Volume 14, Chapter 882 – She Assimilated All Her Relatives and Friends

“Explain? There’s nothing to explain, they were snatched by evil spirits.”

Ziji Immortal Emperor waved him off impatiently.

“Oh, what a calm and casual ‘snatched by evil spirits’! Do you even know what was inside those three Empresses? Thirteen fragments of the Demon Ancestor’s heart, a massive amount of Assimilation Power, if those things spread through the Immortal Realm, it won’t be long before new Three Kings and Five Queens emerge.”

“No need for your reminder. Those were my war trophies. I know exactly what was in them.”

Ziji Immortal Emperor replied, equally annoyed.

“So what then? What kind of evil spirits took them? How did they take them? Aren’t you going to report any of this to the Alliance Leader?”

The chubby old man snarled, his face contorted with fury.

“Report? Alliance Leader Yin, I am not your subordinate. What right do you have to demand a report from me?”

Ziji Immortal Emperor shot back, confrontational and brimming with rage. He was already fuming, and now with the other man pressing him like this, how could he bear it?

“I don’t have the right? What about the Celestials then? I was appointed by the Celestials themselves as the Chief Commander for Demon Purging in the Immortal Realm. You show me disrespect, and that’s disrespecting the Celestials!”

Alliance Leader Yin raised the name of the Celestials, using their authority to apply pressure.

“Oh, so you do remember your responsibilities, huh? Over all these years, how much tax silver have the various Immortal Kingdoms paid to support your Immortal Alliance in exterminating evil spirits? And yet now, two mid-stage Heavenly Demon evil spirits have appeared? How do you explain that?”

Ziji Immortal Emperor snapped back, gritting his teeth.

“Are you joking? Evil spirits in the Immortal Realm are nearly extinct. How could there be two mid-stage Heavenly Demons?”

Alliance Leader Yin looked at him in disbelief.

“Joking? Then let me ask you… how did Wanhe Immortal Emperor and Qiufa Immortal Emperor die? You know how strong they were. If the Celestials decide to investigate, you’ll be the first they hold accountable.”

Ziji Immortal Emperor pressed his advantage, forcing the other man into a corner.

“Hmph… you’re good at shifting blame. When you captured those evil spirits before, I told you to send them to the Immortal Alliance for safekeeping. But you? You insisted on displaying them on the city walls just to flaunt your strength. That’s the root cause of this mess. You think those Celestials are fools? That they won’t know who’s really at fault?”

Alliance Leader Yin wasn’t so easily manipulated. He threw the blame right back.

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Ziji Immortal Emperor was momentarily speechless. He knew he couldn’t shirk responsibility, he just didn’t want to show weakness.

“Gentlemen, enough! Stop arguing. Right now, we need unity. The priority is to recover the Demon Ancestor fragments and Assimilation Power. If we can’t, how will we answer to the Celestials when the deadline comes?”

A middle-aged man in a dragon robe stepped forward to smooth things over. He was the Shuntian Immortal Emperor, who had rushed over to assist after receiving word.

“He refuses to cooperate with the Alliance Leader and won’t tell us anything. How are we supposed to find them?”

Alliance Leader Yin snorted coldly.

“Old brother Ziji, we’re all in the same boat here. What you’re doing isn’t just making things harder for us, it’s hurting yourself too. It’s meaningless. Just calm down and tell us what really happened.”

The Shuntian Immortal Emperor tried to coax him with a gentle tone.

“Here’s what happened…”

Ziji Immortal Emperor took a deep breath, then recounted the events in detail.

“So it really was two authentic mid-stage Heavenly Demon Realm evil spirits. I wonder where they’ve been hiding all these years to escape our detection.”

The Shuntian Immortal Emperor said gravely.

“There’s no point in dwelling on that now. Our top priority is to find that ‘evil spirit’ with the demonic hair. We cannot allow her to absorb the fragments and Assimilation Power. Nor can we allow those things to scatter across the Immortal Realm. The consequences would be unimaginable.”

Alliance Leader Yin made a decisive call.

“But the Immortal Realm is so vast, how are we supposed to find her?”

The Shuntian Immortal Emperor frowned.

“That’s not a problem. When the woman with ghostly hair left, she declared that she would return every ‘decoration’ hanging on the city wall to its original owner. As long as we keep a close eye on the movement of evil spirits, we should have clues soon.”

Ziji Immortal Emperor chimed in.

“That’s good to hear.”

The Shuntian Immortal Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.

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“Once we recover those heart fragments, we must destroy them immediately. The Celestials are tightening the deadline. We cannot afford any more mistakes.”

Alliance Leader Yin said coldly.

“What’s with those Celestials anyway? They suddenly imposed this deadline out of nowhere. They’ve never been in such a rush before. What are they really trying to do?”

Ziji Immortal Emperor frowned.

“Who knows? But I have a feeling this is far from simple.”

Alliance Leader Yin said solemnly.

