Volume 4, Chapter 252 – The Great Battle Begins (Part 6)

“It’s her! It’s Qi Huang! The doppelgänger of Fairy Hongling! I knew it, she must have been preparing some kind of ultimate move!”

“We’re saved now! I heard Fairy Hongling’s doppelgänger is even stronger than her real self!”

“Really? How can a doppelgänger be stronger than the original? At most, a doppelgänger can only reach 80% of the original’s power, that’s common knowledge in the cultivation world!”

“Strength isn’t just about cultivation level, you know? I heard she’s an incredible actress!”

“Acting? What good is acting in a fight? This isn’t an opera!”

“What do you know? Life is like a play, it’s all about performance. A masterful act can subdue the enemy without a single strike!”

The disciples of the Honghua Sect were in high spirits, their earlier fear completely vanishing.

Xiao Sha slowly halted his steps. He turned his head, scrutinizing Qi Huang before letting out a disdainful chuckle. “So, you’re her doppelgänger, Qi Huang? Bi Xin said your divine sense has reached the Divine Realm, is that true?”

“What? Fairy Hongling’s doppelgänger has a Divine Ability Realm divine sense? How is that possible? Her true self is only at the Incarnation Realm!”

“I don’t believe it either! It’s common knowledge that a doppelgänger’s talent can only reach 80% of the original’s, this is an ironclad law of the cultivation world! No exceptions!”

“Keep your voices down! Don’t embolden the enemy and dampen our own morale!”

The surrounding Honghua Sect disciples whispered amongst themselves.

“That’s right! I’m a supreme expert of the Divine Realm! If you know what’s good for you, come over here and let me kill you. Otherwise, your death won’t be very comfortable later!”

Qi Huang lifted her chin arrogantly. This man had injured her before, there was no way he’d leave alive. Still, she was kind-hearted by nature and could grant him a swift death.

“Heh, putting on airs. Don’t think I haven’t investigated you. You little brat can’t do anything but act! Even your ‘Divine Realm’ is just an act, isn’t it? A fool like Bi Xin believes everything he hears, but I won’t be fooled!”

Xiao Sha analyzed smugly.

“What do we do? That Severed Immortal Sect member seems really sharp!”

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“Could it be that Fairy Qi’s cultivation is really just a disguise?”

“It must be! I told you, how could a doppelgänger be stronger than the original?”

“Let’s run! If that heretic breaks in, none of us will escape! They only want women anyway!”

The onlookers began to panic.

“If you want to know the truth, why not take another step and see for yourself?”

Qi Huang calmly retrieved her original body’s Blue Scale Sword. The Heavenly Thunder Sword talisman on it flickered incessantly. Above, the thunderclouds had gathered to their peak, dark as the bottom of a pot, with lightning crackling densely within, roaring like a vicious dragon ready to devour its prey.

“Be careful! He has Qi-Leaking Powder!”

Cheng Hongling hurriedly warned.

“Qi-Leaking Powder? He actually has Qi-Leaking Powder?”

Qi Huang feigned shock.

“What? Scared? If you’re scared, then stay put. After I wipe out the Honghua Sect, come back with me and focus on bearing children. If you produce offspring capable of cultivation, you’ll be richly rewarded!”

Xiao Sha grinned triumphantly.

“Scared? Oh, I’m terrified!”

Qi Huang burst into laughter. She had so little qi to begin with, probably not even worth the cost of the powder. If he wanted to drain it, he was welcome to try.

Seeing her doppelgänger’s smile, Cheng Hongling immediately understood. A bitter realization struck her, she had always claimed that focusing on divine sense cultivation had major flaws, yet now, in actual combat, it was her own qi-based cultivation that proved the most crippling, utterly countered by a mere Qi-Leaking Powder.

“Where’s your Qi-Leaking Powder? Hurry up and use it! Otherwise, you might not get the chance later.”

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Qi Huang kindly reminded him.

“You still dare to stand in my way? I told you, if the path I walk is blocked, I’ll pave it with corpses. If you remain stubborn, you’ll just become another body on that road, not even worthy of being a breeding tool.”

Xiao Sha remained unmoved, continuing his threats. “Will you be a corpse? Or a breeding tool? The choice is yours!”

With that, he took a step forward.

Qi Huang’s figure vanished from sight, ghostlike, leaving no trace. After her previous encounter, she knew that to win, she couldn’t hold back, if her opponent reacted in time, she’d be dragged into a grueling battle.

