This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder
chapter-202

When Tianyi returned to the Descending Immortal Embassy, nothing significant had occurred while he was gone. There wasn’t even new development from Bai Weiwei. She wanted to do something, but the Bright Ascension Sect watched her closely and prevented her from causing any more trouble.

About a week after Tianyi returned, Xia Yushan also returned but did not greet Tianyi or anyone else. Xia Yushan had directly sealed himself in a room. The only noteworthy thing to happen was that a Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation had occurred near the Descending Immortal Embassy. Tianyi attributed it to a disciple who had broken through and didn’t think anymore.

Did he get sudden enlightenment or something? Maybe he’s going to enter the Unity Realm before returning to the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Just as Tianyi thought this, he slapped his forehead.

He had forgotten that Xia Yushan was still in the mid Nascent Soul Realm and not at the peak. Before attempting the Unity Realm Heavenly Tribulation, he had to reach peak Nascent Soul Realm, which was two stages away.

Thinking about it, Tianyi recalled that Xia Yushan was at least thirty years older than him, so Xia Yushan should be at least seventy years old. Tianyi sighed. Xia Yushan was around seventy, but he only looked to be in his early twenties.

Putting appearance aside, Tianyi found it surprising that Xia Yushan was still only the mid Nascent Soul Realm. With each stage of the nascent soul, progress became harder and harder, thus more time. He expected Xia Yushan to be able to reach the Unity Realm before the age of a hundred like Su Wanyu, the previous eldest senior brother or eldest senior sister in her case.

At this rate, Xia Yushan may reach the peak Nascent Soul Realm at most a hundred unless he has a fortuitous encounter. Tianyi blinked as he realized that he had already surpassed Xia Yushan without realizing it. Even with his unique cultivation, Tianyi didn’t have confidence in beating Xia Yushan at the same stage within the Nascent Soul Realm, but it was a different matter if Tianyi was of a higher stage.

I unconsciously ignored that I was of higher cultivation than Senior Brother Xia. Maybe it’s because he was already in the Core Formation Realm before I even started cultivating, so I keep thinking of him as someone in a higher realm. Tianyi rubbed his chin as he recalled another matter. Right, another reason I unconsciously ignored that is because Senior Brother Xia kept calling me junior brother.

Tianyi recalled the words Daoyi and Xi Ri spoke about Xia Yushan at the start of the Demon Slaying Expedition. Is Senior Brother Xia doing this on purpose, or is it to maintain his image as the eldest senior brother?

In the end, Tianyi just shrugged. He respected Xia Yushan and saw him as the role model of a cultivator, one that all other cultivators should emulate. No matter if Xia Yushan was purposely doing this or not, he had yet to cause Tianyi any harm, so Tianyi saw no point in thinking too deeply. Plus, with Lovespot as a comparison, Xia Yushan was practically a saint if that was all he did.

While waiting for the rest of the disciples to return, Tianyi also entered secluded cultivation. By using his Realm Merge ability, Tianyi fused himself with the Vast Heaven Islands again. Slowly, under this state, Tianyi’s cultivation continued to rise along with his understanding of his inner cosmos.

After three months, Tianyi was forcibly brought out of his secluded cultivation by Elder Jadeflame’s announcement.

“All the disciples have returned. I announced the end of the Demon Slaying Expedition!”

The voice was omnipresent. All the disciples could hear it inside their heads and from their ears. Tianyi was still merged with the Vast Heaven Islands at the time, and Elder Jadeflame’s voice wasn’t present within the boundary of the Vast Heaven Islands, but he still received it since he could still perceive outside the domain.

Canceling Realm Merge, Tianyi walked out of the room he had secluded himself in. It didn’t take long for him to find Daoyi and Xi Ri. Standing next to Daoyi, Tianyi gazed at Xi Ri, who was talking to ten other disciples. “Xi Ri is good at making friends as always.”

Daoyi giggled. “Something you should learn.”

Tianyi rubbed his chin. “I want to, but whenever I talk to someone unfamiliar, I go into my young master persona.”

“Well, with your status, you can afford to wait for people to come to you,” Daoyi said.

