A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1349: Three Sacred Fist

If one were to ask who had the worst reputation in the Ancient Wuist Sect, it would undoubtedly be Wu Luo. She had founded the Lingshan Witch Cult and continued to stir up trouble to this day.

If one were to ask who had the best reputation, it would be Wu Yang.

After all, the Daoist Order had designated the Wu Gorge, Wu Mountain, and Goddess Peak as Wu Yang’s sacred grounds. She was the only Great Witch permitted to be openly worshipped and the only one allowed to have legitimate followers. The Daoist Order had even gone to great lengths to portray her positively, with every good deed of the Ancient Wuist Sect attributed to Wu Yang, while all its evils were blamed on the other ten Great Witches.

That was because Wu Yang rendered great service and favor to the Holy Xuan and the Daoist Order. Without Wu Yang, the Holy Xuan would have died in the Kunlun Cave, and the Daoist Order would not have been able to contend against God Lu Wu and the Six Enlightened Witches. If so, Elder Xu would have replaced the Holy Xuan and seized control of the Daoist Order.

For this reason, successive generations of the Daoist Order had repeatedly honored Wu Yang, shaping her image as a loyal servant of the Heavenly Emperor who was suppressed and marginalized by the Ten Witches of Lingshan. While partly true, it was certainly somewhat exaggerated.

Beyond the Daoist Order, the Great Xuan Court and the Western Daoist Order also highly revered Wu Yang. The Great Xuan Court even promoted a series of myths centered on her, mostly involving healing the sick and subduing demons. As a result, Wu Yang enjoyed an excellent reputation among the common people, almost becoming a guardian figure for women and children. She was seen to be kind, compassionate, and devoted to saving all beings, somewhat like Guanyin. This stood in stark contrast to other Great Witches who were often portrayed as eccentric and morally ambiguous.

Of course, Qi Xuansu had indirectly encountered Wu Yang before in his dream, kicking over a bonfire. No matter how he saw it, Wu Yang did not seem kind or gentle, but rather like a larger version of Little Yin.

The reason for all this was not complicated. Wu Yang had also shown favor to Emperor Gaozu of the Great Xuan Dynasty and to Tantai Yun, the first leader of the Western Daoist Order, by imparting teachings and knowledge.

At the moment of her ascension, Wu Yang passed the Spatial Arts to Emperor Gaozu of the Great Xuan and the Temporal Arts to Tantai Yun of the Western Daoist Order.

Wu Yang helped the right people at critical moments, earning lasting fame in later generations.

After obtaining the Temporal Arts, Tantai Yun began refining her own martial techniques. The Cosmos Loop learned by Qi Xuansu was just the tip of the iceberg.

Later, Tantai Yun contended with the Holy Xuan but was defeated. She then fought Wu Xian and was suppressed by Wu Xian’s Spatial Arts. This led her to seriously reflect on her own teachings, intending to create a supreme technique of her own, much like Elder Xu’s Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations.

Later, as the Central Plains fell into a struggle for dominance, the four major Daoist sects of the East, South, North, and Central regions all became deeply involved, launching a full-scale war against the Confucian School. The Western Daoist sect was absent. It neither stood with the Daoist Order nor betrayed it by siding with the Confucians. Instead, under Tantai Yun’s leadership, it marched westward on an expedition to attack the Buddhists of the Western Region.

At that time, the Buddhist Sect was not unified. The Central Plains Buddhists followed the Daoist Order in fighting the Confucians, while the Buddhists of Nanyang and Fenglin stayed aloof. Even within the Western Region, the five major Buddhist factions were hostile to one another and were constantly at war.

When Tantai Yun attacked, the Buddhist Sect of the Western Region was utterly defeated.

During this process, Tantai Yun acquired numerous Buddhist scriptures and mastered many Buddhist techniques.

In addition, the Western Daoist Order already possessed two perfected methods related to Buddhism: the Selfless Metamorphosis and the Future Constellation Sutra.

Tantai Yun fused these great techniques and combined them with the Temporal Arts, ultimately creating a perfected method uniquely her own, which she named the Tantai Fist Intention.

The Tantai Fist Intention had two versions. One was sent back to the Daoist Order, which was the version Qi Xuansu learned. The other remained within the Western Daoist Order, which Huangfu Ji learned. However, Huangfu Ji must have also studied the first version as a foundation.

To distinguish them, the Western Daoist Order referred to the second version of the Tantai Fist Intention as the Three Sacred Fist, drawing from the concept of the Three Buddhas.

This perfected method bore a strong Buddhist imprint and was divided into three aspects—past, present, and future. It corresponded both to the concept of time in the Temporal Arts and to the Three Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future.

The past was fixed and unchanging; the future was infinitely variable; and the present was the most real.

