Inside the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, the atmosphere had turned unbearably strange.
Hearing Zhao Gongming say he had thought about it but hadn't done it yet, Di Jiang felt his whole world go numb.
He instinctively took half a step back, fixing Zhao Gongming with the look one might give the most dangerous person in the Primordial Era.
In his mind, Zhao Gongming's danger level had now surpassed Di Jun, who held the River Diagram and Luo Script, and even Tai Yi, who was always ringing that bell.
"This kid... is seriously twisted!"
"Not only can he refine a magical treasure that turns people into women, he's actually got those kinds of thoughts about men?"
"All the men of my Witch Race are strong and sturdy. What if he sets his sights on one of them..."
Di Jiang shuddered and didn't dare think any further.
At that moment, Daoist Ci Hang finally ended his transformation and changed back into his regular Daoist robes.
His face flushed with shame and anger as he pointed at Zhao Gongming, his voice trembling.
"Junior Brother, what exactly are you trying to do?!"
"Can you just make jokes like that? What about my reputation?"
Nearby, Xuandu and Medicine Master had their arms around each other's shoulders, whispering among themselves.
Xuandu sighed, his face full of regret.
"Honestly, although Junior Brother Cihang is a man, that figure just now... was really something. Junior Brother Zhao is a bit too perverted."
Medicine Master only grinned, his gaze hazy.
"What do you mean, 'a man'? He's our sweet, soft little cupcake who can't get pregnant!"
"Medicine Master!!"
Hearing those scandalous words, Cihang gave up on life and crouched on the ground, holding his head.
"Please, stop making fun of me! I want to go home! I want to go back to Kunlun Mountain!"
Watching the atmosphere suddenly turn awkward and gradually spiral out of control,
Zhao Gongming spread his hands innocently and spoke with complete sincerity.
"Oh, come on, what's gotten into you?"
"I was just joking around to lighten the mood."
"Don't be so serious, everyone. Smile, and you'll feel ten years younger."
Standing off to one side, Di Jun looked at Zhao Gongming's harmless face and spoke with utmost seriousness.
"Young Friend Zhao."
"If someone else said that, it might be a joke."
"But coming from you... why doesn't it sound like a joke at all?"
"I even get the feeling you've already drawn up a plan in your head."
Zhao Gongming rolled his eyes and waved a hand, unruffled.
"I'm not talking about it. A rumor dies when it reaches a wise man."
Seeing that Zhao Gongming wasn't going to dwell on the subject, Di Jiang breathed a sigh of relief.
But he remained on guard and asked in a deep, rumbling voice,
"If it was a misunderstanding, then let's talk business."
"You say we should sit down and talk, so we're supposed to just sit down and talk?"
"And you say this female version of me—cough, that it's the effect of your magical treasure. You say so, and we're supposed to believe you? Why should we?"
At that, Di Jun stepped forward and thumped his chest, vouching for him.
"I can testify!"
"This is absolutely the effect of Zhao Gongming's magical treasure!"
"Just now, I—cough, I saw it with my own eyes. It was miraculous, truly astounding!"
Di Jun didn't want to admit that he'd suffered a Social Death himself.
But to convince Di Jiang that it was the magical treasure and not some peculiar fetish of his, he could only grit his teeth and testify.
Di Jiang might have been a hothead, but he wasn't stupid.
If even his mortal enemy Di Jun said so, then it was probably true.
Just then, Zhu Rong and Gong Gong were still shouting from behind them.
"Big Brother, why waste your breath on that mangy bird?"
"Beat him up! Just beat him up!"
"Exactly! When have we Twelve Ancestral Witches ever been afraid?"
Di Jiang was sick of hearing them. He whipped around and scolded them with a fierce glare.
"Shut up!"
"If you keep making a racket, I'll have Zhao Gongming refine a magical treasure for each of you!"
"Then you can each be stuck in a room with your own twin-tailed selves, watching yourselves wear skirts and act cute every day!"
His threat worked like a charm.
Zhu Rong, Gong Gong, and the others, who had been shouting a moment ago, fell silent in an instant, like ducks with their necks squeezed.
