From Cold Palace Princess to Celestial Empress Ch. 21
After a long period of comforting, the civilians who had been imprisoned for so long gradually regained their senses and expressed their endless gratitude to the two women.
“Thank you, heroines, for saving us. We are forever in your debt!”
Xiao Minghuang waved her hand and said:
“It was nothing. You don’t need to be so grateful. Go home and live your lives!”
Next, Xiao Minghuang led everyone out of the stone building and was about to continue forward.
Suddenly.
Her delicate brows furrowed as she sensed a hidden presence lurking in a corner.
“Miss Lin, take them back inside first. Don’t come out until I call for you.”
Lin Wanqiu, being thoughtful and perceptive, immediately understood her meaning. After bringing the civilians back inside, she looked at her with some concern and reminded her:
“Be careful not to hurt yourself.”
Xiao Minghuang’s lips curled slightly, her eyes revealing a mix of mockery and nonchalance as she gazed at a dark corner, saying lightly:
“He’s not worthy!”
Before the words had fully left her mouth.
A burly figure emerged from the darkness, reeking of blood, as if he had just come from a massacre.
“You’ve killed all my brothers. Isn’t that a bit excessive?”
The speaker was the leader of the evil cultivators, exuding the aura of the fourth level of Qi Refining, with a formidable killing intent.
He had just returned from a raid outside and, upon seeing the corpses in the cave, initially thought that the court had sent experts to secretly eliminate them.
But after some investigation, he found that it was just a young girl at the fourth level of Qi Refining.
However, he had just survived a fierce battle with the guards of Beiyang City and was extremely weak, so he had no desire to engage in a life-and-death struggle with the young girl before him.
But Xiao Minghuang thought differently. She spoke lightly:
“Excessive? Since you dared to appear before me, you should be prepared to die.”
The leader of the evil cultivators’ expression changed, knowing that today’s matter would not end well. He bluffed, saying coldly:
“Both at the fourth level of Qi Refining, you’re just a young girl who hasn’t even grown up. What makes you think you can fight me?”
“I’ll give you a chance. Hand over all your spirit stones and pills, and get out of the cave, and you might live!”
Hearing this, Xiao Minghuang raised her hand, golden light flickering at her fingertips, her gaze filled with disdain as she looked at the leader of the evil cultivators.
“With your level, are you even worthy?”
At these words, the leader of the evil cultivators could no longer hold back. He made a decisive move, striking first with a loud roar.
“Blood Wave Surges to the Heavens!”
Four swirling vortexes of energy manifested above his body, rapidly drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy from heaven and earth, conjuring a towering blood wave over ten feet high that surged towards Xiao Minghuang.
As the ferocious blood wave bore down upon her, a glimmer of light flickered in Xiao Minghuang’s pupils. Golden radiance shimmered at her fingertips as she swiftly formed a sword gesture with her fingers and slashed through the air.
“Seven Star Sword·Yaoguang!”
Xiao Minghuang’s crimson lips parted slightly as she softly chanted. The golden radiance condensed into a dazzling thread, carrying with it an overwhelming and resplendent sword aura. In an instant, it cleaved through the blood wave and continued its trajectory towards the leader of the evil cultivators.
The blood wave, cultivated over many years, was effortlessly severed. The might of the Yaoguang Sword instilled fear in the heart of the evil cultivator leader. Instinctively, he gathered all his spiritual energy into his palms, attempting to deflect the sword light.
Hum!
The moment the sword light made contact with his palms, a dull sound abruptly rang out.
The starlight extinguished, yet Xiao Minghuang’s expression remained unchanged.
The evil cultivator leader’s face turned deathly pale. Blood gushed from his wrists, now severed cleanly, leaving them empty.
“This… this is impossible?!”
He had cultivated the Blood Wave Palm for many years, with nearly all his techniques concentrated in his hands. Even when facing a fifth-level Qi Refining expert, he had believed he could hold his own.
Yet, this seemingly delicate young girl before him had effortlessly severed his palms with a single finger.
Such power was utterly terrifying!
“Who exactly are you? How can you be so powerful even though we’re both at the fourth level of Qi Refining?!”
He trembled all over, his gaze fixed on Xiao Minghuang, filled with disbelief.
Xiao Minghuang spoke indifferently:
“I am the Ninth Princess of the Great Xia Imperial Family, sent to Beiyang City to eradicate the rampaging evil cultivators.”
The Yaoguang Sword is the first stance of the 《Seven Stars Sword Technique》, harnessing the power of the Yaoguang Star, its might is extraordinary.
However, in this starless cave, its effectiveness was significantly limited. Moreover, Xiao Minghuang did not have any magical treasures in hand, so its power was greatly diminished.
