Volume 5, Chapter 296 – What a Pity… I Am Qi Huang

The newcomer was an elderly man with graying hair and beard, clad in black night attire and wearing a face mask. He soared through the air at astonishing speed, like a black lightning bolt tearing across the sky.

Anyone who concealed themselves so thoroughly was undoubtedly up to no good, even if not an assassin, his intentions were certainly malicious.

Qi Huang boldly locked onto him with her divine sense, probing his depth. Though the Western Radiance Dynasty publicly only had three Divine Ability Realm cultivators, who knew how many lurked in the shadows? Not everyone preferred to flaunt their strength.

As the distance to the Honghua Sect narrowed, the old man quickly released his own divine sense and immediately detected the presence spying on him.

“Hmph!”

With a cold snort, the old man’s divine sense lashed back toward Qi Huang’s direction.

Qi Huang swiftly retracted her divine sense and checked the Shadow-Retaining Mirror. Judging by his speed, the man was likely only at the mid-stage Incarnation Realm, but then again, who said one had to fly at full power?

The old man’s expression gradually shifted as he probed further. He had already exerted his full strength, yet within his maximum range, he found no trace of anyone.

“How is this possible? Could their divine sense be stronger than mine?”

The old man slowed to a halt, his face twisting with hesitation.

Qi Huang, on the other hand, relaxed. The man’s full-force divine sense had exposed his true strength—indeed, only mid-stage Incarnation Realm.

‘I’ve been overly cautious. How could such a small dynasty like the Western Radiance have so many Divine Ability Realm experts?’

She chuckled self-deprecatingly, though caution was never a flaw.

“Perhaps the other party has some concealment technique?”

At that moment, the old man muttered to himself as if consoling his own doubts. Then, without further delay, he resumed his high-speed approach toward the Honghua Sect.

‘At your age, are you truly this careless… or do you have no choice but to come?’

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After a brief contemplation, Qi Huang leaned toward the latter. Those who sought her life were all figures of immense power, assassins who failed their mission had no path of retreat.

By now, the old man had nearly reached the Honghua Sect, yet Qi Huang made no move to intercept him. He was too weak, General Zhang could handle him easily. He wasn’t worth her time. She merely needed to watch the show.

Upon arriving, the old man, unfamiliar with the terrain, had no choice but to release his divine sense to scan the area.

Below, General Zhang immediately detected the foreign divine sense sweeping over him. With a cold snort, he gripped his spear and dashed through the streets, leaping between rooftops before landing atop a tavern.

“Sir, arriving uninvited is rather impolite, don’t you think?”

General Zhang raised his gaze toward the intruder hovering above.

The masked elder frowned, then replied gruffly, “Scram if you don’t want to die!”

“This general acts under imperial decree to protect the safety of Imperial Consort Qi Huang. Trespassers within the Honghua Sect’s territory will be executed without mercy. I’ll give you one last chance.”

General Zhang raised his spear, its tip pointing directly at the black-clad elder.

“Seeking death!”

The elder drew his sword with a backhanded motion, his figure vanishing like a ghost. Only a faint glint of cold light could be seen tearing through the night sky as he closed in on General Zhang. Before he even arrived, his overwhelming divine sense pressed down like a crushing weight.

Crack! Crack!

General Zhang stood firm, unshaken, but the tavern beneath him trembled as if struck by an earthquake. Tiles shattered like a downpour, and thick cracks spiderwebbed across the walls, enough to send anyone with trypophobia into a panic.

“Ah—!”

Screams erupted from inside the tavern as people fled in terror.

Yet General Zhang remained as steady as a dam in a storm. Only when the sword’s gleam was inches away did his eyes narrow, a surge of killing intent erupted from him, flooding outward like a bursting reservoir.

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The black-clad elder’s body stiffened. His speed plummeted by seventy to eighty percent, clearly affected by the killing intent. His divine sense scattered, rendering him unable to maintain flight.

General Zhang moved.

With a light tap of his feet, he vanished from his spot. His spear shot forth like a dragon emerging from the sea, unstoppable as it pierced straight through the elder’s left chest.

In the same motion, General Zhang twisted past the man, gripping the spear’s tip and yanking it free in one fluid pull.

The black-clad elder didn’t even have time to scream. His body fluttered down like an autumn leaf, blood raining behind him.

‘To instantly kill a cultivator of the same level… This is the terrifying power of killing intent, the bane of all cultivators.’

