"I see what's happening," Yin Tiang said, realization dawning upon him. "Tang Ze has gotten so frustrated with not being able to find a girlfriend he's decided to cross over to the other side and become the girlfriend himself."
"I had to dress up like this to use healing powers on you idiots, not because I want to!"
Right then, as it would have it, a prefect had heard the commotion coming from their living quarters, and decided to investigate.
Said prefect opened the door (which, in his earlier haste, Tang Ze had not locked), and saw Tang Ze, who was currently dressed up like a woman.
The two of them maintained eye contact for a period of ten breaths before the prefect thought that he didn't want to know what was going on in there and then shut the door before walking away.
"Wait - I can explain!" Tang Ze said, but it was too little too late by the time he managed to get those words out, the prefect had already walked away.
Tang Ze was not dressed up like a woman because he wanted to.
Tang Ze knew several characters from back on Earth with healing powers who could be helpful in this situation - the issue was that they were all women.
There were very few male characters with healing powers (who were not religious figures) that he knew of.
As so, he had been keeping this outfit in reserve for a rainy day if needed. And unfortunately, there was a storm and they had a leaky roof.
One of the limitations of his powers was that whoever he cosplayed had to be an actual character from back on Earth, he couldn't make one on his own. Otherwise he would just create his own comic starring a fictional character called 'Omnipotent Man' who just happened to look exactly like him.
Unfortunately, his talent did not work like that.
As such, if he wanted a character with significant healing powers, he had to dress up like this.
Ten minutes later, he was done crossplaying, had changed back into his sect uniform, and his three other squad members were right as rain.
"Ah, I really thought we were done for there," Chen Yu said. "Thanks for using your Yin magic to save us."
"That's not what happened. Was her cooking really that bad?" Tang Ze asked.
"If you don't believe us, there's some of it left over for you to try," Yin Tiang said darkly.
"I… think I'll take your word for it," Tang Ze said.
"Well, at least things are better now," Zhang Long said.
"You do realize you'll have to tell her about her cooking someday or the other, right?" Tang Ze pointed out to Zhang Long.
"Yes, some day," Zhang Long said. "But not today."
"Well, next time she's in the area, let us know, so that we can hide," Chen Yu said.
"That's what I was trying to tell you to do," Zhang Long said. "But the two of you didn't believe me…"
Chen Yu and Yin Tiang groaned, wishing they could go back in time and tell their old selves that Zhang Long was indeed right.
"Oh right, how dare you spill my elixir?"
"How dare you break that vase! It was a gift from my mother!"
Yin Tiang and Chen Yu, now that they realized that they were not going to die, had completely gone back on their agreement to forgive each other.
"Well, at least things are back to normal now," Tang Ze said.
Right at that moment, a voice echoed throughout the entire sect division, so loud it nearly shook the foundations of the building.
"TANG ZE YOU SCOUNDREL! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME! TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I FINALLY GET MY REVENGE!"
"Spoke too soon didn't I…?" Tang Ze said, changing into a different costume given that he was anticipating trouble.
"What do you think the odds are that if we just ignore that voice, this will all just blow over?" Tang Ze asked his squad.
The looks they gave him were answer enough.
There was a knock at the door, and of all people, Elder He Xuan walked in. "Junior Tang Ze, there is an… issue that needs to be dealt with."
Tang Ze sighed, and the others followed him as he walked out into the hallway.
"What's going on?" Tang Ze asked.
"Do you happen to know someone by the name of Ling Kuang?" Elder He Xuan asked him.
"That name… doesn't ring a bell whatsoever," Tang Ze said. Who was this guy and why did he have beef with him?
"He is a Nascent Soul realm cultivator belonging to the Astral Winds sect," Elder He Xuan said. So he wasn't related to the Diamond Dust sect losers he had beaten earlier? "He says that you wronged him and is demanding a duel with you. They… have essentially ambushed us and are directly invading our territory. This is tantamount to a declaration of war, but they claim that they are here for a righteous cause and that therefore the usual rules don't apply. They are accusing us of holding a demonic cultivator… you." Elder He Xuan paused in his steps. "He is at the front gates with some other disciples of the Astral Winds sect. They are demanding to duel you. I can delay him, but with his strength, there is nothing I can do to truly stop him. His actions will have far-reaching consequences, but no one from the central headquarters will be able to come in time to reinforce us. And even if we do win the legal battle later on, it is of no use if there is no sect division still standing here."
Tang Ze tried to process all of that.
"Junior Tang Ze," Elder He Xuan said. "I am sorry, but if this Ling Kuang really wishes to fight you, there is nothing I can truly do to stop him. You will have to face him alone, I'm afraid. I cannot sacrifice this division for your sake." As he said this and turned to leave, he surreptitiously dropped something into Tang Ze's hands.
'Ah, I get what he's saying,'- Tang Ze thought. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the front gate."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't really have any other choice really," Tang Ze said.
However, as they made their way to the front gate, they were stopped for a moment by the sect janitor.
