A Pawn's Passage

After daybreak, Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao set out on their journey.

This time, Qi Jiaoyao did not deceive him. They headed toward Lingshan without taking any detour.

Soon, a massive structure spanning over 50 kilometers appeared in their field of vision. It had been built within a canyon, perfectly blocking the path ahead. If they did not want to take a detour, they would have to pass through this structure that looked like a temple or a fortress guarding a mountain pass.

Due to its strategic location, the battles here had been extremely fierce, as evident with the countless corpse remnants strewn everywhere. Moreover, the spatial rifts made it difficult for them to fly across. If they were to detour, the continuous mountain ranges on both sides of the canyon would make the journey far longer. Moreover, conditions elsewhere might not be much better.

This truly was the shortest route, and in a sense, it could be considered an unavoidable path.

“Since you’ve been to the foot of Lingshan, that means you’ve passed through this place twice on your round trip. What’s inside?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Qi Jiaoyao replied, “This place was originally completely destroyed by the Heavenly Sect. Later, Elder Yao restored it and buried Wu Ji’s remains here. So the dangers inside mainly come from two sources. The first is the various mechanisms and creations set up by Elder Yao. Secondly, it’s the illusions generated by Wu Ji’s corpse.”

Qi Xuansu was curious. “Elder Yao actually repaid enmity with kindness? This doesn’t seem like her style.”

After all, Elder Yao could even use seven glass orbs to trick people. Like Elder Xu and Elder Li, Elder Yao was an eccentric person. They were also malicious, unlike figures such as the Holy Xuan or Elder Zhang.

From the various signs and clues, Elder Yao was likely the reincarnation of Wu Xian. Wu Xian had died in a treacherous ambush by Wu Gu, Wu Luo, Wu Zhen, and Wu Ji, then buried in the Nether Valley.

Why would Elder Yao give the sisters who had once betrayed her a proper burial? That would be repaying enmity with kindness.

Qi Jiaoyao let out a snort. “Sometimes, a proper burial is not necessarily a good thing. It may signify suppression, preventing the buried from ever reincarnating. If one repays enmity with virtue, how does one repay virtue? Repay virtue with virtue, and repay enmity with justice.”

Qi Xuansu fell silent for a moment, then commented, “There are still more good people in the world. Sisters like the Eleven Witches will probably never appear again.”

Qi Jiaoyao stepped forward first. “Let’s go.”

Before the city gate was a valley, connected by a black stone bridge. The bridge deck was wide enough for more than ten riders to travel side by side. There were no bridge piers. Instead, it was connected to the city walls by massive iron chains.

Beneath the bridge was the pitch-black void.

Qi Jiaoyao said, “According to records, this was originally supposed to be a river of magma. But as the Lingshan Paradise began to collapse, the magma river disappeared, leaving only an abyss. If you fall down there, you might not survive, even if you’re at the Zaohua stage.”

Qi Xuansu said, “If I were Elder Yao, I would hide some creations here and strike any intruders halfway across the bridge. Even if the intruders didn’t die, they’d be in a miserable state falling into such an abyss.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, a 12-meter-long siege arrow shot out from the city wall toward the stone bridge with a thunderous roar.

If Qi Jiaoyao had not reacted in time, she would have been struck by the arrow.

The giant arrow struck the ground and blasted out a huge crater, creating a storm of dust.

Such an enormous arrowhead was larger than an adult, and the outcome of being hit by one was certain death.

Qi Jiaoyao shouted in exasperation, “You jinxed us! Run!”

With that, she dashed toward the city gate first, her figure flickering continuously—a Banished Immortal’s teleportation technique.

Qi Xuansu also dared not linger. The phoenix wings of his Manly Immortal Hundred Forms unfolded behind him as he skimmed low over the bridge.

Immediately afterward, massive siege arrows continued to rain down from the city wall. Qi Xuansu dodged left and right, barely evading them. Fortunately, the arrows were too large and not densely fired, and the stone bridge was not very long, so the two of them reached the city gate without harm.

