After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Jin Yangzi’s evil body trembled slightly. Yu Qingtang edged backward. “Don’t get worked up yet!”

“Ha ha ha!” The evil body threw back his head and laughed, gripping Yu Qingtang’s wrist tightly. “What are you afraid of? Afraid I’ll kill you?”

“Of course not. I’m not as petty as they are.”

Yu Qingtang was on the verge of tears. Jin Yangzi was trying very hard to sound gentle, but the raging karmic fire burning beneath his ass did not lie. This guy definitely wanted to kill him!

Just as Jin Yangzi’s evil body was about to tighten his grip, the Golden Light Mirror flew back and hung inverted above them. Dazzling golden radiance descended, forcibly suppressing both the karmic fire and the good and evil Dharma bodies.

The crimson character for evil faded from Jin Yangzi’s brow. He exhaled, slowly wiped the water from his face, and turned to look at Yu Qingtang.

Yu Qingtang gave a dry laugh. “Y-Your eyes can open?”

Jin Yangzi snorted, flicked his sleeve, and sat cross-legged. “Who said they couldn’t?”

“Other people.” Yu Qingtang tugged at his own eyelids, forcing his eyes wide as he looked at him. “They said you couldn’t open them casually before your eye technique reached mastery.”

Jin Yangzi: “...I mastered it long ago.”

Yu Qingtang suddenly understood. “So you normally just can’t be bothered to open your eyes and look at people! Besides seeing people’s bones clearly, does this eye technique also help you avoid socializing—”

Jin Yangzi’s brows drew together. He clearly did not want to answer, but he could not stop himself from speaking. “Nonsense! I cultivated the Heavenly Eye to see through an enemy’s weaknesses at a glance. What do you mean, seeing their bones?”

“I know, I know.” The story had explained what the eye technique did. Yu Qingtang nodded slightly, then asked with curiosity, “So did you see my weaknesses?”

Jin Yangzi sneered. “You? No.”

Yu Qingtang was stunned.

No weaknesses? Could I really be a genius?

Jin Yangzi closed his eyes again, focusing on resisting the scorch of the karmic fire. He gave a cold laugh.

“An idiot like you, who somehow reached Golden Core despite being riddled with weaknesses from head to toe, is rare indeed.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

He understood. If every part of him was equally weak, then no single part counted as a weakness.

Why did insults have to take so many detours?

He lifted his head gloomily. There was no sun inside the cave, so he had no idea how much time had passed. His mouth had gone dry from talking, and he did not know whether Ye Chenyan had emerged from the trial yet—or whether Scholar Xiao had found reinforcements.

He sighed. Just as he was about to sit cross-legged and cultivate the Scripture of Awaiting Good Fortune a few more times, he paused and tilted his head to listen.

A music cultivator’s exceptional hearing told him that someone was passing by.

Someone seemed to be shouting something.

Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes and listened carefully.

It sounded like—

“Miss Yu.”

Miss Yu!

Yu Qingtang shot to his feet. Jin Yangzi opened his eyes, and Yu immediately sat down again, pretending he had heard nothing.

“Ahem. My legs went numb. I was just doing a squat to stretch.”

The voices outside drew nearer, until they seemed to be directly beyond the cave residence.

Scholar Xiao’s voice came from outside. “Forgive the intrusion. May I ask whether the fellow cultivators inside have seen Miss Yu Qingtang of Biehe Sect?”

Yu Qingtang glanced furtively at Jin Yangzi.

Now there was no way he could pretend not to have heard.

Without making a sound, he shifted farther back and pulled out the Dragon-Crane Zither, standing it upright before him.

It was a first-rank spiritual artifact, after all. Even if it was covered in restrictions, it could at least serve as a shield...right?

Outside the cave residence, Scholar Xiao continued cautiously, “Brother? Miss? Uh... Senior?”

There was no response from within.

Dot Star Formation looked thoughtful. “Something is strange.”

She raised a hand and rotated her chessboard. “Prepare to break the formation.”

“We’re breaking it already?” Scholar Xiao was startled. “What if they’re at a crucial point in their cultivation and simply can’t answer—”

Before he could finish, he leaped into the air in alarm. He and Dot Star Formation darted to opposite sides just as a golden wheel wreathed in karmic fire shot skyward.

Had they been even a moment slower, it would have cleaved both of them in half.

The cave residence was breached.

Jin Yangzi sat cross-legged as he slowly rose into the air. The Golden Light Mirror hovered behind his head, radiating light. Beneath him, a golden lotus throne was scorched by pitch-black karmic fire.

Buddhist nature and wickedness gathered in one body, creating an overwhelming pressure.

Scholar Xiao’s expression changed sharply. “Why does he look even stronger now?”

Dot Star Formation looked as though she faced a great enemy. “He also looks more abnormal than you described.”

Her sharp eyes caught sight of Yu Qingtang peeking out furtively below.

