A Pawn's Passage

Star Lord Yuheng was not a Shaman, but a Diviner.

Thoughts and talismanic arts were illusory, but one’s blood was the most real of existences. That was why the blood qi of top-tier Martial Arts Practitioner was the greatest counter to spells. At this moment, Star Lord Yuheng used her own blood to draw a talisman, rendering the talismanic spell even more real, to the point where truth and falsehood became indistinguishable.

She drew the talisman at extraordinary speed, completing it in the blink of an eye. Once formed, the talisman transformed into a black-armored warrior. The overlapping plates were packed densely without the slightest gap. Its face was covered by a visor. Two points of red light shone from its eye sockets, while the long plume atop its helmet burned like a blazing mass of fire. It raised a massive shield and positioned itself in front of Star Lord Yuheng.

This was the Diviner’s Bean Soldier Technique.

The appearance of this black-armored warrior closely resembled that of a Daoist Spirit Guard while also bearing certain traits of the Black Robes. Although it was conjured through Star Lord Yuheng’s magical powers, the great shield and armor were formed from her own blood, making them exceptionally real and difficult to break.

At that moment, a dazzling radiance illuminated Star Lord Yuheng’s face. She narrowed her eyes to shield herself.

When she opened them again, she noticed a thin line appeared across the black-armored warrior’s shield, helmet, visor, and armor, and a streak of bloodlight burst forth from that line.

The armored warrior was split cleanly in two with just a single sword strike.

The sword light lingered like the trailing tail of a comet, refusing to dissipate, resembling a beam of sunlight piercing into the room, within which motes of dust danced visibly.

The black-robed elder displayed an almost crushing dominance.

Star Lord Yuheng reached out with one hand, as if tearing down a black curtain from thin air. Behind that black veil appeared a massive eyeball of stark black and white. It stared fixedly at the black-robed elder, while an unimaginable aura filled the entire building.

This was the Sky Eye, capable not only of searching for people but also of capturing souls. Although it could not truly strip the black-robed elder of his soul, stunning him for a brief moment was not difficult.

Seizing this opportunity, Star Lord Yuheng summoned two more black-armored warriors. The warriors crossed their arms to draw the double swords at their waists and attacked the elder from both flanks.

At this moment, the black-robed elder had already broken free from the Sky Eye’s direct gaze. Without any visible movement on his part, a single sword light sliced the two armored warriors in half at the waist. Immediately after, the sword light shot straight toward Star Lord Yuheng.

Star Lord Yuheng’s entire figure became hazy and indistinct, as though she were wrapped within a bubble. This was a Buddhist art known as the Mini Saha World. There were about 10 centimeters between Star Lord Yuheng and the sword light, but this gap was like an unbridgeable chasm, impossible to cross by even the slightest margin.

She extended her hand and pushed forward, expanding the Mini Saha World until it enveloped the entire building, including the black-robed elder.

In the next moment, both figures vanished and reappeared above the residence.

Star Lord Yuheng finally left her beloved sofa, standing suspended in midair.

Now that the black-robed elder was also within the Mini Saha World, he immediately directed the sword light toward Star Lord Yuheng.

Star Lord Yuheng and her Mini Saha World instantly shattered into fragments, like finely crafted porcelain smashed to pieces.

This was not her true body but merely an avatar.

Star Lord Yuheng could divide her Thoughts into thousands. Thus, losing an avatar was no more than the loss of a single Thought. However, before she reached the next realm, a lost Thought could not be restored. Once lost, it was gone forever.

For Ghostly Immortals, Thoughts were akin to the acupoints of Manly Immortals. Manly Immortals could condense body spirits within their acupoints, while Ghostly Immortals could transform a single Thought into a small world. Destroying a Thought was equivalent to destroying an acupoint. Although it was insignificant to the whole, it still resulted in a loss of cultivation.

After this avatar and the Mini Saha World shattered, it transformed into a streak of black shadow that temporarily trapped the black-robed elder in place.

Star Lord Yuheng drew another talisman, conjuring three more black-armored warriors appeared, this time with subtle changes.

Each warrior bore a disc behind them resembling that of a first-rank Spirit Guard, and the two crimson lights on their visors flickered unsteadily as they charged straight at the black-robed elder, intent on holding him back.

These three warriors had consumed three drops of Star Lord Yuheng’s blood. Since a Diviner did not have abundant blood essence like Martial Arts Practitioners, these drops were exceedingly precious. Against the black-robed elder they were no match, but they were fearless and could temporarily delay him for a brief time.

The black-robed elder snorted coldly. With one hand, he controlled the sword light to slay the black-armored warriors, while the other transformed into a gigantic palm that reached down toward the two-story building below.

He was certain that Chen Jianqiu was inside this building. He had not come to fight Star Lord Yuheng to the death. Even if he won, it was not worth offending True Lord Ziguang. His intent was simply to capture Chen Jianqiu and retreat immediately.

At this critical moment, a streak of sword light flashed forth, blocking the giant hand.

