Life Is a Play, and It's All About Putting on a Show

"To climb Mount Tai is to make the world seem small!"

Seeing the great mountain rising before him, its majestic, vast, and awe-inspiring presence, Li Yu could not help but marvel.

In his previous life, although Li Yu had lived in the same country, he had never seen the Supreme of the Five Peaks with his own eyes. Now that he had come to another world, he unexpectedly had the chance to witness the splendor of the Eastern Peak. For a moment, he felt dazed.

"Hello!"

A burly foreigner over one hundred ninety centimeters tall suddenly appeared beside Li Yu. Smiling broadly, he rattled off a long string of words at him.

"Uh..."

Li Yu helplessly spread his hands, indicating that he did not understand a word.

"I'm Li Xiaoman, and his name is Kade. We came to Mount Tai as tourists. He was saying that your clothes are very unusual. He asked whether you're a religious person—a Daoist, that is."

A beautiful woman with a tall, slender figure and fair skin walked over and explained with a smile.

She was nearly one hundred seventy centimeters tall, graceful and willowy. After Li Yu had become younger, his height had decreased as well. Standing beside him, she was almost taller than he was.

"A Daoist? That identity seems rather useful!"

Li Yu smiled and nodded, making his decision at once. "Heh, this barbarian has some discernment after all. This Daoist, Taishang, has cultivated in seclusion for many years, so I am not well versed in the tongue of barbarians."

"Uh?"

Li Xiaoman froze for a moment, staring wide-eyed at Li Yu. Then she burst out laughing. "You're just a kid, yet you're putting on airs? Taishang? Barbarians? Can you talk properly? Do you even know who Supreme is?"

She looked Li Yu up and down and could not help laughing again. "Look at that outfit! That blue robe isn't even a Daoist robe, okay? And you have short hair—what kind of Daoist are you pretending to be? Which middle school are you from? Are your English grades really that bad?"

"Heh!"

Li Yu smiled indifferently and started walking away. After taking two steps, he suddenly gave a soft "Huh?" He turned back toward Li Xiaoman, slightly furrowing his brow, his expression becoming serious.

"Hm? What is it?"

Seeing Li Yu's expression, Li Xiaoman was taken aback. She looked herself over but found nothing wrong.

"Little girl, meeting is fate. This Daoist will offer you a warning. A baleful aura rests between your brows, and violent misfortune assails your palace. Today, you will surely face a great calamity! This Mount Tai... it would be best not to climb it!"

Li Yu spoke in an old-fashioned tone, looking unfathomable as he gazed at Li Xiaoman with pity in his eyes.

"Hah? You little brat, are you trying to scare me?"

Li Xiaoman put on a fierce expression. "And you called me little girl? I'm at least ten years older than you! Little brat, are you asking for a beating?"

"Alas! Refuse an elder's advice, and you'll suffer for it soon enough!"

Li Yu shook his head and sighed.

"Xiaoman? What are you talking about? Huh? Who is this... unusually dressed boy?"

A well-dressed young man approached with a confident yet refined smile.

"Zhou Yi, come take a look. This boy is quite interesting!"

Li Xiaoman turned to glance at Zhou Yi and called him over with a smile.

"Is that so?"

Zhou Yi walked over, nodding first to Li Xiaoman and Kade before smiling at Li Yu. "Your outfit is quite interesting. It has a strong ancient style!"

So this is Zhou Yi? In the original story, although Zhou Yi was a minor character who merely passed through, he was resolute and shrewd. He would make a very good host candidate!

Li Yu smiled and nodded at Zhou Yi as he pondered in secret.

At this time, the others gradually gathered as well.

"Look! Ye Fan, isn't that anciently dressed boy the one who blocked the road last time? He came to Mount Tai too?"

"Mm! He does look a little like him."

"Huh? Such a heavy baleful aura?"

Now that everyone had arrived, it was time to deepen Zhou Yi's impression of him.

Li Yu deliberately frowned as he swept his gaze over the crowd, then shook his head with a sigh. "So it was destined all along! The Nine Dragons have arrived, and the Emperor's Path is about to open. Has the age of great contention come again? Upon the Emperor's Path, corpses will pile high. I wonder who will be able to reach the summit?"

