After Marrying the 'Long Aotian' in Drag to Counter Bad Luck - Chapter 7

Ultimately, under Rong Nianfeng’s various outrageous antics, Ye Xingchen never returned to the Yuxu Palace again. Consequently, the other disciples of Lingyun Peak were left witnessing a bizarre scene.

Their Junior Brother, who panted every three steps and coughed every five, was now staying out night after night. Furthermore, the words “Xingchen Gege” had completely become their living nightmare.

If their luck was “good” enough in the dead of night, they might even catch a glimpse of Rong Nianfeng wandering around like a lost soul with a lantern in hand, looking every bit like a life-claiming specter.

Quite a few disciples were thoroughly frightened out of their wits.

During these days when the disciples of the Xuantian Sword Sect were usually slacking off, Lingyun Peak stood out as an anomaly; its members were either cultivating or on their way to cultivate. The infatuated couples who would normally hold hands and slip into the small woods to whisper sweet nothings now refused to step outside after dark, no matter what.

The first to snap was the Fourth Senior Brother. After being bombarded by the “Xingchen Gege” onslaught for five or six consecutive days, he immediately rushed to the Mission Hall and posted a bounty on the notice board.

Rong Nianfeng was, after all, not very familiar with them yet. Thinking of this, Fourth Senior Brother gritted his teeth and listed only Ye Xingchen’s name.

Bounty Notice: One hundred high-grade spiritual stones will be awarded to any disciple who successfully captures Ye Xingchen and delivers him to the Yuxu Palace.

High-grade spiritual stones were incredibly precious treasures. They could be used not only to purchase spiritual herbs and elixirs but also directly for cultivation. In an instant, a massive craze to capture Ye Xingchen swept through the Xuantian Sword Sect.

Rong Nianfeng did not know if Ye Xingchen was terrified, but he himself was genuinely frightened by the sheer scale of the commotion. He had gone through so much trouble to force the man away, and now they wanted to bring him back? Were they insane?

Shortly after, a new post appeared on the Telepathic Jade Plaque, stating that Ye Xingchen was like a star in the sky, visible but completely out of reach. It claimed that Rong Nianfeng had been too impatient and was unwilling to force Ye Xingchen, so he begged his fellow cultivators to stop searching for him and grant him some time to adjust.

Such sickeningly sweet words naturally originated from Rong Nianfeng’s own hands. Before long, rumors spread like wildfire across the Xuantian Sword Sect that Rong Nianxue’s love for Ye Xingchen ran incredibly deep. Quite a few people even wept floods of tears over their tragic love story.

However, it achieved its intended purpose. For instance, Rong Nianfeng no longer had to worry about someone from the Xuantian Sword Sect suddenly dragging Ye Xingchen back to the Yuxu Palace. He even managed to earn a stellar reputation; now, whenever he went out, the eyes of the Lingyun Peak disciples were filled to the brim with profound heartache for him.

Without Ye Xingchen around, Rong Nianfeng lived in absolute bliss. He only needed to wait until the new disciple recruitment, after which he could happily focus on his cultivation. Who knew, he might even turn out to be a genius.

As for waiting three years just to hand Ye Xingchen a secret manual and then die? That was absolutely unnecessary. Protecting his own dog life was far more important.

After a period of chaotic upheaval, the day of the new disciple recruitment drew closer and closer. Rong Nianfeng quietly sneaked down the mountain. After chatting about recent events with a disciple from the Shuiyun Sect, he excitedly packed the items he would need for the trial. Elixirs were absolutely indispensable; if any accidents occurred during the trial, they could save his life.

Fortunately, he had pocketed quite a few spiritual stones back when he was at the Shuiyun Sect. Without a second thought, he headed to the Medicine Hall to exchange them for various elixirs.

The disciple handling the counter at the Medicine Hall cast a suspicious glance at him. Rong Nianfeng smoothly and flawlessly opened his mouth, “Xingchen Gege’s body is not in good shape. If these elixirs can make him feel a bit better, I am entirely willing to give them to him.”

He lowered his head sadly. The disciples who were in the dark could not bear to see him like this. A nearby disciple spoke up to comfort him, “Junior Brother Ye is a direct disciple of the Wuji Immortal Venerable, so the elixirs he takes are naturally high-grade ones that have undergone spirit-refining. What use do you have for these low-grade, mid-tier elixirs?”

In the cultivation world, whether it came to elixirs or weapons, there was a concept known as “spirit-refining.” If an item had never undergone spirit-refining, it was merely an ordinary item. These were categorized into Mystical, Earth, Medium, High, and Heaven tiers, with each tier further divided into high, mid, and low grades. However, if an item had successfully undergone spirit-refining, it became a priceless treasure that money could not buy.

