So What If You’ve Been Reborn? - CH 41

Chen He had been pranked by the old fellows of Black Depths Valley since childhood, just so you know!

—although he no longer remembered any of it.

At first, they could make the little one cry by making up any old story. But as time went by, whenever the Valley Master stole Chen He’s meat buns, the angry little lump would come all the way to block his cave’s entrance. This made the denizens of Black Depths Valley quite ashamed. If they could not even hold their own against a young child, they would no longer be able to show their faces in public if anyone heard of this!

Gradually, it got worse, and they started making up all sorts of colourful lies.

Those who said Shi Feng was a demonic beast would use camouflage spells to disguise themselves as demonic beasts, feeding Chen He nonsensical tales. They showed off tails, horns, and scales, stunning Chen He into silence.

After realising that this little lump was becoming bolder and would not get scared by tales of beasts and such, some changed their strategies. They would disguise themselves as young, beautiful female cultivators, strutting right up to the little one.

“I am your senior brother’s Dao companion, and I have come to look for him.”

“Where did this child come from? I shall entrust him to you, fellow Daoists, while Shi Feng and I travel the world.”

Then the next day there would be some graceful middle-aged woman who would cling to little Chen He’s plump arm and wail, “My son, I’ve finally found you! You are the only son I have! How could you go off and be a cultivator, come home with Mother!”

And behind them would be Elder Long-Brows, his expression full of pity as he grasped at his fingers and sighed, “Shi Feng, my boy, Chen He’s fate is still tied to the earthly world. Now that his family has found him, you might as well let him go. This child is not destined for the great Dao!”

All this fuss made ten-year-old Chen He cling to Shi Feng’s sleeve, refusing to let go. When they tried to hurry him along, the tears would fall.

The woman then added that Chen He could come back if the family had enough descendants to maintain their bloodline.

It had the little one frightened one moment and relieved the next, and finally, he became wistful and went to sleep in his senior brother’s arms.

With all this nonsense, Shi Feng could no longer stand it.

Even if he stored the jade orbs in boxes, they could only be viewed in the future.

The stories in Black Depths Valley had taken a turn towards things like romance and the ensuing relationships, connections to the earthly world, blood relations—what were they to make of those? With his junior brother’s fate laid out before him, he should not have to think about such things.

People started to panic when they became concerned. Even Shi Feng was losing his common sense—Chen He would forget everything after a night of sleep anyway, so what did it matter even if they wove the most fantastical of lies.

Feeling anguished for the little one, Shi Feng hatched a plan.

He would teach Chen He to recognise camouflage spells!!

The memories would be lost every day, but the cultivation practices hammered into him would always remain. Under Shi Feng’s guidance, the flows of spiritual energy in Chen He’s body would focus on the eyes. Every day, after Chen He woke up, he would view those lying old men with suspicion.

“Big sis, your mouth is so funny when you talk.”

The cultivator silently covered his mouth and spread his hands at the Valley Master. After all, there was a reason why he was unable to make his mouth look that small.

“Auntie, your wrinkles are crooked,” the little one said with a serious expression.

The crying ‘woman’ who was twisting ‘her’ handkerchief instinctively reached up to cover ‘her’ face after a moment of stunned silence.

This shocked the cultivators of Black Depths Valley. This lump of a child had somehow seen through the flaws in their disguises; it was a big test of their acting skills and mystical abilities!

Any random member of Black Depths Valley would be at least Demigod-level.

They had such strong cultivation bases, and they had all been some of the best during their time. Who would have had the time to spare on refining a low-level spell like camouflage?

Only Immortalisation-level cultivators could see past a Demigod-level cultivator’s camouflage spell. Anyone at a lower level, no matter how good their eyesight was, would only be able to tell that something was amiss without being able to see the true form. Hence, Chen He still addressed the cultivator as ‘Auntie’.

But the denizens of Black Depths Valley were most affronted. Playing tricks on children was already an embarrassing thing to talk about, but how could they fail in such a thing! As they worked harder at their camouflage spells, Chen He’s eyesight also became sharper.

By this point, normal camouflage spells no longer worked on Chen He. For example, when they first entered Yunzhou City, many cultivators transformed mundane items into entry passes, but Chen He still saw those ‘entry passes’ as their true forms.

Fox spirits seduced and enchanted people by nature, tempting them with earthly desires.

The eight-tailed fox spirit had already struck a pose, but this one sentence from Chen He was enough to darken his face. Refusing to believe that his innate abilities as a fox spirit had no effect, he continued to speak in a gentle voice, “So you have met many a beauty, young sir. How very impressive.”

And Chen He even nodded and replied, “True, I’ve seen lots (of fake women), it’s a pity I’ve forgotten most of them.”

