After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Yu Qingtang’s eyes glittered with hope for a brighter future.

“If a divine ability like that is inconvenient, then a magical artifact that attracts wealth would work too.”

“Or, failing that, you could give me something worth about as much as the Mind-Sea Bodhi Tree. I can sell it for spirit stones...”

“You!”

The authoritative voice had clearly never encountered anyone like him before. It sounded both furious and flustered. “Your Dao heart is not firm, and you have no interest in the immortal path. Why did you even come here? Was it all for spirit stones?”

Yu Qingtang blinked innocently at Ye Chenyan.

“Ahem.” Ye Chenyan guiltily rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You could say... I brought him here to make a little money.”

The authoritative voice promptly began to dislike him too.

“Then why did you bring him here?”

Ye Chenyan raised a brow. “Mm... to make a little money?”

The authoritative voice fell silent.

Yu Qingtang smiled sheepishly, rubbing his hands together with great restraint as he repeated that familiar line.

“Or maybe you have something you don’t want...”

The authoritative voice went quiet for a moment. Then, with a loud clatter, it threw out an enormous gold ingot that gleamed brilliantly.

At first glance, Yu Qingtang thought it had simply given him gold. Mortals here still used gold, after all, though cultivators naturally valued it far less than spirit stones.

But the ingot felt almost weightless. When Yu picked it up, he realized it was actually a box shaped like a gold ingot. It could be opened down the middle, and its interior was empty.

The authoritative voice drew a deep breath, as though forcing down its anger.

“This treasure is called the Treasure-Gathering Basin. Pour spiritual power into it, shake it forcefully three times, and nearby valuables containing spiritual power will fall into the basin.”

“But remember this: what is gained must be repaid. If you take things, you must perform good deeds. Otherwise, calamity will surely befall you.”

Yu Qingtang nodded like a chick pecking grain.

He had noticed something. This world did not seem to expect much from him either. It merely wanted him to be a decent person.

As a transmigrator from a modern society governed by the rule of law, Yu Qingtang was confident that his moral standards surpassed those of ninety-nine percent of the cultivation world, where the strong devoured the weak.

Ye Chenyan reached out and tapped the Treasure-Gathering Basin. He showed very little respect for the treasure Yu Qingtang had pinned such high hopes on.

“Is it really worth as much as the Mind-Sea Bodhi Tree? Hey, you wouldn’t—”

Before he could finish, the authoritative voice cut him off.

“The Academy Golden Ranking Board has been settled, and the battles outside have concluded. You should leave.”

The moment it finished speaking, it eagerly threw the two of them out of the special space before Ye Chenyan could protest.

Clutching the Treasure-Gathering Basin tightly to his chest, Yu Qingtang stumbled out the door as though someone had kicked him straight through it.

Ye Chenyan steadied him, and the two of them appeared side by side before the crowd.

Yu Qingtang was still not used to all this attention. Especially when he was hugging such an enormous treasure. It made him rather nervous.

He instinctively tried to hide the Treasure-Gathering Basin behind his back, but it was far too conspicuous to conceal.

Chi Yantian had absolutely no sense of the situation. He asked with open curiosity, “You got a magical artifact? Hey, what kind? Let me see it.”

He had a deep interest in artifact refining and studied the gold ingot in Yu Qingtang’s hands with undisguised curiosity.

Yu Qingtang landed beside the others with Ye Chenyan and scratched his head.

“I think it’s... valuable?”

He was not worried that Chi Yantian would steal it, so he showed it to him without hesitation.

Chi Yantian inspected the Treasure-Gathering Basin with the practiced hand of a professional. A flash of light passed through his eyes.

“This material... Could it be the legendary Treasure Gold?”

Yu Qingtang looked blank.

“What is that?”

The name was oddly cute.

“I only saw it in The World’s Rare Materials,” Chi Yantian said, falling immediately into an artifact-refining frenzy. Nothing else existed in his field of vision now. “It is said to be an exceptionally rare ore found only in antiquity. It is incredibly precious and extremely unusual.”

“But the book never explains exactly what makes it unusual. It only says that it is almost impossible to find now.”

He excitedly grabbed Yu Qingtang.

“What does this artifact do? Demonstrate it for me!”

Yu Qingtang glanced at Ye Chenyan and asked tentatively, “Should we try it?”

They were still inside the Ancient Academy Realm. If he used the Treasure-Gathering Basin now, perhaps he could pick up a few treasures from the secret realm.