Qi Huang watched, stunned. Even if she had struck herself, she doubted she could have done better against a mid-stage Incarnation Realm expert.

‘Had I not been assimilated by Cheng Ling, facing General Zhang would have ended in my defeat, if not death.’

Now, however, she had lost most of her fear. With her divine sense at the late-stage Divine Ability Realm, ten General Zhangs wouldn’t be her match. His trump card was useless against her.

The black-clad elder died swiftly. His seven corporeal souls dissipated instantly, leaving only his three ethereal souls—the Heavenly, Earthly, and Human Souls—to flee desperately as his Life Soul.

General Zhang did not pursue. Not because he didn’t want to eliminate the root of the problem, but because, as a martial artist, no matter how strong, he could not perceive souls.

‘Looks like I’ll have to step in after all.’

Qi Huang had no intention of letting the man escape. Her figure vanished like a ghost.

The elder’s Life Soul fled beyond the Honghua Sect’s borders, his expression finally relaxing.

“So what if you killed my physical form?” he sneered. “My soul remains. I will have my revenge.”

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“I’m afraid you won’t get the chance.”

A voice, feminine yet ambiguously androgynous, echoed from nowhere.

The elder’s soul jolted to a stop. He turned and saw a figure dressed almost identically to him, face concealed, blocking his path.

‘When did this person appear?!’

His eyes widened in disbelief. As a mid-stage Incarnation Realm expert, how could someone slip past his senses so effortlessly?

“Y-you… who are you?!” he stammered.

“What’s the point of asking when you’re about to die?” Qi Huang’s voice was icy. “Beg for mercy now, and I might let you linger a little longer.”

Before the words even finished, her divine sense morphed into a giant hand, stretching out and crossing several zhang in an instant to seize the elder’s neck. He hadn’t even reacted.

The enhancement of divine sense wasn’t just about power, it was also about speed.

“Speak. Who are you? Why did you trespass into the Honghua Sect?”

Qi Huang tightened her grip.

The elder’s face twisted in pain. He tried prying at the invisible hand, but her divine sense was unyielding as steel.

“Senior… s-spare me… This lowly one is Elder Dou Yuan of Poyun Peak! I was sent by our Peak Master to kill Qi Huang!”

In his desperation to live, the elder spilled everything. What use were secrets to a dead man?

“Poyun Peak? The second-largest immortal sect in the Western Radiance Dynasty?”

Qi Huang was taken aback. She had assumed the assassin was sent by the imperial palace.

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“Y-yes!”

“I don’t recall Qi Huang ever offending Poyun Peak. Why does your Peak Master want her dead?”

Her grip loosened slightly.

“Because the dynasty’s Sixth Princess, Lin Ran, is Poyun Peak’s top immortal seedling—her future is limitless. For her to grow, she needs joint nurturing from both the royal family and our sect. The Peak Master fears that if Qi Huang enters the palace, her descendants will divert resources. That’s why I was sent.”

“Hah! So that’s it. How far-sighted of them. I haven’t even entered the palace yet, and they’re already wary of my future children.”

Qi Huang laughed in realization. As Poyun Peak’s top talent, the Sixth Princess’s aptitude needed no explanation. Even if she didn’t reach the Heavenly Tribulation Realm, she would undoubtedly reach the Divine Ability Realm. Joint nurturing made sense, the Western Radiance Dynasty was but a small, resource-scarce nation.

“You… what do you mean by ‘I’?” The elder was confused.

“Nothing. I just find it amusing that the so-called top immortal seedling of Poyun Peak fears competition.”

“Senior, the Sixth Princess is noble in status and peerless in talent, a true daughter of heaven! How could she fear competition? This was entirely the Peak Master’s idea!”

“You admire her greatly, don’t you? Even now, you defend her.”

“Of course! She reached the Incarnation Realm at twenty-four. If not for Cheng Hongling’s emergence, she would’ve been the greatest genius in the Western Radiance’s history! Though cultivation is a long road, speed isn’t everything.”

The elder’s face flushed with reverence, growing more impassioned, as if forgetting his dire situation.

“The Sixth Princess carries the bloodline of a super immortal clan from the Central Continent. Her future achievements will far surpass Cheng Hongling’s, let alone those of her doppelgänger’s descendants! The Peak Master’s worries are unfounded!”

“Oh? What a pity, then.” Qi Huang’s lips curled into a cold smile. “Let me deliver some unfortunate news, I am Qi Huang. Now, do you still believe she has that ability?”

Her mask slowly fell away.