A Pawn's Passage

The two surging currents of sword qi from the Dragon Tiger Sword Technique correspond to the cosmic law of pure qi rising to form heaven and turbid qi sinking to form earth. From this heaven and earth were divided, and yin and yang emerged. That was why the sun rose and the moon set, giving rise to the principles of life and death and growth and decay.

In the blink of an eye, the two streams of sword qi evolved into a small world shaped like a yin-yang symbol. Yin and yang parted the primordial chaos; clear and turbid forces separated; earth, water, fire, and wind steadied the four directions; six qi filled the realm, forming the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and vegetation. The sun rose, and the moon set. These transformations never ceased.

This small world was the embryonic form of a paradise. If it were enlarged, it would become a true independent realm.

Using the Dragon Tiger Sword Technique, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu created this small world that filled every corner of the main hall, like a river filling its channel with no inlet or outlet.

Wu Guangbi’s first instinct was to crush the two streams of sword qi with his superior cultivation. However, the Dragon Tiger Sword Technique complemented each other. If one stream were destroyed, the other would draw on the elemental qi and recreate the missing half, endlessly self-renewing. Unless both yin and yang sword qi were annihilated in the same instant, they would revive each other in a perpetual cycle.

In truth, the Four Seasons Sword Technique shared a similar principle of cyclical regeneration, forming a self-contained world. All laws returned to one, and different paths reached the same end.

Thus, the Four Seasons sword qi and Dragon Tiger sword qi formed concentric circles. The latter was the inner ring, while the former was the outer ring.

The inner ring expanded outward, while the outer ring contracted inward, creating mutual pressure and confrontation.

Qi Xuansu, Zhang Yuelu, and Wu Guangbi stood at the very center of the rings, locked into close-quarters sword combat.

The two Daoist prodigies were like yin and yang, complementing and empowering one another.

Zhang Yuelu suddenly accelerated, closing in on Wu Guangbi. As their swords clashed, she extended a free hand, attempting to seize his wrist.

Wu Guangbi did not know what technique she intended, but years of battle instinct made him reflexively pull back to evade her grip.

In the span of a heartbeat, the two exchanged over a dozen hand techniques. With Qi Xuansu assisting from the flank, Zhang Yuelu gained the advantage and caught Wu Guangbi’s wrist.

Wu Guangbi did not hesitate to blast a surge of overwhelming innate qi to shake Zhang Yuelu off.

Zhang Yuelu’s body stiffened for an instant. However, her six internal qi immediately circulated of their own accord. Yin and yang interchanged, and light and dark swapped, allowing her to recover full mobility in the blink of an eye.

Wu Guangbi was slightly startled. Though the move appeared ordinary, it was in fact a highly sophisticated technique. He had injected his own innate qi into the opponent, not to injure but to block the opponent’s meridians and stiffen their body. However, Zhang Yuelu dissolved it in an instant, which was completely beyond his expectations.

Now that Zhang Yuelu was temporarily in the Zaohua stage, her Six Void Tribulations had upgraded to become the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations. She wielded the distinctions of the six qi, dissolving all things. Thus, she could nullify Wu Guangbi’s counterattack. Not only that, the power of the Six Tribulations even flowed into his body. Each tribulation had a different nature, yet shared a hidden link, forcing Wu Guangbi to halt and disperse their effects.

The Six Tribulations shifted endlessly. Zhang Yuelu began with the Yin Tribulation. When her advantage waned, she instantly shifted to the Yang Tribulation, transforming from utmost softness to extreme hardness in a heartbeat, catching Wu Guangbi completely off guard. Then she changed to the Wind Tribulation, which gathered and scattered unpredictably before changing again to the Rain Tribulation, which was complex, layered, and unending.

It was as if several masters of completely different styles were taking turns battling Wu Guangbi. For a moment, the Pseudo-Immortal found himself unable to subdue Zhang Yuelu.

Suddenly, Zhang Yuelu’s figure retreated while Qi Xuansu flashed forward, striking with his sword.

Wu Guangbi reversed his grip and blocked, instantly gaining the upper hand the instant they clashed.

Qi Xuansu let out a muffled groan, clearly taking the hit. But just as Wu Guangbi was about to press his advantage, the Six Tribulations surged again inside him, disrupting his innate qi at once.

Wu Guangbi grunted and staggered back, a faint look of alarm appearing on his face.

Qi Xuansu was relentless in his pursuit, sweeping down the Green Cloud once more.

Wu Guangbi sensed the crushing weight of the incoming sword qi and hurried to parry. But before their blades even met, Qi Xuansu abruptly changed his trajectory, thrusting at Wu Guangbi’s forehead instead. Wu Guangbi was forced to alter his move as well, deflecting the strike ever so slightly. However, a thin line of blood still appeared across his cheek.

