Grumbling aside, Su Qing understood that the increasing number of demons meant the true enemy was starting to grow anxious.
She was well aware of this...
Consequently, seeing the demons surge forward, Su Qing did not hesitate. She formed a hand seal and dispatched the creatures one by one.
Of course, she did not forget to leave one or two for her dear daughter to practice on...
As it happened, Su Tingtong had just finished off her previous opponent. Su Qing wanted her to experience the pressure of continuous combat.
The girl was indeed a genius, but because she was a genius, there was all the more she needed to learn.
After Su Qing finished off the remaining batch of demons, she formed another hand seal and spat out several more streams of Samadhi True Fire to burn away the white mist.
Maintaining so much Samadhi True Fire consumed a vast amount of magic power, but she was not worried.
As a powerhouse in the Heavenly Immortal realm, Su Qing’s magic power was essentially inexhaustible. Therefore, she had no need to conserve it.
She only needed to focus on dealing with the white mist while continuing to pile pressure on the true enemy.
Sure enough, after Su Qing unleashed even more Samadhi True Fire, more demons emerged from the white mist, their strength steadily increasing.
She also felt the ground vibrating; something seemed to be charging toward them frantically.
And that wasn't all...
The enraged white mist began to surge toward her as well, attacking her with wild abandon.
However, the mist's attacks were not ordinary physical strikes; instead, it began to launch an assault on her mind.
When the white mist struck her, Su Qing felt no physical pain, only a faint force hitting her body—roughly enough to shatter a stone. In contrast, her mind felt a slight, recurring sting. She was certain that this thing’s capacity for mental damage far exceeded its physical threat.
Of course, even so, it did not pose a significant threat to her...
It was merely a nuisance.
With a little preparation, she could ignore it entirely.
Su Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air, then formed a seal to cast a spell that defended against mental attacks.
This spell didn't require much magic power; it only utilized Incense Power...
And Incense Power was the one thing Su Qing did not lack. She had as much as she could ever want.
Her store of Incense Power was immense, far exceeding her total magic power. Although she was still collecting it, she already had more than enough to transcend her tribulation. These extra reserves could be used freely.
With the Incense Power shielding her against the mental-attacking mist, the white mist was once again completely suppressed by Su Qing. It had no ability to fight back; its attempts to resist were almost laughable.
Next, Su Qing repeated her previous actions while keeping a close eye on the surroundings, trying to discern the location of the enemy's true body.
While everything was going smoothly for Su Qing, Su Tingtong had fallen into a bitter struggle. Dealing with two great demons of equal strength to herself was indeed becoming difficult.
While she wasn't on the verge of defeat, winning would clearly require a significant price.
Of course, if she felt she couldn't win, she could always tell Su Qing. With a single word, Su Qing would step in and resolve the two demon beasts.
However, Su Tingtong did not want to do that.
It wasn't out of a desire to show off, but because she truly had the ability to resolve the current enemies herself. Therefore, she couldn't let Su Qing intervene.
This was a test for herself. Su Qing’s presence wasn't to complete the test for her, but to serve as a safety net.
Thus, unless it was absolutely necessary, Su Tingtong would never call for help.
And so, the mother and daughters each attended to their own tasks as time slowly passed.
Su Qing gradually eroded more and more of the white mist, until the fog was no longer as dense as it had been before.
"It certainly knows how to keep its cool," Su Qing muttered, her lips twitching as she exhaled.
The hidden fellow still hadn't revealed many flaws, even now.
It continued to fight her, and hadn't even attempted to flee.
Su Qing couldn't help but marvel; this opponent was indeed quite interesting.
However, that admiration only lasted until a moment ago. It was time for this to end, so there was no further need for sentiment.
Why? Because as the white mist weakened, Su Qing had finally sensed where the true hidden enemy was.
She also understood why she hadn't been able to find it before, and why the creature hadn't fled.
In fact, she had been trapped in a misconception from the start.
She had assumed the enemy was hiding within the white mist, or perhaps buried deep underground beneath it.
In reality, her enemy was everywhere. They had encountered the enemy from the very beginning.
Yes, the enemy Su Qing had been searching for was the white mist itself.
The reason she hadn't noticed this was due to her habitual way of thinking; she had treated the white mist as a tool of the enemy rather than the enemy itself.
Of course, another reason was that the white mist hadn't directly attacked them at first. This made her subconsciously assume it was just a environmental effect created by someone else.
As for why the white mist didn't run away? That was even simpler. It didn't want to be discovered.
If the white mist had fled, it would have exposed itself immediately. To avoid discovery, it had used a fake body to deceive Su Qing after her arrival, rather than truly leaving.
It had thought that after Su Qing killed the fake, she would leave on her own. Who could have guessed that after killing the decoy, Su Qing wouldn't leave, but instead became even more enthusiastic in her search?
She had played along with it until now.
The white mist was helpless. Seeing that it was completely exposed, it decided to make a desperate final stand. Even if it was burned to nothing, it wanted to make Su Qing suffer at least a little.
The white mist, which had previously covered a vast area, suddenly converged into a sharp blade and slashed toward Su Qing. It seemed intent on cleaving her in two, or perhaps severing her spirit.
