After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Beneath the heavenly lightning, Yu Qingtang drew spiritual power from all directions and began his breakthrough. Ye Chenyan watched him, then lifted his eyes and gave Tianji Zi a long, searching look.

He ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) turned to Scholar Xiao and Chi Yantian, who were still making a racket behind him. “...You two should break through too.”

“Hm?” Scholar Xiao seemed to sense something as well. He glanced back and spotted Tianji Zi standing beside Academy Head Wen.

Chi Yantian was holding his furnace and looked baffled. “Huh? What’s the rush? Let me finish refining my artifact first!”

“Either way is fine.” Ye Chenyan raised his head. “Just make the spectacle bigger.”

Ziyun bared her teeth. “This still isn’t enough of a spectacle?”

“Not enough.” Ye Chenyan stood with his spear held crosswise, eyes blazing. “It needs to be even livelier.”

“Hahaha!” Chi Yantian threw back his head and laughed. “You want lively? Easy! Here we go!”

He hurled the furnace he was holding into the sky, sending it straight into the downpour of lightning and making the tribulation above even more violent.

Scholar Xiao asked curiously, “Brother Chi, what artifact are you refining today?”

“A furnace!” Chi Yantian replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Last time I refined an artifact under a lightning tribulation, the furnace exploded. Clearly the furnace wasn’t good enough, so I need to refine a stronger one!”

“This one is specifically made to withstand lightning tribulations. Once I have it, I won’t have to worry about my furnace exploding whenever I refine artifacts under one!”

Scholar Xiao laughed helplessly. “Brother Chi, you really have set your sights on lightning tribulations, haven’t you?”

He flicked out his outer robe and sat cross-legged in midair. “In that case, I’ll join Brother Ye and Brother Yu and break through here as well.”

He did not know exactly what Tianji Zi had arranged, but he had keenly sensed that something was going on. Cooperatively, he stirred the surrounding spiritual power and used the phenomenon of his own breakthrough to screen Yu Qingtang beneath it.

The thunderstorm roared. Every strike looked as though it meant to kill Ye Chenyan outright, but he endured them all.

The commotion above Four Books Academy continued for a long time before the thunderstorm finally began to subside.

“Burp!” Ziyun let out a belch carrying a faintly scorched smell and flopped onto her back with all four paws in the air. “No more. I can’t swallow another bite...”

She struggled to lift her head and look at the sky. “But it should almost be over.”

At the edge of the tribulation, Wen Tianxia and Tianji Zi nodded slightly, both looking somewhat relieved.

Ye Chenyan let out a breath. He lowered his eyes toward Yu Qingtang, whose aura was slowly settling, then tightened his grip on the demonic weapon in his hand.

The thunder was fading.

Then Ye Chenyan suddenly raised his hand.

The spiritual power that had only just begun to calm erupted into chaos once more. Black demonic energy and white spiritual power poured outward, dyeing most of the sky in an extraordinary yin-yang pattern.

Ye Chenyan raised his head. His robes snapped violently around him, his long hair whipping in the wind. The demonic weapon in his hand transformed into an enormous spear and blasted straight through the thunderclouds, shooting into the heavens.

Ye Chenyan followed immediately.

He soared through layer after layer of thunderclouds that had yet to disperse, leaped through an opening that looked like a hole torn in the sky, and reached out to seize his demonic weapon.

Then he jerked his head up.

He saw a pair of eyes.

Pure-white lashes.

Even the pupils seemed utterly colorless.

Those eyes hung high above the Nine Heavens, gazing down with compassion—and without mercy.

“Found you.” Ye Chenyan sneered and leveled his spear at them. “Just you wait.”

No one had expected him to suddenly make a move at a time like this.

Tianji Zi’s expression changed instantly.

“You reckless little bastard! Do you have a death wish?!”

He and Wen Tianxia turned into streaks of light and shot toward the Nine Heavens at the same time.

The Sage’s Book trembled.

Inked characters poured from its pages, elegant passages spreading across the skies of Central Province. They formed an immense ink dragon that blotted out the sun as it swam overhead.

“Close your eyes!”

Tianji Zi smacked Ye Chenyan across the forehead with his whisk.