Qi Xuansu’s true killing intent was not in the sword. He reached again for Wu Guangbi’s wrist. Wu Guangbi moved to evade, but Zhang Yuelu’s Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations activated again. Though Wu Guangbi’s cultivation surpassed hers by a level, making the tribulations far from fatal, they consistently forced him into brief moments of stillness at the most critical times. That was deadly enough.

Due to that stall, Qi Xuansu had already grabbed Wu Guangbi’s wrist. Though Qi Xuansu did not practice the Six Void Tribulations, he had Izanagi’s demonic fire.

In an instant, Qi Xuansu’s free left hand transformed into a hand of fire. The flames leaped like it had a mind of its own, its shape twisting in fleeting visages of madness and savagery. Yet upon closer look, there were no faces at all, only burning flames.

The demonic fire spread into Wu Guangbi’s wrist, then into his body. Its peculiarity was that it manifested from nothing, so it could be tangible yet illusory. It was more like the fire of the heart.

Back in Fenglin, many had birthed demonic fire merely by a single thought. It formed a perfect complement to the Six Void Tribulations, which attacked innate qi, magical power, divine power, and blood qi.

Though Wu Guangbi’s cultivation was high, the Six Void Tribulations came from Elder Xu, and the demonic fire came from Izanagi, both of whom were First-Tribulation Immortals. Thus, their power was not to be underestimated.

Wu Guangbi could only resist because his cultivation exceeded the two Daoist prodigies. Had their cultivation levels been equal, he would already have perished under their combined assault.

Wu Guangbi felt that every move from Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu aimed to kill, leaving no room to retreat. If he did not go all out and slay at least one of them first, he would inevitably fall into their hands.

However, the Six Tribulations surged again inside him. They were ever-shifting and interwoven with his own innate qi, yet ruthlessly dissolving it. Whenever he attempted a counterattack, it vanished, hiding once more within his own qi. It was impossible to disperse in the short term.

The demonic fire continued wreaking havoc, tormenting his soul. He had to suppress both the physical aberrations and the rising madness clawing at his mind.

Although Wu Guangbi had experienced Qi Xuansu’s demonic fire once at the Dragon Palace, he had yet to find a solution to it. After all, the demonic fire had ravaged Fenglin for years. Countless swordmasters and Shinkan failed to unravel its mysteries, so Wu Guangbi certainly could not accomplish it based on a single brief encounter.

To resolve the demonic fire or even devise a coping method, one had to devote full concentration and invest great time and effort. How could someone as busy as Wu Guangbi spare such time? Moreover, he never thought it necessary, since Qi Xuansu was merely at the Wuliang stage. No matter how fearsome the demonic fire, Qi Xuansu’s insufficient cultivation meant it was no real threat—or so he had thought.

The same applied to the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations, which had dominated the world for centuries. Elder Xu slew numerous masters with them. Before his ascension, he even fought against multiple Immortals at once. Those Immortals could only endure it head-on, so how could Wu Guangbi possibly break what the Immortals could not?

Wu Guangbi’s qi was disrupted once more. Seeing Qi Xuansu’s and Zhang Yuelu’s twin swords descending together, he could only raise his own horizontally to defend himself.

The twin swords struck down with combined force, smashing Wu Guangbi straight into the ground. Only his upper body remained above the surface. Had his cultivation not exceeded theirs, he would already have been severely wounded by that blow.

Sword qi still roared around the three, clashing wildly. The entire grand hall was already shattering, held together only by the pressure of the sword qi.

Upon closer look, the white jade pillars, walls, and even the ceiling were etched with countless clean-cut lines. Each would collapse into pebble-sized fragments once the sword qi dissipated, causing the luxurious hall to crumble into fine rubble.

Under such conditions, anyone outside was blocked by the raging sword qi within and could not enter the hall at all.

Qi Xuansu had entered the hall only with his yang spirit. His true body remained outside.

At this moment, his seated true body opened its eyes.

The true body retrieved various prepared materials from his magical receptacle and arranged them into a simple ritual altar.

The yang spirit could cast spells nearly at the speed of thought, but the true body lacked such convenience and required significant time.

Thus, Qi Xuansu fought and adapted with his yang spirit inside, while his true body remained outside performing the lengthy ritual.

Qi Xuansu had learned many spells from The Taiping Essential Arts—some supportive, some destructive.

What his true body was now preparing was the most powerful among them—the Heaven-Earth Formula.

As Qi Xuansu’s true body began stepping the astral pattern and drawing talismans, the dark sky above gradually warped. A portion of the heavens bulged downward, out of harmony with the rest, as though storm clouds were pressing low over a city.

The sky sank until heaven and earth seemed connected by only a thin line. The moon vanished, stars faded, and even the faintest light of the sky disappeared.

Compared to Chen Shuhua’s ability to envelop an entire city like Thanglong Prefecture, Qi Xuansu’s Heaven-Earth Formula could only cover the villa, which was more than enough.