After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

“Cough!”

A vicious light flashed in Celestial Master Jiang’s eyes as he threw himself at the old Pill King without the slightest fear of death.

He knew that even if he died inside the Reincarnation Pill, his real body outside would remain unharmed.

But if he could trap the old Pill King’s consciousness inside the Soul-Seizing Bell—

Ye Chenyan swung his spear horizontally and planted himself in front of the old Pill King.

Before he could even clash with Celestial Master Jiang, however, the entire world trembled again.

“No need to panic.” The old Pill King looked up at the crack spreading across the sky. “I only ever told Du Heng how to open the Reincarnation Pill from the outside.”

“There’s a way to open it from outside?” Yu Qingtang sounded stunned. “If we’d known that, we should’ve brought Senior Brother Du along before we came in!”

“There’s no such thing as knowing everything beforehand.” Qingzhu had never been tied very tightly in the first place. It had only been for appearances. Taking advantage of the chaos, he wriggled free and spread his wings. “Back then, we didn’t even know he wasn’t in seclusion, but trapped inside the Reincarnation Pill.”

The old Pill King sighed softly.

“Opening it from outside forcibly ejects every outsider from the pocket world inside the pill. Afterward, the entire world resets to the beginning and starts over.”

He sounded faintly regretful.

“If no one forcibly breaks it from outside, the inhabitants will continue reincarnating until the pocket world inside the pill eventually collapses.”

Ye Chenyan: “...”

“Now really isn’t the time for this.”

“I know.” The old Pill King looked up. “If the situation weren’t urgent, Du Heng wouldn’t have done this.”

“Still, one warning. When your consciousness returns from the pill world to your physical body, hold firmly to your sense of self. Otherwise, you may experience a brief period of memory confusion.”

The world shook yet again.

Unwilling to give up, Celestial Master Jiang raised his head and tightened his grip around the Soul-Seizing Bell.

...

One incense stick earlier.

Outside the Reincarnation Pill, inside the old Pill King’s chambers.

Yu Qingtang was still dressed in his pink skirt, slumped sideways against Ye Chenyan, who had transformed into a giant wolf.

He looked remarkably peaceful in his sleep.

Senior Qingzhu, meanwhile, was leaning against a low table, just barely preserving the dignity of a lofty expert.

Across from them, the old Pill King remained seated in meditation.

A faint medicinal fragrance drifted from the dragon-headed incense burner before him.

Then a commotion suddenly broke out beyond the door.

Du Heng had already discarded the lavish disguise that had made him look like a gaudy peony in bloom, revealing his true appearance for the first time in a long while.

He had the face of someone who rarely smiled. Combined with his slender frame and handsome features, he carried a faint scholarly air, like the refined young master of some respectable household.

Behind him, no one knew what methods Scholar Xiao had used, but in such a short time, he had managed to contact quite a few of the old Pill King’s former followers within Fire Cauldron Sect.

Most of them had suffered some degree of suppression.

But on the surface, the Tianyuan Pill King had never shown the old Pill King any disrespect. So even if these people harbored resentment, none had openly expressed it.

Yet the wildfires hidden beneath that peaceful facade needed only a single spark to blaze out of control.

“It’s you.”

Guangbai had originally raised his curved blade warily.

When he saw who had come, however, he lowered it again.

“Why are you back?”

Du Heng answered with characteristic brevity.

“To save Master.”

Guangbai glanced back at the door behind him.

“...Master is fine. He is simply still in seclusion.”

“No.” Du Heng shook his head. “Senior Brother Guangbai, trust me.”

“I have to save him.”

“Absurd!” another senior brother guarding the entrance exclaimed, taking a nervous step backward. “The sect master ordered that no one be allowed near the old Pill King’s secluded residence! You—you brought all these people here. What exactly are you planning?”

“Du Heng, you’ve already been expelled from Fire Cauldron Sect. If you trespass here, we have every right to throw you out!”

“Shut up.”

Senior Brother Guangbai frowned, keeping his eyes fixed on Du Heng.

“I can’t open the door. It requires a key. Bajiao has it.”

“Well, about that.” Scholar Xiao tossed the bruised and battered Bajiao onto the ground. “Funny thing—we asked him too. He claims he lost the key.”

“Lost it?” Guangbai frowned in disbelief. “How is that possible?”

Scholar Xiao smiled and pointed toward the door behind him.

“Why not give it a push? If fortune favors us, perhaps the answer will simply fall into our laps.”

