A Pawn's Passage

Qi Jiaoyao truly had some skill. She was roughly between the Wuliang stage and the Zaohua stage. Compared to Qi Xuansu, she was admittedly a notch inferior, yet compared to figures like Zhang Yuelu and the others, she was in no way lacking.

Since this ancient witch had not yet completed a pseudo-ascension ritual, she could not defeat both Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao simultaneously. She was dead beyond all doubt. In its skeletal chest cavity lay a blood-red stone heart.

Qi Xuansu sheathed his blade and sword before going to examine the stone heart. Its blood-red glow flickered on and off steadily, as though it were a real, beating heart.

At this moment, Qi Jiaoyao snatched the stone heart into her own hand. Just as Qi Xuansu was about to warn her to be careful, the stone heart crumbled upon contact, turning into drifting ash.

Qi Jiaoyao stared at the small amount of ash in her palm and remained silent for a long while.

Qi Xuansu remarked, “It seems these are all imitations or defective Longevity Stones.”

Qi Jiaoyao suddenly clenched her fist, ash slipping down between her fingers as she spoke with grief and indignation. “Ugh, I’ve really taken a massive loss this time. Forget the wasted time, I spent so much money just to bribe the right people. But I still didn’t get to see the real Longevity Stone. Now, I can’t even grab some rare item to recoup my losses?!”

Qi Xuansu had not intended to comment, but considering that the two of them were comrades who had fought together, he said, “Were you really here to do business?”

“One must take risks to acquire wealth,” Qi Jiaoyao replied righteously. “If not for wealth, do you think I came here to temper my state of mind?”

Qi Xuansu shook his head, feeling that Qi Jiaoyao’s mouth was every bit as sharp as Madam Qi. Could it be that the Quanzhen Sect only nurtured women like this?

At that moment, the shadows outside seemed to have been stirred as well. They then began to surge toward the shrine.

Fortunately, these shadows were not comparable to the ancient witch from before. After all, only witches of high standing could remain within the shrine. Those outside were merely ordinary witches.

Qi Xuansu was curious about what mysteries this sub-pocket realm held and why there were so many witches who seemed not to have truly died.

Qi Jiaoyao said, “Have you heard about the Nether Passage Lantern? It can illuminate the projections of the dead. You can think of these shadows as similar projections. Their true bodies have been dead for many years. They are merely shadows, existing within a sub-pocket realm, which I call the Shadow Realm.”

Qi Xuansu said thoughtfully, “Is this Shadow Realm you mentioned related to Wu Zhen?”

Qi Jiaoyao nodded. “Yes, Wu Zhen is the master of the Shadow Realm.”

Qi Xuansu said in sudden realization, “I see.”

As he spoke, Qi Xuansu manifested the Himiko Spiritual Body, opened his mouth, and expelled blazing True Solar Flames, sweeping away the multitude of black shadows in one stroke. True Solar Flames was extreme yang, the greatest counter to such yin entities.

However, the sheer number of shadows exceeded Qi Xuansu’s expectations. They were like a wildfire that could not be fully extinguished, reigniting with the slightest breeze. A large number of shadows emerged again in the blink of an eye.

These shadows were different from resurrected witches. Even when the latter revived, their strength was greatly diminished, whereas the former could retain most of their combat power, much like the projection of Song Zheng summoned by Great Sage Lan using the Nether Passage Lantern.”

“Let’s go back through the back entrance,” Qi Jiaoyao suggested.

Qi Xuansu agreed after a brief thought, leaving behind a wall of fire and following Qi Jiaoyao.

Although the Blood Moon hung overhead, they could only choose the lesser of two evils.

When they entered the coverage area of the Blood Moon, both Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao felt the blood and qi within their bodies begin to boil, becoming extraordinarily active, as if about to burst forth from their bodies. At the same time, resurrected witches continually came to block their path.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao had sufficient cultivation to suppress the qi and blood within their bodies. They fought as they moved for most of the night before finally shaking off the shadows behind them and arriving at an unfamiliar place. Even the resurrected witches were nowhere to be seen. Only an extreme silence remained, sending a chill down their spine.

Qi Jiaoyao broke the silence and warned, “We may have deviated from the normal route and entered some kind of forbidden area. We’ve actually gotten closer to Wu Zhen.”

Suspicion arose in Qi Xuansu’s heart. “Daoist Qi, are you trying to recoup your losses, so you deliberately led me to probe Wu Zhen, hoping to seize the chance to find some treasures?”

Qi Jiaoyao fell silent, saying nothing.

Qi Xuansu finally understood.

This was hardly Qi Xuansu’s fault. If it were daytime, he could see Lingshan, and they were walking toward it. But at night, with the Blood Moon shrouding everything, he could no longer see Lingshan. Coupled with the chaotic circumstances and Qi Jiaoyao’s initiative to retreat, Qi Xuansu naturally followed her, only to end up being led straight into a trap.

Qi Xuansu took a deep breath. Seeing no point in probing further, he changed the subject and said, “How should we proceed next?”

Only then did Qi Jiaoyao speak. “We pass through the place where Wu Zhen was buried to get to Lingshan. It’s a shortcut.”