“Hiss—”

Ye Chenyan reflexively squeezed his eyes shut.

Wen Tianxia guarded the rear, his expression grim. He did not dare so much as glance at the bizarre sight hidden beyond the ink dragon. Raising one hand, he summoned the scattered clouds and packed them across the firmament until the sky was completely sealed off.

He turned around—and saw Scholar Xiao craning his neck to peek.

Wen Tianxia immediately flicked a hand and smacked him on the forehead as well.

His face darkened. “You dare look at that too? Do you have a death wish?”

Scholar Xiao took the blow head-on and did not dare protest. He merely asked with curiosity, “Master, what did Brother Ye see? Every alarm in my heart suddenly went off just now. I actually didn’t dare raise my head...”

“Good thing you didn’t.” Wen Tianxia frowned and glanced at Ye Chenyan. “He really is every bit as troublesome as his master said.”

Ye Chenyan struggled to raise a hand and slapped away the whisk plastered across his face.

“Tch. What are you doing, old man? I knew what I was doing. That thing has been watching me this whole time, but it has no killing intent toward me.”

Tianji Zi nearly exploded. “Even if it didn’t want to kill you before, you nearly shoved a spear into its eye!”

His hand trembled. He looked absolutely furious.

“I— You— Agh!”

“Hmph.” Ye Chenyan shook off his grip without the slightest trace of fear in his expression. “You’ve been hiding all this because you knew it was behind everything?”

He lowered his voice.

“Is it going to make a move against Qingtang?”

Tianji Zi remained wary and did not look upward again.

“Shh. Come with me.”

Wen Tianxia brought the others over and nodded once. “Into the formation first.”

None of them even had time to say anything before the two of them dragged everyone back into the Sea of Books Formation.

Outside, after the barrage of lightning and the violent surges of spiritual power, the clouds now hung unusually thick across the sky, sealing it off completely as though they were meant to block someone’s view.

“Hey, what’s the rush?” Chi Yantian hugged the furnace he had just finished refining. “I haven’t even broken through yet. Why are we back in here?”

“We’ll talk in a moment.” Wen Tianxia waved a hand and swept his gaze across the group. “It’s about time anyway.”

Yu Qingtang scratched his head. “That urgent? Don’t tell me you’re making us keep cultivating.”

Scholar Xiao smiled and gently waved his folding fan. “My guess is no.”

A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

“Since Senior Tianji Zi personally took action, whoever we’re dealing with must be exceptionally close to the Heavenly Dao. Or perhaps...”

“It is the Heavenly Dao.”

Ye Chenyan’s expression shifted slightly. He folded his arms and stared at Tianji Zi.

“What exactly is going on? Explain it clearly.”

“Hm?” Tianji Zi raised an eyebrow and deliberately asked, “You still can’t tell?”

He pointed toward Yu Qingtang.

“Naturally, I needed to hide his breakthrough beneath all of yours, so the Esoteric Sect wouldn’t notice and we could get ahead of them—”

Ye Chenyan scoffed. “And you think that’s enough to hide it?”

“You only think it isn’t because you were inside the formation.” Tianji Zi’s eyes curved with amusement, making him look exactly like an old fox. “Apart from those of us who were there, I guarantee that nowhere in the Nine Provinces is there another person who knows he has already broken through to Soul Transformation.”

“No ‘person’ knows.” Ye Chenyan knew him far too well to fall for that. “What about something that isn’t a person?”

“Well...” Tianji Zi stroked his beard. “Perhaps an immortal knows.”

Chi Yantian had been listening in complete confusion, but even he understood that much.

“Doesn’t the Esoteric Sect have an immortal?”

“Everything involves a little risk.” Tianji Zi spread his hands. “I’m gambling that the immortal wasn’t looking this way.”

Ye Chenyan stared at him expressionlessly. “But I saw those eyes...”

“Shhh—” Tianji Zi motioned for silence.

He sighed and spread his hands toward Wen Tianxia. “What did I tell you? Of all things beneath heaven, people are the least controllable.”

Wen Tianxia glanced at him. “Your excellent disciple. Takes after you.”

“The student surpasses the master.” Tianji Zi shook his head. “Even when I was young and reckless, I was never quite this reckless.”

Yu Qingtang said nothing immediately.

