After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Venerable Burning Gold swayed from side to side.

“I’ll look left, I’ll look right. I’ll look wherever I damn well please!”

Ye Chenyan raised his spear, his smile dangerous.

“Fine. Keep looking—”

“Stop arguing.” Yu Qingtang slumped over his qin and let out a faint sigh. He pointed at the three unlucky figures sprawled on the ground. “Could someone lend a hand and turn those three over?”

“Three?” Venerable Burning Gold looked over and laughed. “Oh? You even brought a little pet.”

He took one step, crossing the distance in an instant, and crouched beside Chi Yantian. He tipped Chi Yantian’s chin from side to side to inspect him.

“Nothing serious. His dantian is just empty.”

Ye Chenyan followed warily, clearly afraid the man might try something.

“You really know how to hold a grudge, little brat.” Venerable Burning Gold chuckled.

With a flick of his hand, three fire lotuses floated into Tu Jiaojiao, Chi Yantian, and Flamelet. He withdrew his hand.

“There. They’ll wake up soon.”

He glanced toward the bottom of the pit, then suddenly froze.

A moment later, he exploded in rage.

“Which rotten bastard kicked off that old Demonic Cult dog’s head?”

His hands shook with indignation.

“I knew you youngsters these days—”

“It was you,” Ye Chenyan cut in coldly, holding his spear against his shoulder.

Venerable Burning Gold fell silent.

Then he turned toward Yu Qingtang as if seeking confirmation.

“This kid has a rotten heart. I don’t believe him. Little girl, you tell me.”

He tried to arrange his expression into something warm and benevolent.

“I trust you.”

Yu Qingtang nodded earnestly. “It really was you.”

“The moment you woke up, you kicked him over and shouted, ‘You old dog of the Demonic Cult! In the end, this old man still—’”

“Enough.” Venerable Burning Gold’s cheek twitched. He raised a hand to stop him. “That does sound like something I’d say. Fine, I get it.”

He gave an awkward laugh, then hurried down to the corpse. Somehow, he found the missing head, placed it carefully back on the corpse’s neck, and forced out an apologetic smile.

“My apologies. I’d just woken up, so my mind wasn’t entirely clear.”

He muttered under his breath, “Though you can’t blame me completely. Your demonic energy probably affected me too.”

“What a shame. Back then, you had that ugly mug of yours raised high and proud. You said you demonic cultivators were used to poor mountains and harsh lands, and there was no way I could outlast you in such a dangerous place.”

He sighed.

“Who would have thought I’d still beat you in the end?”

At that moment, the three unconscious victims finally began to stir.

“Hiss...” Tu Jiaojiao opened her eyes in a daze and pressed a hand to her dantian, her expression strange. “Why do I feel so tired?”

“Flamelet?” Chi Yantian abruptly sat cross-legged and patted the thick, rough hide of the Blazing Rhinoceros’s head. “Why are you lying down too?”

Yu Qingtang crouched and pointed at Venerable Burning Gold below, briefly explaining what had happened.

Tu Jiaojiao’s eyes widened at once.

“H-he really is someone who survived from antiquity? How is that possible?”

Chi Yantian immediately sat up straighter. “Then doesn’t that mean he knows what happened to the Sage-Hearing Academy back then?”

“Should we call Scholar Xiao over? He’d be really interested in this.”

“Hold it.” Venerable Burning Gold raised his head at once and examined them. “No calling anyone over. Let me ask you youngsters a few things first.”

“Little brats, what year is it now? And does anyone still know Venerable Burning Gold of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect?”

He spoke with an unmistakably smug expression, as if he were prepared to receive their reverent worship.

But the group only exchanged blank looks.

After waiting a moment, Venerable Burning Gold awkwardly rubbed his nose.

“Tch. Fine, you little brats don’t know this old Daoist’s great name. Then what happened to my Ten Thousand Flames Sect in Blazing Cloud Province?”

“Blazing Cloud Province...” Chi Yantian suddenly understood. “Oh! That was Rongzhou’s old name!”

“What Rongzhou?” Venerable Burning Gold looked disgusted. “Who changed the province’s name? It has no grandeur at all.”

“My founding ancestors did!” Tu Jiaojiao had stopped being afraid now that she knew he was not a ghost. Chin lifted proudly, she said, “I’ve never heard of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect, but after that great war, heavenly fire fell from the sky and Blazing Cloud Province became a scorched wasteland. The people suffered terribly.”

“It was the two founding ancestors of the Heavenly Fire Cult, Flame Immortal and Emperor Fire, who refused to abandon that burned land. They wanted to restore life to it.”

“They drew from the line, ‘One year withers, one year flourishes,’ to name it Rongzhou. Wildfires cannot burn everything away. The land would flourish again.”

She looked deeply unconvinced.

“What’s wrong with that name?”

Venerable Burning Gold went blank for a moment.

“Flame Immortal. Emperor Fire...”

