A Pawn's Passage

Xu Changwu only felt the cold wind blowing against his face. At the critical moment, he only had time to turn his head slightly to avoid a lethal strike. Then he felt a tearing pain in his shoulder.

He was startled to find out how fast Qi Xuansu’s blade was.

The Dayan Spirit Blade Technique was not about speed but about elusiveness.

Qi Xuansu did not stop after striking Xu Changwu. Instead, he appeared behind Cripple Zhou and slashed the back of Cripple Zhou’s neck with a backhand.

The hair on the back of Cripple Zhou’s neck stood on end as he felt a chill from behind. He dared not look back and instantly rolled forward. Despite this, his hair was still set ablaze by the flames on the blade, his robe was torn, and there was a long, charred wound on his back.

Qi Xuansu was more like an assassin than they were. Regardless of whether his strikes were a hit or miss, Qi Xuansu moved on to his next target. Xu Changwu and Cripple Zhou were the best among the assassins, yet they could barely escape with their lives.

However, this kind of battle against someone with a higher level of cultivation depended more on one’s emergency response and years of experience. Some people who had slower reflexes or panicked would die immediately under Qi Xuansu’s blade.

The amount of experience one had was not directly related to age. Even though most of these people were thugs, some of them only operated in big groups most of their lives. Thus, they only had a few life-and-death experiences. Luck was also a crucial element, as it was a thin line between life and death.

Qi Xuansu was so powerful that the assassins were afraid of him.

They knew that Qi Xuansu was at least in the Guizhen stage, so it would not be a walk in the park to kill him. No matter how much they were promised to be compensated, they needed to stay alive to spend it.

At this moment, everyone hesitated to move forward. They only hoped that the person next to them would take the fall, so they could reap the benefits after.

However, while the assassins were hesitating, Qi Xuansu kept striking, bringing down another three people.

Fortunately, Thunder Mage finally caught his breath. He bit the tip of his tongue and spit out a mouthful of True Yang Saliva, which was the essence and blood with the most yang energy in one’s body.

Thunder Mage used True Yang Saliva to draw a talisman on the palm of his right hand. Every stroke was sparkling, accompanied by a faint sound of wind and thunder.

The light was dazzling, attracting everyone’s attention.

Thunder Mage’s true ability was using thunder spells, whereas Third Master Chang was most proficient in using flying swords.

The Earthly Immortal lineage was second to the Heavenly Immortal lineage, which was the best among the Five Lineages. The Earthly Immortal lineage was known as the mainstay of the Daoist Order and should not be underestimated. Among the Five Lineages, only Manly Immortals could not use spells. The other four lineages could use spells to varying degrees. However, there was a spell that was unique to the Earthly and Heavenly Immortal lineages—thunder spells.

Thunder spells were supreme within the Daoist community because they required the most yang energy. The Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method was an exclusive technique to the Zhengyi Sect Heavenly Preceptor’s lineage. It was also the most authentic one among the many thunder spells.

Thunder spells were so powerful that they could eliminate all illusions. Therefore, Diviners and Shamans were not able to practice this technique until they reached a state of balance between yin and yang.

However, most of the superior thunder spells were monopolized by the Zhang family, just as the superior swordsmanship was gatekept by the Li family. Most of the remaining thunder spells scattered outside were mostly incomplete. If one practiced it rashly and failed to follow the proper method, there would be backlash.

Thunder Mage did not practice the systematic thunder spell, as he had accidentally acquired fragments of it. Practicing it forcefully without proper guidance had side effects like blindness. That was why he became blind in one eye.

When he obtained this fragment of the thunder spell, he was only in the Yuxu-stage. After practicing it once, he immediately realized its tremendous power, so he became immersed in it and could not stop himself. Thus, he continued to practice until he reached the Guizhen stage. By then, he could not care less about the side effects.

Moreover, for thugs like him who lived on the edge of their blades, it was more important to strengthen their cultivation to increase their chances of survival.

The Zhang family’s thunder spell—the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method—was a perfected method that the Great Heavenly Preceptor obtained from the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. It had been passed down from generation to generation with a proper system, specifying which techniques could be practiced at certain levels of cultivation. There were also warnings on why one should not violate the cultivation requirement and how to eliminate the after effects and backlash.

When the Holy Xuan compiled the methods of all Daoist sects to create a structured program for the Five Lineages, he specially added these disclaimers for the future generations. Unfortunately, Thunder Mage was not a proper Daoist disciple, so he did not know of these disclaimers.

The move used by Thunder Mage at this time was called the Thunder Palm. It was both a spell and a supporting palm technique. It was one of the basic palm techniques of the Zhang family, equivalent to the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm of the Li family. It was a low-entry technique, so it was easy to learn. However, Thunder Palm would become more powerful as one’s cultivation level increased. It would vary from person to person.

The difference was that the Li family hid sword qi in their palm technique, while the Zhang family hid thunderbolts in their palms.

Qi Xuansu had once been bombarded by the Li family’s Wanhua Divine Sword Palm because of Su Ran. So he learned from his lesson and dared not underestimate the Zhang family’s Thunder Palm.

After Thunder Mage struck out his palm, he shouted, “Get out of the way.”

Everyone quickly dispersed and crouched down.

A split second later, a thunderbolt flashed past, aiming straight at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu wanted to dodge, but he did not expect this thunderbolt to lock onto him as if it had eyes. In desperation, Qi Xuansu could only use his cutlasses to block it.

In an instant, this bolt of lightning traveled through Qi Xuansu’s cutlasses and into his body. There was a loud crackling sound as sparks flew everywhere.

Liu Hu, who was watching the battle from the side, could not help but gasp.

When the thunderbolt dissipated, Qi Xuansu still felt that his whole body was numb. Although he could not feel the pain, he could feel the tingling sensation from the electrocution.

Qi Xuansu immediately put away his conductive cutlasses and decided to use his fists for close combat. After all, the fist intention could block thunder and lightning to a certain extent, preventing them from entering his body.

When Thunder Mage saw Qi Xuansu approaching, he shouted, “Accept your fate, boy!”

These words resounded like thunder in Qi Xuansu’s ears.

Thunder Mage stepped forward and slapped his right hand on the top of Qi Xuansu’s head, hiding the thunderbolt in his palm.

Qi Xuansu stood on one side, letting Thunder Mage pass him.

Thunder Mage noticed that he failed to hit Qi Xuansu, so he quickly followed with another move, which was even more swift and fierce.

Once again, Qi Xuansu turned to the left and dodged. Thunder Mage followed up with five more palm strikes. Thunder Mage seemed to turn into a dragon, flying in the air rapidly and suppressing Qi Xuansu so that the latter would not be able to escape.

Qi Xuansu flew to the side after another confrontation. This time, his right sleeve turned into ashes, exposing a dark handprint on his right arm. There were even some lingering sparks accompanied by a faint smell of burning flesh.