A Pawn's Passage

A thunderous noise echoed in the skies and shook the earth. The essence from the sky and earth rippled and overflowed, creating lightning, thunder, and black clouds that covered the sun.

Cuowenbu was experiencing torrential rain with strong, howling winds like in summer. There was also some intermittent hail and lightning. It did not seem like early spring at all, but more like the summer monsoon.

The Yinglong Warship activated its defense mode, forcing the woman in red to leave the ship due to the ship’s formation.

The warship once again gathered the storm, but its momentum was not as strong as before. The woman in red tried her best to stop the warship from absorbing the essence of nature and fought for control over it.

For a time, the lake’s surface turned into a white mist, blurring the line between the water and the sky. The waves were turbulent, making the shoreline difficult to see.

The dark clouds continued to extend all around, covering half of the sky. Pillars of waterspouts formed, connecting the lake to the sky and drawing water into the air.

The aftermath continued to spread throughout the lake. Both sides of Cuowenbu started drizzling.

At this moment, a bright red figure suddenly broke through the fog barrier and approached the Yinglong Warship.

The hull of the ship shook again as it let out the second bout of dragon’s breath.

The woman in red countered with a stream of her blood-red divine power.

When the two energies came into contact, a massive chasm formed on the lake’s surface, stretching nearly four kilometers from west to east. The green lake water continually retreated backward.

The dragon’s breath was able to resist at first, but its power weakened and gradually became unsustainable.

After about 15 minutes, the dragon’s breath disappeared entirely.

The blood-red divine power fell on the Yinglong Warship. Although it did not damage the warship itself, it caused heavy casualties to the Daoist disciples onboard.

In a last-ditch effort to fight back, the Yinglong Warship gathered all its energy into a purple sun at the dragon’s head, with no consideration for the total loss of the Dragon Pearls.

The woman in red stretched out her hand, drawing a long, bloody river down from the sea of ??blood in the Divine Kingdom above. Although the blood river descended slowly, it seemed to corrode the sky wherever it passed.

......

Qi Xuansu was unaware of the fight happening on Cuowenbu Lake. Due to the barrier of clouds and rain, he could only vaguely see the various strange phenomena happening on the lake’s surface, but he could not make out what was going on. Even so, Qi Xuansu could still feel the terrifying power from within.

Thus, he turned around and left without hesitation, trying to get away from this catastrophe as fast as possible.

He thought that perhaps the Daoist Order was wiping out another evil cult yet again. After all, he did not want to be collateral damage.

With his current level of cultivation, he would be killed instantly if he got involved. The scene when Wu Luo snapped the flying ship in half was still fresh in his memory.

No matter what, it was best to get away from this place.

......

Kunlun, Jade Capital.

After the handover between the two Deputy Grand Masters, the Imperial Preceptor took on the role of the Great Sage Lunzhi, while the Earthly Preceptor stepped down and returned to the Chongyang Palace of Immortality on Difei Mountain. The Heavenly Preceptor had been in the Dazhen Mansion on Yunjin Mountain, so Jade Capital was dominated by the Imperial Preceptor.

That day, the Imperial Preceptor convened his first Golden Tower Council meeting as the Great Sage Lunzhi, requiring every Hall Master to attend. However, when the Imperial Preceptor arrived at the Golden Tower, he found that one Hall Master was missing—the Duzhi Hall Master, who happened to be Zhang Yuelu’s master, Sage Cihang.

The Imperial Preceptor had just taken office as the acting Grand Master, so he had not had the time to formally meet everyone. Therefore, this gathering was his first formal meeting with the heads of the Nine Halls while holding the highest authority in the Daoist Order.

Being absent at this time was undoubtedly a show of disrespect to the Imperial Preceptor.

Even if the other two Deputy Grand Masters were asked to attend this meeting, they would not have blatantly disregarded the Great Sage Lunzhi’s orders.

The Imperial Preceptor remained calm and asked, “Where is Sage Cihang?”

The Fengxian Hall Master stood up and replied, “Great Sage Lunzhi, Sage Cihang has returned to Nanhai some time last year to handle the disputes between the Daoist Order and the Holy Court. So she has yet to return.”

