A Pawn's Passage

Within the royal palace of the Yu Kingdom, a princess ennobled by the Great Xuan Court stood before the Queen Dowager of the Yu Kingdom and demanded whether the latter was plotting a rebellion.

It was a scene that was absurd, almost comical, yet entirely real.

Back in the final years of the Wei Dynasty, Emperor Tianbao had yet to abdicate. Acting on the Daoist Order’s behalf, the Holy Xuan’s junior sister came to demand his immediate abdication. When the emperor refused, she seized him by the collar and struck him thrice in the chest. Those were rougher days for the Daoist Order, when it was part of the Jianghu.

That was when these three punches at the emperor became a long-standing Daoist anecdote often used to mock imperial authority.

Of course, ever since Great Sage Ziji assumed leadership, few dared bring up that tale. With his formidable cultivation and four immortal objects in hand, it would take the Holy Xuan to lay a finger on him, let alone three punches.

That ridiculous story surfaced in Qi Xuansu’s mind just then.

Truth be told, it had been quite some time since Qi Xuansu had fought. The last time was his brief clash with Wu Guangbi at the Dragon Palace. But that fight was over in a single exchange.

Accustomed to fights, Qi Xuansu’s fists felt somewhat itchy.

He steadied his breathing to gauge his current strength. The Soul-Returning Incense had temporarily reduced his cultivation to the Xiaoyao stage. But that should be enough.

That was because Qi Xuansu was a manmade Banished Immortal, whose strength surpassed even that of natural-born Banished Immortals before ascending to the Longevity stage.

His true identity as a manmade Banished Immortal was a classified secret. That was because only two of them existed across the entire Daoist order. For centuries before their emergence, there had been none at all.

Though it might have seemed like many already knew this secret, the people limited to such knowledge were all senior Daoist leaders, whom the personnel from the Poluo Daoist Mansion scarcely even met, much less were able to pry secrets from.

The Li family would never expose this secret either, because that would mean betraying Li Changge and a mutual ruin.

Thus, most outsiders believed Qi Xuansu to be a mere Rogue Cultivator. Some suspected he was a Martial Arts Practitioner, while others whispered that he might be a natural-born Banished Immortal disguising himself as a Rogue Cultivator.

No one knew the truth. After all, Banished Immortals were rare to begin with, so most were unaware that there were even classifications between natural-born and manmade ones. This was not a concept they thought was possible.

This gap in information and cognition was enough to alter the entire outcome of what was to follow, because a Xiaoyao-stage Rogue Cultivator was certainly not the same as a Xiaoyao-stage manmade Banished Immortal.

Qi Xuansu removed his formal hechang, revealing the Youyi Cloud Robe beneath. One by one, his 365 acupoints illuminated like the constellations. Within each of them was a glowing body spirit, which was the manifestation of an indestructible body.

Queen Dowager Yang and her Green Phoenix Guards were not shocked by this. Their intelligence reports had already said as much, that Second Deputy Qi was likely a Martial Arts Practitioner.

Since the Rogue Cultivator lineage was endlessly adaptable, with enough resources, one could transition into almost any of the Five Lineages.

For someone of Qi Xuansu’s stature, switching from the Rogue Cultivator to the Martial Arts Practitioner lineage seemed perfectly plausible.

Then, behind Qi Xuansu, an illusory form with three separate faces emerged, each the visage of a female deity representing the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, respectively.

This time, the Green Phoenix Guards’ expressions shifted, as they recognized the technique from the Shaman lineage.

Moments later, five-colored mists coiled around Qi Xuansu’s body. It was the precursor to the Joyous Cloud Shield, known as the Five Elements Qi Shield.

“I’ve had enough of all this bureaucratic nonsense!” Qi Xuansu finally spoke his mind.

He had been dealing with endless council meetings, procedures, laws, and regulations requiring proper evidence, righteous justification, due process, public optics, and consideration of the greater good.

How utterly exhausting!

Qi Xuansu missed the days when he could just kill Wan Xiuwu and get away with it, when he could simply strike first and skip the talk.

Now that a fight had come knocking at his door, he certainly would not let it pass.

Qi Xuansu gestured for Chen Jianqiu to step back.

To be fair, these Green Phoenix Guards were no mere foot soldiers. All of them were at the Guizhen stage, though they were far inferior to the guards of the Great Xuan or the Fenglin royal families.

The guards gripped their sword hilts, but none drew them. After all, they knew that whoever showed hostility first would likely die first.

At such a moment, someone of the highest cultivation had to step forward to take the lead.

The man at the front was Chen Shuluo, the Right Commander of the Green Phoenix Guard, born of royal blood. He was a Heavenly Being in his prime.

Certain things could never be accomplished by one person alone. Once such a thing was set in motion, it would implicate many, and for those already involved, there was no turning back. They could only fight to the death.

Chen Shuluo’s palm brushed along the hilt of his sword, his body tensing, his breath drawn deep and steady, every muscle poised for the strike.

Qi Xuansu had wasted enough breath in the meetings, so he no longer had any patience to speak. He strode forward without a word, treating the Green Phoenix Guards before him as though they were invisible.

Chen Shuluo’s eyes narrowed, locking onto the Second Deputy Mansion Master. His fingers curled one after another around the hilt before they clenched. The tension in his body coiled like a bowstring drawn to its limit.

Qi Xuansu did not slow his pace.

The next instant, Chen Shuluo drew his blade and leaped forward. The air exploded with the sound of wind and thunder.