“Such speed! Could her divine sense really be at the Divine Realm?!”

Xiao Sha was horrified, all traces of contempt wiped away. He thrust his right palm forward, releasing the Qi-Leaking Powder hidden in his sleeve. A thick black mist instantly formed before him.

The onlookers gasped. Such a dense concentration of Qi-Leaking Powder, even if a cultivator avoided breathing it in, mere skin contact would be enough to cripple them. Once the toxin lingered in the body, cultivation would become impossible forever.

In other words, to outsiders, if Qi Huang wanted to kill Xiao Sha, she’d have to sacrifice herself. But in a battle between experts, life and death were decided in an instant, no one had time to warn her.

“Just this little bit? You’re looking down on me!”

Yet Qi Huang remained unfazed. Like an arrow, she pierced through the toxic mist, her divine sense bearing down on Xiao Sha without restraint. The sword in her hand remained unaffected, slicing cleanly across his neck.

By the time her figure reappeared on the other side, she felt the water qi in her body begin to dissipate, her already pitiful cultivation reduced to an empty shell. But so what? The impact on her was negligible, after all, the powder didn’t harm the body itself.

“You… how…?”

Xiao Sha clutched his neck, his face twisted in disbelief.

“I told you, without a Honghua Sect identity token, anyone who dares trespass will find this gate to be their passage to the underworld.”

Qi Huang snorted coldly, then casually sheathed the sword in her spatial ring. The Heavenly Thunder Sword talisman on it ensured that anyone wounded by it would never survive.

Slowly, Xiao Sha moved his hand away, revealing a shallow cut on his neck, far from fatal. At the critical moment, he had instinctively tilted his head, avoiding a direct strike to the artery.

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But what did it matter? With the Heavenly Thunder Sword, the real killer wasn’t the blade, it was the lightning above!

And so, in the next instant, the lightning that had gathered to its peak came crashing down like a torrential rain, striking directly at Xiao Sha.

He instinctively tried to flee, but no one could outrun lightning. After just two steps, a bolt struck him down.

“Aaaah!”

Xiao Sha’s tenacious life force kept him conscious, and he let out a tortured scream. But before he could recover, bolt after bolt of lightning hammered down. His powerful body was reduced to that of a feeble ant, unable to even cry out. Within moments, he was reduced to ashes.

“I told you to come and accept death, but you refused. Was that comfortable enough for you?”

Qi Huang gloated mockingly, thinking back to how he had nearly killed her back in the prefecture. The satisfaction was immense.

“Are you alright?”

At that moment, Cheng Hongling rushed over, her voice full of concern.

“What could possibly be wrong with me? A weakling like that couldn’t even touch my clothes!”

Qi Huang shrugged dismissively, completely ignoring the fact that her water qi had been completely drained.

“How could you be fine? You walked right into that Qi-Leaking Powder! Even skin contact would have lingering consequences!”

Cheng Hongling refused to believe her.

“You know my situation, I barely had any qi to begin with. Who cares if it’s gone? It was practically useless anyway.”

Qi Huang waved it off. To her, that tiny bit of qi was as insignificant as a chicken rib, barely worth noticing.

“But you worked so hard to cultivate it!”

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Cheng Hongling’s face twisted with distress.

“Worked hard?”

Qi Huang’s cheeks flushed slightly. She had never worked hard on cultivation, it was always half-hearted at best. The only thing she’d put real effort into was growing vegetables.

“No, we have to purge the Qi-Leaking Powder from your system. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to cultivate again!”

Cheng Hongling’s expression turned grave.

“Ugh! If I can’t cultivate, so be it! Saves me the trouble. Worry about yourself, you inhaled the powder too!”

Qi Huang sighed in exasperation. Honestly, she’d be happy if she never had to cultivate again.

“Whether it’s mine or yours, we have to remove it. But before that, can you return my Blue Scale Sword? What kind of person kills someone and then just pockets the sword? Trying to steal it?”

Suddenly, Cheng Hongling stretched out her fair, jade-like hand, demanding it back.

“Huh? That was your sword?”

Qi Huang blinked in disbelief. She had thought she’d used her own sword and absentmindedly stored it away.

“Shameless wench! To think I was once your Life Soul!”

Inside the spatial ring, the Heavenly Surge Soul cursed in disdain, her eardrums still bleeding.