“Is that the Miss Yu you mentioned?”

“Yes!” Scholar Xiao let out a breath of relief and hurriedly greeted him. “Miss Yu, I’m here to save you!”

Then he turned and clasped his hands to Jin Yangzi. “Brother, the two of us have no grievance between us. I merely wish to rescue my friend. Why must you—”

Before he could finish, Jin Yangzi flashed behind him and struck with an open palm.

Scholar Xiao was half a beat too slow to react. Fortunately, a chessboard abruptly expanded, swallowing both men inside and shifting their positions.

Jin Yangzi looked up.

The heavens and earth around him had suddenly grown enormous. He and Scholar Xiao stood trapped in the center of the chessboard like ants.

Outside the Jeweled Chessboard Formation, Dot Star Formation held a chess piece between her fingers and looked down from on high.

“Heaven and earth are the board. I am the player.”

With a wave of her hand, she flung Scholar Xiao out of the formation.

Chess pieces descended one after another, falling like meteors and crashing down upon Jin Yangzi.

“Hmph!”

Jin Yangzi became a streak of golden light and rushed forward. Even the downpour of chess pieces could not stop him from breaking free.

Scholar Xiao had only just escaped the formation when he touched his back suspiciously.

Jin Yangzi had attacked him from that angle several times, as though he knew Scholar Xiao was poor at defending against attacks from his side and rear.

“Why are you standing there?” Dot Star Formation did not pause after throwing the chess pieces. She rushed down, grabbed Yu Qingtang, and ran. “We saved him. Now run!”

“Coming!” Scholar Xiao did not dare linger. He hurried after them, waving his brush as he wrote a great character in the sky.

“Scatter!”

The nearby Four Books Academy disciples scattered in all directions without hesitation.

The three of them had barely escaped when the Jeweled Chessboard Formation behind them began to shake violently.

It could not withstand the scorching karmic fire. Its surface blackened, cracked inch by inch, and then shattered with a thunderous blast.

Scholar Xiao was horrified. “Senior Sister! Your Jeweled Chessboard Formation broke!”

“I can see that!” Dot Star Formation did not look back. “Everyone outside saw it break while you were being saved. Martial Uncle will definitely compensate me. He’s rich!”

Scholar Xiao: “...”

“Thank you. Thank you for coming to pull me out.” Yu Qingtang was still being carried by Dot Star Formation and did not dare struggle, afraid of slowing her down. “May I ask how long I’ve been taken away?”

“Less than eight hours.” Scholar Xiao hurried to answer. “This Sage-Hearing Academy is far bigger than I expected. I raced to find my fellow disciples from the Chess Academy, then hurried here to search for you!”

Not even eight hours.

Yu Qingtang’s heart sank.

Ye Chenyan probably still needed some time before he could leave the trial.

He turned to look behind him, then froze in horror.

“H-He-He’s catching up!”

Jin Yangzi was like a burning sun, karmic fire blazing hot enough to scorch the air as he swept straight toward them.

“What did you people do to him?!” Dot Star Formation grabbed a handful of chess pieces and tossed them backward to slow him down. She kept one in hand and tossed it toward the sky.

Casting a chess piece to divine the way, her eyes flashed.

“The Life Gate is this way!”

Scholar Xiao paused. “This is...the direction of Sage-Hearing Schoolhouse! Could it be—”

The three rushed toward Sage-Hearing Schoolhouse.

A flash of fiery red light streaked across the sky. At that exact moment, Chi Yantian smashed his way into the air with a single hammer strike and burst into laughter.

“It worked! Good!”

Scholar Xiao was overjoyed. “Brother Chi! Could this Life Gate be your—”

“Hm?” Chi Yantian looked at them in confusion. “What happened to you?”

Yu Qingtang simply shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Help—!”

“Jin Yangzi?” Chi Yantian saw the person chasing them and laughed heartily. “Perfect. I can use him to practice my hammer techniques!”

He swung his hammer and charged straight ahead, his momentum immense. He intended to smash that golden sun out of the sky with a single blow.

The three of them looked up expectantly.

Then they watched helplessly as Chi Yantian flew backward and crashed down in front of them.

“Fuck!” Chi Yantian yanked his hammer free from the ground and struggled to his feet. “What kind of cultivation method is that? Not even a tortoise shell is that hard!”

Scholar Xiao answered instinctively, “Karmic fire reaches for the heavens beneath him, and he has an Immovable Adamantine Lotus Throne. It should be the Dharma Academy’s Lotus Realm! But why is the karmic fire burning him as well?”

Yu Qingtang answered quietly, “His cultivation went sideways.”

“No wonder.” Dot Star Formation caught her breath. “Cultivation deviation always makes someone thirty percent stronger than normal.”

Chi Yantian rubbed his chin. “Karmic fire...”

