Since you are already cheating, I guess there’s no reason for me to hold back. Zhang Xuan chuckled softly beneath his breath.
If they had adhered to the rules, he would have still thought twice about helping Qi Ling-er. In a sense, this was a personal grudge between the two of them, and he did not think that it was right for an outsider like him to get involved.
So, even though the outcome would affect him as well, he was willing to accept it.
However, since Qi Xun-er and Qi Yue were already cheating in this duel, he had no intention of letting Qi Ling-er fend for herself.
While it would be difficult to pull any strings before a God King, that did not mean that Zhang Xuan had absolutely no way of doing it at all.
Even though it has been a while since she ate the Beauty Pill, she probably hasn’t managed to fully assimilate the Heaven’s Path zhenqi I infused inside it.
He carefully focused his consciousness toward Qi Ling-er’s body, and soon, he felt a slight connection with the zhenqi in her body. It was flowing alongside her divine energy in her meridians.
Qi Ling-er had consumed a Beauty Pill back when they were still at Twilight City’s underground market. Back then, he had given it to her so that he would be able to deal with her if she betrayed him.
Who could have thought that this surge of zhenqi would become their trump card to dealing with Qi Xun-er and Qi Yue?
Through this surge of zhenqi, Zhang Xuan would be able to guide Qi Ling-er much more efficiently than a worm could, and more importantly, it was so discreet that it was impossible to see through.
Hu hu!
Under Zhang Xuan’s control, the Heaven’s Path zhenqi slowly circulated around Qi Ling-er’s body through a certain pathway, tearing down all blockages and bottlenecks in its path.
Qi Ling-er had been utterly lost a moment ago, such that she had nearly resigned herself to a despairing defeat against Qi Xun-er, but the abrupt changes within her body made her eyes glow in excitement.
She had no idea why she suddenly experienced such changes in her body, but her intuition as a cultivator told her that as long as she channeled her divine energy through the opened circulation pathway, she would be able to master the battle technique!
Many of the issues that she had faced in the battle technique over the past hour would be resolved as well, granting the battle technique far greater might than before.
Tzzzzzzz!
Qi Ling-er swiftly drove her divine energy through the newly-opened circulation pathway, and amazingly, she felt her comprehension of the battle technique surging at a ridiculous rate. It was as if someone was guiding her step by step, allowing her mastery to rise all the way to Major Accomplishment in an instant.
She was excited by the changes that were happening to her, but she concealed her emotions impeccably under a mask of anxiety.
“Hmm?”
Her act might be able to fool Qi Xun-er, but it was insufficient to deceive the God King sitting before her. The middle-aged man was slightly bewildered to see the confused young lady from a moment ago suddenly grasping the battle technique.
He was well aware that it was no easy feat to resolve the flaws in his battle technique to make it feasible to practice. It would really take great brilliance in order to do so…
I reckon she has only grasped the preliminary crux of my battle technique. She probably is some way off mastering it.
He glanced at the incense by the side and raised his hand. “Time’s up!”
Qi Ling-er and Qi Xun-er rose to their feet at the same moment.
“Begin,” he ordered.
Qi Xun-er took a look at Qi Ling-er’s state, and she could not help but smile gleefully when she saw the cold sweat dripping down Qi Ling-er’s face.
She had been trying to quash Qi Ling-er and her lineage for some time, but that was much easier said than done. The Qi Clan would not allow her to do anything that would compromise their reputation, so she could not make a move on Qi Ling-er and her lineage too openly.
She needed a legitimate reason if she wanted to take them down.
Right now, Qi Ling-er had openly defied the orders of the clan head. Even though neither of them had acknowledged the earlier duel, it was implied that Qi Ling-er would be severely punished if she won the duel.
This was to uphold the clan’s dignity and the legitimacy of the clan rules.
Otherwise, if everyone in the Qi Clan neglected their responsibilities and did as they pleased, what would become of them?
“This battle technique is simply too complicated. It’s hard to achieve anything significant within an hour. Clan head, if you could just give me another hour, I will be able to reinforce my understanding of the technique…” Qi Ling-er gritted her teeth in desperation.
“The time given to us was an hour’s time. Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for you to ask for an extension? Cut the cr*p and get ready for battle!” Qi Xun-er sneered coldly.
She earnestly believed that Qi Ling-er was trying to postpone the battle out of fear.