"This..."

Zhou Yi looked at Li Yu, utterly bewildered. "What are you talking about? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Hm? Imperial aura hidden deep, like a Hidden Dragon in the Abyss!"

Li Yu suddenly raised his head and fixed his gaze on Zhou Yi, his eyes unblinking, as though endless mysteries flowed faintly within them.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Zhou Yi smiled, then turned toward Li Xiaoman. "You were right. This boy really is a little strange!"

Li Yu turned a deaf ear to him and extended his fingers as though calculating something.

"So that's it!"

After a moment, Li Yu stopped calculating and looked at Zhou Yi with a smile. "Your surname is Zhou? The Zhou surname originated from the Ji clan. So you are a Descendant of the Great Emperor. Hahaha! Very good!"

"A Descendant of the Great Emperor? Me? How amusing!"

Zhou Yi pointed at his own nose and could not help laughing.

"The Nine Dragons have arrived, and the Emperor's Path is about to open! The road ahead will be fraught with danger. You must all take care. This Daoist bids you farewell!"

Li Yu affected a formal Daoist salute, then turned and walked away. His long sleeves fluttered, giving him the faint air of a lofty master.

"What did he mean?"

Zhou Yi turned to Li Xiaoman, feeling utterly confused.

"Who knows? Earlier, he even said I would face a great calamity today!"

Li Xiaoman shook her head. "Forget about him. Come on! Let's tour Mount Tai!"

Afterward, Zhou Yi and the others toured Mount Tai. Before they realized it, they had reached Jade Emperor Peak.

The sun was setting.

Standing on Jade Emperor Peak and looking down upon the land, gazing into the distance at the mountains and rivers, everyone felt their hearts open wide. The troubles of life and frustrations of work seemed to vanish like smoke.

"'Once at the very summit, all other mountains seem small.' It truly is so!"

As everyone admired the scenery and sighed in praise, none of them noticed a dark shadow descending from above.

Boom! Boom!

The immense sound of something tearing through the air unleashed wave after wave of sonic booms.

Everyone looked up at the sky in shock.

They saw nine pitch-black dragons descending from the heavens. Behind the dragons, something seemed to be trailing along.

"Dragons?"

At that moment, everyone near Mount Tai who witnessed the scene was dumbfounded. Were dragons not supposed to be creatures of legend? How could dragons descend from the sky?

"Nine dragons?"

Zhou Yi looked up at the nine black dragons falling endlessly from above, and Li Yu's words suddenly came to mind. The Nine Dragons have arrived, and the Emperor's Path is about to open. What that boy said was actually true?

Mount Tai had already descended into chaos.

Countless people screamed and wept in panic, crying out in terror as they fled in disarray.

Zhou Yi and his group were fleeing as well, running frantically in an attempt to escape. Even though Zhou Yi felt a faint anticipation toward the nine black dragons descending from the sky, he was still running.

That thing would not care who you were when it came crashing down.

Rumble!

A world-shaking roar rang out! The nine enormous black dragons, dragging the Bronze Coffin behind them, smashed heavily into the ground. The violent impact shook the earth and mountains, sending dust flying everywhere and fragments of stone spraying in all directions.

"Haha! It's finally here!"

Amid the dust filling the sky, Li Yu walked forward with a broad smile toward the enormous Bronze Coffin dragged by the Nine Dragons.

After activating the resource collection function of the System Resource Library, an invisible black hole appeared around Li Yu. Shockwaves and flying stones vanished the moment they reached his side.

"It's him! What is he doing?"

While fleeing, Zhou Yi turned to look toward where the Nine Dragons had fallen, only to see Li Yu strolling calmly toward the Bronze Coffin.

The violent tremors had no effect on Li Yu. Any flying stone that came within a meter of him simply vanished.

"He truly is no ordinary person!"

Zhou Yi took a deep breath, recalling what Li Yu had said to him.

"Am I a Descendant of the Great Emperor?"

Zhou Yi clenched his fists tightly. Something called ambition slowly began to grow within his heart.