After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Ji Ruxue sat a little off to one side, quietly listening to everyone talk. Only occasionally did the corners of her lips curve ever so slightly into an almost imperceptible smile.

The Esoteric Sect cultivated the Dao of Emotionlessness and had always been extremely strict with its disciples, imposing restraint upon their very personalities from childhood.

Ji Ruxue had long since learned how to endure and control herself. She also rarely had the chance to spend time with a group of people her own age like this.

Their exuberant vitality seemed to rub off on her, making her seem just a little more alive as well.

Of course, unless someone knew her extremely well, they probably wouldn’t even have noticed that she had smiled just now.

After a brief period of regulating her breathing, she let out a breath and felt considerably better. Only then did she raise her head toward the crimson sky.

Yu Qingtang noticed where she was looking and struck up a conversation. “Is there something strange about the sky?”

Ji Ruxue paused, then turned toward him. After thinking for a moment, she said, “This stretch of heaven and earth is different from the outside world.”

“Really?” Yu Qingtang tugged Ye Chenyan over. “When he first came in, he also said the sky here seemed unusually high.”

“Perhaps it wasn’t an illusion.” Ji Ruxue looked toward the horizon. “Back then, Mystic Music Sect practically severed this entire region of heaven and earth from the rest of the world, sending the whole space—sect and all—into the chaotic currents of space-time.”

“Looking at it now, this sky may truly be the sky of ancient times.”

Ye Chenyan’s expression shifted slightly. “Ancient times...”

“I’ve heard people speculate that the reason true immortals no longer appear today is because something went wrong with the Heavenly Dao. If so, could cultivating here perhaps still allow someone to become an immortal?”

Ji Ruxue shook her head slightly.

“No. By then, there should already have been no immortals left here either.” She lowered her gaze. “After the Heaven-Mending Furnace shattered, the Esoteric Sect summoned everyone above the level of true immortal to bear the heavens upon their shoulders and stabilize heaven and earth.”

“And afterward...”

Her brows knit faintly.

“All the immortals vanished without a trace.”

Ye Chenyan frowned deeply. “That certainly sounds like it had something to do with your Esoteric Sect.”

Ji Ruxue shook her head. “Even at the height of the Esoteric Sect’s power, we had only five true immortals. How could we possibly have wiped out every immortal beneath heaven?”

Chi Yantian clicked his tongue. “That’s true enough.”

“Then what actually happened?”

“I don’t know either.” Ji Ruxue’s gaze grew distant. “And afterward, even the immortals who had never answered the summons disappeared one after another. In the end, only Tianxuan Nü and the Nine Nether Demonic Sovereign remained unharmed.”

Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what those two ultimately did?”

Ji Ruxue fell silent for a moment before turning toward him.

“I was never supposed to say.”

“But you are their child, and I...”

Her gaze wavered. In the end, she spoke anyway.

“They crossed through that breach.”

“They passed through the fissure in the Heavenly Dao.”

Ye Chenyan immediately pressed, “What happens if you cross through it?”

“If those otherworldly evil demons can come through to our side, shouldn’t we be able to cross over to theirs too?”

“That makes sense!” Chi Yantian rubbed his palms together eagerly. “We should charge straight into their home and smash their headquarters! Let’s see if they dare come back after that!”

Ji Ruxue gently shook her head. “Someone tried.”

“But beyond that fissure lies the strange black substance surrounding the otherworldly evil demons. Ordinary cultivators—even true immortals—cannot escape once it clings to them. They are rapidly corroded and wither away.”

Yu Qingtang remembered what had happened when Venerable Burning Gold shoved those otherworldly evil demons back through the fissure.

The enormous hand formed from spiritual power had been eaten away by something in an instant until nothing remained.

And that had only been spiritual power. Burning Gold had never touched it himself, yet even he seemed to have been affected somewhat.

Ye Chenyan lowered his eyes.

“And they still went.”

“Before the invasion of the otherworldly evil demons, human cultivators and demon-race cultivators fought constantly. They could hardly be called harmonious.” Reverence appeared on Ji Ruxue’s face. “Tianxuan Nü and the Nine Nether Demonic Sovereign fought several times, each winning and losing in turn. They could be considered the respective leaders of the righteous and demonic paths.”

