A Pawn's Passage

Just as the two were speaking, Dreaming Cloud finally began to fall into a disadvantage.

To be fair, the fact that Dreaming Cloud held on this long before faltering, even with the aid of a semi-immortal object, justified his title as a Half-Step Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being.”

Madam Qi no longer bothered with Qi Xuansu, who could not distinguish dreams from reality. Her figure solidified in an instant as she darted toward Dreaming Cloud.

Whether this Pseudo-Immortal was physically present or not, her arrival immediately shifted the balance of the battle.

Dreaming Cloud’s pressure eased considerably. As long as Madam Qi could hold off one enemy, he would dominate his own one-on-one fight.

Madam Qi knew this well. She took the initiative to confront The Inn’s reinforcements—a Wulliang-stage Martial Arts Practitioner—who dared not underestimate her and struck with a clenched fist.

Though the Manly Immortal path was the most realistic of the other lineages, they inevitably gained layers of mystical nuance as a Heavenly Being.

As the fist struck out, it was ordinary in size at first, but it grew larger and larger until it was the size of a canopy by the time it reached Madam Qi. Its surface gleamed like jade and was so massive it blocked one’s vision. Dark, spider-web-like fissures formed around the fist, disintegrating stone and earth, not crushed, but seemingly erased from existence.

The Zaohua stage of Martial Arts Practitioners was called the Shattered Void Realm. While this person had not truly achieved that, his technique hinted at it. Thus, it was clear that he had long been in the Wuliang stage.

Unfortunately for him, his opponent was Madam Qi. Even if he had reached the Zaohua stage, he would still fall short of her.

Madam Qi swept her sleeve, releasing a golden net that expanded in the wind and enveloped the massive fist.

Though the black cracks around the fist continuously tore at the net, it regenerated just as swiftly, tightening around the fist until it was immobilized.

Meanwhile, the branch’s Innkeeper threw everything he had into his renewed solo clash with Dreaming Cloud. He summoned his Manly Immortal form, which had three heads and six arms, each arm using a different fist technique. His bones, blood, organs, and muscles shifted and churned audibly, like a Daoist incantation. One head bellowed blood-curdling screams, another scanned in every direction, and the last spat out blasts of concentrated white mist from its lungs, comparable to a Qi Refiner’s flying sword.

The Manly Immortal form was not a single fixed shape and had countless variations, hence the name Everchanging Realm.

The human body had tens of thousands of acupoints, but Heavenly-Being Martial Arts Practitioners typically refined only the 365 of the most vital ones. After reaching the Divinity Realm, they began refining the secondary points, unlocking the potential for everchanging transformations.

For example, by refining the facial points, one could alter their appearance at will, not through illusions or masks but by shifting bone and flesh to reshape the face so flawlessly that no flaw could be detected.

Refining the points in the arms could allow for hyper-flexible joints, size alterations, or even bone twisting, enabling unorthodox strikes not restricted by normal anatomy. The degree of transformation depended on how many acupoints were refined.

At the Pseudo-Immortal stage, a Martial Arts Practitioner would have refined over 1,200 acupoints. Their physical form could shift at will, unbound even by human shape.

As such, one would be nearly invincible, formidable in both offense and defense. Unfortunately for the Innkeeper, Dreaming Cloud wielded the devastating semi-immortal weapon, the Thunder Chisel. When paired with his Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method, it could pierce through a fully realized body-spirit fusion.

Dreaming Cloud summoned a 30-meter-long lightning blade and slashed downward. As it traced the air, over ten bolts of lightning followed its path and rained down.

The Innkeeper had no choice but to take a defensive stance.

After a single strike, the Innkeeper’s body was covered in charred streaks, with traces of violet lightning still clinging to his skin.

Dreaming Cloud seized the opportunity to close in. While Qi Refiners were not weak in close combat, they were still slightly inferior to Martial Arts Practitioners, unless they possessed a semi-immortal weapon.

Already weakened from a previous blow to the chest, the Innkeeper was stabbed again in the abdomen by the Thunder Chisel. His body trembled violently as his acupoints were compromised a second time.

Dreaming Cloud let out a grim chuckle and left the Thunder Chisel embedded in the Innkeeper’s body, letting it continue to drain the man. Then he gripped the Innkeeper’s shoulders.

Despite having three heads and six arms, the Innkeeper still had only two shoulders. Once Dreaming Cloud locked him in with the Great Four Elephant Grip, four of the Innkeeper’s fists pounded against Dreaming Cloud’s chest. But due to the Innkeeper’s waning strength, the punches only caused Dreaming Cloud to shudder, not falter. Thus, the Innkeeper still could not break free.

