A Pawn's Passage

Wang Jiaohe had long heard of the Three Yin Beings. Although they had rarely appeared in the past century, they were once exceedingly active during the era of Donghuang.

Back then, the Daoist Order faced troubles internally and externally, with the Western Region Buddhist Sect watching them closely and multiple unrest and turmoil stirred by the remnants of the Confucian School.

At that time, Donghuang assumed the position as Great Sage of the Taiping Sect. Due to his special relationship with the Holy Xuan and the Holy Xuan’s wife, he effectively took on the responsibilities of a Deputy Grand Master, presiding fully over the Golden Tower Council.

Upon taking office, Donghuang immediately began internal purges. He countered infiltration by Ancient Immortals while also eliminating various opposing forces, laying the groundwork for the Daoist Order’s eventual decisive battle with the Buddhist Sect.

During this time, Donghuang borrowed the Three Yin Beings from Elder Yao and unleashed a sweeping slaughter. However, due to concerns over the repercussions, it was mainly Master Yin and Madam Bai who helped. The exceedingly terrifying Master Wan appeared far less often, which in turn left later generations with the least understanding of him. So how could one sever Master Wan’s connection to earth qi?

For a moment, Wang Jiaohe truly had no idea.

Qi Xuansu had no intention of granting Wang Jiaohe such time. Taking advantage of the moment when Wang Jiaohe was seized by Master Wan, Qi Xuansu advanced once more to Wang Jiaohe’s front and raised the Three Treasures Scepter, smashing it straight down toward his head.

Since the Three Treasures Scepter was a genuine immortal object, one’s head would surely burst open if it was struck squarely.

Wang Jiaohe had to control the jade ruler to resist Master Wan’s corpse qi and unmatched brute force, leaving him able to block the blow with only one hand.

Even with the righteous qi protecting his body, his bones still fractured. After all, even Golden Patriarch’s Immeasurable Buddha Palm had once had a finger forcibly smashed apart by the Three Treasures Scepter.

At the same time, every eye and mouth on Master Wan’s body opened wide, spewing more corpse qi that filled the surroundings.

Thankfully, the area was sparsely populated, so no innocents had to be collateral damage. However, with the corruption of corpse qi, this stretch of fine mountains and clear waters instantly transformed into a land of jagged peaks and foul waters, harboring yin energy and nurturing evil.

Although Master Wan was more akin to a Martial Arts Practitioner, he was ultimately not human and could not be judged as so. His specialty was the Three Refinement Formation.

Master Wan absorbed earth qi and transformed it into corpse qi. The Soul Refinement Formation then absorbed this corpse qi, turning it into a mass of black clouds that blotted out the sun and prevented sunlight and yang energy from descending. The Corpse Refinement Formation returned corpse qi into the earth, expelling all the yang energy that originally belonged to this land.

The ground, already saturated with corpse qi, seemed to come alive in an instant, heaving up and down without rest. This land was no longer the earth it once was. It had transformed into a gigantic Yin-Yang Gate.

Ghastly pale faces with eyes tightly shut and pairs of ashen hands clawed their way upward. Unlike the formless vengeful spirits, these were tangible living corpses, the accumulated result of long years of corpse cultivation within the Ghost Kingdom.

Some of the living corpses still vaguely retained their faces, clearly having turned only recently, perhaps a few hundred years ago. Others’ flesh had already rotted away to reveal white bones, which were considered defective. Some had grown long corpse hair, their skin pitch-black, evidently cultivated over many years. These were the elite among the living corpses. Regardless of quality, they all clambered up onto the surface together while growling like beasts, ready to devour the living.

Once these numerous living corpses emerged, they merged with the existing corpse qi and forcibly corroded a sliver of a yin-yang barrier within the yang realm. Though it could not compare to the massive rift inside the Ghost Kingdom, this hole was big enough for this place to show signs of yin and yang reversal.

Yin Beings were constrained in the yang realm, as they could not touch sunlight or endure heavenly winds, nor draw close to humans. With the reversal of yin and yang, such restrictions on yin creatures would vanish completely, while the living would now feel constrained at every turn.

Although Master Wan was limited by his cultivation and could not yet achieve a true reversal of yin and yang, enormous amounts of yin energy surged from this thin fissure, like floodwaters released from a breached dam.

As a result, the circulation of qi and blood within Wang Jiaohe’s body became erratic and disordered. Even as Wang Jiaohe continuously refined it with righteous qi, signs of yin energy invading his body gradually appeared. His complexion turned ashen, with specks of corpse mottling emerging on his skin.

Master Wan scooped up a heaping pile of earth and forcibly molded it with earth qi. Perhaps this was what people meant by immortals moving mountains. Then he hurled the mountain he created toward Wang Jiaohe.

From Wang Jiaohe’s perspective, this flying mountain blotted out the sky and sun.

It crashed down thunderously, completely suppressing Wang Jiaohe beneath it.

The earth shook, the mountains trembled, and dust billowed upward, filling the heavens. The reverberating sound could vibrate one’s heart, lasting for a few minutes before the dust finally settled.

After a brief silence, the mountain blasted open, and stones rained down in torrents.

Amid the falling rain of stones, Wang Jiaohe slowly rose to his feet. He finally lost the composure and calm of an Omniscient Sage. His hair was disheveled, his robes torn, and his appearance exceedingly bedraggled.

