Chapter 926: A Strange Item Intimidates the Heavenly Venerate
"Want it?"
The words seemed to have been spoken by different people, each with a unique tone and cadence.
They echoed through the grand hall of the sect, lingering long after they were spoken.
It cast an even more sinister pall over the already bizarre scene.
Li Qing, however, showed not a trace of fear. "If the Heavenly Venerate dares to give it, then I dare to take it."
Senior Sister Zhao's laughter came to an abrupt halt.
Instantly, Li Qing felt as if tens of thousands of gazes were fixed upon her from every direction within the grand hall.
"A remnant of the Xuantian Sect..."
"Even if I were to give it to you, what of it? Do you truly believe you could walk out of my Great Dao Sect alive?"
Li Qing smiled faintly. "How will we know unless we try?"
The provocation in her words was palpable. Despite Li Qing's unusual behavior within the illusion, it seemed she had now truly enraged the One Heart Heavenly Venerate.
Beside Li Qing, the once-empty hall was suddenly filled with thousands of disembodied faces, materializing out of thin air.
Their expressions were varied, but every single one of them stared intently at Li Qing.
Then, from the void-like darkness beneath the faces, countless pale arms stretched out, grasping for her.
Li Qing was quickly swallowed by the tide of pale, grasping limbs.
It seemed she would vanish within the hall at any moment.
However...
A moment later, a cacophony of shrill screams erupted from the faces.
The screams were laced with terror, fear, and bitter resentment...
As if they had encountered something utterly terrifying on Li Qing's person, they scattered in every direction, retreating many times faster than they had advanced!
In the center of the hall, the placid expression of the teenage Senior Sister Zhao flickered with emotion for the very first time.
Crash!
Several stone pillars materialized out of thin air above Li Qing. They crashed down, forming a cage that imprisoned her within.
"On your person..."
"What is that thing?"
For the first time, a hint of apprehension laced the One Heart Heavenly Venerate's cold voice.
Li Qing smiled and retorted, "I was about to ask you the same thing, Heavenly Venerate. Do you have any idea what this might be?"
Silence fell over the great hall for a moment.
Then, the voice of the One Heart Heavenly Venerate spoke again. "I had my doubts about you being from the Xuantian Sect, but now... I'm starting to believe it."
"To dare place such a thing within your very soul..."
"What a pity. It seems we can no longer become one."
Li Qing smiled but did not answer.
She simply focused on the flickering, seven-colored sphere of light within her soul.
Ever since she had gained consciousness, this thing had been suppressed deep within her soul.
It was clearly something her original self had implanted when creating this clone.
The seven-colored sphere itself wasn't the point; what mattered was the object sealed within it.
Even with the barrier of divine, seven-colored light, Li Qing felt a constant sense of peril, like a sword dangling over her head.
It was easy to imagine, then, just how dangerous the sealed object must be.
Li Qing had no memory of this object, but she understood. The only reason her original self had dared to send her, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, to storm the Great Dao Sect alone was to wield this object as a threat.
Despite harboring such a terrifying object within her soul, Li Qing remained utterly fearless.
The thought was fleeting. Gazing at the young Senior Sister Zhao sitting ramrod straight before her, she spoke with a serious tone, "The Heavenly Venerate has already attained the Longevity stage. Those cultivation techniques are of no use to you now."
"But to us, the Xuantian Sect, they are of the utmost importance. Perhaps the Heavenly Venerate would consider doing us this favor? The Xuantian Sect would be sure to repay you handsomely in the future."
When the One Heart Heavenly Venerate remained silent, Li Qing hesitated for a moment before adding, "In truth, the Xuantian Sect is not unreasonable. If Your Eminence is willing to return our property to its rightful owners, we are prepared to offer fitting compensation."
"And I am quite certain that this is something Your Eminence will find very interesting."
Li Qing declared, her voice filled with confidence.
Silently, the thousands of faces that had retreated in fear crept forward once more.
"Compensation..."
The faces erupted in waves of grotesque laughter.
"The Xuantian Sect was destroyed a millennium ago. You're nothing but rats scurrying in the dark."
"What could you possibly possess that would interest..."
The voice cut off mid-sentence, and all the faces froze.
They were all staring at the golden light that had suddenly appeared in Li Qing's palm. Their expressions were frozen solid.
This place, the Great Dao Sect, was the very cornerstone of her ascent to the Longevity stage.
Though it still existed within the Xuanhuang Realm, it was effectively a pocket dimension, a realm within a realm, entirely under her command.
No disturbance, no shift in energy within the Great Dao Sect could escape her perception.
Yet, this golden light had appeared out of nowhere...
The One Heart Heavenly Venerate was certain the light did not originate from within Li Qing.
It came from beyond the Great Dao Sect!
It had somehow bypassed her control, coming and going as it pleased...
Sensing the energy contained within that golden light, ancient memories from the former elders of the Great Dao Sect surfaced in her mind.
Seeing Senior Sister Zhao's reaction, Li Qing knew her original self's gambit had paid off.
Thus, she declared in a ringing voice, "A momentary defeat does not mean an eternal one. Our dormancy over these years does not mean we will vanish into the river of history."
"'A centipede, long dead, still twitches.' How much more so for the legacy of a True Immortal?"
Li Qing announced, holding her head high.
Having obtained several techniques from the Xuantian Sect herself, Senior Sister Zhao knew all too well the terrifying depth of its heritage.
Just a few of their legacy techniques had been enough to elevate her to the rank of a Longevity Heavenly Venerate.
The true legacy of the Xuantian Sect had to be unfathomably profound.
More importantly...
Though it was said that the Ten Great Immortal Sects had joined forces to destroy the Xuantian Sect all those years ago...
...according to the secret records of the Great Dao Sect, the battle that led to its downfall had been exceedingly strange.
They had never intended to completely annihilate the Xuantian Sect in a single battle. Yet, in the midst of the fighting, their opponents had suddenly and inexplicably collapsed.
Crucially, the Xuantian King—a man hailed as a half-step True Immortal—had never even appeared on the battlefield that day.
That was why the battle had been won so easily.
The Ten Great Immortal Sects had suspected a conspiracy at the time.
Fearing the Xuantian King might return at any moment, they issued a kill-on-sight order for all surviving members of the sect.
The true purpose was to draw the hidden half-immortal out into the open.
Unexpectedly, it was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth, never to be seen in the Xuanhuang Realm again.
"The Xuantian Sect is rising from the ashes... Does this mean the Xuantian King will also return to the world of mortals?"
The question surfaced, unbidden, in the One Heart Heavenly Venerate's mind.
After all, the gray, mold-like substance and the golden light of faith she had displayed were clearly beyond the means of any ordinary cultivator.
The One Heart Heavenly Venerate did not dwell on it for long.
In her view, another troublemaker in the Xuanhuang Realm was not necessarily a bad thing.
The half-immortal stage was powerful, to be sure, but the Xuanhuang Realm was no longer what it once was.
Perhaps the return of this half-immortal could even bring about change, a new spark of life.
Within the grand hall, the thousands of pale, sinister faces staring at Li Qing vanished in an instant.
The gloomy hall was immediately flooded with light.
"The gift you brought... I like it very much," a voice, entirely different in tone from before, rang out.
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