A Pawn's Passage

While Qi Xuansu was speaking with Du Yuhua, Little Yin quietly made her way to Wang Jiaohe’s body. She first picked up Wang Jiaohe’s jade ruler, which was a semi-immortal object.

However, spoils of this kind usually had to be turned over to the Daoist Order to be redistributed. They could not be privately kept.

The magical receptacle Wang Jiaohe carried also had to be handed over.

That was because Qi Xuansu was only able to kill Wang Jiaohe by relying on the power of the Daoist Order. He was also acting as the Golden Tower Council’s representative. Naturally, the gains had to be turned over to the Daoist Order.

After all, this was not Jianghu, where everything could be stuffed into one’s own pockets.

Qi Xuansu saw Little Yin’s actions from afar and barked, “No taking things for personal use!”

Little Yin pouted, but she did not argue back because she knew the rules.

She then shifted her gaze toward the headless corpse.

By then, Qi Xuansu had already dismissed Du Yuhua and Du Fuzhou. He cast a sidelong glance at Little Yin and said, “That won’t do either. No matter what, he was still an Omniscient Sage. We should hand his body over to the Ciji Hall.”

Little Yin rolled her eyes and snorted. “I was just looking. I didn’t mean anything else.”

Qi Xuansu did not call her out on it. Instead, he consoled her by saying, “In a few days, I’m going to Lion City to reorganize the Nanyang United Trading Company, so I’ll take you along.”

Little Yin’s eyes lit up. “Yay, it’s a deal! Pinky swear—no backsies!”

......

On the other side, Zhang Yuelu and the others had also caught up with Sun Heyu.

The Three Prodigies had an illustrious reputation and boundless prospects, but that was a matter for the future. Today, they could only be considered supporting characters.

The true lead was Lin Yuanmiao.

After using the Scripture of Zuriel that Qi Xuansu gave him, Lin Yuanmiao immediately stepped into the Pseudo-Immortal level. His aura transformed, as if he had returned to being Lin Lingsu, the Jin Dynasty’s Imperial Preceptor.

However, Zhang Yuelu had temporarily lent Lin Yuanmiao the Six Mantra Sword, ensuring that he would not truly lose himself in this state of inflated arrogance.

Sun Heyu released twelve sword slaves, intending to deploy the Taiyin Sword Formation.

But the Three Prodigies had long been prepared. The moment Sun Heyu released the sword slaves, they separated him from his clones.

Lin Yuanmiao took on Sun Heyu, while the Three Prodigies took care of the twelve sword slaves.

Although these 12 sword slaves were also Heavenly Beings, they were far inferior to the Three Prodigies without forming a sword formation. Moreover, each prodigy had multiple semi-immortal objects.

Li Changge took the lead, charging straight at the sword slave closest to him.

Though that sword slave no longer had a normal human mind, it still had instincts. It immediately swung its sword to block the attack.

The two swords collided with a piercing clang. The sword slave stood firm, neither disarmed nor grievously wounded. It turned out that the twelve sword slaves were of one entity. Though Sun Heyu could not control them, when one sword slave moved, all twelve moved together. What appeared to be a single sword slave facing Li Changge was, in fact, using the combined strength of twelve. No matter how high Li Changge’s cultivation or how formidable his combat power, he could not easily shatter a blow reinforced by twelve people.

With a brief moment’s thought, Li Changge grasped the underlying principle.

He knew that the Taiyin 13 Swords balanced offense and defense, and that breaking the sword formation through finesse would be time-consuming and costly.

At present, they could only use force to overcome technique. Thus, he changed his move and unleashed the Four Seas Tidal Sword Art. The moves were broad and sweeping, sword qi surging like raging tides. Wherever it passed, the nearby ground shattered into dust, while the ground farther away was plowed into deep furrows.

At the same time, Yao Pei and Zhang Yuelu attacked in unison.

Yao Pei used the Nine Forms of Heavenly Inquiry, instantly manifesting eight other clones. Each of the nine Yao Peis occupied a direction and struck with a blade. The surging blade qi interwove into a deadly net.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuelu employed the Guanyin Thousand Swords from the Cihang Sword Sequence. With a sweep of Purple Afterglow, the semi-immortal sword seemed to appear in each of the four directions—up, down, left, and right. The swords continued to multiply until they were stacked layer upon layer, like a towering mountain of blades. The sword mountain continued to expand before finally surging forward in a furious volley.

The Taiyin Sword Formation formed by the twelve sword slaves was incomplete because they lacked Sun Heyu as their core. Thus, they became stiff and rigid.

If Sun Heyu had been controlling the sword slaves, he would have prioritized evasion until the three attackers’ momentum waned. Only then would he counterattack. But now, the twelve sword slaves activated the Black Hair Armor in unison to withstand the combined assault of the Three Prodigies.

Just as the sword formation was on the verge of collapse, a flying sword suddenly shot forth, aiming straight at Li Changge’s chest.

Startled, Li Changge did not dare to meet it head-on. He had no choice but to withdraw his sword to defend himself.

The flying sword flashed past, forcing Li Changge back.

Sun Heyu let out another long laugh, the sound unending. It sounded like a hundred or a thousand people laughing, like demonic whispers piercing the ears, giving rise to hallucinations.

