A Pawn's Passage

Many techniques might seem auxiliary, but at the Pseudo-Immortal level, they could still be deadly.

Xuanji fixed her third vertical Immortal Eye of Providence upon Zhang Wuhen. A beam of purple light shot forth, aiming to immobilize her.

Zhang Wuhen raised her hand in a sweep, conjuring a round full moon before her like a shield to block out the beam of purple light.

The purple light lashed against the moon like a torrent, scattering into countless shimmering droplets.

These droplets floated apart without dispersing, hovering in midair. One by one, they split open like eyes slowly blinking awake, transforming into hundreds, thousands of eyes, staring from every angle with no blind spot, all locking onto Zhang Wuhen.

This was no longer just the Divine Observation Technique. It had morphed into another, more alien technique.

Though Zhang Wuhen had clearly placed the moon before her, no matter the angle, all anyone saw was the singular, perfect moon. Her figure hidden behind this moon was nowhere to be seen.

Thus, all those countless eyes saw only the lone full moon.

Xuanji slowly curled her five fingers into a fist.

From the hovering eyes, purple strands shot forth, crisscrossing around the moon, weaving ever tighter like a cocoon. Then it drew inward, attempting to strangle the moon.

Yet the soft-looking moonlight proved deadly. Any purple strand that touched it disintegrated instantly, vanishing without a trace.

Then, a pale white beam emerged from the moon, pushing back against the incoming purple radiance. The two forces were locked in a fierce tug-of-war, neither side yielding.

Suddenly, a Taiyin Spiritual Statue appeared behind the moon, wielding a longsword forged from moonlight and lunging straight toward Xuanji.

Normally, Zhang Wuhen would not manifest True Lord Taiyin’s Spiritual Statue. Since True Lord Taiyin was a god born of the moon, Zhang Wuhen’s manifestations had already transcended the human shape, leaving only the solitary moon. But that did not mean she was incapable of summoning True Lord Taiyin’s human form when she chose.

Xuanji responded in kind, conjuring True Lord Ziguang’s Spiritual Statue behind her. True Lord Ziguang took the shape of a middle-aged woman, clad in a deep-black long gown resembling the vast starry skies that were ever-shifting. It was dazzlingly beautiful, drawing in one’s gaze and threatening to snatch away one’s very soul. Around her were countless flickering stars.

Since these were Spiritual Statues conjured by Pseudo-Immortals, their towering height was beyond that of ordinary Spiritual Statues. They were 300 meters tall, their heads almost as tall as Wuxing Mountain, as if they were true deities.

Of course, the Spiritual Statue was different from the Spiritual Body. The former was more illusory, and the latter more tangible. Only an Immortal could conjure a 300-meter-tall Spiritual Body.

By the standards of Diviners, a Spiritual Body still belonged to the realm of illusion, with limited impact on physical reality, whereas a Spiritual Body could alter the real world.

Thus, the Spiritual Statue Realm corresponded to the Yuxu stage of Xiantian Beings, while the Spiritual Body Realm was at the Xiaoyao stage of Heavenly Beings.

Even without invoking any other techniques, two such Spiritual Statues clashing head-on was a terrifying spectacle.

However, the consumption of divine power was equally astonishing. Without sufficient reserves to sustain it, one might find oneself in the awkward position of having cultivated a Spiritual Statue they could not actually wield, much like someone who could afford to buy a horse but not feed it.

When Zhang Wuhen had just resurrected, she had not dared to expend her power so freely. But now, working with the Imperial Court, she had been given an ample “advance payment” for this mission, leaving her with no worries. After all, the Imperial Court was the greatest power after the Daoist Order.

As for Xuanji, as the second-in-command in the Ziguang Society, she had enough divine power to unleash her full power in battle. The Zhengyi Sect would also provide her with ample resources.

Backed by powerful patrons, the two of them did not hold back, especially when they were spending someone else’s money.

From afar, Qi Xuansu and the others could not see the normal human-sized figures of Madam Qi and the Owner. They could only glimpse the surging lights. But these two gargantuan Spiritual Statues were clearly visible, locked in combat. Even if their Spiritual Statues were illusory, the unleashed techniques were all too real and shockingly intense.

Time passed swiftly; from the moment the Spirit Guards launched their assault to the moment Zhang Wuhen and Xuanji entered the field, roughly two hours had gone by. The Spirit Guards were striking simultaneously, so their advance had been rapid.

A large map hung on display inside the command tent at the temporary encampment, marked with all the formation node locations. With the help of diviners skilled in reading the earth qi, nearly half the nodes had already been crossed off.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen left the command tent and approached the three young Daoists, speaking calmly. “It’s time for us to set out.”

Qi Xuansu, Zhang Yuelu, and Yao Pei all turned to look at the first-rank Spirit Guard.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen retrieved a metallic disc resembling a compass from his magical receptacle and explained, “This is the key to the Anchor the Monkey operation. I may not be able to reach the innermost chamber, so which of you three is best suited to carry it?”

This person would bear the greatest burden and the greatest risk, so Spirit Guards Jia Chen clearly did not wish to assign it casually.

Yao Pei shook her head.

