myself. We can only take it step by step. Fortunately, the people who attacked me didn’t use poison at all, and their movements and techniques were completely different from those of Miaojiang — they shouldn’t be from the Hundred Flowers sect.”
“Good!” Changkong Zhuoyu, excited, decided at once. “We’ll go meet the Hundred Flowers sect and see these Three Poison Trials for ourselves.”
Seeing Changkong Zhuoyu’s eyes shining, Li Xinglun’s previously suppressed heart felt a little lighter for some reason. He had once hated the heavens — the Li family had never done evil, and even practiced virtue for generations, yet ended up like this. His heart was truly unwilling. But just as Changkong Zhuoyu had said before, the heavens hadn’t abandoned him. Letting him meet Changkong Zhuoyu at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge had given him a path to survival.
Huh? Thinking about it this way, everything Changkong Zhuoyu had said so far had proven true… Could he really be some big figure?
Seeing Changkong Zhuoyu clumsily tearing at his own robe, Li Xinglun shook his head. He absolutely didn’t believe it!
“Huh? What are you doing?” Seeing Changkong Zhuoyu tear his robe into a swirl of mist and pull it away from himself, Li Xinglun quickly ran over and asked.
“Making you a bamboo hat,” Changkong Zhuoyu said naturally. “I haven’t found my treasure yet and have nothing decent to give you. I can only tear my robe to shield your face. An ordinary bamboo hat can block ordinary people’s sight but can’t stop a cultivator’s divine sense. On our way to get the face-changing pill, we can’t afford any extra trouble, so this will have to do for now.”
Li Xinglun had already witnessed the power of Changkong Zhuoyu’s mist-transforming robe — within the mist, one couldn’t see anything, like being blind. With it, no one could probe him.
This time Li Xinglun didn’t bother saying thanks. He quietly took the mist-formed bamboo hat and put it on his head. Great kindness needs no words of thanks. From the moment he stepped into the mist and met Changkong Zhuoyu, their bond was already beyond words.
When truly moved, Li Xinglun found himself at a loss for words.
Li Xinglun was only at the Foundation Building stage. Flying for a short time was fine, but to fly fast for a long time required a weapon. However, all his magic treasures had been destroyed in the previous massacre, and he now had nothing at hand. As for Changkong Zhuoyu, he was no better — someone who had to tear his robe to make a bamboo hat clearly had nothing either. Master and disciple, they were both pitifully destitute, without a single decent weapon.
“Uh… Miaojiang isn’t too far from here — just a thousand li or so. If we hire a carriage and travel for a few months, we’ll get there,” Li Xinglun tried to comfort Changkong Zhuoyu.
“That can’t be right. With my strength, even without magic treasures, I should be able to cover a thousand li in a day.” Changkong Zhuoyu stroked his chin, frowning in thought.
“Take your time thinking, but please don’t start making hand signs again. Here you can freely draw on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth — no need to worry,” Li Xinglun said helplessly.
Changkong Zhuoyu sat cross-legged, gazing at the sky, his mind blank.
He had a feeling he knew countless techniques, that no one in the cultivation world knew more than he did. But he couldn’t remember them — it seemed unless pushed to the limit, they wouldn’t come to him. The reason he’d remembered that sword technique at the bottom of the Soul-Breaking Gorge was because he’d been desperate to escape, not wanting to remain trapped there forever, and it had flashed into his mind.
But now…
“Why don’t you teach me how to draw on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?” Changkong Zhuoyu asked humbly.
Li Xinglun: “…”
Even though he was used to Changkong Zhuoyu’s ways, he was still stunned that the disciple would teach the master how to cultivate — he was speechless for a long time. In the cultivation world, taking a master was a serious matter, and Li Xinglun had thought it through carefully before choosing Changkong Zhuoyu, taking all his unreliability into account. But he hadn’t expected that even so, he still hadn’t considered thoroughly enough — Changkong Zhuoyu always managed to shatter his assumptions.
He felt that after experiencing Changkong Zhuoyu, nothing could faze him anymore.
Li Xinglun sighed, resigned, and walked over to Changkong Zhuoyu. “Every sect’s mental technique is different, so I don’t know how to help you recall yours. But the method of drawing qi into the body is pretty much the same. I’ll try. I’ll channel my true essence into your body and use my cultivation technique to guide your true essence to draw in qi. Please don’t resist — my cultivation is certainly weaker than yours, and if your true essence rebounds, I’ll either die or be severely injured.”
“Don’t worry,” Changkong Zhuoyu nodded.
The two sat cross-legged, and Li Xinglun placed his palm on Changkong Zhuoyu’s back, feeling a strange sensation arise within himself.
How much trust does it take to let someone inject true essence into your body without any defenses? Did Changkong Zhuoyu really not doubt others at all?
Forget it — in any case, he wouldn’t harm Changkong Zhuoyu. Li Xinglun would just have to keep an eye on him in the future so he wouldn’t trust just anyone.
Pushing aside his scattered thoughts, Li Xinglun slowly injected his true essence into Changkong Zhuoyu’s body, then used the method he was familiar with to begin drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
When Li Xinglun usually meditated to cultivate, he had to circulate his true essence through several cycles in his body, attune to the spiritual energy, and then slowly absorb it. But this time, as soon as he guided Changkong Zhuoyu, the spiritual energy surged into both of them without any prompting — as if the moment Changkong Zhuoyu desired it, the energy responded.
This was not the righteous method of communicating with heaven and earth — it was the demonic path’s method of devouring heaven and earth!
Only demonic techniques absorbed spiritual energy so quickly, because they plundered it outright. That was also why demonic cultivators endured far harsher tribulation lightning than righteous cultivators.
— One gains by permission, the other robs without care. It’s obvious which one Heaven’s Order favors.
And now Changkong Zhuoyu was absorbing spiritual energy at a rate even more terrifying than an ordinary demonic cultivator. Centered on him, a vortex formed within a ten-li radius, and the spiritual energy poured frantically into both of them, while Changkong Zhuoyu began absorbing it with an eerie, strange circulation method.
Only poor Li Xinglun, a mere Foundation Building cultivator, could not withstand such an immense flood of energy. In just the blink of an eye, he was on the verge of being torn apart by the rampaging spiritual energy in his body!
~ Chapter End ~
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