Qi Jiaoyao patted her chest, still shaken by lingering fear.

Qi Xuansu retracted his phoenix wings and questioned her, “Haven’t you been here twice already? How did you not know about this?”

Qi Jiaoyao took out a seal, her expression changing. “Damn it—my access has expired.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “You mean the Jianxiu Mountain access?”

Qi Jiaoyao nodded. “Since I dared to enter the Lingshan Paradise, I naturally made preparations. That includes Jianxiu Mountain’s Class-C access. With this privilege, the mechanisms and creations left by Elder Yao won’t attack you, and you can open doors freely. You only need to be wary of Wu Ji’s illusions. I just didn’t expect that Lingshan’s seal wouldn’t fall under the Jianxiu Mountain access system. Since I’ve been trapped here for so long, my original privilege has expired.”

“Expired?” Qi Xuansu’s expression turned strange. “I’ve never heard of privileges expiring. Did you steal your access token? It could be a temporary permission, or the Quanzhen Sect found out and revoked it. Maybe you’ve already been expelled from the Daoist registry...”

Qi Jiaoyao was about to retort when she suddenly froze.

That was because she saw Qi Xuansu’s open palm, which was holding a talisman with the emblem of a mountain. This was Jianxiu Mountain.

Qi Xuansu feigned nonchalance. “You should’ve told me earlier that all we needed was the Jianxiu Mountain access. I have it.”

Qi Jiaoyao could not hide her shock. “Class-C access?”

Qi Xuansu pointed the talisman in his hand toward the city gate and ordered, “Open the gate.”

The tightly shut city gate opened with a thunderous rumble.

Qi Jiaoyao murmured, “How is this possible?”

Class-C access sounded like a low-ranking authorization, but even Yao Pei, who was the successor to the Yao family, was only at this level.

Being a humble-bragger, Qi Xuansu casually said, “What’s so surprising about that? Class-A access allows one to control the Sakka, and Class-B access allows one to control the Three Yin Beings. I once had the fortune to control the Sakka and compete with Li Wugou.”

Qi Jiaoyao was still doubtful. She cast a sidelong glance at Qi Xuansu and questioned him. “You don’t actually belong to the Qi family, do you? You’re from the Yao family, huh? No wonder you can wield Green Cloud. If my guess is right, your Daoist companion is wielding Purple Afterglow. So it turns out to be a Zhang-Yao alliance resisting the old Li family after all. Everything makes sense now. Since you have Class-C access, you must be the Yao family’s designated future successor. Come clean now—who’s your father? Yao Yi? Or Yao Shu?”

Qi Xuansu’s heart stirred. He decided to keep up the mystery. “If we go by the Yao family lineage, Yao Yi and Yao Shu are my brothers. The younger generation of the Yao family ought to call me uncle. But since my identity is special, I wasn’t entered into the Yao family genealogy.”

This was not entirely nonsense on Qi Xuansu’s part. Madam Qi and the Earthly Preceptor were of the same generation. Due to this, Qi Xuansu was indeed of the same generation as Yao Shu and Yao Yi. Although he could not compare with Li Changge, he was still considered a senior figure in the Yao family. At the very least, Yao Pei would have to call him “uncle.”

Qi Jiaoyao remained silent for a long time, seemingly stunned by Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu also said nothing, putting on an air of profound mystery. Anyone unaware of the truth might even think he was the Earthly Preceptor’s illegitimate son. In reality, he had never even seen the Earthly Preceptor in person, let alone Yao Yi. He did not even know where the Yao family’s residence was.

After a long time, Qi Jiaoyao finally broke the silence. “How is it that I’ve never heard of you then?”

Qi Xuansu said, “You can go ask the Yao family.”

Qi Jiaoyao snorted lightly. “I think you’re just putting on airs and mystifying things, using the Yao family as a cover to gain respect.”

