Volume 3, Chapter 183 – You’re Not Qualified to Be My Judge

“Who’s there?”

Elder Han, who had always maintained an air of unshakable composure, now lost his calm and shouted in alarm. After all, he wasn’t a fool. Even if he hadn’t been actively scanning his surroundings with his divine sense, his senses had never stopped working. For someone to approach so silently meant their cultivation level couldn’t be far from his own.

“With hearing this bad, you still qualify as an elder?”

A woman’s voice rang out once more.

The members of the Tujiang Sect turned toward the sound and saw a slender red figure standing on the other side of the formation. In her hand was a sword so blue it verged on green, pressed against the neck of a disciple who had been maintaining the formation. Due to the barrier of talisman characters, they couldn’t clearly make out her features.

“Immortal, spare me!”

The disciple’s trembling plea was unmistakable, his shivering figure clearly visible even from a distance.

“Hah! It’s Hongling! My wife! We’re saved!”

Inside the formation, Mu Ruoyi was the first to recognize Cheng Hongling. She jumped in excitement, nearly rushing over—if not for the fact that she had to protect the Nine Nether Demon Cat in her arms. After all, that creature was a delicious “meal” to her.

‘Wife?’

The Tujiang Sect disciples were baffled. Why would one woman call another wife? Were they just close sisters joking around?

“You’re Cheng Hongling? The twelve-year-old girl who made it into the top sixty of the Western Radiance Dynasty’s rankings four years ago?”

Elder Han had no interest in pondering their relationship. Instead, he probed cautiously.

“That’s me. I didn’t expect cultivators from the Tujiang Sect to recognize me.”

Cheng Hongling’s expression remained indifferent as she lightly flicked her sword, decisively slitting the disciple’s throat. After all, the disciples of Shuiyu Valley inside the formation were still under attack.

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With one disciple gone, the rapidly rotating talisman characters began to tremble, and the formation flickered unsteadily.

“You dare kill a disciple of the Tujiang Sect? You’re seeking death!”

Senior Brother Pan roared in fury, drawing his sword to attack—only to be stopped by Elder Han.

Though confused, Senior Brother Pan didn’t dare question the elder’s decision.

“Tujiang Sect? You’re actually from the Tujiang Sect of the Far North?! How outrageous! Shuiyu Valley has no feud with you, yet you dare launch such a vicious ambush!”

Zhao Li was furious, gathering her Profound Ice Piercer to launch a frenzied assault against the formation.

The formation, already on the verge of collapse, now faced internal attacks and rapidly disintegrated.

“So it’s just a little girl like you? Since you know who we are, why are you still meddling?”

Elder Han remained unhurried. Now that he knew her identity, he was certain she posed no real threat. No matter how talented she was, how much stronger could she have become in just three or four years?

“Apologies, but I owe Shuiyu Valley a favor. I can’t just ignore it.”

Cheng Hongling extended her sword, wiping the blood off on the dead disciple’s robes.

“Oh?”

Elder Han neither confirmed nor denied her words before continuing, “I’m truly curious—how did you evade my senses to get so close? Do you have some secret technique?”

“A secret technique? Unnecessary. You’re overestimating yourself.”

Cheng Hongling scoffed. The truth was, she had descended from the sky, naturally leaving no trace.

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“None? Let me calculate. Four years ago, you made it into the top sixty of the Evergreen Conference, likely just having stepped into the Unity Realm. Now, after four years, even if you advanced one level every two years, you’d at most be at the third layer of Unity. Without a secret technique, how else could you approach unnoticed?”

Elder Han naturally didn’t believe her.

“Who said I’m only at the fourth layer of Unity?”

Cheng Hongling countered indifferently.

“Enough talk. I’ll have someone test your strength firsthand.”

Elder Han lost patience and turned to Senior Brother Pan. “Nephew Pan, go test her. If her strength is above the third layer of Unity, keep her alive. If below, kill her.”

“Why? Elder Han! She just killed one of our disciples!”

Senior Brother Pan protested vehemently.

