A Pawn's Passage

After Qi Xuansu regained his footing, he clenched his fist, tightening the muscles on his forearm. The charred palm print shattered like a scab. Once the burnt flesh fell off, new flesh regenerated rapidly.

“The Martial Arts Practitioner’s body-regenerative ability.” Thunder Mage’s face turned solemn. He leaped over again with strong momentum.

The Li family’s Wanhua Divine Sword Palm was about endless changes, while the Zhang family’s Thunder Palm was precise and strong. Since Thunder Mage did not get proper training, the techniques he used seemed rather sluggish and stiff.

Qi Xuansu let Thunder Mage strike several times and even took a hit just so he could figure out the weaknesses in Thunder Mage’s moves.

After a while, Qi Xuansu noticed some flaws and attacked Thunder Mage. Qi Xuansu constantly changed his hand movements, ranging from fists to claws. This was the beauty of the Tantai Fist Intention. There was no need to adhere to a specific form.

Suddenly, Qi Xuansu used his palms to slash down at Thunder Mage, like a pair of axes. This forced Thunder Mage into a defensive position.

The two fought faster, dazzling the rest of the assassins. Some of them wanted to help Thunder Mage, but they were caught by Qi Xuansu and used as a human shield, dying under the hands of Thunder Mage.

Since then, no one dared to interfere.

There was a moment when Thunder Mage was at a disadvantage. The Thunder Palm was difficult to defeat, but Qi Xuansu was resilient to the pain and injuries because he had the physique and self-healing abilities of a Martial Arts Practitioner. Thunder Mage dared not resist Qi Xuansu’s fists, so he gradually fell into a defensive position.

Qi Xuansu struck with one palm and one fist with astonishing power, akin to a sledgehammer and an ax. Suddenly, he roared and punched Thunder Mage’s chest with both fists. Thunder Mage also pushed out his palms at the same time.

The moment their fists and palms met, a resounding boom caused the ground beneath Thunder Mage’s feet to crack open.

Thunder Mage’s face turned an abnormal shade of blood red, but he could not separate his palms from Qi Xuansu’s fists. Despite the injury, he channeled all his innate qi in an attempt to exert the full force of the Thunder Palm. A surge of electric current flowed into Qi Xuansu’s body.

Qi Xuansu’s whole body became numb and stiff.

Thunder Mage had also exhausted his energy. His face was pale as paper. However, even though he no longer had the energy to attack, the other assassins could step in to help him since Qi Xuansu was no longer able to move.

Xu Changwu reacted the fastest, rushing toward Qi Xuansu first. He secretly gloated. Let’s see if you’ll be able to regenerate a head after I crush it!

At this moment, Qi Xuansu’s soul flew out of his numb and stiff body. His soul did not take on the appearance of his disguise as an old man but his original appearance.

This was the Diviner’s soul-traveling ability. It came naturally like the Martial Arts Practitioner’s body-regenerative ability.

In the previous fierce battle, Qi Xuansu only used the methods of a Rogue Cultivator and a Martial Arts Practitioner, so his opponents had forgotten that he was also a Diviner.

Qi Xuansu’s out-of-body soul wielded a huge ghosthead knife as if it were as light as a feather. Then he passed by Xu Changwu.

Xu Changwu had a look of horror on his face before a thin red line appeared on his neck. A second later, his head tilted and rolled off his shoulders.

All of this happened in just a flash. After Qi Xuansu’s out-of-body soul killed Xu Changwu, he turned around to kill Thunder Mage.

Seeing this, Thunder Mage was horrified. He secretly berated himself for forgetting that Qi Xuansu was also a Diviner, which he knew from their failed attempt to attack Qi Xuansu in his dreams a while ago.

......

There were three leaders among these assassins—Thunder Mage, Scholar Song Luodi, and Monk Deng Hua. At this time, Song Luodi and Monk Deng Hua had been observing the situation in hiding.

The scholar Song Luodi shook his head and clicked his tongue. “I have warned that Daoist long ago that he should not underestimate this guy. But he still insists on going his own way. I don’t know how many lives he will lose.”

Monk Deng Hua chuckled. “Isn’t that in our favor? The more people die, the fewer people there are to share the money.”

This monk was a Bikkhu, similar to a Daoist Martial Arts Practitioner. Monk Deng Hua’s blood qi was not pure or condensed, but he could use spells, unlike a Martial Arts Practitioner.

