A Pawn's Passage

The reason Earthly Immortals were powerful was that they could either unite with heaven and earth or fuse with a paradise while they were still in the Fusion Realm. The former, similar to the inner elixir faction, promised a grand future. The latter, like the outer elixir faction, offered a faster path to immortality. As long as the paradise did not perish, their body would not decay. Once the Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being unite with the paradise, they would gain a terrain advantage, so much so that they would be able to match the combat strength of an Immortal without the threat of heavenly tribulation. But there were gains and losses in this method. There was no turning back after merging with the paradise. They would never be able to leave this paradise and would gradually assimilate with it, their consciousness ultimately dissolving and becoming part of the paradise itself.

There were definite interconnections among the Five Immortals. Heavenly Immortals could create paradises but could not merge with them; Earthly Immortals could merge with paradises but could not create them; Godly Immortals combined the strengths of both, but the divine kingdoms they created could not last as long as paradises.

There was no doubt that Saintly Peace had chosen to unite with the heavens and earth, not with a specific paradise. First, it was because merging with a paradise was too limiting, especially as the end of the era was imminent and paradises were slowly descending into the mortal realm. Making such a fusion would mean a dead end. Second, there were not many paradises available for merging, as most were controlled by the Daoist Order. Even if one were determined to do so, they would need the Daoist Order’s permission.

Godly Immortals could counter Earthly Immortals precisely because their divine kingdoms could isolate the Earthly Immortals’ power from fusing with the heavens and earth, forcing both sides to rely on their true abilities. That was why, as long as the Godly Immortal had sufficient divine power, they could hold their ground against an Earthly Immortal within their own divine kingdom.

At this moment, the Innkeeper unleashed his Fruition Realm to specifically counter Saintly Peace’s Fusion Realm.

But for a Qi Refiner, this was not too concerning. After all, the Innkeeper’s Fruition Realm, which only spanned 15 kilometers, was limited, but the vastness of heaven and earth was boundless. As long as Saintly Peace could step outside that range, it would be a whole different game.

The biggest flaw of a divine kingdom was that it could not move, or it moved extremely slowly, nowhere near the flexibility of an Earthly Immortal, and even less compared to a Heavenly Immortal, who could freely traverse the cosmos.

Even if, for various reasons, the Earthly Immortal could not leave, they were still ranked second among the Five Immortals, and their raw ability alone was not something ordinary Godly Immortals could match.

Saintly Peace showed no fear, swinging his invisible Daozi Sword as he charged at the Innkeeper.

The Innkeeper did not meet the attack head-on. Having activated the Fruition Realm, the Innkeeper could command all beings within the scope of his domain with just words. However, he had yet to master this technique fully.

The Innkeeper muttered, “Halt.”

Saintly Peace’s rushing figure instantly froze in place, unable to advance even a hair’s breadth.

The Innkeeper commanded again. “Retreat.”

Though Saintly Peace struggled in resistance, he was nonetheless forced backward with a rumbling crash.

The Innkeeper swept his hand outward. “Meteor from beyond the heavens!”

A blazing meteor descended from the sky, streaking across the night as it plummeted toward Saintly Peace’s position.

The crimson glow lit up half the night sky, casting Saintly Peace in a blood-red silhouette.

As long as he had enough divine power, any wish he had could be realized. True Lord Ziguang was a master of this technique.

The Innkeeper’s application was only a superficial use, still far from the level of a true Godly Immortal.

Even so, the meteor that the Innkeeper summoned could rival the destructive power of a Grade-A Series Five Phoenix Eye Bomb. It covered a 5-kilometer radius, enough to kill a Xiaoyao-stage Heavenly Being or seriously wound a Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being. But against a Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being, it still came up short.

Saintly Peace broke free of the command and shot skyward, straight at the falling meteor.

In the next instant, a fine crack split the meteor at its midpoint, slicing it cleanly in two.

Saintly Peace had cleaved the massive rock with a single sword strike.

The two halves crashed down to earth on either side, wiping out an entire patch of forest. The ground shook violently, and thick plumes of dust flew skyward. Saintly Peace now stood atop one half of the meteor.

The Innkeeper remained expressionless. Behind him, the hazy phantom of a celestial palace loomed, faintly echoing with the sounds of wind and thunder.

Elsewhere, the duel between Dreaming Cloud and the Runner was far less showy. The two darted around, appearing one moment atop the mountain, and the next at its base.

At one point, they even fought near Madam Qi, only to be swept aside by a casual flick of her sleeve. “Go play somewhere else!”

Madam Qi’s expression grew somewhat grim.

She was drawing closer to that Yin-Yang Gate.

Banished Immortals at the Pseudo-Immortal level could still trace a Yin-Yang Gate’s lingering aura even if it had been destroyed.

After all, Heavenly Immortals could freely traverse the cosmos, so no corner of the realm was unreachable, and no distance was too far.

