Volume 8, Chapter 506 – Secretly Joining the Huarong Sect (Part 1)

A few days later, Qi Huang received the auction proceeds, a total of twenty million taels of silver. This was after deducting the auction house’s commission and fees, far exceeding her expectations.

Overjoyed, Qi Huang immediately took out ten million taels in silver notes and tossed them to her main body, displaying an unprecedented level of generosity.

“Are you sure you want to give this to me? This is way too much!”

Though Cheng Hongling was usually aloof, even she couldn’t help but breathe rapidly at the sight of such a thick stack of silver notes. After all, she had never seen so much money in her life.

“What’s mine is yours, are we really going to split hairs over this? Just take it!”

Qi Huang chuckled helplessly. Who would’ve thought she’d have to explain herself while giving away money? Why couldn’t she be on the receiving end of such good fortune?

Cheng Hongling was a cultivator, not a nun. In the end, she couldn’t resist the temptation of wealth. Hesitantly, she accepted the money, muttering, “Fine, I’ll just hold onto it for you. If you ever run out, just let me know!”

“Sure, sure.”

Qi Huang found the situation both amusing and exasperating.

The next day, the main body and the doppelgänger set off for the Huarong Sect in the Southern Continent.

“Do you really think the Huarong Sect would fight to the death over this?” Qi Huang couldn’t help but ask along the way.

“There’s a high probability,” Cheng Hongling analyzed. “The reason the Huarong Sect refuses to let her go is obvious. First, they don’t want to labor in vain only for someone else to reap the rewards. No one can stomach the thought of their hard work being ruined by an outsider. Second, they don’t want to lose such a talent. After all, Hua Yu possesses the bloodline of an immortal. Without her, the Huarong Sect would lose its future.”

“That makes sense. But the Huarong Sect is an all-female sect, meaning they don’t rely on bloodline inheritance. So where did Hua Yu’s immortal bloodline come from?” Qi Huang pressed.

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to know?”

Cheng Hongling shot her doppelgänger a coquettish glare before continuing, “This isn’t the time to discuss bloodlines. If things really escalate to a life-or-death struggle, what do we do? The Huarong Sect’s Immortal Stele is our only bargaining chip!”

After a brief moment of contemplation, Qi Huang’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Then we’ll just gift them another Holy Maiden.”

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“What? Gift them another Holy Maiden?”

Cheng Hongling was stunned.

“Exactly. If the Huarong Sect finds a Holy Maiden with even greater talent than Hua Yu, they’ll naturally let her go,” Qi Huang explained.

“I get the logic, but where are we supposed to find someone that exceptional to give them?”

Cheng Hongling frowned.

“You.”

Qi Huang smiled sweetly.

“Me?”

Cheng Hongling pointed at herself with a delicate finger, then let out a self-deprecating laugh. “You overestimate me. While my talent is slightly better than the average cultivator’s, compared to the descendant of an immortal, I’m like a firefly next to the full moon. Hua Yu reached the first layer of the Divine Realm at just twenty-six. I probably wouldn’t get there even at two hundred and sixty.”

“Have you forgotten about the Doppelgänger Method? With my help, you won’t need two hundred and sixty years. At most, two and a half years will be enough to surpass her.”

Qi Huang reminded her confidently.

“But… but we haven’t mastered the Doppelgänger Method yet.”

Cheng Hongling’s voice faltered slightly, her fair cheeks flushing pink.

“Then you’ll just have to work harder. For our future, we must protect the Huarong Sect’s Immortal Stele.”

Qi Huang gave her an encouraging, yet somewhat mischievous, smile.

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Cheng Hongling fell silent. After a moment, her willow-leaf brows furrowed. “Wait, why does it have to be me? With your strength, you’re far more suited to be the Holy Maiden than I am.”

“Don’t you see? Hua Yu’s value doesn’t lie in her Divine Ability Realm strength, but in the potential granted by her immortal bloodline. And me? I’m just a crippled cultivator. Unless I reveal my Heavenly Tribulation Realm divine sense, the Huarong Sect’s elders would never consider me superior to her. But doing that would mean exposing our trump card. You, on the other hand. If your cultivation speed surpasses hers, that alone proves you have greater potential.”

Qi Huang laid out the key reasoning.

“I see!”

Cheng Hongling’s eyes lit up with realization. But soon, her brows knitted again. “There’s still one problem. No matter how fast I cultivate, my bloodline purity is only eight. Would the Huarong Sect’s elders really abandon Hua Yu for me?”

“They will. As the sect’s leaders, their priority isn’t just momentary vengeance but the sect’s future and the safety of its disciples. As long as there’s even a sliver of hope, they won’t risk annihilation by provoking the Cao Family.”

Qi Huang’s tone was firm.

