A Pawn's Passage

The power of this arrow was undeniably immense. It pierced straight through Qi Xuansu’s Green Netherworld Armor, shattered his Golden Body, and struck his chest.

The reason for not aiming at the forehead was that it was much easier to dodge one’s head instead of moving the body. The Black Robes was not confident he could hit Qi Xuansu in the head, so he aimed at the larger and harder-to-evade torso instead.

The Demonic Blade’s instincts did not compel Qi Xuansu to dodge. Instead, he took the arrow head-on with his chest.

Then, that terrifying arrow composed of fist intention vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea.

The white-haired old man was greatly shocked by this sight. Cultivating such a technique came at the cost of blood qi and damaged the internal organs, especially the heart meridian. Even the most vigorous Martial Arts Practitioners struggled to bear it, often aging significantly in return for destructive power far beyond the standard fist intention. He had confidence it could injure even a Wuliang-stage Martial Arts Practitioner. Yet now, the arrow simply vanished. How could he not be stunned?

But Qi Xuansu knew the truth. This arrow had actually struck his Longevity Stone Heart. He did not know whether his heart counted as a semi-immortal object or an immortal object, but it was incomparably hard. To this day, nothing has managed to damage it. It was like having a protective shield on his heart.

Li Changge surely knew this secret, but he would never tell anyone. While it was indeed Qi Xuansu’s hidden card, it was also Li Changge’s, as they both shared the same secret. One did not go around flaunting such life-saving trump cards, especially when their lives were on the line.

Fear stemmed from the unknown. Qi Xuansu’s move had clearly stunned them all. They had a general sense of how powerful that Black Robes’ fist intention was and knew they would never dare take it head-on. Dodging would be their only option. Yet this man not only took it but emerged completely unscathed. That was nothing short of terrifying.

Naturally, Qi Xuansu would not let such an opportunity slip by. He advanced swiftly, once again dealing a heavy blow to the Tianchen Division Superintendent, sending him flying with a punch. Then, without hesitation, he drew the Dragon Painting Pistol and fired two shots at the Celestial Observer.

This was not the Grade-B Series One Dragon Eye Bullet that was harmless against Heavenly Beings. It was the Grade-A Series Eight Dragon Eye Bullet that Qi Xuansu had spent a fortune on. If this hit a vital spot, it could severely injure or even kill a Heavenly Being.

Both bullets struck the Celestial Observer directly in the chest. He was not a Martial Arts Practitioner but a Diviner, so he was frail by nature. He collapsed immediately with almost no resistance. His entire chest was obliterated into a gory hollow.

However, the advantage of Diviners was that they did not rely much on physical bodies. A faintly translucent yin spirit separated from the corpse immediately. Without the blood and body’s restrictions, spellcasting could be enhanced. But unless one reached the Yangshen Realm, this state could not be maintained for long. He had to find a suitable host as soon as possible.

In the blink of an eye, Qi Xuansu had wounded two opponents in succession. The remaining three stared at him apprehensively.

Logically speaking, when fighting one against three, Qi Xuansu should have traded serious injuries for injuring two others, which would have been reasonable. But due to the Longevity Stone Heart, he narrowly avoided a fatal blow, making him appear extraordinarily powerful and invincible, even evoking the legendary presence of the Holy Xuan in his prime.

However, Yao Pei and Zhang Yuelu both knew about Qi Xuansu’s Longevity Stone Heart, so they were not too surprised. Neither made a move yet, since it was obvious that there would not only be five Heavenly Beings blocking their path. A five-versus-three setup was no different from sending people to their deaths.

Unlike the earlier clashes between Pseudo Immortals and Zaohua-stage Heavenly Beings, the current situation resembled the endgame in chess. Chariots, horses, and cannons had mostly been traded, and the pawns that had crossed the river were starting to show their might, even threatening the general. Overwhelming the trio would require numerical superiority. If they split their forces to intercept separately, it would become a piecemeal assault, which was a major taboo in military strategy.

As expected, after Qi Xuansu had heavily injured two people, the ambushers hiding in the shadows could no longer hold back and revealed themselves on both flanks. Among them were the Server and a Heaven-ranked attendant from The Inn and a mysterious man of unknown origin who seemed to belong to the Heavenly Court.

Of The Inn’s six senior figures, only the Accountant did not participate in any fights. Everyone else was present in this operation. The Server had been injured during the Qingping Society’s revenge operation, so he now only had the strength of an ordinary Heavenly Being.

This added four more individuals to the original five, totaling nine opponents, creating absolute numerical superiority over the trio.

It was not that they did not want to ambush them. Rather, Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei had remained motionless, each monitoring one target, leaving no opening for a sneak attack. Thus, they were forced to show themselves.

Yao Pei whispered, “Daoist Qing Xiao, you and Daoist Qi deal with those five and keep moving. Leave these four to me. I’ll catch up after I take care of them. The key is not to waste time. Speed is critical in war.”

“Can you handle them alone?” Zhang Yuelu was not being condescending. She was asking a genuine, practical question.