“If even the two of them couldn’t accomplish it, then there likely wasn’t anyone else at the time who could.”

“I don’t know what kind of terrible battle they endured after passing through the fissure, but aside from the fissure here, which accidentally entered the chaotic currents of space-time, all the others were mended.”

“A battle that shook heaven and earth must have taken place outside.” Ji Ruxue sighed. “This world was affected as well. The Heavenly Dao shattered, and the firmament nearly fell. It was only because my Esoteric Sect’s ancestor bore the heavens upon his shoulders that heaven and earth barely remained stable.”

“I’ve heard that part.” Chi Yantian nodded. “Master said that’s one of the reasons everyone gives the Esoteric Sect a little face.”

“I heard that ancestor of yours who’s holding up the sky is the only immortal left in the world. Ever since the ancient war, nobody else has managed to become an immortal. Ascension means death now, so there’s no one who can help him shoulder the burden.”

Ji Ruxue fell silent.

Then she said quietly, “Ancestor... can’t hold on much longer.”

Everyone’s expression changed.

“No wonder.” Ye Chenyan’s face turned grave. “Ying Wujue could barely open his mouth without talking about the sky falling.”

“Hm?” Ji Ruxue looked puzzled. “You met Senior Brother Ying?”

“We did, we did.” Yu Qingtang gave her a kindly look. “As expected of people from the same sect. You’re both equally easy to fool... Ahem. I mean, equally innocent about worldly matters.”

Ji Ruxue seemed only half to understand.

Worry entered her expression.

“For some reason, Senior Brother Ying left the mountain without permission and still hasn’t returned.”

“If Master finds out, I’m afraid he’ll be punished again.”

She looked at everyone. “If you see him again, please help me persuade him to return.”

Chi Yantian scratched his head. “But if he doesn’t go back, then he doesn’t have to get punished, right?”

Ji Ruxue froze.

Her lips parted slightly.

“B-but he can’t just never go back...”

“Why not?” Chi Yantian asked with perfect confidence.

Ji Ruxue had no answer.

She could only stare at him with her eyes slightly widened.

Yu Qingtang: “...”

He had the distinct feeling they were corrupting the holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect.

Her senior brother was one thing. Whether Ji Ruxue herself would still be able to return properly after this was beginning to look questionable too.

“A-anyway.” Ji Ruxue seemed to suddenly remember what she had meant to say and stumbled slightly over her words. “The Esoteric Sect wishes to restore the Heaven-Mending Furnace because we want to ask the old Pill King to refine an immortal pill capable of extending Ancestor’s life.”

“A pill capable of affecting an immortal would naturally have to be immortal grade. The old Pill King has been at the Mahayana stage for many years. If he had an immortal artifact to assist him, perhaps there might still be a sliver of hope.”

“I’m telling all of you this because I want to make our position clear. The Esoteric Sect truly acts for the sake of the world. We have no other intentions.”

Everyone exchanged looks.

Ye Chenyan looked away.

“You probably do genuinely devote yourself to the Esoteric Sect, and genuinely want to protect the world. As for whether someone else is treating you like a fool...”

“We’ll have to meet the rest of the Esoteric Sect before deciding that.”

Ji Ruxue blinked.

Before she could reply, Ye Chenyan turned around, caught Yu Qingtang by the arm, and asked, “You haven’t cultivated at all today, have you?”

“Hiss—”

Yu Qingtang sucked in a sharp breath.

“How did you jump from the sky is literally about to collapse to that?!”

“Compared to everything she just told us, does whether I cultivated today really matter?”

“Oh?” Ye Chenyan leaned closer to inspect him. “Trying to slack off again?”

“Who was it that promised me he’d spend more time cultivating with me so our cultivation levels wouldn’t get too far apart?”

Yu Qingtang guiltily looked toward the sky.

“I’d had a little to drink back then. It was just drunken bravado. You actually believed that?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll cultivate. Once we get out of here.”

“No. We cultivate here.” Ye Chenyan glanced up at the sky. “A piece of heaven and earth preserved from ancient times is, for anyone else, an incredibly rare place dense with spiritual energy.”

“We might as well borrow some lingering good fortune from the seniors who became immortals here long ago. Everyone, how about we cultivate here for a while before leaving? I feel like...”

