Chapter 75: The Fifth Clone
“Hmph, your true colors are finally revealed. You always said assimilating her was for safety, but it seems it was all for selfish desires!” Cheng Hongling sneered.
“Don’t be so sarcastic. Who doesn’t crave freedom?” Cheng Ling retorted naturally.
“Freedom? Stop sugarcoating it! When I chose to cultivate you as a clone, I granted you a certain degree of freedom, yet you still chose to betray me.” Cheng Hongling shook her head.
“It’s your fault for being so useless back then, only giving me a pretty face. If that plan couldn’t be implemented, I’d have to return to the Sea of Consciousness once you sobered up,” Cheng Ling shot back. The plan she mentioned naturally referred to Cheng Hongling’s intention to join the Changhe Sect and cultivate a clone to protect the HongHua Sect.
“We are one person. You should know my personality. Since I promised to cultivate you as a clone, I will definitely do it. If one attempt fails, we’ll just try again. I never intended to imprison you forever,” Cheng Hongling’s expression remained as calm as ever.
“Another time? That’s easy for you to say. You’ve used up the clone quota for the Huashen Realm. To cultivate again, you need to reach the Shentong Realm. How long will that take? A hundred years? Two hundred years? Why would I wait?” Cheng Ling questioned.
“Time… cannot be your excuse for betraying me! I am the Life Soul, and you are the Linghui Soul. We should have worked together to cultivate against the heavens. Once our strength grew, you would naturally gain freedom. But you disregarded the bigger picture and did something detrimental to everyone, including yourself, for selfish desires. Your current predicament is not unjust,” Cheng Hongling’s face showed a hint of disappointment. She then instructed Qi Huang next to her, “Let’s go. No need to pay attention to her.”
“Heh heh, Qi Huang, do you think reaching the Heavenly Punishment Realm with your Spiritual Sense can completely solve the problem? Now that Huang Jin is neither male nor female, and most importantly, he betrays you from time to time and is beyond your control, do you dare to cultivate him as a clone?” Cheng Ling continued to mock her with ill intent.
Qi Huang frowned. She also realized the difficulty of the situation. If she cultivated that Huang Jin as a clone, she feared he would betray her. If she kept him in the Sea of Consciousness, with his effeminate appearance, she didn’t know if he would be seen through by Yin-Yang Eyes.
“Let’s go!” Cheng Hongling impatiently pulled Qi Huang out of her Sea of Consciousness.
“For now, stop dreaming and quickly cultivate the male soul in your Sea of Consciousness into a clone. Although there aren’t many Yin-Yang Eyes in the Cultivation World, you might encounter one someday,” Cheng Hongling immediately suggested.
“What about that Huang Jin? Just as Cheng Ling said, he has no control over his own thoughts. If he betrays us, the consequences are unimaginable,” Qi Huang sought her opinion.
“How about this: you first cultivate that Huang person into a clone. As for Huang Jin, keep him in the Sea of Consciousness for now. I’ll make time to inquire about Yin-Yang Eyes in the Cultivation World. Try to avoid them when you see them,” Cheng Hongling pondered for a moment, then added with some worry, “It’s just that the Cultivation World is vast and boundless. No one can guarantee that those famous ones on the surface are all the Yin-Yang Eyes.”
“Don’t worry, I only have Huang Ren as the male soul in my Sea of Consciousness. Cultivating him into a clone won’t take much time. Afterwards, I will continue to find a way to solve the assimilation in my dreams,” Qi Huang comforted her.
“What if a solution is never found, or what if Cheng Ling wasn’t lying, and this assimilation is irreversible?” Cheng Hongling asked.
“If Huang Jin is assimilated to this extent and can still be seen through by Yin-Yang Eyes, then I can only consider myself unlucky.” Qi Huang gave a self-deprecating laugh, then her expression turned serious. “However, with my growth rate, as long as I have another ten years, even if Yin-Yang Eyes see through it, so what? By then, whoever dares to scheme against us, I’ll kill as many as come, until they no longer dare to have evil intentions!”
“So, before that, I just need to keep a low profile. Since there are no Yin-Yang Eyes in the Xihui Dynasty, I’m here in the HongHua Sect every day. I don’t believe I’ll encounter any,” Qi Huang confidently made her decision.
“Want to keep a low profile? Then it depends on whether Elder Zuo can buy us ten years. Otherwise, once we go to the Lü Family, we’ll have to cross countless countries, and becoming a focus there is inevitable. We’ll be exposed 100% then,” Cheng Hongling’s face showed a hint of expectation.
