Chapter 57: The Storm

Suddenly, a poster flew in from ahead and hit Li Xuan right in the face.

Li Xuan snatched it away, cursing, "What on earth is this? I'm so unlucky I could choke just drinking water!"

Just as Li Xuan was about to throw the poster away, a glance caught by the moonlight made him read it. Stuttering, he muttered, "This is... this is..."

On the poster, a man was dressed like a crossdresser, with a light blush on his cheeks and eyes as blue as a lake that could captivate souls. Eye-catching, bold characters read: "Li Xuan? Midnight Gigolo? Rotten Sea King?"

Puff!

Furious, Li Xuan spat out a mouthful of old blood and cursed wildly, "Damn it, who is smearing me?"

Jiang Qingyue took it, looked at it, and burst out laughing uncontrollably.

In just a single day, such a scandalous rumor had spread, and it occupied a massive portion of the poster.

In particular, the colored portrait of Li Xuan was extremely eye-catching. Anyone with half a brain could tell it was the likeness of the third young master of the Li family.

The article vividly described how Li Xuan had struggled for the rise of his family, willingly sinking into degradation. The emotional depth of it was enough to move people to tears.

Even Jiang Qingyue was somewhat moved. She put some distance between herself and Li Xuan, saying vigilantly, "Little Xuanxuan, if you're looking to be kept, shouldn't you have some standards?"

Goosebumps erupted all over Li Xuan's body, and he snapped angrily, "Stop mocking me! I'm only interested in women!"

Information like this wasn't explosive enough. The real blockbuster gossip came next, with the article pointing out that Tang Ruoxian was acting as a procuress.

"Damn it, these bastards are too toxic! How dare they drag Tang Ruoxian into this? The Tang family is going to explode!"

After pondering for a long time, Li Xuan pleaded, "Sister Yueyue, going back now is walking right into a tiger's den. If Tang Ruoxian wants to go crazy, let her go crazy. I'm going to root out the mastermind behind the scenes!"

With things having come to this, how could Li Xuan dare to return? Not to mention that Tang Ruoxian wouldn't let him off, the spit of his fellow students alone could drown him.

Panicking, Jiang Qingyue said, "What about Tang Ruoxian? The private courtyard is surrounded impenetrably by people from all walks of life, and even the Academy Patrolling Envoys have been dispatched. The situation is extremely complicated."

"And," Jiang Qingyue continued, "this has already alarmed the Tang family. A large number of Tang family disciples have entered the academy. Both sides are at daggers drawn, the atmosphere is tense, and danger is ready to break out at any moment."

"Oh!"

Li Xuan clutched his head with both hands, pulling a long, mournful face as he said, "What should I do then?"

Anxious like an ant on a hot pan, Li Xuan was completely at his wits' end.

Jiang Qingyue put her hands on her hips and said, "Who did you offend today? Could they be stirring up trouble behind your scenes?"

Sudden enlightenment dawned on Li Xuan. He jumped up from the ground and said, "I know who it is! Follow me!"

Li Xuan dragged Jiang Qingyue into a clothing store and immediately had the shopkeeper tailor a night-walker outfit for her, identical in style to the Black Night Imperial Ranking.

Jiang Qingyue protested, "No, I don't like wearing clothes this tight!"

It was Jiang Qingyue's first time trying on an outfit that exposed her figure almost completely, and she couldn't help blushing deeply.

After much persuasion and cajoling from Li Xuan, Jiang Qingyue finally put it on. He then demonstrated the moves used by Xiao Ning once more and asked, "Did you remember them?"

Jiang Qingyue nodded her dainty head very reluctantly, her large eyes rolling around in a way that left Li Xuan's mind wandering.

Afterward, Li Xuan and Jiang Qingyue rehearsed their lines. "You must remember, or Little Xuanxuan's life won't be saved!"

Jiang Qingyue puffed out her proud, soaring chest and asked, "How will you thank me?"

With his mind solely focused on how to deal with the accountability from the Tang family and the academy, Li Xuan agreed to whatever Jiang Qingyue demanded.

Once they agreed on everything, Li Xuan swaggered into the Sacred Dao Academy and headed toward Tang Ruoxian's private courtyard.

