After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Tianji Zi’s eyes opened slightly. He clearly wore the appearance of an old man, but only that pair of eyes was exceptionally bright, even carrying a faint trace of youthful spirit.

After hearing Yu Qingtang’s surrender, he threw his head back and laughed. He slapped his thigh, laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath, and could not help shaking his head. “What a pity!”

Yu Qingtang looked up at him hopefully. “What’s a pity?”

Tianji Zi stroked his beard and swayed his head. “A pity I didn’t calculate where you landed when you came flying down from beyond the heavens. Otherwise, I should’ve picked you up too and raised you together with Ye Chenyan. Then I’d have had a good show to watch every single day!”

Yu Qingtang tried to correct him. “Star from beyond the heavens.”

“Oh, whatever, whatever.” Tianji Zi’s face was full of smiles. “Now that the two of us have talked things out, say whatever else you want directly.”

“Ahem.” Yu Qingtang felt a little embarrassed. “It’s just... about me. Could you not tell Ye Chenyan for now?”

Tianji Zi agreed at once. “Of course!”

Yu Qingtang had not expected the negotiation to go through so easily. His eyes widened in shock, and the follow-up lines he had prepared jammed in his throat.

Tianji Zi smiled slyly. “Heh-heh. That brat has been arrogant since he was little. Finally, someone can deal with him.”

“Don’t worry. From now on, I guarantee I’ll watch the fire from across the river and absolutely won’t help.”

He looked as if he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Yu Qingtang against a common enemy, and Yu Qingtang suddenly had no idea how to respond.

He stammered, “R-Really?”

“Of course.” Tianji Zi smiled kindly. “Ah, what a pity you already have a Master. It’s rare for me to meet such a good seedling who suits my taste. Interesting. Truly too interesting.”

Yu Qingtang was not sure whether that counted as praise.

“However...” Tianji Zi stroked his beard. “There does need to be a time limit.”

“After all, he and I are master and disciple. I can’t help you hide it from him for a lifetime.”

“No need!” Yu Qingtang answered quickly. “You only need to hide it until after the Golden Core Competition!”

Tianji Zi was surprised. “Why?”

He thought for a moment and made a guess. “Is it because he said he would send you back after the Golden Core Competition?”

Tianji Zi shook his head repeatedly, helping Yu Qingtang come up with ideas. “But that still isn’t safe enough.”

He did not hold back at all when speaking ill of Ye Chenyan. “This disciple of mine has held grudges over the smallest slights since he was little. If he finds out you toyed with him like this, especially if he finds out you teamed up with me... forget Jinzhou. He’ll chase you to the ends of the earth.”

Yu Qingtang’s expression was firm. “It’s fine. Until the Golden Core Competition is enough!”

Tianji Zi became very interested. “Why?”

“To tell you the truth,” Yu Qingtang said sincerely, “I also know that using one lie to cover another lie isn’t exactly wise.”

“But I’m afraid he’ll hit me.”

Tianji Zi stroked his beard. “Mm... and after the Golden Core Competition, you won’t be afraid anymore?”

“Right now, he and I are both early Golden Core.” Yu Qingtang paused. “Of course, I know the Golden Core of a major sect like yours is different from the Golden Core of a sect like ours.”

“We managed with great difficulty to reach Golden Core at this age, while your sects deliberately keep the younger generation at Golden Core as long as possible to settle their foundations, so that once the Ancient Academy Realm opens, they can go in and search for opportunities.”

“That’s right.” Tianji Zi nodded slightly. “The harder one is pressed down, the higher one flies. That is called accumulating deeply before breaking through.”

Yu Qingtang looked as if victory was already in his grasp. “Once the Golden Core Competition ends and he comes out of the Ancient Academy Realm, Ye Chenyan will form a Nascent Soul no matter what.”

“But I’m different. My paper-pasted Golden Core will probably stay stuck for a while longer.”

“When the time comes, I’ll tell him the truth.”

To be honest, he had always felt that the only reason his cultivation had gone so smoothly in the first half of his life was because the plot needed him to be Golden Core when he met Long Aotian.

Afterward, there would be nothing for him to do. This limited-time genius buff would probably be reclaimed too.

“In that case, the gap between your strength and his will widen even further,” Tianji Zi said, not understanding him. “Wouldn’t that make you even more dangerous? Where does the safety come from?”

Yu Qingtang spoke with deep implication. “That’s Ye Chenyan we’re talking about.”

Tianji Zi half understood and half did not. “Explain in detail.”

Yu Qingtang explained to him, “If I were some Out-of-Body or Soul Transformation powerhouse, then even if Ye Chenyan had to risk his life, he wouldn’t swallow this insult.”

Tianji Zi nodded along. “Naturally. That brat does have a bit of temper.”

Yu Qingtang continued, “But if he’s Nascent Soul and I’m still Golden Core...”