Scholar Xiao asked him with the desperation of a man willing to try anything. “The Heavenly Fire Cult is said to possess secret methods for controlling fire. Does Brother Chi have a way to deal with it?”

“No.” Chi Yantian answered bluntly. “I was only wondering whether this fire could be used for artifact refining.”

Yu Qingtang covered his eyes. “...What is wrong with you?”

“I’m not seriously injured.” Chi Yantian shook out his hand. “But this guy really is troublesome.”

“Everyone.” Yu Qingtang backed up against the gate of the schoolhouse trial. He had already entered once, and the gate would no longer open for him.

“I can only do my best.”

Dot Star Formation’s spirits rose. “What do you mean?”

Jin Yangzi was already rushing toward them.

Yu Qingtang threw back his head and shouted, “Ye Chenyan—help!”

The space behind him abruptly opened.

A hand caught him around the waist and lifted him up. A silver battle spear flew from its wielder’s hand, screaming through the air.

A rainbow pierced the sun.

The golden sun stopped in midair.

Yu Qingtang stared blankly up at him. “It...it really worked?”

Ye Chenyan’s face bore fresh scrapes, and sweat clung to his brow. He had clearly just endured a fierce battle.

Yu Qingtang suddenly reacted. “Did you finish?”

You didn’t leave before finishing the trial, did you?

“Mm.” Ye Chenyan looked down at him. Only after seeing that Yu was unharmed did he relax. He lifted the red cord around his wrist and tapped it against Yu Qingtang’s. “Not long after I entered, I sensed you getting farther and farther away. I knew you would not wander off alone, so you must have run into trouble.”

He clicked his tongue softly. “Unfortunately, the Academy spirit is an old stick-in-the-mud. It would not let me out easily...”

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” Yu Qingtang turned to look at the three people lying on the ground.

Scholar Xiao: “My feet ache.”

Chi Yantian: “My hand is numb.”

Dot Star Formation: “I’m exhausted.”

They all looked more or less fine.

Ye Chenyan laughed softly, then clasped his hands to them with a solemn expression.

“You’ve been injured this badly. I’ll have to seek justice for you properly.”

He raised a hand, and the silver battle spear returned to his grasp.

With its tip angled toward the ground, he stepped upward through empty air, one step at a time.

“Jin Yangzi. You escaped last time. Will you escape again this time?”

Jin Yangzi stared at him, then suddenly sneered. “Someone stopped me last time. Now, no one can save you.”

“Can you still fight?” Ye Chenyan rested the spear on his shoulder, smiling provocatively. “Do not burn yourself to death before I even make a move.”

“Hmph. Sharp-tongued!”

Jin Yangzi wasted no more words. He attacked directly.

The two collided, and the ground around Sage-Hearing Schoolhouse shook. Heaven and earth seemed to change color.

Scholar Xiao looked somewhat worried. “Senior Sister, is this really the Life Gate?”

“I don’t know.” Dot Star Formation narrowed her eyes as she watched. “Ye Chenyan’s master is Tianji Zi. I cannot calculate him either.”

Scholar Xiao muttered, “Then what can you calculate?”

Dot Star Formation answered coolly, “I calculated that you will suffer a financial loss soon. You owe Miss Yu one thousand spirit stones, and you owe me a spiritual artifact.”

Scholar Xiao: “...”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes lit up. “Someone’s falling!”

Dot Star Formation clapped her hands. “Who do you think it will be? Bets are closed! One hundred spirit stones!”

Yu Qingtang: “Jin!”

Scholar Xiao: “Yang!”

Chi Yantian was a beat too slow. He hesitated, then added, “Zi?”

Dot Star Formation deflated and leaned back. “You all bet on the same person. Who is supposed to pay?”

With a loud thud, Jin Yangzi crashed into the ground wreathed in karmic fire, smashing out a lotus-shaped crater.

Ye Chenyan looked down at him from above and clicked his tongue softly.

“Boring.”

He stood on the edge of the crater and put away his spear.

“Your condition is poor. I will wait until you are at your peak for a proper fight.”

“Ha ha...ha ha ha!” Jin Yangzi threw back his head and laughed. “Ridiculous!”

Ye Chenyan’s brows drew together slightly.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in him.

He turned his head just enough for the silver battle spear to block Jin Yangzi’s palm strike.

Endless karmic fire surged along the shaft of the spear, trying to drag Ye Chenyan into its flames.

Jin Yangzi’s eyes were pitch-black. The blood-red character for evil on his brow was wild and unrestrained. Disregarding his own injuries, he seized Ye Chenyan by the collar and tried to draw the karmic fire onto him.

He laughed arrogantly.

“I have never felt this good before.”

The malicious smile on his face widened. Leaning close, he laughed softly into Ye Chenyan’s ear.

“Ye Chenyan, you think you are clever. Do you know that someone has been lying to you? Making a fool of you?”

“Ha ha ha!”

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