A Pawn's Passage

A furious roar rang out like a thunderclap as Hun Ahau descended from the sky.

The Five Supreme Elders were certainly formidable, but Qi Xuansu had two Pseudo-Immortals at his command. Without Zhou Mengyao, the Five Supreme Elders were indeed no match for Qi Xuansu’s group, especially since the elders were not even united.

Huo Ling’s expression changed drastically. She could no longer afford to pay attention to Qi Xuansu and hurriedly raised her sword to block Hun Ahau.

However, Hun Ahau’s descending strike was not so easily blocked. Huo Ling’s cultivation was already inferior to Hun Ahau’s, and with Hun Ahau attacking from above, he also held the positional advantage. With a single strike, the sword in Huo Ling’s hand shattered into several pieces. In the end, the Blue Cloud Sect simply could not compare with the Daoist Order’s foundations. The former could never possess that many semi-immortal objects, much less immortal objects.

Although each of the Three Daoist Prodigies possessed at least two semi-immortal objects, one had to consider their identities. Even setting aside the question of who would become the next Grand Master, the Three Prodigies were still the future leaders of the Three Sects. Any one of the Three Sects was comparable to the Western Daoist Order. As such, the Western Daoist Order had ample semi-immortal objects. Moreover, the Blue Cloud Sect had suffered two major blows in succession, once in Nanyang and once on the Southern Continent. It was already remarkable that it had managed to retain its current strength.

The Daoist Order’s overwhelming superiority over others was reflected not only in manpower but also in material resources.

The fact that the Daoist Order could create immortal objects and semi-immortal objects, and even create Immortals, did not mean that others possessed the same capabilities. In fact, such capabilities were even harder to attain than becoming an Immortal.

After Hun Ahau landed, he showed no mercy either, naturally taking over Qi Xuansu’s place in fighting Huo Ling.

At this moment, Utu floated up from underground. If a Martial Arts Practitioner were buried underground, they would most likely rely on their unmatched physical strength to overturn the thick layers of earth above them. But Utu was not a Martial Arts Practitioner. He was a Shaman who could turn his body incorporeal, becoming like a shadow that could ignore all physical matter and pass through it freely. It was essentially a more advanced application of the wall-passing technique.

“Brother Hun, of those five old bugs, including the one underground, two are already dead. There are still two more hiding somewhere. We must take at least one of them alive!” Through his soul-searching technique, Utu had already learned the general situation within the Blue Cloud Sect. He also knew more about Sun Yong, since they had worked together before.

Hun Ahau acknowledged him. Although he held back somewhat, his cultivation was still a level higher, making it extremely difficult for Huo Ling to contend with him.

Qi Xuansu put away Green Cloud, having no intention of helping Hun Ahau. Instead, he turned to Utu and said, “Humanoid insects can’t be judged by ordinary standards. If they are willing to sacrifice themselves to the Insect Queen, then there must be something wrong with their heads. So we can’t count on taking all of them alive. We must find Sun Yong and Chen Yan as soon as possible. I suspect they have something to do with the entrance to the Spirit Realm.”

As he spoke, Qi Xuansu glanced up at the green moon in the sky.

Utu solemnly acknowledged the order and slowly rose into the air, beginning to search Blue Cloud Island with a large-scale divine spell.

Rings of invisible ripples spread outward from Utu, extending all the way to the edges of Blue Cloud Island. After reaching their limit, the ripples returned to Utu one ring at a time, like some kind of echo.

Although Martial Arts Practitioners could always gain the upper hand in one-on-one combat, they were far less versatile when dealing with complex situations, making them seem rather clumsy.

Qi Xuansu also rose into the air and returned to the Horned Dragon flying ship.

Deep within Blue Cloud Island stood an Ancestral Hall, where the various humanoid insect ancestors were enshrined.

The Daoist Order had similar buildings, though theirs were divided into three halls.

