Volume 7, Chapter 417 – Just How Did She Cultivate Like This?

Jin Hu, realizing he was about to be flung off the stage, desperately gathered all his divine sense to stabilize himself. However, the force of the kick was too strong, and the pain in his abdomen distracted him, causing his towering body to uncontrollably hurtle through the air.

The other immortal seedlings of the Jinliu Sect naturally wouldn’t just stand by and watch. Bao Gang, too, unleashed his divine sense in full force, straining to help Jin Hu regain control.

Cheng Hongling’s willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly as she condensed her killing intent and sent it sweeping toward Bao Gang.

In no time, Bao Gang was enveloped in the suffocating aura of slaughter. Yet, his reaction was identical to Jin Hu’s, completely unaffected.

Jin Hu, still reeling from the impact, managed to stabilize his balance just before hitting the ground.

“What are you all standing around for?! Attack that Qi Huang now!”

Bao Gang barked at his fellow disciples behind him.

Snapping out of their daze, the group surged toward the other side of the stage where Qi Huang sat.

‘Did you also exile your own Essence Soul?’

A displeased frown flickered across Cheng Hongling’s face. In an instant, her figure vanished from sight as she charged toward the Jinliu Sect’s immortal seedlings. A torrent of killing intent erupted from her, spreading outward in concentric waves like a geyser. Her voice rang out coldly:

“Just because he isn’t afraid of killing intent doesn’t mean the rest of you aren’t!”

Indeed, the Jinliu Sect only had two Incarnation Realm immortal seedlings. The remaining eight, all in the Unity Realm, had not exiled their Essence Soul. By the time they reached the center of the stage, the killing intent had already taken hold. Their faces twisted in terror, their legs trembling like those of elderly men suffering from chronic joint pain, unable to take another step forward.

The moment Cheng Hongling landed, her overwhelming divine sense surged outward like an autumn gale sweeping away dead leaves, effortlessly clearing all eight of the affected disciples off the stage. The gap of a full major realm meant that numbers could never compensate for sheer disparity in power.

As for Bao Gang, being an Incarnation Realm expert after all, he reacted swiftly, stabbing his sword into the granite stage like a mosquito anchoring itself to suck blood, firmly rooting himself in place.

Now, only three Incarnation Realm cultivators remained on the stage.

Well, four, if Qi Huang’s doppelgänger was counted.

A trace of disdain flashed in Cheng Hongling’s eyes as her figure blurred like a ghost, appearing right in front of Bao Gang in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Jin Hu, having landed back on the stage, wore a flicker of fear. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned any thought of confronting Cheng Hongling and instead charged straight for Qi Huang, clearly aiming for a roundabout victory.

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Qi Huang, still leisurely cracking melon seeds, mused to herself:

‘I only promised not to attack first. I never said I wouldn’t defend myself.’

If her main body couldn’t resolve this, she wouldn’t mind using this guy as a warm-up.

Cheng Hongling, now in front of Bao Gang, lashed out with a straightforward kick.

‘Why reward him again?’

Qi Huang sighed inwardly.

Bao Gang was no pushover either. Seeing no way to dodge, he willed his only doppelgänger to block in front of him.

BANG!

The doppelgänger was sent flying like a ragged sack, blood spraying from its mouth in a crimson mist. The sacrifice bought Bao Gang just enough time to recover.

Cheng Hongling didn’t press the attack, because she noticed Jin Hu was already closing in on her doppelgänger. Immediately, she withdrew her divine sense and redirected it toward Jin Hu, intending to suppress his movements.

Of course, she wasn’t worried about her doppelgänger’s safety.

She was worried about Jin Hu’s safety.

If this fool got taken out by Qi Huang, wouldn’t that just prove she was useless?

Under the crushing weight of her divine sense, Jin Hu’s speed plummeted, as if he were trudging through a swamp, every step a struggle.

But this gave Bao Gang an opening. A sly grin crept onto his face as he tried to yank his sword free, only to find it immovable.

Confused, he looked down and realized the stage beneath him had been silently encased in ice. His blade was frozen solid by a thin layer of Profound Ice, utterly unyielding.

“What kind of ice is this?!”

Before he could react further, Cheng Hongling stepped forward and kicked him clean off the stage.

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Then, pivoting smoothly, she activated the Dancing Butterfly Movement Technique, closing the distance to Jin Hu in an instant. The creeping frost spread ahead of her like a living thing.

Jin Hu didn’t even glance back. He hurled a talisman behind him, which exploded midair, forming a raging storm that engulfed the entire width of the stage.