Song Luodi sighed. “Third Master Chang has a great reputation in our industry. More importantly, he also has a group of sworn brothers, all of whom are good fighters as well. That’s why no one dares to provoke him.

“If he were alone, we would not be able to defeat him. But if you and I work together, we could take him down. Third Master Chang understood this, so he disappeared after his failed assassination of Zhang Yuelu. That’s the only reason we managed to get this job.

“If too many of us died, we would get a bigger share of the profits, but we would also be lacking helpers. If the three of us are the only ones left, we won’t be able to get such a big job. Even if we can, will we have the confidence to accept it?”

Monk Deng Hua’s expression turned solemn. “You’re right. In that case, we can’t delay any longer. We need to get rid of that Banished Immortal as soon as possible. Once he’s dead, we can split his spiritual objects equally among the three of us. We’ll also take care of the funeral of our fallen comrades as a way to win loyalty from the rest.”

Song Luodi nodded. “Alright.”

The monk grinned. “Old Song, you should take some Taiping coins to appease the widows and children who have lost their breadwinner. I will personally conduct the funeral service to help our dead brothers reincarnate to their next lives.”

Song Luodi hesitated for a moment. “We can’t be careless. Even if we kill this Banished Immortal, we must guard against other gangs trying to steal that girl from us.”

Monk Deng Hua was about to speak when he suddenly saw Qi Xuansu’s out-of-body soul confronting Thunder Mage. He shouted, “Oh no!”

Before he finished speaking, the monk had already disappeared. The branch he was standing on swayed slightly.

His speed and agility were incongruous with his huge body.

......

Qi Xuansu’s soul was about to kill Thunder Mage when he suddenly felt a strong surge of blood qi coming toward him. Since this was Qi Xuansu’s first time soul-traveling, he was still not very skilled at controlling his soul. Facing this strong blood qi, his soul was forced back into his body.

Monk Deng Hua appeared in front of Thunder Mage, protecting the exhausted Daoist.

Thunder Mage heaved a long sigh of relief and said with difficulty, “Monk, if you had come a second later, I would’ve died right here.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Monk Deng Hua chuckled like the Laughing Buddha.

Monk Deng Hua stared at Qi Xuansu.

Thunder Mage, Monk Deng Hua, and Song Luodi were in the Guizhen stage and considered the best in their field. However, they knew that they had no chance of winning if they fought against Qi Xuansu by themselves.

However, this was a battle of life and death, not a structured exam of the Daoist Order, so there was no fairness to speak of. They planned to win in numbers. Qi Xuansu was just unlucky that he was caught alone without a helper.

Monk Deng Hua made a move, wanting to end Qi Xuansu’s life.

That was when he saw a flash of cold light before a feather pierced his chest.

Qi Xuansu had used six of the Seven Phoenix Feathers earlier. He purposely left one for emergencies.

Although Qi Xuansu still felt numb and sluggish, he could finally move because his body was healing rapidly. Since this monk was so arrogant, Qi Xuansu decided to give him a Seven Phoenix Feather.

Monk Deng Hua lowered his head and saw black blood oozing out of his chest, accompanied by a tingling and numbing sensation. He knew he must have been poisoned, but he had a strong physique and blood qi, so it would take more than a feather to knock him out.

He took a deep breath and sealed the three acupoints to prevent the poisonous blood from circulating. He thought to himself, Hah! A mere poison dart can’t kill me. I just need to fight faster and kill him now. We can’t let him delay a moment longer.

Monk Deng Hua focused on Qi Xuansu and charged at him again.

Qi Xuansu dared not be careless. He continued to circulate his innate qi and blood qi to resolve the numbness and stiffness in his body while waiting for the attack.

Both of them gave their full attention to their opponent, but what happened next surprised everyone.

Out of the blue, an arrow came from the sky and struck Monk Deng Hua right between his eyebrows.

Since Monk Deng Hua focused all his attention on Qi Xuansu, he did not see the arrow coming and could not defend himself. His skull was shot through, killing him on the spot.

Upon closer look, Qi Xuansu noticed a white paper arrow.

Seeing that arrow, he abruptly turned his head in the direction the arrow was shot from.

A woman held a bow and continuously shot out more arrows, not missing any of her targets.

One by one, Cripple Zhou and Thunder Mage were killed by the paper arrows.

Qi Xuansu smiled bitterly. He never would have imagined meeting her again under such circumstances.