A Pawn's Passage

Without hesitation, Qi Xuansu slashed Su Ran with his cutlass.

With one leap, Su Ran came behind Qi Xuansu in an instant, slapping Qi Xuansu on the back of the head with one claw.

Qi Xuansu defended himself with the cutlass, but the beast’s claw was so strong that Qi Xuansu could hardly hold onto the hilt of the cutlass.

As Qi Xuansu drifted back, he released the cutlass. However, the cutlass did not fall to the ground. It hovered in the air, with its blade trembling slightly. Ripples of sword qi were visible on the blade, which was pointing directly at Su Ran.

That was the Rogue Cultivator’s Sword Controlling Technique.

The flaming blade zipped by and pierced Su Ran’s chest.

However, this stab was nothing to Su Ran in her beast form. Even if it pierced through her skin, it was not a fatal strike.

Su Ran let out an angry roar and stomped the ground hard, squeezing out the single cutlass from her chest.

The single cutlass flew out and pierced into the statue of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor.

Su Ran charged at Qi Xuansu, who was left with no other choice but to pull out his short sword, Qing Yuan, to confront the beast head-on.

The moment Qi Xuansu and Su Ran collided with each other, Qi Xuansu drifted back from the impact. At the same time, Qi Xuansu’s sword qi also left two deep wounds on Su Ran’s arms. Her blood stained her white fur red, but her self-healing ability in her beast form was extremely terrifying. The muscles on both sides of the wound continued to contract and heal almost instantaneously, comparable to a Martial Arts Practitioner.

Qi Xuansu did not dare to compete head-on with Su Ran anymore. He knew that if he was in a defensive position for long, he would eventually lose.

That was when Su Ran noticed a gap and slapped his chest with her claw.

Qi Xuansu flew sideways. After landing, he bent his left leg, pulled back his right leg, and stabbed the ground with his short sword, plowing two ravines more than three meters long before he could come to a stop.

Su Ran followed closely and slapped the top of Qi Xuansu’s head. If Qi Xuansu had been hit, his brain would have exploded.

Qi Xuansu raised his short sword to block the claw strike. His sharp sword qi cut open the beast’s claw, but Qi Xuansu was also knocked back by the force.

Su Ran did not care about her injuries at all. She stepped forward and attacked Qi Xuansu relentlessly.

Although Qi Xuansu kept using his short sword to block the attacks, his right hand was starting to tremble because he was running out of energy.

Su Ran did not fare much better either, also covered in bruises and blood.

If this continued, Su Ran would also die from exhaustion even if she managed to kill Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu understood this principle. He suddenly changed his moves, using one of the techniques in the Tantai Fist Intention.

His veins were bulging on his left arm, like the roots of an old tree emerging from the ground. This technique emulated a tiger’s strength, which originated from the tailbone. It would open all meridians, allowing blood qi to surge and creating a force as powerful as five tigers combined.

An adult tiger weighed more than 250 kilograms, and its palm strength could reach an astonishing 1,000 kilograms. Therefore, ordinary people would die if clawed by an adult tiger. The strength of five tigers would weigh 5,000 kilograms.

At such proximity and with such a heavy force, Qi Xuansu managed to break Su Ran’s beastly arm.

Qi Xuansu, still holding Qing Yuan in his right hand, stabbed it into Su Ran’s chest and twisted it while injecting more qi, causing the sword qi to explode internally.

Su Ran looked up to the sky and roared in anger. At this point, her robe was completely torn and shattered. She no longer stood on two legs and had turned into a huge white fox that was comparable in size to a rhinoceros. She lay on all fours, with four long and furry fox tails behind her.

When Su Ran turned into a beast on two legs earlier, Qi Xuansu only thought it was some kind of special mystical ability. Qi Xuansu never imagined that Su Ran was not even human but a cultivated fox demon.

This fox demon not only became a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master, but it also went on a killing spree in Ecstasy Paradise in order to protect the moral precepts of the Daoist Order.

This was absurd to Qi Xuansu.

