A Pawn's Passage

The power of this lightning could hardly be called insignificant.

In the past, the Zhengyi Sect rarely deployed such killing weapons, not because they were unwilling, but because they were unable to. The 36 Thunder Gods consumed vast amounts of divine power, and ever since the collapse of the Heavenly Sect, the Zhengyi Sect had been stretched thin in this regard, utterly incapable of sustaining such enormous expenditure. As a result, they could only be sealed away within the Xuanwu Hall. Thus, whether it was Elder Xu’s surprise assault on the Dazhen Mansion or the chaos surrounding the deposed Heavenly Preceptor, these Thunder God incarnations had no opportunity to be put to use.

It was only after the Daoist Order was rebuilt and rose to become the ruler of the world that Zhengyi Sect’s predicament improved, allowing these great killing weapons left behind by their predecessors to be used once more.

Each incarnation of the 36 Thunder Gods was equivalent to a Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being. Though they could not be compared to the Three Yin Beings or the Sakka, their strength lay in numbers, so they should not be underestimated.

If all 36 Thunder God incarnations were deployed together, that would make them invincible. But in reality, there was simply not enough divine power to sustain 36 such incarnations. Moreover, over the years, many had been lost. From what Qi Xuansu glimpsed in his dazed state alone, no fewer than six Thunder God incarnations had been destroyed by the Wuists. There were others he had not seen. As such, the present-day Zhengyi Sect might not even be able to gather the full count of 36. Even the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor had never gathered all 36. How many of these Thunder God incarnations truly existed was something only the Zhengyi Sect knew.

However, Qi Xuansu himself was also at the Zaohua stage, so he was not particularly afraid. Once the lightning spread over a wider area, it certainly looked terrifying, but its power was correspondingly diluted, far inferior to when it had been concentrated at a single point on the spear. These roaming lightning serpents simply could not shake Qi Xuansu’s Manly Immortal True Body.

Instead, Qi Xuansu reached out and tore the lightning apart. He strode straight toward the Thunder God incarnation and unleashed one punch.

The immense fist intention descended in a spiraling motion, striking the Thunder God incarnation.

The Thunder God incarnation shuddered violently. Though no cracks appeared on its form, it rippled like a reflection in water. Layers of waves spread outward, rising and falling unsteadily.

Fist intention was highly effective against all illusory entities. Not to mention, this Thunder God incarnation was merely a manifestation of Wu Ji’s residual will. Even if a true Thunder God incarnation were present here, its essence would still be more false than real.

The Thunder God incarnation let out an angry roar as two ribbon-like arcs of lightning appeared out of thin air, coiling around its body and forcing Qi Xuansu to retreat.

In response, Qi Xuansu activated the Qilin Armor of the Manly Immortal Hundred Forms, isolating the lightning. His fists continued to strike without pause, hammering every part of the Thunder God incarnation and using fist intention to render its form unstable between the real and the unreal.

After all, this Thunder God incarnation was not a true physical entity but a manifestation created through Wu Ji’s divine abilities. Its power might be similar to the original, but it fell short in terms of sturdiness. Coupled with a Martial Arts Practitioner’s inherent restraint against the illusions, the Thunder God incarnation quickly found itself at a disadvantage.

Qi Jiaoyao did not intervene. After dispersing the scattered lightning, she withdrew to the side and yelled, “The key isn’t this Thunder God incarnation, but Wu Ji’s remains. If you can’t deal with the remains, then killing one illusion will only give rise to another. You’ll be killing endlessly!”

This Thunder God incarnation was an illusion brought into being, utterly rigid and incapable of being compared to a living person. With Qi Xuansu holding the upper hand and unafraid that the Thunder God incarnation could stir up any real trouble, he spared some attention to ask, “Are you saying we must destroy Wu Ji’s remains?”

“It’s not that easy to destroy Wu Ji’s remains,” Qi Jiaoyao said. “As far as I know, Wu Ji’s remains have already been refined by Elder Yao and have become part of this place. To destroy Wu Ji’s remains would be equivalent to erasing this entire area. It isn’t something either you nor I can accomplish.

“When I passed through this place before, I didn’t trigger Wu Ji’s illusions because my authorization had not yet expired, and the defensive measures here were not activated. Wu Ji’s remains were in a dormant state. But when we crossed the bridge earlier, we triggered the various defenses of this place. Although you presented the Class-C access and stopped the subsequent attacks, Wu Ji’s corpse was awakened. She has no consciousness and will not attack us directly but will give rise to various illusions through the instinctive residual will from her lifetime. These illusions fall outside the scope of Jianxiu Mountain’s authority.”

Qi Jiaoyao also knew that her earlier deception would make Qi Xuansu unwilling to fully trust her, so she explained at length. Her fundamental purpose was to make Qi Xuansu understand the logic involved and not suspect her of deliberately plotting something.

