A Pawn's Passage

The black-robed elder forcibly broke through Star Lord Yuheng’s small world with his higher cultivation. However, since he was not an Immortal, he could only extricate himself. His sword slaves remained trapped within that small world.

As a result, his greatest source of strength could no longer be used.

The instant the black-robed elder freed himself from the small world, Zhang Yuelu leaped into motion, lunging forward with her sword in one seamless flow. She was like a bolt of lightning, arriving in front of him faster than he could react.

The elder felt a gale rush toward him, his robes snapping loudly, as formless sword qi spread through the air like rippling waves.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Yuelu closed the distance, arriving within one meter of the black-robed elder. The paper sword in her hand was thin and narrow, and her strikes were illusory, exhausting every variation.

At last, the black-robed elder grasped the sword light.

In an instant, the two exchanged nearly a hundred moves, the clash of metal ringing so rapidly it became a single continuous sound.

Then, both retreated one step at the same time. Zhang Yuelu twisted her wrist, and her paper sword swept up a vast spray of sword qi, within which were countless concealed weapons formed from paper fragments.

The black-robed elder’s expression did not change. He simply met it with a single sword strike, blasting apart the bombarding sword qi with unimaginable force.

The scattered sword qi shot in all directions, whirling chaotically and leaving dozens of deep, crisscrossing marks in the void that lingered for a long time.

Zhang Yuelu’s paper sword suddenly flared, the sword qi taking on a solid, physical presence as sword radiance.

This sword radiance became an extension of the blade itself, completely tangible.

The black-robed elder likewise condensed sword radiance and swung his sword down.

The swing was exceedingly slow, yet it bore the crushing force of a mountain.

Zhang Yuelu did not evade and blocked with her sword. When the two blades collided, there were nine successive clashes, each sword strike neutralizing the elder’s single blow.

These nine consecutive clashes fused into a single shrill and piercing note that stabbed straight into one’s eardrums.

Zhang Yuelu let out a cry toward the heavens, her figure darting forward like a ghost.

Her paper sword swept horizontally in a swift strike, accompanied by a whistling wind. As her sword moved faster, the wind intensified and formed a tornado. A powerful suction arose, dragging the black-robed elder toward the vortex’s center.

Facing Zhang Yuelu’s rapid sword, the black-robed elder shifted tactics and unleashed the Cloud Sweep Technique from the Taiyin 13 Swords, using a surge of yin wind to counter her attack.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of afterimages of the black-robed elder and Zhang Yuelu appeared, each in a different posture, yet perfectly displaying every sword technique they exchanged.

Their sword strikes grew faster, their movements ever more intricate, and the afterimages multiplied. Before one faded, another was already born, numbering well over a hundred.

Moments later, the two pulled apart again. Zhang Yuelu was completely unscathed. The sleeve on the black-robed elder’s hand was utterly shredded, revealing a wrist and forearm that were covered in countless tiny wounds, as thin as threads. However, before any blood could seep out, the wounds healed to become smooth and flawless, leaving not the slightest trace of injury.

This was the Six Directions Undying Body. So long as one’s innate qi was inexhaustible, the physical body would not die.

Its effect resembled a Martial Arts Practitioner’s body regeneration, but mainly for Qi Refiners and Banished Immortals. However, it lacked the Martial Arts Practitioner’s indestructible body spirits, so while their recovery might rival that of a Martial Arts Practitioner, their physical strength ultimately fell short.

The black-robed elder gave his sword a sharp flick and employed the Taixuan Sword Heart Series, striking at Zhang Yuelu.

The Taixuan Sword Heart Series ranked among the top in terms of swordsmanship refinement. Zhang Yuelu moved with her sword, striking with such speed that the path of her motion was impossible to discern because she was using the Star Shift Technique from the Nandou 28 Swords. Her thrust clearly came from the front, yet in the blink of an eye, she was already behind the black-robed elder.

The black-robed elder had anticipated this, sweeping his sword horizontally and tracing a crescent-moon arc that settled squarely upon the spine of Zhang Yuelu’s paper sword. His power instantly weighed her blade down.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu’s strike failed, and she withdrew at once to attack again from another angle. Her momentum was fierce, like a torrential rain.

The black-robed elder’s sword was clearly slower, yet he always managed to keep pace. Each strike came effortlessly, unbound by fixed forms, as they were guided by the heart. His transformations were endless, and his moves inexhaustible, displaying the Taixuan Sword Heart Series in all its glory.