The black-robed elder was startled. He had previously scouted the place, but he believed that Star Lord Yuheng was no match for him, and that even a few more opponents would pose no real threat. Thus, he did not expect someone could block his massive palm. Clearly, this newcomer was not an ordinary Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being.

After the single strike, his new opponent finally revealed herself. It was Zhang Yuelu, dressed in green robes, with a purple longsword in hand.

The black-robed elder clearly recognized Zhang Yuelu and could not help but laugh. “So that’s who it is—the noble Young Lady Zhang. If word of Young Lady Zhang colluding with the Ziguang Society were to spread—”

Zhang Yuelu was not afraid. The fact that the black-robed elder concealed his identity and dared not reveal his true face meant he could not lodge any formal accusation. Mere public slander would amount to nothing more than rumors with no real value. Moreover, among the upper echelons of the Daoist Order, this was hardly a secret. Everyone knew, but without evidence, it was as though the matter did not exist at all.

Moreover, this was an extremely sensitive subject. One must not forget that the current Heavenly Preceptor had an Ancient Immortal bloodline. Due to this, he had no descendants and was harsh to his sister, Zhang Wuhen, in order to prove his loyalty to the Daoist Order.

Unless one intended to bring down the Heavenly Preceptor, no one would make an issue of such a matter. But the Heavenly Preceptor was already not far from his ascension, so who would choose this moment to try to topple him?

At the same time, Star Lord Yuheng’s body swayed and split into eight avatars, all formed from her Thoughts. These eight avatars then each unleashed different spells. Some wielded fire, wind, lightning, or ice, while some gathered ghosts or drew talismans to create illusions.

In that instant, Star Lord Yuheng had displayed all she had learned in her lifetime, simultaneously striking the black-robed elder with every manner of spell.

The black-robed elder snorted coldly. His sword light grew ever faster. Regardless of the spell, each was shattered with a single strike.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu had already used the second page of the Scripture of Zuriel that Qi Xuansu had given her. Back then, as a precaution, Qi Xuansu had given her two pages. Although the second page had not been used at the time, Qi Xuansu was not so petty as to demand it back.

By now, a considerable amount of time had passed since the two had ambushed Wu Guangbi, so Zhang Yuelu had largely recovered from the after-effects. Thus, she would not suffer the tremendous backlash of temporarily losing her cultivation.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu was at the Zaohua stage.

That alone was formidable enough, but Zhang Yuelu also carried three semi-immortal objects—Purple Afterglow, Amorphous Paper, and the Six Mantra Sword. Even Qi Xuansu could not compare to her in this regard.

Zhang Yuelu spun Purple Afterglow. In that instant, she had launched nearly a hundred strikes at the black-robed elder’s vital points with such speed that all one could see was sword light crisscrossing the air. To an ordinary Heavenly Being, it would have appeared as though Zhang Yuelu merely raised her hand once, and in the next moment they would be covered in sword wounds.

This was the Falling Flowers Technique from the Cihang Sword Sequence, focused on offense.

Facing two opponents alone, the black-robed elder showed no fear whatsoever. His right hand continued to control the sword light to shatter Star Lord Yuheng’s spells, while with a flick of his left sleeve, he unleashed the Taiyin 13 Swords.

The black-robed elder’s mastery of the Taiyin 13 Swords had reached the peak. So the technique no longer bore any obvious resemblance to its original form.

In an instant, Zhang Yuelu felt countless figures appear around her, neutralizing all her sword techniques and attacking her from every direction, making it seem as though she were trapped amid tens of thousands of troops, with nowhere to evade. At the same time, a wave of chilling innate qi spread toward her, seeping through every gap as if it were trying to penetrate her body through every pore, corroding her meridians and Dantian.

Zhang Yuelu could only shift from offense to defense. Sword light bloomed layer upon layer, like a massive white lotus, enveloping her body and shielding her on all sides against the chilling innate qi. The Falling Flowers Technique transformed into the Golden Lotus Technique. Golden lotuses bloomed from thin air, contending against the countless surrounding figures.

A rapid, unbroken series of metallic clashes rang out. One by one, the golden lotuses drifted apart, and all the illusory figures surrounding Zhang Yuelu vanished completely.

Zhang Yuelu drew out a narrow strip of white paper and conjured a paper sword that was sturdy and impervious to most elements.

With a sweep of the paper sword in her hand, countless paper fragments scattered from the blade. Catching the wind, they expanded and transformed into spinning paper lotus flowers that drifted down like snow.

These paper lotuses were split from the Amorphous Paper, so their petals were sharp as blades, capable of shattering metal and cleaving jade.

The black-robed elder swept his sleeve once more, unleashing the Cloud Sweep Technique to raise a violent gale that scattered the paper lotus blossoms.

Taking the opportunity, she closed the distance to the black-robed elder. The paper sword in her hand released a vast blur of white afterimages, enveloping him from head to toe. Her sword intention shifted from compassionate radiance to chilling lethality, every strike aimed directly at the elder’s vital points.