“Still can’t fix my problem,” Tianyi idly said. “Besides, I feel like they are afraid of me or something. Whenever I go out, they don’t dare come close to me.”

“That’s fine. Xi Ri’s social network is probably a habit he formed before.” The before didn’t need to be explicitly said to be Xi Ri’s life on Earth during the apocalypse. “Mortals cannot fight against the power of nature. The only chance we had was banding together. Social relationships and creating friendship was a very important skill.”

“I can’t recall you making any connection like Xi Ri,” Tianyi said. Unlike Xi Ri, he had never seen Daoyi interacting with disciples and forming a group.

“Our statuses are different. Our target groups are naturally different. My relationships with many of the elders such as Elder Jiao and the fairies from Flower Peak are pretty good,” Daoyi said.

Hearing this, Tianyi recalled that Daoyi interacted with the residents of Jade Peak more than him and his mother. Thinking about it, many of the elders of Jade Peak didn’t speak to him as much, which he only noticed now. “Geez, I feel like I’m way too introverted to not have noticed this.”

Scanning the disciples, Tianyi found that the Buddhist disciples weren’t inside the Descending Immortal Embassy. A little curious, Tianyi looked for Xia Yushan. He could ask Xi Ri, but it seemed that Xi Ri was strengthening his relationships with his fellow disciples, and Tianyi didn’t want to ruin his chance.

Xia Yushan wasn’t that hard to find since he was at the center of the Buzhou Immortal Sect disciples. Tianyi even discovered the top disciples from the participating vassal sects and Daoist Moneybag from the Jade Cauldron Sect. Upon walking closer, he discovered that the mood was quite celebratory.

“Congratulations for attaining a crystal nascent soul, Senior Brother,” Tianyi said with a smile once he was closed enough. He had observed Xia Yushan discovered that entered the Crystal Nascent Soul Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.

When the disciples around Xia Yushan discovered Tianyi walking towards him with Daoyi, they parted a road for Tianyi. During this time, Tianyi’s prowess had spread to the disciples who weren’t present at the battle. No matter where a nascent soul grandmaster who could withstand a true demon’s attack and slay six Unity Realm level demons was special. Perhaps, there may be other nascent soul grandmasters who slew a Unity Realm level expert, but six at once? Unheard of.

“Many thanks, Junior Brother Xi.” Xia Yushan said with a smile. “With any luck, I might enter the Diamond Nascent Soul Stage too within ten years.”

Tianyi blinked in surprise. Maybe he can enter the Unity Realm before he reaches a hundred years old. However, reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm does not mean he can easily enter the Unity Realm. To qualify to enter the Unity Realm, a cultivator must possess the ability to harmonize with heaven and earth.

He internally sighed as he thought of his own plight. He had researched the Unity and World Merging Realm in an attempt to create a new realm for his cultivation method, so he was quite familiar with it. There is no way I can harmonize with heaven and earth. A nascent soul realm’s ability to detect karmic virtue and sin is a manifestation of a cultivator’s connection with heaven and earth, but I can’t even absorb spiritual qi, much less detect karmic virtue or sin. Before, I wasn’t clear, but now I’m a hundred percent sure that the Heavenly Dao is attempting to block my immortal path.

Sigh, what should I do? Will I be able to enter the Unity Realm before the end of my life? Hopefully, I can gain inspiration if I find another of the Ten Heavenly Scriptures. Tianyi’s mind quickly processed his thoughts as he greeted the top disciples. After making some small talk, Tianyi asked, “What about the Buddhists? I do not see them. Are they not returning with us?”

Xia Yushan nodded his head. “I had the same question, so I sent an inquiry to Elder Jadeflame. Elder Jadeflame said that the Buddhists won’t be returning with us. They will return after finishing their business.”

“Eh? I thought their goal was to temper themselves by fighting with the demons like us.” Tianyi muttered.

“I thought so too,” Bing Huoyuan said. “Turns out they had a different objective. No wonder they didn’t join any of our groups.”

“A pity, I was wondering if they could curb my inner darkness, but it seems I shall have to persevere using my will alone. No matter, I shall break through the darkness in my heart.” Hun Jusang said.

