Volume 11, Chapter 725 – Cheng Hongling Captured

“Congratulations to the Sect Leader! Best wishes to the Sect Leader!”

Ai Xing pretended to offer her felicitations, but the smile on her face was stiff. She knew very well that once matters reached that stage, the ratio between men and women in the mortal world would completely reverse. Women’s status would sink to something even less than dogs, just like the situation men faced now.

The Severed Immortal Sect’s Leader saw through Ai Xing’s little scheme, and so fulfilled his promise: “The same to you, the same to you! I’ve already said, as long as you uncover the truth of this matter, you’ll immediately become the wife of the Sect Leader of the Severed Immortal Sect. Tomorrow, I shall announce this publicly.”

“Really? Thank you, Sect Leader!”

Ai Xing instantly brightened into a radiant smile, then fiercely kissed her man. If ordinary women were to be reduced to such lowly status, so what? What did that have to do with her, the wife of the Sect Leader of the Severed Immortal Sect?

“Actually, whether or not you are called the Sect Leader’s wife hardly matters. After all, you are still the woman I like the most.”

The Sect Leader of the Severed Immortal Sect laughed heartily and gave Ai Xing’s backside a playful slap.

Blushing, Ai Xing nestled into his arms for a while before reminding him: “But just capturing Qi Huang may not be enough. She doesn’t even know how to wield the power of Assimilation. Only that Cheng Ling knows.”

“No matter. We’ll just capture both the main body and the doppelgänger together.”

The Sect Leader replied with calm indifference.

“But the question is, how do we capture her? Qi Huang’s strength is far greater than what we previously estimated. Can the Sect Leader really handle her?”

Ai Xing asked anxiously.

“Oh? How strong?”

The Sect Leader asked curiously.

“Her Divine Sense has already reached the eighth layer of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm. Although she is a crippled cultivator, she won’t be easy to deal with.”

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Ai Xing answered solemnly.

“What? The eighth layer of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm?”

The Sect Leader of the Severed Immortal Sect was startled. He leapt from his chair. “She’s only been a doppelgänger for five or six years. How could she have grown so much?”

“Because her cultivation method is unlike others. As long as she has enough resources, she can continuously grow, completely unhindered by bottlenecks…”

Ai Xing quickly explained Qi Huang’s cultivation method.

“Ghost Tomatoes? Truly unheard of! Something I’ve neither seen nor imagined.”

The Sect Leader was astounded, though a trace of regret appeared in his tone. “What a pity. We martial practitioners cannot cultivate Divine Sense. Otherwise, this would be nothing less than a treasure trove.”

“Even if one could, it still wouldn’t work. Only those who possess Boundless Demonic Hair can walk her path. It is not one that can be imitated.”

Ai Xing clarified.

“Never mind that for now. Since her cultivation speed is so outrageous, we must act quickly. The longer we delay, the greater the risk.”

The Sect Leader made his decision.

“Can the Sect Leader truly deal with her?”

Suspicion flickered on Ai Xing’s face, and she hastily added, “This concubine is not questioning the Sect Leader’s power. I only worry for your safety.”

“Rest easy. Although her Divine Sense is formidable, in the end she is but a crippled cultivator. A single vial of Heaven-Deceiving Water can restrain her completely.”

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The Sect Leader smiled with utter confidence, then sternly warned: “But you, under no circumstances can you speak of this to anyone. This concerns the thousand-year plan of the Severed Immortal Sect.”

“Please be assured, Sect Leader, this concubine knows the gravity of the matter.”

Ai Xing quickly expressed her loyalty, then asked curiously: “Then how does the Sect Leader plan to act? Will you boldly annihilate the Honghua Sect? Or simply capture Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang?”

The Sect Leader thought for a moment, then replied: “Since we know of this Assimilation power, why should we fight cultivators head-on? That would cause casualties and only add risk. All we need do is capture Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang.”

“Truly benevolent of the Sect Leader.”

Ai Xing praised him.

“Now I shall personally send you back to the Honghua Sect. Continue your surveillance there. As soon as Qi Huang leaves the sect, inform me immediately. Once we seize her main body, won’t she naturally come knocking on our door herself?”

The Sect Leader sneered.

Though Qi Huang’s assimilation deepened day by day, her male consciousness still held dominance. Every night she strained to seek in dreams the method of using the Assimilation power, but to no avail.