It reminded Qi Xuansu of what Zhang Yuelu once said. “For demons and ghosts, we don’t adhere strictly to the policy of extermination without distinction. They must be discerned first, but there are differing opinions within the Daoist community. Some advocate for the complete eradication of demons and ghosts, while others argue for a more nuanced approach.”

There were Three Yin Beings in the Ghost Kingdom and a fox demon in Ecstasy Paradise serving as the superintendent of Huasheng Hall.

It turned out that this was the nuanced approach.

Su Ran, who turned into a giant four-tailed white fox, roared again and rushed toward Qi Xuansu.

The originally fatal wound was no longer fatal to the giant white fox.

Qi Xuansu did not dare to take the hit and dodged to the side. At the same time, he slashed Su Ran’s forelimb with his short sword, which had no effect on the giant white fox.

Su Ran swept her fox tail, which was as powerful as a metal whip. When Qi Xuansu used Qing Yuan to block the fox’s tail, the blade of the short sword trembled.

Every time Qi Xuansu fought with Su Ran, she would be seriously injured, and her white fur would be stained with blood. However, Qi Xuansu would also be struck by the aftershock of their collision. His blood qi surged, and his chest felt tight.

As a last resort, Qi Xuansu could only win with his wits.

Qi Xuansu pretended to be defeated, turning around and running away. Su Ran, who was covered in blood, chased him at top speed. When Su Ran jumped up and pounced at him, Qi Xuansu suddenly bent his knees, squatted down, leaned back, and raised his head high. He lifted Qing Yuan as Su Ran leaped past his head, cutting open her underside.

Without hesitation, Qi Xuansu jumped on the giant white fox, throwing it to the ground because it was weakened by the large cut in its underside. Since Qi Xuansu used his legs to hold onto the fox’s body, the fox was left with no other choice but to turn back to try and bite Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu was waiting for this moment. He held Qing Yuan with his right hand and stabbed it deep into the fox’s mouth.

When Qi Xuansu’s sword pierced the fox’s mouth, Su Ran suddenly froze.

The sword qi burst out of Su Ran’s body, destroying her organs.

Su Ran, who was already severely injured, could no longer recover from this. Her limbs went limp, and she fell to the ground, completely defeated.

Qi Xuansu withdrew his short sword from Su Ran’s mouth and sat back on the ground. His whole arm was dripping with blood, but Qing Yuan was not stained at all. It only glowed faintly with sword qi.

Qi Xuansu was also exhausted. If Su Ran had not been overconfident and had guarded against his Dragon Eye Bullet, Qi Xuansu might have been dead already.

Su Ran struggled to open her eyes. She murmured, “The Holy Xuan does not discriminate against species. Ever since my ancestor, Su Weng, made a pact with the Holy Xuan, the Qingqiu lineage has sworn allegiance to the Daoist Order.

“Later, Donghuang took charge and became the master of Qingqiu Mountain. That was when the Qingqiu lineage was classified under the Taiping Sect. The Qingqiu lineage upholds the values of Daoism. We are the best among the Taiping Sect. I don’t fear death. I only hate that I failed to destroy Ecstasy Paradise...”

Qi Xuansu stood up with difficulty. “Humans and demons have different paths. As a demon, you should have despised human rules and etiquette. But a fox demon like you has converted to Daoism and become more fanatical and pious than us humans. Why is that?”

Su Ran did not answer Qi Xuansu’s question. Her voice became softer. “What joy is there in life, and what suffering is there in death? My life’s mission is to do good and eliminate evil. I pity the Daoist Order, for there are still so many sorrows...”

The fox demon fell silent, no longer breathing.

A mask fell off her face soon after. Qi Xuansu reached out and picked up the white fox mask that Su Ran had worn before. It had long eyes and a sharp snout, with a mocking smile that seemed permanent.

For some reason, Qi Xuansu suddenly felt a little heavy-hearted. He looked at Su Ran’s body and did not search for any money or demon pills. He just kept the white fox mask.