“I think that old guy will do his best, after all, this concerns his granddaughter’s future,” Qi Huang was quite confident about this.
“Alright then, you proceed according to the plan. The task of stopping the assimilation will be left to me,” Cheng Hongling divided the responsibilities.
“How exactly are you going to stop the assimilation? You really can’t tell me?” Qi Huang couldn’t help but ask curiously again.
“No. Anyway, when the time comes, you just need to cooperate obediently with whatever I do,” Cheng Hongling remained tight-lipped.
“So secretive. It’s not like you’re doing something inappropriate for children, why the need for such secrecy?” Qi Huang couldn’t help but complain.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Hongling’s pretty face showed a faint blush upon hearing this.
Next, Qi Huang began to cultivate her fifth clone. Before that, she needed to inform Huang Ren in her Sea of Consciousness.
“Thank you, Big Brother… Thank you, Big Brother… Wuwu… I wanted to get out a long time ago!” Hearing the good news, Huang Ren was so excited that he burst into tears. Who knows what kind of life he’d been living in the Sea of Consciousness. When Huang Jin wasn’t betraying him, it was fine, but once he betrayed him, he became a target of female soul bullying. The harm was not great, but the insult was extreme.
Seeing this scene, Huang Jin beside him showed obvious envy on his face. However, knowing his own situation, he wisely kept quiet.
“Don’t be too envious. I will find a way to solve the assimilation as soon as possible, and you will also gain freedom soon,” Qi Huang comforted him, unable to bear it.
“Thank you, Big Brother!” Huang Jin’s expression improved slightly.
“And you guys too.” Qi Huang turned to the other souls and said, “See? This is the reward for following me. You still have a chance to turn back. There’s no need to follow Cheng Ling down a path to the very end. There’s no future in it.”
The six souls looked at each other, then completely ignored her.
“You are quite loyal to her, not even knowing who your Life Soul is.” Qi Huang taunted sarcastically, then left the Sea of Consciousness. She was becoming increasingly curious about that assimilation ability. If she could master it, she couldn’t even imagine it.
Qi Huang then began to cultivate a clone. She had decided that the task of this fifth clone would be to protect the HongHua Sect. Otherwise, every time she went out with Cheng Hongling, she had to find someone to guard their home, which was too much trouble.
Qi Huang spent a whole day cultivating the fifth clone. In fact, with her current strength, cultivating a clone shouldn’t take that long. The reason was that she had given Huang Ren the Spiritual Sense of peak Shentong Realm. Since he was going to guard their home, his strength naturally had to be sufficiently powerful.
“Is this what breathing feels like?” Huang Ren greedily took a breath of the fresh air of this world and felt his powerful strength again, bringing tears to his eyes.
“Happy now? You should be able to see that although those earlier clones enjoyed freedom earlier, due to my limited strength at the time, I couldn’t give them much. Although you are only enjoying freedom now, the strength you’ve gained far surpasses theirs. This is fairness,” Qi Huang reminded him.
“I understand, Big Brother! The suffering I’ve endured over the years was not in vain,” Huang Ren said, convinced.
“Very good. From today onwards, you will settle in the HongHua Sect as an ordinary person. Your main task is to protect the safety of this sect, especially when I go out,” Qi Huang issued the order.
“I guarantee the mission will be completed,” Huang Ren replied without thinking. Even if he stayed in the HongHua Sect for the rest of his life, it was far better than being confined in the Sea of Consciousness.
“Oh right, do I need to hide my identity as Huang Qi? After all, you have quite a few acquaintances in the HongHua Sect, such as Master, and my brothers He Chao and Liu Keqian,” Huang Ren asked for instructions after some thought.
“Try to keep it hidden. It’s too troublesome to explain,” Qi Huang replied after careful consideration. After all, in the eyes of those acquaintances, Huang Qi should be at home now and couldn’t possibly appear in the HongHua Sect, let alone as a clone.
“Understood. I will try to cover my face when I go out in the future. There are already over a hundred thousand people in the HongHua Sect. As long as I’m careful, I won’t easily run into acquaintances,” Huang Ren acknowledged the order.
…
Meanwhile, Elder Zuo had already arrived at the Wuyun Empire in Zhongzhou. In this vast country, there was an Immortal Sect even more powerful than the Lü Family. If he could successfully “sell” Cheng Hongling to the prodigies of that sect, then Lü Yi would be forced to withdraw, and his granddaughter’s crisis would naturally be resolved.
