A Pawn's Passage

The female Spiritual Statue stood 300 meters tall, dressed in white, with four arms and a face split down the middle.

The left half of her face was that of a woman, radiant and sacred, resembling the Guanyin manifestations of the Cihang lineage. Her bottom left hand was holding a red spider lily that bloomed and withered endlessly, going through the constant cycle of life and death. Her other upper left hand held a vase, from which a willow branch was placed. Dew dripped from the willow and landed precisely on the flower. Each drop corresponded with the lily’s cycle of bloom and decay. The flower flourished with the drop, then wilted, awaiting the next dew drop in an eternal loop.

The right half of her face was a ghastly skull, shrouded in gloom, its sockets glowing with eerie green flames. Her upper right hand held a blood-dripping slaughter blade, forged entirely from white bone. The other bottom right hand held a skull goblet that was brimming with fresh blood, collecting the drops of blood from the bone blade. No matter how much blood fell, the goblet never overflowed.

The canal was so crowded that turning a large ship was nearly impossible. But to a Pseudo-Immortal, that was not even a challenge.

Among all the Pseudo-Immortals, few were as unrestrained and direct as Madam Qi.

Suddenly, a lightning dragon surged into the sky as Dreaming Cloud drove his Thunder Chisel into the chest of The Inn’s Heaven-rank attendant, blasting him straight through the three floors of the ship.

The lightning dragon was also a signal that no Heavenly Beings remained on the ship to interfere with Madam Qi’s next move.

Madam Qi gazed down at the ship below, which was now as small as a makeup box. Then, she reached out with her hand. Her Spiritual Statue followed suit, extending its hand. The red spider lily between its fingers did not hinder the gesture at all.

In a sense, the Martial Arts Practitioner’s body spirit and the Shaman’s Spiritual Statue were one and the same. Both moved in accordance with the actions of their true body.

From above, the Spiritual Statue reached downward. Five finger-like depressions suddenly appeared at the edge of the Grand Illusion Realm, as the giant hand pierced through the illusion and reached toward the ship below.

Everyone aboard was terrified beyond belief. The Green Phoenix Guards could not be bothered to fight the enemy and scrambled to abandon ship, fleeing for their lives.

Madam Qi’s Spiritual Statue scooped the ship into its palm, lifting it out of the canal and ever higher into the sky, making it seem as if it were a Daoist flying ship. This scene was truly the work of an Immortal.

The Spiritual Statue raised the skull goblet again, and the blood inside rippled slightly. The ship in its palm grew smaller and smaller until it completely vanished. A miniature version of the ship then appeared within the skull goblet, drifting up and down in the blood. It no longer resembled a Daoist flying ship but more like a miniature carved boat from a walnut shell.

Such a mystical technique was profound. Even for a Pseudo-Immortal, it came with a burden and could not be sustained for long. More importantly, it drew far too much attention and could easily provoke other powerful figures. That was why Madam Qi still needed the Canal Gang to transport the Taiping coins.

Sensing danger, Qi Xuansu had leapt into the canal early on and thus was not swept into the goblet along with the others.

Just then, Qi Xuansu’s expression suddenly changed as he turned to look behind.

In an instant, he sensed a vast and overwhelming presence, like a million troops galloping across the land, crushing all resistance, razing cities in its wake, and sweeping across the realm. The heavens, earth, rivers, and mountains seemed to change color under its might.

Dreaming Cloud and Ceremony Prelude also felt the immense pressure.

Confronted by this domineering aura that allowed no resistance, Qi Xuansu felt a chill spread throughout his body. He wanted to resist, but a sudden surge of fear rose in his heart, shaking his resolve.

He turned to look at Dreaming Cloud and Ceremony Prelude, but they did not fare well either.

The Green Phoenix Guards were completely overwhelmed.

This kind of aura-vanquishing technique belonged solely to a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Shattered Void Realm, where the intention arrived before the person, allowing one to cross thousands of kilometers within a few seconds.

Only a Pseudo-Immortal could shake the hearts of multiple Heavenly Beings with sheer presence alone.

Though the Imperial Capital boasted the most Heavenly Beings in the world, Pseudo-Immortals were far fewer. Unless absolutely necessary, they rarely set foot in the capital. Apart from the Xuanhui Court, there were very few Pseudo-Immortals within the city. Even Madam Qi seldom lingered in the capital. She usually left right after finishing her tasks.

Just as Qi Xuansu was still guessing the identity of the newcomer, Ceremony Prelude whispered, her voice seemed to resonate within Qi Xuansu’s heart. “It’s the Owner.”

She was currently in her yin spirit form. As she spoke, she gave up maintaining the Grand Illusion Realm. After all, Martial Arts Practitioners naturally suppressed Diviners and were especially good at dispelling illusions. With two cultivation level gaps between Ceremony Prelude and The Inn’s Owner, the Grand Illusion Realm was as fragile as paper.

Dreaming Cloud also gave up on chasing the Heaven-rank attendant. Instead, he rushed to protect Ceremony Prelude’s physical body and then moved to stand beside Qi Xuansu.

