The Senior Brother Who Returned from the Nine Heavens, Sitting at Home While the Pot Falls from the Sky
The Senior Brother Who Returned from the Nine Heavens, Sitting at Home While the Pot Falls from the Sky
Xing Zu.
This name was actually not unfamiliar at all to the ears of many old fossils of the True Immortal Academy. In a certain era, it even represented an existence that inspired dread.
Rumble!
From other directions, fluctuations also came forth—all beings of terrifying seniority within the True Immortal Academy.
Even the hunched, dark old man that Lao Shi had transformed into was among them.
His appearance surprised even the white-clothed girl named Xing Zu.
The expressions of the other old fossils were even more shocked, and they saluted him.
“Greetings, Elder Shi!”
The white-clothed girl bowed slightly toward Lao Shi.
Lao Shi smiled faintly. “Girl Xing, no need for such courtesy. After all these years apart, you’ve grown younger again.”
Hearing this, the white-clothed girl named Xing Zu smiled bitterly. “Elder Shi, please stop teasing this junior. You know as well as I do—with this body of mine, there’s really nothing I can do.”
At that, Lao Shi smiled and said nothing more.
He looked down at the Wondrous Stone below and said, “Speaking of which, this Wondrous Stone and I could be considered of the same root—we’re both stones. It’s just that it has never emerged into the world, and even I cannot see through its origins.”
“Elder Shi jests. If even you say you can’t see through it, then the rest of us have even less hope.” Xing Zu smiled helplessly.
“I’m not making that up.” Lao Shi chuckled.
If not for this reason, he wouldn’t have come to this place at all.
Besides them, this place had also gathered ancient existences from many powers and orthodoxies—there were even quite a few Sacred Emperor Realm beings, nearly all of them coming to observe the Wondrous Stone’s emergence.
For a time, it was practically the focus of ten thousand eyes!
Everyone’s gaze turned toward it!
Crack!
The next moment, that crystalline, resplendent Wondrous Stone suddenly trembled, exuding a profound and mysterious aura. All sorts of Great Dao veins and runes surfaced intermittently, appearing unfathomably mysterious.
Fragments of stone began to fall from it.
Crack after crack appeared across its surface.
Brilliant radiance shone forth, even accompanied by Chaos mist, appearing extraordinarily wondrous.
Mysterious runes, one after another, danced through the air.
In a trance, all living beings seemed to see a mysterious and vast world appear—within it were immortal birds and auspicious beasts, divine mountains and ancient trees, all incomparably ancient.
“This commotion of its emergence is terrifying. Could it really be the offspring of a True Immortal...?”
“Even if it isn’t, it’s probably close... it must have a great connection to immortals. Just this commotion alone rivals the emergence of many peerless physiques... This world—could it be the legendary Nine Heavens?”
“Though I hear that when it comes to emergence commotions, the Gifted Lady of the Wang Family was the most terrifying. Word of it only spread from the Longevity Wang Family recently—it had been well hidden before.”
“After all, she’s the Successor of Mortal Palace, a born Sacred Realm being. There’s really no comparing...”
The crowd chattered endlessly, all eyes fixed upon it, filled with boundless anticipation, shock, and curiosity...
No one interrupted the process. All were waiting for the being within the Wondrous Stone to emerge.
Boom!
And soon, as the final crack split open, Divine Chains of Order shot skyward from within.
Immediately after, a figure could be seen—wrapped in runes, utterly blurred, its true features indiscernible—sitting cross-legged in the center.
And what drew the most attention was the dazzling immortal aura upon its body.
It was like an ancient immortal sealed away in dust for ages.
One could tell this was a man. The garments on his body were incomparably ancient, like something from many epochs past.
But exactly which epoch—no one could say for the moment.
“I’ve finally emerged...”
“This familiar spiritual energy of heaven and earth, these familiar rules of heaven and earth—I’ve finally left that godforsaken place, the Nine Heavens.”
“Three hundred years spent there. It really wasn’t easy. What a torment it truly was.”
At this moment, the man within the Wondrous Stone seemed to be murmuring to himself, his emotions deeply stirred, excited, and full of lament.