Naturally, he had not forgotten its drawback. Take something without doing good afterward, and bad luck would cling to him.

Just in case, he ought to give Ye Chenyan fair warning. Yu Qingtang had an excellent sense of his own limits. If this caused trouble, he definitely would not be able to handle it himself. He would probably have to rely on Long Aotian to straighten it out.

Ye Chenyan was curious as well.

“Try it.”

“If anything goes wrong...” He looked toward the exit, then reached out and took Yu Qingtang’s hand. Smiling with curved eyes, he lowered his voice. “I’ll get you out of here.”

Chi Yantian patted his chest loyally.

“Don’t worry. I’m the one who asked you to try it, so I’ll cover your retreat too!”

Scholar Xiao sighed.

“Brother Chi, this is not the time to interrupt.”

“Ah?” Chi Yantian looked utterly confused.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Yu Qingtang closed his eyes and continuously poured spiritual power into the Treasure-Gathering Basin. Then he shook it reverently three times and prayed, “Treasures, treasures, enter my basin!”

Before he even opened his eyes, the basin in his hands suddenly grew heavy enough that he nearly dropped it.

Yu Qingtang opened his eyes in delighted surprise.

“I think something really came in!”

“Open it and see.” Ye Chenyan had become interested as well. Several heads crowded together over the basin.

“Wow—”

Under the expectant gaze of the crowd, Yu Qingtang lifted the lid. A dazzling radiance burst from within, and he could not help exclaiming.

The space inside the Treasure-Gathering Basin was far larger than it appeared. If more spiritual power were poured into it, it could gather even more magical artifacts.

This had only been a simple test, yet he could already see piles of spirit stones inside, mixed with several magical artifacts brimming with spiritual energy.

The haul was even richer than he had imagined.

Yu Qingtang was still immersed in the joy of sudden wealth when Ye Chenyan suddenly raised a brow. Narrowing his eyes, he picked a familiar greenish-black hair from the pile of spirit stones. His expression turned strange.

“Isn’t this... Green Fiend Monkey’s hair?”

Yu Qingtang froze.

“Huh?”

Wasn’t that inside Ye Chenyan’s storage ring? How had it ended up in his Treasure-Gathering Basin?

Yu Qingtang’s heart skipped a beat. An ominous feeling crept over him.

“Hm?” Tu Jiaojiao suddenly touched her waist and shouted, “Where’s my whip? Who stole my whip?”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in horror. Hands trembling, he reached into the basin and rummaged around. Sure enough, he pulled out a scarlet long whip brimming with fire-attribute spiritual power.

Holding the whip, he met Tu Jiaojiao’s eyes.

“You...” Tu Jiaojiao stared at him in disbelief. “What are you two doing? Why is my whip over there?”

A single stone had stirred a thousand waves. Cultivators all around them began shouting one after another.

“My spirit ring!”

“My spirit stones! They’re all gone!”

“My pendant!”

Yu Qingtang staggered back a step, nearly throwing the Treasure-Gathering Basin away altogether.

Chi Yantian slapped his palm in sudden realization.

“So Treasure Gold attracts treasures! That really is an incredibly straightforward name...”

“Brother Ye, Miss Yu, running comes first.” Scholar Xiao was about to raise his folding fan when he looked down at his empty hands and went pale. “My Literary Talent Fan!”

“Miss Yu, give me my fan back first!”

Ye Chenyan had already scooped Yu Qingtang up and sprinted for the exit without looking back.

Clinging to his shoulder, Yu Qingtang looked on the verge of tears.

“No, this Treasure-Gathering Basin—it’s outright robbery!”

He tried to explain to the furious crowd.

“I-I-I was just shaking it for fun! I’ll give everything back!”

He looked back in panic.

“Doesn’t running away like this make us look terribly guilty? I didn’t mean to steal anything!”

Then, as if a leaking roof had not suffered enough rain, Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in shock.

“Fire! Ye Chenyan, it’s burning! The karmic fire is burning!”

“We can’t deal with that right now!”

Ye Chenyan endured the karmic fire head-on and led him in a charge out of the Ancient Academy Realm. Behind them came a vast horde of prodigies.

“They won’t listen to explanations right now. If they surround us, we won’t be able to get away!”

“Give it back!”

“My treasure!”

“Stop right there!”

Tianji Zi tipped his head back and laughed until he nearly doubled over.

“Ha ha ha! Splendid, splendid! The Golden Core Competition has not been this lively in centuries! Ha ha ha!”

