Volume 9, Chapter 642 – The Immortal Stele Is Not an Imperial Decree (Part 6)

As soon as Qi Huang released her Divine Sense into the spatial ring, she immediately discovered that the clash between the two Immortal Steles outside had already ended. The spatial turbulence had mostly dissipated, but the rippling aftershocks still raged on without pause. She instantly felt a crushing pressure as if mountains were collapsing onto her. In haste, she condensed her Divine Sense into a shield the size of an egg, tightly wrapping it around the nearly shattering ring, straining desperately to block the terrifying aftershock.

Wave after wave of spatial currents swept past. Qi Huang’s head throbbed with sharp pain, as though someone was pounding it with iron fists. Fine beads of sweat surfaced densely across her pale forehead.

‘No, I must endure this! If I fail now, I’ll die without a doubt!’

Qi Huang steeled her resolve, but in the end, she was only a cultivator at the seventh level of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm. Even the remnant force of the Immortal Stele’s collision was difficult to withstand. As her Divine Sense neared depletion, her ample chest heaved violently, and her vision flickered into bouts of blindness from the searing pain in her mind. The Divine Sense shield began to waver.

The spatial currents, like needles, pierced through the weakening shield, continuing to tear at the ring inside.

Cheng Hongling realized how dire the situation had become. Biting down hard on her teeth, she pressed her jade-white hand against the inner wall of the ring. A torrent of Profound Ice True Qi surged from her body, desperately trying to mend the widening cracks.

Ordinarily, with her early Divine Realm cultivation, Cheng Hongling would have been powerless in such circumstances. But since she was dealing only with the “stray fish” slipping through Qi Huang’s weakening shield, and thanks to her unique cultivation technique, her efforts bore noticeable effect.

Still, the strain was immense. True Qi drained from her body at a speed visible to the naked eye. Sweat slid down from her brows.

Just as both the main body and doppelgänger neared their limits, the terrifying spatial currents finally subsided.

Qi Huang, her Divine Sense exhausted, was overwhelmed by unbearable pain in her head. She could only clutch her temples, rolling on the ground as helpless cries escaped her lips.

Cheng Hongling, drained of True Qi, barely held herself upright by leaning against the ring wall. Yet when she saw Qi Huang’s pitiful state, she gritted her teeth and staggered over step by step. She tightly pulled the doppelgänger into her arms. “Are you all right? Don’t scare me!”

Qi Huang felt the warmth and softness of that embrace. Whether due to comfort in her heart or not, the stabbing pain in her head eased slightly. Mustering the last shred of her Divine Sense, she summoned several dozen ghost tomatoes from her spatial ring. Reaching out in a panic to grab one, she fumbled blindly, her eyes still useless from temporary blindness.

“You want these on your head?”

Cheng Hongling asked instinctively.

“Mmm… mmm…”

Qi Huang stammered tearfully.

Though she knew the fruit was poisonous, Cheng Hongling no longer cared. She picked up one ghost tomato after another, crushing them and smearing the pulp onto Qi Huang’s head.

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A cool sensation spread across Qi Huang’s scalp. The agony ebbed rapidly. At last, her taut nerves slackened. Her body went limp, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

“Hey! Are you all right? Don’t you dare scare me!”

Cheng Hongling’s anxious voice trembled. Tears welled up, blurring her vision.

Not knowing what else to do, she continued applying the ghost tomato, ignoring the itch spreading across her hands. Even at the Divine Realm, flesh alone could not resist poison indefinitely. Her True Qi was spent, she couldn’t expel the toxin, so she bore it in silence. Red blotches began to bloom across her fair hands.

Half an hour later, Qi Huang slowly opened her eyes. She was greeted by the sight of her main body gazing quietly at her, shadows lingering in her brows, tear streaks still on her cheeks.

“You’re awake?”

Seeing her doppelgänger stir, Cheng Hongling’s exquisite brows softened instantly. Like a breathtaking landscape painting slowly unfolding, dreamlike and ethereal.

Qi Huang gave a faint shake of the head as her mind gradually resumed its functions, recalling what had just transpired.

She quickly nodded, forcing herself upright. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her main body’s hands, red and white in mottled misery.

A pang of guilt stabbed her heart. She hurriedly retrieved the antidote to the ghost tomato and carefully applied it to Cheng Hongling’s hands. As one who cultivated ghost tomatoes in abundance, she naturally kept the cure on hand.

