Volume 8, Chapter 557 – Provocation

The entire square fell into a deathly silence upon seeing the people from the Huarong Sect.

Qi Huang’s divine sense swept unscrupulously across the venue, and she quickly grasped the general situation. Those few young people with the most outstanding appearances and the strongest cultivation levels were undoubtedly the remaining seven of the nine monsters, and also her “prey” for this trip.

“What’s the matter? Never seen a woman before? All struck dumb?”

At that moment, a rough male voice rang out.

Qi Huang followed the sound and saw a tall, robust young man who had spoken. His sharply defined features combined with a powerful, muscular physique gave off a formidable and forceful impression.

Qi Huang observed him carefully and noticed the waist token at his belt engraved with the characters “Immortal Zheng Wei of Zhizun Peak”. A malicious smile immediately spread across her face because this person was also one of the nine monsters.

“Senior Brother Zheng, you jest. Of course we’ve seen women before. It’s just that we’ve never seen one with a veil over her face. Is there some unspeakable difficulty?”

Another male voice laced with sarcasm sounded.

Qi Huang glanced over casually. It was a refined young man dressed as a scholar. His skin was fairer than that of many female cultivators, and his figure appeared quite slender. He looked gentle and scholarly, yet he held a sword in his hand, not a brush. The waist token at his belt was engraved with “Cultivator Tan Yao of Zhishui Sword Academy”.

‘Another one of them!’

The smile on Qi Huang’s face grew even brighter, but she replied unhurriedly, “There is indeed an unspeakable difficulty. I’m afraid that if I take it off, the person who compiles the Sinking Fish Grand Ranking will be quite busy. After all, shifting every beautiful woman down one rank is a rather large undertaking, so I’d rather not trouble him.”

“Tch! That’s too thick-skinned!”

“Yeah, I thought your face was thick enough, but I never expected there’d be a master like this. Losing to a woman, you should reflect on yourself!”

“What a joke! You can cover your face, but can you cover your bloodline? My concubine here also has an eight-point bloodline! Her face is the upper limit of what you could achieve!”

“This woman is probably an ugly freak. I’ve never seen a beautiful woman deliberately cover her face. Everyone has vanity, after all.”

“Can’t even see her face, how can you assume her gender? Might just be a weakling with an effeminate voice.”

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“Oh really? That just makes me more excited!”

Tens of thousands of cultivators became active again upon hearing this, completely forgetting to discuss the Evergreen Conference.

“Whether what I say is true or not, Young Master Cao and Senior Sister Hua know very well. If you don’t believe me, you can ask them!”

Qi Huang confidently shot a glance at Hua Yu and Cao Yang.

The two remained silent because they had indeed seen Qi Huang’s appearance, a face absolutely capable of ranking in the top three of the Sinking Fish Ranking.

“I don’t care if you’re beautiful or ugly, male or female. This is the Immortal-Forging Platform. We can only discuss the Evergreen Conference here. I’ll be taking the stage later, and everyone’s eyes must be on me!”

Zheng Wei declared with extreme forcefulness.

“Wow! Senior Brother Zheng is so manly!”

Yang Jin exclaimed with deliberate exaggeration.

“Tch! You can control yourself, but can you control who others want to look at?”

Qi Huang said disdainfully.

‘This woman has a death wish, daring to provoke Zheng Wei?’

Hua Meng and her disciple were both shocked and then overjoyed. As long as the new Holy Maiden was humiliated, they still had a chance.

“Holy Maiden, be cautious with your words and actions! He is Zheng Wei, ranked second in strength among the nine monsters. His cultivation has reached the Divine Realm’s fourth layer. He’s not comparable to those people you encountered before.”

Protector Yuan lost his composure again and hurriedly reminded her.

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“Yes, disciple. You’ve already completed your task by arriving safely at the Immortal-Forging Platform. There’s no need to provoke more trouble. If anything goes wrong, it might be hard to explain to the Sect Leader upon our return.”

Shi Yuqi also tried to persuade her.

‘A fourth layer Divine Realm scares you that much?’

Qi Huang smiled without speaking. After all, not long ago, she had casually dealt with two old fogies in the late stages of the Divine Realm.

At this moment, Zheng Wei spoke again. He swept his icy gaze across the entire square and threatened, “If anyone is unconvinced, they are welcome to try. After I deal with my opponent, I’ll use them to pave the road down the mountain.”

Sure enough, under Zheng Wei’s threat, no one in the square dared to make a sound.

“Yuzhu, please, no more trouble-making. Certain people are still waiting to see a joke.”

Shi Yuqi came over again and anxiously urged her.

Qi Huang responded with a noncommittal smile, then idly began observing her surroundings. Soon, her gaze was drawn to another figure.

It was a woman around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. Her hair was styled in a “feathered immortal” bun, revealing a dignified oval face. Her features were elegant yet grand, like the most beautiful landscape painting. Her phoenix eyes shimmered, containing a gentle, restrained tenderness that seemed capable of embracing everything. Her pink, vermilion lips were a perfect shade of red, not vulgar in the slightest. She wore a pure white high-waisted ruqun that outlined her tall figure, curvaceous and full, hinting at the voluptuousness of a young matron.