“Are you stupid? If her strength has already reached the third layer of Unity or higher, with that kind of talent, what does one disciple matter? If she joins the Tujiang Sect, she’ll be a tremendous asset for our sect’s future! Of course, if four years weren’t enough for her to even reach the third layer, then she was just a flash in the pan—no wonder she didn’t qualify for the provincial Immortal Seed ranking last year. In that case, killing her is no loss.”

Elder Han explained impatiently.

“Understood! Elder Han’s foresight is truly profound!”

Senior Brother Pan suddenly saw the light and bowed respectfully. “Elder Han, rest assured. Whether she lives or dies today, I’ll be a fair judge.”

With those words, Senior Brother Pan drew his sword and vanished like a ghost, circling around the crumbling formation to charge at Cheng Hongling.

Cheng Hongling remained motionless, not even bothering to turn and face him. A faint chill spread from beneath her feet, rolling forward like waves.

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With every step Senior Brother Pan took, the ground caved in, his speed terrifying. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance—only to suddenly feel as if his foot had stepped onto solid iron. Not only did his foot go numb, but it also slipped, throwing his balance into disarray.

‘What the hell is this? How is it so hard?’

Senior Brother Pan was shocked. He swung his sword downward, trying to stabilize himself.

Clang!

A metallic clang rang out. To his horror, the tip of his sword sparked against the ground, unable to pierce it at all.

‘How is this possible? Even if this really were iron, my sword should cut through it!’

Utterly baffled, he glanced down and saw that the ground was now covered in a thin layer of ice.

‘Ice?! How can it be this hard?!’

His worldview shattered in an instant—and it was the last thought he ever had. At that moment, a pleasant fragrance drifted into his nose. A red shadow flashed before his eyes, and then his neck felt both cold and itchy.

Confused, he reached up to touch it—only for the wound to fully split open, blood gushing out in torrents. His carotid artery had been severed.

“You—”

With a look of unwillingness, Senior Brother Pan slowly collapsed.

“If you want to be my judge, you’re not qualified.”

Cheng Hongling spoke coldly, wiping her bloodstained Blue Scale Sword on Senior Brother Pan’s robes once more.

“It seems everyone has underestimated you. I’ll give you one last chance—rein in your recklessness and join the Tujiang Sect. I’ll pretend none of this happened. Otherwise, making it into the top sixty of the Immortal Seed rankings at twelve will be the only achievement anyone remembers you for.”

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Elder Han’s face twitched in surprise before he extended the olive branch once more. After all, even he couldn’t help but admire talent.

“Sorry, but my achievements won’t stop there. Whether you’ll live to see them, though, is another matter.”

Cheng Hongling replied indifferently.

“You ignorant fool! Even if you’ve reached the late stages of Unity, what then? To an Incarnation Realm expert, you’re still just a bug on the ground—easily crushed! I’ve given you every chance. Since you refuse to take them, go serve Nephew Pan as a ghost!”

Elder Han finally lost all patience. His vast divine sense surged through the formation, manifesting as a towering mountain that crashed down toward Cheng Hongling.

Cheng Hongling’s beautiful eyes turned icy. She neither dodged nor flinched. Instead, her own formidable divine sense erupted from her sea of consciousness, transforming into a massive hand that shot upward, seizing the mountain in midair. The two forces locked in a stalemate, neither able to overpower the other.

“How is this possible?! How does a Unity Realm cultivator possess such powerful divine sense?!”

Elder Han sucked in a sharp breath.

“Who told you I’m only at Unity Realm?”

Cheng Hongling replied as if discussing the weather. If she were an ordinary cultivator who had just entered the Incarnation Realm, her divine sense wouldn’t be able to match Elder Han’s. But she had been using the Tongming Comb since childhood.

“Don’t tell me you’ve reached the Incarnation Realm?! Impossible! A sixteen-year-old Incarnation Realm genius has never appeared in the Western Radiance Dynasty’s cultivation world!”

Elder Han was nearly hysterical.

“In that case, let me be the first.”

Cheng Hongling’s voice was cold and proud.