CSMCDB - Chapter 116
Chapter 116
"No, I'm serious." Wen Yuncheng had 1947 disable the shield, then said, "Originally, only Lin Jinyu knew, but I'm about to graduate, and I want to be with her openly… In the future, I might have to fight my way into the Flowing Cloud Sect, so after some thought, I decided I didn't want to hide it from you."
Yan Ling didn't say anything. She sensed for a moment and found that Wen Yuncheng did seem to have become a girl. But Wen Yuncheng had been her student for over three years. How could she only now sense that Wen Yuncheng was a girl?! "Did you… change your gender in the secret realm?"
[Pfft-hahahaha…] 1947 couldn't hold back a burst of laughter.
"No! I have my own little tricks for disguising myself as a man, which is why no one found out," Wen Yuncheng said with a serious expression.
Yan Ling was expressionless. "The first time I met you, you were only at the Star Apostle rank."
Wen Yuncheng's gaze shifted. Suddenly thinking of something, she brought up the matter of the Wen family's marriage contract and how they had disguised her as a boy since birth.
"Oh." Yan Ling remained expressionless, with a look that said, "Fine, if that's what you say."
"I really am a girl! This… you know about my Star Power Mutation. I don't have Star Power like a normal cultivator, so I can block others from probing my gender… It's a technique I figured out on my own." As she spoke, Wen Yuncheng had 1947 reactivate the shield. "See? If you probe me again now, haven't I become a boy?"
"If it's a skill like that, you should be saying you only recently figured it out." Yan Ling sighed, as if she didn't want to humor the child anymore. She raised her hand and patted Wen Yuncheng's shoulder. "Stop playing around."
Great. Yan Ling was now misunderstanding, thinking her "male" identity was real and her "female" form was created through some technique.
Wen Yuncheng opened her mouth but stopped. What else could she say? Let Yan Ling have a feel to check?! Wen Yuncheng took a deep breath. "Lin Jinyu knew I was a girl back in our first year. Otherwise, she wouldn't have always… always been so intimate with me."
"The Fire Tempering Bath! Teacher, you let me use the back door! As a result, I was soaking inside when I ran into Lin Jinyu, and I… I wasn't wearing any clothes!"
Yan Ling's expression gradually went blank. Then, she looked at Wen Yuncheng as if she were an idiot. "You soak in the Fire Tempering Bath without clothes? Did you think you were taking a bath?"
"???" Teacher, why is that your focus?
"You're really a girl?" Yan Ling came to her senses. Seeing Wen Yuncheng nod with a look of utter despair, she was speechless. "You've already cut ties with the Wen family, so why did you disguise yourself as a man when you entered the academy? Are you addicted to it? …Then again, the Wen family is in a remote little city. Were you afraid of being bullied as a girl?"
Yan Ling recalled how she used to enjoy rapping Wen Yuncheng on the head. She coughed lightly, thinking, If you'd said you were a girl sooner, I would have treated you more gently. Insisting on acting like a rough guy, only to be needlessly criticized by me for being too skinny. "Then… Sect Master Lin?"
"He doesn't know. Only you and Lin Jinyu know." Seeing that Yan Ling finally believed her, Wen Yuncheng sighed wearily. She continued, "My plan is to wait until I reach the Star Spirit rank, then go challenge the Flowing Cloud Sect to win Sect Master Lin's approval before telling them."
"It's fine as long as you have a plan." Yan Ling raised her hand, intending to pat Wen Yuncheng's shoulder again, but then felt she couldn't quite control her strength, so she just waved her hand instead. Her considerate, genius student had suddenly turned from a boy into a girl… Yan Ling was a bit dazed, but on second thought, it didn't really change anything. At most, she'd just have to be a bit gentler in the future. "It's not a big deal, don't worry. As long as you're strong enough, none of this matters."
After seeing Wen Yuncheng off, Yan Ling stroked her chin, thinking, No wonder there are a few days every month when this kid is out of sorts. Disguising herself as a man… Thinking about Wen Yuncheng's experiences, she could somewhat understand her student's reasoning. Of course, she couldn't possibly know that the male disguise was the insistence of a certain system that wished to remain anonymous, but combined with the Wen family's shady operations, it was easy to fill in the blanks and come up with an explanation.
When Yan Ling used to teach classes, she would remind some of the female students not to be timid or hold back in battle. She would also warn some of the male students not to deliberately show off or make unnecessary movements while fighting. Every battle was for victory!
But Wen Yuncheng seemed to have understood this from the very beginning.
Yan Ling sighed deeply. No matter who it was, she thought, after seeing Wen Yuncheng as a first-year, scrambling and fighting on the dueling platform with a complete disregard for her image just to win… it would be hard to think she was a girl, right? Such an impression was indeed biased, but in truth, Yan Ling had also been surprised at the beginning that there was a boy who cared so little about his image just for the sake of winning.
Perhaps, regardless of gender, Wen Yuncheng's methods were just… quite extraordinary.
For the next month or so, Lin Jinyu returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect for secluded cultivation, and Yan Ling also consumed the Life Transformation Fruit and went into seclusion.
Wen Yuncheng spent her time at the Dueling Arena, occasionally keeping an eye on news about "Fu." In her spare time, she made two extra pairs of Mechanical Wings and stored them in her storage ring as backups. As for the materials, she switched entirely to using Azure Sea Crystals.
The trip to the secret realm had allowed Wen Yuncheng to make a fortune, upgrading her net worth from millions to tens of millions. In the future, she wouldn't have to worry about money even if she used Azure Sea Crystals for all her Star Cannons.
