Volume 14, Chapter 920 – Want to Escape? Too Late

Qi Huang was well aware that, while she was powerful, she was ultimately no match for Lu Hong. Being caught by him was only a matter of time. Moreover, with her Assimilation Qi now exhausted, she feared she wouldn’t be so lucky the next time.

Cheng Hongling also understood the dire situation they were in. That was why she kept pushing herself to the edge of life and death. Her efforts had not been in vain. Twenty-one heart fragments had already been fused into her body. Yet, she had no intention of stopping there.

“How many heart fragments’ killing intent do you think it would take to deal with Lu Hong?”

Qi Huang couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know, and I don’t need to know. My target isn’t him, it’s my own limit.”

Cheng Hongling’s eyes were resolute as she responded. She knew that her enemies extended far beyond just Lu Hong.

“An Xuan, you used to follow the path of… the ancestor. You must have an idea, right?”

Qi Huang turned her head toward An Xuan, asking uneasily.

“Young Mistress, I examined the killing intent stored within those heart fragments earlier. The mistress’ main body would need to fuse at least twenty-five pieces to decisively defeat that man.”

An Xuan gave a precise number.

“Twenty-five pieces, huh!”

Qi Huang immediately made a bitter face.

“After all, the Master has been dead for a hundred thousand years. Most of the killing intent has already dissipated.”

An Xuan quickly added in explanation.

“No need to worry. I can do it. I was going to fuse them eventually, so why not finish it all at once?”

Though Cheng Hongling looked exhausted, her eyes remained as firm as ever.

“Then it’s settled… twenty-five pieces. Don’t you dare sneak in thirty! If you lose control, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Rеαⅾ on КαtRеаdіոgCαfе

Qi Huang repeatedly reminded her.

Cheng Hongling didn’t answer, clearly having her own plans.

Qi Huang fell silent as well. She knew she needed to figure out another way to survive. If Lu Hong appeared again, they’d have no chance of fighting back.

She returned home and pulled out all the treasures she’d collected over the years, hoping to find something useful among them.

After pacing back and forth for a while, her eyes finally locked onto a pile of broken armor. She had obtained it after killing the Ziji Immortal Emperor. It was said to be forged from fragments of the Heavenly Stele, capable of taking on many forms.

“If this really is from the Immortal Stele, it should be able to block Lu Hong’s attacks… right?”

Qi Huang speculated. After all, the Ziji Immortal Emperor had once boasted that this thing could withstand attacks from late-stage Heavenly Immortal Realm experts.

With no better options, Qi Huang decided to treat this as a last resort. She would find a way to make use of it somehow… There was nothing else she could count on.

She studied the battle armor fragments and quickly realized how indestructible they were. They were impossible to refine. If she hadn’t used the spatial rift to cut through them back then, she never would’ve broken it.

Having no solution on her own, she went to the cultivation room to consult Feng Jiu’an.

“I’d almost forgotten you had that thing.”

Feng Jiu’an’s beautiful eyes lit up when she heard the situation. “Though it’s only a small fragment of the Heavenly Stele mixed with other materials, it’s still indestructible. It could very well withstand several attacks from a late-stage Heavenly Immortal Realm expert.”

“But it’s shattered into a bunch of pieces now. I can’t refine it, so I can’t use it at all.”

Qi Huang spoke with some frustration.

“That Stele fragment originally belonged to one of Weixin Immortal Emperor’s ancestors. If you want to refine it, there’s only one way: fuse the blood of his direct descendants into flame and use that to smelt it.”

Feng Jiu’an offered the solution.

“So you’re saying I have to go to the Immortal Realm? But that old bastard is hot on my heels. How can I just leave everyone behind and run off on my own?”

Rеαd оո ΚatReαԁiոgСαfе

Qi Huang frowned.

“Young Mistress, leave this to me.”

An Xuan stepped forward thoughtfully to take on the task.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you with it.”

Qi Huang said apologetically. An Xuan was stronger than she was, and naturally the best candidate for the job.

“It’s my duty to ease your burdens, Mistress. Besides, this is also for my own survival.”

An Xuan replied properly, without the slightest hint of arrogance.

Qi Huang then opened a spatial rift and, after countless warnings and instructions, sent An Xuan off to the Immortal Realm.