Taking the Holy Xuan’s revival of the Daoist Order as the dividing line, one hall was dedicated to ancestors from before the Daoist Order’s revival. The foremost among them was the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, alongside the Heavenly Emperor, the Three Pure Ones, the Heavenly Empress, the Five Patriarchs of the Quanzhen Sect, the Three Great Heavenly Preceptors of the Zhengyi Sect, the Great Teacher of the Taiping Sect, Lu Xiujing, who reformed the Heavenly Sect, and many others. Many of these figures even came from various myths and legends.

Another hall was dedicated to figures from after the Daoist Order’s revival, with the Holy Xuan occupying the foremost position, followed by the various Patriarchs recognized by the Daoist Order, such as Elder Zhang, Elder Xu, Elder Li, Elder Yao, and Emperor Gaozu.

In addition, there was also a side hall for ancestors of a lesser rank. Although they had not been officially recognized by the Daoist Order as “Patriarchs,” they had nevertheless made major contributions to the Daoist Order. These included the successive Grand Masters, as well as certain particularly prominent emperors of the Great Xuan Dynasty, Deputy Grand Masters, Grand Master Consorts, Virtuous Great Sages, and Omniscient Sages. Tantai Yun was also enshrined in this hall. If the Western Daoist Order truly returned to the Daoist Order one day, then Tantai Yun would presumably be elevated to the same hall as the Holy Xuan, where she would stand alongside Elder Yao and the others.

Of course, the humanoid insect’s Ancestral Hall was nowhere near as extensive as the Daoist Order’s and did not need to be divided into three halls. The humanoid insect had only a single main hall, and enshrined at its center was none other than the Insect Queen. Of course, “Insect Queen” was a derogatory term used by the Daoist Order, just as the humanoid insect referred to the Daoist Order as a demonic cult. Her image was not that of an insect but rather an elegant and dignified woman with flowing ribbons wrapped around her body.

Sun Yong was currently inside the Ancestral Hall. With all its formations fully activated, the hall had temporarily concealed all traces of itself. It escaped the bombardment of the Western Daoist Order’s fleet and had also avoided Utu’s detection. However, Sun Yong knew that these formations could only accomplish so much. They would eventually be discovered, so he had to hurry.

This statue of the Insect Queen was a vessel for divine power. Over the years, whether through open plunder or covert theft, all the divine power collected by the humanoid insects had been stored within it.

After meeting Zhou Mengyao, Sun Yong had already released a portion of the divine power, transforming the dark moon into a green moon and bathing the waters surrounding Blue Cloud Island in a light that made the entire area resemble the Netherworld.

Previously, the Daoist Order’s artillery fire had dyed the sky red and temporarily suppressed the green glow to some extent. Now that the bombardment had ceased, the green light had returned in full force. With such an obvious phenomenon, the Western Daoist Order would not turn a blind eye to it nor remain indifferent.

The Western Daoist Order would soon find this place, so there could be no further delay. He had to release all the divine power and open as many passages to the Spirit Realm as possible.

There was one thing Sun Yong had not lied about. He truly was a practitioner of the demonic path among the humanoid insects. Deep down, he did not approve of the humanoid insect’s ways at all, nor did he wish to offer himself to the Insect Queen. He had even freed himself from the control of the insect within his body. It was he who controlled the insect, rather than allowing the insect to influence him.

The only reason he had infiltrated the upper ranks of the humanoid insect was to seize greater benefits for himself, and he had indeed managed to find an opportunity. Following the massive casualties suffered by the humanoid insects, there had been a prolonged shortage of capable successors, giving him the chance to rise through the ranks. In the end, he climbed to become one of the Five Supreme Elders of Blue Cloud Island.

It was rather absurd when one thought about it. The leader of Blue Cloud Island was actually a traitor who opposed the humanoid insects. How could things possibly turn out well?

Later, Sun Yong secretly brought Chen Yan over as an ally. The humanoid insect could, at a stretch, still be considered human, and human nature was unpredictable. At times, it could drive people to sacrifice their lives for a noble cause, which was the brilliance of humanity. Yet the darker side of human nature could unleash equally tremendous power. People would die for wealth just as readily, throwing their lives away for profit.