Besides the Dueling Arena, Wen Yuncheng began researching with 1947 how to enable the people of this world to power the Mechanical Wings using only Star Power.
[Sigh, why don't you just forget it? By the time you figure it out and it's implemented across the continent, you might already be a Star King.] 1947 sighed. [You'll be able to learn flying skills after you become a Star King anyway.]
"…It probably won't take that long, right?" Wen Yuncheng said with a helpless expression. But it was indeed very troublesome. The mana supply route was completely handled by the system—1947's programmatic activation made it work. Converting it to a Star Power supply for activation… Wen Yuncheng didn't have a clue where to start. She looked up crystals or array patterns that could store large amounts of Star Power, thinking they might be useful.
The path of research is always lonely and arduous.
A month later, Lin Jinyu returned to the academy. But Yan Ling had not yet come out of seclusion.
Wen Yuncheng was a little puzzled, and then she learned that Lin Jinyu had given half of the Life Transformation Fruit to Sect Master Lin.
Wen Yuncheng remembered Sect Master Lin's old injuries. She froze for a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed. She really hadn't thought about Sect Master Lin…
[…Right, you only managed to think of Sect Master Lin when you were in an illusion.]
Wen Yuncheng: ?! How did you know that!
1947 rolled its eyes. The kid's emotions had been so turbulent at the time that it had detected her thoughts.
Wen Yuncheng scratched her head and took out her own fruit. "Then… why don't you make another trip back?"
"What are you doing?" Lin Jinyu told Wen Yuncheng to put it away. "Why haven't you taken it yet?"
"This? If I eat this… it will only improve my physical constitution. It's useless for my advancement…"
Lin Jinyu thought of the issue with Wen Yuncheng's constitution. During this time, although she hadn't asked about Wen Yuncheng's secrets, the drawback of her "Star Power Mutation" was clearly significant. It might not have limitations on her skills or star rank, but the increase in rank didn't seem to benefit Wen Yuncheng's own body.
In other words, Wen Yuncheng wouldn't have her lifespan extended as her level increased.
"You eat the Life Transformation Fruit yourself," Lin Jinyu said seriously. "If I become a Star Emperor in the future, a hundred years will be nothing to me."
Wen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment. She felt she was still young, and in the future… she believed 1947 would help her. But Lin Jinyu didn't know that. Lin Jinyu was worried about her… Had Lin Jinyu guessed something?
"Half a Life Transformation Fruit is enough to heal Father's injuries."
Wen Yuncheng pouted and lowered her head in agreement. She felt a little guilty. "I… I didn't think about your father… I'm sorry."
"It's nothing. He's not exactly pleased with you either," Lin Jinyu said. "You don't owe him anything."
"B-But…"
"Favors and karma need to be reciprocal," Lin Jinyu said seriously. "A single Life Transformation Fruit is already precious enough. It's not that you shouldn't eat it just because it doesn't have as great an effect on you compared to others. That makes no sense."
"Eat the Life Transformation Fruit as soon as you can." Lin Jinyu pinched the pad of Wen Yuncheng's finger. Seeing Wen Yuncheng looking at her obediently, she changed the subject. "Have you been at the Dueling Arena again? There's a graduation ceremony at the academy. As a member of S-Class, you can receive the S-Class graduation medal."
"I know. A medal made of fire crystal stone, exquisite and expensive," Wen Yuncheng replied.
The corners of Lin Jinyu's mouth curved up, and she chuckled softly. "Yes, it's quite valuable."
"Are you… making fun of me?" Wen Yuncheng was stunned, her face full of disbelief. "You're actually making fun of me?"
Lin Jinyu's smile vanished, and she said nothing, just watching Wen Yuncheng silently. Then she saw Wen Yuncheng burst out laughing. "Haha~ This is great. You look beautiful when you smile, you should smile more often~"
Lin Jinyu realized that Wen Yuncheng had just been deliberately teasing her. She immediately let go of Wen Yuncheng's hand, but before she could pull away, Wen Yuncheng proactively hooked her fingers. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't try to pull away a second time.
"By the way, do you know what the situation is with the exchange tournament between the auction houses in June? Teacher mentioned it to me once before the secret realm, but never brought it up again." Wen Yuncheng remembered the task Yan Ling had entrusted to her. She didn't really understand the circumstances, not even the competition format. Teacher Yan Ling hadn't said anything. As for Lin Jinyu… she should know more about it than her, right?
"It's just an event jointly held by a few major auction houses," Lin Jinyu explained. "They invite various sects to watch. It's not a very important competition."
"Ah, so do you think I'll be able to crush my opponents in the competition?"
Lin Jinyu blinked and smiled faintly. "The competition is divided into several segments. One person is put forward for each star rank, and the contestants must be from their own auction house. From Star Apostle to Star Saint, only one person competes for each rank. In the end, they see which auction house has the most wins."
"Huh? All the way up to Star Saint?"
"That's just the format. If an auction house's highest rank is only Star Venerate, then the Star Emperor and Star Saint matches are considered forfeits."
No wonder Yan Ling didn't seem to care much about this competition. It turned out that she, Wen Yuncheng, wasn't a key factor at all. She only needed to be responsible for the Star Lord-rank match… Would Teacher compete in the Star King-rank match? And Teacher's younger brother… was he a Star Lord or a Star Spirit? Would he compete too? Wen Yuncheng wondered.
Now that she knew what the competition was like, she was actually less worried. Crushing them… A Star Lord-rank opponent, a platform match? For someone like her, who bore the title of "the more I fight, the stronger I get," crushing an opponent would be a piece of cake.
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