Yao Pei reassured her. “I cherish my life, and I never act recklessly or out of pride.”

Zhang Yuelu said no more. She transformed the Amorphous Paper into a paper sword and moved to Qi Xuansu’s side.

The two injured foes had greatly diminished strength. Together, they barely counted as one person. So, two against four was not a tough battle. The real concern was Yao Pei facing four opponents alone. However, due to her cultivation of the Taishang Emotionless Sutra, she always remained calm and rational, never reckless or hot-blooded, which gave off an inexplicable sense of reassurance.

Seeing Zhang Yuelu charge with her sword, the eunuch and the Green Phoenix Guard moved in together.

The eunuch vanished mysteriously, while the Green Phoenix Guard launched a straight punch toward the centerline.

The Green Phoenix Guard still exercised caution, holding back 30% of his strength in the punch, ensuring he could withdraw once the strike landed to avoid being in an unsalvageable situation.

Zhang Yuelu met the punch head-on with her paper sword. The sharpness of the semi-immortal weapon was on full display. A key trait of semi-immortal and immortal objects was that their power scaled with the wielder’s cultivation until it reached an upper limit, unlike regular treasures that remained constant. Now that Zhang Yuelu had reached the Xiaoyao stage, the power of the Amorphous Paper was incomparable to when she was a Xiantian Being.

The Green Phoenix Guard instantly manifested the body spirit in his fist and entire arm, forcibly taking the sword strike head-on.

The two separated immediately upon contact, each retreating backward.

The Green Phoenix Guard looked down at his fist, only realizing belatedly that a fine red line had split it open, his blood slowly seeping out.

Unfazed, the Green Phoenix Guard relied on his regenerative abilities to heal the wound. Then he clenched his five fingers and stepped forward so quickly it was as if space itself had collapsed, instantly appearing behind Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu had sensed it ahead of time. She reversed her grip on the paper sword and thrust it backward beneath her arm.

Wary of the paper sword’s sharpness, the Green Phoenix Guard did not dare take the blow directly and retreated.

Taking advantage of the moment, Zhang Yuelu turned around and unleashed the Morning Bell Technique.

The Green Phoenix Guard crossed his arms to block it.

When the paper sword was still more than 30 centimeters away from the Green Phoenix Guard’s brow, he clamped it between his hands. Yet even so, the onrushing sword qi grazed his cheeks, and the tip of the sword continued sliding forward.

Viewed from the front, the tip of the sword looked like a single shining point.

Even his Martial Arts Practitioner’s physique would not have been able to endure that blow.

With that realization, the Green Phoenix Guard no longer held back. Explosive cracks rang out from his body as his already tall figure expanded to over 3 meters. His green uniform tore apart, revealing countless strange, beastly patterns on his upper body, with a vivid and lifelike tiger tattooed across his back. Faint tiger roars echoed as his arms shook, forcing back Zhang Yuelu’s sword. Then he launched a punch with a hundred beasts roaring behind it. His fist intention surged like a tidal wave.

This was the Hundred Beast Fist Intention, an unorthodox perfected method akin to the Demonic Blade. Cultivating this required drinking the blood of a hundred beasts and devouring the flesh of various exotic creatures to enhance one’s blood qi. In battle, it granted strength rivaling dragons and elephants, and after entering the Wuliang stage, one could further develop it into the Hundred Beast True Form.

Zhang Yuelu used her paper sword to defend herself, meeting the punch head-on. The force was so tremendous that she almost could not hold onto the hilt of the sword. She floated backward and decisively released her grip on the sword.

To an outsider, her action of discarding the sword seemed baffling. But for Zhang Yuelu, the paper sword was an extension of herself. Whether she held it or not, it obeyed her like a limb.

As expected, the paper sword did not fall but hovered in mid-air. Even without being held by Zhang Yuelu, its blade quivered slightly, rippling with waves of sword qi before pointing straight at the Green Phoenix Guard and vanishing in a flash.

This was the Sword Steering Technique.

It was a technique used by Qi Refiners, so Banished Immortal could use it as well.

The Amorphous Paper was infinitely versatile and a semi-immortal object, so it was far easier to wield than a flying sword.

A flash of sword light streaked across and pierced the Green Phoenix Guard’s chest. Even the so-called indestructible body could not withstand the sharpness of a semi-immortal object.

But to the Green Phoenix Guard, who had immense blood qi, this kind of injury meant nothing. He let the paper sword remain embedded in his chest, and his eyes turned blood-red.

The Hundred Beast Fist Intention originated from the Hundred Beast Sutra. Though the cultivation method was lost, years of consuming the flesh and blood of wild beasts had greatly amplified his beastly instincts while dulling his humanity, inevitably making him brutal and savage.

The Green Phoenix Guard let out a furious roar and stomped hard, causing cracks to splinter across the ground.

In the next instant, the Green Phoenix Guard charged at Zhang Yuelu, plowing a deep trench through the ground in his wake.

Almost simultaneously, the eunuch who had been hiding in the shadows also struck, coordinating with the Green Phoenix Guard to flank Zhang Yuelu from the front and back.