Chapter 23: Sorcery
As Zhao Erdong darted away, she snatched up a low stool and hurled it at Zhao Erqin. Without breaking stride, she scrambled to the other side of the room, her eyes darting toward her pursuer. Before the wooden stool could even get close to Zhao Erqin, it was shattered into splinters by the fierce gale of her palm energy.
Zhao Erdong clicked her tongue in silent awe. Zhao Erqin was only a second-rank warrior, yet her execution of such an advanced technique was already this formidable. If a third, fourth, or even fifth or sixth-rank expert were to unleash this martial art, what would it be like? And if she herself were to master this Mountain-Splitting Palm, what kind of power would she possess?
While she was lost in thought, Zhao Erqin closed the distance, her Mountain-Splitting Palm strike arriving in an instant.
With nowhere left to hide, Zhao Erdong had no choice but to brace herself, extending both palms to meet the blow head-on.
Everyone watching expected Zhao Erdong to be as good as dead. Even if she had begun to cultivate, she had only just started; what kind of progress could she possibly have made? The Mountain-Splitting Palm was immensely powerful, and few could rival it among those of the same rank, let alone a girl who had only just stepped onto the path of cultivation.
They waited to see Zhao Erdong collapse, waiting to see her crushed into a pulp.
However, while imagination is grand, reality is often harsh.
A sharp cry pierced the air, and a flying figure drifted to the ground like a leaf caught in an autumn gale.
With a heavy thud, the once overbearing girl now lay on the ground, her face etched with pain and terror. She stared in disbelief at Zhao Erdong, who remained standing exactly where she had been. "You... what kind of sorcery did you use?"
"Sorcery? If what I used is sorcery, then what of the Mountain-Splitting Palm you unleashed?" Zhao Erdong smiled brightly, though inside she let out a long sigh of relief. In that critical moment, she had forcefully broken the seal on the divine power deep within her soul.
With the divine power awakened, she had seemingly defeated Zhao Erqin with ease, shattering her bones. Only Zhao Erdong knew that this single strike had nearly exhausted every ounce of her internal energy. If anyone stepped forward now, she would be a sitting duck; she didn't even have the strength to flee. She merely forced herself to stand tall, maintaining an air of calm composure. She knew that these half-siblings were all cultivators themselves, and even if their achievements were inferior to Zhao Erqin's, it would be effortless for them to kill her now.
The plot had taken a massive turn—a reversal no one had ever imagined. Zhao Erqin, who had been coddled and adored like a star, had actually lost to a good-for-nothing, and the defeat was so humiliating that she likely wouldn't be able to leave her bed for months.
"Zhao Erdong, you’ve been cultivating in secret! How long have you been hiding this?" Zhao Erzhen, eager to curry favor with Zhao Erqin, rushed to her side and handed her a pain-relieving pill, voicing the very question Zhao Erqin was dying to ask.
"Cultivating in secret? Do I need to notify you whenever I choose to cultivate? Who do you think you are?" Zhao Erdong held her ground, her sharp tongue as biting as ever. She truly held these people in contempt.
"If there is anyone else who is dissatisfied, feel free to step forward. I, Zhao Erdong, will take you all on, one by one—or all at once, to save the trouble." Zhao Erdong’s icy gaze swept across everyone present. Their expressions were subtle; when they arrived, they had been arrogant and condescending, viewing her as nothing more than an ant.
Now, however, they were filled with shock and timidity, terrified that Zhao Erdong might turn her sights on them. Zhao Erqin’s fate was a grim reminder of what lay in store.