“Oh?” Tianji Zi looked thoughtful.

Yu Qingtang clapped his hands with certainty. “Then he won’t hit me!”

Long Aotian rulebook—there are only challenges above one’s level, never crushing someone below one’s level! If he relied on higher cultivation to beat Yu Qingtang, how embarrassing would that be for Long Aotian?

Tianji Zi narrowed his eyes, rolled over, poured a mouthful of wine into his mouth, savored the logic inside, and could not help laughing. “Ha. Interesting.”

“At first glance, this plan is full of holes and utterly absurd... yet somehow, I think it is extremely feasible.”

“Right?” Yu Qingtang’s eyes lit up. “As long as I’m weaker than he is, then apologize sincerely with a good attitude, he definitely won’t be able to hit me!”

“Haha!” Tianji Zi burst out laughing again and shook the wine gourd in his hand. “When ordinary people encounter trouble, they think about making themselves stronger. You’re something else. You do the exact opposite.”

Light flickered in his eyes. “If someday he is a prodigy and I am an ant, he will naturally regard me as beneath notice... wonderful, wonderful!”

“I actually think you seem like a personal disciple of my Whatever Peak.”

Yu Qingtang himself felt that his performance today had been quite good, so he continued, “Then could I ask you for one more favor?”

“Say it first.” Tianji Zi was very interested. “Let me hear it.”

Yu Qingtang pointed at the center of his own brow. “Maybe I really did knock his supreme fate a little crooked, so some of the opportunities that should have gone to him somehow came to me instead.”

“I’ve given back everything that was convenient to return, but the golden sword Martial Aunt Li gave me—I can’t pry it out. Do you have any way to get it out?”

Tianji Zi raised his brows in surprise. “You even want to return that?”

His eyes flashed slightly, and he asked with a smile, “Since you’re afraid he’ll hit you, I imagine you’re also very afraid of death. That golden sword is a treasure that can protect your life.”

“No matter how good a treasure is, if it belongs to someone else, I can’t take it.” Yu Qingtang covered his heart. “I’m a fragile person inside. If I know it belongs to someone else and still occupy it... I’ll still be thinking about it the day I’m lowered into the ground.”

Tianji Zi examined him carefully, as if trying to tell how sincere those words were.

He shook his head regretfully. “Pity. There isn’t really a way.”

“Huh?” Yu Qingtang was a little disappointed. “Even you don’t have a way?”

“Think about it.” Tianji Zi explained with perfect logic. “This kind of secret art was obviously created by elders to protect juniors in case the junior dies unexpectedly.”

“If it could be transferred casually, then when a villain saw it, he’d say, ‘Yo, Guiyi Sect’s body-protecting golden sword is pretty good. I want one too,’ and steal yours away.”

Tianji Zi clapped his hands. “Wouldn’t that be making wedding clothes for someone else? Of course it’s bound to the soul.”

“That sounds very reasonable.” Yu Qingtang crouched in place with the air of someone who had seen too much of the world. “Then what do I do now?”

“No matter.” Tianji Zi waved his hand indifferently. “I’ll help him find a few more life-saving treasures later. You don’t need to worry about it too much. Fate changes in thousands of ways. Before something lands in someone’s hands, it is ownerless. It doesn’t count as stealing.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

I clearly plucked his disciple’s opportunity. Why does he look so happy?

Tianji Zi raised his wine gourd toward him. “Have a cup?”

“Ah, no need.” Yu Qingtang shifted toward the window, the heavy stone in his heart finally dropping. “If there’s nothing else, senior, I’ll be leaving first.”

Tianji Zi called him back. “Wait.”

He took a jade token from his robe and tossed it to Yu Qingtang.

Yu Qingtang had no idea whether every cultivator practiced some secret art called “Catch Thrown Objects with One-Hundred-Percent Accuracy,” but in any case, every time he caught something, his heart still leaped into his throat.

Two lines of words were carved on the simple jade token—Yu Qingtang of Biehe Sect, early Golden Core.

Yu Qingtang blinked in confusion, not understanding what it meant.

Tianji Zi climbed back onto his couch and crossed one leg over the other. “This fleshly body of yours can be considered native-born in this great world, but your soul is not of this realm.”

“The Golden Core Competition has to rank people somehow. When the time comes, Four Books Academy will present a magical artifact called the Flying Immortals Ranking. All Golden Core cultivators who enter the Ancient Academy Realm will be ranked on it.”

Yu Qingtang knew about this thing. At first, the Flying Immortals Ranking was ordered according to cultivation level, but if someone won a duel, the two sides’ rankings would swap. It was quite intelligent.

“Just like how the All-Things Mirror in front of Ten Thousand Immortals Pavilion couldn’t reflect your soul and couldn’t tell whether you were male or female,” Tianji Zi said with an inscrutable smile. “This Flying Immortals Ranking also won’t be able to find your soul, so it won’t be able to rank your name.”

