Volume 12, Chapter 808 – Go On, You Are Free Now

Qi Huang had guessed correctly, although Zheng Qian and his son had appeared calm after returning to Zhizun Peak, in reality, they had been secretly trying to purchase Heaven-Deceiving Water.

“They’re only at the Divine Realm; they have absolutely no use for something like this. When something’s this suspicious, there’s always something fishy going on.”

Qi Huang realized it immediately, and sent one of her doppelgängers to Zhizun Peak to monitor the father and son duo closely.

As for herself, she focused on mass-purchasing spatial rings, and transferring all the evil entities from Lishui Planet to Yin Planet.

Half a year passed in a flash. The number of evil spirits on Lishui Planet dwindled rapidly. The entire continent was now bathed in bright sunlight, and an era of peace was on the horizon.

Faced with such a transformation, citizens across various nations were so overjoyed they couldn’t even sleep, brimming with hope for the future. Only a handful of selfish and short-sighted cultivators were mourning as if someone had died, Zheng Qian and his son being prime examples.

For the past six months, they had been searching for a way to acquire Heaven-Deceiving Water, but had found no source. As such, they hadn’t dared to act rashly.

That evening, the family gathered briefly in the main hall.

“Father, why don’t we just act already? If we delay any longer, that demoness will have eradicated every last evil spirit in the cultivation world!”

Zheng Wei couldn’t hold it in any longer, and sent a message via mental transmission.

“No. Even Lu Lin, cautious as he was, ended up exposing himself. We can’t afford to slip up. We absolutely must get our hands on the Heaven-Deceiving Water first.”

Zheng Qian shook his head firmly.

“But it’s been six whole months, and we haven’t seen a single drop of Heaven-Deceiving Water. Do you really think we’ll manage to buy some?”

Zheng Wei voiced his doubts.

Zheng Qian’s expression turned grim, but he remained silent.

“Father, I think we either take the risk and go for it, or we approach Qi Huang directly and buy it from her. Right now, she’s the only one in the cultivation world selling Heaven-Deceiving Water.”

Zheng Wei suggested.

“No. We’re not even in the Heavenly Tribulation Realm. We’ve got no justifiable reason to use Heaven-Deceiving Water. If we approach her directly, we’d basically be confessing to something without being interrogated.”

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Zheng Qian still shook his head.

“If this doesn’t work and that doesn’t work, then what do you suggest we do?”

Zheng Wei was growing more and more impatient.

“Keep searching. If, after a full year, we still haven’t managed to get any Heaven-Deceiving Water, then we’ll have no choice but to take the risk.”

After much contemplation, Zheng Qian made his decision.

Qi Huang didn’t know the exact contents of their mental transmission, but it was clear that they hadn’t made a move yet simply because they hadn’t gotten their hands on the Heaven-Deceiving Water.

She herself was too busy transforming Yin Planet to waste time tangling with these nobodies, so she began devising a plan.

“There it is!”

Moments later, Qi Huang’s beautiful eyes lit up. With a thought, her doppelgänger, Huang Tian, appeared before her.

“Big brother, what are your orders?”

Huang Tian asked respectfully. He had been born a doppelgänger with peak Divine Realm-level Divine Sense, and after several years, had now stepped into the early stages of the Heavenly Tribulation Realm.

“I have a task for you. Sell Heaven-Deceiving Water to Zheng Qian at Zhizun Peak. But don’t make it too obvious. And don’t reveal your identity.”

Qi Huang handed him a bottle of Heaven-Deceiving Water.

“Don’t worry, big brother. He’s never seen me before. Even if I walk right up to him in broad daylight, he won’t know who I am.”

Huang Tian accepted the task calmly and swiftly departed.

After several hours of flight, he arrived at a town near Zhizun Peak and started spreading word that he was selling Heaven-Deceiving Water.

A few days later, Zheng Qian caught wind of the rumor and approached him.

“May I ask where this Heaven-Deceiving Water of yours came from?”

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During the transaction, Zheng Qian tried to probe Huang Tian’s background.

“Back when the Immortal Alliance still existed, I bought it from Alliance Leader Lu.”

Huang Tian replied casually.

“Then why are you selling it?”

Zheng Qian pressed further.

“I’m a businessman. What’s so strange about earning a little profit from the markup?”

Huang Tian answered with ease.

Zheng Qian couldn’t detect any obvious flaws. The transaction went smoothly. Since the two had never met before, he naturally didn’t recognize that the man in front of him was Qi Huang’s male doppelgänger, and thus had no reason to be wary.

Qi Huang knew this old fox would act immediately once he got the Heaven-Deceiving Water, so she took a Shadow-Retaining Mirror and left the Honghua Sect.

In just a quarter of an hour, she arrived at Zhizun Peak, concealed her presence, and waited patiently in the shadows with the Shadow-Retaining Mirror in hand, ready to catch Zheng Qian in the act.

Sure enough, upon returning home, Zheng Qian got to work. To maintain secrecy, he didn’t tell anyone else. He only brought his son along for the mission.

The father and son coated themselves in Heaven-Deceiving Water and quietly made their way to a remote forest, where they captured over a hundred zombies and malevolent ghosts, storing them in spatial rings.

