A Pawn's Passage

Many Daoist priests, Spirit Guards, Black Robes, nearly ten Heavenly Beings, and hundreds of Xiantian Beings wielded high-grade firearms, talismans, and various spiritual objects and treasures.

Such an assembly would force even a Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being to retreat, as there would be a slim chance of victory. Fighting to the death would likely result in a pyrrhic victory.

Yet, True Lord Siming remained utterly unafraid.

Although his flat-topped crown was shattered, True Lord Siming still exuded an imperial majesty. His billowing sleeves continued releasing endless streams of yin energy, while the patterns on his Twelve Ornaments Robe seemed to come alive, writhing as if ready to detach and transform into tangible objects.

Once the encirclement was formed, a barrage of firearms, talismans, and flying swords rained down upon True Lord Siming. Each strike created ripples, like on the surface of water, distorting and blurring his figure.

While these attacks did not harm him directly, they served to deplete the protective yin energy surrounding him.

True Lord Siming shifted his gaze away from the Ascension Platform, looking down at the countless “ants” beneath him.

Several Heavenly Beings leaped into the air, joining forces to attack True Lord Siming.

True Lord Siming shook his Twelve Ornaments Robe. The patterns peeled off and transformed into physical entities to confront the Heavenly Beings.

These entities, though no match for the Heavenly Beings, were born of True Lord Siming. As long as the Ancient Immortal was alive, they would regenerate endlessly, making them impossible to eliminate.

From start to finish, True Lord Siming never intended to engage in battle with the Daoists. It was not because he feared them. Rather, he had limited time, so he wanted to maximize his absorption of vital energy in Jinling Prefecture before reinforcements from Jade Capital arrived.

His goal was not just to recoup the cost of his current Divine Descent, but to reap immense profits in the process.

Spending time to annihilate these “ants” would only delay his main objective, which was a loss to True Lord Siming.

As True Lord Siming turned his gaze, Madam Qi stopped covering herself with her sleeve. She quickly disassembled the giant cannon and stored its parts back into her magical receptacle.

In fact, a single magical receptacle was not enough to store such a massive cannon. However, Madam Qi had more than one pouch. She even carried a large satchel. But unlike Qi Xuansu’s satchel, her bags were all magical receptacles.

According to Madam Qi’s prediction, the Daoist reinforcements were due to arrive soon. If she did not act swiftly, it would be hard to explain how she obtained such a large cannon.

Some things might seem inconsequential until put in the spotlight, then their significance would be undeniable. The Purple Immortal Mountain incident was a prime example. No one had expected it to shake the prosperous Jinling Prefecture.

Just as Madam Qi finished dismantling the giant massive into a long rifle, a thunderous crack erupted in the night sky.

A colossal Yinglong Warship emerged, breaking through the dense leaden clouds and descending slowly.

The Daoist reinforcements had finally arrived.

In appearance, the Yinglong Warship did not resemble a dragon but rather the mythical Kunpeng[1]. It was like a small island floating in the sky.

The deck of the Yinglong Warship was densely packed with black-armored Spirit Guards. On command, they leaped off the deck one by one, descending into Jinling Prefecture below.

Alongside them, large crates were also dropped from the warship, cushioned by spells like Feather Fall. These crates contained various Dragon Eye and Phoenix Eye Series ammunition for the Spirit Guards.

Compared to the Spirit Guards of Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, these elite officers from Tiangang Hall were undoubtedly more determined in battle and better disciplined. Their movements were uniform, and many high-ranking officers were present to lead the battalion.

These Spirit Guards were tasked with purging the Fate Guards and cult demons within Jinling Prefecture so as to dismantle the Cult of Fates’ arrangements and restore Jinling from its isolated state.

After deploying hundreds of Spirit Guards, the Yinglong Warship turned its bow to face the towering True Lord Siming, who stood over 330 meters tall.

Meanwhile, a second Yinglong Warship broke through the sea of dark clouds and appeared above Jinling Prefecture. It was also beginning to deploy Spirit Guards.

The black-armored Spirit Guards descended to the mortal realm like Heavenly Soldiers, fearless in the face of danger.

Above the two Yinglong Warships were massive rifts in the dense clouds that refused to close.

True Lord Siming could no longer remain indifferent to the attack and was forced to halt his feast. He then turned his gaze toward the two Yinglong Warships.

Both Yinglong Warships activated their formations. One of them summoned heavenly thunder, while the other gathered heavenly fire.

