A Pawn's Passage

Having settled on the terms, Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao bypassed the stele erected by the Heavenly Sect and headed deeper into the fern forest.

Qi Xuansu now knew that Wu Zhen had effectively split into two parts. One part was her consciousness and soul, trapped by the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s son through special means, sinking endlessly into a looping illusion of her final battle in life. The other part was her remains, fused with a semi-immortal object she carried, gradually transforming into a true immortal artifact.

Their goal now was to avoid the influence of Wu Zhen’s soul, locate the remains, and take the immortal object.

In truth, Qi Xuansu was not optimistic about this plan.

First of all, most immortal objects did not exist in isolation. For example, the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords was closely tied to the Punishment Pillar; the Three Treasures Scepter served as the key to the Kunlun Paradise; the Imperial Succession Seal was deeply connected to dragon veins, and so on. Such artifacts demanded extremely high requirements because it was not only about wielding the artifact itself but also control over the corresponding domain.

Secondly, even those immortal objects that existed independently were often extremely dangerous. The Seven Feather Five Fires Fan, which had developed its own spirit, could act autonomously. Without being an Immortal, one could never hope to control such an artifact. Even Immortals would suffer severe harm if unprepared, while ordinary people might die on the spot just by reading it.

There were also immortal objects like Moral Sovereign, which could not even be seen or lifted without sufficient cultivation. Forcing their use would only lead to self-inflicted harm.

Furthermore, the Yao family—from Elder Yao to successive Earthly Preceptors—was not to be underestimated. Who knew what precautions they might have set? Even if they left Wu Zhen’s remains untouched, setting up protective formations around them would be effortless.

Leaving aside whether such formations could be broken, would breaking them alert the one who set them up?

Even assuming everything went smoothly, that they broke the formations without alerting anyone and successfully obtained the immortal object, would the Earthly Preceptor let it slide after discovering it was missing? He would surely search everywhere with a fine-tooth comb. The Heavenly Preceptor’s Guizang Lantern allowed Qi Xuansu to see past events. The Earthly Preceptor could very well have similar methods.

Qi Xuansu did not believe that immortal objects could be taken so easily. However, Qi Jiaoyao seemed extremely confident, so he did not mind giving it a try. After all, fortune favored the bold. Now that he was at the Zaohua stage, he had sufficient means of self-preservation.

Even if they truly obtained the immortal object, Qi Xuansu had no intention of keeping it. He planned to give it to Qi Jiaoyao. Whoever wanted the immortal object could deal with the Earthly Preceptor’s wrath.

Qi Xuansu still intended to remain within the Daoist Order in the future, so he could not be lumped together with someone who would likely be expelled from the Daoist registry.

To Qi Xuansu’s surprise, there were no formations set up here at all.

Qi Jiaoyao seemed to have seen through Qi Xuansu’s thoughts. “Never seen anything like this before, have you? It looks like you still need Auntie Qi to enlighten you. Setting up formations requires linking it with earth qi. But look at how shattered the Lingshan Paradise has become. There’s no earth qi left to connect with. Secondly, this place was the final battlefield between the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s son and Wu Zhen, so the destruction here is especially severe. By sheer coincidence, it still maintains a delicate and fragile balance without collapsing entirely. Setting any formation here might break that balance and cause total destruction. If so, everything will be lost.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “I see...”

Qi Jiaoyao said smugly, “Obviously, I did my homework beforehand. Did you really think I’d charge in blindly like some reckless fool?”

After walking for less than 3 kilometers, Qi Xuansu noticed the surrounding mist growing thicker. It not only obscured his vision but also suppressed his cultivation. He had already dropped from the Zaohua stage to the Wuliang stage, with signs of slipping further toward the Xiaoyao stage.

However, this was not equivalent to an actual loss of cultivation. His Zaohua-stage cultivation still existed. It was merely suppressed and sealed. Once they leave this area, it should recover.

Qi Xuansu asked in confusion, “This is...?”

Qi Jiaoyao replied, “We’re close now. This must be the supernatural effect of the immortal object.”

Qi Xuansu thought, Well...this is a rather eerie quality of the immortal object, similar to the Longevity Stone or the Yin-Yang Immortal Robe.

They walked a little farther until they saw a stockade within the forest.

At the same time, Qi Xuansu clearly sensed that his cultivation had been suppressed down to the level of a Xiantian Being.

It was a very strange experience. Though his cultivation remained, it was thoroughly sealed. The body spirits he had condensed vanished. His Martial Arts Practitioner physique could no longer transform freely, nor did he retain his indestructible body. Likewise, the true essence of his Banished Immortal lineage and the Spiritual Body of a Shaman were temporarily gone.

His current physical body was far weaker than before.

At this level of suppressed cultivation, Qi Xuansu could not even use Green Cloud or Pure Bodhi. He had no choice but to store them back into his magical receptacle.

Instead, he took out the Dragon Painting Pistol.

If everyone in this region had their cultivation suppressed and no Heavenly beings existed, then the Dragon Painting Pistol would be extremely effective. It was far more practical than blades or swords. He also had plenty of ammunition. The bullets were small and took little space, so he had never bothered to clear out the remaining stock.

