What to Say to Avoid Getting Hit

Before the teleportation formation at the Tianyan Sect's mountain.

Chen Baiqing waited for a brief moment before Cui Hao came rushing over from the distance.

"Senior Sister, there's no need to be in such a rush, is there?" Cui Hao blurred into existence beside Chen Baiqing. He let out a breath and continued, "You only told Master about this yesterday, so why are we leaving today? And so early at that—did you even say goodbye to him?"

Chen Baiqing shook her head slightly. "I didn't, but Master will know we've left."

Hearing this, Cui Hao raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Are you afraid that if you said your goodbyes, you wouldn't be able to bear leaving?"

"Perhaps."

Chen Baiqing did not deny it. She knew Cui Hao had a somewhat contrarian nature; occasionally playing along with his words saved her from hearing things she would rather not listen to.

She pressed on, "Have you packed everything? Don't realize you've forgotten something halfway there, because I won't be turning back to let you fetch it."

Cui Hao chuckled. His right hand gently stroked the translucent, white-jade spiritual longsword at his waist—the current form of the spiritual treasure named Myriad. He tilted his head up slightly, a radiant look of pride on his face.

"Naturally, I have everything. When venturing out into the world, I certainly cannot let down Master's expectations."

As he spoke, Cui Hao fiddled with Myriad at his waist, shaking his head with a soft sigh.

"I didn't bid Master farewell before leaving, either. My thoughts were exactly the same as yours, Third Senior Sister. Master dotes on me so deeply, and I revere him so greatly. I feared that if I saw him again, I would lose the courage to depart."

Chen Baiqing was utterly speechless hearing this. His attempts at showing off were truly exaggerated to the extreme. Her expression remained unchanged as she said flatly,

"Myriad looks very nice, and Master does indeed favor you more. Can we leave now?"

"Heh." Cui Hao beamed with satisfaction. "We can."

Chen Baiqing shook her head slightly, turning around to step into the teleportation formation first.

Cui Hao quickly followed suit, the smile never fading from his face.

It seemed all the sweet-talking he had done to Master's spiritual treasure, Myriad, the previous night had not been in vain.

Master's spiritual treasure was truly the best of the best—so incredible, in fact, that Cui Hao could only marvel at how such a heaven-defying object could even exist.

Furthermore, Myriad was incredibly aloof.

The artifact completely blocked out any probing from Cui Hao's divine sense. If he tried to force it, an overwhelmingly profound Dao rhythm would strike back, swiftly teaching him how to restrain himself.

Cui Hao's communication with Myriad mostly consisted of conveying his intentions through his divine sense. If Myriad changed its form or made a movement, it meant agreement. If it gave absolutely no reaction, it meant rejection.

He had only figured this out after a great deal of experimentation the night before.

Master's Myriad had ever-shifting forms. Sometimes it was a brick, sometimes a longsword, and it could even transform into a long saber.

Although Cui Hao couldn't grasp the deep profundities behind it, just knowing it could transform was enough for him.

At first, having it transform into conventional weapons like a longsword was easy enough. He just had to beg a little and flatter it with phrases like, Senior Myriad, please grace this junior with a glimpse of your divine might, and it would usually oblige.

However, things got difficult when Cui Hao wanted it to transform into weapons that suited his own divine abilities. For example, he wanted it to turn into a pair of gauntlets, but he specifically wanted the gauntlets to be equipped with extremely sharp, short daggers.

Moreover, the dagger mounted on the middle finger had to be long—noticeably long, the kind that anyone could see at a single glance.

Cui Hao had it all planned out. Once he assumed his fighting stance, he wouldn't even need to make any extra gestures; the taunting effect alone would be absolutely maxed out.

The moment the fight began, the opponent would inevitably suffer a psychological blow and be put at a disadvantage.

Unfortunately, while Myriad was his Master's spiritual treasure, it clearly cared far more about its dignity than his Master did.

No matter how much Cui Hao pleaded or showered it with praise, Myriad refused to budge on the design. It even began to glint with a cold light, as if considering teaching Cui Hao a physical lesson first.

Cui Hao hadn't dared to push the issue any further.

Thinking it over, he concluded that he and Myriad simply weren't well-acquainted enough yet. Such highly customized requests would naturally require a deeper bond, something they could negotiate once they had known each other longer.

Cui Hao stepped into the teleportation formation.

The disciple in charge of managing the spiritual array began to activate it.

