Chapter 43: Black Magic Inheritance

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Black Magic Inheritance

After this day, Hua Xia had finally secured a firm foothold in this world.

After seeing off the emperors and the envoys from the other major families—including the Eighth Prince, who for some inexplicable reason had wanted to stay behind—Shen Yun completely abandoned his image and slumped into a chair.

"It’s finally over."

He took out an incense burner from his pocket as a disguise. Little Nine had long since slipped from his body into the burner, and now, she emerged from it in her humanoid form.

"Rub my shoulders for me. The language of this world is so overly archaic and pedantic; speaking it is utterly exhausting."

"You’ve worked hard, Master." Little Nine’s soft yet strong fingers kneaded Shen Yun’s shoulders. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Would you like me to prepare some hot water? We could take a bath together to soothe your fatigue."

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH." Beside them, Wei Er coughed heavily. Pointing at Shen Yun with an expression of tragic grievance, he said, "We are still here, so don’t go too far! Besides, how could a peak Grandmaster like you possibly feel tired?"

"Can’t I be mentally tired?" Shen Yun curled his lips. Grabbing Little Nine’s tender, white hands, he gently played with them and casually asked, "I can understand why Miao Yun is here, but why did you stick around?"

"I..." Wei Er took a deep breath. The image of Shen Yun firing that Super Electromagnetic Cannon suddenly flashed in his mind. The words on the tip of his tongue changed, and his face filled with excitement. "I wanted to ask how you managed to fire that Super Electromagnetic Cannon! You didn’t see how shocked I was at the time. You are too freaking awesome!"

Fantasy works were completely different from reality. It was absolutely impossible for a normal person to achieve that level of precise calculation and control.

"Because I’m a genius," Shen Yun said breezily.

"I yield, you’re the boss!" Wei Er gave him a thumbs-up. "We’ll be relying on your protection from now on. Whatever you do, don’t be like those novel protagonists who become immortals and ancestors, only to turn their backs on their friends and family."

"Don’t worry," Shen Yun said earnestly.

Even if he couldn’t save the entire world, he would still do his utmost to help wherever he could. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be himself.

"With that massive shot from Great Master Shen, our future work will be so much easier." Wei Er clicked his tongue twice. "Should I call you Brother Cannon from now on? Or maybe... Cannon King? That’s a good one; it perfectly suits your status."

Shen Yun looked at the fat man’s wretched expression and was struck speechless.

He thought, "You’re the Cannon King! Do I look like that kind of person?!"

"If it’s about suiting his status, shouldn’t it be Cannon Emperor?" Miao Yun suddenly chimed in from the side, her large, watery eyes gazing at Shen Yun with admiration. "Being crowned as an Emperor—Fellow Daoist, you are incredibly amazing."

"PFFT... Haha, Cannon Emperor! Hahaha!" Wei Er laughed so hard that his fat jiggled, squeezing tears from his eyes.

Looking at Miao Yun’s bewildered expression, Shen Yun didn’t know what kind of face he should make. This was especially true when he noticed Little Nine snickering secretly as well. He could only grab a handful of Little Nine’s highly elastic thigh from an angle the other two couldn’t see to express his dissatisfaction.

In the end, no one bothered to explain the slang meaning of "Cannon King" to Miao Yun. Once he had laughed enough, Wei Er got down to business.

"You can leave the remaining affairs of this world to me. Master Miaoyun is also not suited to stay here. So, Master Shen, when do you plan to head back? The first Global Cultivator Tournament back on Earth is about to begin soon, and... a slightly unexpected situation has popped up."

"What situation?" Shen Yun was taken aback.

The aftermath in this world indeed didn’t require his personal intervention. However, there were still several days left before the Cultivator Tournament.

"See for yourself. This is the information Earth sent over the day before yesterday." Wei Er handed over a tablet.

Miao Yun shifted her chair and curiously leaned her face in. A video was playing on the tablet.

The footage showed a rather handsome young white Western man wearing black clerical robes, looking solemnly at the camera. The background appeared to be a lavish press conference, with numerous reporters gathered below the stage.

"Cultivation is not the exclusive patent of the Hua Xia people," the man said in an impassioned tone. "In our Western mythology, various forms of Magic, incantations, and miraculous artifacts have always been passed down. If Hua Xia’s myths are real, does that mean ours are fake? No! They are equally real, because I have found the legacy of Black Magic! And I have become the world’s first Black Mage."

Black Magic? Shen Yun was slightly stunned.

But the video continued. A corpse wrapped in a blue plastic tarp was brought onto the stage. The man walked up to the corpse, passionately chanting an incomprehensible incantation.

Immediately after, traces of black Spiritual Power gradually formed a complex Array beneath the corpse, ultimately submerging entirely into the body.

An unbelievable scene unfolded.

The corpse suddenly sat up. The figure beneath the plastic tarp writhed incessantly, vaguely revealing the horrifying sight of dissolving flesh and blood. Some of the more timid reporters had already started screaming, but even more people were applauding desperately. Finally, a pitch-black skeleton pierced through the plastic tarp, crawling out in a bloody mess with two clusters of blue flames burning in its eye sockets.

The atmosphere at the scene reached a climax.

"This is Black Magic—Corpse Resurrection." The man thrust out his fist and clenched it tightly. "This is absolutely not just Hua Xia’s era of Spiritual Qi revival; it is also our era of Magic’s return!"

The video ended amid the screams and cheers of the crowd.

"Black Magic..." Shen Yun asked Little Nine in his mind. "Did you catch anything?"

"That Array..." Little Nine’s voice carried a hint of uncertainty. "It seems to be related to the Heavenly Dao Rules of death. However, I’m not very familiar with that aspect of the Heavenly Dao..."

"Is that so." Shen Yun looked back at Wei Er. "What’s your take on this matter?"

"It’s extremely bizarre," Wei Er gave an unexpected answer. He explained, "When the Spiritual Qi revival first began, countries all over the world went all out to collect antiques and artifacts. But only Hua Xia’s artifacts contained inheritances. Western artifacts, no matter how ancient, never displayed anything miraculous. Coupled with the obvious gap in cultivation talent... we had already concluded that Western legends were truly just legends."

If there really was a so-called legacy of Magic, why had it taken until now to appear? Not to mention, there wasn’t a single shred of information related to the Celestial Tribulation in Western legends. Therefore, this young man’s methods reeked of strangeness.

"Could it be..." Shen Yun asked tentatively. "Another Otherworld?"

An Otherworld represented infinite possibilities, and the Bronze Ancient Hall was an existence beyond common sense. No one could be certain if a second Bronze Ancient Hall might appear.

However, Wei Er shook his head. "Unlikely. We’ve been closely monitoring the movements of countries around the world. If there really was an Otherworld, it’s impossible that only a young man like this would pop out. And now, this guy named John has been appointed by the United States as a top-level government Advisor. He holds an esteemed status and is under heavy protection, as if they truly consider him the savior who can fend off the threat of Hua Xia Cultivators."