Qi Huang knew the situation was tense, so she didn’t immediately put out word for the evil spirits in the Immortal Realm to come and reclaim their relatives. Instead, she headed straight home.

Qi Huang brought Cheng Hongling back to the Lishui Planet in the Cultivation Realm and began to recuperate.

One day, Qi Huang sent word for all important individuals on Lishui Planet to gather at the Dao Alliance headquarters. She had something important to do.

A few days later, everyone close to Qi Huang had arrived. There were her two masters and senior martial sisters from the Honghua Sect, the mother-daughter duo Mu Ruoyi from Shuiyu Valley, her master and aunt from the Huarong Sect, and even mortal royal princesses like Jin Xue, Tang Yuning, and Ouyang Yi. Altogether, several hundred people packed the hall.

“Why do you think Junior Sister called us here?”

Yun Fei asked curiously.

“Hmm, must be something good.”

Shen Yuan’s beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Is it something tasty?”

Miao Xiang asked eagerly, sucking on her tender pinky finger, but no one answered her.

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“Hmph! You’re always eyeing Junior Sister’s good stuff. Why don’t you ever offer your own good stuff to her?”

Yun Fei couldn’t help but jab at Shen Yuan.

“And what good stuff do I have? If you can name one thing, I’ll give it to her right now, even if it’s myself.”

Shen Yuan replied generously.

“In your dreams!”

Yun Fei rolled her eyes at her.

When Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling entered the grand hall, they found their loved ones chatting and teasing one another, carefree and light-hearted. For a moment, their hearts were filled with warmth. At least their efforts had not been in vain.

“Everyone, sorry to pull you away from your busy lives to the Immortal Alliance headquarters.”

Qi Huang greeted them politely.

“We’re family, what’s with the formality?”

“Yeah, thanks to your wise leadership, there are no more evil spirits in the Cultivation Realm. How busy could we be?”

“Junior Sister, whether there’s something or nothing, feel free to call us for gatherings like this. It’s good to stay connected.”

One by one, the women responded with enthusiasm. After learning of Qi Huang’s true identity, their enthusiasm had only grown. They completely ignored the unfriendly glances from Cheng Hongling. After all, in this world, having multiple wives was nothing unusual.

“Not everyone is as idle as you all.”

Cheng Hongling couldn’t hold back and snapped.

The senior sisters laughed awkwardly, not daring to talk back… she was stronger after all.

“Why does this feel like a lovers’ quarrel?”

Qi Huang was caught off guard. She gave a polite, awkward smile. “I didn’t just call you here to reconnect. I have something serious to do.”

“Reconnect? Since when did you care about reconnecting?”

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Cheng Hongling sent a mental transmission immediately.

“Heh…”

Qi Huang didn’t dare respond and quickly switched to a serious tone: “You’re probably all wondering what we’ve been busy with all these years, and what we’ve gained. Some of it involves deep secrets, and your lives. So today, I will tell you everything.”

The crowd immediately quieted down.

“Everyone’s heard of the Heavenly Dao, I’m sure. Some believe in it, some don’t. But today, I’ll make it clear: the Heavenly Dao is real. It’s called the Five Elements Heavenly Dao. Its power far surpasses your own. It essentially governs the lives of all beings across countless worlds. Your fate has been decided from the start; birth, aging, sickness, and death are all at its whim.”

Qi Huang began to speak slowly and clearly.

“What?!”

Her relatives and friends all stared wide-eyed in shock, quickly followed by panic.

“If that’s the case, how can we break free from the fate it arranged for us?”

Mu Ruoyi asked.

“That’s exactly why I brought you here. Over the past years, we acquired another form of Dao power: Assimilation Power. As long as I use it to assimilate you, you will be completely freed from the control of the Five Elements Heavenly Dao. Your destiny will be your own. No more fatal calamities.”

Qi Huang revealed her purpose. She and Cheng Hongling were drawing closer to the Heavenly Dao… She had to prepare. If she didn’t help her relatives and friends escape its control now, they would become her greatest weakness later.

“Really? That’s amazing! I knew Junior Sister was all-powerful!”

Everyone immediately cheered, excited beyond words. Who wouldn’t want to take control of their own destiny?

Qi Huang wasted no time. She released a vast wave of pink energy, quickly assimilating everyone in the hall… at least physically.

Once she managed to send off this overly enthusiastic group of relatives and friends, Qi Huang went to her hometown of Ping’an County and assimilated her family members there. Only then did she truly feel at ease.

Over the next three years, Qi Huang did not return to the Immortal Realm. Instead, she continued developing colony planets and growing crops in the Cultivation Realm. With ample Assimilation Power at her disposal, expanding her colonies was much easier as she didn’t even need to worry about loyalty. She could just assimilate minds directly.

Three years later, Qi Huang finally brought Cheng Hongling with her to break through the spatial barriers and return to the Immortal Realm. She was ready to return the evil spirits she had collected to their families… Of course, only in exchange for a fee.