On the other hand, seeing how Qi Xun-er had fallen for such a shallow ploy, the middle-aged man could not help but sigh in disappointment.
Due to her close relations with Qi Yue, he had thought that Qi Xun-er was a talented individual who could become a pillar of support for the Qi Clan in the future. However, it seemed like she was still very lacking.
She allowed her pride to blind her, causing her to be so easily deceived by the other party.
But again, it was not surprising for Qi Xun-er to underestimate Qi Ling-er. The two of them had grown up together, so they were well-aware of each other’s capabilities.
Furthermore, despite being someone who was able to persevere for an hour in the Lucid Lunar Lake, she was unable to comprehend the crux of the test until the very end.
It was only natural for her to assume that the situation would be worse for Qi Xun-er.
It was based on this confidence that she dared to take up Qi Ling-er challenge in the first place.
“Begin!” the middle-aged man ordered.
Qi Ling-er closed her eyes and sighed deeply before turning to the middle-aged man to request, “Clan head, please inspect our cultivation.”
Soon, both of their cultivation levels had been suppressed to the same level. Even the amount of divine energy they had in their bodies had been adjusted to the same amount.
Hu!
After was done, Qi Xun-er unhesitatingly leaped forward and rained down a flurry of palm strikes upon QI Ling-er.
“Not bad!”
Seeing this, the middle-aged man nodded in approval.
Qi Xun-er had managed to leap out of the limitations of the battle technique that he had given her and altered it to improve its might drastically. Even though it still paled far in comparison to what he had come up with, this was still a sign of Qi Xun-er’s talent.
After that, the middle-aged man turned his gaze to Qi Ling-er, and his eyebrows immediately leaped up in shock.
“This…”
He had just witnessed something that had left him flabbergasted.
Qi Ling-er had not finished executing her attack yet, but just by looking at the circulation pathway of her divine energy, he could tell that she had managed to modify the battle technique to a level that even surpassed what he had come up with!
It was just a simple modification, but it ingeniously turned a second-rate battle technique to an unparalleled secret manual that even he had trouble understanding.
How did she manage to do it?
Pah!
A sound reminiscent of the cracking of a whip echoed in the air.
The confident Qi Xun-er was struck squarely on her cheek, causing her body to spin in the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
“You have lost.”
Qi Ling-er did not continue her attack after subduing Qi Xun-er in a single move. She placed her hands behind her back and gazed down on Qi Xun-er haughtily.
Years of being oppressed by Qi Xun-er had filled her with rage and indignation. Finally, she had a chance to give that darned wench a tight slap to her face!
“You…” Qi Xun-er was stupefied.
She had thought that she could easily deal with Qi Ling-er with the battle technique her older brother had imparted to her, but she had ended up being blasted away by the other party instead!
Had the other party not been struggling over the battle technique earlier?
How in the world did she manage to master it to such a degree?
That was impossible!
Watching everything through the worm in Qi Xun-er’s body, Qi Yue frowned, too.
As the top genius of the Qi Clan, he could tell just how terrifying Qi Ling-er’s slap was.
It was still the same battle technique that the clan head had imparted to them… but how did Qi Ling-er manage to modify it so ingeniously? Not even the God King realm clan head would have been able to improve the battle technique to such a level!
Could it be… the old ancestor?
Is this a warning from the old ancestor? He’s displeased by our internal conflict, so he’s using Qi Ling-er to warn us not to go too far? Qi Yue thought as he felt a cold chill running down his spine.
There was only one person in the Qi Clan who could possibly modify the battle technique to such a degree, and that was Old Ancestor Qi Meng!
If the old ancestor was really getting involved in this matter, they would have to rethink their plans.
While Qi Yue had fallen deep in thought, Qi Xun-er finally recovered from her shock. Her pale face swiftly flushed crimson with rage as she furiously roared, “You bitch! You aren’t using the battle technique that we were given at all. I’ll slaughter you!”
Without any warning, she released her seal and charged right toward Qi Ling-er.
She could not stand the humiliation of being slapped by a person who was so much weaker than her!
Astonished, Qi Yue quickly snapped out of his thoughts and leaped into the hall to stop Qi Xun-er. “What are you doing? Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?”
This duel was conducted before the clan head himself. Questioning the result of the duel was no different from questioning the clan head’s judgement.
