Volume 9, Chapter 575 – The Elder of the Immortal Alliance Becomes a Great Farmer

Volume 9: Immortal Stele Versus Immortal Stele

Qi Huang, wielding the astonishing speed of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm, took only a few hours to escort her main body back to the Western Radiance Dynasty. Yet she had no intention of returning home immediately. Instead, she found an excuse to slip away alone to the Golden Fortune Auction House in the provincial capital.

Time was pressing, Qi Huang dared not waste a moment. She had to immediately understand the current acquisition situation regarding Ghost Tomatoes. But of course, before that, she needed to disguise herself.

She bound her chest, donned a cloak and mask, changed her clothes, and only then did she feel at ease entering the Golden Fortune Auction House.

“Ah, Young Master Li, you’ve arrived!”

Liu Yingyue greeted her with overflowing warmth, her beautiful eyes glimmering with rippling charm that seemed almost tangible. It was obvious she had already come to regard “Young Master Li” as her pillar of spiritual support.

“Manager Liu, how has the collection of Ghost Tomatoes been over these three months?”

Qi Huang, once inside a private guest chamber, cut straight to the point.

“Each month brings in about thirty to forty fruits. I’ll have someone deliver them to you shortly.”

As Liu Yingyue poured tea for Qi Huang, she explained the situation.

“Only thirty or forty? That’s far too few.”

Qi Huang muttered to herself in disappointment. To break through to the second layer of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm, she would need at least ten thousand of them.

“Young Master, there’s no need to be anxious. These past few months, the Immortal Alliance has been forcefully cracking down on wild cultivation of Ghost Tomatoes. With their aid, even if you receive a bit less, it hardly matters. After all, the Ghost Tomatoes growing in the wilderness of the Western Radiance Dynasty will soon be completely eradicated!”

Liu Yingyue sought to comfort her. In her mind, “Young Master Li” was purchasing Ghost Tomatoes for the sake of common folk, so the actual quantity wasn’t important as long as the menace in the wild was reduced.

Qi Huang smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying her assumption. Of course, she could never tell the truth.

“Young Master, I have something I must report to you.”

Liu Yingyue suddenly leaned closer, her fragrant breath brushing against Qi Huang’s cheek, her red lips seeming ready to land upon her at any moment.

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Qi Huang leaned back awkwardly, then hastily cast a Divine Sense barrier before sternly saying: “I’ve already set up a protective screen. Sit down and speak properly, Manager Liu. You are not my servant, there’s no need to speak standing.”

“Thank you, Young Master.”

Liu Yingyue smiled seductively before seating herself with graceful composure. “It’s like this: the Immortal Alliance’s suppression of wild Ghost Tomato cultivation should be a good thing. Yet I accidentally discovered that they secretly resell the Ghost Tomatoes they confiscate, to our auction house.”

“Is that so?”

Qi Huang’s expression betrayed no opinion.

“Young Master, eliminating such sinister things is the Alliance’s duty, and they already gain reputation from it. But they then turn around and sell them for profit, does that not sit ill with you? Should you not… do something?”

Liu Yingyue carefully hinted.

“Do what? Report them to the Alliance leadership? I’ve no interest in cleansing their morals.”

Qi Huang brushed the suggestion aside without hesitation.

“That’s not it… Even if you won’t act for others, shouldn’t you at least think of yourself? If you ignore this, aren’t you letting them take advantage of you?”

Liu Yingyue grew slightly agitated.

“It doesn’t matter. There’s a saying: people won’t rise early unless there’s profit. Let them taste a bit of sweetness, only then will they have the will to keep working for the people. In the end, does it matter who sells to us, as long as we get them?”

Qi Huang replied with feigned magnanimity.

“…”

Liu Yingyue was struck dumb. The admiration on her face only deepened. She had never expected to meet someone so selfless, a living Bodhisattva, truly.

Qi Huang collected the three hundred or so Ghost Tomatoes, concealed her merit and fame once more, and left the auction house quietly. Liu Yingyue personally saw her out, her face filled with reluctant longing.

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Next, Qi Huang rushed to the imperial capital. She wanted to see whether Elder Zuo had seized upon the lucrative opportunity she had hinted at. Selling to the Golden Fortune Auction House was hardly the only measure of success.

She lodged in an inn near the Immortal Alliance’s local branch and took out her Shadow-Retaining Mirror to observe. What she saw next nearly made her jaw drop.

