Volume 13, Chapter 869 – Breaking Through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm

“Retribution?”

Li Xin paused for a moment, then swept a greedy gaze over Qi Huang. “You mean reward, right? Haha, little girl, you must be some offering from a Ghost Clan noble family, yeah? Stand there and watch for now, your turn will come soon enough.”

After he said this, he turned to the fox princess and mocked, “So this is the karma you spoke of? I’ll take as many of these retributions as you can send my way!”

“General, I don’t enjoy just standing by and watching.”

Qi Huang frowned and said unhappily, her tone matching her current female personality, which made it easy for her to naturally refer to herself as “this humble woman”.

“Oh? Is that so? What a hungry little kitten! If you’re in such a rush, come up here and serve me too! This general’s strong and can handle it!”

Li Xin bellowed with brash arrogance.

“Really? Because the way I play is a bit… wild.”

Qi Huang helpfully reminded him.

“Don’t worry! I play even wilder than you, you brat!”

Li Xin’s confidence only grew.

“Then I’m relieved.”

With a mere thought, Qi Huang’s Boundless Demonic Hair erupted like black lightning from behind her head and whipped toward Li Xin.

He didn’t expect an ambush at all. Not even a thought of dodging formed before he was completely entangled.

“How is it so fast?!”

Li Xin instantly realized something was wrong. He instinctively struggled, only to find that he couldn’t move the seemingly delicate strands of hair at all. In a panic, he shouted, “What are you doing?!”

“Didn’t I warn you, General? I play really wild.”

Qi Huang walked toward him with a seductive smile.

“You bitch! Let go of this general!”

Li Xin mustered all his strength, muscles bulging all over his body… but it backfired. The terrifying hair strands began slicing inch by inch into him.

“AHHH!”

He roared in fury, fur on his tail standing on end, then launched a dense volley of fur spikes at Qi Huang.

Her steps didn’t falter. Her divine sense projected outward and blocked the fur attack with ease. Teasingly, she said, “What’s wrong, General? Why are you being so rough with this humble woman? Didn’t you say you could handle it?”

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“Who are you?! What do you want?!”

Li Xin now sounded fierce but inwardly weak. Even a fool could see something was off. How could a terrifying being like this be some kind of gift to him?

“Nothing much. Just wanted to show you what retribution looks like.”

Qi Huang gave a sharp pull with her hair.

Splurt!

Li Xin’s powerful body was instantly sliced into countless pieces like tofu, scattering across the ground. Inky black blood splattered everywhere.

“AHHH!”

The poor fox princess screamed repeatedly, horrified and stumbling backward.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here to help you.”

Qi Huang quickly stepped forward to comfort her, scanning her up and down with growing interest. It wasn’t out of any untoward intention, she simply found those three large tails far too beautiful and wanted to snuggle with them while sleeping.

“Really?”

The fox princess asked, half-suspicious.

“Of course. With strength like mine, I could do anything I want. Why would I need to lie to you?”

Qi Huang squatted and offered her hand.

Though there was still hesitation in her eyes, the fox princess had no one else to rely on. She didn’t have the luxury to hesitate, so she extended her hand to accept the help.

“May I ask your name? And why you’re helping me?”

After steadying herself, she asked.

“Since you’ve asked, let’s have a proper chat, Your Highness. Please, take a seat.”

Qi Huang sat down elegantly in a nearby chair.

“What about Li Xin’s subordinates outside?”

The fox princess still seemed shaken.

“Relax. I took care of all of them.”

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Qi Huang reassured her.

Only then did the fox princess breathe easier and sit in the other chair.

“Let me introduce myself first. My name is Chen Yuzhu. How should I address Your Highness?”

Qi Huang used one of her go-to fake names again.

“I am… This humble woman is called Ni Xian, the only child of the Fox Queen.”

The fox princess also gave a simple introduction.

“Then I’ll get straight to the point. I helped you for a reason. First, I want to know which planets your mother cultivated Ghost Tomatoes on. Second, I hope Your Highness can help me manage those Ghost Tomatoes from now on.”

Qi Huang spoke bluntly.

Ni Xian froze for a moment, then speculated, “The technique you used earlier must’ve been Boundless Demonic Hair, right? You want the Ghost Tomatoes to nourish it?”

“Exactly.”

Qi Huang admitted without hesitation.

“The first part is no problem. I owe you my life, and those Ghost Tomatoes can be my humble token of gratitude.”

Ni Xian stood and bowed, then said awkwardly, “But I may not be able to help with the second part. Ever since my mother passed, Huhou Planet has been leaderless and chaotic. I can’t control the situation.”

“That’s fine. Just take me to the Ghost Tomatoes first. I’ll help you stabilize the situation on Huhou Planet and ensure you inherit your mother’s position. Think of it as your reward.”

Qi Huang offered sincerely.

“Alright.”