Karmic fire trailed behind Ye Chenyan. Behind the karmic fire came the furious crowd of prodigies. The instant he burst out of the Ancient Academy Realm, he crashed straight into Guiyi Sect’s group and shouted:

“Old man! Help!”

Tianji Zi had still been laughing. That shout nearly made him choke in outrage.

“You brat! If you want my help, couldn’t you call me something nicer?”

Yu Qingtang immediately raised his head and helped smooth things over.

“Tianji Zi, greatest senior in the whole world, please save me!”

At once, Tianji Zi smiled with benevolent warmth.

“Ah—”

“See? This is the sort of obedient disciple one ought to find.”

With a flick of his hand, a curl of blue-green smoke rose from the karmic fire, and it went out. The entire mass of prodigies charging after them sat down where they were, unable to advance another step.

“Tianji Zi, what do you mean by this?” A sharp light flashed through Elder Lieyang’s eyes. He did not miss the chance to make trouble. “The two of them seized a great many magical artifacts from the participants in the Golden Core Competition. Everyone here saw it. Are you planning to shield them?”

Before Tianji Zi could speak, Chi Yantian—still pinned in place—stretched out his neck and shouted, “What do you mean, seized? We were just testing an artifact!”

He looked toward the Heavenly Fire Cult.

“Elder Transmuting Gold! Martial Uncle Red Cloud! Say something too!”

The full-bearded Elder Red Cloud rolled his eyes.

“Tu Jiaojiao’s whip is still in their hands, and you’re already taking the outsiders’ side?”

Tu Jiaojiao glanced around, then instinctively planted her hands on her hips.

“She never said she wouldn’t return it. Why are you all so eager to call her a thief?”

She held out a hand toward Yu Qingtang.

“Give me my whip.”

“Here, here!”

Yu Qingtang hurriedly handed it over with both hands.

“See?” Tu Jiaojiao pursed her lips. “Didn’t she give it back?”

“Oh, she gave it back? Well, then.” Elder Red Cloud waved a hand carelessly. “As long as she returned it, what’s the big deal?”

Elder Lieyang was about to respond when Elder Transmuting Gold—whose enormous hammer on his back looked wildly out of proportion with his petite frame—gave a laugh.

“Elder Lieyang, don’t try to use us as your spear. Your Golden Light Sect barely has any disciples left this time. Even if that basin contains something from your sect, it is probably only a few spirit stones. Why make such a fuss?”

“Oh, my.” Tianji Zi smiled cheerfully. “They suffered such a miserable defeat this time. Naturally, they are in a poor mood. We can understand. We can understand. Ha ha.”

He looked as though he was calming everyone down, but he was actually showing off.

“Unlike us. We just took first place. Ah, I simply cannot bring myself to be angry.”

“Everyone, please calm down. Line up according to the Academy Golden Ranking Board, and we will return the items one by one.”

Sword Sovereign Tianyi opened his eyes. An invisible pressure swept across the crowd.

“Please be truthful about what you lost.”

“Step forward in order.”

Master Huiming of Dharma Academy nodded in agreement.

“Before the Buddha, do not speak falsehoods.”

Yu Qingtang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quietly echoed, “We’ll return everything. Everything.”

Ye Chenyan stepped in front of him, shielding him from most of the stares.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Fifth Senior Brother stood at Yu Qingtang’s side and lightly patted his shoulder.

“Don’t panic.”

Tianji Zi floated up a little, hovering behind him. Flicking his sleeves, he glared at Elder Lieyang with puffed cheeks and flared nostrils.

“No backing down!”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

He was deeply moved.

But not moved enough to dare move much.

By the time the Treasure-Gathering Basin had been emptied, only a few spirit stones and several damaged magical artifacts that clearly came from the Ancient Academy Realm remained. At last, every item had been returned.

Yu Qingtang let out a breath. He shook the “treasures” at the bottom of the basin, his expression strange.

Looking at it this way, he had not come away completely empty-handed after all.

But...

Yu Qingtang furtively looked around at the crowd, then asked in a small voice, “Should we ask?”

Fifth Senior Brother looked hesitant.

“Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Maybe we should forget it.”

Ye Chenyan’s lips curved.

“Ask. If someone had the nerve to bring it, they should not be afraid to be asked.”

“Heh heh.” Tianji Zi grinned, delighted by the prospect of more chaos. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”

“Ahem!”

He cleared his throat. His benevolent smile grew even wider.

“Whose copy of Amorous Secrets is this?”

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