The Three Sacred Fist was no longer within the traditional scope of martial arts. Although the Western Daoist Order had many Martial Arts Practitioners, few could truly master the Three Sacred Fist. It was like the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations, with a significant high threshold.

Huangfu Ji’s palm strike was this Three Sacred Fist, passed down by Tantai Yun.

Though it was called a “fist,” it was by no means limited to punches or palm strikes.

This move was called the Past Meru, which was primarily defensive.

Though the palm faced outward, this strike was not meant to attack the enemy but to protect oneself. Within the range of this palm was an unchanging past.

Huangfu Ji’s entire body rapidly lost its color, becoming like a silhouette from old paper, a faded image from history.

No matter how fierce the overwhelming Judgment of Light was, it became meaningless. The boundless radiance passed directly through the range of Huangfu Ji’s palm, as if he did not exist at all, causing him no harm whatsoever.

Of course, Past Meru was not flawless and could be countered by the Shattered Void Realm.

Unfortunately, Milton did not possess such means.

However, this move also had its drawbacks. First, one could not perform any other actions while maintaining this state. Second, the consumption was enormous, even for a Pseudo-Immortal like Huangfu Ji. So, it could not be sustained for long. Almost the moment the Judgment of Light ended, Huangfu Ji also ended this state.

In a one-on-one fight, Milton was no match for Huangfu Ji. However, being on the Evangelical Ministry’s floating island, Milton had plenty of external forces to draw upon.

Milton immediately activated the Solar Flame Formation on the floating island, drawing in sunlight. A complex golden-red formation slowly emerged, composed of five smaller formations. The central formation was the largest, while the other four connected to the corners and rotated slowly. At the same time, sun-like flowers bloomed continuously, scattering countless golden particles like pollen.

Under the enhancement of the formation, countless golden lights converged onto the spiked mace raised in Milton’s hand, as if he were holding up a blazing sun. Flames and light gathered, compressed, and transformed violently within it.

Then Milton pointed the spiked mace toward Huangfu Ji and shouted, “Solar Flame Cannon!”

A beam combining the forces of flame and light burst forth.

Although the Solar Flame Cannon was also immensely powerful, it was far inferior to the Judgment of Light, which had consumed half of the floating island’s divine power. This time, Huangfu Ji did not use the highly draining Past Meru but switched to Future Infinity.

The future was uncertain and ever-changing, branching into infinite possibilities.

Future Infinity was a move that pushed the Temporal Arts to its absolute limit. It combined the strengths of the Demonic Blade and Heavenly Calculation, while keeping its own uniqueness.

There was a story that a youth picked up a pistol by the roadside and fired a shot. Fortunately, no one was around, and no one was hurt. Many years later, that youth passed by the same place and heard a whistling sound. When he turned his head, he was struck in the forehead by that very bullet. Future Infinity captured a hint of this mystery.

An attack launched first might arrive later, and one launched later might arrive first. This had nothing to do with speed.

Thus, Tantai Yun’s three techniques had no fixed movements. They were more like abstract principles, already touching upon the domain of a certain Heavenly Immortal.

When Huangfu Ji made his move, he was already a step behind. Even if he struck simultaneously, he could not be faster than the beam of light. Yet his punch distorted the concept of time within a small area. At the very moment the Solar Flame beam was released, his later strike arrived first, appearing before Milton.

In other words, as Milton unleashed the Solar Flame beam, Huangfu Ji had only just formed the intent and had not yet struck, yet a punch from the future appeared, striking Milton squarely in the face.

The present could not change the past because the past was eternally fixed. But the present could be changed by the future.

This was how a strike launched later arrived first.

Milton’s entire face was smashed, his features collapsing inward as he fell backward. The Solar Flame beam in his hand was redirected upward, turning into a beacon-like pillar of light.

It was well known that Divine Beings were the hardest to kill. To slay a priest empowered with abundant divine power required great effort. What Huangfu Ji lacked most at this moment was time, so he bypassed Milton entirely and dashed into the church.

There were still some Knights inside the church, but they were no match for Huangfu Ji, not even for a single exchange.

Very quickly, Huangfu Ji killed his way down to the middle layer of the floating island—the critical area that sustained its operation.

A dense network of metal pipes, various valves, and control panels formed something like the heart of a god. Complex arcane arcanum formations and essential divine power constructed the floating island’s power core.

Huangfu Ji took out the Daoist Grade-A Series Two Phoenix Eye Bomb from his magical receptacle.

Its size was comparable to a carriage, requiring a special magical receptacle to store it. Only a Martial Arts Practitioner of immense strength could lift it.

It was no wonder that such weapons were usually deployed by a flying ship.

“Prepare to withdraw,” Huangfu Ji ordered the others.

He then set the Phoenix Eye Bomb in place and activated the bomb, starting its detonation countdown.

“Get ready to watch the fireworks,” Huangfu Ji said with a smirk as he turned and left.