Ni Xian knew her own limitations and chose to place her faith in the only person she could rely on.

Qi Huang didn’t waste time and immediately took the fox princess on a tomato-collecting journey.

The two women soon arrived at the first planet. When Qi Huang saw the countless densely packed Ghost Tomatoes, she was so excited she nearly cried. Her divine sense, now at the Earth Immortal level, required an enormous supply of Ghost Tomatoes to nourish. This was nothing short of a godsend.

‘If the other dozen or so planets have Ghost Tomatoes at this scale too, then by the time I’m done harvesting, my divine sense might just advance to the Heavenly Immortal Realm.’

Qi Huang thought gleefully.

Then she began absorbing in earnest, moving from one planet to the next. Not only did her divine sense steadily increase, but she also gathered tens of millions of Ghost Tomato seeds.

“Thank you, nature, for your bounty!”

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Qi Huang wept tears of joy while absorbing, not at all concerned about the feelings of the late Fox Queen.

After draining the last planet of its Ghost Tomatoes, her divine sense rose from the seventh layer of Earth Immortal to the ninth—its peak. She was now on the cusp of breaking into the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

Qi Huang couldn’t wait and immediately headed for the Peach Queen’s domain. If there were Ghost Tomatoes of comparable quantity there, her divine sense was certain to break through. Then, in the Immortal Realm, she could walk wherever she pleased with no fear.

Qi Huang contacted her informant on Taohou Planet and quickly arrived. Compared to the Chaos on the Fox Queen and Underworld Queen’s planets, the situation here was far better, there was no sign of rebellion at all.

“The Peach Queen has a powerful daughter who took control of the situation as soon as her death was announced,” the informant explained.

“In that case, I can’t play the role of savior here. So how do I get my hands on those Ghost Tomatoes?”

Qi Huang found herself in a bind and had to take a step back to think of a plan.

Luckily, after a day, she found her opening: the Peach Queen’s daughter was fretting over retrieving her mother’s body. Rumors had begun spreading among the people.

“Your Highness, troubling words are spreading among the people. Should we arrest a few and execute them to set an example?”

Inside the princess’s chambers, an older palace maid offered a suggestion.

“Oh? What kind of troubling words?”

The Peach Princess, Tao Chun, asked calmly. She had a pink peach blossom mark on her forehead, looked mature and stunning, clearly older than both Qianqian and Ni Xian.

“They say, ‘If you can’t even retrieve your own mother’s corpse, how can you inherit her position?’”

The old maid answered cautiously.

“Filial piety is the foundation of all virtue. It’s only natural they say such things. Killing won’t solve anything.”

Tao Chun remained calm.

“But we can’t just let them keep tarnishing your reputation!”

The maid protested.

“Once I retrieve my mother’s remains, they’ll shut up on their own.”

Tao Chun said resolutely.

“But how? The Ziji Immortal Emperor is at the Heavenly Immortal level. Even the Peach Queen couldn’t defeat him.”

The maid looked helpless.

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“Sigh…”

Tao Chun could only sigh in frustration. With her current strength, just a mid-stage Earth Demon, how could she possibly challenge a Heavenly Immortal?

Qi Huang didn’t want to waste any more time. She appeared directly inside the princess’s chambers.

“Your Highness, give me the Ghost Tomatoes your mother cultivated. I will retrieve her remains for you within ten years.”

Qi Huang said straightforwardly.

“Who are you? Why should I trust you?”

Tao Chun remained composed, not reacting rashly nor instantly trusting her.

“Because of strength.”

Qi Huang immediately released her immense divine sense, freezing Tao Chun and all the palace maids in place.

“You’re a smart woman. Those Ghost Tomatoes are useless to you. Rather than letting them rot, why not open another path for yourself?”

Qi Huang reasoned.

“Very well. I agree.”

After some thought, Tao Chun agreed to the deal.

Thus, Qi Huang obtained the rights to all the Peach Queen’s Ghost Tomatoes and resumed her frenzied absorption.

Three days later, after absorbing everything, her divine sense finally broke through to the first level of the Heavenly Immortal Realm… signaling that she had now reached the apex of the food chain in the Immortal Realm. As long as she didn’t provoke the truly supreme Heavenly Immortals, she could go anywhere she pleased.

Wasting no time, Qi Huang immediately brought Cheng Hongling and Ni Xian back to the Minghou Planet.

Two days later, Qianqian’s coronation ceremony proceeded as scheduled. If nothing went wrong, she would soon become the new Underworld Queen.

Unfortunately, something did go wrong.

Suddenly, dark clouds churned above the sky, fierce winds howled, and a woman’s voice echoed across the heavens:

“Hand over the four heart fragments of the Sea Queen, or today will be the end of Minghou Planet!”

“It’s the Scorpion Queen! That’s her voice! She’s coming! Everyone, run!”

The surrounding evil spirits cried out in terror.