Guangbai instinctively thought that was impossible.

Still, he did not refuse.

He reached out and pushed—

and the door behind him opened without the slightest resistance.

Guangbai: “...”

“There should be a barrier inside this door. It can only be opened with the key.”

Scholar Xiao chuckled.

“Perhaps he forgot the key inside.”

“Impossible!” Bajiao blurted instinctively.

Then he met Scholar Xiao’s eyes, shrank back, and promptly shut his mouth.

In truth, he had not forgotten the key inside.

Rather, the strand of Green Fiend Monkey fur in Ye Chenyan’s storage ring had quietly stolen the key at precisely the right moment.

Most likely, even the owner of that Green Fiend Monkey fur had no idea it had happened.

Du Heng strode forward.

“I’m going to wake Master.”

“You can do that?” Guangbai gave him a deep look. “And even if you can, you’ve caused such a huge commotion. If the Tianyuan Pill King comes here, the two of us cannot stop him.”

Du Heng answered simply.

“Every moment counts.”

“Brother Du, you go deal with the pill. I’ll explain!”

Scholar Xiao cheerfully took over the job of talking, showing no concern whatsoever for Senior Brother Guangbai’s intimidating demeanor as he launched into the explanation with shameless familiarity.

“Right now, none of us can handle the Tianyuan Pill King unless the old Pill King wakes up.”

“So our only option is to do our best to lure the Tianyuan Pill King somewhere else.”

“Preferably somewhere we can keep him occupied.”

His eyes curved with his smile as he pointed toward the medicine storeroom.

It was on fire.

Xueyan, the rabbit demon who usually kept a low profile and tried her best to pass as human, ran around shouting at the top of her lungs.

“Fire! Fire! Who blew up their pill furnace? Sparks flew into the medicine storeroom! There are so many dried medicinal ingredients in there—if they catch properly, we’re finished!”

Snowchill followed in a panic and “accidentally” knocked over a Fire Cauldron Sect disciple who had been rushing forward to put out the flames.

Then he grabbed the disciple tightly.

“No! The medicine storeroom isn’t even the worst of it! The treasury where the pill formulas are kept is on fire too! Hurry and put it out!”

“What?!” The disciple went pale. “No one except the sect master is allowed in there! We can’t just—”

“Then what are you standing around for? Go find the sect master!” Snowwarm hurried over with Angelica, pretending to be frantic.

She was even carrying a pot of tea, making a show of wanting to use it to fight the fire.

“What good is tea going to do?” Angelica yanked her back, his eyes flickering. “This...”

Naturally, Snowwarm had never intended to put out the fire.

Her eyes reddened as she lowered her head.

“I’m so stupid. The moment I panic, I mess everything up.”

“But that fire doesn’t look natural. Senior Brother, do you think—do you think bad people might have slipped in during the Pillfire Conference?”

“Could they be trying to steal medicinal ingredients?”

“Medicinal ingredients?” Angelica narrowed his eyes. “Sneaking into Fire Cauldron Sect to steal herbs? Do they have a death wish...”

Then Snowwarm’s words seemed to remind him of something.

“If they dare cause trouble in Fire Cauldron Sect, it must be for something worth taking an even greater risk for.”

His lips curled confidently.

“Not medicinal ingredients! Pill formulas!”

“This is a diversion!”

“I’ll go ask Master to personally guard the treasury and protect the formulas!”

“Be careful, Senior Brother Angelica!” Snowwarm called after him.

She watched until he disappeared into the distance.

Then the worry vanished from her face, replaced by a smile.

“Too clever for your own good.”

Snowchill edged closer nervously.

“Snowwarm, everything’s in chaos. Are you sure nothing bad will happen?”

“How could nothing happen?” Snowwarm looked up. “I think Fire Cauldron Sect is about to change hands.”

“And that’s exactly why this is our chance.”

“Huh?” Snowchill stared at her blankly.

Snowwarm laughed.

“If you don’t understand, think of it this way. Senior Brother Angelica or Senior Brother Xiao from Four Books Academy—which one do you want to help?”

Snowchill answered without hesitation.

“Senior Brother Xiao, obviously.”

“Exactly.” Snowwarm narrowed her eyes. “Whoever treats us well, we repay.”

“Beyond that, who cares who runs Fire Cauldron Sect?”

She glanced at an outer disciple huddled off to one side, making no attempt whatsoever to help fight the fire, and sneered.