Qi Xuansu said, “But it isn’t the conventional route.”

Qi Jiaoyao did not deny it.

Qi Xuansu sighed. “Since we’ve come this far, there’s no other choice. Though we can’t afford to provoke a living Wu Zhen, I suppose the two of us can take on a dead Wu Zhen.”

Qi Jiaoyao nodded repeatedly. “Exactly my thoughts!”

Qi Xuansu decided to see it through to the end. “Lead the way, then.”

Though Qi Jiaoyao liked to lie, she had not lied about how long she had been trapped in Lingshan Paradise. Thus, she would be familiar with its various regions. With her leading the way, it did not take long for them to arrive at Knife-Back Mountain. As the name suggests, it was an extremely narrow mountain ridge, with straight cliffs on both sides, like walking along the back of a blade.

Qi Xuansu looked to both sides, where everything had completely collapsed into abyss-like voids. If they fell off, there was no telling where they would end up—perhaps leaving Lingshan Paradise or perhaps lost forever within the chaotic spatial rifts.

This path along the Knife-Back Mountain stretched for more than 5 kilometers, so crossing it would take some time.

At the end of the path stood a massive ancient witch’s remains that was about 10 meters tall, with a pair of wings growing from its back. Clearly, this was a Great Witch who had undergone the blood sacrifice pseudo-ascension ritual. Though it had died in battle, under the illumination of the Blood Moon, it had risen again. Although its combat strength could not compare to when it was alive, it occupied a favorable position and could strike midway through a crossing, making it difficult for Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao to evade, posing a considerable threat nonetheless.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu raised Green Cloud high and once again called out the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s name, summoning heavenly lightning that instantly reduced the Great Witch’s remains to ashes.

He might as well use the might of the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor when available.

After dealing with this Great Witch, Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao continued onward, finally crossing the long Knife-Back Mountain that spanned the abyss and arriving at the opposite shore.

A dark forest stretched ahead.

The witch clan were giants, and so was this forest. These towering ferns reached the clouds. However, the forest showed no trace of vitality. Instead, it exuded decay and desolation.

The leaves and vines of these ferns were entangled together, blotting out the sky and Blood Moon, making the inside of this forest especially dark and eerie.

Qi Jiaoyao said, “This is the medicinal garden of the Ancient Wuist Sect and the place where Wu Zhen fell.”

Qi Xuansu gazed at the forest entrance. “I need to remind you that I’ve made full preparations before coming to Lingshan Paradise. So if we encounter a danger that we can’t resolve, I can immediately leave this place. At most, I’ll just lose a rare opportunity to seek the answers I want. But you might face real peril. Also, don’t think of using me as a shield. You can only rely on yourself. I hope you’ve thought this through.”

Qi Jiaoyao scoffed. “You’re really underestimating me. If something happens, just leave. I have my own ways to save my life. No one needs to worry about anyone else. Even married couples flee their own way when disaster strikes.”

Qi Xuansu fell silent for a moment before declaring, “I’m already married.”

“Exactly. Even married couples are like that, let alone strangers like us. Also, who the hell wants to be your wife?” Qi Jiaoyao snorted and huffed. “You’re more fit to be my son, yet you still dare harbor improper thoughts about me?!”

Qi Xuansu retorted. “Maybe you actually know my mother. Even if an old cow like you were willing to eat tender grass, my mother certainly wouldn’t agree to it. She’d be afraid I’d suffer a loss.”

He then walked ahead and shouted, “Auntie Qi, keep up.”

“Who are you calling Auntie?!” Qi Jiaoyao was visibly annoyed, but she muttered under her breath. “What a sharp tongue for someone so young. I don’t know who you learned it from.”

Clearly, Qi Xuansu learned it from Madam Qi. Zhang Yuelu would never be so sarcastic and insulting.

A highly corrosive, putrid fog permeated the forest. All plants here appeared grotesquely mutated, like the tentacles of deep-sea monsters.

If ordinary Heavenly Beings entered this place, the mist and mutated plants would all become obstacles. But for Qi Xuansu, a Zaohua stage Martial Arts Practitioner with two semi-immortal objects clearing the way, it was nothing.

After traveling about 2 kilometers in this manner, Qi Xuansu saw a half-concealed mottled stone stele.

The two stopped before the stele and examined it. The inscription was not in the Wuist Sect’s oracle-bone script but in clerical script.

This meant that the stele was not left behind by the Wuist Sect but by the Heavenly Sect or the Daoists.

Sure enough, the stele recorded part of the Heavenly Sect’s campaign against the Witch Cult. As the victor, the Heavenly Sect erected this stele as a memorial and as a warning to later generations that the remains of an Ancestral Witch were suppressed here.

After walking for so long, an entire night had passed. The Blood Moon receded, and daylight arrived.

Qi Xuansu raised his hand and pierced the canopy with sword qi, opening a skylight. Looking up, aside from the eternally unchanged Lingshan, the two figures locked in fierce combat were directly overhead.

Qi Jiaoyao said, “Once we pass this stele, we will be entering the place where Wu Zhen fell. It’s said that Wu Zhen has an immortal object...”

Qi Xuansu was startled. “No wonder you were willing to brave such danger—so that’s the reason!”