He suddenly looked up, as if gazing through layer upon layer of mountains toward Rongzhou in the distance.

After a long silence, he closed his eyes.

“Good. It’s a good name.”

A bitter smile crossed his face.

“The little brats who used to play with fire in front of the furnace and singe their hair are now founding ancestors in other people’s stories.”

He let out a quiet sigh.

“So much time has passed...”

“What about the Demonic Cult?” he asked.

Ye Chenyan stared at the desiccated corpse whose head Venerable Burning Gold had pressed back into place.

“Was he from the Demonic Cult?”

“Yes.” With his back to them, Venerable Burning Gold tilted his head up, looking faintly wistful. “He was the Demonic Sovereign’s right-hand man—the infamous Black Sand Wolf King.”

“I suppose no one remembers him either.”

Tu Jiaojiao’s eyes flickered. “Senior, you fought him here. Does that mean the Sage-Hearing Academy’s disappearance overnight was connected to the Demonic Cult?”

“No wonder the Demonic Soil vanished from the world after the Sage-Hearing Academy disappeared! This must have been an earth-shaking battle!”

Everyone knew that after a great ancient war, true immortals and true demons vanished from the world. Yet no one knew what had truly happened then, or even who had fought in that war.

Most people guessed it had been a war between immortals and demons. Afterward, numerous immortal sects vanished mysteriously, while the Demonic Soil was reduced to ash.

Venerable Burning Gold shook his head.

“This ‘demon’ is not that ‘demon.’ You are still too young. It is not yet time for you to know.”

“Once you become figures of stature, even if you try to play deaf and dumb, someone will come begging to tell you.”

“Back then, true demons and true immortals vanished together. The Demonic Cult weakened considerably, but the heroes of the Nine Provinces did not wipe them out completely.” Ye Chenyan answered. “They were confined to Nanzhou, watched by the Starwatch Pavilion, and forbidden from committing evil.”

“Most of the old demon-race remnants are now under Nanzhou’s Pleasure Sect.”

“Besides that, the demonfolk of Great Wilderness Mountain are active in Nanzhou as well. They are close with the old Demonic Cult remnants, so the region is rather mixed.”

“Nanzhou...” Venerable Burning Gold sighed. “I understand.”

He bent down and drew a dagger from the Wolf King’s waist.

He gave a bitter smile.

“A divine artifact that once gleamed with cold light has become nothing but scrap metal.”

He pulled the dagger free. All the black fire in the cavern rushed back toward it, together with the strange demonic energy, sealing themselves within the blade.

Venerable Burning Gold sighed.

“Old bastard, you always treasured this knife most. I’ll return it for you.”

Tu Jiaojiao gathered her courage and asked, “Senior, what are you going to do?”

“The two of us guarded this stretch of the line together.” Venerable Burning Gold closed his eyes. “We agreed that whoever survived would at least carry a message home for the other.”

“I just don’t know whether there is anyone left waiting for his message.”

Then he found a scroll in the Wolf King’s robes and tossed it through the air toward Ye Chenyan.

Ye Chenyan caught it automatically. He paused, then raised an eyebrow.

“What is this supposed to mean?”

“You’ve got a bit of the old dog’s temper in you.” Venerable Burning Gold grinned. “Since we met by fate, I’ll make the decision for him and accept you as his disciple.”

“You can learn one of his techniques: Heavenly Wolf Tribulation.”

Tu Jiaojiao instinctively objected. “But that’s a demonic cultivator’s technique! He—”

“He can cultivate it. That boy’s constitution is special.” Venerable Burning Gold studied Ye Chenyan’s expression, looking a little surprised. “You don’t even know?”

He sucked in a breath.

“Who would have thought that immortals and demons couldn’t stand one another centuries ago, and centuries later, things would still be the same?”

“You’ll have to keep it secret. Otherwise, it will only cause trouble.”

“Fine.” Chi Yantian had no idea whether he understood the reason, but he agreed readily. “So you’re leaving? Taking his relics back to Nanzhou?”

Venerable Burning Gold turned toward Yu Qingtang again, nostalgia touching his expression.

“You resemble her, but you aren’t her.”

“Little girl, where did you get that qin?”

“It was passed down through my sect,” Yu Qingtang answered honestly. “Biehe Sect in Jinzhou.”

After a pause, he added, “We’re a small sect that’s fallen on hard times. Apparently, eight hundred years ago, we were part of the same lineage as the Heavenly Music Sect.”

“Biehe Sect. Heavenly Music Sect...” Venerable Burning Gold sighed in regret. “I’ve never heard those names.”

“But I recognize this qin. May I look at it?”

Yu Qingtang obediently handed it over.

Venerable Burning Gold’s expression was full of remembrance as he brushed his fingers across the strings. The Dragon-Crane Zither trembled and gave a low, mournful whine.

Venerable Burning Gold grinned.

“This lousy qin still has the same bad temper. But you’re under someone else’s control now, so you can’t fight me the way you used to.”