If Hua Yu’s looks represented the peak of “innate charm” and Yang Jin the peak of “petite elegance”, then this woman was the peak of “dignified nobility”.

Qi Huang stared in a daze. If there was anyone in the current cultivation world whose looks could rival the main body’s, it was only this woman. So, even without looking at her waist token, she knew who this was: Ning Wuxia, ranked first on the Sinking Fish Grand Ranking!

Ning Wuxia was the eldest young lady of the Ning family, the third largest cultivation clan in the cultivation world. Not only was her beauty peerless, but she was also born at the first layer of the Incarnation Realm. Her talent was second only to Cao Yang’s, roughly on par with Zheng Wei’s. Because of her existence, many believed that the Ning family might soon surpass the Lü family to become the second largest cultivation clan in the cultivation world.

‘This Ning Wuxia isn’t only peerlessly beautiful; her upbringing is also excellent. She didn’t make a sound despite my earlier provocation.’

Qi Huang secretly admired her and quickly decided that if this woman didn’t provoke her, she might allow her to leave with dignity today.

Qi Huang continued her observations and discovered that the person presiding over this continent-level Evergreen Conference was actually the deputy leader of the Immortal Alliance, the Cao family’s Second Elder, Cao Hong. Additionally, several Immortal Alliance elders were assisting him.

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Qi Huang grew wary. This Cao Hong was undoubtedly a genuine Heavenly Tribulation Realm expert. Therefore, when she caused trouble later, she absolutely must not violate the Immortal Alliance’s rules, or she might not make it back alive.

“What do you plan to do next?”

At this moment, Cheng Hongling sent a mental message to inquire.

“Let’s wait until this match is over. Causing trouble now and delaying the Evergreen Conference would definitely draw intervention from those high-ranking Immortal Alliance members. I’m only here today to teach some youngsters a lesson; I don’t plan on dealing with them as well.”

Qi Huang replied very sensibly. She was arrogant, but not stupid.

“Heh, it’s not that you don’t want to, but that you don’t have the ability yet. Otherwise, forget them, even the Immortal Alliance Leader would probably get a slap if he passed by you.”

Cheng Hongling saw right through the doppelgänger’s thoughts.

“Like you wouldn’t want to do the same.”

Qi Huang smiled wryly.

“Of course I would. I wouldn’t just slap him; I’d kick him a few times too. Because of his inaction, our Honghua Sect and the entire Huangtian County nearly perished under evil spirits. And he turned a blind eye to the suffering of Shuiyu Valley. If he can’t fulfill his duties, then there’s no difference whether he exists or not.”

Cheng Hongling spoke with a strong sense of justice.

“Well said. I will definitely fulfill your wish in the future.”

Qi Huang immediately showed a satisfied smile. It seemed she had worried unnecessarily; the main body wasn’t pedantic. Right was right, wrong was wrong, regardless of the other party’s status.

‘It seems I need to find time to tell her about the Nine Nether Demon Cat tribe. Keeping it hidden like this won’t solve the problem.’

Qi Huang secretly made a decision.

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Not long after, the fourth round of the continent-level Evergreen Conference officially began. The first group to take the stage were numbers five and six. Number five was that Zheng Wei, and number six was a fairly talented ordinary cultivator, though his strength was only at the seventh layer of the Incarnation Realm.

Since it was a one-sided match, Zheng Wei stepped onto the Immortal-Forging Platform early, rubbing his hands together eagerly, ready to completely steal the spotlight.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. His opponent, wisely choosing to forfeit, denied him the chance to crush a weakling.

“Esteemed guests, since contestant number six has forfeited, this lot is now unclaimed. I wonder which talented individual is interested? Obtaining it is equivalent to an extra layer of security! Furthermore, winning both matches will grant you double the rewards.”

An Immortal Alliance elder took the lot and went on stage to inquire, but no one “accepted the favor”.

“What rewards? The reward of reincarnation? This is Zheng Wei we’re talking about! Crossing hands with him means death or disability.”

“Yeah, among the younger generation here, probably only Cao Yang can reliably defeat him, right?”

“But Cao Yang isn’t a fool either! Why not save energy and trump cards for the later rounds?”

The cultivators below discussed amongst themselves.

The elder had no choice but to announce the conclusion of today’s matches.

Qi Huang watched, practically drooling. If she were qualified to participate, she would definitely have been the first to charge up there.

The crowd was somewhat disappointed but didn’t rush to leave. Although the show on stage had ended, the show off stage was yet to be determined.

Seeing that the time is ripe, Hua Yu couldn’t wait any longer. She stepped out the door and then turned to Cheng Hongling: “Niece Jiang Ling, it’s been a month or two. I wonder if your cultivation has improved? Would you allow your Big Sister to test it?”

“She’s provoking me first!”

Qi Huang immediately laughed happily.