Qi Xuansu felt a little guilty at being caught, but his expression showed nothing of it. In any case, he had the strong blood qi of a Martial Arts Practitioner, so he was not afraid of her reading his thoughts without him noticing.

He simply did not respond, allowing Qi Jiaoyao to believe whatever she wanted. Then, he took the lead and walked toward the city gate.

Inside the city, gray-white mist drifted through the air, stretching endlessly. Only the tips of some buildings were revealed.

There were, of course, many creations, mechanisms, puppets, formations, living corpses, and the like here, but since Qi Xuansu had Class-C access, he naturally moved through the place as if it were uninhabited.

Qi Jiaoyao had already lost her Class-C access, so she had to follow closely behind Qi Xuansu. At the same time, she said, “Just go straight ahead and open doors whenever you encounter them.”

She added, “A Zaohua-stage Martial Arts Practitioner like you shouldn’t be fooled by ghostly maze tricks, right? Don’t be so confident as to think that you’re walking in a straight line, only to end up moving in a curve and returning to the starting point.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t happen,” Qi Xuansu replied. A Martial Arts Practitioner’s control over their own body had reached its peak, so they would not make mistakes with their sensations.

However, they had not gone far when the originally gray-white mist became multicolored. It began to transform into numerous vague mirages.

Qi Xuansu stopped in his tracks.

“It’s Wu Ji’s illusion.” Qi Jiaoyao’s voice came from behind him.

Qi Xuansu did not hesitate to unravel his Manly Immortal True Body. His bones cracked during his transformation, and the Youyi Cloud Robe expanded with him.

His figure rapidly swelled to 5 meters tall, like a giant from ancient times. His physique was no different from the Great Witches of the Ancient Wuist Sect, except that he lacked their various beastly traits.

The blood qi within Qi Xuansu’s body was no longer restrained and hidden but spread outward in all directions. The blood qi of Martial Arts Practitioners was the most real of existences and the greatest counter to all kinds of illusions.

As his blood qi came into contact with the mist, they hissed and sizzled.

The numerous illusions dissipated and vanished.

However, Wu Ji’s illusion was far from simple. A gigantic Yellow Turban Warrior tore through the mist and rose with a thunderous force, while countless thin streams of mist flowed down its body like cascading waterfalls.

This was no different from the Yellow Turban Warrior used by the Heavenly Sect when it attacked Lingshan Paradise.

The Class-C access of Jianxiu Mountain had no effect on it. The Yellow Turban Warrior was not a creation but a talisman, so it was probably not left behind by Elder Yao.

The Yellow Turban Warrior looked down upon Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao, with lightning flashing in its eyes. This confirmed that it originated from the Zhengyi Sect.

Qi Jiaoyao immediately said, “This is not a Yellow Turban Warrior of the Taiping Sect but an incarnation of the 36 Thunder Gods of the Zhengyi Sect. However, the real incarnations of the 36 Thunder Gods have already been withdrawn by the Heavenly Sect. This is actually an illusion formed from Wu Ji’s lingering will. You should know the Li family’s Six Annihilations Sword, right? It works the same way. If you believe it, it becomes real.”

Only now did Qi Xuansu realize that the Zhengyi Sect possessed such methods. Yet this was also reasonable. Since the Quanzhen Sect had all kinds of creations, there was no reason for the Zhengyi Sect to lag far behind. He only wondered what methods the Taiping Sect possessed.

Before Qi Jiaoyao finished speaking, the incarnation of the Thunder God raised its right hand, its five fingers curling into a virtual grip. A bolt of lightning shaped like a 30-meter-long spear formed in its palm and stabbed fiercely toward Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu failed to discern the truth of the illusion and could not distinguish reality from falsehood. In other words, he had not passed Wu Ji’s test. Therefore, this incarnation of the Thunder God became real, and Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao could only dodge separately.

The lightning spear struck the ground, exploding into a surging tide of electricity.

Countless sparks and lightning webs spread out, covering the entire city.