On the way to the Hall of Hundred Affairs on Sky Breaking Peak, Li Yang and the other two were completely playing it safe, flying no higher than thirty to fifty zhang.
"Senior Disciple Brother, we're already three feet apart from each other. Do we need to spread out any farther?"
Lan Ling'e's playful, girlish voice rang out. She sounded puzzled, but her words were full of mischief.
"Three feet? Is that even useful now? Take a look at the two of you."
What did the situation look like right now?
A young man was holding a little chubby boy by the collar, accompanied by an utterly peerless little immortal maiden with a beautiful face, slender legs and waist, skin as white as frost-covered snow, and soft, intoxicatingly lovely hair.
With such a bizarre group, what good were three feet, thirty zhang, or fifty zhang? None of it mattered!
After all, the three of them made such an odd combination that they couldn't help drawing attention.
"Enough. Keep it steady. Have you learned the Steady Character Scripture with your heads up your asses?"
In the end, Li Changshou could only reprimand them through voice transmission again. Only then did Li Yang and Lan Ling'e return to a normal appearance.
Neither of them seemed to do anything, and neither was surrounded by dazzling light.
In an instant, the simple-minded little chubby boy became an utterly ordinary, handsome young man; the dazzling little immortal maiden became a perfectly ordinary young lady; and there was also a young man with an unremarkable face.
Just like that, the scene changed completely.
A flock of Immortal Cranes flew past, with fellow disciples riding on their backs. They nodded at the three, then flew on without a second thought.
They could faintly hear the riders talking.
"Senior Brother, which peak are those three fellow disciples from? Why do I feel like I've seen them before, but haven't?"
"Hah, didn't you look at their identity tokens? They're all from Lesser Qiong Peak. If you don't recognize them, you don't recognize them. Why say you feel like you've seen them before, but haven't?"
Li Yang and the other two, bringing up the rear, smiled faintly.
Among those fellow disciples were Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters of the Returning Dao Realm, as well as disciples of the Refining Void, Spirit Transformation, and Qi Refining Realms.
Not one of them noticed anything unusual about the trio. They hadn't even realized that the three of them had intercepted their voice transmissions.
"Looks like the Wind Whisper Technique isn't all that great for voice transmission!"
Lan Ling'e muttered under her breath, clearly doing it on purpose.
Li Yang sent her a secret voice transmission. "If your Senior Brother hadn't cracked it, do you think you'd be able to hear anything?"
Lan Ling'e quickly sent back a compliment. "Senior Brother is the best! You're amazing, Senior Brother!"
She was being so obedient simply because she was afraid of Li Changshou.
Li Changshou wasn't in the same channel as the two of them. Instead, he opened a separate channel with Li Yang. "Junior Brother, tell me, have you reached the Returning Dao Ninth Stage?"
Li Yang replied through voice transmission, "Senior Brother, what are you talking about? I've only been in the sect for ten years. I may be a genius, but I've only reached the Fourth Stage of Spirit Transformation. Even though I've hidden my cultivation, I'm only at the Seventh Stage of Spirit Transformation. You're giving me too much credit!"
Then he pretended to be modest and turned the tables on him. "Senior Brother, you've been in the sect for a hundred years. I heard Master say you're even more talented than Junior Sister and me. You've only just shown that you're at the Ninth Stage of Spirit Transformation. Could your hidden cultivation already have made you an immortal?"
The two traded words, their probing completely out in the open.
In fact, just moments earlier, they had been probing each other fiercely as well.
Li Yang hadn't managed to evade Li Changshou grabbing him, while Li Changshou had nearly been shaken off by Li Yang.
The two had secretly been testing each other, each displaying abilities at least on the level of the Ninth Stage of Refining Void.
What did that mean?
It meant Li Yang was only a hair's breadth behind Li Changshou.
But exactly how wide that hair's breadth was, no one could say.
At any rate, as far as Li Yang was concerned, he had held back at the very last moment. He just didn't know whether his Senior Brother had held back too.