Qi Xuansu had never expected that, after so many years, this old companion would once again prove useful.

Qi Jiaoyao clearly knew this place well and had come prepared, whipping out a Thunderbolt Gun.

The Thunderbolt Gun was fitted with five barrels. By rotating the chamber, it could fire from each barrel in sequence, releasing 18 rounds in rapid succession. Naturally, it was quite large in size. Seeing Qi Jiaoyao, who was quite petite, carry such a massive firearm was quite jarring.

Qi Xuansu pointed at the Thunderbolt Gun and asked, “What are you planning to do? Massacre a village?”

Qi Jiaoyao said, “Weren’t you wondering what methods the Earthly Preceptor used to protect the immortal object? I can tell you now. First, suppress everyone’s cultivation to the level of a Xiantian Being, then station some criminals here. If you were still at the Zaohua stage, these criminals wouldn’t last a single exchange against you. But now that you and I are only Xiantian Beings, we’ll have to rely on firearms to deal with them.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Do these criminals have firearms?”

Qi Jiaoyao chuckled. “They’re all relics from the old days. There’s no way they know how to use such things.”

Qi Xuansu asked again, “What crime did they commit exactly?”

Qi Jiaoyao replied, “High treason.”

“Treason? Against whom?” Qi Xuansu grew even more curious.

“Against the Daoist Order, of course. Back then, while the Daoist Order and the Buddhist Sect were at odds, these people schemed behind the scenes and attempted to assassinate Donghuang. The ringleaders were executed long ago, but these accomplices fell into Elder Yao’s hands,” Qi Jiaoyao explained. “It’s hard to say whether they were fortunate or unfortunate. Elder Yao didn’t kill them or punish them. Instead she granted them undying bodies, so they can’t live properly or die for over 200 years.”

Qi Xuansu was aware of this matter. The Three Yin Beings had all taken part in suppressing the rebellion. Master Yin had secretly kept a semi-immortal object called the Unbound Thought, which he later gifted to Little Yin. Elder Yao’s actions were hardly shocking. After all, she was capable of fooling the world into hunting for seven orbs. She was also known among Daoist elders as one of the more unconventional and sinister figures.

Qi Jiaoyao continued, “Of course, this so-called undying body is actually a curse, not true longevity. It’s worse than death. No normal person would want to live for centuries like that.”

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment before saying, “So in the end, you really are planning to massacre a village.”

Qi Jiaoyao replied matter-of-factly, “They have undying bodies, so they respawn like weeds. This is hardly a massacre. I’m merely getting them to take a nap.”

With that, Qi Jiaoyao hefted the Thunderbolt Gun and charged toward the stockade.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to follow behind her.

Although both were reduced to the cultivation level of Xiantian Beings, their speed still far exceeded that of ordinary people. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the front of the stockade.

However, during this process, their cultivation dropped even further, reaching their lowest point at the Kunlun stage of Xiantian Beings. Any lower would place them within the realm of Houtian Beings.

The people inside the stockade also noticed the two of them.

Only then did Qi Xuansu understand why Qi Jiaoyao said these criminals were living a life worse than death.

At a glance, everyone appeared as skin and bones, with sunken eye sockets, wrinkled faces, and shriveled flesh, resembling dried corpses. They should have long since died of old age, yet they lingered on as the walking dead.

Regardless of their original cultivation, all of them were now suppressed to the Kunlun stage.

In theory, since everyone was at the Kunlun stage and the criminals greatly outnumbered them, victory should have been assured for those exiles. Elder Yao’s design was certainly clever. However, she likely had not anticipated the dramatic advancement of firearms in later generations, which could greatly negate the advantage of numbers.

Moreover, because nothing had gone wrong here for so long, successive Earthly Preceptors never bothered to fix this oversight, leaving things alone as long as no problems arose.

Qi Jiaoyao held the Thunderbolt Gun as its chamber rotated, the five barrels spitting flames in rapid succession.

The criminal exiles fell in waves, utterly powerless to fight back.

The Thunderbolt Gun was usually considered unimpressive because its power was too weak, barely able to penetrate a Guizhen-stage Xiantian Being’s defenses. Thus, no matter how fast it fired, it could not compare to a Sun-Shooting Rifle that could kill with a single shot or at least cause severe injury.

However, against Kunlun-stage practitioners, the Thunderbolt Gun could still break defenses. These criminals had little armor and no experience dealing with firearms. Their undying bodies also made them numb to danger, so they charged forward blindly in groups, suffering devastating casualties.

As she fired in sweeping bursts, Qi Jiaoyao laughed loudly. “Old relics, the world has changed!”

Qi Xuansu followed behind her, firing precise shots to eliminate any stragglers. The Dragon-Illustrating Hand Cannon was extremely powerful. Often, a single shot would blast two or three criminals into blood mist.

After 15 minutes, Qi Jiaoyao’s ammunition ran out, and the rotating chamber stopped. The barrels had turned red-hot and began to show signs of melting.

Qi Jiaoyao tossed the Thunderbolt Gun aside and pulled out two ordinary pistols, continuing to fire.

In less than an hour, not a single criminal remained standing in the entire stockade.