Thus, the Imperial Court had not bothered to take unnecessary measures. They simply left this permanent Yin-Yang Gate intact.

Dense ripples surged rapidly within the Yin-Yang Gate as a terrifying aura pushed through it.

If it were a temporary Yin-Yang Gate, it would have collapsed long ago under such overwhelming blood qi. But this permanent Yin-Yang Gate was reinforced by the earth qi, so it could still withstand this force. Even so, the ripples inside were chaotic, even bubbling with turbulent patterns, as if some colossal beast were about to rise from the ocean’s depths.

Madam Qi halted her steps, and her entire form began to shift.

It was as if she washed away all ornamentation. Her copper coin-patterned robes transformed into a white brocade robe, surrounded by swirling five-colored mists, making her figure ethereal and indistinct. This surpassed Zhang Yuelu’s Five Elements Qi Shield by several realms.

After a moment, a figure finally emerged.

“Mogul Yao, we meet again. This time, you’re welcome to try banishing me once more.”

The Owner’s deep voice echoed forth.

Madam Qi chuckled softly. “You and I both know that as long as we’re within the range of Wuxing Mountain’s formation, I can’t do that. Did you really think I wouldn’t see through such a low-grade trick?”

The Owner snorted. “Then there’s no clever shortcut left.”

Madam Qi sneered. “Last time, I simply didn’t want to fight you. Did you really think I couldn’t handle you?”

The Owner did not care to argue further. “Then let’s settle this with our fists.”

Immediately after, the Owner no longer suppressed his aura. His intense blood qi radiated wildly, blazing like a scorching sun that was deadly to ghosts and spirits. If he let out a single roar, it would rival the spring thunder, enough to shatter a Diviner’s yin spirit in an instant.

The strength the Owner displayed was built entirely upon pure physique and blood qi. Though he retained his human shape, his might rivaled that of primordial beasts. Compared to the Owner, Gan Longchi was like a child facing a fully grown man.

Madam Qi unhooked the Face Wrecker from her waist.

In the next instant, the Owner vanished from sight, reappearing just over 3 meters in front of Madam Qi, his five fingers curved like hooks and clawed straight at her face.

The Owner’s speed exceeded Madam Qi’s expectations, astonishing her. In that split second, she had no time to dodge, so she could only bring her smoking pipe down in a chopping strike toward the Owner’s face.

In close combat, a longer weapon held the advantage. Madam Qi’s Face Wrecker gave her the extra reach, so if the Owner did not change his move, her strike would surely land first.

The Owner raised his hand to block the strike, but the Face Wrecker did not even manage to scratch his wrist. He then countered with a punch.

In that instant, Madam Qi neither had time nor dared to meet it head-on, so she shifted tactics, thrusting the Face Wrecker at the Owner’s eyes.

The Owner had no choice but to leap backward, dodging Madam Qi’s thrust and opening up space between them.

The acupoints all over the Owner’s body lit up one by one, dazzlingly brilliant.

At this moment, the Owner was only short by the last hundred or so acupoints to become a true Manly Immortal. At such a stage, his blood qi would no longer surge outward but lie still like a dead pool of water, condensed until it was nearly solid. Even his body spirit remained in a dormant, lifeless state, for only so could he maintain a normal form and avoid harming those around him by the mere leakage of his blood qi. But once he began circulating that blood qi again, channeling it through his acupoints to awaken his body spirit, the Owner could unleash an immense and overwhelming might.

Madam Qi swung her Face Wrecker, dispersing countless wisps of smoke that gathered into a snowy white river, coiling around her in dense layers.

The Owner inhaled and exhaled again.

The billowing blood qi was as fierce as a mighty gale that swept across the heavens and earth.

If the one facing the Owner were a Pseudo-Immortal Diviner and not Madam Qi, they would already be feeling the pressure. But Madam Qi was a Banished Immortal. No matter how intense the Owner’s blood qi, to her, it was no more than a wave of hot air.

After both had gathered their strength, the Owner moved.

To Madam Qi’s eyes, the Owner merely leaned forward slightly, as if about to sprint. But in truth, that was just an afterimage. The Owner’s true body was already charging at her so swiftly that she could only rely on her intuition, not sight, to track his path. Wherever he passed, the smoke she had laid down melted away like snow before the sun, unable to hold for even a second.

The Owner’s punch was utterly straightforward, shattering everything before it. It only slowed when it reached about 1 meter from Madam Qi. In that instant, her smoke also condensed to its limit, turning from vapor to substance and meeting his immense blood qi head-on. Then, with a thunderous clash, his fist collided directly with the Face Wrecker.

At that moment, half of Wuxing Mountain seemed to shudder. Massive ripples of energy spread outward, and wherever they passed, every tree was ground to powder. Beneath their feet, the earth that was scorched by the radiating blood qi turned into a glassy state.