Together, the two of them suppressed their opponents and manipulated power within the Blue Cloud Sect. Had the Western Daoist Order not attacked the Blue Cloud Sect, perhaps after a few decades, the sect would still have been dominated by humanoid insects, but they would no longer have been under the Insect Queen’s control. Instead, they would all have become practitioners of what the humanoid insect defined as the demonic path. The Insect Queen would have become nothing more than a vague and distant legend, and no one would ever again think about opening a passage to the Spirit Realm.

Thus, Sun Yong’s thinking was perfectly straightforward. What did the future of the Blue Cloud Sect or the continuation of its legacy have to do with him? Now that this ship was about to sink, the only thing that mattered was jumping overboard and preserving his life. He could not care less how much trouble opening passages to the Spirit Realm would cause the Western Daoist Order. The greater the chaos, the easier it would be for him to escape.

Usually, using this divine power required the unanimous consent of all Five Supreme Elders. Sun Yong did not possess such authority on his own. However, after forming an alliance with Zhou Mengyao, Sun Yong had used her name to obtain authorization from the other four Supreme Elders and acquired their corresponding tokens. He was entrusted with opening a passage to the Spirit Realm at the critical moment, working together with Zhou Mengyao to draw Qi Xuansu into the Spirit Realm.

Zhou Mengyao had not come. Instead, the Western Daoist Order had arrived. Nevertheless, these tokens were still in Sun Yong’s hands.

Sun Yong joined these tokens together, forming a strange symbol. It somewhat resembled the Buddhist swastika, except that it had one additional stroke.

The tokens slowly rose into the air and erupted with brilliant light.

The statue of the Insect Queen began to glow in response before gradually turning transparent, revealing the dense divine power within that flowed like liquid. Finally, the statue of the Insect Queen began to disintegrate.

The vast amount of divine power contained within transformed into an enormous pillar of light that soared into the sky.

At the same time, under the tremendous impact of the divine power, every formation in the humanoid insect’s Ancestral Hall ceased functioning, leaving the Ancestral Hall exposed. However, by this point, whether the formations still worked no longer mattered. Such an extraordinary phenomenon was visible to the naked eye, so there was no need to search for it at all.

Utu was the first to arrive, but he was still one step too late.

The enormous pillar of light shot straight toward the green moon overhead.

The green moon actually began to move, like a crystal ball rotating left and right, then up and down, all while remaining fixed in place, giving rise to new changes.

The green radiance grew increasingly intense, and the green moonlight spread out to form a green path of clouds that was seemingly leading straight into the Netherworld.

Qi Xuansu’s inference was right. The Yin Moon was indeed a gateway. This gateway just happened to lead to the Spirit Realm.

Through the green light, the vague outlines of palaces could be seen deep within the Yin Moon.

Was that the Toad Palace that Sun Lingxiu had spoken of?

Sun Lingxiu had once entered it, stolen the one-meter spiritual talisman, and then returned to the mortal realm.

Considering that Sun Lingxiu eventually managed to ascend and become an Immortal, this was not particularly surprising. However, ordinary people certainly did not have such a cultivation level.

Just then, an enormous suction force emerged from the gateway. Some humanoid insects who had luckily survived the Western Daoist Order’s bombardment began rising into the air, following the cloud path into the green moon before disappearing from sight.

It looked like they had ascended to the heavens.

This was the humanoid insects’ “ascension.”

Even Huo Ling, a Supreme Elder, became dazed, staring blankly at the green moon in the sky. Had Hun Ahau not grabbed her and pinned her down, this humanoid insect at the Ascension stage would have “ascended” as well.

Even after being pinned to the ground, Huo Ling remained restless, struggling desperately as she tried to ascend to the moon.

Sun Yong barely managed to suppress the restless adult insect within his body. Not daring to look at the green moon overhead, he murmured, “It’s time to leave.”

At this moment, Qi Xuansu, who was standing on the deck of the Horned Dragon, had instead become the person closest to this green moon.

Although Qi Xuansu was unaffected by the green moon, numerous tentacles extended from within it. The thickest among them was comparable to Master Yin’s Nether Chain, and it happened to coil directly around Qi Xuansu.