A Pawn's Passage

Several fourth-rank Daoist priests fled in all directions as the golden beam blasted a three-meter-wide hole on the deck of the flying ship. The various formations on the deck glowed intermittently from the impact.

The flying ship also shook violently as a result, startling everyone on board. At this time, the ship was thousands of feet in the sky. No one would survive a fall from that height if the ship crashed.

Seeing this, the fourth-rank priests on the deck were solemn; their expressions even held a hint of anger.

Zhang Yuelu tightly clasped the old priest’s wrist, but the old man used his divine power to shake her off.

The old man mocked. “You guys must be furious with Mage Zhang for provoking me, thinking that she should just make a show of trying to catch cult demons without actually putting in any effort, right? That’s how it has always been before, isn’t it? Now, everyone is in trouble because she has provoked me. I bet you all want to throw her off this flying ship, too. How ridiculous!”

It was indeed ridiculous. The Lingshan Witch Cult wanted to take revenge. But Zhang Yuelu could not be blamed for this. In any case, she did not provoke the Lingshan Witch Cult for selfish reasons. She merely met them by chance.

Since the Daoist Order wanted to eradicate secret societies, Zhang Yuelu was just following orders. But as a result, the Lingshan Witch Cult wanted vengeance, implicating everyone on board. Most people wanted to blame Zhang Yuelu for meddling, but they forgot that the cause of all this was the Lingshan Witch Cult.

That was because most people knew that lawless cult members did not care about anything. So they could only condemn Zhang Yuelu, a fellow Daoist. They also did not dare fight against the cult members for fear of getting hurt.

In any case, the fourth-rank priests on deck and other bystanders in the ship’s building were wise enough to watch from the sidelines and protect themselves. All they could do was secretly blame Zhang Yuelu for this incident.

Zhang Yuelu knew this, but she did not care. Even if these people did not appreciate her efforts in eradicating these secret societies, future generations would.

At this time, Qi Xuansu, who had been looking for an opportunity to ambush the old man, finally walked out of the ship’s building. He staggered against the strong wind, barely managing to keep his feet grounded. As he stepped forward, he pulled out Qing Yuan and stood side by side with Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu frowned slightly. She was protected by her Five Elements Qi Shield, so she could still speak coherently. She ordered in a stern voice, “Go back inside!”

Qi Xuansu did not answer, silently refusing her command. He had noticed that Zhang Yuelu was on par with the old priest, who had only used the divine power of the True Lord Siming thus far. If the old priest activated two divine powers at the same time, Zhang Yuelu would not be able to defeat him.

The old priest did not care to stay alive and only wanted to do the most damage before dying. That was why the group of fourth-rank priests was wary of the old man, fearing that they would be dragged into this mess. They just wanted to wait it out and hope that the old priest’s divine power would run out as soon as possible.

If Qi Xuansu did not stand up for Zhang Yuelu, no one would. Zhang Yuelu understood Qi Xuansu well enough to know that he was as stubborn as a mule when he made up his mind, so she just sighed helplessly in resignation.

Seeing this, the old priest chuckled. “If I had grandkids, they would have been your age. In the end, only two kids are willing to fight me. Is this what the Daoist Order has become? How is it any different from the Confucian School back then? At least the Holy Xuan had some foresight to promote young people.”

Zhang Yuelu said solemnly, “Regardless of what the Daoist Order turns out to be like, it’s not a reason for you to betray it.”

The old priest said nothing.

Zhang Yuelu continued, “If you are disappointed with the Daoist Order, you can choose to resign by submitting an application to Ziwei Hall. They will just strip you of your rank, and you’ll be a free person. But you used your identity as a Daoist priest as a cover and joined a secret society. That’s the definition of a traitor!”

Qi Xuansu’s face twitched slightly.

The old priest did not refute her. Instead, he nodded in agreement. “Indeed. The Holy Xuan once said that if you are disappointed with the world, then you should work hard to make it better. Don’t just sit back and complain about it, because cynicism only makes this world more miserable.

“I used to think that I could create change when I was younger. By the time I realized that I couldn’t, my youth was already gone. I couldn’t even change my old habits. Can’t you understand my despair?

“Well, I guess you can’t understand what it’s like because you have a bright future. You have the power to change the world, but I can’t. Perhaps what you said is right. But you can’t restrain me. What can you do if I insist on being a traitor? No one will even remember my name because I’m a nobody!

“A person does not necessarily have to be rich and powerful to feel fulfilled. What’s most important is hope. Buddhists put their hope in the afterlife, and parents place their hopes on their children, hoping they will be successful in the future. As long as there is hope, one will be able to survive, no matter how hard life is. But what if there is no hope?”

Zhang Yuelu was speechless. She had no choice but to kill this old man, who disregarded his own life and morals.

Qi Xuansu had a tacit understanding with Zhang Yuelu and moved forward at the same time. Zhang Yuelu lunged at the old priest with her sword. Just as the old priest was about to block her strike, Qi Xuansu used the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique he had just learned and drew his short sword from the front. However, his short sword appeared from behind the old priest, stabbing the old man in the back of the heart.

Although that did not do much damage to the old priest, the old priest froze for a moment. Zhang Yuelu took advantage of this split second to stab the old priest in the heart again. Her sword qi penetrated his body, severely damaging all his internal organs. His heart, which bore the brunt of the strike, also shattered.

However, the old priest was undead. His whole body was shrouded by the black mist, which was very strange.

Zhang Yuelu did not give up, striking the old priest’s forehead with her palm. But the old man hurriedly swung his bone sword to block her palm strike. When her fingers came into contact with the bone sword, the Five Elements Qi Shield surged erratically, knocking it away. Zhang Yuelu then quickly struck the old man in the chest.

The old priest fell to his knees and bled from all his orifices, but Zhang Yuelu did not look relieved. She quickly withdrew her sword and retreated.

That was because the old man was still not dead. On the contrary, more black qi flowed out of his body, as if he were on fire. At this point, he was completely enveloped in black smoke.

This divine power was completely different from Wu Luo’s divine power.

In fact, after reaching a certain level of cultivation, all lineages had distinct personal imprints. For example, once a Martial Arts Practitioner became a Pseudo-Immortal, they could summon their true form, which looked different for everyone. Some people would take the form of giants, while others resembled wild beasts. Some even had wings on their backs. There were all kinds of strange, true forms.

In the same way, after Shamans reached a certain level, the divine power they could summon was also unique and could change in color. The characteristics of the Ancient Immortals’ divine power were closely related to their names.

True Lord Siming was the Controller of Fate. With the True Lord Siming’s divine power, one would not die until the divine power was exhausted. This was the reason those fourth-rank priests were reluctant to fight the old man. As long as the old man still had divine power, he would not be able to die.

If they fought the old man rashly, they would just risk their lives for nothing. Thus, the smart choice was to protect themselves and wait for the old man’s divine power to be exhausted or until reinforcements from the Daoist Order arrived.