Chapter 47: Zhao Yang’s ’Opportunity

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Zhao Yang’s ’Opportunity

"N-Nine-Bag Elder?" Seeing the nine tattered cloth bags hanging on the body of the beggar before him—who didn’t look much like a beggar at all—Zhao Yang subconsciously blurted out these three words.

"Boundless Celestial... Demon. To think you know of the Nine-Bag Elders. Does this young friend know our Beggar Gang well?" The beggar looked at Zhao Yang, a faint, ambiguous smile playing on his lips that made Zhao Yang’s scalp tingle with apprehension.

"S-Senior, this junior has indeed heard rumors of the Beggar Gang’s Nine-Bag Elders. I’ve heard that they are all mighty experts of the Celestial Human Realm, unparalleled in..."

"Bah!"

Before Zhao Yang could finish, the beggar rudely cut him off. Looking at Zhao Yang, the beggar’s face was filled with sorrowful indignation. "Which shameless bastard is slandering our Beggar Gang like this?"

"S-Senior." Seeing the rage on the face of this unfathomable beggar, Zhao Yang was on the verge of tears. How was he supposed to know what kind of people the Beggar Gang’s Nine-Bag Elders actually were? Even the claim about the Celestial Human Realm was just a guess made by his acquaintances based on rumors.

Now that he thought about it, the guy who came up with that conclusion was a complete idiot. Even in a Major Sect in the Central State, experts of the Celestial Human Realm were the core foundation of their power. They permanently resided in forbidden grounds and served as ultimate trump cards, never lightly deployed unless the sect faced a life-or-death crisis. A mere gang, even one hailed as the greatest gang in the world, couldn’t possibly have Celestial Human Realm experts filling every Nine-Bag Elder position. The more Zhao Yang thought about it, the more panicked he grew. He hastily opened his mouth to explain.

"Please calm down, Senior! Please calm down! This junior is young and ignorant and mistakenly listened to baseless rumors. I hope Senior will..."

Zhao Yang displayed a very cooperative attitude in admitting his fault. Yet, halfway through his apology, the beggar’s following words rang in his ears.

"Nine-Bag Elders in the Celestial Human Realm? Our Beggar Gang can’t afford to suffer such humiliation!"

Zhao Yang was speechless.

He realized that the beggar wasn’t furious because those rumors seemed intentionally designed to flatter the Beggar Gang to an absurd degree. Instead... claiming that Nine-Bag Elders were in the Celestial Human Realm was an insultingly low estimation of their level! Looking at the beggar before him, Zhao Yang felt a flicker of doubt for the first time.

Even though he couldn’t see through the man’s cultivation realm, and even though the man had silently sneaked up behind him, after hearing the other party boast that patriarchs of the Celestial Human Realm weren’t even qualified to serve as the Beggar Gang’s Nine-Bag Elders, Zhao Yang instinctively couldn’t help but be suspicious.

"Senior... may I dare ask for Senior’s esteemed name?"

"Name?" The beggar glanced at Zhao Yang. "My surname is Guo, and my given name is Jing... Why do you ask?"

"Guo Jing?"

Even though the beggar had grumpily changed the subject at the end, Zhao Yang still caught his full name. However, no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn’t find a single piece of information related to this name in his memory. This caused Zhao Yang’s suspicions to deepen further.

It wasn’t impossible for an unknown person to pop up out of nowhere in this world, but it was incredibly rare for a senior expert of such a high level to emerge without anyone having ever heard of them. Generally speaking, mighty experts who could achieve the Celestial Human Realm usually displayed immense brilliance in their youth. And even if such an expert chose to live in seclusion after becoming a Celestial Being, they would still leave behind their own legends to some extent. But the man before him... the name Guo Jing... Zhao Yang was certain that this was genuinely his first time hearing it.

THWACK!

Right as Zhao Yang was secretly analyzing the situation, a small wooden stick landed soundlessly on the back of his head. The stick clearly carried absolutely no force. It felt as light as a child pulling a prank and gently resting it against the back of his head. But the moment the wooden stick made contact, Zhao Yang felt his mind go blank. For a split second, even his thoughts ground to a complete halt.

Although that sensation—like his whole body had been paralyzed and his thoughts frozen—only lasted for the exact instant the stick landed, it was still enough to make Zhao Yang shudder from the depths of his soul. To influence his thoughts without applying any physical force... this kind of method was something not even an expert in the Immortal Platform Realm could achieve. Only a mighty expert of the Celestial Human Realm, someone who had caught a glimpse of the profound mysteries of heaven and earth as described in legends, possessed the capability to pull off such a feat. Moreover... he hadn’t noticed the slightest thing about how this wooden stick had struck the back of his head. With these two pieces of evidence combined, Zhao Yang’s back was rapidly drenched in cold sweat.