“…”

The eight-tailed fox spirit had cultivated for thousands of years. He had eaten morally upright people and lecherous demonic cultivators, but he had never seen anyone like Chen He before. Chen He spoke so casually, with such a calm expression, that the fox spirit wondered if this young man was a member of the Mi Sect who cultivated their most esoteric Tantra practices.

“You fearless whelp!”

The fox spirit’s mood changed as quickly as a page being turned.

Fox spirits were skilled in the arts of seduction, and due to their nature, they needed to eat the livers of men. Thus, even the male fox spirits would assume the appearances of enchanting women when hunting for prey. But Chen He’s words had exposed the eight-tailed fox spirit’s disguise, which had taken quite a toll on his self-esteem.

Chen He did not panic. He sat within the barrier, not moving in his spot at all.

—he had been reflecting upon himself while cultivating. Right now, he was not the least bit impatient, and he took in his surroundings without a word.

It came as a surprise to Chen He that the dummies had not been able to stop the fox spirit, much less appear before him. If he had not let Elder Long-Brows leave, he could have had an advantage over the fox spirit.

But since he had already put the label of ‘being careless in Senior Brother’s absence’ on himself during his self-reflection, he accepted this grave mistake with a peaceful heart.

As long as he did not step out of the barrier, Senior Brother would return soon after he sensed that something had happened to the dummies.

“Hurhur, quit dreaming, you whelp!” The eight-tailed fox spirit seemed to have realised Chen He’s intention of stalling for time and waiting for help to arrive. He began to laugh fearlessly. “The thirteen lanes of the western end are all within the dimension fragment. No matter how much time passes inside, it doesn’t amount to much in the outside world. No one can come to your aid.”

As he spoke, the fox spirit put on all sorts of poses. Even with a flat chest, he was still a fox spirit with eight tails. Under the sheer silk, his fair skin and slender figure were full of sensual allure.

But Chen He was staring at the fox spirit’s tails.

Those eight fluffy white tails wrapped around the fox spirit’s legs with the intention of arousing people’s imaginations.

Inexplicably, it made Chen He remember something from his jade orbs. There was a story Elder Long-Brows once told to prank him: Shi Feng is an ancient fox spirit, and in your past life, you were the hunter who picked up his pelt. His fox pelt has been touched by a human, and he can no longer go back to being a fox…

Chen He could not resist picturing Shi Feng with fox tails. The mental image tinged his cheeks red.

The eight-tailed fox spirit was clueless about such thoughts, so he thought he had successfully seduced this young cultivator. While he was celebrating this and preparing to trick Chen He into stepping out of the protective barrier, he suddenly saw Chen He close his eyes and shake his head, appearing so calm that he did not even tremble for a moment.

“What is a dimension fragment?”

“…”

The eight-tailed fox spirit was incredibly frustrated.

This whelp was being protected by an Immortalisation-level cultivator’s dummies, and he was most likely a disciple of a major sect or some incredible cultivator, but he had no idea what a dimension fragment was?

Incensed, the fox spirit slapped the amulets holding up the barrier, causing golden light to flare up.

Chen He immediately judged that the barrier would not be able to hold up for much longer. Without a second thought, he put all his focus into his dantian, attempting to awaken the Stone-borne Flame.

“You’ve been hidden away among the mortals of Yuzhou City. My, it makes me very curious about your background, young sir.”

That gentle voice was enough to make anyone’s heart race.

The eight-tailed fox spirit had been unlucky. Had this been applied to someone else, they would have struggled to protect themselves from being enchanted even if they had not fallen for it. However, Chen He cultivated using the Beixuan Sect’s practices, where one only had to change hand seals if the flow of spiritual energy became unstable. No matter how powerful this fox spirit was, he could only use his voice from outside the barrier.

The eight-tailed fox spirit cursed silently. Such whelps who knew nothing of earthly matters were the worst.

Outside the house, the sun was shining brightly, raising the temperatures higher. Chen He detected a hint of blood in the winds blowing through the window.

“The broken bits of ancient land will appear soon. This barrier won’t be able to withstand the monsters’ attacks, you know. Where will your help come from, young sir?” With a soft laugh, the fox spirit dealt a powerful blow to the barrier, causing the barrier’s amulets to shatter and fall apart.

At the same time, a faint layer of flames suddenly appeared around the silent, unmoving Chen He.

The fox spirit howled as he was about to lay a hand on Chen He. Immediately, he sliced off the hair and clothing that had been touched by the flames.

“True Samadhi Fires?!” After being shocked, the fox spirit finally remembered the rumours about a Stone-borne Flame in Yunzhou a few months ago. This gave him an idea. “I came here to avoid capture; you have a Stone-borne Flame on you, and I can do nothing about that. There are Heluo Sect cultivators lying in wait outside right now. Would you like to lend me a hand, young sir? Compared to a Foundation Establishment-level cultivator like you, I would rather eat those Nascent Soul-level cultivators! I assure you that you will be perfectly safe with me.”

