A Pawn's Passage

It was close to mid-March when Qi Xuansu left Xijing Prefecture on his grade horse and arrived at the edge of Beimang Mountain. The peach blossoms in the south were beginning to bloom, but it was still chilly up in the mountains. There was even some lingering snow that had not melted yet.

The total length of Beimang Mountain from east to west was more than 190 kilometers, with a total of 32 peaks. It was impossible for the Daoist Order to restrict access to all 32 peaks of Beimang Mountain, as it would involve too many resources.

This stretch that Qi Xuansu traveled on was desolate, with no Spirit Guards patrolling the area because it was neither close to Xijing Prefecture nor the Ghost Kingdom or Summer Palace in Beimang Mountain. It was also located at the junction of Qinzhou and Zhongzhou, so it was not populated.

Qi Xuansu walked slowly, thinking about the fist intention. There were many kinds of fist intentions in this world. The most common one was by the Black Robes.

The Tantai Fist Intention was completely different from the Black Robes’ fist intention because the former mimicked heaven and earth, with traces of Qi Refiner’s techniques. This was due to Tantai Yun’s experience of changing lineages.

The Black Robes’ fist intention was the result of the condensed and sublimated killing aura and ferocious energy honed on the battlefield. It might not be better than the Tantai Fist Intention, but it would be more oppressive toward those with a lower cultivation level. This fist intention alone could crush someone to death. Moreover, the Martial Arts Practitioner’s blood roar and fist intention could be used together.

There was a legend that a fierce general once used the blood roar and fist intention on the battlefield, breaking bridges and causing organ damage to the opposing general, who fell off his horse and died. This displayed the sheer power of Martial Arts Practitioners.

Although Qi Xuansu killed many people, he lacked battlefield experience, so he had a strong killing aura but weak ferocious energy from the battlefield. Thus, he was not suitable for the Black Robes’ fist intention.

He considered himself lucky to have witnessed Wu Luo’s manifestation during the flying crash, which helped him practice the Tantai Fist Intention. After all, not everyone could be so lucky to see Wu Luo and survive to tell the tale. Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu were the only survivors in that flying ship crash.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu saw someone coming from the direction of Beimang Mountain from a distance.

Qi Xuansu was surprised at first. This surprise turned into delight when he realized who it was.

This person was Wan Xiuwu, his classmate from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace whom he had recently met at the Shangqing Palace on Yunjin Mountain. They were not on good terms.

Wan Xiuwu was equally surprised to see Qi Xuansu, so he immediately galloped over.

Qi Xuansu could not help but laugh at how small this world was that he could cross paths with his enemy on this desolate mountain road.

But on second thought, it made sense for Wan Xiuwu to appear here because he was originally from the Wuxu Palace.

Qi Xuansu would never forget what happened back then in the Dragon and Tiger Camp. Yue Liuli treated him as an abandoned pawn, and Wan Xiuwu almost killed him. Qi Xuansu was grudgeful, so he would not let it slide.

He even had a mental list of his enemies from his past encounters, arranged according to cultivation level.

List of Enemies

1. Zhao Fu’an — Baidi City

2. Feng Bo — Xijing Prefecture

3. Monk Yan Xiu — Yulan Temple

4. Yue Liuli — Wanxiang Daoist Palace

5. Wan Xiuwu — Wanxiang Daoist Palace

These people wanted him dead and tried to kill him before, but in the end, they failed due to various reasons.

One day, Qi Xuansu swore to avenge himself by attempting to kill them all. If they could escape his attack, he would forget about the grudge. However, if they could not escape, then they deserved to die.

At this moment, Wan Xiuwu was serving himself up on a silver platter.

Wan Xiuwu reined in his horse and stopped not far from Qi Xuansu. He sized up Qi Xuansu, puzzled. “Are you a human or a ghost?”

Qi Xuansu lowered his hands to his waist level and smirked. “A ghost, of course. I’m here to take your life today.”

Wan Xiuwu’s expression turned stern. Without any hesitation, he leaped from the horseback and rushed toward Qi Xuansu like a giant bird.

His move was smooth and not sloppy, truly worthy of being a leader of the Tiger Camp back then.

Qi Xuansu was ready to make a move since he stated his motives so clearly. Almost at the same time that Wan Xiuwu leaped up, Qi Xuansu had already taken out the Divine Dragon Pistol and aimed it at his enemy.

The bullet hit Wan Xiuwu’s chest, but because Qi Xuansu met him by chance, he only had an ordinary armor-piercing projectile loaded in the Divine Dragon Pistol, not the Dragon Eye or Phoenix Eye Series ammunition.

