The Samsara God King's rebirth

CHAPTER 4

“Tianji Hall. Every secret has a buyer.”

The store sign shone brightly under the morning sun.

A few steps into the store, two young men stepped into his path.

“Didn’t you read the sign?” one of them said, his gaze dragging over Shen Wuyin’s worn sandals with open disgust. “Filth isn’t allowed in here.”

Shen Wuyin barely acknowledged them. He turned to the reception counter.

“Good day, miss. I have information on the location of an ancient hidden gem deposit.”

The receptionist leaned forward. She adjusted her glasses, letting them sit low on her nose, then ran her eyes over him from head to toe.

“This is Tianji Hall,” she said, lowering her gaze to his sandals. “False information is punishable by soul sealing. Though your soul isn’t worth the hassle.”

Shen Wuyin shook his head slightly.

“Elegance is all that matters to these mortals,” he muttered in his thoughts.

“Ignore him, Miss Bai Xue. He must have crawled out of some homeless shelter,” one of the young men jeered.

“What a waste of time,” Bai Xue gritted. She raised her glasses and buried her head in the pile of scrolls before her.

“Get out of here!” the young men shouted, grabbing Shen Wuyin by the collar.

Crack!!

Shen Wuyin grabbed one of the young men by the arm and twisted it in the opposite direction.

A screeching cry tore from the young man’s throat, echoing through the hall.

Shen drove his free hand into the young man’s face, smashing his lips shut.

Bai Xue rose to her feet, her eyes blazing.

“You brat!!” She reached for the button beneath her desk, signaling the guards to come in.

The other young man charged, his eyes bulging.

“How dare you hit my brother?” he yelled, driving his knee toward Shen Wuyin’s abdomen.

A translucent barrier rose three inches from Shen Wuyin’s skin, stopping the attack.

Shen Wuyin grabbed the young man’s hand and slammed the two brothers into each other. The cracking sound of the bones sizzled through the space. Their  bodies fell with a dull thud.

Two mid-level cultivators walked in, their arms spread apart.

“Throw that pig back to the slum he came from!” Bai Xue exclaimed.

The guards moved toward Shen Wuyin, before their hands could land, Shen Wuyin seized both of their throats.

“Enough!” a voice rang from the end of the hall.

Bai Xue straightened her posture.

“Elder Tianji Han,” she said, dipping her head.

Shen Wuyin’s grip on the guards tightened, snapping air out of their lungs.

“It seems you are tired of life,” Elder Tianji’s voice echoed from the rare end of the hall.

“Why would I be, when I know the location of the Spirit Jade Crystal?” Shen Wuyin replied smugly.

He lowered the guards and tossed them across the hall.

Elder Tianji moved foward, his brow lifted. He stared at Shen Wuyin for a moment longer.

“Come with me,” he said finally, turning back to the direction he came from.

Bai Xue’s jaw dropped.

“Elder Tianji, he is a fraud,” she said.

Elder Tianji glanced at her over his shoulder. “And if he’s not?”

Bai Xue swallowed hard, returning her gaze to Shen Wuyin.

“You are lucky I don’t have a technique. I would have killed you myself,” she gritted under her breath.

Elder Tianji sketched Shen Wuyin’s description of the mountain where the gem was hidden.

“Mount Runyu,” he muttered.

“I do hope you know what you are saying, young man.” He shifted his gaze to Shen Wuyin. “The Spirit Jade Crystal has been lost for a thousand years and more,” he said, staring at the mountain sketch.

He paused for a few minutes, his gaze still locked on Shen Wuyin.

“Get me this gem, and I’ll pay you according to its worth.”

Shen sucked his teeth, his eyes narrowing. “You speak like a man who honors his word. I’ll take you at it.”

Elder Tianji rose to his feet and called in five high-grade cultivators to join Shen Wuyin in retrieving the gem.

★★

They journeyed nine hours on foot to Mount Runyu. The moon glimmered brightly in the sky, casting its shadow over the mountain’s peak.

The five men sat on boulders around him, their gazes locked on Shen Wuyin.

Shen stood at the center of the summit.

He stomped his feet three times, tracing a circle around himself.

He muttered an ancient phrase, closing his eyes as he gathered qi around him.

A purple glow spread outward in concentric lines.

He clapped his hands, swaying his head twice in accordance with the wind.

The boulders the men sat on lit up in violet resonance.

“Now,” he said, spreading his arms wide.

According to his memory, the gem was supposed to be lowered into his hands.

Seconds passed, then minutes, yet there was no sign of the gem.

The five men burst into laughter.

“What now?”

“Did the spirit jade crystal forget to appear?”

Shen Wuyin opened his eyes.

“Did I miss something?” he thought, skimming through his memory.

“I didn’t miss any step, so what’s going on?”

The men jumped off the boulders, their eyes filled with mockery.

“It still baffles me that Elder Tianji gave you a listening ear,” one of them said, stepping forward.

Shen Wuyin ignored them, tightening his focus on his memories.

“I didn’t miss any step,” he said, lifting his gaze to the sky.

“Urgh, give up already,” the men jeered.

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted from where Shen Wuyin stood.

The men staggered backward as the sound rippled through the mountain, shaking its very foundation.

“What…?”

Before Shen could finish his thought, the ground split open, revealing the head of a massive beast. In the darkness, its dragon eyes snapped open, glowing faintly.

With a thunderous crack, it surged up from beneath the summit, breaking through the earth.

The men immediately turned and fled.