The fox spirit felt that he had made quite a convincing speech. Contrary to his expectations, however, Chen He kicked off from the bed and jumped out of the window.

How dare!” the eight-tailed fox spirit barked. He sent out an immensely powerful strike that could have killed Chen He on the spot if it touched him.

“Die, you villain!” Elder Long-Brows happened to cross over the walls at this moment. Chen He had fled without hesitation precisely because he saw Elder Long-Brows arrive. Naturally, Elder Long-Brows would be able to block the fatal blow coming from behind Chen He.

“Hmph!”

The eight-tailed fox spirit had no intention of facing off with Elder Long-Brows here.

With a flick of his sleeve, he made the courtyard walls crumble, using the smoke and dust to cover up his escape. Through the cracks of the walls, he could see the Heluo Sect members nearby. Since the fox spirit was being pursued by an Immortalisation-level cultivator, he did not have time to take anyone with him. He could only leave behind some malicious words before disappearing.

“The Stone-borne Flame is over here!”

The citizens were scared stiff after hearing the noise. None of them knew what a Stone-borne Flame was.

The Heluo Sect cultivators paused in their tracks and exchanged uneasy looks upon hearing this. It had been odd that Elder Huiji suddenly exclaimed ‘this is bad!’ and ran in this direction; no one had expected the fox spirit to be right this way. And now there was a Stone-borne Flame in the mix?

A young man walked out of the rubble as he brushed dust off his sleeves, followed by a very angry Elder Long-Brows.

After a long while, the Heluo Sect cultivators heard no explanation from Elder Long-Brows, so they could only keep their doubts to themselves.

“I just remembered that the dummies would have been severed from their creator’s divine sense because of the dimension fragment, and I was worried for your safety—why, this cunning creature!” While Elder Long-Brows explained himself, he noticed the sky blurring like a reflection in a pool.

“This is bad!”

Chen He leaped to the top of the tree. The thirteen lanes of the western end were surrounded by thick fog, and the ground shook like a boat on the ocean waves. Suddenly, there came a sharp screech, and a flock of large black birds rushed out of the fog, their curved hook-like beaks stained with blood. They dove towards the ground with their talons outstretched.

The Heluo Sect monks had not been slacking off. They had long since set up defensive barriers around the thirteen lanes.

The black birds’ talons were blocked by the light of the barriers. They gave terrible cries as they hovered in the air, then proceeded to dive one by one, crashing towards the barriers.

“Those are Luoluo Birds. They went completely extinct during the Great Calamity Wars.”

Chen He turned his head and found the Enlightened Tianyan standing on another bough. With a troubled expression, the Enlightened Tianyan said, “Luoluo Birds prey on humans, and they are very persistent. The barrier might not be able to hold them off for long.”

“What can we do?” At some point, Elder Long-Brows had appeared behind them and joined them in looking up at the sky.

Elder Long-Brows received no reply even after a long while. When he looked at them quizzically, he saw Chen He and Tianyan giving him strange looks: You are a senior in the cultivation world, but you’re asking us even when you yourself know nothing?

“…”

Elder Long-Brows also realised something was off.

He gave two awkward coughs. With Chen He who was quick-witted and intelligent, and a young Daoist with a wealth of knowledge, he had somehow forgotten that these two youngsters had not even reached the Golden Core stage yet.

The thick fog ebbed away like the tide, revealing steep cliffs like thick walls all around. Those cliffs were hopelessly barren, with not a single plant in sight.

A flash of silver shot past, piercing through two Luoluo Birds. Black blood spurted forth; the dead birds plummeted to the ground below.

“Who might you be? Lend us your aid at once!” someone bellowed at the Heluo Sect cultivators in the barrier. It was a lone figure atop the cliff, clad in golden armour with a massive bow in their hands.

There were people in this dimension fragment!

Elder Long-Brows was greatly surprised, and he left the barrier at once. When he landed at the top of the cliff and looked around, his expression changed at once: the thirteen lanes of the western end were situated within a valley surrounded by steep mountain cliffs that formed a natural protective barrier. Thousands of ancient cultivators were guarding the place with weapons and magic items in hand, casting spell after spell at the area below.

The plain below was writhing with monsters. Among them were countless fierce beasts of immense proportions, and various large birds hovered in the sky, flying lower than the Luoluo Birds. Altogether, there were even more beasts here than in the Heluo Sect’s ancient records.

Elder Long-Brows’ legs nearly gave way.

How could a hundred Nascent Soul-level Heluo disciples be enough for such a situation? It would take the entire population of Black Depths Valley to put him at ease!