The Ruyi Golden-Hooped Staff

The sky split open, and Chaos surged out.

Across this territory, the earth cracked apart, Lava surged, and terrible power filled the land. The scene was astonishing, as though heaven and earth had reached their end and were about to be buried.

At that moment, Su Ye was like a lone skiff caught in a terrible storm, facing the onslaught. At any moment, the fearsome powers all around him might swallow him whole, leaving not even a trace of his bones.

Yet he did not panic. Instead, his expression was calm, and his bright eyes watched the terrifying calamity taking shape around him.

Everything before his eyes was real. He had already learned as much not long ago, when he fought the black-robed man.

This was an exceedingly strange power.

But it had no effect on him.

Hum.

The Samsara Eye was activated. Profound runes appeared, shining with dazzling brilliance, and two great suns emerged behind him.

They were not real suns, but a pair of eyes. Runes appeared in their pupils and merged with heaven and earth, sending down Auspicious Mist that enveloped Su Ye and shielded him from the strange power around him. He was Immune to All Laws.

Su Ye turned his gaze toward the Bronze Pillar before him. It glowed, and within its radiance, a world appeared. This was a world steeped in Divine Essence, so dense it had become a golden ocean. Auspicious Mist steamed above the waves, and Divine Radiance blazed brilliantly.

Above that golden ocean stood a Divine Temple. Before it stood an old man dressed in a Taoist robe. His face was as handsome as a jade crown, his hair as white as snow, and he looked every inch an immortal.

The Taoist Robe Elder stood with his hands behind his back. He was merely standing there casually, yet he radiated peerless divine might that made people want to bow in worship. Terrible light shone in his eyes, making it impossible to look directly at them.

He was the ruler of this world—not merely this world, but seemingly all ages, standing above all living things and looking down upon the ages.

Su Ye calmly watched the Taoist Robe Elder within that world. There was not the slightest trace of reverence in his expression. Instead, he sized the man up without restraint, then smiled and said, "That's quite an imposing presence, but you don't belong to this world... No, to be precise, you don't belong to this era. You're from an age long past, so your power can't descend into this era."

Though he wore a smile and seemed utterly dismissive of the man, he was in fact deeply shaken. He had never expected the person before him to come from the distant past.

To cross the river of time and descend from the past into the present—this man had to be a terrifying existence. He might even have some powerful trump card up his sleeve.

"Your eyes truly are strange. You can actually see through my true nature. But you're wrong about one thing: I don't belong entirely to the past. I opened a gate between the past and the present, allowing the two eras to connect."

The Taoist Robe Elder looked at Su Ye. The youth before him was extraordinary; he actually dared not to fear him. He continued, "You're quite impressive, young man. I won't kill you. I can even lend you my power, but you'll have to pay a price."

"Heh..."

Su Ye sneered. Even now, the old man still dared to threaten him. Did he really think Su Ye couldn't see through him? He smiled and said, "Let's hear it. What do you want me to pay?"

The Taoist Robe Elder could tell that Su Ye didn't believe him, but he didn't mind. Instead, he said, "First, let me make one thing clear: I don't need living sacrifices or offerings. As for what happened earlier, I wasn't responsible. As you said, I'm inside a special world and can't interfere with the Reality World."

"Can't interfere? Then all this around us..."

Su Ye looked around. The world that had just been destroyed was perfectly fine. It had all been an illusion.

He had actually fallen for it.

Su Ye was instantly horrified. This man was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

"To interfere with the Reality World, I need a medium. Before, that medium was the man you killed. He used the power of faith to draw my power into the Reality World."

The Taoist Robe Elder explained, "Now that I've merged with the Totem Pillar, I'm essentially a special magic treasure. Whether this treasure kills or saves depends on its wielder, not on me."

Su Ye understood, but he didn't fully believe the other man. After all, old monsters like this were experts at deceiving people.

Should he just suppress and seal him?