With no room to dodge, Cheng Hongling shot upward, flipping over the tempest.

“Body of Iron and Gold!”

Jin Hu roared like a beast, his True Qi surging violently. His muscles bulged grotesquely, his skin taking on a metallic sheen as his entire frame expanded.

With this explosive boost in strength, the suppression from Cheng Hongling’s divine sense lessened slightly. Gripping his broadsword with both hands, he swung it in a full circle before hurling it straight at Qi Huang with a bellow:

“DIE!”

SHWIIING—!

The blade tore through the air with an earsplitting shriek, its surface glowing red-hot from friction, trailing flames like a comet.

“Junior Sister!!”

The Honghua Sect’s female disciples below the stage screamed in horror.

Cultivators from other sects held their breaths, eyes wide.

“Don’t you dare interfere!”

Just as Qi Huang was about to deploy her divine sense to block, Cheng Hongling’s mental voice snarled in her mind. Resigned, she could only continue snacking on melon seeds.

The next moment, a towering wall of ice, over three meters high, erupted from the ground, shielding her completely.

The meteor-like broadsword crashed into it with a deafening “BOOM”!

The impact sent tremors through the earth. The stage itself couldn’t withstand the force, fissures spiderwebbing across its surface as debris rained down.

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Yet, the ice wall stood unshaken. Only a faint crystalline mark remained where the sword had struck. The once-ferocious blade now lay on the ground, limp and harmless.

Such was the terror of Profound Ice.

Of course, Jin Hu’s actual cultivation was a level higher. His failure was solely due to Cheng Hongling’s divine sense suppressing at least half of his attack’s speed and power. Otherwise, the destruction would’ve been far worse.

Qi Huang, seated behind the ice wall, wore an odd expression.

‘This feels so awkward… like some damsel being protected.’

Jin Hu, now drained of strength and True Qi, shrank back to normal size. His pupils trembled violently, his face twisted with unwillingness.

By then, Cheng Hongling was already upon him. A single kick sent the exhausted Jin Hu flying off the stage.

“You actually thought you could touch my doppelgänger?” She sneered. “I told you. You can’t even get past me.”

“WAAH! Junior Sister won! She won!”

The Honghua Sect’s female disciples erupted into cheers, while the male disciples exchanged discreet fist bumps.

“Tch. Like this outcome was ever in doubt. What’s there to fuss about?”

Su Qingying rolled her eyes, though the gleam in them betrayed her true feelings.

“Sh-She actually won?! She single-handedly defeated ten immortal seedlings from the Jinliu Sect, the third greatest immortal sect in our Western Radiance Dynasty!”

“It seems no amount of numbers can bridge the gap when faced with absolute strength.”

“Just how did she cultivate like this? To advance from early Unity Realm to mid Incarnation Realm in just six years?”

“That Lü Er always looked down on us cultivators from the Western Continent. Well, his face must be swollen from the slap of reality now!”

The crowd below the stage erupted into chaos.

“Well fought!”

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Qi Huang gave her main body an approving thumbs-up without hesitation.

“Hmph.”

Cheng Hongling tried to maintain her aloof demeanor, but the faint upturn of her lips betrayed a hint of smugness. Only around her doppelgänger would she ever let such an expression slip.

“Alright, my turn to clean up.”

Qi Huang dusted off her hands and leisurely strolled off the stage, heading toward where Jin Hu had landed.

“Elder Zuo! What do we do?!”

At the entrance of the grand hall, Steward Cai anxiously turned to the left elder.

Elder Zuo’s face was ashen. For one person to consecutively eliminate two entire sects, this was nothing short of a blatant slap to their faces.

“Huff—!”

He took a deep breath before snapping, “What’s there to panic about? This is just a battle for a lot!”

“That may be so, but the divine sense she just displayed was clearly at the fifth layer of the Incarnation Realm. At such a level, among the younger generation, only Cheng Kang could rival her. Even if we gave the Jinliu Sect’s seedlings a hundred more chances, they’d never win. Doesn’t that mean she’s guaranteed a spot in the top ten? Our Immortal Alliance’s rewards cannot go to such a traitor. It’d be feeding a tiger to our own doom!”

Steward Cai voiced his concerns.

“Have you forgotten? She still has one more opponent. The Huxiao Sect has been lying in wait for this chance, they won’t let it slip again.”

Elder Zuo’s gaze shifted toward the Huxiao Sect’s contingent in the arena.