“It isn’t just demonic beasts who think that way. Humans do too.”

“Come on. While everything’s in chaos, let’s go find Xueran.”

...

A fire had broken out in Fire Cauldron Sect.

From that single blaze, the entire sect descended into utter chaos.

No one could say how many people had quietly helped fan the flames from behind the scenes.

Most likely, even Scholar Xiao had never imagined his plan would work this well when he first came up with it.

Even so, the Tianyuan Pill King had still sent people to guard the old Pill King.

Scholar Xiao stood outside the chambers and looked up at Senior Brother Guangbai, who was being besieged by several peak Out-of-Body and early Integration cultivators.

His expression was grave.

The Girl in the Bamboo stood beside him and said calmly,

“He’s about to lose.”

“He’s only at early Integration himself.” Scholar Xiao sighed and flicked the folding fan in his hand. “Lasting this long is already extremely impressive.”

“But it isn’t enough.”

The Girl in the Bamboo glanced back at Du Heng.

He sat cross-legged before the Reincarnation Pill, continuously pouring spiritual power into it.

Even then, he had only barely managed to force open a single crack.

His entire body was trembling.

Scholar Xiao turned to her.

“I wonder if Miss Bamboo might...”

“I don’t meddle in other people’s business.” The Girl in the Bamboo calmly withdrew her gaze. “We agreed on that before we came out.”

“Right.”

Scholar Xiao flew upward, caught Senior Brother Guangbai as he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell, then lowered him to the ground.

He stepped forward.

“Guess that means I’m up.”

Senior Brother Guangbai’s breathing was ragged.

He sucked in two breaths and barked,

“Don’t do anything stupid! You’re only at Nascent Soul. How are you supposed to stop them?”

“Can’t be helped.” Scholar Xiao spread his hands regretfully. “Almost every expert from the old Pill King’s faction has been reassigned away from Fire Cauldron Sect.”

“At the moment, aside from Miss Bamboo, I’m the strongest one here.”

The Girl in the Bamboo: “...”

Scholar Xiao smiled and stepped forward.

“Relax. I value my life. I’ll only do what I can.”

“I’m hardly arrogant enough to think I can defeat them across an entire major realm.”

He snapped open his folding fan and chuckled softly.

“I just want to hold them back for one step.”

An overwhelming pressure suddenly crashed down from the sky.

The smile vanished instantly from Scholar Xiao’s face.

He clicked his tongue.

“Well, that’s bad.”

The Tianyuan Pill King stood in midair with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down as though upon ants.

“He’s almost at Mahayana, isn’t he?” Scholar Xiao rubbed the edge of his folding fan against his forehead and sighed helplessly. “Against someone that powerful, I probably can’t even hold him back for a single moment.”

The Tianyuan Pill King looked down at him.

“You’re the boy from Four Books Academy. I remember you.”

“An honor.” Scholar Xiao hurriedly bowed.

“You came to my Fire Cauldron Sect and caused all this chaos.” A trace of anger appeared on the Tianyuan Pill King’s usually benevolent face. “Even Wen Tianxia won’t be able to protect you when he hears of this.”

“Hmph! Ignorant junior! Step aside!”

“Oh dear.” Scholar Xiao tapped his folding fan against his palm in regret. “I didn’t actually come here specifically to cause trouble. I’m not even sure how things ended up like this.”

The Tianyuan Pill King narrowed his eyes.

“I know disciples of Four Books Academy are silver-tongued, but I have no interest in hearing your explanation right now.”

“You are Wen Tianxia’s personal disciple. Step aside now, and I can still pretend you had nothing to do with any of this.”

“You can do that?” Scholar Xiao looked genuinely surprised.

The Girl in the Bamboo slowly turned her head toward him.

Meeting her gaze, Scholar Xiao smiled.

“Don’t look at me like that, Miss Bamboo. You know how it is.”

“A wise man knows when to yield. I’ve always been a clever man.”

The Tianyuan Pill King gave a slight nod.

“In that case—”

“Unfortunately...”

Scholar Xiao’s eyes curved with his smile.

“I have a few friends who were apparently born without that kind of good sense.”

“Tianyuan Pill King, we disciples of Four Books Academy are terribly curious people.”

“Once we set our sights on something, we don’t stop until we get our answer.”

He raised his eyes.

“I want to know exactly how strong the acting sect master of Fire Cauldron Sect is now.”

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