For a time, the two were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

This duel appeared slow to a third party, yet it was lightning-fast, over in the blink of an eye.

The black-robed elder’s cultivation was higher than Zhang Yuelu’s, but she was no ordinary opponent. In a pure contest of swordsmanship, she did not lose to him. More alarmingly, he suddenly felt the Six Tribulations surge within his body.

The Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations’ weakness was that its effect diminished when used against someone of a higher cultivation level. In truth, most mystical abilities shared this trait. Back then, Wu Guangbi had been constrained by the same technique.

Earlier, the black-robed elder had been able to neutralize the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations because he had been on guard. Before using the Eclipse Method, he had already accounted for such methods, so he used his innate qi to protect his vital point at the back of his heart. What appeared to be the Eclipse Method was transformed into the Umbra Method, using it to dissolve the Six Tribulations.

The advantage of the Umbra Method lay in its reduced backlash. Its weakness was that when facing someone of higher cultivation, it could easily result in a reversal, like a river flowing backward. But the black-robed elder’s cultivation was higher at this moment, so he naturally had no fear about such reversal.

Since he had already dissolved the first attempt of Zhang Yuelu employing the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations, when did she manage to attack him with the same method the second time?

A thought stirred in the black-robed elder’s mind, and he quickly realized that she must have used the Six Void Tribulations when he activated his Six Directions Undying Body. It must have slipped in through his wounds, lying dormant without immediately activating, so that he failed to notice it at once.

The key to dealing with the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations lay in prevention. Once it slipped into the body without being blocked at the outset, it would be extremely troublesome to remove.

This forced the black-robed elder to divert part of his cultivation to suppress the Six Tribulations within his body.

As a result, the black-robed elder had lost his sword slaves and was further constrained in cultivation. That was when Zhang Yuelu could fight him to a draw.

At that moment, the black-robed elder suddenly felt a sharp pain in his thigh.

Lowering his head, he saw a tiny figure clinging to him. It had a small body and short limbs but an enormous mouth. The creature had sunk its teeth deep into his thigh.

This creature was Little Yin. Her teeth were forged from some unknown material, able to pierce through indestructible bodies and protective qi. When she bit down, she tore away a large chunk of flesh, exposing bone. What was more terrifying was that she swallowed whatever flesh she bit off. Distracted, the elder’s Six Directions Undying Body could not regenerate immediately and became sluggish.

The little girl took several more bites in rapid succession. Her mouth was like a gate that connected to some unknown space.

The flesh she devoured instantly vanished to some unknown destination, leaving not a trace. Even a Pseudo-Immortal like the black-robed elder was no exception.

In truth, Little Yin was anything but simple. Those with lower cultivation were completely helpless against her. Even against opponents of the same level, this girl was exceedingly troublesome.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were unsure of Little Yin’s true limits, since she had not been involved in any life-and-death fights. But they knew Little Yin could not be treated as an ordinary Wuliang-stage Heavenly Being.

If Little Yin were to face the black-robed elder alone, she would, without a doubt, return to the Ghost Kingdom. But at this moment, with the black-robed elder restrained by the Star Lord Yuheng and Zhang Yuelu, Little Yin was given a chance to perform.

She knew a few minor spells, but they were of little use against this elder. Her fundamental ability lay in eating. There was nothing she could not eat or digest.

She could even eat an Immortal-level flood dragon without any beastly transformation, so a Pseudo-Immortal posed no challenge to her.

In the blink of an eye, the black-robed elder’s left leg had been gnawed away completely, leaving only stark white bone—a truly horrifying sight.

The black-robed elder roared in fury. He grabbed Little Yin by the back and lifted her up. With his other hand, he thrust his sword straight into her mouth, then casually flung her away.

This counterattack gave Zhang Yuelu an opening, allowing her to pierce the elder’s chest with her paper sword. His black robe tore apart, and the sword qi injured his heart and lungs.

Though the injury was not severe, Zhang Yuelu had seized the initiative with that strike. Her follow-up attacks came in an unbroken stream as she shifted through endless variations with her dual swords, forcing the black-robed elder into a passive position.

After exchanging more than ten moves, a flash of blood burst forth between them. The black-robed elder leaped away, straining to parry, yet he could never escape the shroud of Zhang Yuelu’s sword light.

The cloud of blood mist spread around them. Suddenly, the elder let out a muffled grunt as he was flung backward. A jet of blood erupted from his chest like a fountain.