Qi Xuansu understood that the various restrictions left behind by Elder Yao only controlled whether Wu Ji’s corpse awakened or slept. But what Wu Ji’s corpse would do once awakened was beyond the control of Jianxiu Mountain’s authority.

From this, it was clear that Elder Yao harbored little sentiment toward this former sister. At heart, she treated Wu Ji’s remains as a core component of a formation, rather than laying her to rest in the traditional sense.

What Qi Xuansu needed to do now was find a way for Wu Ji’s corpse to return to its dormant state.

These thoughts flashed through Qi Xuansu’s mind in an instant. He immediately asked, “Where are Wu Ji’s remains?”

Qi Jiaoyao replied, “Underground.”

The ground and city walls here were no ordinary constructions. Earlier, lightning unleashed by the Thunder God incarnation had spread across the entire city without leaving any obvious traces, making it clear that they were not easily broken.

Qi Xuansu threw another punch to temporarily force the Thunder God incarnation back, then struck down on the ground, shattering the void.

Although the Lingshan Paradise was highly unstable, this city gate had likely been repaired by Elder Yao, so there were not many spatial fissures within the city, and was relatively stable. Moreover, Qi Xuansu had only just entered the Shattered Void Realm, so he could not truly shatter the void yet and could at most only cause the void to tremble. Thus, there was no major danger of the entire Lingshan Paradise collapsing from this punch alone.

When Qi Xuansu’s punch struck the ground, faint pitch-black cracks resembling a spider’s web appeared around his fist. Wherever they spread, space twisted and warped, stone slabs disintegrated, and soil vanished. They were not shattered into powder by brute force but truly erased, as if wiped away from existence.

That single punch opened up a shaft-like passage. Looking down, it was pitch-black, with no bottom in sight.

Qi Xuansu did not hesitate and jumped straight down.

At the end of the vertical shaft was a hall with no windows or any entrance or exit. The only passage was the one Qi Xuansu had forcibly created.

This was Wu Ji’s burial place. Clearly, when Elder Yao buried Wu Ji back then, she had never intended for Wu Ji to see the light of day again.

After landing, Qi Xuansu looked up and saw an enormous Wuist altar not far away. Even the Imperial Capital’s Altar of Land and Grain would pale in comparison. Above the altar was not the giant corpse Qi Xuansu had imagined, but an indescribable object.

She—or rather, it—resembled a gigantic octopus, yet also the legendary nine-headed serpent, or perhaps a fusion of the two. It had serpent heads and tentacles in place of tails, which were all entangled and impossible to distinguish.

It was twisted and chaotic, so much so that merely looking at it induced an intense sense of discomfort.

Qi Xuansu believed that Wu Ji could not have looked like this in life. He had seen the appearances of the Eleven Great Witches in his dream, and Wu Ji had not been like this. How had Wu Ji’s corpse become what it was now? It was likely Elder Yao’s doing.

When Qi Xuansu’s gaze fell upon the corpse, he immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, illusions blooming before his eyes, even though he was a Zaohua-stage Martial Arts Practitioner. This alone showed how formidable it was.

Qi Xuansu immediately circulated his blood qi and activated his body spirits to drive away the dizziness and illusions before his eyes. Looking again, he could see a Daoist formation surrounding the altar. This was presumably Elder Yao’s restriction.

Just as Qi Xuansu was about to invoke the Jianxiu Mountain’s Class-C access to activate the Daoist formation and return Wu Ji’s corpse to dormancy, two tentacles suddenly swept toward him.

These tentacles could shake one’s mind. Fortunately, Qi Xuansu was a Zaohua-stage Martial Arts Practitioner who could resist such techniques. These two tentacles were simply unlucky to have run straight into their natural nemesis in Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu ignored the two tentacles that were as thick as an adult man’s waist. He used the Dragon Tiger Sword Technique with Green Cloud, unleashing a vast arc of green sword light that erupted with a tiger’s roar. Though Purple Afterglow was missing, this sword strike was still formidable.

The two tentacles were severed by Qi Xuansu with a single sword strike.

Behind Qi Xuansu, True Lord Taiyin’s Spiritual Statue manifested and transformed into a full moon, temporarily suppressing Wu Ji’s remains.

Seizing this brief window, Qi Xuansu extended his left hand and activated Jianxiu Mountain’s Class-C access.

The formation on the ground began to operate. One talisman after another lit up in sequence, eventually forming a circular ring that surrounded both the altar and Wu Ji’s remains upon it.

As the formation continued to function, Wu Ji’s remains, which had been in a hostile mode, gradually grew quiet. The range of motion of its tentacles decreased until they finally fell completely into stillness.