Even so, it was far from a settled defeat for Wang Jiaohe. The Heavenly Heart Sword Technique moved in response, dazzling sword shadows crisscrossing into a dense net of blades. Any living corpse that entered the sword net was annihilated and reduced to drifting ash.

Wherever the sword qi passed, the foul corpse qi swiftly retreated, and the yin energy churned and quaked without rest.

The grand formation laid out by Master Wan showed signs of faltering, as if on the verge of collapse.

The jade ruler ignited with resplendent crimson light, which was the manifestation of Wang Jiaohe’s righteous qi. He thrust a single sword skyward, forming a towering vortex of sword qi that shredded Master Wan’s arm before shooting straight up toward the heavens.

The dense black clouds in the sky were pierced open by the soaring sword qi, leaving behind a massive breach from which yang energy flooded down, like a cascading waterfall.

This sword strike not only tore apart the corpse qi filling the sky, it even opened a breach in Master Wan’s Soul Refinement Formation. Previously, Master Wan had used yin energy to expel yang energy, causing yin energy to flourish in the yang realm as if it were the netherworld. This was like building a dam to block a river, causing the water level outside the dam to rise higher. The Soul Refinement Formation was that dam. Now that a breach had appeared, the backflowing yang energy was like the rising water levels, unstoppable and far beyond its usual intensity. As a result, the ferocious flooding of yang energy swept away the living corpses and dispersed the corpse qi.

Master Wan’s body ignited with countless flames, with white smoke billowing upward.

However, after this exchange, Wang Jiaohe had also suffered considerable depletion.

Ordinary innate qi’s drawback was being easily eroded by the Six Void Tribulations and demonic fire. It could also be readily drained by the Eclipse Method and the Umbra Method. However, its advantage was rapid recovery, as one could freely draw upon the elemental energy to replenish one’s innate qi. Righteous qi was not affected by all methods above. But its drawback was its slower recovery and the inability to freely transform elemental energy to one’s own use.

In this fight, Wang Jiaohe and Master Wan had both suffered grievous injuries.

Seeing this opportunity, Qi Xuansu immediately raised the Three Treasures Scepter in his hand, his figure flashing forward as he struck down toward Wang Jiaohe’s head.

Wang Jiaohe dared not block it head-on. Confucian sword techniques were known for their overwhelming momentum and strict form. But at this moment, Wang Jiaohe did not use the typical style. Instead, his moves became unpredictable, advancing and retreating freely.

In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged more than 100 moves.

Suddenly, Wang Jiaohe raised the jade ruler in his right hand while he struck out with his left palm. This palm strike appeared plain and unadorned, yet its precision was flawless, and its speed was like a shooting star. However, beyond Wang Jiaohe’s expectations, Qi Xuansu made no attempt to defend at all. Instead, he swung the Three Treasures Scepter straight toward Wang Jiaohe’s face.

Unwilling to trade injury for injury, Wang Jiaohe could only withdraw his strike and retreat backward.

The two did not pause, immediately clashing once more.

After several exchanges, Wang Jiaohe repeated his old tactic, this time with even more overwhelming palm force, enveloping Qi Xuansu from head to toe.

If Qi Xuansu still refused to defend, he would inevitably suffer severe injury from this strike. But this was what Qi Xuansu wanted. He threw a punch, bracing it against the center of Wang Jiaohe’s palm. Since Qi Xuansu’s cultivation was inferior to Wang Jiaohe’s, his body swayed slightly, and his face turned faintly pale. Even so, the two palms did not separate. Seizing this moment, Qi Xuansu began channeling the demonic fire.

Wang Jiaohe was startled at first, then sneered. “Do you think this foreign trick can possibly threaten righteous qi?”

Qi Xuansu did not reply and merely channeled demonic fire with all his might.

At this moment, Wang Jiaohe’s cultivation had suffered heavy losses. Though the nature of righteous qi prevented him from collapsing outright, it was still affected. Wang Jiaohe’s entire body stiffened, and his breathing momentarily stifled. He needed a brief moment to dissolve the effects and was no longer as unaffected as before.

In the next instant, a sword seemed to appear out of thin air, piercing straight through Wang Jiaohe’s back at the heart and hitting his heart meridian. This sent a violent shock through his body as blood gushed from his orifices.

Wei Wugui, wielding Green Cloud, had seen the perfect opening created by Qi Xuansu to strike.

But Wei Wugui did not dare to be greedy. Regardless of the outcome of that strike, he immediately withdrew his sword and retreated.

Qi Xuansu pressed the attack, smashing down the Three Treasures Scepter onto Wang Jiaohe’s forehead.

Wang Jiaohe had no time to resist and could only watch helplessly as the scepter came down on him.

The Three Treasures Scepter’s immense weight and force were something even Wang Jiaohe could not withstand. Thus, Wang Jiaohe was sent flying like a leaf swept up in a raging current. He crashed into a reef before slamming heavily into a pile of ruins, stirring up a cloud of dust.

However, the Mansion Master was not dead. At such a critical juncture, he finally invoked the Hermit lineage’s mystical ability, which was to issue heavenly edicts. It was somewhat akin to the Shaman’s technique of their words becoming law, but they were not entirely the same.

Shamans could only alter rules and establish their own laws within their divine domain, whereas the Confucians had been setting the rules of the real world for nearly 2,000 years.

Even though the Daoist Order had worked for nearly 200 years to undermine Confucian influence, the Daoists still could not change the fact that the foundation of this world was built on Confucian rules.

Thus, a Hermit had no need for a divine domain. The real world became their domain.