After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Ye Chenyan and Yu Qingtang looked at each other.

Ye was some distance away and had been focusing entirely on resisting the lightning tribulation, so he had no idea what had happened earlier. All he’d heard was Chi Yantian’s shout just now.

He tilted his head in confusion at the bizarre sight of Scholar Xiao with only half his head sticking out, hiding inside Yu Qingtang’s Lotus Realm.

What were those two up to?

“Strange.” Scholar Xiao watched curiously as yet another bolt of heavenly lightning passed Ye Chenyan by and crashed toward Yu Qingtang’s Lotus Realm. “Before we came out, did the lightning tribulation really not strike you at all?”

“Normally, anyone who intrudes into the range of a tribulation gets struck along with the person undergoing it...”

Yu Qingtang pointed at Wen Tianxia, then at the huge crowd of Four Books Academy students watching the spectacle behind him. “What about them?”

“Teacher is a Mahayana cultivator, after all.” Scholar Xiao laughed. “A Mahayana cultivator, plus a first-rank spiritual artifact approaching the level of an immortal artifact, shielding the formation...”

His gaze shifted.

“They aren’t just sitting there doing nothing. See? The flow of spiritual power beneath them is unusual. There should be some kind of formation at work. That technique... most likely came from Senior Tianji Zi.”

Yu Qingtang stared at him. “You can tell that just by looking?”

“Haha.” Scholar Xiao’s eyes curved with amusement. “Once cultivators reach their level, the Dao they cultivate naturally reveals itself through their divine abilities.”

He lowered his voice.

“Teacher has never said so, but if I had to guess, Senior Tianji Zi’s Dao is probably the art of deceiving Heaven itself.”

“Fooling an artifact or another cultivator is nothing more than a mortal trick.”

He pointed upward and chuckled.

“Fooling the Heavenly Dao—that is a true immortal’s method.”

“It took two great experts and a first-rank spiritual artifact just to erase these people from the lightning tribulation’s awareness and keep them from being struck.”

Yu Qingtang immediately looked impressed. “I didn’t really understand most of that, but I definitely got the part where those two are ridiculously powerful.”

Scholar Xiao burst out laughing. “By that logic, you should have been hidden too. So why does it keep striking you?”

Yu Qingtang scratched his head.

Could it have something to do with his special identity? Maybe lightning from this world didn’t strike people from another world?

Boom!

Another bolt descended.

Yu Qingtang instinctively shut his eyes, then secretly checked his Lotus Realm.

To everyone else, the golden lotus merely seemed to be growing steadily more solid.

But Yu Qingtang himself could feel that it wasn’t only the Lotus Realm.

The Scripture of Awaiting Good Fortune inside him was also circulating at incredible speed, digesting the enormous power contained within the lightning tribulation.

Still, the instant the bolt came crashing down was pretty damn terrifying.

Yu Qingtang opened his eyes and met Ye Chenyan’s gaze.

Ye had seized the moment to catch his breath. He smiled at Yu Qingtang and mouthed two words.

Don’t be afraid.

Yu Qingtang: “...”

A goofy grin spread across his face.

Then he suddenly turned toward Scholar Xiao with alarm.

Scholar Xiao had somehow produced both hands again, along with a booklet and a brush. He beamed brightly.

“Don’t mind me. You two keep talking.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Slowly, Yu Qingtang turned around.

Countless pairs of Four Books Academy students’ eyes were staring back at him.

“Hehe.”

They gave him smiles identical to Scholar Xiao’s.

Yu Qingtang stiffly turned back around and covered his head.

“There are actually this many Scholar Xiaos in the world. Terrifying.”

“Not so, not so.” Scholar Xiao shook his head solemnly. “Although everyone at Four Books Academy possesses a vigorous thirst for knowledge, each student has different interests and approaches matters from a different angle. Personally, I—”

Yu Qingtang’s expression changed.

“Brother Chi’s coming out!”

“Duck!”

Scholar Xiao was extremely receptive to good advice and immediately ducked along with Yu Qingtang.

A blast of scorching air swept over their heads.

A gigantic furnace flew out above them.

Chi Yantian leaped from the Sea of Books Formation behind it, a huge hammer raised in one hand. He pointed excitedly at the sky.

