Volume 5, Chapter 294 – I Want Her to Submit

“Yes, the Immortal Alliance is the heavens for cultivators. As long as she is a cultivator, she must look up to the Immortal Alliance!”

“A sixteen-year-old in the Incarnation Realm is indeed unprecedented in this tiny backwater nation, but what does that count for in the superpowers of the Central Continent?”

“Exactly. Take those descendants of immortals, for instance, some are born as cultivators, and there have even been children of destiny who reached the Incarnation Realm before the age of ten. Yet in the end, weren’t they all tamed into submission by us?”

Several stewards began chiming in one after another, condemning the subject of their discussion.

“Master, I have an idea, how about modifying the rules for the next Evergreen Conference in Yongning Province and increasing the participant count to ten? The Honghua Sect only has Cheng Hongling as their one presentable disciple. Though she’s stepped into the Incarnation Realm, she won’t be able to cause much of a stir.”

Steward Cai seized the opportunity to voice his scheme.

“Didn’t you already change the rules once before? Not long ago, the Honghua Sect’s sect master came to me to complain.”

Elder Zuo inquired without a trace of emotion.

“Yes, I modified the rules to a five-person team battle. Since the Honghua Sect showed disrespect to the Immortal Alliance, I merely disciplined them lightly.”

Steward Cai slandered them, though the truth was that he had colluded with the Huxiao Sect to force Cheng Hongling out of the Honghua Sect.

“You don’t need to explain to me. You need to explain to the public.”

Elder Zuo’s expression hardened slightly. “Crushing a little brat is as easy as flipping a hand for our Immortal Alliance. But if we lose prestige in the process, the loss outweighs the gain. So if you change the rules, you must have a publicly justifiable reason.”

“Don’t worry, Master. I’ve already explained publicly, the Immortal Alliance provides resources to help its subordinate sects grow. A sect’s healthy development isn’t determined by a single disciple but by the collective talent of its younger generation.”

Steward Cai hurriedly defended himself.

“The reasoning is a bit flimsy, but it holds some logic.”

Elder Zuo gave his approval before making the final decision. “In that case, I’ll allow it. Modify the rules as you see fit. If ten isn’t enough, make it twenty. If twenty isn’t enough, make it thirty. I simply don’t want to see her among the provincial candidates in the next Evergreen Conference.”

“Understood!”

Steward Cai was ecstatic.

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“But remember one condition, you must not damage the Immortal Alliance’s prestige. It’s not worth it for some insignificant little girl.”

Elder Zuo reiterated sternly.

“Elder Zuo, this subordinate doesn’t quite understand. Since we’ve decided to teach her a lesson, why not just find an excuse to take direct action? A mere early-stage Incarnation Realm brat, any one of us could beat her to her knees begging for mercy. Why go through all this trouble?”

The dark-skinned steward voiced his confusion.

“Steward Wang, you completely miss my intention. What I want is her submission, not her hatred. Direct action would mean burning bridges. After all, she’s a sixteen-year-old genius in the Incarnation Realm—like a sturdy, growing beast of burden. Wouldn’t it be better to tame her for our own use?”

Elder Zuo shook his head in disappointment.

“Master is wise! Crushing her with rules will only make her think she isn’t strong enough.”

Steward Cai quickly flattered.

“Precisely. If she ever comes begging for mercy, we can give her a chance to redeem herself.”

Elder Zuo spoke with great “magnanimity” before shifting topics. “But that’s for the future. Right now, we must deal with the problem Qi Huang has created for the Immortal Alliance. She lied about restoring her Qi, we can’t ignore that.”

After a brief pause, Elder Zuo commanded, “Steward Cai, on the first day of next month, go to the Honghua Sect in person and expose her lie publicly. That way, she can’t use the Immortal Alliance’s name anymore.”

“Yes!”

Steward Cai immediately accepted the order.

Yaoyao was about to go out on another robbery spree, so she entrusted her dozen or so Nine Nether Demon Cats to Qi Huang’s care once again.

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Qi Huang didn’t ask for help. Though she knew troublemakers would come soon, she wasn’t worried. After all, she was a Pseudo-Divine Realm expert, who would dare barge in recklessly once she unleashed her Divine Sense? No one knew her true strength anyway.

So, her public declaration about restoring her Qi wasn’t out of fear of being killed, she just didn’t want the entire Honghua Sect thrown into chaos.

“If a real powerhouse comes, don’t act. Don’t even pretend. I’ll handle it.”

Cheng Hongling sought her out to give this instruction.

“Why?”

Qi Huang was puzzled.

“The problem is, if you intervene, your strength will be exposed. That’s not beneficial for participating in the Evergreen Conference.”