They pictured it.
Their own bearded faces, sporting twin ponytails and little skirts, looking in the mirror and saying, "Ciallo"...
The Ancestral Witches shuddered from head to toe, their faces deathly pale. Not one of them dared say another word.
Seeing how his brothers reacted, Di Jiang was stunned.
"Holy crap?"
"Is my female version really that scary?"
"More effective than the pressure of Pangu Father God?"
Zhao Gongming promptly piled on, speaking languidly from the side.
"Senior Di Jiang, you don't understand."
"If they really looked like that triangle-butted female Ururur from Delta Force, that'd just be gross."
"The scary part is... they're the full-on pretty-girl versions!"
"Just imagine your own brothers, the ones you've been with day in and day out, suddenly turning into beautiful girls with voluptuous figures who can pout and act cute..."
"That's a double whammy of ethical and aesthetic shock. You just can't handle it! It'd shatter your Dao Heart!"
Di Jiang's face twitched. He roared at him in irritation,
"Shut up! No one's going to think you're mute if you stop talking!"
Although he was cursing him, a glint suddenly lit up in Di Jiang's eyes as he looked at Zhao Gongming.
He thought to himself,
"This magical treasure... has potential."
"If we could use it against those two mangy birds, Di Jun and Tai Yi..."
"Right there on the battlefield, turn Di Jun into a twin-tailed little maiden and Tai Yi into a cat-eared girl..."
"Then wouldn't our Witch Race be invincible? We could laugh the Demon Race to death!"
As it happened, Di Jun was staring at Zhao Gongming just then, thinking the exact same thing.
"If we could turn the Twelve Ancestral Witches into a girl group..."
"Why would the Demon Court even need to fight? We could hold concerts, sell tickets, and unite the Primordial Era!"
They looked at each other and saw in each other's eyes the same firm resolve to win Zhao Gongming over.
Just as they were thinking about how to approach him,
Zhao Gongming suddenly covered his face with both hands and squirmed a little.
His face flushed bright red. Putting on an affected, girlish air, he said coyly,
"Oh my~"
"Why are Your Majesties staring at me like that?"
"You're making me blush. How naughty~"
Di Jiang nearly choked. He couldn't help retorting,
"What's there to blush about?!"
"Can't you act normal for once?!"
Jokes aside, they still had business to discuss.
Di Jiang took a deep breath and looked at Zhao Gongming with utmost seriousness.
"Zhao Gongming, I want one of these magical treasures too!"
"Can you refine one for me? Name your price. You can pick whatever you want from the Witch Race treasury!"
Di Jun panicked when he heard that. He hurried forward and stepped between Zhao Gongming and Di Jiang.
"No way!"
"Young Friend Zhao is an honored guest of my Demon Court and my son Lu Ya's senior brother!"
"What gives you, you brute who only knows how to play with mud, the right to ask him to refine a magical treasure?"
"Young Friend Zhao, ignore him. Refine one for me! I want one too, and I'll pay double!"
Di Jiang was furious.
"Di Jun, are you picking a fight? There's a first come, first served!"
Di Jun sneered.
"This is the Demon Court. I make the rules on my own turf!"
Just as the two big shots were about to fight again over who would get the Social Death magical treasure,
Zhao Gongming suddenly stepped between them and took Di Jiang's hand in his left hand and Di Jun's in his right.
Then he raised his head and spoke in a sincere, earnest voice, full of innocent longing.
"Your Majesties, don't fight."
"Actually..."
"The three of us could live happily together, you know!"
The Lingxiao Treasure Hall fell silent once more.
Di Jiang and Di Jun looked at the hands Zhao Gongming was holding, then at his earnest gaze.
Both shuddered and yanked their hands away at the same time, as though they'd touched something filthy.
"Um..."
Di Jiang swallowed and stopped arguing, his expression turning utterly serious.
"Let's talk about refining the magical treasure first."
Di Jun nodded vigorously, clearly in agreement.
"Right, right. The magical treasure first."
"As for living happily together... forget it. I'm not blessed enough for that."
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