Chapter 857 – I’m best at acting
Qi Huang watched with her arms crossed, leisurely observing. The materials used to make the storage ring were extremely hard, which is why she often used it as a protective charm. How could a cultivator at the Huashen realm shake it?
“Clang, clang, clang…”
As expected, sparks flickered intermittently. Fairy Yuan’s breathing became heavy, and she eventually had to pause her attack due to exhaustion. Her fair jade-like hands trembled almost imperceptibly.
“Fairy Yuan? How is it? Can’t you break it?”
The girl beside her asked with anticipation.
“Don’t worry, I will definitely break it.”
Fairy Yuan gritted her teeth and, after a visible effort, gathered her True Qi to slash again. As the burden increased, sweat poured down her face. The red beauty mark on the right side of her nose was dampened, giving her a certain charm. Unfortunately, this was also the reason she was captured.
Qi Huang felt a pang of reluctance and began to ponder how she should deal with these girls.
After much thought, Qi Huang had two options. The first was to leave them be and let them accompany her to see that demon. The advantage of this was saving effort, but the disadvantage was that she couldn’t guarantee their safety once they reached the Immortal Realm. The second option was to immediately find a way to rescue these girls, thus avoiding implicating others but potentially alerting the enemy.
Weighing the pros and cons, Qi Huang ultimately decided that rescuing the girls now was the better course of action, as she had no idea what dangers awaited her in the Immortal Realm.
Just as Qi Huang was about to make a move, she heard the voices of Deputy General Guo and Wei Zhuo outside, their discussion gradually becoming audible.
“Deputy General Guo, what is my lord’s strength?” Wei Zhuo asked.
“Why are you asking this?” Deputy General Guo replied impatiently.
“Alas, I just feel that General Sha died a worthless death. I wonder if my lord can avenge him.” Wei Zhuo said with feigned sincerity. In reality, he cared more about whether his own grievances could be avenged, as Qi Huang had exposed his zombie identity outside the Immortal Alliance gate, which had been bothering him ever since.
“You should worry more about whether we can even see my lord,” Deputy General Guo said with a wry smile.
“What do you mean?” Wei Zhuo was confused.
“The journey from Kaiyuan Star to Wuheng Star, where my lord resides, is very long and requires passing through several teleportation gates. My lord has a rule that each unit can only use these teleportation gates to return after collecting a hundred Mole Girls. We only have a few dozen Mole Girls in hand. If we don’t find a way, we’ll have to keep drifting outside,” Deputy General Guo shook his head helplessly.
“Why do we need to collect a hundred Mole Girls to use the teleportation gate?” Wei Zhuo asked with confusion.
Qi Huang, inside the storage ring, also temporarily abandoned her plan to act and decided to understand the situation first.
“The reason is very simple. Activating the teleportation gate requires a large amount of gold True Qi, and among us evil spirits, there are no immortals who can use gold True Qi. Therefore, we can only purchase Qi Gathering Talismans at a high price. If people were allowed to use them indiscriminately, my lord would have gone bankrupt long ago,” Deputy General Guo explained.
Hearing this, Qi Huang suddenly understood. She had overlooked this issue. Activating the teleportation gate was indeed a considerable challenge for the evil spirits. To save expenses, increasing the usage requirements and reducing the number of uses was a reasonable course of action.
Having understood everything, Qi Huang no longer intended to make a move. After all, to see that demon, she would have to trouble the surrounding girls to take risks with her. If that demon was not eliminated, Kaiyuan Star would never know peace.
“Then what should we do?” Wei Zhuo asked, a little anxious.
“We’ll see on the way. If we find any, we’ll catch a few to make up the numbers. If not, we’ll have to ask the Ghost Tribe general guarding the teleportation gate for some flexibility,” Deputy General Guo said after a moment of thought.
“Can’t you contact my lord directly? If she knew about this, perhaps she could be flexible,” Wei Zhuo offered a suggestion.
“Heh heh, you think too highly of this general. With my strength, how could I possibly be qualified to contact my lord? And even if I were qualified, how would I contact her? With a Thousand Li Sound Transmission Device? Those things can only be used on a single star. Once the distance exceeds that, they are useless,” Deputy General Guo said to himself with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Uh…” Wei Zhuo was left speechless after hearing this.
“Clang, clang, clang…”
Inside the storage ring, Fairy Yuan was still biting her red lips, stubbornly slashing. The tiger’s mouth of her right hand had cracked, and blood stained the sword hilt.