After some thought, Cheng Hongling agreed with the logic, so they tentatively settled on this plan.

“Once we arrive, you’ll first join the Huarong Sect as an ordinary disciple to assess the situation. If they’re willing to let Hua Yu go voluntarily, we’ll save ourselves the trouble. We can just stick to the original plan and deal with those freaks at the continental-level Evergreen Conference.”

Qi Huang added.

“Fine. But there are only twenty days left until the end of the month. We haven’t mastered the Doppelgänger Method yet, and it’ll take time for me to gain the Huarong Sect’s favor. You should store me in the spatial ring and travel at full speed, or we won’t make it in time.”

Cheng Hongling suggested.

Qi Huang agreed wholeheartedly. She placed her main body into the spatial ring and sped off.

With her divine sense at the first layer of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm, Qi Huang could cover ten miles in a single breath. However, due to her frail body, she had to pace herself. Even so, it took her less than a quarter of an hour to reach the Mingyue Empire, home of the Huarong Sect.

Thanks to the Huarong Sect’s presence, the Mingyue Empire ranked among the top ten major powers in the cultivation world. Its territory was vast, but to Qi Huang, it was no larger than her own backyard. She could fly from south to north in just a few dozen breaths.

After asking for directions to the Huarong Sect’s exact location, Qi Huang flew straight there without pause.

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Upon reaching the foot of the sect’s mountain, Qi Huang released Cheng Hongling and retreated into her main body’s Sea of Consciousness. As newcomers, it would be too conspicuous for a doppelgänger to roam freely.

Once inside, Qi Huang pressed against the “Window of the Heart,” observing the outside world while maintaining constant communication with her main body.

Cheng Hongling adjusted her appearance before approaching the Huarong Sect’s grand entrance. Along the way, she passed numerous stone markers engraved with the words: “Huarong Sect Ahead. Men, Stop Here.”

‘What in the world happened in the Huarong Sect’s past to make them so wary of men?’

Qi Huang couldn’t help but wonder.

Though an all-female sect, the Huarong Sect had flourished into the Mingyue Empire’s most powerful faction thanks to its immortal heritage. It boasted tens of thousands of disciples and over a million residents, its sprawling complex of pavilions and towers covering several mountain peaks in an uncountable sea of structures.

Peering through the Window of the Heart, Qi Huang felt a surge of excitement. The Huarong Sect was a veritable kingdom of women, everywhere she looked, graceful figures flitted about, and the very air seemed tinged with a rosy hue. For any man, this place would be lethally alluring. Even for someone like Qi Huang, whose male consciousness lingered, the sight was intoxicating.

Cheng Hongling strode toward the ornate silver-white stalactite gate. Despite the constant flow of female disciples coming and going, she was stopped immediately by the guards, proof of the sect’s heightened security.

“Identification token? This is sacred ground, no loiterers allowed.”

A high-ponytailed female disciple gripped her sword hilt in warning. Had the intruder been male, she would have already attacked. After all, the surrounding miles were littered with “Men Forbidden” markers.

Qi Huang discreetly probed with her divine sense and discovered that this disciple’s… ahem… cultivation was quite impressive, late-stage Unity Realm. As expected of a top-ten super sect in the cultivation world, where even the gatekeepers were formidable.

“Senior Sister, I’d like to request an audience. I wish to join the Huarong Sect.”

Cheng Hongling clasped her fists in a heroic salute.

“Apologies, but this isn’t the Huarong Sect’s recruitment period. If you wish to join, you’ll have to wait until spring next year.”

The ponytailed disciple replied politely.

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“Senior Sister, perhaps I wasn’t clear. I don’t just want to ‘join’, I wish to pledge myself to the Huarong Sect. I’m already a cultivator.”

Cheng Hongling patiently clarified.

“Pledge yourself?”

The disciple’s expression shifted in surprise. After a brief pause, she inquired, “May I ask your name, age, and cultivation level?”

“Jiang Ling. Eighteen years old. Second layer of the Incarnation Realm.”

Cheng Hongling answered truthfully.

“What?! Eighteen? Incarnation Realm?!”

The ponytailed disciple and her fellow gatekeepers gasped in unison.

“Proof?”

The disciple steadied herself and demanded.

With a thought, Cheng Hongling summoned Qi Huang’s doppelgänger into view, then recalled it back into her Sea of Consciousness the next instant.

“I’ve been reduced to a tool.”

Qi Huang sighed in amusement.

“Junior Sister, please wait here! I’ll notify the elders immediately, don’t go anywhere!”

The ponytailed disciple’s face lit up with excitement before she dashed into the sect. An eighteen-year-old at the second layer of the Incarnation Realm? Even in the Huarong Sect, such a prodigy would easily rank among the top ten immortal seedlings!