Dreaming Cloud did not need his opponent completely immobilized, just slightly restricted. Then, his eyes became filled with thick purple light with no whites or pupils, just endless rolling purple electricity, streaming from his sockets. Soon, violet lightning burst forth from all three of his Dantians, covering his entire body. Even his long hair and the fur on his bronze mask were laced with static electricity.

Yet none of this lightning harmed Dreaming Cloud in the slightest.

Through his hands, Dreaming Cloud channeled the full might of his Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method directly into the Innkeeper’s body.

While this was not a heavenly thunder, the Innkeeper was not an Immortal either.

In the blink of an eye, the Innkeeper’s robes turned to ash. Black smoke streamed from his orifices, and his skin yellowed and charred like burnt paper.

Dreaming Cloud showed no signs of stopping, continuing to pour in more electric energy even at the cost of depleting his own life essence.

Even if a Martial Arts Practitioner’s body was tough, it could still be smitten by heavenly thunder. Moreover, the Innkeeper had already suffered two consecutive critical injuries from Dreaming Cloud.

After a few minutes, Dreaming Cloud finally released his grip. The Innkeeper, who was reduced to a scorched, unrecognizable corpse, collapsed backward.

Regrettably, the indiscriminate nature of the attack also destroyed the Wuliang-stage Martial Arts Practitioner’s magical receptacle.

Seeing this, the reinforcements from The Inn did not hesitate to chop off his hand and flee. This was not a metaphorical sacrifice—it was literal. He left behind a severed wrist and clenched fist before escaping. While this cost him over a dozen refined acupoints, it was not a fatal loss for a Martial Arts Practitioner. At the Wuliang stage, regrowing limbs was possible. Once the new hand grew back, he could slowly refine the points again. It was better than dying here.

This confirmed that Madam Qi was merely a projection, not her true body. She lacked the power to stop the fleeing enemy and could only watch him escape.

In fact, Madam Qi’s projection now flickered like a flame in the wind, on the verge of vanishing. No wonder Dreaming Cloud went all in to kill the Innkeeper first, as his ally was just too “reliable.”

Qi Xuansu always thought that Madam Qi was unreliable. Like when she only showed up at the last second before he was nearly killed by Zhuge Yongming. He used to think she did her best. But in hindsight, he could not rule out that it was intentional. Actually, maybe she was just a projection then, too. With his level at the time, he would not have known the difference.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu recalled the complete Daoist system he had studied in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. There were three major paths to cultivating projections: the Yangshen Realm of Diviners, the Liberation Realm of Rogue Cultivators, and the Three Corpses Severance Realm of Banished Immortals.

The Yang Spirit was easy to identify, as it left the body visibly. But Madam Qi did not fight like a Diviner, so she had to be either a Rogue Cultivator or a Banished Immortal. According to Yao Pei, Madam Qi was of the same generation as the Earthly Preceptor, yet not much older than Yao Pei’s father. For someone her age to have reached the Pseudo-Immortal stage, she had to be a Banished Immortal.

In other words, was this one of her Three Corpses’ projections? What’s more, a single projection was equivalent to a Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being.

But Qi Xuansu had read that the Three Corpses were not entirely identical to their original self. They were merely facets of the self.

So, how was this Madam Qi different from her original self? Qi Xuansu could not tell, but this projection certainly talked a lot, spilling everything like beans from a bamboo tube before he could even ask. Could this be the side of Madam Qi who enjoyed mentoring others? After all, in some ways, she did like grooming young talents.

Dreaming Cloud did not bother exchanging pleasantries with Madam Qi. After putting away the Thunder Chisel, he strode quickly across the wooden bridge behind the counter, smashed the sluice gate, and entered.

Inside were many of the Inn’s registers and ledgers—documents the Qingping Society needed. Since they were used frequently, it was not practical for any one person to carry them around. Instead, they were all securely stored here.

Madam Qi waved to the others. “Everyone’s dismissed. You can go home and find your own mothers now!”

The others clearly recognized her and had no objections. They dispersed without a word.

Madam Qi did not forget to remind them. “Stay safe!”

Then she turned to see Qi Xuansu, who was still standing there, and asked, “Why are you still here? Do you live here now?”

Qi Xuansu blinked innocently. “I stayed behind for you. Aren’t you my mother?”

“I swear, your delusions are getting worse,” Madam Qi muttered, then she transformed into a breeze. “Follow me.”