A Pawn's Passage

In Sage Qingwei’s eyes, there were no pupils, but only an endless starry sky, where stars flickered in and out of existence. He pointed his Blood-Garbed Immortal Severing Sword forward, looking like a chess master placing a decisive piece upon the board.

Stars scattered like a net across the heavens behind the sea of blazing clouds.

Each star shifted position ceaselessly, seemingly without pattern. Wherever they moved, the light dimmed, and even sound itself was extinguished into silence.

This was not enough to manifest the true might of an Immortal, as a Pseudo-Immortal could also manage as much.

What truly startled Tamamo-no-Mae was that the range of the starry sky formed by the sword formation kept expanding until even her spell was swallowed into its domain.

In the Battle of Wuxing Mountain, Madam Qi had once banished the Owner to Donghai.

This time, Sage Qingwei went even further.

Ordinary cultivators using the Star Sword Formation merely shifted positions within its confines through the Star Shift Technique. However, Sage Qingwei wielded the Star Shift Technique to move the entire Star Sword Formation itself.

The Star Sword Formation encompassed Tamamo-no-Mae’s summoned firestorm within it.

In an instant, a vast blank space appeared amidst the fiery rain. The core of the firestorm vanished completely, leaving only scattered embers at the edges, too weak to threaten anything.

The next moment, an inferno erupted above Donghai. Blazing meteors plummeted into the waters, burning mountains and boiling the seawater, which sent billows of vapor surging skyward, forming a vast mountain of mist.

However, Tamamo-no-Mae could not see this. The stars surrounding her shone in stark black and white, as though countless chess pieces were scattered upon a massive board. The raging flames now seemed infinitely distant, separated from her by a gulf of thousands of kilometers. Beyond that, there was only darkness—vast, empty, and almost indistinguishable from the true night sky.

Suddenly, the sword formation shifted again. All things vanished, save the stars themselves. She could not see anything—heaven, earth, or the firestorm she had summoned. Everything beyond the formation was cut off from her senses. Only an endless array of stars remained.

Then, the starry dome above began to reverse and swirl.

In that instant, Tamamo-no-Mae could no longer discern front from back or up from down. Her very body seemed to spin with the revolving constellations. She was motionless, yet somehow endlessly in motion.

Tamamo-no-Mae tried to halt the shifting but found she could not move the sword formation in the slightest. Sage Qingwei had trapped her within the Star Sword Formation and then shifted it entirely. It was like placing her inside a carriage to be driven elsewhere, and she was trying to lift it with her own strength while being within the carriage. This was an impossible feat no matter how strong she was.

Noticing this, Tamamo-no-Mae stopped trying to resist the shifting formation and instead turned to attack the formation itself.

Since she could not move the carriage or change its direction, she could very well break the carriage apart and leap out midway.

Thus, her seven fox tails spread wide like a peacock’s fan, swaying and striking in every direction.

The boundless stars quaked and trembled as a result. Her fox fire also managed to pierce through the layers of starlight and surge toward Sage Qingwei.

Sage Qingwei merely swept his sleeve, and through the star shifts of the formation, the fox fire was displaced elsewhere. At the same time, he launched his counterattack. Countless stars flickered, unleashing sword qi that fell like a meteor shower, pouring down from all directions to strike Tamamo-no-Mae in a dense barrage.

Tamamo-no-Mae knew she could not avoid being struck by sword qi that came from every direction, so she could only defend herself tightly. To her surprise, not one could pierce through her protective fox fire. These sword qi were not fierce at all. They were so weak that they could be ignored.

What was even stranger was that these sword strikes did not dissipate once they landed on her. Instead, they clung and lingered.

In the blink of an eye, over a thousand strikes had fallen. Around Tamamo-no-Mae, countless blades of starlight accumulated, layer upon layer, pressing down upon her until it was as though she bore a mountain upon her shoulders.

Tamamo-no-Mae realized something was wrong, but it was already too late. There was nothing she could do.

At that moment, Sage Qingwei appeared before her through the Star Shift Technique and brought his sword down on her head.

All Tamamo-no-Mae could do was snap her folding fan shut to block the strike.

When the two weapons clashed, countless strands of sword qi burst and scattered about.

Sage Qingwei vanished from sight.

At the same time, the sword formation activated again, unleashing countless sword shadows like a torrential storm.

Tamamo-no-Mae looked up abruptly, only to be engulfed the next moment by the downpour of sword qi.

After the rain drowned out her figure, it began to pile upon itself to form a mountain of swords out of thin air.

However, the mountain of swords did not last for long. At first, it was unmoving, but soon, it began to quiver visibly. The tremors grew until the entire mountain shook violently. At last, with a thunderous roar, the mountain shattered apart, unleashing layer upon layer of sword shadows that cried out before fading away into nothingness.

Tamamo-no-Mae had broken free from the mountain of swords, but she looked utterly disheveled. Her hair scattered wildly, and her robes were torn beyond repair, leaving her breasts exposed.

