Volume 5, Chapter 270 – Elevated—I Almost Ascended to Heaven

“Elevated? More like I almost ascended straight to heaven!”

Cheng Hongling gritted her teeth as she spat out the words. With a furious flick of her wrist, she hurled the Tongming Comb back at Qi Huang. She nearly clawed at her scalp in frustration but managed to restrain herself at the last moment, opting instead to sit cross-legged and begin circulating her qi to expel the toxins.

“Uh…”

Qi Huang caught the comb, utterly dumbfounded. Once again, her good intentions had backfired spectacularly.

‘But this doesn’t make sense! This is exactly how I strengthened my divine sense, why didn’t it work for her?’

Guilt gnawed at her, and she scratched her head anxiously.

‘I’ve poisoned her twice now. Anyone would think I’m trying to assassinate her.’

The more she worried, the more her fears materialized.

After a brief period of detoxification, Cheng Hongling sprang to her feet and jabbed an accusing finger at her counterfeit doppelgänger.

“Out with it, are you trying to murder me so you can inherit my reputation?”

“Inherit what, my own ghost? If I kill you, I’ll be a ghost too!”

Qi Huang sighed helplessly before adding, “My identity’s already exposed, what reason do I have to lie now?”

“You? A liar through and through. Who knows what other secrets you’re hiding?”

Cheng Hongling had zero faith in her counterpart’s integrity.

“Uh…”

Qi Huang’s mouth snapped shut. She had withheld the truth about the cat’s tears, but that had been out of necessity.

“See? You are guilty!”

Cheng Hongling seized the opening like a hawk spotting prey.

“I swear this is how I strengthened my divine sense. Here, watch!”

Left with no choice, Qi Huang demonstrated, vigorously combing her own hair with the Tongming Comb.

“Hmph! If I go bald, I’m dragging you to the nunnery with me.”

With a cold snort, Cheng Hongling turned and flew off.

“Why is being a good doppelgänger so damn hard?”

Qi Huang let out a bitter laugh before hastily chasing after her.

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Bound and gagged, Cheng Ling wore a mocking smirk as she watched the drama unfold.

“Two idiots.”

Having delivered her scathing critique, she turned to the three ethereal souls and six corporeal souls gathered by the window of the heart.

“Sisters, untie this soul tether for me. With my current divine sense strength, if we all work together, we can break through the main body’s Heart’s Door!”

“Even if we escape, she’ll just drag us back like last time!”

“Exactly! You might get away with your strong divine sense, but we’ll be the ones punished!”

“Rather than courting death, why not cooperate obediently? If we help the main body, we might earn our freedom as proper doppelgängers sooner. Limited freedom is better than none.”

The souls rejected her plea one after another.

“What’s wrong with you all? You weren’t like this before!”

Cheng Ling stared at them in disbelief.

“That was then, this is now. Back then, we never imagined the main body would progress so fast.”

“Right! At her current rate, she’ll reach the Divine Realm in no time. If we behave, freedom isn’t far off.”

“Besides, that fake doppelgänger is ridiculously strong. Sticking with them guarantees a bright future.”

The sisters voiced their reasons, one after another.

“Tch! More like you’ve all been scared witless! Bunch of cowards!”

Cheng Ling scoffed. Even without their help, she refused to abandon her escape plans. Given the gravity of her mistake, if she didn’t break free now, she’d be imprisoned forever.

After returning to the prefectural office, Qi Huang began cleaning up the mess left in their wake.

Cheng Hongling had settled her mother in an inn, assigning her “fake doppelgänger” to keep watch while she reported the massacre at their home to the authorities. Even as a cultivator, she couldn’t bypass official procedures when so many lives had been lost.

Jiang Linian, having been scared out of her wits the previous night and deprived of rest, remained in a deep slumber.

Qi Huang kept a patient vigil by her bedside, her heart heavy with uncertainty. Now that her true identity was exposed, would her adoptive parents still accept her? The thought filled her with dread, making her cherish these fleeting moments even more.

As time passed, Qi Huang suddenly remembered the three bound souls still trapped in her own sea of consciousness. She immediately directed her primary consciousness into the grand hall within her mind.

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A quick survey revealed the situation: with Huang Tian (the Heavenly Soul) left behind at home, only two ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls remained. Of these, the Earthly Soul, Humanly Soul, and Essence Soul retained their male forms, while the other six corporeal souls had all been feminized.

Qi Huang frowned.

‘Cheng Ling left me a damn mess. If I don’t get these female souls under control, they’ll cause trouble sooner or later.’

Resigned, she approached the three pitiful male souls.

“Brothers, you’ve suffered.”

After offering a sheepish apology, she began untying them. Since everything in this hall was a manifestation of her divine sense, even ropes could bind souls.

“Whoa, Essence Soul, what’s with the… growths? Since when did your chest get so big?”

As she freed the Essence Soul, Qi Huang gaped at his, now her, prominent bust, which clashed bizarrely with his still-masculine face.

“Growths? This is your fault! If you weren’t such a coward, I wouldn’t be like this!”

The Essence Soul fumed, recounting the earlier events.

“Ohhh…”

Qi Huang finally understood why she’d suddenly become fearless, Cheng Ling had assimilated her terror.

“Wait, how could she feminize you directly here? Before, she needed control over the body!”

A chill ran down her spine.

“Exactly! I’ve been wondering the same thing. If she’d always had this ability, she would’ve feminized us all long ago.”

