A Pawn's Passage

If Ise Province was the domain of Himiko, then Izumo was the domain of Susanoo. In the past, Daoist cultivators had to guard against Susanoo’s divine descent. Fortunately, the Imperial Preceptor had struck down the mortal incarnations of the Three Great Kami, making it impossible for them to descend into the mortal world again in the short term. This removed a major concern for the Daoists.

Qi Xuansu felt a surge of emotion revisiting this place. During their journey on the flying ship, he pointed out the terrain below to Zhang Yuelu, recounting in detail how he had, quite literally, fallen into misfortune in Izumo.

When the flying ship landed, many came forward to greet them. Among them, Qi Xuansu saw familiar faces like Lu Yuting, Qian Daren, and some others. These people had nearly perished during the flying ship crash, so, like Qi Xuansu, they had come seeking revenge. However, they would not take part in direct combat but rather assist from the sidelines.

The group did not linger. Under Jing Tianming’s lead, they went straight to the mountain range where the beast dwelled. As expected, the place was shrouded in mist. On the ground, they could still manage to see what was ahead. But in the air, they could barely see past three meters. Thus, flying ships were nearly useless here.

The Yamata-no-Orochi lurked behind this fog, which functioned like the Five Elements Qi Shield, serving as a defensive barrier for the beast. Thus, the Daoists had specially prepared a Yinglong Warship to dispel the mist.

The Yinglong Warship had to continuously operate its formation to thin out the mists. The moment it stopped, the fog would immediately gather again. Thus, the Yinglong Warship could not be used for combat. Even with the aid of the warship, a hazy veil still remained, making the large-scale use of flying ships impractical.

As the fog thinned, the mountain peaks gradually revealed their true form. Atop the highest peak lay a green lake, resembling a heavenly pool. Legends said the serpent’s body could fill eight valleys, but such peerless demons could grow large or small at will. They rarely maintained their most massive forms, choosing whatever was convenient instead. Tamamo-no-Mae, for example, did not go about flaunting herself as a giant fox.

By this point, the serpent could no longer remain still. A violent, malevolent aura surged from beneath the emerald lake as a waterspout exploded skyward.

When the waterspout dissipated, a colossal serpent head emerged. Its vertical pupils glared malevolently at the gathered Daoists.

In that instant, anyone who met its gaze grew dizzy and disoriented. Some even lost their souls.

The Yamata-no-Orochi had appeared.

Then a second and a third head emerged from the water, stirring up fierce waves across the lake’s surface.

According to legend, when Susanoo tricked the Yamata-no-Orochi, it appeared amidst raging winds and crashing waves, hinting that it shared the supernatural powers of a dragon. Now, as it emerged again, its serpent heads resembled dragon heads without horns. Its eyes glowed blood-red, and its black scales were covered in strange markings, like talismans with the power to seize souls.

Soon, all eight serpent heads broke the surface while its massive body remained submerged. Sixteen blood-red eyes glared out with raw brutality, devoid of any trace of intelligence.

Each of the eight heads scanned in different directions, their gazes pressing down like a tangible force.

Though Qi Xuansu was no longer the same as when he first set foot in Fenglin, he was still awed by the sheer force of its presence. Such beasts lacked mystical abilities like human Immortals. Aside from rare races like dragons or fox demons, most fought only with their innate gifts. However, beasts held one immense advantage. They were born with vast blood qi and virtually indestructible bodies. Their size was directly linked to their cultivation, so the stronger they were, the larger their form. When Tamamo-no-Mae revealed her true body, she was also a giant fox. Even foxes, who were not known for brute strength, could rival Martial Arts Practitioners. Qi Xuansu had witnessed this firsthand with the Su family.

This was not Qi Xuansu’s first time seeing the serpent. But before, he had only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.

Now, the serpent seemed like a blazing sun—not from divine radiance, but from its overflowing blood qi. He had seen many Longevity-stage Immortals, mostly Heavenly, Earthly, and Godly Immortals, but never a Manly Immortal. It was his first time beholding such overwhelming, terrifying blood qi.

He now understood why God Luwu’s mere breath could disperse wandering souls. If a Longevity-stage beast like the serpent already had such immense blood qi, Qi Xuansu could not imagine the intensity of God Luwu’s blood qi, which was said to rival a Second-Tribulation Immortal.

The Yamata-no-Orochi slowly rose, its colossal body surfacing at last. The midsection, where its eight heads and eight tails joined, was rotting, with blood pouring out. However, it did not stain the lake red but a sickly dark green. Long ago, Susanoo had split open the beast’s belly to retrieve one of the Three Divine Artifacts called the Ame-no-Murakumo, which he then offered to his sister, Himiko.

Once the serpent fully revealed itself, eight-colored storm clouds gathered above its heads. Streams of fog from the storm clouds descended and cloaked the Yamata-no-Orochi.

Then, with a mighty leap, the beast lunged at the Yinglong Warship that was dispersing the fog.

What greeted it was a shot from a Grade-A Series Two Dragon Eye Bomb.

Another Yinglong Warship stood at a distance, providing cover.