Actually, even though Li Yang couldn't say it aloud, he knew perfectly well that he had to go out for this Trial Convention.
The Immortal Crossing Sect held its Trial Convention once every five years.
Its purpose was to take disciples outside so they could broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding of the Dao.
Any formal disciple of the sect could sign up for this event, and there were as many as twelve destinations to choose from, catering to disciples at different stages of cultivation.
During his first five years in the sect, he had chosen to go out on a trial.
After all, he had chosen Metal Stone Alchemy Technique for his Avatar back then, and the sect didn't have enough cheap metal and stone resources to keep him well supplied.
So, despite being only at the Ninth Stage of Returning Void at the time, he had hidden his cultivation at the Eighth Stage of Qi Refining and chosen to go out on a trial.
He had come back with an impressive haul that time. He had discovered two large iron mines, one large copper mine, and several small and medium deposits of other ores.
Most of those minerals were ordinary materials, found in desolate places and entangled in little Karma.
At the same time, he had slain a great many Demonic Beasts and gathered quite a few spiritual materials. He had even won first place among the disciples of the Qi Refining Realm.
The prize had been an Alchemy Furnace.
It was thanks to that Alchemy Furnace that he had been able to refine a large number of "metal" pill Avatars.
Five years had passed, and most of those resources had been used up. He needed to replenish them.
That was one reason. The second was that he needed some special ores.
The third was that he planned to undergo Tribulation Transcendence and become an immortal outside the mountain gate.
Li Yang, who knew the Original Novel well, understood that pushing some things too far could backfire.
His Senior Brother seemed cautious, but had still become an unlucky fellow noticed by Hongjun.
So Li Yang didn't plan to hide too deeply. He would become an immortal first.
He needed a second trait.
Perhaps he'd eventually unlock a trait that could help him escape the Heavenly Dao.
On the other side, Lan Ling'e glanced at Li Yang and Senior Brother.
She didn't know about the channel between her two Senior Brothers, so she opened a separate channel with Li Changshou and sent him a voice transmission.
"Senior Disciple Brother, why is the atmosphere between you and Second Senior Brother so strange?"
Li Changshou gave Li Yang a strange look. He was sure Li Yang could hear the voice transmission between him and Lan Ling'e.
"It's nothing. Your Second Senior Brother said my Ling'e was too pretty, which was dangerous and not at all steady, so he decided to beat you into a pig's head."
Li Yang's eyes widened, and his glare at Li Changshou was full of anger.
That bastard had definitely done it on purpose.
Lan Ling'e's cheeks puffed out. She was obviously angry.
But she didn't choose to believe Senior Brother completely. Instead, she sent Li Yang a voice transmission.
"Senior Brother, Senior Disciple Brother just sent me a private transmission and said you secretly became an immortal without telling me. Is that true or not?"
Li Changshou fell silent at the sound of that transmission. This girl was no good!
Who had taught her to do that?
It was hard to guess!
Li Yang didn't so much as blink. With eight million schemes running through his head, he replied, "Junior Sister, Senior Disciple Brother told you that?
"Didn't he tell you that he and I became immortals at the same time?
"Senior Disciple Brother was in a sorry state back then. The Heavenly Thunder blasted his face until it was black and swollen.
"Afterward, he even said, 'When Junior Sister undergoes Tribulation Transcendence, won't the Heavenly Realm strike her until she turns into an immortal pig?'"
Lan Ling'e fell silent for a moment. Then she turned to look at Li Changshou, turned back to Li Yang, and puffed out her cheeks in anger. She folded her arms tightly and turned her head away.
"You two rascals can both hear my voice transmissions."
"Stinky Senior Brothers, you're both awful. All you do is bully me. Ling'e isn't talking to you anymore."
This...
Li Changshou and Li Yang looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison. They took the opportunity to move apart, putting at least a hundred zhang between themselves and Lan Ling'e.
"Huh???"
Lan Ling'e looked utterly baffled.
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