It turned out Elder Zuo was not only shrewd, he was downright resourceful. The branch had already cultivated four to five thousand Ghost Tomato plants, with some of the earlier ones already flowering and bearing fruit.

‘Where on earth did that old man acquire so many Ghost Tomatoes? Could it be from other nations, or even from another continent?’

Qi Huang stared, stunned. Given the current situation in the Western Radiance Dynasty, it would take decades to gather that many. The only possibility was that he had collected them from elsewhere.

Before long, she watched Elder Zuo enter one of the greenhouses, instructing the workers to be careful, even personally bending down to pull weeds. His practiced, meticulous movements were the picture of an experienced farmer.

“To think, an Immortal Alliance Elder reduced to a great farmer. Who would believe this if it got out?”

Qi Huang was dumbfounded again.

“Tomorrow, clear out the neighboring field. The next batch of Ghost Tomatoes will be arriving! And let me repeat, do not speak a word of this outside. Anyone who does will bear the consequences.”

Elder Zuo barked his warning.

“Yes, Elder!”

His confidants bowed respectfully.

“Another batch is coming?”

Qi Huang was elated. At this rate and scale, by next June Elder Zuo might truly be able to supply her with ten thousand Ghost Tomatoes. That would finally make her advancement to the second layer of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm possible.

Seeing this, Qi Huang was completely reassured and finally returned home.

Back at the Honghua Sect, she immediately resumed strengthening her main body. This was not only to stave off feminization but also to ensure she soon possessed a body of greater power.

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‘As long as my main body reaches the Divine Realm, she can forge me a new body at the Incarnation Realm. That would be much faster than cultivating one myself.’

Qi Huang chuckled to herself at the thought. That was precisely why she had been relying on her main body’s cultivation rather than training her avatar directly, the efficiency was simply incomparable.

Of course, Qi Huang had not forgotten that the Doppelgänger Method was only a temporary fix. Thus, at night she still slept on schedule, hoping that her dreams would provide a true solution to her feminization.

“Where did the dream last leave off?”

She searched her memory and quickly recalled. The last dream had ended when Lu Yao realized she was being monitored by the Heavenly Dao, so she planned to travel to another planet to seek out the seer known as “Tianjizi”.

‘Sigh… Hopefully I’ll dream of her again soon. If this drags on too long, even I’ll lose track of where the dream has reached.’

Qi Huang thought with expectant longing.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace of the capital, Lin Tu was in his study, reviewing memorials. Chief Steward Zhong, as always, stood by his side.

Smack!

Lin Tu suddenly slammed one memorial hard onto the desk.

“Your Majesty, please quell your anger!”

Chief Steward Zhong immediately bowed low and scrambled to tidy the scattered memorial.

“How many times has it been now? How many ministers have urged Us to take military action against the Honghua Sect? Do these fools presume to teach Us how to rule? Where do they get such gall?”

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Lin Tu’s gaze was sharp and seething. Since the day the appointed Imperial Consort candidate escaped the palace, his authority had been gravely wounded. He had become the laughingstock of the common folk.

“Your Majesty, they are only thinking for your sake. If you don’t punish the Honghua Sect or Qi Huang, public criticism will never cease. Worse still…”

Chief Steward Zhong hesitated.

“What is it?”

Lin Tu asked impatiently.

“Your royal brothers are constantly exploiting this matter in their political maneuverings. This bodes ill for Your Majesty.”

Chief Steward Zhong spoke with careful daring.

“As if We don’t know? But Qi Huang has already restored her True Qi, and she is a cultivator. What can We do to her? Moreover, no matter how hostile she seems toward the Immortal Alliance, if We make a move, Elder Zuo will not sit idly by. After all this time, he has surely cleaned his tracks. We can no longer threaten him.”

Lin Tu sighed with deep frustration.

“Then perhaps… we eliminate Qi Huang in secret? Once she’s dead, suspicion will fall directly upon Your Majesty. Public criticism would vanish instantly.”

Chief Steward Zhong ventured.

“Eliminate her? How? You’ve heard of her outrageous display at the Evergreen Conference earlier this year. Even if you didn’t see it with your own eyes, the stories must have reached your ears. If I sent you to do it, would you have the confidence to succeed?”

Lin Tu tested.

“If that girl is only at the early stage of the Divine Realm, this old servant still has some confidence. Should Your Majesty order it, I would gladly stake my life to relieve you of this burden.”

Chief Steward Zhong declared without hesitation.