The massive explosion blasted open a gap in the swirling mists, and blinding flames swallowed the serpent whole. The rippling shockwaves spread in all directions, helping to scatter more fog.

When the light faded, the serpent reappeared. Aside from some fresh scorch marks, it bore no serious wounds.

The Daoists had expected this. Even if the Grade-A Series Two Dragon Eye Bomb could harm something of the Longevity stage, one shot would never suffice. This volley had been meant for defense, not a killing blow. Thus, they did not fire continuously.

Yao Pei said, “It seems the records of Ise-jingu were not mistaken. The Eight-Colored Cloud of the Yamata-no-Orochi works much like the Joyous Cloud Shield of a Banished Immortal, greatly weakening the power of firearms. To pierce through the serpent’s cloud, one must rely on semi-immortal or even immortal objects.”

The Daoists possessed no shortage of semi-immortal objects, but few weapon-type ones had been brought into the serpent-slaying mission. Many were merely auxiliary items. However, Ise-jingu stored a trove of such items, including Fenglin’s Five Famous Swords—Dojigiri Yasutsuna, Onimaru Kunitsuna, Odenta Mitsuyo, Mikazuki Munechika, Juzumaru Tsunetsugu.

Long ago, the Fenglin court sent the Minamoto clan to slay Shuten-Doji, and they had cut off the Great Yokai’s head with a Tachi forged by Yasutsuna. That blade was later named Dojigiri Yasutsuna, which was one of the Five Famous Swords.

All five swords were stored within the Ise-jingu. To the Daoist Order, these swords could not compare with semi-immortal objects like the Staff of Merit and Mortal Vitality, as they were too fragile and easily damaged. Thus, they were considered flawed goods. Qi Xuansu had once traded in two items and still needed connections to secure one semi-immortal object from the Tianji Hall, showing the gap in value among such items. However, these swords were perfectly suited for serpent slaying.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords. Yao Pei and Li Changge each had their own semi-immortal objects. Spirit Guard Jia Chen wielded the Dragonfly Cutter, so the Five Famous Swords were left for the remaining five fighters.

Thus, Jing Tianming wielded the Dojigiri Yasutsuna, Li Tiangang wielded Onimaru Kunitsuna, Yun Fengxing wielded Odenta Mitsuyo, Spirit Guard Ding Wei wielded Mikazuki Munechika, and Yagyu Sosei wielded Juzumaru Tsunetsugu.

For the Daoist Order, slaying the Yamata-no-Orochi was inevitable. The key was to do so without casualties. Injuries were tolerable, but death was not. This had been a recurring issue since entering Fenglin. Pacifying Fenglin was not difficult, but minimizing losses was. That was because excessive casualties would bring backlash from within the Daoist community.

The beast’s body began to swell. Just as in the legends, its eight heads rose like mountain peaks, and its eight tails spread like deep valleys. In its presence, humans were as insignificant as ants.

Its blood qi swelled even further, its defenses seemingly unbreakable.

Its eight-colored cloud, like the Joyous Cloud Shield, could greatly neutralize damage from real weapons, forcing attackers to rely on more mind-based methods. Yet its overwhelming blood qi pierced all illusions. Under such pressure, spells below the Pseudo-Immortal level were nearly useless. Even those of the Pseudo-Immortal level would be greatly weakened. Only tangible, real strikes could breach its blood qi.

This created a paradox. The only solution lay in weapons that embodied both reality and illusions, which were semi-immortal objects. The pinnacle of such weapons was Skycaller. It was a tangible longsword that was sharp beyond measure, but it had profound mysteries, able to resonate with heaven and earth and create illusions.

However, the Yamata-no-Orochi also had unmatched regenerative powers, able to regrow even its severed heads. Combined with its colossal body, wounds left by immortal weapons seemed pitifully insignificant.

Thus, careful coordination was required. Only by severing all of its heads simultaneously could the beast be slain. However, to achieve such a feat was no easy task.

Although the Yamata-no-Orochi had never mastered great Daoist techniques nor possessed immortal objects, and was far less troublesome than Princess Himiya Akiko, its sheer might, which was capable of shifting mountains and overturning seas, together with its ability to regenerate severed heads and its near-perfect defenses, was more than enough to utterly crush and sweep aside nearly all enemies below the Longevity stage.

This was the epitome of brute force triumphing over finesse.

At that moment, the sea of clouds boiled, faintly tinged with purple, while ceaseless streams of green qi surged from the ground below. The fog that had hung for years twisted like a vortex, forming a colossal funnel stretching from heaven to earth.

Then the purple and green qi merged into one, transforming into a mighty sword light that cleaved straight toward the Yamata-no-Orochi.

It was Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, wielding the Twin Sword Union. With the might of an immortal weapon, they forcibly tore open the eight-colored cloud that shielded the serpent, clearing a path for the others.

Moreover, this time the Daoists had come well prepared, unlike in the past. They had arranged a special formation called the Changchun Restorative Formation that was designed to replenish their true essence and restore their mental focus and physical stamina. This ensured that the couple could remain at their peak, able to fight for a long duration without faltering.