Just as Jiang Qingyue had said, the private courtyard was surrounded impenetrably by people from all walks of life. Jeers rose one after another, and some even spat out filthy and vulgar words.

Tang Ruoxian wore a long dress, her face taut. Protected by the Tang family guard, she coldly watched those lewd individuals.

The Academy Patrolling Envoys also looked tense. Although these were people of low repute, there were quite a few experts in the Profound Entrance Realm among them, and everyone feared that a single moment of carelessness would trigger a melee.

At the same time, the heads of the four major Dao academies had all turned out in full force.

In the thousands of years of the Sacred Dao Academy, it had never faced such an ominous, enemy-at-the-gates situation as tonight.

Yet, the instigator stubbornly refused to show up. Someone must have tipped him off, allowing him to hide far away.

"This bastard! If this old man catches him, I'll skin him alive!"

Tang Mingchen was so angry that his beard and hair fluttered. The source energy fluctuations of a peak Profound Entrance Realm cultivator surged out like a tidal wave, which did manage to intimidate quite a few of the unruly rabble.

However, someone shouted, "Old Man Tang, I'm here for some leisure and entertainment, to play with your family's kept son. Why are you putting on such a fierce front?"

"That's right, just call him out!"

Someone pulled out the poster and stared at Li Xuan's portrait, feeling a deep sense of regret for not having met him sooner, willing to let their belt grow loose without regret, pining away for the beauty. Their only grievance was that they weren't born of high status to be able to help him.

The disgusting scene was simply too sensational.

At this moment, a flushed, gorgeously dressed young matron stepped forward and said, "I must trouble Miss Tang to invite Li Xuan out. It wouldn't make our arduous journey in vain; as long as he is willing, this humble concubine will offer all her family property."

As soon as the enchanting matron spoke, others chimed in with overwhelming momentum, shouting in unison, "Li Xuan, come out!"

Even Tang Mingchen was seeing such a spectacular scene for the very first time.

Yet, Li Xuan still did not appear.

Elder Xiyue of the Executive Office and Elder Wang Chenxuan of the Judicial Office were both deeply moved.

If word of this matter got out, the thousand-year reputation of the Sacred Dao Academy would be ruined overnight, and it would undoubtedly suffer a devastating blow among all academies.

However, since the matter had already happened, neither of them had a good plan for post-disaster management.

"This Li Xuan really knows how to stir up trouble!"

If it weren't for the sake of Elder Xingxiu, Elder Xiyue of the Executive Office would have expelled him from the Sacred Dao Academy long ago and driven these lowlifes away.

"Heh..."

Elder Wang Chenxuan of the Judicial Office said with veiled sarcasm, "He has a good master, plus so many sisters whose thighs he can hug. Who dares to do anything to him?"

Because of the Li Xuan incident, Wang Chenxuan had been reprimanded publicly by Elder Xingxiu. How could he swallow this bitter pill? With such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he naturally had to mock Li Xuan thoroughly.

Although he didn't know why these people of all backgrounds had appeared in the Sacred Dao Academy, as long as he could punish Li Xuan, he would certainly make full use of them.

Especially since the Tang family was implicated, no matter what abilities Li Xuan possessed, after this affair, he would become a rat crossing the street that everyone shouted at. Neither the Tang family nor the Imperial Court would be able to protect him, and taking down the Li family at that point would be as easy as picking things up from the palm of his hand.

Furthermore, Li Xuan had repeatedly humiliated Wang Zifan and clamored to destroy the Wang family. This matter could not simply end like this.

"All of you, shut up! Haven't we failed to investigate clearly what caused this in the first place? As mentors of others, how can you be so arbitrary!"

The person who spoke was none other than Mo Qianqiu, the current supreme headmaster of the Sacred Dao Academy. The matter had already occurred, and dealing with Li Xuan could only be postponed; the top priority was how to drive these people away.

"Is there still no news from Elder Xingxiu?"

Headmaster Mo Qianqiu's lips curled into a mysterious arc as he sighed, "Alas, this pair of master and disciple..."

Elder Xingxiu had shown great discernment and patronage to Headmaster Mo Qianqiu. How to dispose of Li Xuan had to be cleared with the old man first; it must never be handled rashly.