That strike was fierce beyond measure and lightning-fast. He drew his sword and slashed down at Qi Xuansu in one seamless motion, unsheathing silently without the faintest hint of killing intent. However, the blade’s release was blinding, erupting all at once like a flash of steel, making it impossible to predict and defend.

It was like a thunderclap born out of silence.

Once that instant of thunder passed, the strike receded into a calm and contained, yet deadly aura.

Opposite him, Qi Xuansu continued to approach.

Clearly, Chen Shuluo’s strike was ineffective.

Qi Xuansu merely lifted a finger in an effortless gesture, touching the tip of Chen Shuluo’s blade with the tip of his finger.

In that instant, the unstoppable blade froze, unable to advance even a hair’s breadth.

Qi Xuansu was wielding the Demonic Blade, using its instincts to strike precisely at the single flaw in Chen Shuluo’s attack.

Chen Shuluo’s face went pale in disbelief.

Had he faced Qi Xuansu at full strength, defeat would have been understandable. But now, the Second Deputy’s cultivation was supposedly weakened by the Soul-Returning Incense. He had believed he stood at least a 50% chance of landing a blow.

Yet even so, Qi Xuansu stopped his blade effortlessly, as if swatting aside a child’s wooden sword.

It was all for nothing.

Chen Shuluo’s strike had been fierce and absolute, with no room for retreat or hesitation. All he could do was press forward.

Then, Qi Xuansu’s fist drove straight into Chen Shuluo’s chest. A deep, shuddering crack ensued as his sternum caved in, while the flesh of his back bulged outward.

It was the Dragon Tiger Fist from the Tantai Fist Intention.

Qi Xuansu plunged into the Green Phoenix Guards like a tiger among a flock of sheep. With one sweeping arm, he smashed a guard’s skull. The man’s temple met his own shoulder in a grotesque collision. He was dead before his body even hit the floor.

Two more guards drew their swords in unison, their blades flashing down upon Qi Xuansu’s form. But there was no sound of steel on flesh, nor the clang of metal against stone. Instead, their strikes sank into the Five Elements Qi Shield that shimmered around Qi Xuansu, as if they were wading through thick mud. The Five Elements Qi Shield was compressed, yet their blades could not touch Qi Xuansu’s robes.

With a slight shake of his shoulders, Qi Xuansu flung the two guards backward. Before they could stagger away, he caught their wrists and twisted them. Their arms twisted like rope as their bones snapped, hanging by mere strips of flesh.

This was the strength of a Martial Arts Practitioner. Before reaching the Longevity stage, the Martial Arts Practitioner was foremost in close combat among the Six Lineages.

One of the guards seized the moment to strike from behind, but Qi Xuansu’s Spiritual Statue suddenly solidified. The manifestation of Himiko rotated to the forefront among the three deities, standing back-to-back with Qi Xuansu.

Her lips parted, and she exhaled a stream of True Solar Flames. The ambushing guard instantly turned into a charred corpse.

Chen Shuluo lunged again. This time, Qi Xuansu shifted forms, using the Sea Gist, his fists rolling like waves to meet the strike head-on.

The two men clashed like colliding storms, tearing apart the ornate pavilion. The fine carvings and jade ornaments were shattered into countless fragments. The thunderous shockwave shook the air and sent vibrations through the floor, splitting the tiles and gouging deep marks across the ground.

The remaining guards froze where they stood, their hearts pounding with sheer terror. No one dared to step forward.

Chen Shuluo could finally feel the despair rising in his chest. He had never imagined that Qi Xuansu’s Tantai Fist Intention could merge both the strengths of a Qi Refiner and a Martial Arts Practitioner. The air itself became a sea of energy, with currents surging and vortexes forming around him. Each time Qi Xuansu struck, Chen Shuluo’s own qi was drawn away and turned inward, crushing his body from within. The harder Chen Shuluo fought, the greater the backlash.

Yet if Chen Shuluo did not move, the waves of Qi Xuansu’s force would still press down upon him, suffocating and crushing him like the pressure of the deep sea.

For a moment, Chen Shuluo was trapped between a rock and a hard place. The tides of qi surrounding him refused to fade. Instead, they layered upon one another, growing denser and heavier until they resembled the towering waves of a tsunami. The pressure crushed his lungs, making every breath labored. His vision blurred, making the countless fists and palm strikes encircling him indistinguishable from the real ones.

The surrounding Green Phoenix Guards fared no better. To them, the room swarmed with dozens of Qi Xuansus. Afraid of harming Chen Shuluo, they hesitated to strike.

The duel continued for more than a dozen exchanges. At last, Qi Xuansu found his opening. He slipped behind Chen Shuluo like a shadow and drove a fist into his back. The impact hurled Chen Shuluo forward. He stumbled two steps before his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with blood streaming from the corner of his mouth. The Commander of the Green Phoenix Guard no longer had the strength to fight back.

Only then did the remaining Green Phoenix Guards rush forward, forming a loose encirclement around their target. However, Qi Xuansu was unlike an ordinary Xiaoyao-stage Heavenly Being. He could draw upon multiple lineages at once.

Qi Xuansu’s fists struck repeatedly. Each one struck a guard until he was either crippled or killed. The hall filled with a cacophony of screams, grunts, bones snapping, and flesh tearing, echoing in waves like the roar of an infernal tide.

In moments, the Green Phoenix Guards lay scattered and broken, their battle formation utterly shattered by Qi Xuansu’s lone might.