Li Changge immediately used the Mind-Clearing Spell from the Taiping Qingling Sutra to ward off the demonic sounds.

Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei likewise displayed their respective divine techniques.

While dealing with Lin Yuanmiao, Sun Heyu took out the Yin-Yang Torch Dragon Seal, shooting out black threads that individually linked to the sword slaves, greatly boosting their cultivation. He no longer sought to form a sword formation. Instead, he opted for individual control.

In the next instant, a sword slave burrowed into the ground and reappeared behind Li Changge, thrusting a sword toward the center of his back.

Li Changge seemed almost prescient. As the stars shifted, he not only avoided the strike but turned defense into offense, stabbing straight at the sword slave’s chest.

The sword slave had no choice but to use the Earth Escape Method to evade Li Changge’s blade, reappearing beneath his feet with malicious intent, seeking to castrate Young Master Li. But Li Changge stomped down, shaking the earth and mountains, forcing the sword slave to retreat underground before it could even surface.

The sword slave vanished underground once more. This time, Li Changge leaped into the air and hovered there. He then swept Mortal Vitality across. Sword qi fell like rain, taking root upon striking the ground. Though it could not force the deeply hidden sword slave out, this ensured that the sword slave dared not surface rashly.

Sun Heyu then manipulated another sword slave, which suddenly appeared behind Lin Yuanmiao, stabbing toward his back. At the same time, Sun Heyu attacked from the front, forming a pincer assault.

Golden light flared brilliantly around Lin Yuanmiao’s entire body. He neither swayed nor moved, allowing both swords to strike him. Only the sound of metal clashing could be heard, but he was completely unscathed.

Seeing this, Sun Heyu unleashed the Sword Demon Manifestation.

The Taiyin 13 Swords was a perfected method, and the Sword Demon Manifestation was its very essence. Sun Heyu’s white hair whipped wildly as he let out a shrill howl. His ten fingers were like swords, igniting with roaring yin fire.

Though yin fire itself varied in strength, the yin fire Sun Heyu wielded now was insignificant compared to the yin fire of an Immortal’s heavenly tribulation. However, it was still terrifyingly potent for those below the Longevity stage. One touch could mean death.

Sun Heyu fully drove the yin fire. Sword qi moved like the wind, ethereal and drifting, crisscrossing unpredictably as it surged toward Lin Yuanmiao.

At this moment, Yao Pei lightly tapped the ground with the Staff of Eternal Heaven.

Heaven and earth lost their color. All hues swiftly faded. The wind stopped, the clouds stilled, and all things ceased to move.

Sun Heyu’s movements also became sluggish.

This was the Staff of Eternal Heaven’s power. It was one of the most formidable semi-immortal objects.

Seizing this opportunity, Lin Yuanmiao took the initiative to attack. He thrust both palms forward and slammed them fiercely into Sun Heyu’s chest, scattering the yin fire.

Sun Heyu retreated, but Li Changge seized the opportunity to slash out with a single sword strike.

The Junior Imperial Preceptor’s reputation was well known. Yao Pei was no match for him. Now, Li Changge stood only one step away from the Zaohua stage. In terms of combat power, he was fully capable of fighting a Zaohua-stage opponent.

For this reason, Sun Heyu became far more cautious when facing this sword strike.

Sun Heyu raised his sword to block Mortal Vitality. In that instant, he sensed an immense and deadly danger contained within the strike. He could even faintly feel pain spreading through his skin, flesh, meridians, and bones.

Startled, Sun Heyu quickly retreated. At the same time, he commanded a sword slave to cover him from the front.

What shocked Sun Heyu even more was that wherever Mortal Vitality passed, the sword slave showed no change at all. The sword simply swept through it, like the moon reflected on the water.

This extreme contrast caused Sun Heyu’s pupils to contract instantly. Even as he retreated, he dragged several more sword slaves to intercept the strike, yet they still failed to provide any obstruction, unable to slow the sword’s advance in the slightest.

Seeing the sword draw ever closer, Sun Heyu had no room left to evade and could only meet the strike head-on.

In the next instant, Mortal Vitality collided once more with Sun Heyu’s longsword. A horizontal, blood-red line appeared across Sun Heyu’s chest. It looked as though the sword qi had pierced straight through Sun Heyu’s blade and landed directly upon his body. The wound deepened steadily, as if it would cut Sun Heyu’s upper body cleanly in two.

At this critical juncture between life and death, Sun Heyu finally realized the truth and cried out in shock, “This is Elder Li’s Six Annihilations Sword!”

The key to the Six Annihilations Sword was that if one believed it could bring harm, then one would die. If one did not believe in its existence, then one would live.

Earlier, it was precisely because Sun Heyu harbored fear toward Li Changge that he was nearly cut in two by a single sword strike.

The sword slaves, who lacked consciousness and only had instinct, could not be harmed by the Six Annihilations Sword. Now that Sun Heyu had awakened to the truth, the spell was broken. The wound that had been continuously deepening finally stopped.

Although Sun Heyu discerned the Six Annihilations Sword at the last moment and thus preserved his life, the injuries already inflicted were irreversible. His front garments were soaked in blood.

At their very first clash, Li Changge managed to wound an unguarded Sun Heyu, which showed that the Junior Imperial Preceptor was quite formidable.