He returned the qin to Yu Qingtang, then sent over a crystal short flute.

Yu Qingtang widened his eyes.

“This is... for me?”

Venerable Burning Gold’s beard bristled in outrage.

“In your dreams! My old flame gave this to me. Would it be proper to give it to some other girl?”

“The score is carved into the flute. Memorize it.”

“And you two—no, you three.” Venerable Burning Gold looked at them with a smile. “We’re all of the same lineage, in a manner of speaking. Since meeting is fate, I’ll broaden your horizons.”

“Do any of you have fire-aspect spiritual herbs, medicinal plants, or anything similar?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve suppressed the demonic energy now. Your spiritual power will not keep dispersing on its own.”

Tu Jiaojiao and Chi Yantian exchanged a look.

Chi Yantian asked, “Does fire-aspect ore count?”

“It counts.” Venerable Burning Gold rolled his eyes. “As long as you two can chew it.”

Yu Qingtang lightly bumped Ye Chenyan with his shoulder and reminded him in a low voice, “Heavenly Flame Fruits.”

Ye Chenyan suddenly understood.

“Oh. I have some.”

“But...” He turned to look at Yu Qingtang. “You gave them to me.”

“Look at you guarding them.” Venerable Burning Gold crooked a finger at him, then sent a voice transmission into his ear.

“Offer up that treasure, and this old Daoist will teach you a trick.”

“Ordinary cultivators who are tainted by demonic energy will remain weak for days. Once you learn Heavenly Wolf Tribulation, you can dissolve the demonic energy in her body.”

“Then the two of you can sit face-to-face and dual cultivate. Your spiritual power will flow through her, and hers through you. Wouldn’t that be even better than ordinary mutual understanding?”

Ye Chenyan’s eyes widened slightly, and the tips of his ears turned red.

He turned away and muttered, “What nonsense.”

Then he tossed over two Heavenly Flame Fruits.

“I’ll keep one for myself. As a memento.”

Chi Yantian did not understand the meaning behind that at all. He nodded broadly.

“That’s fine. Flamelet can eat rocks anyway.”

Flamelet had a piece of ore in its mouth, while Chi Yantian and Tu Jiaojiao each placed a Heavenly Flame Fruit between their teeth. Three pairs of eyes watched Venerable Burning Gold expectantly.

“Watch carefully. I’ll only teach this once!”

Venerable Burning Gold raised a hand and recalled the crystal short flute. Fire-attribute spiritual power boiled around him, as if he could refine heaven and earth itself.

“Open!”

Yu Qingtang saw only an ocean of fire tearing open the cavern, as though even the entire sky might burn away.

But Chi Yantian and Tu Jiaojiao had already entered meditation, clearly seeing things Yu could not.

Venerable Burning Gold hovered in midair with his hands folded behind his back.

“Remember this. Once you get outside, if anyone asks, pretend you know nothing.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “But the Flying Immortals Ranking is here. It can broadcast everything we do to the outside world...”

Venerable Burning Gold snorted disdainfully.

“What kind of thing dares call itself the Flying Immortals Ranking? If I say it cannot see, then it will not see a thing.”

“Remember. Do not mention antiquity, and do not mention demons.”

“There is one more thing.” Ye Chenyan suddenly spoke up. “The Esoteric Sect is searching for the Heaven-Mending Art. Do you know anything about that?”

“The Esoteric Sect?” Venerable Burning Gold’s expression immediately became complicated. He clearly knew.

He curled his lip.

“Those old bastards still haven’t given up.”

“What Heaven-Mending Art? It’s a crooked ritual for sacrificing to heaven. Don’t let them find it!”

After saying that, he shot into the air with a booming laugh.

“Boy, you’re arrogant, but your temperament suits me well enough. If you ever get into trouble, face the direction of Blazing Cloud Province, kowtow three times, and shout, ‘Grandpa Burning Gold, save me!’”

“This old Daoist might come!”

Ye Chenyan’s face darkened. He raised his voice in reply.

“If you ever get into trouble, face the direction of Guiyi Sect, kowtow ten times, and shout, ‘Ancestor Ye, save me!’”

“I might come too!”

Venerable Burning Gold’s powerful answer echoed through the cavern.

“Pah!”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Those two really were something.

Ye Chenyan turned back with an irritated huff. Then his gaze landed on Yu Qingtang, and he smiled.

“If you run into danger, you don’t need to kowtow. Just call—”

Yu Qingtang reminded him, “You’re younger than I am.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “So what?”

“Younger means youthful and energetic.” Yu Qingtang instantly changed his tune. “Your ears are good too. You’re not hard of hearing.”

Then, extremely cooperatively, he cupped his hands around his mouth and practiced in a soft voice.

“Big Brother Ye, save me—”

Ye Chenyan muffled a laugh, then could not help turning away and doubling over with amusement.

“I almost forgot. This is your ultimate technique.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely save you.”

“Come on. Let’s guard the two of them... ah, all three of them while they cultivate.”

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