Still, as Li Xuan's master, he should at least step forward and state his stance!

Li Xuan had simply patted his rear end and left to hide, and Elder Xingxiu was nowhere to be found, dumping this hot potato directly onto the Sacred Dao Academy. It was truly rather unreasonable.

At this moment, a patrolling envoy suggested, "Headmaster, should we issue a wanted warrant?"

Headmaster Mo Qianqiu furrowed his brows and scolded, "Get lost!"

Suddenly, earth-shaking shouts erupted as the crowd of various backgrounds grew restless. They roared, "Old Man Tang, Headmaster Mo Qianqiu, if you still don't invite Li Xuan out to let us admire his peerless beauty, we're going to search the place!"

Headmaster Mo Qianqiu flicked his embroidered sleeve and angrily rebuked, "What nonsense is this? It would be fine if women admired Li Xuan's handsome looks, but why are those men blindly joining in the ruckus?"

Wang Chenxuan immediately handed over the poster, infuriating Mo Qianqiu so much that he scolded, "Absurd!"

Upon careful thought, Mo Qianqiu realized they truly were a pair of problematic master and disciple. Channeling his source energy on the spot, he shouted, "Friends from all roads, calm down! Li Xuan is not currently in the Sacred Dao Academy. Please everyone, wait a moment!"

However, the crowd had already lost patience, showing a tendency to sharpen their swords. If Li Xuan didn't come out, they were going to swarm in.

Mo Qianqiu cursed in frustration, "Why aren't you hurrying up to find that plague god!"

The people from all walks of life also began to stir. Seeing that the situation was on the verge of losing control, everyone tightened their guard in preparation.

Suddenly, a ripple of water spread across the sky, churning with treacherous clouds. As massive energy fluctuations clashed against one another, earth-shattering thunder burst forth.

A bolt of lightning crashed down from the clouds.

Everyone furrowed their brows and hurriedly retreated, fearing they would be caught in the backlash of that thunder and lightning.

"Which bastard is undergoing a tribulation at a time like this?"

No one dared to linger for even a second, scattering in all directions.

At that moment, a flash of source energy illuminated the space as Li Xuan stepped through the air, appearing before everyone.

Li Xuan's entrance truly lived up to the phrase: "After thousands of calls and urged, she finally comes out, half-hiding her face behind a lute."

His stunning entrance did manage to bluff some individuals with ulterior motives, but the truly profound and powerful experts grew intensely excited and surged toward Li Xuan.

Li Xuan let out a roar like thunder and shouted, "My friends, since I have already appeared and you have seen me, please return!"

However, no one listened to him; instead, they grew even more excited, chanting in rolling waves, "Li Xuan! Li Xuan! Li Xuan..." as they rushed madly toward him.

Suddenly, Li Xuan's gaze shifted. He stopped suppressing the source energy within his body, letting it surge straight into the firmament. Instantly, it drew down a waterfall of electricity and a roar of heavenly thunder.

Shocked by the display, the crowd finally came to a halt, gazing up at the legendary Li Xuan.

Clenching his fists tightly, Li Xuan said, "Please hear me out, friends. Return for now, and tomorrow I will definitely give everyone a reply."

Looking at the motley crew of people, Li Xuan continued, "I, Li Xuan, am by no means as utterly worthless as the poster boasts. Please do not believe the rumors!"

Li Xuan stomped his foot, sending source energy erupting outwards. Rolling thunder roared once more, and bolts of lightning descended like giant pythons.

Though Li Xuan's cultivation base was not yet high, he had already reached the peak of the Martial Breaking Realm, even touching upon the ultimate realm. If he wished, he could summon the heavenly tribulation right then and there.

Beneath the heavenly tribulation, all things were mere ants.

Even the people from all walks of life had to exercise caution.

If things came to that, the Sacred Dao Academy would inevitably be implicated, and Li Xuan was destined to fall from his pedestal, shifting from a creator of miracles to someone reviled for eternity.

Yet, relying merely on a few words from Li Xuan to dismiss these people was equally impossible.

Suddenly, a dark figure arrived silently. A fierce assassination technique tore open the night sky, slashing straight toward Li Xuan.