“Come! Heavenly lightning, lend me your power!”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow.

A thick bolt of lightning came crashing down—

not at the furnace.

Straight at Chi Yantian himself.

“Watch out!”

Yu Qingtang jolted and was about to send the Lotus Realm over to help when Chi Yantian roared,

“No need!”

He raised the enormous hammer high.

The lightning struck in an instant.

Chi Yantian whipped his right arm down, hurling the hammer into the furnace.

BOOM!

The hammer, wrapped in lightning, smashed violently into the furnace.

The enormous crimson furnace couldn’t withstand the power of heavenly lightning.

It exploded.

Fragments blasted in every direction.

Wen Tianxia had been watching with his hands clasped behind his back. At the sight, he raised one hand.

Every fragment froze in midair.

Then, with a sweep of his sleeve, he gathered them all away before they could hurt anyone.

Yu Qingtang craned his neck toward Chi Yantian, who had just blown up his own furnace.

“Did it fail?”

“Hahahaha!”

Although Chi Yantian’s furnace had exploded and even his usual hammer had snapped apart, once the smoke cleared, a cylindrical object remained in the middle of the scene, silver arcs of electricity dancing across its surface.

It had actually taken shape.

“It worked!” Chi Yantian exclaimed.

Ignoring his injured right hand, he rushed forward and scooped up the finished artifact.

Only then did everyone see what he had made.

“This looks like...” Yu Qingtang stared hesitantly. “A bucket?”

“He refined a bucket?”

As a modern man, Yu Qingtang considered himself fairly well-read. He had seen plenty of characters who fought with bizarre weapons.

But he had genuinely never seen anyone beat people up with a bucket.

He looked baffled.

“How do you even fight with a bucket? Grab the handle and swing it around?”

“No.” Scholar Xiao narrowed his eyes. “It doesn’t seem to be a bucket. It’s a little too short.”

“A shorter bucket.” Yu Qingtang understood at once. “Oh, it’s a basin! That’s not so bad. My Treasure-Gathering Basin is a basin too—”

Chi Yantian whipped around through gritted teeth.

“It’s a drum! One of the drumheads just got blown off!”

Yu Qingtang: “...Oh.”

It took him a moment to remember that in the cultivation world, apparently even drums could come out of a furnace.

Scholar Xiao looked fascinated.

“Then if your drum only has one drumhead left, does that still count as successfully refined? What does it do?”

“It counts.” Excitement gleamed in Chi Yantian’s eyes. “If I can replace the other drumhead someday, it might become a first-rank spiritual artifact!”

“As for what it does...”

He grinned and slapped the drum hard with one hand.

The drum, missing one head, made no sound.

The sky answered for it instead.

A deep rumble rolled through the clouds.

Chi Yantian burst out laughing.

“Of course it has something to do with lightning tribulations! If you beat the drum, it can summon one!”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes went wide.

“What?!”

Ye Chenyan slowly looked upward.

The lightning pool overhead was now so bright it nearly turned the entire sky white.

And the tribulation brewing inside it was clearly far more powerful than any of the previous bolts.

Chi Yantian’s smile froze.

“Oh, crap. I shouldn’t have hit it just now!”

His face changed dramatically, and he immediately tried to rush up to help.

Wen Tianxia narrowed his eyes and grabbed him back.

“Stay back.”

A lightning tribulation as thick as a pillar of light came crashing down, swallowing Ye Chenyan whole.

If Four Books Academy hadn’t already set up a formation in midair, the strike probably would have blasted a hole straight through Central Province below.

Even with the formation in place, the ground trembled beneath them.

“Ye Chenyan!”

Yu Qingtang’s mouth fell open.

He instinctively tried to charge forward, only for Scholar Xiao to hold him back with all his strength.

“Calm down, Brother Yu! Teacher hasn’t intervened. He should be able to withstand it!”

The blinding lightning finally dissipated.

Ye Chenyan was nowhere to be seen.

Yu Qingtang immediately rushed forward, spinning around in panic.

“Where is he? Where’d he go?”

“Cough!”

A noise came from below.

Ye Chenyan laboriously shoved aside the broken paving stones and struggled out of a crater.

The others had already rushed over.