The momentum of this strike was incredibly powerful. Even Su Tingtong felt a slight tremor of fear from the pressure it exerted.
She couldn't help but shout, "Mother, get out of the way! This attack looks terrifying!"
Su Tingtong naturally cared most for her mother; she didn't want Su Qing to suffer any difficult-to-heal injuries from such an attack.
To Su Tingtong's surprise, Su Qing showed no intention of dodging. She merely turned her head with a smile and said, "Don't worry. This strike cannot harm me."
As she spoke, Su Qing condensed Incense Power in her hand and slashed at the white mist with her sword.
That single strike unleashed a massive, terrifying sword qi. With just one blow, even the clouds in the sky were split in two.
As for the white mist, it was instantly severed, losing all ability to fight back. Not only that, but Samadhi True Fire began to burn across its entire form at the same time.
But she wasn't done yet. To be safe, Su Qing also threw out an array plate to suppress the white mist, preventing it from escaping while she finished it off with the Samadhi True Fire.
"With this, the white mist should be dealt with," Su Qing said, stretching her neck and talking to herself. "Though it wasted quite a bit of time, the result seems decent enough... I just don't know if this truly settles the matter. If not, I suppose I'll have to stay busy for a while longer."
Su Qing watched the white mist ignite within her array and exhaled, feeling slightly relieved.
As for how to judge if the matter was truly over, the method was quite simple. She only needed to see if the black smoke clinging to the demons had vanished.
After witnessing this scene, Su Tingtong thought back to her own struggle against just two demon beasts. After a moment of silence, she walked to Su Qing's side and said, "Mother... it seems I indeed have much to learn."
Su Tingtong had actually been quite confident in her own strength. But after today's battle, that confidence had naturally diminished.
She realized that aside from her mother and the powerful immortals, there were still many enemies in the world that she could not easily resolve. Therefore, she needed to learn even more—whether in combat or in other areas.
Hearing this, Su Qing shifted her gaze from the white mist to Su Tingtong, looking at her with a hint of surprise.
After a moment, Su Qing smiled and rubbed the girl's head. "Mm, I know. But there's no need to rush; I will teach you slowly!"
She knew Su Tingtong had much to learn, which was exactly why she had brought her here and let her face two equal-strength enemies alone. It was to make her realize this, so she would work harder in the future. Now that the girl understood, Su Qing would naturally teach her well.
Hearing Su Qing's words, Su Tingtong smiled and said, "Mm, I will work hard too."
Su Qing rubbed her head again. "I believe in you... and I believe you will grow to be even more powerful soon. After all, my daughter is a genius."
Su Tingtong beamed with joy at the praise.
Yudie, in Su Qing's hand, spoke up. "Mother, I'm a genius too, right?"
"Uh... yes, you're a genius too. In a certain sense, that is certainly true," Su Qing said, rubbing her chin and nodding.
In some ways, the girl really was a genius. Although her genius didn't have much to do with combat, she was still a genius, wasn't she? As long as she was one, Su Qing could say she was. This also prevented the girl from getting jealous.
Seeing Su Qing affirm her, Yudie was incredibly excited, clearly feeling that Su Qing had praised her as being the same as Su Tingtong.
Su Qing didn't bother to explain further, merely chuckling.
Su Tingtong turned her gaze back to the white mist. "The mist is almost burned away. Is this matter truly over then?"
Su Qing pursed her lips. "Seeing that the black smoke on the killed demons has dissipated, it should be over. Regardless of whether it's truly finished or not, this is as much as we can do for now. If there were other known dangers, I could continue to act, but everything we know of has been resolved. What we don't know... well, we simply don't know."
Su Qing wasn't entirely sure herself, but since it appeared to be over for now, they could call it finished.
Hearing this, Su Tingtong scratched her head, feeling a bit dazed by the explanation. However, she didn't dwell on it and simply nodded. "Then, shall we head back?"
Su Qing hummed in agreement and turned to leave.
On the way back, Su Qing didn't forget to keep her Divine Sense active to scan the surroundings, naturally wanting to ensure no loose ends remained.
However, even after reaching their destination, Su Qing found no stragglers. It seemed everything really was over.
'I can't help but feel it ended a bit too simply...' Su Qing thought, rubbing her chin.
She then descended from the clouds and landed in the City God Temple.
Inside the temple, the incense was as prosperous as ever. Seeing Su Qing arrive, the City God hurried forward to greet her.
"Sovereign has returned. Did everything go smoothly?" the City God asked after bowing respectfully.
Su Qing nodded. "Everything went well enough. Barring any accidents, that great demon has been killed... though I'm not certain if I got every last bit of it. No matter; we shall stay here for one more day to see if any problems arise today like they did before."
It was a simple and crude method with many loopholes, but it would certainly serve its purpose and was the best option available. After all, Su Qing’s Divine Sense had swept the entire area on the way back and found no other great demons.
Thus, they could only rely on this simple plan for now. Hearing Su Qing's suggestion, the City God naturally had no objections and nodded quickly.
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