The other girls also began to slash with the weapons Fairy Yuan had given them. Although they knew they were not strong enough, their survival instinct drove them to make repeated futile attempts.
“Stop hacking. You can’t break this storage ring; you’re just wasting your energy.” Qi Huang couldn’t bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to persuade them.
“We don’t need you to manage us. Even if I die of exhaustion, I will save you all. Otherwise, what will happen to everyone if the evil spirits leave Kaiyuan Star?” Fairy Yuan took a deep breath and picked up her long sword, slashing with renewed, albeit weak, effort. Her movements had become soft and powerless, and she could collapse at any moment.
“Even if you break this storage ring, what’s the use? With so many evil spirits outside, can we escape?” Qi Huang patiently reasoned.
“Then what do you suggest? If we don’t escape now, will we escape after we reach the evil spirits’ lair?” Fairy Yuan retorted.
“That’s right. Aren’t you a cultivator? Instead of speaking sarcastically there, you might as well help out.”
“Could you be the pampered daughter of some noble family? Are you still thinking of enjoying the fruits of others’ labor at a time like this?”
“I advise you to help quickly, otherwise, we will surely die once we reach the evil spirits’ lair.”
The girls all attacked Qi Huang verbally.
“No…” Qi Huang wanted to persuade them further but suddenly realized that doing so would only make these girls resent her. It would be better to pretend and put on an act.
Qi Huang then summoned an ordinary treasure sword and, following their example, began to hack at the inner wall of the storage ring. Of course, she was merely going through the motions, putting in no real effort, and the results were as expected.
Half an hour later, the evil spirit army arrived at the Imperial Capital. The journey was peaceful, with no cultivators coming to settle scores.
Qi Huang had already expected this. After all, with Wei Zhuo, the former Immortal Alliance Leader, in command of the evil spirit army, which cultivator would dare to cause trouble?
The evil spirits began to enter the teleportation gate one by one, letting out earth-shattering cheers.
Hearing the commotion outside, the girls in the storage ring became disheartened, slumping to the ground and sobbing.
Qi Huang, however, continued to hack mechanically. She wasn’t particularly good at anything, except for acting.
“There’s no need to hack anymore. The evil spirits have already left Kaiyuan Star.” Fairy Yuan couldn’t bear it any longer and turned to persuade Qi Huang.
“No, as long as we haven’t reached the evil spirits’ lair, I won’t give up,” Qi Huang replied with determination, her hands still moving.
The girls around looked at each other, their gazes towards Qi Huang softening considerably.
Qi Huang was extremely satisfied; this was the effect she wanted.
“Keep hacking. I’ll say this upfront: I don’t have any human food here. Let’s see what you’ll use to replenish your energy then,” another evil spirit couldn’t bear it either and started to mock her.
“I don’t need you to manage me; even if I die of exhaustion, I will save everyone,” Qi Huang replied powerfully.
Hearing this, the girls around began to show admiration in their eyes.
Fairy Yuan also began to see Qi Huang in a new light, but she felt that something was amiss. After careful consideration, she suddenly realized that this person seemed to be reciting the lines she had just spoken.
Qi Huang continued to hack all the way. Even though her physical strength had reached the Shentong Realm, sweat still beaded on her forehead. She began to complain inwardly, wondering why no one was stopping her.
“Stop hacking!” Fairy Yuan finally couldn’t stand it anymore and walked over to snatch Qi Huang’s sword.
Qi Huang let out a long sigh and then took the opportunity to use the situation to her advantage.
Fairy Yuan knitted her brows and then took out a fragrant handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Qi Huang’s forehead.
Qi Huang felt flattered and thought that the effort of her acting had finally paid off.
Another half an hour passed, and the evil spirit army finally emerged from the teleportation gate.
“Deputy General Guo, quickly retract the teleportation gate, otherwise, it will be bad if that Zhong Zhen chases after us,” Wei Zhuo reminded him urgently.
“I understand,” Deputy General Guo casually replied and then retracted the teleportation gate.
“Captain Zeng, release those Mole Girls. They are our pass to enter the teleportation gate for Bone Cold Star,” Deputy General Guo then instructed the evil spirit controlling the storage ring.
“Yes, General!” The evil spirit named Zeng Xiao respectfully accepted the order and then enveloped Qi Huang and the other dozens of Mole Girls with his Spiritual Sense, dragging them out of the storage ring.
