After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Ye Chenyan was openly hostile toward Ji Ruxue, keeping hold of Yu Qingtang and refusing to let him get anywhere near her.

Ji Ruxue did not seem particularly good at explaining herself either. After a moment of silence, she said, “This place is dangerous. You shouldn’t go any deeper.”

Yu Qingtang surveyed their surroundings.

Ji Ruxue’s rings were extremely effective. The mist had already vanished, and the shadowy figure was nowhere to be seen. There was no telling whether it had truly disappeared or whether it had only been an illusion meant to stop them from advancing.

After all, they still hadn’t actually seen a real otherworldly evil demon yet.

Ye Chenyan stared coldly at Ji Ruxue.

“That has nothing to do with you.”

“What are you doing here? What is the Esoteric Sect plotting this time?”

“Saving someone.” Ji Ruxue’s gaze settled on Yu Qingtang. “The time has not yet come. You shouldn’t be here.”

Yu Qingtang froze.

“Huh? Me again?”

His eyes widened in disbelief.

“Hasn’t the Esoteric Sect updated its information yet? This has nothing to do with me! I’m not some Born Supreme!”

He pointed at Ye Chenyan, indicating that Ji Ruxue ought to take a good look at the actual overpowered protagonist standing right in front of her.

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow and caught Yu Qingtang’s pointing finger in his hand, his gaze never leaving Ji Ruxue.

Ji Ruxue said nothing.

She had never been good at communicating to begin with, much less dealing with openly unfriendly outsiders. All she could do was stand quietly a short distance away and watch them.

Tu Jiaojiao looked thoughtful before asking bluntly, “Does the Esoteric Sect know this place is connected to otherworldly evil demons?”

Ji Ruxue went still.

“You...”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but her reaction already said everything.

“If you already know that, then you have even less reason to keep going.”

“We’re leaving.” Ye Chenyan ignored her and turned around. “Anyone who wants the Esoteric Sect’s protection can leave with their holy maiden.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

A few people’s expressions flickered, but no one spoke.

“You...” Ji Ruxue looked helpless.

She clearly had no idea how anyone could be this impossible to persuade. In the end, she could only follow behind them at a neither-near-nor-far distance.

Yu Qingtang glanced back.

Feeling a little bad for her, he tugged at Ye Chenyan’s sleeve.

“She looks kind of pitiful.”

“It’s not like she decides how the Esoteric Sect operates. We should judge the matter, not the person...”

Ye Chenyan covered his eyes.

“Don’t look.”

“She could be pretending to be pitiful. Maybe she knows you’re softhearted and is putting on an act just for you.”

Yu Qingtang: “...If she were putting on an act, she’d be doing it for you. Don’t dump that blame on me.”

Ye Chenyan smiled at him.

It was not a particularly friendly smile.

“Brother Yu, you really have no idea how likable you are.”

His voice turned cool.

“If I weren’t keeping an eye on you, who knows how many people would—”

Yu Qingtang clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

He lowered his voice.

“Your mother is from the Esoteric Sect too. You can’t be that prejudiced against all of them.”

Ye Chenyan’s expression became subtly complicated.

His hostility eased a little, though he still turned his face away.

“Strictly speaking, she’s your junior,” Yu Qingtang lectured earnestly. “You should watch your image.”

Ji Ruxue hadn’t been a villain in the original novel anyway. She had been one of Ye Chenyan’s major allies.

Sure, there was no chance of the two of them becoming a couple now, but that didn’t mean they had to be at each other’s throats.

Yu Qingtang started calculating.

If he could somehow coax Ji Ruxue onto their side, then when they eventually went to the Esoteric Sect, the later plot developments would flow much more naturally.

Otherwise...

He secretly glanced back at her.

What if she really remained stubborn enough to merge herself with the Dao when the time came?

He’d feel terrible about that.

“My junior?” Ye Chenyan’s expression turned strange. He folded his arms. “Then I’m the kind of vicious senior who specializes in bullying juniors.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Ye Chenyan pursed his lips.

“Why do you care about her anyway?”

“Whatever the reason is, it definitely isn’t because I like her.”