It was not because she was timid. Her task in this operation was to pin down Li Changge, so she was unlikely to make it to the innermost chamber as well.

Just as Zhang Yuelu was about to speak, Qi Xuansu stepped forward first and said resolutely, “Give it to me.”

Zhang Yuelu raised her brows slightly. “Superintendent Qi, whether by official rank or position, I outrank you. So I think this should be my responsibility.”

Qi Xuansu smiled faintly. “But in the arrangement of this operation, I am the middle finger, and you’re the ring finger. Naturally, I take precedence.”

Spirit Guard Jia Chen found Qi Xuansu’s words to be reasonable and handed the metal disc to him, instructing carefully, “Once you reach the inner depths of Wuxing Mountain, locate the Monkey and activate this key. The activation is simple. Just rotate the inner ring and press it once.”

Qi Xuansu carefully examined the metal disc in his hands. Aside from confirming it was made of metal, it was hard to determine the exact material. Its structure was a set of concentric rings, with the inner circle able to rotate and the center capable of being pressed. The entire surface was engraved densely with talismans that were as fine as grains of rice, their count unknowable. The disc felt heavy in his hands, yet showed no apparent divine aura.

After carefully confirming the activation method once more, Qi Xuansu stored the metal disc in his magical receptacle.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Zhang Yuelu did not press further and simply assured him. “I will be with you to the end.”

Qi Xuansu put on a relaxed front. “Not just to the end; we need to come out together and stand atop Wuxing Mountain to watch the fireworks.”

“Yes, watch the fireworks.” Zhang Yuelu smiled faintly.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen pulled out a pocket watch and glanced at the time.

Once a practitioner reached a certain realm of cultivation, they could naturally sense the passage of time with great precision. However, due to differences in cultivation levels, each person’s sense of time could vary slightly. Thus, in military operations, to ensure perfect synchronization down to the second, it was customary to calibrate watches in advance. Relying on one’s own senses or simply observing the sky often led to mistakes. If one platoon began the fight and the other hesitated, the opportunity would be lost.

Thus, carrying a pocket watch remained indispensable, as machines were always more precise than humans.

As the commander of the Spirit Guards in this operation, Spirit Guard Jia Chen had already synchronized watches with the others. To grasp the exact timing, he relied on this precision mechanical timepiece rather than his own senses. However precise his senses, they were useless if not aligned with the others.

Now, there were just 15 minutes left until the agreed time.

As long as the Spirit Guards could remove over two-thirds of the formation points on time, the outer formation of Wuxing Mountain would lose its function.

Madam Qi would then be able to banish the Owner, who was the main blocker at the entrance, and open the Yin-Yang Gate leading into the mountain’s interior.

Of course, if the Spirit Guards failed to remove the nodes in time and the grand formation continued to shroud the mountain, Madam Qi would be unable to banish the Owner. Even if the latter did nothing but endure attacks, he could drag the fight on for at least half a month, locking Madam Qi in place and preventing her from opening the Yin-Yang Gate.

Fortunately, the Spirit Guards’ surprise attack had caught the Black Robes off guard, and the difference in their skills was apparent. The Spirit Guards advanced swiftly. Although Zhang Wuhen’s intervention had caused a wave of mass slumber among them, the planners of this operation had deliberately built in buffer time to handle such contingencies.

As for why the Imperial Court did not mobilize the frontier armies was that it would create too big a stir. Besides, the Divine Central Guard was more loyal to the throne than the frontier troops.

Of course, the Daoist Order also did not pull too many of its own forces. This time, it was the various secret societies that acted in their stead. The ones truly exerting effort representing the Daoist Order were mostly the younger generation.

“Let’s go,” Spirit Guard Jia Chen said. “I will personally escort you into Wuxing Mountain, and there will be others waiting to receive you on the other side.”

The three of them nodded.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen then took out a talisman and crushed it directly.

A temporary formation lit up under their feet. Multicolored talismans flowed rapidly, finally converging into a single burst of light that flashed and vanished.

Soon after, the four of them appeared at a forward outpost near the foot of the mountain. Technically, this “outpost” was just a few tents hastily set up to house the wounded, store supplies, and serve as the coordinates for formation-based teleportation.

In fact, the principle of teleportation formations was the same as that of mother-child talismans. At its core, it was a line, and one needed two points to define a line. These two points were the so-called “coordinates,” and the distance between them could not be too great, unlike the more powerful Yin-Yang Gate. It was said that the Daoist Order possessed a semi-immortal object called the Moon Mirror, capable of teleporting across most of the world. It was a perfect tool for pulling off the classic maneuver of having troops descend from the heavens.

Qi Xuansu was honestly quite curious whether Spirit Guard Jia Chen carried such a semi-immortal object and if they could directly summon an Omniscient Sage from Jade Capital to join the battle at a critical moment.

However, the likelihood was slim.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen strode straight toward the edge of the camp, with the three youngsters following closely behind.

Along the way were the traces of recent fighting—collapsed fortifications, ruined structures, and deep craters blasted out by heavy artillery.

The lingering aftershocks from the battles between the many Pseudo-Immortals and Heavenly Beings could be increasingly felt in the air.