The Imperial Preceptor said expressionlessly, “Shouldn’t this matter be handled by Shibo Hall? Why is the head of Duzhi Hall involved?”

The Shibo Hall Master stood up and answered, “Great Sage Lunzhi, this was the arrangement of the Earthly Preceptor.”

Before the Imperial Preceptor took office as the Great Sage Lunzhi, his predecessor was the Earthly Preceptor. Thus, no one would disobey his orders.

“So, it’s the Earthly Preceptor’s arrangement.” The Imperial Preceptor feigned surprise. “In that case, Sage Cihang’s absence is understandable.”

The Fengxian and Shibo Hall Masters took their seats again.

During this time, the Tiangang Hall Master never spoke. For some reason, he felt a little uneasy.

“Alright, since we don’t have to wait for anyone, let’s start the discussion now.” The Imperial Preceptor pondered for a while before motioning for the others to take their seats.

In addition to the Nine Hall Masters who were already seated, the rest of the audience also took their seats.

The Imperial Preceptor stood next to the Grand Master’s chair, with one hand resting on the back of the chair.

......

A superintendent of Tiangang Hall hurried to the Tiangang Hall Master’s office, where two Spirit Guards stopped him.

This was the core of Tiangang Hall, so they had strict regulations on who was allowed to enter. There were also special Spirit Guards gatekeeping the place.

However, this superintendent was a familiar face, so the Spirit Guards merely stopped him and joked, “Brother, you seem to have forgotten the rules today. How can you run in without permission?”

The superintendent was on the verge of panicking. “It’s really urgent! I have to see the Hall Master immediately!”

At this moment, the door to the duty room not far away opened, and Zhang Yuelu walked out, saying, “The Hall Master has gone to the Golden Tower. What’s going on?”

The superintendent was a little hesitant to speak.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuelu went back into the duty room and said, “Come in and talk.”

The moment the superintendent stepped inside, he blurted out anxiously, “We have lost all contact with Deputy Hall Master Shangguan!”

Zhang Yuelu was shocked. “What?!”

......

The huge Yinglong Warship began to disintegrate, and the talismans on the ship dimmed. Many of the Daoist disciples onboard were dead, frozen in the postures they assumed at the final moment of their lives, like mummies. It was a terrifying sight.

At that moment, the Yinglong Warship had lost all its power, and its destruction was inevitable. The Daoist disciples who were still alive could only helplessly watch as the warship began to fall into the Cuowenbu Lake below.

During this time, some tried to abandon the ship and flee for their lives. However, as soon as they left the warship, their lives were instantly taken away by the blood-red divine power around the ship. No one was spared.

The remaining disciples were in despair as they knew what fate awaited them.

At this moment, a majestic white rainbow appeared in the sky south of Cuowenbu, breaking through the many barriers around the lake and catching the falling Yinglong Warship.

The white rainbow dispersed, revealing a woman in a white dress. Her body was covered with a layer of mist, making it difficult to see her true appearance as she flew across the sky. With every step she took, ripples resembling lotus flowers appeared beneath her feet.

The woman in white conjured a huge Guanyin statue as an extension of her body and stretched out her hands to support the falling warship.

However, the warship was too heavy. Even though the woman was a Heavenly Being, she continued to sink with it. The white lotus flowers beneath her feet disintegrated.

The woman in red looked down at the woman in white, wanting to stop the latter. However, the woman in red had consumed too much divine power, so much so that her figure became illusory. Finally, she morphed into countless streams of light and returned to the Divine Kingdom.

A moment later, the Divine Kingdom gradually faded away, and the strange phenomenon above Cuowenbu dissipated.

In the end, the woman in white managed to hold up the wreckage of the Yinglong Warship. She placed the warship safely back on the lake’s surface, letting it float.

After this ordeal, the woman in white felt like her body had weakened, and the light mist enveloping her became much thinner.

She came to the bow of the ship, finding Shangguan Jing’s body nailed to the hull with a bone staff made entirely of divine power. The Seventh Deputy Tiangang Hall Master had died in a miserable state.