Yu Qingtang stared at him in horror.

“You’re about to break through again?”

Ye Chenyan cleared his throat with restrained modesty and gave a small nod.

Yu Qingtang: “...”

He turned his head away.

“So what? Nothing special. I feel like I’m about to break through too. I’ll be at late Golden Core any second now.”

Ye Chenyan sat cross-legged beside him.

“Then we’ll break through together.”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes went wide.

“I was bragging! You believe that too?!”

“I do.” Ye Chenyan sounded perfectly justified.

He even reached over and took Yu Qingtang’s hand. His expression shifted faintly.

“Or you could cultivate together with me...”

Yu Qingtang vaguely sensed the scorching spiritual power gathering in Ye Chenyan’s palm.

He immediately rolled away and scooted over beside Girl in the Bamboo, sitting upright with an expression of pure righteousness.

“No!”

“That’s not something we can practice in front of everyone!”

The instant those words left his mouth, every head turned toward him.

Yu Qingtang choked.

“That’s not what I meant either! It’s just...”

“Ahem.” Tu Jiaojiao looked at him with a knowing half-smile. “Not what?”

Yu Qingtang’s gaze wandered.

“This and that. You know. That.”

“Oh, come on!”

He straightened his back indignantly.

“What are you all thinking about?! Distracting yourselves with filthy thoughts before cultivating—aren’t you afraid of qi deviation? Zither Bro, come on. Play everyone a Heart-Cleansing Melody!”

Once the melody ended, everyone genuinely quieted their minds and began cultivating in earnest.

On the martial-practice platform of Mystic Music Sect from untold ages ago, prodigies from sects across the Nine Provinces sat cross-legged together.

For some inexplicable reason, the sight stirred something in the heart.

Tu Jiaojiao was the first to open her eyes.

Perhaps it was only her imagination, but cultivation today truly seemed smoother than usual.

The spiritual energy beside her trembled.

She turned her head.

Ye Chenyan sat motionless at the center of a vortex of spiritual energy, violently drawing in all the spiritual power around him. The pressure of the Out-of-Body stage spilled outward without restraint.

She had watched this man break through to Out-of-Body not long ago, so by now she was somewhat numb to it.

She clicked her tongue and turned away.

Then the surrounding spiritual energy trembled again.

Tu Jiaojiao slowly turned her head back.

Yu Qingtang sat beside Girl in the Bamboo, spiritual power trembling faintly around him.

A tiny Nascent Soul figure, so solid it seemed almost real, was swaying its way outside his body.

It even reached out and dipped one little hand into the spiritual-energy vortex Ye Chenyan had stirred up next door.

Tu Jiaojiao: “...”

That got everyone’s attention.

One by one, they opened their eyes.

“Hm?” Chi Yantian looked surprised. “They both broke through?”

Tu Jiaojiao pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Didn’t he just say he was bragging?”

Ji Ruxue’s eyes flickered. “Be careful. Protect them while they—eh?”

This was her first time seeing Yu Qingtang’s Nascent Soul, which had a habit of wandering outside.

Now that it had drifted right up in front of her, she immediately became flustered.

“I-it can draw out my Nascent Soul?”

Chi Yantian was already used to this.

“Relax. Just let it take a look. Yours won’t actually come out.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the little flame figure inside his own mind sea could no longer restrain itself and shot straight out.

Chi Yantian: “...”

“Yu Qingtang! Your Nascent Soul kidnapped mine!”

Shock appeared on Ji Ruxue’s face.

“B-but isn’t leaving the body something a Nascent Soul can only do after reaching the Out-of-Body stage? How can he...”

“Impressive, right?” Chi Yantian tried to drag his own Nascent Soul back while puffing out his chest with vicarious pride. “We don’t know why either, but this definitely isn’t his first time.”

“Maybe it counts as laying the groundwork for Out-of-Body?”

He grew increasingly enthusiastic.

“He’s already used to his Nascent Soul leaving his body. Maybe when he reaches Out-of-Body, it’ll happen naturally. He could break through without even trying.”

Tu Jiaojiao propped her chin on one hand.

“I feel like this guy has always broken through without even trying.”

A faint light flashed in Ji Ruxue’s eyes.

“As expected of the Born Supreme. To think he would display such an extraordinary phenomenon.”

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