Yu Qingtang blinked and crooked a finger at him.

Ye Chenyan reluctantly leaned closer.

Yu Qingtang immediately pinched his cheek.

“Why are you being so mean to the other kid?”

Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes and pinched Yu Qingtang’s cheek right back.

“What kid? The Esoteric Sect is always scheming about you. I’m helping you.”

“Ooh—”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes curved into crescents.

“Then you should know I’m dealing with her because I want to help you too.”

Ye Chenyan: “...”

A moment later, Yu Qingtang enthusiastically waved at Ji Ruxue.

She froze for an instant, apparently uncertain whether he was actually greeting her.

“What is it?” she asked curiously.

Yu Qingtang threaded his way through the group and ran over to her.

Ye Chenyan raised a hand as though he wanted to stop him.

In the end, he forced himself to lower it again and merely watched the two of them out of the corner of his eye.

Yu Qingtang stopped in front of Ji Ruxue, rummaged through his storage ring, and produced an orange.

“Here. For you.”

Behind her light gauze veil, Ji Ruxue’s eyes widened slightly.

She seemed at a loss and instinctively declined.

“I don’t—”

“Just take it!”

Yu Qingtang smiled brightly, peeled the orange, popped one segment into his mouth, and said, “See? Not poisoned.”

Ji Ruxue shook her head gently.

“No. That isn’t what I meant.”

She tentatively held out her hand.

Yu Qingtang placed the orange, now missing one segment, into her palm, carefully making sure his fingers didn’t touch her skin.

Ji Ruxue gently closed her hand around it.

“Thank you.”

Then she tried again.

“This immortal abode truly is extremely dangerous...”

“We know.” Yu Qingtang nodded. “But we’re not insisting on going deeper just because we’re being stubborn.”

He pointed behind himself.

“Tu Jiaojiao is the holy maiden of the Heavenly Fire Cult here in Rongzhou. She has a duty to protect this place. She needs to find out exactly what’s inside and whether it poses a threat to Rongzhou.”

“And earlier, there was a cultivator who seemed like he might’ve been possessed by an otherworldly evil demon. He fled deeper into the immortal abode.”

“Logically, if he wanted to escape, he should’ve headed for the entrance. But instead, he deliberately went farther inside. There might be something in there.”

“That’s why we decided to pursue him.”

Ji Ruxue’s gaze flickered.

She pressed her lips together and said quietly, “But you are the Born Supreme. You shouldn’t put yourself in danger.”

“Leaving aside the fact that I’m not...” Yu Qingtang sighed. “If I really were, that would be even more reason for me to go.”

“Why?” Ji Ruxue looked startled.

“If I were the Born Supreme, then the whole world would be my responsibility. I’d have to stick my nose into every problem.” Yu Qingtang spoke with perfect righteousness. “As the saying goes: with great power comes great responsibility.”

“Doesn’t the Esoteric Sect consider the whole world its responsibility too? Isn’t that why everyone respects you?”

“Yes.” Ji Ruxue lowered her eyes. “But... the Esoteric Sect concerns itself with the whole world, and you are connected to the fate of the whole world. You have not yet fully matured. You shouldn’t risk yourself for the sake of a single cultivator...”

Yu Qingtang stared at her.

“Is that what the Esoteric Sect thinks, or what you think?”

Ji Ruxue pressed her lips together and fell silent.

Yu Qingtang frowned.

“If that’s the logic, doesn’t it mean the Esoteric Sect divides everyone in the world into different classes? Some people are important enough that your holy maiden travels thousands of miles to save them, while others should just...”

“No.”

Ji Ruxue suddenly interrupted him.

“Before the Heavenly Dao, all living things are equal.”

She spoke softly.

“If saving him is within my power, then I should save him.”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes lit up.

“I knew it!”

“You look like a good person. There’s no way you’d just stand by and watch someone die! Which means, for the sake of making it safer for us to keep going deeper, you’ll definitely tell us everything you know too, right?”

Ji Ruxue had been led neatly by the nose.

She instinctively nodded.

By the time Yu Qingtang enthusiastically turned around and waved everyone over to share information, she finally realized something belatedly.

