This Time, I Want to Do It on My Own

"Refuse? Refuse?!"

Two voices sounded simultaneously within Ye Shu. One was Danxia's—her expression worried, pleading, "Shu'er, this is no time for pride. If you refuse to leave, at least let this master lend you a hand."

The other belonged to Medusa.

Unlike Danxia's gentle tone, she was furious, scolding him hotly, "Y-you...! You're driving me mad! Just wait to get beaten to death by them! I won't lift a finger!"

"Once you're dead, I'll take the child back to the desert."

"When the child grows up and asks about you, I'll tell her her father got himself killed showing off, like a stray dog! You damn fool!"

Medusa cursed angrily.

In her heart, she decided she would let Ye Shu get bloodied and bruised before stepping in, hoping to teach him a lesson once and for all.

But Ye Shu only smiled.

"On this journey, I've had too many patrons—the Lion King in the Monster Beast Mountains, Zhao Zhixia in the Ye Clan, Bingxuanzi in the desert, Lin Heming at the Qingxuan Sect. Every trouble I faced, someone came to save me. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the spoils."

"But this time... I want to rely on myself."

"Shu'er..." Danxia opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but hesitated and fell silent.

For what he said was true.

Every crisis he had faced was resolved by others or deflected by someone else's blade, even if his schemes had orchestrated their aid.

But that was still external help—not his own strength.

Cultivation cultivates the self.

If one never breaks free from reliance on others, how can the Kunpeng soar into the sky?

The heavens grew dim and gloomy. Hundreds of figures stood across the void, with Feng Mengli at the front, her aura deep as an abyss, her gaze as cold as ice.

"Ye Shu, if you still have tricks, now's the time to use them," she said.

"Otherwise, today is your end."

"Hmph."

Ye Shu let out a cold laugh.

"I've never thought I'd die here."

"In my eyes, Feng Mengli—the revered master of the Cloud Sky Sect—is nothing more than a mindless, oblivious, stupid woman."

"You like ganging up on one, don't you?"

He raised the Qingxuan Sword high, and the blade burst into blinding azure light, illuminating the entire mountain peak like daylight.

Then—

Shh—

The world fell into utter silence.

An intangible wave emanated from the Qingxuan Sword, spreading slowly, stretching thousands of miles in an instant.

"Playing tricks!"

An elder behind Feng Mengli snorted. He raised his hand to strike, only to find he could no longer command the world around him.

It wasn't that he had lost his spiritual power.

No—the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had been drained dry.

A stifling discomfort struck everyone present, not fatal but suffocating, like a fish separated from water.

"How is this possible? How?!" an elder questioned, a flicker of shock in his eyes.

Ye Shu didn't answer. He stood holding the sword, its blade flowing with cyan light. The brilliance trickled from the blade along his arm into his dantian.

He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes.

Within his dantian's small world, a hazy mist stirred. The sun sank beyond the heavenly edge, and the creatures on the earth anxiously looked around, not knowing what was happening, only feeling an instinctive unease.

In the night sky, 361 stars flickered with silver light.

The endless mist was devoured by them, and the stars shone ever brighter, until a single cry rang out—

"Waaah!"

An infant's wail echoed through the small world, breaking through the dantian to sound across the outside world.

"An infant soul?!"

Feng Mengli's expression changed.

She hadn't expected the little thief to choose to break through on the spot. Still, in her past life, he had always managed a breakthrough when cornered.

"Doesn't matter," she thought, gripping her sword tightly. "Even if he's just broken into the Infant Soul realm, he's only one man. With this many of us, we could drown him in spit alone."

But she stopped mid-sentence.

Ye Shu opened his eyes slowly. With his right hand, he traced a circle with the Qingxuan Sword, its tip pointing to the ground, and murmured a soft command:

"All stars of the heavens, descend!"

The next moment, golden light split the sky.

One by one, figures emerged behind him—Daoist masters crowned in purple gold and wearing cloud-walking boots, exiled immortals holding dusters with serene faces, and merciful Buddhist disciples with sun wheels glowing behind their heads—pouring forth from the void to stand at Ye Shu's back.

All the stars of heaven, all the multitude of the celestial realm.

Ye Shu lifted his head, a faint smile on his lips.

"Now," he said, "this is what I call fair."