As always, Tianyi couldn’t understand him, and it didn’t appear he was the only one who didn’t as a few other disciples schooled their confused expression. After gaining the information he needed, Tianyi continued to converse with the group.

“Daoist Hun, is there something on my face?” Daoyi asked. She had noticed that Hun Jusang was looking at her rather often.

“I seek the truth of the matter. A sparrow told me of you, but upon meeting you, I found myself looking into a fog, so I want to illuminate the unknown.” Hun Jusang replied.

Tianyi’s head just ached from hearing him talk, but after hearing Daoyi’s words, he paid more attention to Hun Jusang. Why was Hun Jusang paying attention to Daoyi?

“Daoist Jun, Junior Sister Jiang is Sword Empress Xi’s disciples, please restrain yourself.” Xia Yushan said, not even hiding the warning in his voice.

“You need not pay any heed to me. Perhaps soon I will be swallowed by darkness, but I have no regret since I have experienced warmth.” Hun Jusang said lightly, causing Xia Yushan’s brows to scrunch even though he didn’t know what Hun Jusang meant.

After that brief conversation, silence descended before Daoist Moneybag took Tianyi to the side and began to discuss his previous offer and broke the silence.

“I need to inform you that in order for the Xiyi Talisman’s communication function to work, they need to have a sort of relay to transmit information..” Tianyi began to inform Daoist Moneybag of the hurdles for his offer.

After hearing everything, Daoist Money showed an expression of contemplation. “How about a trial? If Brother Xi can give me relay tower and some Xiyi Talismans, I can test how profitable it will be.”

Are you sure? What if I use the Xiyi Talismans to spy on your Jade Cauldron Sect? Tianyi thought to himself but didn’t voice. “That sounds agreeable. But I need to make some preparations, so it will have to wait for a while after we return to the Huang Realm.”

“No hurry, no hurry.” Daoist Moneybag laughed in an understanding manner. “Brother Xi must have struck it rich. I know you need to digest your gains. How about this? When you are ready, send a messenger to me, and I will visit the Buzhuo Immortal Sect to discuss the finer details.”

Tianyi nodded. After this, he began to happily discuss with Daoist Moneybag. Most of it was Daoist Moneybag regaling Tianyi with his experiences, such as how he created a merchant company outside of the Jade Cauldron Sect that controlled numerous loose cultivators.

Tianyi paused and looked ‘outside.’ Seeing this, Daoist Moneybag asked, “Is there something wrong, Brother Xi?”

“No, it’s nothing. I just sense that the Descending Immortal Embassy has left the Demon Cage Realm.” When Tianyi and the other disciples first arrived, he couldn’t sense the external movement of the Descending Immortal Embassy at all, unlike now. Is it because of my deepening mastery of the spacetime concept? I wonder how much longer it will take before I understand enough to call it a spacetime law.

“You can even sense this. Your talent in space is amazing. As expected of the Vast Heaven Young Master.” Daoist Moneybag praised.

Tianyi didn’t correct Daoist Moneybag that it was a spacetime concept, something higher than space or time. Thinking back, who else did I tell that I have mastery of a spacetime concept? Perhaps I should start pretending that it’s only space to leave a trump card for myself.

“You overpraise me, compared to true immortals. This little ability of mine is not worth mentioning.” Although said humble words, Tianyi’s quirking lips couldn’t conceal his pride.

After this, Tianyi didn’t talk anymore and focused on the Descending Immortal Embassy’s movement. When the transportation artifact broke through the Demon Cage Realm’s boundary and started traversing through the Vast Void, Tianyi felt he was being assaulted with various information. It gave him a migraine, but it was also a huge opportunity for him.

Tianyi didn’t know when he broke out of his bombardment of information, but he saw Sect Master Xia in front of him when he did. “Little Xi, I heard that you created a marvelous domain treasure called the Vast Heaven Islands. Could you allow me to borrow it for a bit? Don’t worry, I just want to research it. If it is as I expected, you will be richly rewarded.”

Off at the side, Xia Yushan clenched his fist. When the Descending Immortal Embassy finally returned to the Huang Realm, Sect Master Xia entered. Xia Yushan had thought that his master came here to see him and congratulate him, but he was wrong.