But spirit-refining was by no means easy. If any single step among the control of the flame, the spiritual energy, or the medicinal ingredients went wrong, failure was highly likely, and a shattered furnace was a common sight. Even in a major sect like the Xuantian Sword Sect, there were only a handful of alchemists capable of spirit-refining.

In contrast, for a low-tier sect, having an alchemist who could refine ordinary mid-tier elixirs already made them an elite among peers, let alone attempting spirit-refining.

Recalling the bottle of spirit-refined, high-grade, mid-tier elixirs that the Wuji Immortal Venerable had given him last time, Rong Nianfeng suddenly felt his cosmic bag grow significantly heavier.

As expected of a top-tier sect!

“It does not matter,” Rong Nianfeng spouted another round of nonsense before finally returning to Lingyun Peak.

The Xuantian Sword Sect primarily focused on the study of the sword, but one could naturally pursue other cultivation arts as well. Aside from Lingyun Peak, which solely practiced sword arts, there was the Alchemist Peak focused on concocting pills, the Chenxing Peak dedicated to divination and arrays, the Corpse Sect Pavilion for raising corpses and manipulating puppets, and the Musical Cultivator Pavilion, which used instruments just like Liu Li’er.

Yes, the Musical Cultivator Pavilion was a setting that the awful author had specifically created for the main female lead, the type that scarcely appeared a handful of times in a full-text search.

Surrounded by these various peaks was the Xuantian Hall, a place dedicated specifically to lectures and trials, which included the Library Tower, the Trial Grounds, the Medicine Hall, and the Mission Hall.

Going down the mountain was easy, but climbing back up was difficult. Rong Nianfeng still did not know how to fly on a sword. At the first layer of Qi Condensation, he was no different from an ordinary civilian, except for being slightly more resilient to beatings.

Fortunately, since the recruitment was only a few days away, a massive crowd had gathered at the Xuantian Hall, making him rather inconspicuous.

The Xuantian Hall was extraordinarily bustling. There was an old man with a hunched back and graying hair at his temples leaning on a cane, his eyes cloudy. Further away, some cultivators poked their heads into the registration desk to make inquiries. There were also women cradling spiritual beasts in their arms, and rogue cultivators wearing bamboo hats with broadswords strapped to their backs. Groups of three or four people dressed in uniform attire descended from flying swords, chatting about the interesting anecdotes they had encountered along the way. Several luxurious flying vessels hovered in the sky above; as ladders were thrown down from them, elegant and noble young masters from prominent clans stepped down.

The cry of deer echoed in the air. Not far away, a carriage drawn by two spiritual deer descended from the mountainside, treading through the mist.

“Look at the patterns on that canopy. Why has the Hemen Sect come to join the commotion?”

“What is so strange about that? This is the Xuantian Sword Sect, the number one sect in the Southern Continent. No matter how powerful the Hemen Sect is, can they possibly surpass this place?”

“True. Come to think of it, the Hemen Sect also consists of musical cultivators. It seems they are aiming for the direct disciple position in the Musical Cultivator Pavilion.”

The whispered discussions drifted into Rong Nianfeng’s ears. He raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that Liu Li’er had finally arrived.

Rong Nianfeng hid slightly, doing his best to minimize his presence.

A strange, exotic fragrance wafted into his nose first, followed by a pair of slender hands parting the hanging curtains. Out stepped a beautiful woman with lips as red as cinnabar. Today, she wore a celestial-blue ruqun that accentuated her slender and graceful figure, and her eyes were as clear as water.

Rong Nianfeng’s spirits jolted.

Liu Li’er!

The genuine, main first wife of the dragon au tian! The most popular female character in the entire book!

He had finally waited long enough for her!

A nearby cultivator looked at him weeping floods of tears with a face full of utter bewilderment, and silently moved a bit further away from him.

On the way back to Lingyun Peak, Rong Nianfeng was in an exceptionally good mood, even humming a little tune. Now that Liu Li’er had appeared, the plot would finally unfold smoothly. Next up would be the encounter between the two, accidentally getting poisoned, their bodies burning up with desire, and then rolling around in the sheets!

Hahahahaha!

But then again, just a few days ago, Ye Xingchen had claimed he was dysfunctional. What if that delayed the progression of the plot?

Well, it looked like he would have to nourish and supplement Ye Xingchen’s body. If word got out that the dragon au tian was dysfunctional, how could that be acceptable?

At the very least, during these two years where he was pretending to be Rong Nianxue, absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Because he could not fly on a sword, the sky had already turned pitch black by the time he climbed halfway up the mountain. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he panted slightly, taking a long while to catch his breath.

The dim twilight gradually pressed down, and the sky was studded with stars like fine, scattered quicksand. The moonlight was bright and clean, resembling a piece of white jade, casting slanted beams onto the ground and illuminating the vast stretches of wild grass that had been bent by the wind.