Booming thunder echoed continuously in the sky. The leaden clouds transformed into fiery ones, roiling with both thunder and fire. The clouds’ edges were tinged with a deep purple hue. It was an intimidating scene.

True Lord Siming raised his head to the sky. He remained steady as he simply stomped his foot lightly.

With a deafening roar, the entire Jinling Prefecture shook as if struck by an earthquake. The ground cracked, large ravines appeared, and dust clouds rose into the air.

Many already fragile buildings collapsed completely. Even sections of the city walls, though still standing, became twisted and deformed. Their once straight lines now became uneven and jagged.

Those who had surrounded True Lord Siming immediately fell in droves, suffering heavy casualties.

Bai Yingqiong and Li Tianlan ordered everyone to retreat temporarily.

Zhang Yuelu quickly grabbed Qi Xuansu’s hand and pulled him back with her.

Soon, the fire clouds in the sky reached their peak, suddenly flaring brilliantly.

Lightning and fire churned turbulently across the sky like tidal waves, crashing down with a deafening roar.

Upon encountering the thunderfire, the pervasive yin energy disintegrated and melted like snow under the morning sun.

In an instant, the yin energy was condensed to within 30 meters of True Lord Siming’s towering figure.

Moments later, the protective yin energy around True Lord Siming finally shattered, and the descending thunderfire engulfed his form completely.

As the thunderfire subsided, True Lord Siming’s figure reappeared. His Twelve Ornaments Robe was scorched, marred with burn marks and patches of smoldering flames. The once-vivid patterns that had seemed to come to life were now dim, lifeless, and motionless.

Yet from a distance, True Lord Siming’s eyes—one a blazing white sun, the other a serene black moon—remained bright.

Qi Xuansu held Zhang Yuelu’s hand as they retreated in the air, their eyes fixed on True Lord Siming’s position.

Such an intense clash might not have been world-shattering, but it was enough to destroy cities and mountains. Qi Xuansu wondered when, if ever, he might reach such a level of cultivation.

Qi Xuansu suddenly thought that the flowerbed Daoists in Jade Capital would likely never witness such scenes in their lifetime.

The Holy Xuan, having witnessed the horrors of cannibalism, vowed to save the world. This mission drove him to transform Jade Capital into a city of Immortals. Yet, this inadvertently resulted in something even the Holy Xuan had not anticipated—the creation of numerous infantilized, idealistic, and self-righteous flowerbed Daoists.

These flowerbed Daoists were born and raised in Jade Capital and spent most of their lives sheltered in the comfortable greenhouse, far removed from the harsh real world.

They prided themselves on their morality. If a high-ranking priest mistreated a servant, they would raise a tremendous uproar, claiming to empathize deeply with the lowborns. Their protests would compel the Golden Tower Council to impose harsher punishments on the offending priest.

However, they were oblivious to the atrocities beyond Jade Capital. In the real world, even the massacre of entire families barely caused a ripple, let alone the mistreatment of servants.

The reasoning was simple. A high-ranking priest who abused servants in Jade Capital might one day oppress them. However, no one would dare massacre a family within Jade Capital.

Their so-called morality was conditional, and their righteous indignation was tied solely to their perceived self-interest.

Since there were numerous flowerbed Daoists who benefited from Jade Capital’s advantageous position, their voices were the loudest, controlling the Daoist Order’s narrative. Thus, their concerns became the Daoist Order’s priorities.

Some prominent figures in the Daoist Order were happy to let this happen and even used it as a weapon to divert attention and attack others, like the recent attacks on the investigation team in Jinling. This was idealism—empty moralistic talk and idle discussions on virtue, but failing to offer their lives for the greater good in times of peril.

This forced Tiangang Hall to hire elites from local Daoist mansions because the infantilized flowerbed Daoists were utterly useless.

If flowerbed Daoists were sent to the battlefield, the sight of widespread carnage would leave them deeply shaken, crying and lamenting, rendering them incapable of fighting. The battle would be over before it even began.

Qi Xuansu took a deep breath and looked around.

There were wounded people everywhere and countless dead. It was rare to see unscathed individuals.

Flowerbed Daoists would never witness such scenes. Only people like Zhang Yuelu, Qi Xuansu, and others like them would have to face the horrors of war.

At that moment, torrents of yin energy surged from True Lord Siming’s Twelve Ornaments Robe, extinguishing all remaining flames. Streaks of eerie blue light shot out from the black moon in his eye.

1. Chinese mythological beast that resembles a giant bird with a whale body. ☜