Come to think of it, did this mean he'd picked up a companion grandpa?

Other people had one hidden in a ring. This one was hidden in a giant club.

But why had he picked up an old man instead of an ancient immortal maiden or goddess? If there were no immortal maidens or goddesses, a witch would do.

"I need the power of faith."

If the Taoist Robe Elder knew he was being rejected, he couldn't have been sure how he'd feel. He continued explaining, "The power of faith is incredibly mysterious. With enough of it, I can draw myself completely from the past into this era and come back to life here. All you have to do is provide me with the power of faith, and I can help you in return. That's a fair exchange."

"Come back to life?"

Su Ye was shocked. Part of it was the other man's method, and part was that he had so readily revealed his goal.

This guy really wasn't easy to deal with.

Su Ye calmed down. The more sincere the other man seemed, the greater his designs probably were. He said, "I'm not going to confuse ordinary people and gather the power of faith."

"Gathering the power of faith through believers is too slow. I have a simpler method: hunt Sacrificial Spirits and seize their power of faith."

The Taoist Robe Elder said.

"You can absorb other people's power of faith too?"

Su Ye was shocked. He knew a little about the power of faith. Put simply, it was a special kind of power, much like a cultivator's magic power. Different Sacrificial Spirits possessed different kinds of it, and they couldn't be combined—just as cultivators couldn't merge their magic power with that of other cultivators. Otherwise, the power would become impure, leading to cultivation deviation.

"It isn't me who absorbs it. The Totem Pillar does. And the power of faith isn't impossible to combine. Powerful faith can absorb weaker faith, purify it, and then devour it.

"This Totem Pillar has an extremely ancient origin. It came from a remarkably powerful Sacrificial Spirit, so ordinary power of faith can be purified with ease.

"To a God, for example, the magic power of an ordinary cultivator isn't an impurity. It's a pure source of energy. Refining and devouring it can be worth days of hard cultivation."

The Taoist Robe Elder explained in detail. Since he had chosen Su Ye, he wouldn't hide anything from him. Otherwise, he would only make Su Ye suspicious. He had to trade sincerity for sincerity.

"An ancient origin, and a powerful Sacrificial Spirit?"

Su Ye frowned and examined the Totem Pillar before him. It was covered in intricate patterns, each one extremely complex. Some were many times more complicated than runes. Even a glance made his head spin.

"I happen to be short on magic treasures. From now on, you're coming with me," Su Ye said. Though he felt the other man was dangerous and might be plotting against him, it would be a waste to just throw the pillar away. With his talent, he'd have plenty of ways to deal with him in the future. "Can you shrink? You're too big to carry."

Hum.

The Totem Pillar shone, then steadily shrank until it was no different from an ordinary copper staff, two meters long and ten centimeters in diameter.

"You really can shrink. You look a lot like the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Staff."

Su Ye's eyes lit up. He gripped the Totem Pillar. It felt a little heavy, weighing a full hundred thousand jin. It would have been difficult for an ordinary cultivator to lift, but it was no problem for him. He swung it, and heaven and earth shook.

Boom.

The copper staff hit the ground, smashing a vast pit into it. That was just raw strength. If he unleashed the staff's power, it wouldn't leave a pit—it would reduce everything to nothing.

"Not bad. From now on, your name is the Ruyi Golden-Hooped Staff," Su Ye said with a hearty laugh.

"..."

The Taoist Robe Elder was speechless. He understood the meaning of "Ruyi," but what did "Golden-Hooped" mean? The Totem Pillar was covered in green patina. What did that have to do with gold?

Su Ye looked at the copper staff in his hand. It felt just right, but its color left something to be desired.

He took out some gold from his clothes, melted it, and spread it over the staff. Before long, the copper-green staff had turned into a gleaming golden rod.

Su Ye gazed at the shining golden rod in his hand, thoroughly pleased. "Now that looks much better. Once I find some golden Divine Gold, I'll have to refine it properly."