He looked left.

Then right.

Then sank into thought.

Ye Chenyan bumped him lightly with his shoulder. “What are you thinking about? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine.” Yu Qingtang came back to himself. “I was just thinking...”

He looked at the two seniors before him with a complicated expression.

“I still have no idea what you two are actually planning, but I’m pretty sure I just got played.”

“Hahaha!” Tianji Zi burst out laughing and cupped his hands apologetically toward him. “Forgive me, forgive me. I was only afraid that if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t act naturally enough.”

He pointed upward.

“We were putting on a show for the immortal behind the Esoteric Sect.”

“You should already know that figure is the only immortal still remaining in this world, bearing the heavens and guarding the final fissure in the Heavenly Dao. Without question, that makes the immortal the strongest being in this world.”

Tianji Zi rarely looked so serious.

“If I had to put it another way, that immortal can now be considered half the Heavenly Dao.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “Half?”

“The Esoteric Sect’s cultivation method was already closely tied to the Heavenly Dao.” Tianji Zi sat down cross-legged. “That immortal has transcended mortality and entered the ranks of immortals, reaching the very pinnacle of that path. Naturally, that grants a certain degree of control over the Heavenly Dao.”

“But there is still a little something lacking in talent—only someone with an innate Dao fetus can truly merge with the Dao using their own body.”

“Tianxuan Nü in the past.”

“Ji Ruxue today.”

Tianji Zi closed his eyes.

“Had Tianxuan Nü chosen to merge with the Dao back then, she probably could have completed the Heavenly Dao. But she chose another path.”

Ye Chenyan’s expression shifted. “She fought her way beyond the heavens.”

Tianji Zi nodded lightly.

“As for the one at the Esoteric Sect...”

He paused.

“Forget it. Better not to talk about that one. Say too much and we might be noticed.”

“The Esoteric Sect knows I’m good at deceiving Heaven. They also know I would never stand by and watch their plans unfold step by step.”

“So naturally, I had to do something.”

He pointed at Yu Qingtang.

“Hiding him was the show I put on for them.”

Yu Qingtang pointed blankly at himself. “Huh?”

“Then everything you told me before...”

“I wasn’t lying about that either. The logic was all true.” Tianji Zi’s eyes curved into a smile. “But I left you alone in Biehe Sect for all those years. Why would I suddenly drag you into this now just to make up the numbers? That part was only for someone else to see.”

Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes. “If that was the performance, then what’s your real objective?”

His gaze shifted toward Wen Tianxia.

“Academy Head Wen announced in front of every disciple at Four Books Academy that we would cultivate inside the Sea of Books Formation until we reached Mahayana. He also said that once we emerged, the Sea of Books Formation would be opened to cultivators throughout the world.”

“You even had the academy disciples write articles about it. By now, everyone under heaven should know.”

“As long as we don’t come out, and the Sea of Books Formation remains closed to outside cultivators, everyone will naturally assume we’re still inside cultivating, waiting until we break through to Mahayana.”

Wen Tianxia nodded with faint approval. “Not completely stupid.”

After a pause, he added, “Pity you still can’t study.”

“Ahem.” Ye Chenyan cleared his throat. “You came in here personally. Where are you taking us?”

“Hahaha.” Tianji Zi’s eyes curved with amusement. “Well, well. The little fox figured it out after all.”

“I’m taking you on a trip to Yuezhou.”

“Yuezhou’s islands aren’t connected to the continents of the other provinces. They’re separated by the Sea of Returning Ruins. Have you ever heard of the sea cultivators who live there? Some have fish tails, some have dragon tails. I hear the Young Dragon King’s branch in Nanzhou originally migrated from Yuezhou.”

He beckoned the two of them over and patted the little white cloud beneath him.

“Come on. Let your master take you to the Dragon Palace of the Sea of Returning Ruins and broaden your horizons.”

Yu Qingtang and Ye Chenyan exchanged a look.

Ye Chenyan folded his arms. “That’s not all. Some of them eat people too.”

“Why are we going there?”

Tianji Zi grinned.

“To get a treasure.”

Author’s Note:

Yu Qingtang: “Dragon Palace, treasure... Are we going to rob—no, go take the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Needle?”

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