"I heard of what is going on," the sect janitor said, and handed Tang Ze something. It was a small bottle with a dark cloud within it.
"This is…"
"It is called a Thundercloud," the sect janitor said. "You can use it to escape should all else fail."
"Thank you," Tang Ze said, and as he slipped the bottle into one of his pockets, he also slipped on the ring that Elder He Xuan had secretly given him onto his finger. The reason for this secrecy was that in case things went south, no one could accuse Elder He Xuan of helping him.
He was familiar with soul rings from the time that Xian Yue had given him one, and one thing he had realized was that he could 'speak' to the other person with just his thoughts so long as he concentrated on the ring.
He had returned Xian Yue's ring so that she could regain some of the soul essence she had injected into it, and did not have it anymore.
"That's quite a valuable item he gave you," Elder He Xuan said.
"I don't know if it'll help me any though," Tang Ze replied. "Do you think we have a chance of beating this person?"
"Your strength is phenomenal but…" Elder He Xuan began. "Any technique used on you will cripple you at your level. I can perhaps block a technique or two in this current condition before it breaks this ring, but since he is at the Nascent Soul level, I can't be sure about that. Best bet would be to solve this without fighting, or to convince him to fight using only your fists."
Tang Ze did have another option - that was to run away. But what would happen to the rest of his sect if he did so? Who knows what this Ling Kuang would do in that situation - tear up the sect and start killing its members until he found Tang Ze? Take some of the sect members hostage?
The memory of his brother, Tang Jun, flashed through his mind.
No, he wasn't going to stand by while the people he cared about were put in danger.
Not again.
People from the sect were spilling out into the corridors as the voice yelled again. Many of them of course noticed Tang Ze, who ignored their questions as he made his way to the main gate.
Standing there was a group of around thirty people wearing deep blue uniforms with stars painted upon them - if there was one thing that Tang Ze paid attention to it was clothing, and he had familiarized himself with what the sect uniforms of each sect looked like. Without a doubt, this was the uniform of the Astral Winds sect.
Most of them were Qi Condensation or Qi Refinement realm cultivators, though Tang Ze couldn't feel any Qi from three of the individuals gathered before them. Meaning they were Golden Core realm or higher.
The man at the forefront had a long beard and wavy mustache. His hair had traces of gray signifying his age despite the fact Tang Ze couldn't feel any Qi from him meaning that he was likely several hundred years old at the very least. When this man saw Tang Ze he sneered coldly.
"Tang Ze… you demon, you finally come face me!" Ling Kuang said. Many people from the Rising Phoenix sect had gathered behind Tang Ze to see what the commotion was about.
Seeing him confirmed something for Tang Ze - he had indeed never seen this man before in his life. So, he really did have no idea why he was being targeted by this person.
"You - Ling Kuang!" Zhang Long shouted. "Why are you bullying one of our sect members?"
Ling Kuang sneered. "Bullying? Hardly - this demon deserves what is coming to him!"
"Uh… I think you must be mistaken," Tang Ze said. "I don't know who you're talking about."
"Your face matches the description we were given of you," Ling Kuang said. "There's no point in hiding it!"
"Ah, but you see, there must be some mix up," Tang Ze said. "My name is not actually Tang Ze… it's uh… Ze Tang! A lot of people get me mixed up sometimes, it's a common mistake."
"Is that really the best lie you could come up with, junior?" Elder He Xuan asked.
"What? You expect me to believe that?" Ling Kuang asked incredulously.
"No, he's right actually," the martial arts instructor yelled out. "Tang Ze is a scoundrel - the kind of person who might nearly kill one of his teachers and destroy part of a martial arts dojo because he was too dense to realize that he needed to control his own power. How could our junior brother, the honorable Ze Tang, be compared to that scumbag?"
Other members of the Rising Phoenix sect joined in.
"Tang Ze is the kind of person who would dress up in weird outfits like some kind of clown. How could the virtuous Ze Tang possibly be confused for him, even if their names are somewhat similar?" one of them said.
"Of course. I've heard that Tang Ze is the kind of lecherous person who would sneak into the girl's side of the sect," another person commented. "How could the righteous Ze Tang possibly be compared to him?"
"Yes, Tang Ze is the kind of man to insult an innocent maiden's heart," Tang Ru said.
"Oi! You take that back!" Tang Ze said, now unable to control himself. "You know, Xu Feng was right about you, Tang Ru - you are a bitch! Why don't we fight as a warmup and I'll break both your legs!"
Tang Ze still harbored quite a grudge against her for what she had done - but by now, he had accumulated enough passive strength to easily break even a Golden Core cultivator's bones without his costume. Their fight would go very differently now compared to the one-sided pummeling he had received earlier on, though the issue was that while Tang Ze wanted revenge, there was no real opportunity for him to try to get such.
Women and men were separated when it came to sparring sessions, so there was never a real time when the two of them would ever cross paths. Not unless she sneaked over to the men's side for some reason.