That entire long speech just now...

Had he deliberately said all of it just to win her trust and—

Yu Qingtang had already turned back around.

Beaming, he stuffed another orange into her arms.

“Eat up!”

“O-okay.”

Ji Ruxue nodded automatically.

The entire group crowded around her.

Tu Jiaojiao gave her a brilliant smile.

“I knew it. The holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect has the whole world in her heart. Of course you wouldn’t hide anything from us. What sect did this immortal abode originally belong to? Does the Esoteric Sect have records?”

The leader of Golden Craft Hall smiled warmly.

“My, what an outstanding young talent. With a genius like you protecting the world, peace across the Nine Provinces is all but assured.”

Girl in the Bamboo nodded along, glanced at Yu Qingtang, and dutifully contributed,

“Impressive.”

Ye Chenyan perfunctorily twitched the corner of his mouth.

“Mm.”

Yu Qingtang elbowed him.

Ye Chenyan immediately put on a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“As expected of a holy maiden. Go on, tell us.”

“I...”

Behind Ji Ruxue’s veil, her cheeks had turned so red they were practically bleeding.

Had her face not been covered, there was no chance she could have maintained even the pretense of composure while standing before all these people.

Her gaze darted around, too embarrassed to look at anyone. She lowered her eyes to her own feet and spoke quietly.

“I don’t know very much either. This place belonged to an ancient sect called the Mystic Music Sect. At its height, it truly did have genuine immortals, but...”

She paused.

Being terrible at concealing information, she made an extremely stiff transition.

“For certain reasons, there are no longer any true immortals in the world. Naturally, the immortals of the Mystic Music Sect disappeared long ago as well.”

“A great battle against otherworldly evil demons truly did take place here. The Esoteric Sect does not know how that battle ended. We only know that after the ancient war, the Mystic Music Sect vanished without a trace...”

“From what we can see now...”

Her gaze shifted slightly, revealing a trace of regret.

“They did not completely defeat the otherworldly evil demons.”

“An elder of my Esoteric Sect is guarding the entrance to the immortal abode. If any otherworldly evil demon escapes, he will not let it pass. But...”

She raised her head and looked toward the depths of the immortal abode.

“You said it fled farther inside. Perhaps... there really is something unusual there.”

Yu Qingtang immediately smiled at her.

“Then—”

“You don’t have to come,” Ye Chenyan said, turning his head away. “As long as you don’t get in the way.”

Ji Ruxue looked steadily at Yu Qingtang.

“No. I’m coming.”

“Tch.”

Ye Chenyan turned his face aside.

“Then no objections this time? We keep going.”

Ji Ruxue looked at the group, tentatively took a step forward, and joined their ranks.

...

Deep within the Mystic Music Sect.

Chang Yusheng had already reached a field of ruins.

There was no longer any way to tell what kind of building had once stood here. All that remained was rubble scattered across the ground and bloodstains so dark they were nearly black.

He approached and continued deeper as though drawn by something.

Then his foot came down.

A mysterious rune lit beneath him.

The sound of a zither suddenly rang out.

A damaged formation emerged across the ground.

Chang Yusheng’s entire body convulsed as though he had been struck by lightning. An instant later, he screamed and was hurled backward.

But the zither music lasted only a moment before falling silent again.

Chang Yusheng struggled back to his feet.

There was no telling how many bones in his body had broken. Under normal circumstances, he would almost certainly have lost consciousness and fallen into a coma.

Yet he stood up as though he felt nothing.

His expression was twisted and savage.

A phantom seemed on the verge of tearing itself free from his body.

Slowly, he lowered his head and clumsily pulled one miscellaneous object after another from his storage ring.

At last, he found a bottle.

He poured out several pills and stuffed them casually into his mouth.

He chewed with unconscious force until his teeth clicked together, all the while staring fixedly at several cross-legged phantoms within the formation.

Behind those figures was a fissure in the fabric of heaven and earth, only a finger’s width across.

The damaged formation happened to encircle it perfectly, preventing anyone from approaching.

—This was what he had come here for.

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