Volume 8, Chapter 513 – Immortal Stele Suppresses Immortal Stele (Part 2)

“Take me up there. I’m supposed to be pretending to be a measly Spirit Gathering Realm rookie!”

Qi Huang pleaded with her main body.

“Pretending? You are a Spirit Gathering Realm cultivator!”

Cheng Hongling teased before using her divine sense to carry her doppelgänger toward Shi Yuqi.

Originally, Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling weren’t supposed to get involved in Huarong Sect’s affairs at all. If they had simply allowed Hua Yu to marry into the Cao family, the Immortal Stele would have remained secure. But human hearts are made of flesh. Once they truly joined Huarong Sect, it became impossible to stand idly by. Shi Yuqi’s mentorship was a debt that had to be repaid. Besides, cold indifference simply wasn’t their style.

As Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling flew to Shi Yuqi’s side, all the onlookers turned their gazes toward them.

“Who are they?”

“Not ‘they’, it’s just one person. Can’t you see the doppelgänger mark on one of their foreheads?”

“Right, it’s definitely one person. Her name is Jiang Ling, a newly accepted personal disciple of Senior Sister Shi Yuqi!”

“A personal disciple? Senior Sister Shi is so young, has she already decided on a personal disciple? What if she finds someone better later?”

“Impossible. That girl reached the Incarnation Realm’s second layer at just eighteen. Her talent definitely ranks within the top ten in our Huarong Sect. When Senior Sister Shi took her in as a disciple, she even held a banquet with dozens of tables to celebrate!”

“Eighteen years old and already at the Incarnation Realm’s second layer? Her bloodline purity must be around eight points, no wonder Senior Sister Shi was in such a hurry to confirm her as a personal disciple. She must’ve been afraid someone else would snatch her up.”

The female disciples of Huarong Sect whispered among themselves.

“You wanted evidence? Now you’ll get it.”

Shi Yuqi smirked and signaled to Qi Huang.

Without hesitation, Qi Huang pulled out the Shadow-Retaining Mirror and replayed the recorded footage.

“What is that thing? It can actually replay scenes?”

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“That’s a Shadow-Retaining Mirror. It can preserve whatever images it captures.”

“That’s incredible!”

“It really is. There are probably fewer than five in the entire cultivation world. Who’d have thought Senior Sister Shi’s disciple would have one?”

“And how do you know about it?”

“My master had one years ago, but she sold it to buy cosmetics.”

The Huarong Sect disciples’ faces filled with astonishment.

Sect Master Hua shot Cheng Hongling a suspicious glance. This girl claimed to be from a remote sect, yet her doppelgänger had just pulled out a Shadow-Retaining Mirror, something didn’t add up.

“Ugh, this is too disgusting to watch!”

“I never thought Hua Yu was this kind of person. I misjudged her.”

“Right! Our Huarong Sect raised her for over twenty years, and not only did she break sect rules for a man, she even turned against us. How does someone like her deserve to be a Holy Maiden?”

“I think Sect Master is partly to blame too. After all, she was her master.”

“Exactly. As the saying goes, ‘If the disciple fails, the master is at fault.’ The Sect Master must’ve spoiled her too much.”

As the footage in the Shadow-Retaining Mirror finished playing, the crowd erupted. Onlookers hurled condemnations at Hua Yu, while others seized the opportunity to criticize Sect Master Hua.

“You little bitch! You dared to spy on me?!”

Hua Yu’s face alternated between green and pale before she finally exploded in rage, cursing at Qi Huang.

“Don’t take it out on Jiang Ling. I was the one who ordered her to monitor you. You asked us to persuade the Sect Master, of course I needed to know if your intentions were truly for Huarong Sect’s benefit.”

Shi Yuqi, ever the dignified master, immediately stepped forward to shield her disciple.

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Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling exchanged a glance, their faces softening with relief. It seemed they had chosen the right master.

“You—!”

Hua Yu was left speechless.

“Wretched disciple!”

Sect Master Hua could no longer contain her fury and delivered a resounding slap.

SMACK!

A crisp sound rang out as Hua Yu was sent flying. By the time she steadied herself, a bright red handprint had already bloomed across her fair cheek.

Clutching her face, Hua Yu stared blankly at her master, her pupils trembling violently. She had been utterly stunned by the blow.

“Hua Ruyi! How dare you strike my future wife?!”

Cao Yang, standing outside the gates, roared in fury. His body vanished from sight in an instant, and his entourage surged forward with murderous intent.

The Huarong Sect disciples paled, swiftly drawing their swords and bracing for battle.