There was still a considerable distance left to reach the Yuxu Palace. Rong Nianfeng’s physical stamina was running out, and he currently had no water on him. He had no choice but to find a way to lighten the weight on his body.

He lowered his head and looked at the outer robe he was wearing.

To strip or not to strip?

He only hesitated for a brief moment. Fortunately, there was no one around. Still uneasy, he scanned his surroundings once more before finally stripping off the outer robe.

As expected, it felt much lighter!

He then turned his attention to his chest. When he came to the Xuantian Sword Sect, his senior sisters had worried that it would not look realistic enough, so they had modeled it a bit too large.

It would be better if it were a bit smaller.

Thus, he lowered his head, stealthily and shiftily adjusting and fiddling with it.

However, after a moment, this side became a bit too high, and then that side became a bit too high, nearly driving him mad with anger.

Meanwhile, not far away, Ye Xingchen suddenly felt a chill in his lower body. He wrapped his arms around himself, shuddered, and looked around before speaking to Song Xiuyuan beside him, “I constantly feel like a major disaster is brewing.”

Song Xiuyuan, sporting two massive dark circles under his eyes like a panda, let out a yawn. “You say the exact same thing every single day.”

“I have really crossed paths with an evil spirit. I truly never expected her to love me this deeply.” As he spoke, Ye Xingchen wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and continued, “This life is unlivable. This Dao companion bond must be dissolved.”

“I cannot take it anymore either. I initially thought I was just going to watch the drama. I should not have dragged you back in the first place.” Song Xiuyuan’s intestines were turning blue with regret.

Ever since Rong Nianxue started searching for Ye Xingchen every day, Ye Xingchen had completely leached onto him. Left with no choice, the two had to flee for their lives together. He had not slept well in over ten days.

Suddenly, Song Xiuyuan noticed a figure standing not far away, shiftily looking around in all directions. He went silent, and just as he was about to draw his sword, he recognized Rong Nianfeng’s face. He stumbled in fright and said in a panicked, hurried voice, “Ye Xingchen, look quickly! Is that person Rong Nianxue? Why is she here? She could not have discovered us, right?!”

Ye Xingchen was also frightened out of his wits. Following the direction of Song Xiuyuan’s finger, it really was Rong Nianxue!

The two scrambled to hide inside the tall grass.

“Looking at her demeanor, she does not seem to know we are here,” Ye Xingchen whispered.

With great unspoken understanding, the two stopped talking. It truly was not their fault for being so paranoid; after all, there were many spies planted by the Demon Realm and the Northern Continent within the Xuantian Sword Sect. Perhaps Rong Nianxue was up to something.

They wanted to see exactly what kind of scheme this Rong Nianxue was plotting.

To their absolute shock, in the very next second, she stripped off her outer robe.

Stripped it off?!

Ye Xingchen violently locked Song Xiuyuan in a chokehold, freed his other hand to cover Song Xiuyuan’s eyes, and dragged him backward with all his might.

Only when the two of them were a significant distance away did he finally release Song Xiuyuan. After this sequence of maneuvers, the internal energy he had managed to gather with great difficulty was completely depleted once again. He squatted on the ground, coughing as if his lungs were tearing apart.

Song Xiuyuan had not even managed to see anything yet. Rubbing his neck, he kicked Ye Xingchen and said exasperatedly, “Ye Xingchen, damn you! I did not even get to see anything.”

The person squatting on the ground coughed more and more violently, his ears completely flushed red; though whether it was from coughing or from sheer embarrassment remained unknown.

After a long while, he finally heard Ye Xingchen say through gritted teeth, “This Dao companion bond must be dissolved! It is simply, simply an affront to public decency!”

“What did you see?” Song Xiuyuan reached out to grab Ye Xingchen’s hand, intending to pull him up from the ground.

“She actually,” Ye Xingchen coughed repeatedly, a look of utter despair on his face as he said with a flushed countenance, “She actually stripped off her outer robe!”

There were plenty of female disciples on Lingyun Peak, but he had never seen any female disciple behave as outrageously as Rong Nianxue!

With a sudden thud, Song Xiuyuan let go of his hand in sheer shock.

He had just turned eighteen this year! He was still a pure, innocent young boy!

He then watched as his brother, who had managed to stand up with great difficulty, collapsed right back onto the ground. Ye Xingchen rolled around a few times in intense pain, before letting out a wet sound and throwing up several mouthfuls of dark blood.

Right before Ye Xingchen lost consciousness, Song Xiuyuan heard him squeeze out a final sentence.

“I want you dead!”

Support After Marrying the ‘Long Aotian’ in Drag to Counter Bad Luck