Volume 12, Chapter 805 – So What If I Was a Man?

“You really want to do this? You’d better think it through. Doing this will not only cause a stir in the cultivation world, but it will also have a massive impact on yourself. Turning from a man into a woman… aren’t you… aren’t you afraid of being mocked?”

Cheng Hongling reminded him solemnly.

“I was already planning to get rid of all the evil forces. The cultivation world won’t fall into chaos. As for myself, well, as long as I can be your rightful husband and wife, sacrificing a little dignity is no big deal.”

Qi Huang waved her hand casually.

A trace of emotion flickered in Cheng Hongling’s beautiful eyes. She reminded him again, “Then what about the Huang family? If you reveal your identity, the situation for the Huang family will change, and they’ll likely be affected.”

“It’s fine. I’ll only say I used to be a man, without revealing any specific identity information. That way, the Huang family won’t be impacted.”

Qi Huang responded after thinking briefly.

Cheng Hongling hesitated, wanting to say something more, but in the end, she didn’t push the matter.

Inside the council hall of the Dao Alliance’s main headquarters, Cheng Hongling sat on the Alliance Leader’s throne, listening to the high-ranking members below report on their mission progress, while Qi Huang sat lazily on a side chair, meticulously grooming her fingernails as thin as cicada wings.

“Alliance Leader, there is something I’m not sure if I should say or not,” Elder Kang said boldly after the task reports were finished.

“Speak your mind.”

Cheng Hongling frowned slightly. She had never liked people who beat around the bush.

“Recently, there’s been some gossip in the cultivation world. They’re slandering Alliance Master Qi, saying she has her own soul, and that part of it is male.”

Elder Kang kept it brief and to the point.

The moment the other high-ranking members heard this, they held their breath. They were all quite curious about this matter.

“If it’s just gossip, then we can ignore it.”

Cheng Hongling still intended to let it slide.

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“I’m afraid that won’t work. Some of the gossipers are influential figures… like a few with the Yin-Yang Eyes. They claim they saw it with their own eyes.”

Elder Kang explained cautiously.

Qi Huang wasn’t surprised in the slightest. She had caused such a public spectacle multiple times, each event drawing in crowds of hundreds of thousands, even millions. It would be more surprising if no one with Yin-Yang Eyes had seen anything.

“So what? What of it? Do I need to explain the state of my soul to everyone?”

Cheng Hongling spoke with clear displeasure.

“Alliance Leader, as a doppelgänger, Alliance Master Qi should only have a single soul. Why does she have her own complete set of three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls? This is something every cultivator wants to know. After all, it implies that someone could potentially cultivate countless doppelgängers. If you don’t offer some kind of explanation, they won’t let this go.”

Elder Kang laid out the logic. The eyes of the other high-ranking members were burning with curiosity.

“You think I’m afraid? If they dare to come for me, I’ll kill them all.”

Cheng Hongling sneered, her response full of overwhelming authority.

Hearing this, the senior members instantly felt as though they had been doused with cold water. They quickly lowered their heads.

“Alright. You could indeed suppress them with force,” Elder Kang agreed, then shifted the topic, “But the real problem now isn’t the cultivators, it’s the common people. You should know that a person’s gender is determined by their Life Soul, and that Life Soul is formed from the three ethereal and seven corporeal souls. Therefore, these souls should all be of the same gender. Otherwise, the Life Soul can’t take shape. This is a fundamental truth known throughout the cultivation world.

“But now, Alliance Master Qi’s soul contains male components. Is this a post-birth change? If so, doesn’t that mean she has knowledge of how to turn a woman into a man… or a man into a woman?”

This time, it was Wen Yunmei, Valley Master of Shuiyu Valley and also a current elder of the Dao Alliance, who spoke.

“That’s right. I’ve already caught wind of it. Dozens of royal families from various countries are planning to come to the Dao Alliance next month to request the gender transformation secret technique to solve the male-female imbalance in their nations.”

Another female elder from Huarong Sect spoke up, updating the group on the current political landscape.

“Alliance Leader, they know they can’t defeat you. They won’t try violence. Instead, they’ll play on your emotions and use morality as leverage to force you to hand over the secret technique. And since our Dao Alliance’s purpose is to benefit the cultivation world, we can’t outright reject them. If we don’t come up with a perfect solution, things will get very tricky.”

Elder Kang spoke with a heavy tone.