Now, with Ghost Tomatoes piling up at the prefectural collection point to hundreds of thousand, Qi Huang could no longer remain cloistered at home. She had no choice but to suspend her “dreaming” and go to the prefecture to gather the Ghost Tomatoes. She never expected that her brief absence would open a window of opportunity for ill-intentioned people.

Ai Xing, upon discovering that Qi Huang had left, immediately notified the Sect Leader.

Hundreds of li away, the Sect Leader took a single step, causing the very space around him to quake. Borrowing the ripple of space, he shot skyward, his massive frame darting as lightly and swiftly as a dragonfly skimming the surface of water.

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Anyone witnessing such a sight would have been shocked senseless. Only martial practitioners who had reached the Mythic Realm could fly like cultivators, using principles similar to corpses that defied nature.

His speed was not the least inferior to a Heavenly Tribulation Realm cultivator. Just like that, he brazenly barged into the Honghua Sect, and not a single cultivator noticed a thing.

Descending in the Cheng family’s courtyard, the Sect Leader stirred up a violent gust of air.

Jiang Linian, who was doing laundry, sensed the disturbance. She turned toward the sound and saw that a burly middle-aged man had appeared in the courtyard without her noticing. Bewildered, she asked: “Who are you?”

“Nothing to worry about. I’m just here for your daughter.”

The Sect Leader gave Jiang Linian a “friendly” smile, then vanished on the spot.

Crack!

The next instant, the door to Cheng Hongling’s bedroom shattered into dust. The Sect Leader stepped inside.

Startled from her cultivation, Cheng Hongling quickly opened her beautiful eyes. A middle-aged man in a gold-rimmed round-collared robe was staring at her with a gaze full of raw aggression. The terrifying masculine force radiating from him raised the room’s temperature several degrees, even making it hard for her to breathe.

Cheng Hongling had never encountered a Mythic Realm martial practitioner before, she had not even met one at the Legendary Realm, but she had heard the tales. The mere presence of their masculine energy could elevate temperatures and ward off all evils.

Cheng Hongling was no fool. The intruder had broken in by force, clearly no friend. She would not be so naive as to ask questions.

She did not attack directly. Knowing the chasm of difference in power, she first released the Soul Tether, hoping to summon Qi Huang back.

“Hmph!”

The Sect Leader snorted coldly. He had already prepared. Crushing the protective talisman in his hand, a Heavenly Tribulation Realm Divine Sense barrier immediately enveloped the courtyard.

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The Soul Tether had barely left the courtyard before striking that impenetrable barrier. It could only retreat, defeated.

“Trying to fetch reinforcements?”

The Sect Leader’s face curled in disdain as he advanced unhurriedly.

Cheng Hongling attempted to use thought transmission to contact the doppelgänger, but Qi Huang was in another country harvesting Ghost Tomatoes, well beyond the reach of her Divine Sense. She could not connect.

Driven to desperation, Cheng Hongling refused to sit and wait for death. She flicked her jade-like hand, and the Blue-Scaled Sword leapt from its wall mount into her grasp.

Not daring to hold back, she unleashed her entire Divine Sense, crushing toward the uninvited guest. Her body blurred into a streak of motion, rushing forward with the sword in hand. Profound Ice True Qi surged and twined along the blade, freezing the air and casting down dense clusters of ice crystals.

BOOM…!

The ground beneath the Sect Leader’s feet sank by a full zhang under the suppression of her Divine Sense. Walls around them crumbled one after another. Yet he floated effortlessly, unaffected, his feet stamping out ripples of distorted space as he advanced. Calmly, he extended a thick hand and caught her sword with perfect precision.

A grin tugged at his lips. With a mere squeeze of his right hand, the Blue-Scaled Sword, crafted entirely of pure Blue Scale Stone, shattered like brittle ice.

Though Cheng Hongling had braced herself, she was still stunned. To crush such a treasure with bare hands, just how strong was this man? Who could he be?

He gave her no time to think. The Sect Leader slipped forward, his hand chopping like a blade against Cheng Hongling’s slender, snowy neck.

Her vision went black, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

“Hmph!”

The Sect Leader sneered again, hoisted Cheng Hongling onto his shoulder, and vanished like a phantom. Slowly, a slip of paper fluttered down to the floor.