A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu’s figure moved abruptly as he approached Su Ran in an instant.

With a wave of Su Ran’s sleeves, a cold light flashed as seven concealed weapons shaped like feathers shot out.

This was the Daoist Order’s special concealed weapon called the Seven Phoenix Feathers. The blades of the feather could be dipped in poison, making it lethal. Although it could not be used like a flying sword, one could change the feather’s trajectory with innate qi.

It was originally a method used by Qi Refiners, but with the rise of flying swords, Qi Refiners abandoned the usage of feathers. Instead, it became a popular weapon among Rogue Cultivators.

Qi Xuansu could also use concealed weapons, but he could not afford such expensive toys, so he could only use simple iron awls instead.

Since he knew how to use such weapons, he also knew how best to avoid them.

From an outsider’s perspective, one could only see flashes of light as the flaming blades surged forth and swept away all of Su Ran’s Seven Phoenix Feathers.

However, the Seven Phoenix Feathers was just a cover-up for her sneak attack. Su Ran took advantage of this opportunity to close the distance with Qi Xuansu. She came behind him and raised her hand, shooting out another bout of white light.

This time, it was no longer the Seven Phoenix Feathers, but the Bliss Needle, which was also one of the famous concealed weapons of the Daoist Order.

This needle was made of primordial magnetite. When lodged into the body, it would block the circulation of innate qi and cause one to have hallucinations similar to ecstasy. Compared with the poisonous Seven Phoenix Feathers, the Bliss Needle was more advanced.

Su Ran’s Bliss Needle was fast, but Qi Xuansu’s cutlasses were even faster. He turned around and used his innate qi to collect all the Bliss Needles to his blade. He approached Su Ran again and struck her in the head with his blade.

Su Ran used her innate qi to pull back the Seven Phoenix Feathers, holding one feather between the gaps of each of her ten fingers. She crossed her arms, barely blocking the blade.

While Qi Xuansu was slashing her with one cutlass, he lifted his other cutlass and attacked from another direction. The Seven Phoenix Feathers in Su Ran’s hand retracted from the pressure.

In an instant, Qi Xuansu slashed at her with both blades, the sword qi rippling throughout every corner of the warehouse.

Su Ran, who was in the Guizhen stage, was not so easily defeated. This seemingly sharp and terrifying sword qi was nothing to her. After regaining her footing, a cold light shone on her ten fingers as her nails suddenly grew to more than 30 centimeters long. She moved her fingers rapidly, blocking all the sword qi.

Qi Xuansu recognized this method, called the Yin Slaughter Technique. As long as he paid Madam Qi, she would be willing to teach him this technique along with the Crescent Palm Saw Technique and the Entwining Silk Technique.

Back then, Qi Xuansu said that these were too feminine for him to learn because they involved nails and hair. But the fact was that he could not afford Madam Qi’s exorbitant fees.

Then he saw smoke swirling in Su Ran’s palm, turning into an elusive Emeici, which was a traditional martial arts weapon made of two metal spikes with a ring attached so that it could be worn on the finger for spinning and easy maneuvering.

This method was called the Flowing Smoke Spike.

Su Ran stretched out her hand to hold the Flowing Smoke Spike and pierced Qi Xuansu’s face.

Qi Xuansu blocked it with his cutlasses. However, the Flowing Smoke Spikes were illusory, passing through the cutlasses without hindrance.

However, Qi Xuansu did not panic. He quickly leaned back to avoid the spikes, bending his back until it was almost parallel to the floor and using his heels to keep him grounded. He took advantage of the situation and slashed at Su Ran’s lower abdomen.

Su Ran pointed her toe and leaped up, hovering in the air briefly. She used the smoke spike in one hand and the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm in the other.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to block the palm strike with his cutlass. Upon impact, his cutlass was knocked away. So he had to use his Tantai Fist Intention to counter the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm.

In a head-on fight, the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm was weaker than the Tantai Fist Intention, so Qi Xuansu reversed the situation.

Su Ran decisively put away the Flowing Smoke Spike and shook her sleeves, emitting some mist, faint sword light, and the faint clash of metal and stone.

The sword light from her sleeves became overwhelming and dazzling.

This was another unique skill of the Taiping Sect, called the Dragon Shield Sword Technique. It could stir up clouds, spit out mist, hide its true form, and soar into the sky. This sword technique used sword qi instead of flying swords.

Once Qi Xuansu saw the Dragon Shield Sword Technique, he could conclude that Su Ran was a core disciple of the Taiping Sect.

It was quite absurd that Su Ran was a Taiping Sect disciple because she was so obsessed with all kinds of rules and moral precepts to the point she did not hesitate to kill. It was more believable if she was from the conservative Quanzhen Sect. That was because the Taiping Sect was known to flout rules and moral precepts.

Qi Xuansu retreated as soon as the sword light approached him.

Su Ran was still hovering in the air, continuously releasing sword qi at Qi Xuansu.

Since Qi Xuansu only had one cutlass left, he dared not confront Su Ran and could only dodge left and right. His many years of fighting experience made him adaptable. At this time, he used the Dayan Spirit Blade to protect himself.

Seeing Qi Xuansu’s resilience, Su Ran unleashed more sword qi at a faster rate. The sword lights were fine, like threads of different colors, resembling a rainbow.

After a 15-minute stalemate, Qi Xuansu was forced into a corner, with nowhere to retreat. He was engulfed by the surging sword light.

At this moment, a gunshot rang out.

A ray of fire streamed through the sword light and disappeared in an instant.

Almost at the same time, a cluster of blood appeared on Su Ran’s chest before she dropped like a fly to the ground.

Although Su Ran was at the Guizhen stage, she could not withstand this gunshot because Qi Xuansu had loaded a Dragon Eye Bullet in advance.

The sword light that filled the space also stopped abruptly.

During this time, Qi Xuansu already had many minor wounds on his body, which showed how sharp the sword light was.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu had a Martial Arts Practitioner’s body-regenerative abilities, so these small wounds healed rapidly.

Qi Xuansu tossed aside the Divine Dragon Pistol and ran toward Su Ran with a single cutlass in hand.

As soon as Su Ran stood up, Qi Xuansu slashed her head with the cutlass.

This strike was powerful and heavy even though the blade of the cutlass was thin.

Su Ran could not dodge it, so she had no choice but to protect her head by crossing her arms in front of her.

The two of them were at similar levels of cultivation, so whether they had weapons or not made a huge difference.

Su Ran’s sleeves were torn, and her arms were bloody and charred from the flaming blades. The wound was so deep that her bones could be seen.

Qi Xuansu took advantage of the situation to kick Su Ran in the chest. She flew backward and fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood and struggling to stand up.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu walked up to Su Ran with his cutlass in hand. He did not rush to kill her. After all, Su Ran was a superintendent, and killing her rashly would only cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Su Ran raised her head and looked at Qi Xuansu. Her voice echoed, as if there were multiple layers to it. “That’s the Dragon Eye Bullet, something that can only be bought by fourth-rank Daoist priests and above. Was I wrong? Are you really a fourth-rank priest?”

Qi Xuansu did not answer. He only squinted at Su Ran’s chest wound.

The wound was healing quickly, but what caught his eye was the white fur growing over it.

This snow-white fur also started growing on Su Ran’s hands, which increased in size. She then stretched out her gleaming, sharp animal claws.

In the blink of an eye, Su Ran sprouted white fur all over her body. She even showed various animalistic characteristics. Aside from her formal attire, her true face was no longer visible. She had turned into a beast that could walk on two legs.

Was she a human or a demon?