“No need. Since you’re awake, I can restore some True Qi soon and drive the poison out myself.”

Cheng Hongling’s tone carried a trace of awkwardness.

“It’s necessary! True Qi can only expel the toxin, but it can’t reduce the inflammation. The medicine will do both!”

Qi Huang insisted stubbornly. She swore to herself it was not just an excuse to touch those delicate hands more.

Unable to refuse her earnestness, Cheng Hongling relented. After all, Qi Huang had already seen and touched everything, there was no point pretending.

After the treatment, Qi Huang finally led her main body out of the spatial ring.

Without the Profound Ice’s support, the ring collapsed instantly behind them.

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Qi Huang looked around. Dust billowed everywhere, reducing visibility to less than ten feet. She extended her Divine Sense to investigate.

Her heart nearly stopped at what she found. For two hundred li in every direction, the land had sunk into a vast basin. Nothing but a desolate wasteland of dust and sand remained. No mountains, no trees, not even a single rock larger than a grain of rice had survived.

Even more terrifying, just above their heads stretched a colossal spatial rift, hundreds of zhang wide and thousands of zhang long. It split the night sky, its depths black and endless, dotted with faint stars. From within came a hollow whistling wind.

“To cause such destruction! No wonder even the aftershocks were so powerful. Thankfully, this fairy managed to prepare in advance!”

Qi Huang spoke with lingering fear.

“What fairy ? Say that again? I didn’t hear clearly.”

Beside her, Cheng Hongling’s willow brows arched in warning.

“Ah? You misheard. I said Immortal!”

Qi Huang recovered quickly, answering with a straight face though her heart raced. She told herself she must have slipped by habit, nothing to do with feminization.

“Hmph!”

Cheng Hongling snorted coldly before continuing: “Today was truly perilous. If we had relied only on Huarong Sect’s Immortal Stele, we would’ve been annihilated already.”

“For causing me such a loss, I’ll personally wrench that Lü family’s Immortal Stele from the ground. Whoever dares block me, I’ll wipe them out.”

Qi Huang swore silently to herself.

Just then, the two of them sensed someone approaching. Extending their Divine Sense, they saw it was Hua Man and her disciple.

“Are you both unharmed?”

The pair asked with concern, though the excitement lighting their faces betrayed their inner relief.

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“Of course we’re fine!”

Qi Huang lifted her chin proudly.

“That’s good. That’s good.”

A boulder fell from their hearts. The Huarong Sect could not afford to lose everything; their hopes now rested entirely on Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling.

“This place is devastated, and such a massive rift has opened… how did you survive?”

Hua Man looked around in shock.

Qi Huang answered with pride, recounting her cleverness and courage in detail.

“To think of such a method… likely only the two of you could have lived through this.”

Hua Ruyi said with lingering dread.

“How is the Huarong Sect’s Immortal Stele?”

Cheng Hongling asked curiously.

“The collision wasn’t near our sect, so the stele itself is intact. But its immortal power… completely exhausted. From now on, it’s nothing but an ornament.”

Hua Ruyi replied bitterly.

“No one discovered this, right?”

Qi Huang pressed.

“No. Master and I set up a perception-shielding formation beforehand, and besides, it’s deep in the night.”

Hua Ruyi reassured her.

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“Good!”

Qi Huang finally relaxed.

“Good? Without the stele’s protection, our Huarong Sect has lost its greatest reliance. We’ll have to depend on you both.”

Hua Man reminded solemnly.

“No problem. I, Qi Huang, always keep my word! When the old departs, the new arrives. I’ll prove with action that I’ll outshine that Immortal Stele.”

Qi Huang vowed once more. She was not one to forget favors.

“She means after attaining immortality. For now, we don’t have the strength to uphold such a promise.”

Cheng Hongling cautioned, unwilling to be bound prematurely to Huarong Sect.

“Of course.”

Hua Man and Hua Ruyi both nodded in understanding.

“And the Lü family’s Immortal Stele? Is it truly as you said, that it needs six or seven years before it can be activated again?”

Cheng Hongling asked for confirmation.

“Yes. With our sect’s stele fully drained, theirs should be the same.”

Hua Man confirmed.

“In that case…”

Qi Huang stroked her smooth chin, eyes suddenly alight. “Why not strike while they’re weak? I’ll rush to the Lü family and slaughter them all!”