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“…”

Cheng Hongling fell silent. This was exactly the issue that had been troubling her the most.

“Heh… I knew it would come to this.”

Qi Huang, on the other hand, stood up leisurely and walked to the center of the hall, getting straight to the point: “Everyone wants to know the secret behind me, right? Fine, I’ll tell you now.”

At her words, the high-ranking members’ faces lit up with anticipation once again.

Cheng Hongling bit her lip. She really didn’t want her lover to be subjected to public judgment just for the sake of a title.

“First, why do I have my own three ethereal and seven corporeal souls?”

Qi Huang paused before dropping a bombshell that could scare the life out of someone: “That’s because I’m not Alliance Leader Cheng’s doppelgänger at all. I am my own person.”

“What? That’s impossible! You two look exactly the same!”

“Yeah! I even saw her summon you myself! How could that work if you weren’t her doppelgänger?”

“Then what about the doppelgänger mark between your brows?”

The entire council hall erupted in disbelief. No one wanted to believe her claim.

Qi Huang hadn’t planned to explain much, but she understood the gravity of the situation. If she didn’t provide a reasonable explanation, even if these subordinates kept quiet, the rest of the cultivation world certainly wouldn’t.

“Here’s what happened…”

After a moment of thought, Qi Huang briefly recounted how she had found Cheng Hongling’s face and was then assimilated by it.

“That’s impossible. I’ve never heard of a doppelgänger’s leftover body being able to assimilate someone.”

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Confusion deepened across the faces of the high-ranking members.

“I wouldn’t know either. Maybe everyone’s physique is different.”

Qi Huang casually brushed it off. After all, the matter with Lu Yao and the Assimilation Heavenly Dao couldn’t be revealed.

“Why are you all so nosy? Just explain it to the cultivation world exactly as she said.”

Cheng Hongling snapped with a dark expression.

“Yes, yes…”

The group of high-ranking members quickly nodded, though the doubt in their eyes remained unresolved.

Qi Huang smiled in satisfaction, then dropped another bombshell: “Second, why do I have male soul components? That’s because before I was assimilated, I was a man. The assimilation altered my body and part of my soul, but some of the male soul fragments escaped the transformation.”

“What? You used to be a man?”

“There really is a method that can turn a man into a woman?”

“And it even changes the soul? This defies heaven itself!”

At that moment, the entire roof of the council hall seemed ready to collapse under the uproar.

“I’ve said all I needed to say. The explanation is clear. Go issue an order to all the branch halls in every nation. Post this message from me exactly as it is. Let everyone know the truth.”

Qi Huang issued her command.

“Yes.”

The group of high-ranking members quickly accepted the order, though their gazes toward Qi Huang grew increasingly complicated. After all, turning from a man into a woman seemed shameful in the eyes of the average person. If not for her strength, some of them might already have started mocking her.

Of course, the female elders were an exception, their eyes held only wonder.

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Qi Huang didn’t press them further. She knew this kind of prejudice couldn’t be changed with brute force. Only time could wear it down.

And besides, Qi Huang didn’t care. The only opinion she valued was Cheng Hongling’s.

Cheng Hongling also noticed the glances exchanged among the elders and felt deeply moved. She knew Qi Huang had done all this just to give her a rightful place.

“Alliance Master, if we post your words as-is, everyone will know you have the ability to change a person’s gender. When the royal families come, how do we deal with them? Do we give it to them or not?”

Elder Kang raised the concern.

“Of course we don’t give it. Who knows if they truly want to benefit the people or are just pursuing personal gain?”

Wen Yunmei immediately opposed.

“That’s right. If someone uses it for personal gain, and the method goes out of control, the number of women in the mundane world will explode. In the end, the imbalance won’t be solved. It’ll just be reversed.”

The Huarong Sect elder agreed.

The middle and high-ranking members all found that reasoning convincing and voiced no objection.

“Even if they could control the female population, I still wouldn’t give it.”

Cheng Hongling stood to declare her stance, then explained: “We all know that while the mundane world has more men than women, in the cultivation world, women far outnumber men. If you combine the two, there are already more women than men. If we allow them to artificially create more women, the entire cultivation world will be completely thrown out of balance.”

“Alliance Leader, even so, people are selfish. They don’t care about the cultivation world as a whole. They only care about their own countries.”

Elder Kang stated plainly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it when the time comes. You all just focus on your own responsibilities.”

Qi Huang reassured them.