Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan-Chapter 1980 - 1459: Disguise

But in the very next instant, Li Zhixuan’s body suddenly staggered, finally forcing her nearly dried-up body to take Han Tong’s Storage Magical Treasure, flying toward a nearby meteorite; then she slipped into it, her presence vanishing completely.

Soon after, a few Star Gods arrived together to investigate, hoping to pick up some leftovers.

Seeing the emptiness of the starry sky, with not even the usual meteors remaining, the group couldn’t help but inhale sharply, unable to believe what they saw before their eyes.

"The two Heavenly Immortals who fought here must have been extremely powerful and terrifying, otherwise such a scene would never have happened." One Star God spoke with lingering fear.

Fortunately, they hadn’t arrived too early. Otherwise, even being caught in the aftershocks of the battle would’ve put them at risk of injury or death.

In fact, not long after the great battle between Li Zhixuan and Han Tong erupted, they sensed the fluctuations. Right away, someone suggested hiding nearby, perhaps reaping the rewards as fishermen in the end.

But in the end, even more of them vetoed the idea, because even from a great distance, the force of the battle’s aftershocks still terrified them, making them afraid.

So all they could do was wait from afar, only carefully flying over after the intense spiritual energy fluctuations died down not long ago.

They’d thought they could seize something, but now it seemed they were overthinking—it left nothing behind for them in the battlefield.

Only some lingering, soon-to-dissipate traces of Demonic Qi and Sword Qi told them the identities of the combatants.

"Who do you all think won this clash between two Heavenly Immortals?"

Everyone had their own opinion about this question.

Overall, most felt that the Sword Cultivator was a bit stronger, but they also believed the battle had no winner—perhaps both sides were badly wounded.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Immortal Demon Battlefield—

Someone also raised the question, "Who do you think will win the battle between those two Heavenly Immortals?"

Most cultivators and Demon Cultivators believed that the Demon Cultivator Han Tong would defeat Li Zhixuan, since in earlier probes, his strength was clearly greater.

But since neither side’s Life Token had turned up, no one knew if they lived or died; the outcome still depended on personal guesswork.

Three months passed, and there was still no news of either party.

At that point, speculation arose that perhaps both had perished together, or Li Zhixuan, before dying, had grievously wounded Han Tong, who was now hiding somewhere to recover.

Still, this matter didn’t stir heated discussion among the crowd—it was like a small ripple, soon fading away.

Until a few days later, the still-pale Li Zhixuan returned to the Immortal Demon Battlefield!

At the moment she appeared before everyone, all were stunned, for this meant that the stronger Han Tong was most likely dead!

"It was actually her who emerged victorious?!"

Exclamations erupted among the crowd; this outcome was utterly unexpected for all of them!

Even those Heavenly Immortals hadn’t expected this to be the result.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, for slaying the Demon and resolving your karma." Only after a long while did a Heavenly Immortal step forward to offer congratulations.

Unexpectedly, Li Zhixuan shook her head and said, "You praise me too highly, Fellow Daoist. I did not succeed in killing him—rather, I narrowly escaped with my life. After this period of treatment, I’ve only recovered a bit of my strength."

She still wished to use this wave of calamity to completely settle her karma, but at a minimum, she would have to kill one or two more Heavenly Immortals, or even more Earth Immortals.

As for taking the lives of beings with much lower cultivation, even if she killed many, it would do her no good and instead bring heavy karmic force upon herself.

If not for such restrictions, this calamity would no longer be about clearing evil filth, but reduced to a massacre of low-level beings!

It was precisely because of this that Li Zhixuan chose to lie and feign an appearance of having her strength diminished.

The purpose was to draw Demon Heavenly Immortals to fight her!

At her words, several of the present Heavenly Immortals’ eyes flashed, as if hatching plots of their own.

Li Zhixuan noted all this, but she didn’t care whether her opponents were Demon Cultivators, Cultivators, or even creatures of the Alien Race; as long as she could repay her karma, that was enough.

"Fellow Daoist, you are still gravely wounded—why the rush? Why not wait until full recovery to return?" Another Heavenly Immortal, sensing something was off, asked, eyes locked on her face, searching for clues.

"During the great calamity, wounds are hard to heal. I also worry that if I take too long to recover, the calamity will end, so I hurried here, hoping to find a suitable way to resolve my karma."

As she spoke, worry and regret naturally appeared on her face; this was not her disguise, but simply what she truly felt, though it was different from what others thought.

So, until the very end, that Heavenly Immortal couldn’t detect a single flaw.

"For now, it seems the calamity still has some time before it ends. I’ll go recover for a few more days—farewell."

With a slight nod to the crowd, she then turned into sword light and vanished.

Since it was a pretense, she should play her role well, without revealing obvious flaws. It wouldn’t hurt to wait a few days more anyway.

...

Two flowers blossom, each with a branch—

In Shanhai State, atop Mount Wanxian—

The clan grounds, once bustling and prosperous, suddenly became much quieter due to the onset of the calamity.

Not because the Li family encountered any danger, but simply because clansmen went out in search of suitable targets to resolve their karma.