His words were also extremely archaic—not the language of this epoch.
Even Lao Shi and the others couldn’t make out what he was saying for a moment.
Faintly, they felt that what he said seemed to be... the Nine Heavens?
This made Lao Shi’s heart jolt. This language—it seemed to come from that Forbidden Epoch long buried by the river of time?
This man—could he be a figure from the same era as himself?
His expression instantly became incomparably complex, all manner of thoughts churning within.
“Finally, I see the light of day again. I just don’t know how much time has passed in the outside world.”
“Three hundred years passed within the Nine Heavens. It shouldn’t have been too long outside.”
The man within the Wondrous Stone was still murmuring to himself, seemingly not caring at all about everyone watching from nearby.
His attention was entirely on the memories in his mind.
Back then, his name was Qin Wuya, and he was the senior disciple of the Borderless Sect.
His talent was outstanding, his master thought highly of him, his junior brothers admired him, he had a little junior sister wholly devoted to the Dao with no distractions, and a gentle Dao Partner who loved him deeply.
Everything was wonderful.
But one day, while out training, he accidentally touched a rift and fell into it.
And that rift led precisely to the most mysterious place in legend—the Nine Heavens Paradise.
Back then, he never imagined he could be so unlucky. Though, the Nine Heavens was also a legendary land that countless people dreamed of—and he had stumbled right into it.
In the Nine Heavens Paradise, he encountered many dangers and many fortuitous opportunities. Life and death walked side by side; fortune and misfortune were intertwined. There he bitterly endured, struggling to survive for three hundred years.
In the end, he found a Celestial Origin Stone and figured out a way to seal himself inside it.
Because the Celestial Origin Stone was the only thing that could pass through the barrier beyond the Nine Heavens and fall into the outside world.
Qin Wuya knew it was the only way he could leave the Nine Heavens.
Only by leaving the Nine Heavens could he go search for his sect, search for his master, his Dao Partner, his junior brothers, his little junior sister—and reunite with them.
So Qin Wuya was sighing with emotion, completely failing to notice the many people nearby sizing him up with varied expressions.
“This bloodline... something seems off...”
Grand Runes flashed within Lao Shi’s eyes, and his brow furrowed. “This aura... it seems to be Human. And a very ordinary Human at that. What’s going on? Could I be seeing wrong?”
The little girl named Xing Zu also nodded, saying doubtfully, “Yes, his aura is indeed Human, and his cultivation isn’t very high either. Could something have gone wrong...?”
They were astonished, finding it somewhat hard to believe.
Because they discovered that after the radiance around the man faded away, he looked... truly far too ordinary.
Aside from his ancient garments, there was nothing remarkable about him at all.
Ordinary appearance, ordinary build, and even his cultivation seemed to be only at the Enlightened Noble Realm.
This was, through and through, a Cultivator so ordinary he couldn’t be more ordinary.
The many phenomena just now seemed to have been caused entirely by the Wondrous Stone itself—combined with the True Immortal Academy’s years upon years of accumulated spiritual energy and materials piled onto it—which created such a grand spectacle.
“This is it? And they said offspring of a True Immortal?”
“Give me a break. What a letdown.”
Among the nearby mountain peaks, many young female disciples were also deeply disappointed. This was completely different from what they had imagined.
“I thought he’d be a man like Young Master Changge, but it turns out he’s like this. This guy has nothing to do with True Immortals at all.”
“If anything, it’s Young Master Changge who seems connected to immortals. Though Young Master Changge is hailed as a True Celestial Being, and that’s not just empty talk...”
Whether young prodigies or old fossils, everyone’s expressions stiffened slightly, unable to believe it.
Under the anticipation of ten thousand eyes, for such a man to appear in the end—the contrast was, more or less, a bit too great.
Compared to the expectations in their hearts, it was a total avalanche of disappointment.
As they say, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
If his cultivation were high, that would be one thing.
But whether in aura or temperament, he had nothing to do with immortals. He seemed more like some lucky fellow who, for whatever reason, had hitched a ride on this Wondrous Stone’s fortune.