Almost at the same time, the Blood-Garbed Immortal Severing Sword thrust toward Tamamo-no-Mae’s chest.

In that fleeting instant, Tamamo-no-Mae seized the blade with her bare hand. Her palm was torn open, flesh and blood mangled.

The tip of the Blood-Garbed Immortal Severing Sword was less than 30 centimeters away from her heart. However, threads of sword qi flickered like serpent tongues, brushing lightly against her chest.

This made Tamamo-no-Mae’s long dark hair whip about in disarray.

Blood also began to spread across Tamamo-no-Mae’s chest.

Had this been Tamamo-no-Mae at her peak, such a predicament would never have befallen her. Unfortunately, she was now in a strange and weakened state. Though she had evaded her heavenly tribulation, her strength was greatly diminished. Thus, it was only natural that she would fall into a disadvantage against a true Immortal like Sage Qingwei.

Finally, Sage Qingwei spoke again. “Tamamo-no-Mae, you were slain by the Yata Mirror, yet now, you live again. I don’t believe that you’re willingly serving the Tenmon Sect. So tell me, what can I do to free you from their control?”

Tamamo-no-Mae’s lips trembled faintly, her gaze conflicted and uncertain.

Elsewhere, after Sage Qingwei had shifted Tamamo-no-Mae away from Mount Omikami, the great mountain saw the light of day once more. The black clouds above were burned away, and the land below was ravaged and scorched, blanketed in a layer of white ash.

Such was the might of Immortals in combat.

This revealed Princess Himiya Akiko’s foresight. She had sunk the Ise-jingu into the mountain’s depths in advance, narrowly sparing it from disaster. Had the shrine remained aboveground, even with its protective formations, it would have been drained of nearly all its power.

The crux of this great battle lay in the Ise-jingu. If the Daoist Order seized or destroyed it, this would symbolize their defeat. The already wavering neutral factions would be deeply shaken. Even within the Sonno-joi faction itself, despair would spread, and murmurs of surrender would arise. After all, what hope did they have if they could not even defend the Tenmon Sect’s ancestral court? If so, expelling the Daoists would be nothing but a fool’s dream.

The neutral factions were ever ready to sway with the wind, supporting whoever won. To them, the fall of Ise-jingu would mark the true decision of victory. That would be the time to defect to the winning side and possibly add insult to injury. After all, if they hesitated too long, their credit would shrink, leaving them only with the faint praise of having no fault.

Once the neutral factions turned, the Sonno-joi faction would fracture, and voices of surrender would amplify. This was human nature.

When faith collapsed, rout would follow without the slightest resistance.

The Daoists understood this well. Thus, they rallied their Diviner Corps and forcibly carved open a tunnel straight into the mountain’s depths. They then sent forth all four prodigies at once, determined to claim victory at any cost.

At the same time, there was another implication. These young people had risen quickly, so criticism was inevitable. For that reason, these four had to be sent to the forefront of a critical battle.

After all, the Daoists preached equality. There was no logic in sending commoners out to die while the prodigies sat back and relaxed. Otherwise, these four would not be placed in high positions or be the future candidates for the eighth-generation Grand Master. If these elites remained uninvolved, that would shatter morale.

The damage to the overall spirit of the Daoist Order would be immeasurable. Over time, no one would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the Order, and the decay of the entire organization would accelerate rapidly.

Thus, this time, the Imperial Preceptor decided to send these four prodigies, including Li Changge, to the most critical position. They were not allowed to sit comfortably and enjoy unearned merit. They were here to fight a war, not to gild their resumés.

This was considered a fine tradition of the Daoist Order, ensuring that every generation of Grand Masters rose to their position by merit. Though military achievements were not above all, every generation of Grand Masters had, without exception, experienced warfare.

This time, the two strongest candidates for the Grand Master’s seat exemplified that tradition. Sage Donghua had represented the Quanzhen Sect in leading and taking part in the Western Region campaign. Although Spirit Guards were in charge of direct battlefield command, the overall strategic planning had to be directed by the Daoist priests. Now, Sage Qingwei was representing the Taiping Sect in overseeing the much larger Fenglin campaign.

Even the weakest sixth-generation Grand Master could not be dismissed as merely a kind old man. He, too, had distinguished himself in the wars against the Buddhist Sect. He was only sidelined due to internal politics.

Li Tiangang and others were already dispatched elsewhere. Together with the Mansion Master and three first-rank Spirit Guards, they were to intercept any reinforcements. After all, the Tenmon Sect still held many shrines, not to mention the royal family in Heian Capital.

This time was a true interception, with the emphasis on high-level combat power. After all, ordinary armies without flying ships could hardly reach the Daoist-controlled Ise quickly. Only a small number of Heavenly Beings could rush to the Jingu’s aid.

The Daoist Order had not thrown in all its weight, considering that only an Omniscient Sage and a Great Sage, plus the four prodigies, had personally stepped into the field.