So... was this beggar before him truly a senior expert at or above the Celestial Human Realm? Setting aside whether he was above the Celestial Human Realm, even someone who had just stepped into it would be treated as a living fossil on the level of a patriarch within his sect. And just a moment ago, he had actually been doubting the truth behind such a terrifying entity’s words. That feeling... was like touching the backside of a wide-awake tiger—absolutely thrilling to a terrifying degree! It was so thrilling that he couldn’t help but want to wet himself.

"Boy, I’m talking to you. Why is your mind wandering? What are you thinking about?

"Don’t you know it’s highly disrespectful to be absent-minded in front of an elder?"

Zhao Yang shivered and quickly lowered his head to admit his fault. "This junior wouldn’t dare. This junior... E-Elder?"

Midway through his sentence, Zhao Yang snapped his head up. He stared at the beggar named Guo Jing in utter bewilderment and asked again in a questioning tone, "Elder?"

THWACK!

The bamboo stick in his hand rapped Zhao Yang on the head with measured force. Guo Jing glared at Zhao Yang, frustrated by his lack of comprehension.

"What else would I be? You are just a petty thief sneaking into our Beggar Gang Lingzhou Sub-Branch in the dead of night with malicious intent. Why else do you think I’d waste so much breath talking to you here?" Guo Jing wore a look of indignation. "If I hadn’t recognized the traces of the Celestial Demon Foundation Establishment Method on you, I would have sent you packing to the afterlife long ago with a single Strike of the Proud Dragon Repents."

Zhao Yang was startled at first, but his shock was quickly replaced by joy. He remembered now. The very first thing this senior had said at the start of their encounter was... Boundless Celestial Demon.

"S-Senior, you can recognize this junior’s Foundation Establishment method? Could it be that you..."

Guo Jing shook his head. "I am not." Meeting Zhao Yang’s confused gaze, Guo Jing added an explanation, "Although I am not an elder of your Celestial Demon Sect, I do share deep ties with it."

"Then..." Zhao Yang wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, but he lacked the confidence to press further.

Guo Jing shot him an exasperated glare. "Your cultivation isn’t much to look at, yet your curiosity is remarkably heavy." Despite his grumbling, Guo Jing went on to explain, "Back in my younger days, I had a confidante who hailed from the Celestial Demon Sect.

"It’s just that Rong possessed such peerless talent back then that scarcely anyone in her generation could rival her. Yet, seeing a junior like you today..."

At this point, Guo Jing shook his head with a look of lamentation. "Forget it! Those are all matters of the distant past. Best left unsaid. Best left unsaid."

Seeing the complete lack of enthusiasm on Guo Jing’s face, Zhao Yang couldn’t help but feel secretly ashamed of his own ineptitude. At the same time, upon learning that this patriarch-level expert—who was suspected to be above the Celestial Human Realm—had ties with the Celestial Demon Sect, he began to harbor other thoughts.

"This junior’s aptitude is dull, causing Senior disappointment.

"It’s just that the Celestial Demon Sect has multitudes of disciples. I am merely an inconspicuous, ordinary disciple of the Inner Sect, making it incredibly difficult to receive guidance from the elders. I can only rely on my own understanding to cultivate, so naturally there are some flaws and omissions..."

Noticing Zhao Yang’s embarrassed, hesitant expression, Guo Jing cast a sideways glance at him. "Enough. Since I was dispatched to oversee Lingzhou City and happened to run into one of Rong’s juniors, it can be considered a stroke of fate. I’ll reluctantly offer you some pointers today."

As soon as he finished speaking, Guo Jing’s body floated up out of thin air. He treaded upon the void, walking toward the outskirts of Lingzhou City.

Witnessing Guo Jing’s display of walking on thin air, combined with his myriad of miraculous feats from earlier, Zhao Yang no longer harbored any doubts that the man was a supreme expert above the Celestial Human Realm. And such a senior expert, who had historical ties with their Celestial Demon Sect, was actually going to give him personal guidance today. This fortuitous encounter had come so suddenly that Zhao Yang briefly felt a surge of anxious apprehension, terrified of losing this golden opportunity.

While Zhao Yang was standing there in a daze, agonizing over his sudden stroke of luck, a faintly displeased voice rang out from above his head.

"Keep up."

Jolted back to his senses, Zhao Yang’s heart tightened. He nodded hastily, took flight using Sword Control, and followed closely behind Guo Jing as they flew out of the city.