This served two purposes—to ease Madam Qi’s concerns and to ensure the three of them had some power to resist at the very least.

Qi Xuansu felt incredibly unlucky. His first revenge operation led him to The Inn’s Server. The second revenge operation brought him face-to-face with The Innkeeper. This time, during the third operation, he had encountered the Owner himself.

Ceremony Prelude’s yin spirit returned to her physical body. For a Diviner, a Pseudo-Immortal Martial Arts Practitioner’s presence was like a blazing sun. Though Diviners above the Thunder Realm were no longer harmed by sunlight, they could still have their cultivation suppressed by the opponent’s overwhelming blood qi. Without the physical body as shelter, facing such intense blood qi was like staring into the sun. Only whiteness filled the senses, and everything else remained unseen, unheard, and unfelt.

Thus, it was best for the yin spirit to return to the body, which acted as an insulation. To a Diviner, blood qi was akin to wind and snow, and the body was clothing. No matter how thin one’s clothes, it was better than not wearing anything.

Ceremony Prelude opened her eyes, which had been closed this whole time. “Though I don’t know why the Owner left Wuxing Mountain, he likely came alone upon hearing of the disruption here. No other members from The Inn came with him.”

Qi Xuansu and Dreaming Cloud were immediately relieved. If it were only the Owner, then Madam Qi should be able to handle it.

Madam Qi was not some flowerbed priest. She once stood on equal footing with Wu Guangbi.

But back in Jinling Prefecture, Wu Guangbi never displayed such an overwhelming presence. Qi Xuansu mused on this, then reconsidered. Back then, True Lord Siming was also present. As such, Wu Guangbi likely restrained his aura in that situation.

Madam Qi wore the Qingping Society’s bronze mask, so her facial expression was unreadable. Only her eyes were visible, gleaming with an eerie light that made her seem both mysterious and grim.

She slowly uttered a strange syllable.

The moment she spoke, Qi Xuansu suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted off his body. The oppressive weight of the Pseudo-Manly Immortal’s fist intention vanished in an instant.

Then he saw Madam Qi striding across the void. With each step, her body grew larger, and within moments, she grew over 30 meters tall.

Madam Qi had activated her Spiritual Statue Realm, Spiritual Body Realm, and Heaven-Earth Manifesting Realm simultaneously.

She strode across the night sky, resembling a deity overlooking all living beings. At this moment, ordinary people were no larger than ants to her.

Almost at the same time, a figure shot across the sky like a meteor and appeared before Madam Qi. The man was wearing a purple robe, his face obscured as he hovered in the void. Each of his acupoints radiated a blinding light, coalescing into a complete body spirit.

His body spirit was not golden, but dazzlingly bright and dense, far exceeding the 365 nodes of the Small Heavenly Cycle. At a glance, it numbered well over a thousand, approaching the count of the Great Heavenly Cycle.

The newcomer was none other than the Owner of The Inn.

The Owner said nothing. He simply clenched his five fingers into a fist. The fist gradually turned transparent, revealing rows upon rows of luminous acupoints inside. Within each acupoint resided a miniature body spirit identical to the Owner, each mimicking his clenched fist and radiating blinding light.

Madam Qi spread her arms while a series of ancient, obscure syllables flowed from her lips. They were rhythmic and melodic, like a chant or hymn.

All things between heaven and earth seemed to tremble to this strange rhythm, releasing tendrils of black qi that gathered into dense black mist, rushing toward Madam Qi from all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the black mist around Madam Qi grew denser and soon engulfed her. Behind her loomed the shadow of a pitch-black mountain, like an ink-washed landscape, void of any other color. Its details were unclear, but faint outlines of ten towering figures could be seen standing atop the mountain, as if reaching the heavens.

The Owner hesitated no more and unleashed the punch he had long prepared.

In that instant, over a thousand body spirits within his acupoints also punched in unison.

One man’s punch felt like the fists of thousands. The fist intention was awe-inspiring, sweeping out like a hot gale and crushing everything before it. Though the Owner’s fist had not yet landed, the intense blood qi it carried clashed with the black mist ahead, producing a violent sizzling sound. It scattered the mist like sunlight piercing through clouds.

The Owner crossed nearly 300 meters in a single step, cutting through the layers of black mist, aiming directly at Madam Qi.

But just before he came within 10 meters of Madam Qi, a ripple spread out, with her as its core. Wherever it passed, all color vanished. Only black and white remained between heaven and earth.

The Owner was no exception. He, too, lost all color and froze in place. Though only 10 meters remained between them, it became an impassable gulf.

Qi Xuansu was all too familiar with this scene. He had experienced something similar when helping Yao Pei retrieve the Staff of Merit in the Upper Palace. Fortunately, they were far enough to be unaffected.

Yet the black and white color around the Owner soon took on a faint tinge of red. It was clear the effect would not hold him for long.

Even so, it was truly terrifying.

Having battled Wu Guangbi first and now the Owner, Madam Qi had confronted the leaders of the Heavenly Court and The Inn yet still did not fall behind in the slightest.

This was her true power.