A few days later, An Xuan returned. With her formidable strength, acquiring a few drops of blood from the descendants of Celestials was no challenge. It wasn’t like she needed actual Celestial blood.

Qi Huang was overjoyed and, under Feng Jiu’an’s guidance, began refining the armor fragments.

“So, what are you going to do with it? Make armor or a weapon?”

Feng Jiu’an asked, watching as the fragments of Heavenly Stele armor melted into molten metal.

“Why can’t I do both?”

Qi Huang’s eyes burned with ambition. Ever since she entered the Immortal Realm, her old weapons and magical tools had been less and less effective. She had long been wanting to replace them with something new.

“Sure, but if you do that, the power of the Stele fragments will be diluted. Whether or not it can still block Lu Hong’s attacks… well, who knows.”

Feng Jiu’an smirked slightly.

Qi Huang sighed and shook her head. The fire in her eyes slowly cooled.

Rеаԁ on KatRеаԁiոɡCαfе

“With your current strength, if you face Lu Hong without any kind of life-saving treasure, you’ll likely be killed instantly the moment you meet. So I recommend using it to forge armor, not a weapon. Let’s be honest, you probably won’t even get the chance to fight back.”

Feng Jiu’an said bluntly.

“Then just armor it is!”

Qi Huang made her decision right away.

She then entrusted the task to a group of highly skilled blacksmiths from the Dao Alliance, personally overseeing the creation of her desired armor.

Meanwhile, Cheng Hongling continued fusing the heart fragments without pause. Twenty-two. Twenty-three…

Though the Fengxiang Bow helped suppress them, its power ultimately did not belong to her. A considerable amount of Yin energy continued to leak out. As a result, she had to rely on her own cultivation to suppress it, which only increased the strain on her body.

“Remember, no matter what happens in the future, you must not remove the Fengxiang Bow from your heart. If you do, the heart fragments will immediately consume you. Understand?”

Feng Jiu’an warned sternly.

“I understand.”

Cheng Hongling nodded solemnly. She knew that with her cultivation alone, there was no way she could suppress more than twenty of Lu Yao’s heart fragments.

Under Qi Huang’s supervision, the blacksmiths worked in concert. In just five days, they completed a suit of silver female armor. The speed was only possible because she didn’t care about appearance, only safety, so the result looked more like a walking iron bucket.

With that, Qi Huang finally had some means of self-preservation. But what about her companions? She couldn’t guarantee that lunatic wouldn’t lash out at innocent people. If he gave up chasing her and went after others, it would be a disaster.

So Qi Huang began pondering another solution. A moment later, her eyes lit up: “Since the Celestial Star Chart can only monitor planet-level movements, I could secretly relocate our companions from these two planets to other planets along the route. Wouldn’t that keep them safe?”

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She immediately went to the cultivation room and shared her plan with the three women beside her.

“That’s a good idea. The Celestial Star Chart can only monitor celestial bodies, not tiny individuals.”

Feng Jiu’an’s eyes sparkled.

Rеаⅾ οո KαtRеаdiոgCαfе

“What about you?”

Cheng Hongling asked anxiously.

“Me? I’ll continue using the two planets as bait. Once I’ve gone far enough, I’ll toss them aside and let them serve as decoys, then return to fetch you all. Let that old bastard fall for it.”

Qi Huang grinned with pride.

The three women nodded repeatedly in agreement, praising Qi Huang’s cleverness.

Qi Huang lapped up the praise and immediately summoned her top experts to gather all humans and ghostfolk on the two planets. They began secretly migrating them to other planets along the path.

The entire operation took five full days to complete. Afterward, Qi Huang prepared to take the two planets and continue her escape.

“You must come back safely.”

At their parting, Cheng Hongling reminded her.

“I’ll come with you, Young Mistress.”

An Xuan offered, worried.

“Don’t worry. I’m just laying bait, not risking my life.”

Qi Huang declined gently, then took the two planets and set off. To ensure everyone’s safety, she planned to travel far before tossing them out as decoys.

But reality has a way of mocking caution. When she entered the third star system, her Divine Sense caught a trace of Lu Hong… and he had already locked onto her. Trying to run… was already too late.

At that very moment, Cheng Hongling had only just begun fusing the twenty-fifth heart fragment. She needed more time.

Qi Huang realized her plan had failed. All she could do now was stall for time. She abandoned the two planets and fled for her life.