They would only be incurring the clan head’s ire at this rate.
“Brother, I have known this bitch for many years, and there’s no way someone of her caliber could have comprehended that battle technique and modified it to such an extent! There’s no way that bitch could have done it!” Qi Xun-er roared indignantly.
Even though she would never admit it to herself, she had always viewed Qi Ling-er as her rival subconsciously, and she knew very well that the latter did not possess such capability!
Qi Ling-er was a wily fox, but her talent in cultivation was far beneath hers. The Lucid Lunar Lake had already shown so!
QI Ling-er should have been nothing before her!
Not to mention, she had even used the battle technique that her older brother had personally modified!
Seeing the disgraceful act that Qi Xun-er was putting on, the middle-aged man looked at her with utterly cold eyes as he spoke with the imposing authority of a God King. “You have already lost. Don’t embarrass yourself any further than this.”
Then, he turned to Qi Ling-er and said, “Demonstrate the battle technique that you have comprehended for me once more.”
“Yes, clan head.”
Qi Ling-er took a deep breath before executing the battle technique once more.
Hu hu hu!
Tremendous might was compressed together to an extreme degree, causing sonic booms to echo endlessly in the air.
“Incredible! This is truly incredible! I never would have thought that it’s possible to do something like this…”
The eyes of the middle-aged man were shining in amazement. It looked as if he could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Creating a good battle technique was not just about the arrival of a sudden bout of inspiration. More than that, the cultivator would have to review it again and again in order to perfect it.
The process was similar to a poet calligraphing a poem. Even the simplest detail could have rippling effects on the harmony and prowess of the entire battle technique.
The battle technique that Qi Ling-er had come up with was absolutely flawless. There was no fault that he could pick with it at all.
This was the first time that the middle-aged man had seen such a battle technique, so it was no wonder he was unable to curb his agitation.
Perhaps the key for him to get to greater heights might lie in this.
“Did you comprehend this battle technique yourself?” the middle-aged man asked.
To be honest, he found it hard to believe that Qi Ling-er really possessed such talent. There was no way the Qi Clan would have overlooked her if that was the case!
Even if Qi Ling-er was only able to persevere for fifteen minutes in the Lucid Lunar Lake, her very ability to create and refine techniques was enough to make her an even more likely candidate to become a God King than Qi Yue!
“Yes, I did,” Qi Ling-er replied.
She had no idea why her body had acted the way it did, but her instincts told her that Zhang Xuan had played a part in that. However, she also knew that Zhang Xuan was an extremely low-profile person, and he was unwilling to garner too much attention.
Thus, she could only admit to it.
“Not bad. Not bad at all!” The middle-aged man nodded excitedly.
“Thank you, clan head,” Qi Ling-er replied respectfully.
Then, she turned to Qi Xun-er and asked, “Is there anything else you have to say about this?”
Qi Xun-er clenched her fists indignantly, but faced with her older brother’s stern gaze, she could only swallow her pride and reply, “I have nothing to say…”
Qi Xun-er was hot-headed, but she was not dumb. Even without Qi Yue holding her back, she could tell that the tides were no longer in her favor. Qi Ling-er had won the clan head’s approval, and there was nothing that she could say to change that.
With this, Qi Ling-er’s rise in the clan was sealed.
Qi Ling-er turned to the middle-aged man and clasped her fist. “Clan head, as you have seen, Qi Xun-er bears great hostility toward me, and she tried to use this matter to fulfill her own personal vendetta. Since I have won the battle, I think that it’s only right for me to hold the bet against her.”
“The bet was nothing more than a passing remark. There’s no need to take it seriously,” the middle-aged man said with a wave of his hand, signaling that he was done with this issue.
Then, he added, “It must have been hard for you, having to fend for yourself in Twilight City all these years. From today, you need not go back. You shall manage our clan’s Lucid Lunar Market instead.”
Those words made Qi Xun-er’s face pale further.
The Lucid Lunar Market was one of the Qi Clan’s business in Royal City. All along, it had been managed by her, but the clan head was actually handing it over to Qi Ling-er. That was no different from taking back her authority!
In the end, the clan head was still punishing her for this matter!
She had expected to win the duel with her older brother’s help, but somehow, things had ended up differently.
She felt as if she had placed her face out for Qi Ling-er to stomp on.