“SCRAM!”

Sect Master Hua whirled around and bellowed. The overwhelming divine sense of a peak Divine Realm expert erupted outward, distorting the air into a translucent tidal wave that sent Cao Yang’s entire retinue, hundreds of them, tumbling backward. Even Cao Yang himself was no exception.

“Men dare to barge into Huarong Sect? Are you seeking death?”

Hua Ruyi advanced step by step.

“Fine! Very fine!”

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Cao Yang gnashed his teeth so hard they creaked before pulling out a Thousand-Mile Communication Tube, seemingly contacting someone.

“Calling for reinforcements? Let’s see what tricks you have!”

Hua Ruyi remained unshaken.

Qi Huang couldn’t help but admire her. Among the Ten Great Immortal Powers of the cultivation world, a peak Divine Realm expert might not even rank in the top ten, yet Sect Master Hua’s demeanor was anything but weak.

“You know what? When this young master sets his sights on something, no one can stop me. Anyone who dares interfere will pay tenfold, no, a hundredfold! That includes you, Hua Ruyi. Today, I’ll make sure your entire Huarong Sect lives up to its name, nothing will go your way!”

Cao Yang’s face twisted into a snarl.

Just then, a faint pressure began to permeate the surroundings, causing the Huarong Sect disciples and ordinary bystanders to feel an inexplicable restlessness.

As time passed, this pressure intensified. Birds, flowers, fish, and insects nearby all prostrated themselves on the ground, while ordinary folk and weaker cultivators trembled uncontrollably, their legs buckling.

Not wanting to expose her true strength, Qi Huang swiftly retreated into her main body’s Sea of Consciousness to evade the spiritual suppression.

“What’s happening?” she transmitted mentally.

“It seems like some kind of spiritual pressure, but it’s descending from above—I can’t locate its source,” Cheng Hongling replied, her expression grave as she scanned the area.

“Immortal Might! The Cao family actually activated their Immortal Stele!”

Hua Ruyi’s voice, laced with shock and fury, suddenly rang out.

“What? Immortal Might?!”

The Huarong Sect members were instantly terrified, frozen in place like statues.

“Run! Get out now!”

Hua Ruyi shouted urgently.

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Only then did the disciples snap out of their daze, scattering like startled birds. Those who couldn’t move, ordinary people, could only lie on the ground, waiting for death. There were too many to save, and the cultivators couldn’t possibly rescue them all.

Shi Yuqi grabbed Cheng Hongling’s hand and fled desperately toward the sect’s exit. As long as she had this prodigious disciple, Huarong Sect’s legacy would endure.

Qi Huang was stunned. So was Cheng Hongling. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect the Cao family’s young master to be such a brute, escalating straight to activating an Immortal Stele at the slightest provocation. This completely derailed their plans.

Shi Yuqi dragged her disciple along, struggling to fly. But as the Immortal Might intensified, she was soon forced to the ground, barely able to trudge forward on foot. Weaker disciples couldn’t even make it past the sect gates.

Qi Huang wasn’t panicking, though. Given the current rate at which the Immortal Might was growing, she was confident she could get both of them to safety.

‘If the Immortal Might’s activation is gradual… then what’s there to fear?’

A trace of disdain flickered in Qi Huang’s heart. After all, she could cover ten li in a single breath. Just a few leaps, and they’d be out of range.

“Don’t be afraid. Master will protect you!”

Shi Yuqi shielded her disciple like a mother hen, trudging forward step by laborious step.

Just as Qi Huang was debating whether to reveal herself and carry them to safety, she noticed ripples, like waves of water, sweeping through the “window of the heart”, gently dispersing some of the Immortal Might. Then another wave came…

“Huh?”

As the Immortal Might weakened, Shi Yuqi and Cheng Hongling straightened up, turning toward the source of the ripples. At the summit of Tiandu Peak, Huarong Sect’s own Immortal Stele trembled faintly. With each tremor, a vast ripple of divine sense radiated outward, pushing back against the descending Immortal Might.

Qi Huang squinted and saw a faint, snow-white figure hovering beside the stele, its radiant glow visible even from miles away.

“It’s the Grand Elder! She’s activated our sect’s Immortal Stele!”

Shi Yuqi pointed at the stele, tears of joy streaming down her face.

But the true might of the Cao family’s Immortal Stele was only now descending. From the highest heavens, an overwhelming force poured down, distorting space itself into a visible, colossal “Milky Way” that crashed toward Huarong Sect with terrifying momentum.