“This...”
The Phoenix Lady and Prince Shen, whose expressions had been full of anticipation, also stiffened slightly, never expecting such a dramatic reversal.
“This Wondrous Stone of the True Immortal Academy, said to have fallen from above the Nine Heavens, is somewhat disappointing.”
Prince Shen couldn’t help but shake his head gently, harboring deep doubts about the words “said to be.”
The Phoenix Lady said nothing, but the look in her eyes still betrayed her feelings.
She had thought this would be a formidable rival, only to find in the end that he was truly ordinary to an excessive degree.
Of course, this ordinariness was by the standards of the True Immortal Academy. Placed outside, he would still be a decent prodigy.
“By all reason, it shouldn’t be this simple...”
Lao Shi was still carefully examining Qin Wuya, feeling that this man seemed to hide quite a few secrets.
This cultivation level also seemed somewhat strange. Sealed away for so many years, nourished day and night by all manner of spiritual energy of heaven and earth—it shouldn’t be like this.
Could it be that this man was deliberately hiding his true ability?
And at this moment, Qin Wuya finally came to his senses about his current state and noticed the many people nearby looking over.
He quickly understood in his heart, realizing the crowd’s suspicion and disdain toward him.
But he didn’t care. Three hundred years of life in the Nine Heavens had taught him many truths—keeping a low profile was the hard truth.
Moreover, his actual strength was certainly not as simple as the Enlightened Noble Realm. That was merely his realm from before he fell into the Nine Heavens.
Within the Nine Heavens, his cultivation had soared, and he had also brought back many immortal treasures unique to the Nine Heavens.
So he paid no mind to the crowd’s opinions—unless someone actually came forward to provoke him.
“Next, I just need to figure out where I am now, and how much time has passed since I accidentally entered the Nine Heavens. That’s the most important thing.”
Qin Wuya murmured in his heart, pondering what he needed to do next.
And while the depths of the True Immortal Academy were bustling with excitement, with many prodigies and old monsters gathering and rushing over—
Gu Changge’s figure stood atop another towering mountain peak.
His divine sense, vast as an Astral River, enveloped the eight directions. Sensing nothing nearby capable of detecting him, he relaxed slightly.
“This moment is, for me, an absolutely perfect opportunity.”
The smile at the corner of Gu Changge’s mouth carried a certain depth of meaning.
Then his gaze fell, quickly settling on Ying Shuang, who sat cross-legged with eyes closed in cultivation within a cave dwelling below.
At this time, he didn’t yet plan to move against Ying Shuang, because Ying Shuang still had a purpose to serve by remaining.
It was just that the waters weren’t muddy enough yet.
He needed to secretly lend him a hand.
Then, Gu Changge locked his target onto a secluded forest not far from Ying Shuang’s cave dwelling, though separated along the way by the cave dwellings of several other prodigies.
The mountain forest was tranquil, dotted with rosy light.
Many ancient herbs grew there, dense purple mist bursting from between the cracks in the rocks, steaming up into the void.
Here too stood a cave dwelling, from which fluctuations of aura emanated—clearly, someone was at a critical juncture of cultivation.
Within, a young prodigy sat cross-legged in cultivation, waves of hazy mist rising around him. He possessed a special physique.
He had not the slightest awareness of Gu Changge’s descending gaze.
Weng!!
Atop the mountain peak, Gu Changge stepped forward, instantly flashing away and vanishing into the void.
“You...”
Within the cave dwelling, a horrified, disbelieving voice rang out, then quickly fell silent.
Before long, Gu Changge’s figure reappeared, his expression utterly without ripple.
And that cave dwelling had already fallen into dead silence, without any aura or fluctuation.
Naturally, there was no longer any prodigy within.
Afterward, Gu Changge glanced once more toward the cave dwelling where Ying Shuang was, his smile somewhat inscrutable, and quickly vanished.
“Reporting to Master, the True Immortal Academy’s Wondrous Stone has emerged. However, the prodigy who emerged seems somewhat strange. Though his origins are ancient and mysterious, his cultivation is not high.”