Even so, it was more than enough to defeat the leader of the evil cultivators.
Xiao Minghuang’s eyes flickered, and four large whirlwinds of spiritual energy appeared around her body. She raised her palm again, golden light floating at her fingertips, and with her fingers together like a sword, she slashed out.
This sword strike was incomparably sharp, its momentum not only not weaker than before but even stronger by three parts.
Facing the incoming starlight sword shadow, the leader of the evil cultivators was terrified, knowing he was no match. He turned to flee but was caught up by Xiao Minghuang, who pierced his skull with a single finger, killing him instantly.
After the leader of the evil cultivators died, Xiao Minghuang searched his body and found a storage bag containing the spirit stones they had plundered.
There were over a thousand in total, along with some low-level martial arts techniques, all of low-grade Yellow-tier, of little value.
Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly. These items were of no use to her, but having them was better than nothing, so she stored them all in the storage bag.
Notably, among these mediocre texts, she actually discovered a peculiar cultivation technique.
Calling it a cultivation technique isn’t quite accurate; it should be considered a secret art.
Its name was very plain, called “Dual Cultivation Technique.”
Xiao Minghuang flipped through it and saw two small figures performing various actions.
To her surprise, in the latter pages of this booklet, there was also a method for same-sex dual cultivation.
Xiao Minghuang eagerly flipped through, only to be greatly disappointed.
The scenes that should have been very exciting appeared awkward and unappealing due to the poor drawing skills, failing to evoke any sense of allure.
“This must be the evil technique practiced by the three demon heads. No wonder they were only at the Body Tempering Realm if they practiced such low-level techniques.”
Xiao Minghuang scorned the author of the secret art, tore off the previous chapters, and only kept the same-sex dual cultivation method, then stored it in the storage bag.
Additionally, she found a stack of letters in the storage bag, recording the communication between this group and a certain high-ranking figure in the Great Xia Empire.
“This is quite an unexpected gain.”
Xiao Minghuang murmured to herself, her eyes fixed in thought.
After finding nothing else of interest, she turned and returned to the stone building.
“Miss Lin, the matter has been resolved. We can leave now.”
Xiao Minghuang knocked on the door and spoke.
As her voice fell.
The door creaked open, and Lin Wanqiu’s delicate face appeared before her. She glanced over her entire body; her dress was spotless, her hair neatly arranged, dignified and elegant, noble and transcendent, as if she hadn’t just experienced a bloody battle.
“Did the leader of the evil cultivators return?”
Xiao Minghuang nodded.
“Yes, but I’ve already killed him.”
Hearing this, a trace of shock flashed in Lin Wanqiu’s eyes.
“The leader of the evil cultivators was a martial artist at the fourth level of Qi Refining. My father sent out the guards multiple times to encircle and suppress them, but they were never able to capture him. And yet, Miss Xiao managed to eliminate him?”
Xiao Minghuang had no intention of taking credit for the deed and spoke truthfully, “Before I fought him, the evil cultivator seemed to have just gone through a fierce battle. His energy was unstable, and he had no will to fight, like a startled bird. That’s why I was able to defeat him so easily.”
Even so, even if the leader of the evil cultivators had been at his peak, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand a single strike from Xiao Minghuang.
But to Lin Wanqiu, these words carried a different meaning.
“A martial artist at the fourth level of Qi Refining couldn’t withstand a single strike from Miss Xiao… Miss Xiao is truly a celestial being!”
Praise made Xiao Minghuang somewhat embarrassed, her cheeks flushing slightly. She quickly changed the subject, “Since this matter is settled, let’s leave quickly!”
Lin Wanqiu nodded and then led the group of civilians out of the stone building. Everyone headed toward the cave exit.
Soon, they had left the cave.
Outside the cave, it was still night, pitch black.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they suddenly heard the sound of a large group of people approaching from not far away.
The footsteps were orderly, lined up in a row, as if they had undergone strict training. Moreover, each person emitting those footsteps exuded the aura of someone at the peak of Body Tempering.
One of them even had an aura as high as the fifth level of Qi Refining!
Xiao Minghuang’s expression changed. She had already made two moves in succession, and her spiritual energy was greatly depleted. She didn’t have many spirit stones left, making it difficult for her to continue fighting.
If these were more evil cultivators, what should she do?
Although she knew that Eunuch Wang had been secretly protecting her, if he were to intervene, the significance of this training would surely be diminished.
As she pondered, the footsteps gradually drew closer, and the figures finally came into view.
Xiao Minghuang took a step back, ready to flee at any moment.
But Lin Wanqiu, with a look of joy on her face, walked straight toward the footsteps and called out happily:
“Uncle Lin!”
Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu
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