Spiritual energy converged, working in tandem with the formation to tear through the fabric of space.

Cui Hao reached down to gently stroke Myriad at his waist. In a soft, highly flattering tone, he murmured,

"Lord Myriad, we are about to teleport. If you need anything, just give a little wiggle. If you feel any discomfort, please be sure to let this junior know."

Hearing this, Chen Baiqing reached the limits of her patience. She turned to look at Cui Hao, watching him gently stroke Myriad with an obsequious look plastered across his face.

His sycophancy was so genuine that it couldn't possibly be faked.

Chen Baiqing honestly couldn't tell if Cui Hao was doing this just to show off, or if there was genuinely something wrong with his head.

He had been relatively normal before. How did wielding Myriad suddenly turn him into such a fool?

Could it be that Cui Hao's cultivation base was too low to handle Master's spiritual treasure, and the backlash was damaging his brain?

But if that were true, Master would never have entrusted Myriad to him in the first place.

Chen Baiqing took a soft breath and decided not to ask. Everyone's mind was their own business; trying to decipher Cui Hao's thought process was probably a fool's errand to begin with.

The teleportation formation fully activated.

A blinding spiritual light consumed their vision, washing everything in brilliant hues of blue and white.

The flow of time instantly blurred, and the surrounding spiritual pressure condensed until it felt suffocatingly heavy.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The spiritual energy returned to normal, and the blinding blue and white light slowly dissipated.

A ray of sunlight filtered down from above.

However, the scenery before them had completely changed. The disciple operating the formation beside them was no longer wearing the robes of the Tianyan Sect, but the attire of the Xuanqing Heaven Sect.

The architecture here lacked the resplendent, golden grandeur of the Tianyan Sect. Instead, it favored an elegant, profound aesthetic dominated by shades of blue and white.

The starkly different architectural styles were a perfect reflection of the vastly different ways the two sects operated.

Outside the Xuanqing Heaven Sect's teleportation formation.

A cultivator dressed in the robes of a Xuanqing Heaven Sect Elder was already waiting for them.

Seeing the two arrive, the Elder smiled and stepped forward, clasping his hands in greeting.

"I have been awaiting you both. I trust your journey was smooth?"

Chen Baiqing returned the greeting by clasping her hands. "Thank you for the trouble, Senior."

The Elder chuckled. "It is no trouble at all. I am merely doing my duty."

Chen Baiqing cast a sidelong glance at Cui Hao. Exchanging pleasantries and greetings was usually Cui Hao's area of expertise. Why wasn't he taking the initiative this time?

But the moment she looked over.

She saw that Cui Hao was still looking down, stroking the sword at his waist. His tone was just as obsequious as before.

"Senior Myriad, are you alright? Do you feel any discomfort?"

Chen Baiqing gave a light cough, shooting Cui Hao a sharp glare. You are Master's disciple, for heaven's sake! Are you really going to embarrass us all the way in the Xuanqing Heaven Sect?

Cui Hao looked up, meeting her gaze. He hurriedly plastered on a smile and was just about to speak.

When the Xuanqing Heaven Sect Elder quickly stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the empty space to Cui Hao's right with a look of shock and uncertainty.

Cui Hao blanked for a moment before subconsciously following the Elder's gaze.

Chen Baiqing was also slightly bewildered.

The Elder hesitated for a moment before bowing slightly with clasped hands.

"Senior Myriad? Would you be willing to reveal your true form?"

By now, the whole world knew that Chu Xingchen was the heaven-ordained Child of Destiny—especially the Xuanqing Heaven Sect, which had once borne the Mandate of Heaven itself.

Although this Elder was at the Mahayana Realm, it was entirely possible that a Tribulation Transcendence expert, or some other entity beyond his perception, was present.

Chu Xingchen was notoriously protective of his disciples. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for him to assign a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator as a secret Dao Protector for them.

After all, the True Immortal Bai Xuanling had already declared to the world that she was Chu Xingchen's Dao Protector.

Cui Hao was Chu Xingchen's disciple. For him to address someone so respectfully as Senior, could that entity possibly be any ordinary cultivator?

Chen Baiqing glared at Cui Hao—just look at what you have done!

Enduring Chen Baiqing's furious stare, Cui Hao also met the eager yet bewildered gaze of the Xuanqing Heaven Sect elder.

He opened his mouth to speak...

But he had no idea what he could possibly say to avoid a beating...