Yu Qingtang quickly reached down to help him—

and, entirely predictably, was electrocuted by the residual lightning still crackling across Ye Chenyan’s body.

“Awooo! Ow ow ow!”

Yu Qingtang nearly broke into an impromptu electric boogie.

Chi Yantian hurriedly grabbed him to help, and the two of them almost ended up holding hands and dancing together.

Scholar Xiao quietly took two steps backward and sighed with feeling.

“One man feels guilty, another panics. Concern truly does breed chaos.”

“Brother Ye, are you all right?”

Ye Chenyan used his demonic weapon to pry the two of them apart.

Then he pointed at Chi Yantian with a cold smile.

“...You’ve really outdone yourself, Chi Yantian.”

Even Wen Tianxia gave Chi Yantian a sidelong glance.

“I was wondering why Tianji Zi called this one of your calamities. I thought this lightning tribulation didn’t seem quite fierce enough.”

“So you were waiting here to make up the difference.”

Chi Yantian knew he was in the wrong. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“I just got carried away. I didn’t think it through.”

He shoved the half-finished drum toward Ye Chenyan and said generously,

“Then I’ll give you the drum! This is the best thing I’ve ever refined. Don’t say I’m not a loyal friend!”

“Keep it!” Ye Chenyan rolled his eyes. “I’m the one who summons the lightning tribulation. You think it’s going to politely strike somebody else?”

“You don’t want it?” Chi Yantian clicked his tongue.

He turned around and stuffed the drum into Yu Qingtang’s hands instead.

“You take it! If he ever bullies you, summon a lightning tribulation and strike him with it!”

Yu Qingtang stared blankly at the drum.

“Huh? That seems a little extreme...”

Ye Chenyan’s eyes widened.

He sat bolt upright.

“You!”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? First it was that stupid pearl, now it’s this drum. You—”

“Bastard. Fight me!”

“Fine by me!” Chi Yantian excitedly shook out his arms. “Don’t think I’m afraid of you just because your cultivation is higher than mine now!”

“I won’t use cultivation. Just my body!”

Ye Chenyan grabbed his spear and moved.

The charred shell covering his body from the lightning tribulation cracked and fell away, revealing freshly regenerated skin beneath.

Once Yu Qingtang saw that he was fine, he finally relaxed.

He even had enough composure to watch the spectacle and sigh.

“No matter how many times I see that, he still looks like Beggar’s Chicken.”

Ye Chenyan, who had been advancing menacingly with his spear in hand, nearly slipped.

Scholar Xiao laughed until his eyes curved.

“Careful, careful. Sparring is sparring. Don’t actually lose your tempers.”

“Everyone, I’ll break through first.”

He sat down cross-legged with a smile.

Yu Qingtang sat up.

“Want me to play you a melody?”

“Well—” Scholar Xiao turned toward Ye Chenyan.

Ye Chenyan kicked Chi Yantian over toward them.

“He can listen. That one can’t.”

“I won’t listen, then!” Chi Yantian stuck out his neck, ready to argue—

then, in a rare flash of intelligence, realized something was wrong.

“Wait. Why can’t I listen?”

He turned toward Yu Qingtang.

“Aren’t we good brothers? Are you going to play for me or not?”

“Yes, yes, I’ll play!” Yu Qingtang hurriedly nodded.

Ye Chenyan sounded annoyed.

“Qingtang!”

Yu Qingtang beckoned him over.

Ye Chenyan still looked unconvinced, but he nevertheless came down and sat beside him, glaring at Chi Yantian.

Yu Qingtang reached out and pinched his cheeks.

“No swearing.”

Ye Chenyan pouted.

“I didn’t even open my mouth!”

Yu Qingtang pinched the corners of his lips and lifted them into a forced smile.

“No swearing with your face either.”

Ye Chenyan grabbed his wrist.

“...He summoned lightning to strike me! You’re not even taking my side, and you’re still going to play music for him.”

“If it were anyone else, I’d think they deliberately set you up too.” Yu Qingtang patted his shoulder, then pointed at Chi Yantian. “But look at Brother Chi’s dumb face. Do you really think he did it on purpose? He just genuinely didn’t think.”

Chi Yantian nodded with complete confidence.

“Exactly!”

Ye Chenyan: “...You actually agreed with that?”

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