A cluster of blood spread on Wan Xiuwu’s chest, but Wan Xiuwu did not seem to care. He continued to rush to Qi Xuansu, knocking the latter off his horse and pinning him to the ground. The wound on Wan Xiuwu’s chest began to heal rapidly. This was the Martial Arts Practitioner’s healing abilities.

Wan Xiuwu was a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Guizhen stage. He thought that Qi Xuansu was a Rogue Cultivator, so he chose close combat without hesitation, even using his own body to withstand a shot from the Divine Dragon Pistol.

When Wan Xiuwu had the upper hand, he began to consider whether he should beat Qi Xuansu to death or escort him back to the Daoist Order.

Wan Xiuwu paid special attention to Wu Luo’s attack on the flying ship because all the bulletins mentioned that Zhang Yuelu was the only survivor. As a result, Qi Xuansu did not die. He even showed up in Qinzhou openly. Thus, Wan Xiuwu was confident that there was something weird about Qi Xuansu, thinking that perhaps Qi Xuansu was the insider in Wu Luo’s attack. That would explain why Qi Xuansu was still alive.

In fact, Wan Xiuwu’s thought process was normal for anyone from the Daoist Order. It was precisely because of this that Qi Xuansu dared not return to the Daoist Order and decided to use another identity.

Even if there was no grudge between them, Qi Xuansu would still have to take some measures since Wan Xiuwu had seen him. Not to mention, Wan Xiuwu was his enemy who tried to kill him once.

Wan Xiuwu loosened his grip on Qi Xuansu’s neck slightly to allow him to speak. He questioned, “Why are you not dead? Are you a cult demon? I was wondering how an incompetent boy like you managed to gain the support of the prestigious Zhang family. It turns out that you’ve walked the evil path!”

Qi Xuansu could still laugh even when strangled by Wan Xiuwu. He smirked. “Wan Xiuwu, this is the second time that you have tried to kill me. I might tolerate it once or twice, but what about a third time?”

Wan Xiuwu sneered. “There will be no third time.”

“You asked for it.” Qi Xuansu’s smirk faded.

Wan Xiuwu, who thought he had the upper hand, suddenly felt severe pain in his abdomen. He instinctively let go of Qi Xuansu before his body flew back from the impact.

Qi Xuansu took advantage of the situation and got into a standing position with a kip-up.

After landing, Wan Xiuwu stretched out his hand to cover his lower abdomen, his expression shocked and wary.

Qi Xuansu stretched his neck, threw away the Divine Dragon Pistol, and decided not to sneak attack for the first time in his life.

For the sake of their relationship as old classmates, Qi Xuansu decided to make an exception to defeat his old classmate in a dignified way. That would allow Wan Xiuwu to die without regrets.

Wan Xiuwu was talented and decisive. He would have been a powerful figure if he had been born outside the Daoist community. However, since he was working in the Daoist Order but not in a place like Tiangang Hall, Wan Xiuwu lacked experience in real fights.

That was why Wan Xiuwu let go of Qi Xuansu the moment he was punched. This was a mistake that an elite Green Phoenix Guard would not have made.

The elite Green Phoenix Guards had a strict rule not to let go of their opponent, even if their own throat was being crushed. They must be ruthless and strangle the opponent’s throat at the same time. Qi Xuansu would not have dared to let an opponent like that strangle him.

Qi Xuansu only allowed himself to get strangled by Wan Xiuwu earlier because he figured that Wan Xiuwu would let go of him.

The real reason Qi Xuansu did this was because he felt that Yue Liuli was the real culprit. Wan Xiuwu was also one of her pawns. As long as Wan Xiuwu felt guilty about what happened back then, Qi Xuansu would have shown him some mercy. However, it seemed that it was no longer necessary.

Qi Xuansu pulled the two cutlasses from his waist with his backhand. “It’s a waste of breath to talk about forgiveness with someone like you.”

Wan Xiuwu released his hand that was covering his lower abdomen and said nothing.

From Wan Xiuwu’s point of view, he was in the Guizhen stage, while Qi Xuansu was at most in the Yuxu stage. He only retreated from that punch earlier because he was careless. He still believed that he held the advantage as he had a higher cultivation level.

On the other hand, Qi Xuansu believed that he only had a slight difference in cultivation level compared to Wan Xiuwu because he was not far from the Guizhen stage. The gap between them was not enough to determine the outcome of this fight. The key was his experience. He had killed Guizhen-stage masters before, so he was confident he could defeat Wan Xiuwu.