Yu Qingtang was shocked. “Y-You even know about what happened back then?”

“Naturally.” Tianji Zi had the manner of an enlightened expert beyond the mundane world. “What you know, I know. What you don’t know, I probably know too.”

“Carry this jade token with you. The words on the jade token will appear on the Flying Immortals Ranking by themselves, so no one sees anything suspicious.”

He paused. “It’s just that you can only be ranked last.”

Yu Qingtang did not care at all about being dead last. He pressed his palms together gratefully. “Many thanks, senior! Last is last. I’m fine with that!”

“I thought you would be.” Tianji Zi smiled frankly. “After all, with your strength, you would probably be dead last anyway.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Your honesty is very hurtful, senior!

He cupped his fist in farewell, lifted his robe, and was about to climb out the window when Tianji Zi called again, “Wait again!”

Yu Qingtang turned back once more. “There’s more?”

“I almost forgot.” Tianji Zi pointed at the jade token. “I carved the words on it. If you break through to mid or late Golden Core, remember to change the wording.”

“You’re a Golden Core cultivator at least. You do know a stone-inscribing spell, right?”

Yu Qingtang quickly nodded. “I do!”

He turned around and climbed toward the window again. Tianji Zi propped his chin in his hand and said, “Hey.”

Yu Qingtang hung on the window and looked back. “What now?”

“I’m just asking. Why are you climbing out the window?” Tianji Zi looked at him with great interest. “Didn’t you come in through the door?”

Yu Qingtang lowered his head, looked at the window frame beneath his backside, and revealed a polite yet awkward smile. “...”

How was he supposed to explain? It wasn’t as if he could say that because he had a guilty conscience, he had specially chosen an exit method more fitting for a thief.

“Ahem.” Yu Qingtang worked hard to look righteous and cupped his fist. “Occasionally, one must... take the road less traveled. Farewell!”

He still flipped out through the window.

Tianji Zi’s laughter came from behind him, and Yu Qingtang slipped away as fast as he could.

Tianji Zi tipped his head back and drank a mouthful of wine, then drawled lazily, “Are you coming down or not? If not, I’m closing my doors to guests for the night.”

A black shadow dropped in front of the window. Ye Chenyan leaned against the window frame, pretending to be relaxed. “I heard movement in the middle of the night. I thought some blind thief had entered Whatever Peak, so I came out to take a look.”

“Hmph.” Tianji Zi let out a snorting laugh. “Keep making things up.”

“What did he come to you for in the middle of the night?” Ye Chenyan stood with his back to the window. “You didn’t spout any nonsense, did you?”

“I promised him I wouldn’t say.” Tianji Zi smacked his lips. “But I only promised not to tell the first half.”

Ye Chenyan’s ears immediately perked up. “What about the second half?”

“Oh, my, I’m getting old. My body grows worse by the day. My bones are so stiff—” Tianji Zi began putting on airs. “Is there any thoughtful and considerate good disciple who can give me a massage?”

Ye Chenyan slowly clenched his fist, took a deep breath, and smiled. “Fine.”

He also flipped in through the window.

Tianji Zi found it funny. “Why are you also using the window?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” Ye Chenyan reached out and pressed down on his leg. “You knew I was outside, so you deliberately set up a barrier and made sure I couldn’t hear anything, didn’t you?”

“Eavesdropping on corners is also a technical skill. You have to do it without ghosts or gods noticing.” Tianji Zi spoke with earnest concern. “Since I had already discovered you, if I didn’t stop you a little, wouldn’t I be giving you far too much leniency?”

Ye Chenyan’s brows knitted tightly, and he urged, “Then what exactly did he say?”

Tianji Zi snorted a laugh. “He realized he seems to have affected your opportunities, so he came to ask me how to return that golden sword to you.”

Ye Chenyan’s hand tightened. “What did you say?”

“I said it couldn’t be done.” Tianji Zi propped his head up. “Of course, it’s not that it really can’t be done. If you truly want him to return it...”

Ye Chenyan threw his leg aside. “No need.”

Tianji Zi smiled slyly. “You really don’t want it? From what I saw, he sincerely wants to return it. You—”

“I said I don’t need it, so I don’t need it.” Ye Chenyan folded his arms across his chest. “If I truly am born supreme, then so-called external objects are merely flowers added to brocade. Whether I have them or not won’t stop me from becoming the greatest under heaven.”

“If I can accomplish nothing once I lose these things, then I amount to no more than that.”

He stood, then flipped out the window with easy, graceful movements.

“Hey, come back!” Tianji Zi angrily threw a shoe at him. “Brat, I wasn’t done speaking!”

Author’s Note:

Golden sword: I am not a tool for you men to flirt with each other! Please show a life-protecting magical artifact the respect it deserves!

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