“Hmph, even if Qi Huang manages to wipe out every evil spirit in the cultivation world, so what? We’ve got so many wandering ghosts and ghouls right here. Who’s to say they won’t start reproducing? That androgynous bitch thinks she can cut off our source of wealth? She’s dreaming in broad daylight.”

Zheng Wei sent via mental transmission, gloating.

“Exactly. Once the evil spirits start wreaking havoc again, her reputation will be in tatters. The entire Dao Alliance will be discredited. In a way, we’re avenging the Immortal Stele.”

Zheng Qian added.

After the two congratulated themselves, they headed back to Zhizun Peak, unaware that their entire capture operation had been recorded in full by Qi Huang’s Shadow-Retaining Mirror.

Although Qi Huang couldn’t hear their conversation, she wasn’t stupid. She’d more or less figured out their motives from their actions alone.

Upon returning to the Honghua Sect, she immediately informed Cheng Hongling.

“Absolutely despicable. They’re storing zombies and evil spirits in their spatial rings, clearly to preserve the seed of evil. That way, not only can they protect their profits, but they also damage our reputation. It’s a classic two birds with one stone.”

Cheng Hongling immediately grasped the situation.

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“Exactly. That’s what I thought too.”

Qi Huang agreed.

“I’ll go destroy Zhizun Peak right now.”

Cheng Hongling, unable to tolerate evil, was about to take action.

“No. The deadline hasn’t passed yet. All they’ve done is capture some evil spirits and store them. They haven’t revealed their true intentions yet. With just the footage from my Shadow-Retaining Mirror, we don’t have enough to convict them. If you act rashly now, we’ll come off as unreasonable.”

Qi Huang quickly stopped her.

“Then what do you suggest? Wait until they actually unleash the evil spirits in six months and catch them red-handed? Have you considered that they may not be the only ones with this idea? If we don’t make an example of someone now, others might slip through the cracks.”

Cheng Hongling pressed seriously.

“It’s fine. First, let me say this: when it comes to setting an example, the chicken doesn’t have to be real.”

Qi Huang said mysteriously.

“What do you mean?”

Cheng Hongling asked, confused.

“My meaning is simple. We’ll have all branches of the Immortal Alliance post notices claiming that a group of cultivators was caught attempting to hide evil spirits with plans to release them after a year to harm civilians, and that they’ve already been executed on the spot. The message may be fake, but it’ll serve its purpose all the same.”

Qi Huang explained.

Cheng Hongling’s eyes lit up. After a moment’s thought, she said, “This method is actually quite clever. But wouldn’t that just alert the enemy? If Zheng Qian and his son get scared and back off, wouldn’t that let them off too easily?”

“It doesn’t matter. Our goal is to serve the people, not settle personal grudges. If they repent, then as the Alliance Leader, I’ll spare them. But if they stay stubborn… then I won’t show mercy.”

Qi Huang’s eyes flashed with a hint of killing intent.

Cheng Hongling said no more, because she knew that Zheng Qian and his son would never back down. They’d ride this to the bitter end.

The next day, the Immortal Alliance ordered all branches to post a notice, exactly as Qi Huang had described.

Once it was made public, many cultivators who had similar ideas to Zheng Qian and his son were instantly scared witless and abandoned their plans.

But Zheng Qian and his son, emboldened by their high status, remained completely unfazed.

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“She’s bluffing.”

Zheng Wei concluded.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Zheng Qian wasn’t as careless. He sent someone to investigate the supposed sect that had been punished, and found that it didn’t even exist.

“She was bluffing after all.”

Now completely at ease, Zheng Qian resumed his plans.

Qi Huang had no time to waste. She instructed Huang Tian to keep monitoring the Zhengs, while she herself continued purging the last remnants of evil from the cultivation world.

Another three months passed. Thanks to Qi Huang’s efforts, all usable evil entities from Lishui Planet had been transferred to Yin Planet for cultivation use. The rest were destroyed.

When the one-year deadline arrived, Qi Huang publicly announced the completion of her mission and invited many influential figures to a grand celebration hosted by the Dao Alliance. It served as a reassuring message for the entire cultivation continent.

The next morning, female residents of the Honghua Sect and Shuiyu Valley began returning to the secular world one after another. Other sects followed suit.

“Good! Let them all turn into evil spirits!”

Knowing the time had come, Zheng Qian and his son secretly traveled to a remote region of the Central Continent. There, they released over a hundred evil spirits that they had stored in their spatial rings into an abandoned manor on the outskirts of a county town.

“Father, this county probably has over a hundred thousand residents. How long do you think it’ll take for all of them to become evil spirits?”

Zheng Wei grinned wickedly.

“There’s at least one Silver Corpse among the group. Five days, tops. This town will become a ghost town.”

Zheng Qian speculated confidently.

“Perfect. I want to see how Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang explain this to the rest of the cultivation world.”

Zheng Wei’s smugness was impossible to hide.

“Go on, you’re free now. The outside world is full of food!”

Zheng Qian encouraged the hundreds of evil spirits as he removed the Divine Sense restraints.