Cheng Hongling reminded her. She could easily guess that the Immortal Alliance would do everything to suppress her in the next Evergreen Conference, so revealing her true power was far from wise.

Qi Huang was overjoyed. If the main body said this, it meant she tacitly approved of Qi Huang interfering during the conference.

Cheng Hongling’s expression stiffened slightly. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying I need your help. Only if I can’t break into the top twenty—after all, the Golden Fate Blossom seeds aren’t just for me alone…”

“I understand. But this time, the ones who want me dead are the highest echelons of the Western Radiance Dynasty. They’ll likely send some terrifying old monsters. You might not be able to handle them.”

Qi Huang was somewhat worried.

“If I can’t handle it, then you step in.”

Cheng Hongling was stubborn.

Not wanting the main body to take risks, Qi Huang pondered countermeasures. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

“Wait, I can just release Huang Tian to impersonate me while I disguise myself as someone else acting as a bodyguard. Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“Huang Tian? That brainless doppelgänger?”

Cheng Hongling confirmed.

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“Yes. Though those female spirit souls don’t obey, Huang Tian has no mind of her own. She can’t move, she’s just a puppet. Perfect for replacing me. And since the first of the month is only half a month away, it’s perfectly normal for a cultivator to be in secluded meditation for half a month without moving, right? No one would suspect a thing.”

The more Qi Huang spoke, the more pleased she became.

“You… You’re really cunning. No wonder you managed to deceive my senior sisters for so long before.”

Cheng Hongling’s cherry lips parted in astonishment.

“Cunning? I’m brilliantly clever, okay?”

Qi Huang proudly lifted her chin, then suddenly felt something was off. “Wait—‘brilliantly clever’ ¹ 冰雪 (bīng xuě cōng míng), literally means smart/intelligent as ice and snow. The imagery of ice and snow evokes qualities traditionally associated with feminine beauty and character in Chinese culture is used to describe girls. Am I a man or a woman?!”

“No good, my head hurts again!”

She smacked her own skull hard, like testing a watermelon for ripeness.

“What’s wrong? Headache again?”

Cheng Hongling asked, puzzled.

“It’s nothing!”

Qi Huang smiled breezily, but inwardly, she was calculating. Once this matter was settled, she would immediately enter the dream realm to find a solution for her split consciousness. Not knowing her gender was a minor issue, but if she started liking men, that would be a real disaster.

Of course, Qi Huang was only mocking herself. As long as her masculine essence wasn’t completely feminized, there was no way she’d ever be attracted to men.

“But have you thought about who you’ll impersonate to protect yourself?”

Cheng Hongling pressed.

“Who do you think wants to protect me the most right now?”

Qi Huang countered.

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“The Emperor!”

Cheng Hongling answered after a brief thought.

“Exactly. He wants me to enter the palace as an Imperial Consort, so naturally, he wouldn’t want anything to happen to me. Sending an expert to protect me would be expected, so this identity wouldn’t raise any suspicion.”

Qi Huang’s lips curled slightly.

Immediately, Qi Huang put her plan into action. First, she disguised herself as a man, then released Huang Tian to take her place. The whole process was executed smoothly.

Since Huang Tian was a doppelgänger, she bore the same Doppelgänger Mark on her forehead, making her appearance identical to Qi Huang’s.

“They do look exactly alike. But your souls are different. If a cultivator investigates, they’ll see through it immediately. No one can know about your doppelgänger, not even the Honghua Sect.”

Cheng Hongling reminded her uneasily.

“Have you forgotten how I tricked all of you before? Just shield her with a Divine Sense barrier. With my current Divine Sense strength, who could break through it?”

Qi Huang replied without concern, she had solved this problem before.

To be safe, Qi Huang cast an exceptionally strong Soul Shield this time. Unless one was at least at the late-stage Divine Ability Realm, no cultivator could penetrate it. Martial artists were even less of a concern since they couldn’t use Divine Sense to begin with.

In short, no one in the Western Radiance Dynasty could see through Huang Tian’s true identity, not even the three strongest cultivators, who hadn’t reached the late-stage Divine Ability Realm.

Except for those with Yin-Yang Eyes, of course.

After finishing, Qi Huang also cast an equally powerful Divine Sense shield on herself before slipping out of the Honghua Sect unnoticed.

At the same time, Cheng Hongling announced publicly that her doppelgänger, Qi Huang, would be in secluded meditation for half a month.

“Come! Come at me! All who wish to kill me, come! It’s been so long since I’ve acted—I feel like ants are crawling all over me!”

Qi Huang stood mid-air, exuding an aura of “one man holding off ten thousand”.