The Earthly Soul chimed in.

“I think she must’ve just gained this power. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have exhausted her energy after only partially feminizing the ninth brother.”

The Humanly Soul analyzed.

“Makes sense.”

Qi Huang nodded thoughtfully before murmuring, “That woman’s hiding more secrets. I’ll have to revisit her memories later, see what happened after she fled the Honghua Sect.”

Decision made, she strode toward the six female souls on the other side.

Though Cheng Ling had been expelled, their feminization remained. They glared at Qi Huang with undisguised hostility.

“Don’t look at me like that. You know Cheng Ling isn’t coming back. If you want to become doppelgängers quickly, behave. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck here forever, just like her.”

After issuing the warning, she returned to the center of the hall and announced, “We’ve coexisted for so long, yet I’ve never given you names. As the Life Soul, that’s my failing. Since we have time today, let’s fix that.”

“Who wants you naming us? Stop forcing your nonsense on us!”

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One of the female souls sneered.

Ignoring her, Qi Huang pointed at the Earthly Soul.

“Earthly Soul, from now on, you’re Huang Di ¹ 黄 (huáng) = yellow, 帝 (dì) = emperor .”

“‘Emperor’? Not bad, classy even!”

The Earthly Soul preened, clearly pleased. The other souls’ eyes lit up, and the protests died down.

“Humanly Soul, you’re Huang Ren ² 人 (rén) =person, the soul complains this sounds like “好色的人” (hàosè de rén) meaning “lustful person” because of the phonetic similarity and context .”

“Yellow Person? You think that’s a good name? People will think I’m some pervert!”

The Humanly Soul looked aghast.

“Aren’t you? Don’t I know myself?”

Qi Huang shot back.

The other souls collectively facepalmed, they’d celebrated too soon.

“Essence Soul, you’re Huang Jing ³ 黄精 (huáng jīng) is literally the name of a real medicinal herb Polygonatum sibiricum .”

“Isn’t that a medicinal herb?”

The Essence Soul raised an eyebrow.

“Come on, think bigger! Why associate it with herbs? It’s gold ⁴ Qi Huang tries to reframe the name by focusing on 黄金 (huáng jīn) = gold, even though 精 (jīng) and 金 (jīn) have different tones and don’t sound similar , as in money! I’d name you all ‘Golden’ if I could.”

Qi Huang’s eyes gleamed with greed.

“Then I’d drag you to hell with me.”

One of the female souls threatened.

“Ahem, just kidding!”

Qi Huang coughed awkwardly before continuing.

“Heavenly Surge Soul, you’re a girl now. ‘Huang Tian’ ⁵ 天 (tiān) = heaven/sky would be redundant and ugly, so you’re Huang Tian ⁶ 甜 (tián) = sweet ,sweet as candy.”

“Sweet? I’ll bite you to death! You gave me a doppelgänger body but no brains!”

The Heavenly Surge Soul bared her little fangs.

“Spiritual Wisdom Soul, you’re Huang Ling ⁷ 灵 (líng) = spirit . The main body’s Spiritual Wisdom Soul is Cheng Ling, I’m too lazy to think of another name.”

“Aren’t you afraid the main body will sue you for copyright infringement?”

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The Spiritual Wisdom Soul retorted.

“Qi Soul, you’re Huang Qi ⁸ 琪 (qí) = jade , the ‘Qi’ with the jade radical.”

“Why not the ‘Qi’ ⁹ “奇” (qí) = strange for ‘strange’? Ashamed of your past self? Can’t even bear to mention it?”

The Qi Soul scoffed.

“Strength Soul, you’re Huang Li ¹⁰ 丽 (lì) = beautiful .”

“Beautiful? In your dreams!”

The Strength Soul crossed her arms defiantly.

“Central Core Soul, you’re Huang Shu (Comfort).”

“Why not Huang Zhong ¹¹ 中 (zhōng) = central ?”

“Too ugly. People might mishear it as ‘I’m winning’ in mahjong ¹² 黄中 (huáng zhōng) sounds like 麻将 (májiàng, “mahjong”) when slurred .”

“Vigor Soul, you’re Huang Ying ¹³ 英 (yīng) = hero/brave, a reference to “巾帼英雄” (jīn guó yīng xióng) meaning heroic woman . Even if you don’t look heroic now, I hope you’ll become one.”

“Pfft, as if you’re any hero yourself!”

Qi Huang endured a barrage of sarcasm as she assigned names, finishing the task with dogged determination before making a swift exit.

‘Now that everyone’s named, I won’t have to waste brain cells when cultivating doppelgängers later.’

She patted herself on the back.

Not long after, Jiang Linian awoke from a nightmare. Seeing her “daughter’s doppelgänger” keeping watch, her terror instantly melted away.

Though nervous, Qi Huang couldn’t suppress her concern for her adoptive mother, fussing over her with tea and attentiveness.

By evening, Cheng Hongling returned with her father, Cheng Yuan, whom she’d retrieved from the Honghua Sect. After such a catastrophe, the family needed to talk.

Qi Huang’s breath hitched.

‘How will they react to me now that they know the truth?’

‘A man impersonated their daughter’s doppelgänger, deceived their emotions, and saw their daughter naked. If I were them, I’d gouge his eyes out.’

Putting herself in their shoes, Qi Huang felt fear creeping in, even without Cheng Ling’s influence.

Translator Note

Explaining all those names took me longer than it should have…