“It seems to be only the Enlightened Noble Realm, which left many people disappointed.”
After returning to his palace, Gu Changge listened to the report of the follower below, somewhat surprised.
“Enlightened Noble Realm cultivation? It drew so many people over, and this is the result?”
He raised an eyebrow.
Gu Changge naturally knew of this news, but had not set out to watch.
After all, he had to take this opportunity to help Ying Shuang “prove” his identity as the Successor of Demonic Arts.
“Yes. At the time, many old fossils and Ranked Disciples rushed over, but all were disappointed. That mysterious prodigy was eventually taken away by the elders—they seemed to have questions for him.”
The follower below reported with a face full of reverence.
Gu Changge nodded, somewhat thoughtful, then waved for him to withdraw.
For some reason, he had a feeling that this prodigy sealed within the Wondrous Stone would not be so simple.
Speaking of cultivation—wasn’t the Enlightened Noble Realm a bit too low for the True Immortal Academy?
And during these days of the Wondrous Stone’s emergence, a piece of news spread from the mouths of many True Immortal Academy disciples, causing a massive uproar!
A young prodigy possessing a special physique had vanished without a sound!
Yes—while cultivating alone in his cave dwelling, he had vanished into thin air, leaving behind not the slightest aura or fluctuation at the scene.
Even the elders who went to trace back the scene found not the slightest clue and were left helpless.
Once this news spread, it shocked many people and triggered no small panic.
Connecting it to recent events, many people instantly linked it to the Successor of Demonic Arts!
After all, many past incidents showed that the Successor of Demonic Arts’ greatest hallmark when striking was precisely picking off prodigies with special physiques, leaving no fluctuation behind.
So, many prodigies and elders, with heavy expressions, reached a conclusion.
Without a doubt, that young prodigy had fallen victim to the poisonous hand of the Successor of Demonic Arts.
And this incident showed that the Successor of Demonic Arts had already infiltrated their ranks, hiding among the prodigies with a changed face—no one knew his true identity.
This matter once again caused enormous sensation and panic. Prodigies with unfamiliar faces all became objects of wariness.
Many elders also began patrols, attempting to ferret out the Successor of Demonic Arts.
“This time you were too impulsive and reckless. You’ve only just entered the True Immortal Academy and you’re already making a move. Though your concealment methods are excellent, doing this now is far too bold.”
“What if someone had caught you?”
At this moment, within a cave dwelling woven with divine radiance, Mo Lao’s figure appeared, speaking to Ying Shuang with a grave expression, somewhat worried.
A prodigy had fallen victim to the Successor of Demonic Arts.
He immediately thought of Ying Shuang—after all, he had personally brought him in. Although Ying Shuang had never displayed the Taboo Demonic Arts before him,
combining all the various incidents and rumors that had occurred before,
Ying Shuang’s identity as the Successor of the Taboo Demonic Arts was inescapable.
And this time, with the Successor of Demonic Arts appearing again, he believed it must have been Ying Shuang’s doing.
That was why he came here—to ask him about it, worried his identity might be exposed.
Hearing this, Ying Shuang’s expression was calm. “I know what I’m doing. There won’t be any problems.”
Though he said this, the fist hidden beneath his robes was clenched deathly tight, filled with fury and unwillingness.
Though it was true that he currently needed the identity of the Successor of Demonic Arts so that Mo Lao would protect him from behind the scenes,
to once again have a black pot inexplicably slammed onto his head—
this still left him furious and unwilling. It truly proved that saying: a man sits at home, and the pot falls from the sky.
He hadn’t taken half a step out of his cave dwelling, yet he had once again become the murderer who secretly killed a young prodigy. And he even had to admit to it.
Was there anything more stifling and helpless in this world?
“In that case, take care of yourself, and don’t be too brazen.”
Hearing this, Mo Lao nodded, set his mind at ease, and then left.
“Damn it...”
“Framing me again!”
After watching Mo Lao leave, Ying Shuang’s expression suddenly twisted into something ferocious, his fury and stifled grievance reaching their peak.