A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1451: Karmic Fire

After receiving Li Zhuyu’s warning, Li Tianlan began preparing for evacuation. Thus, he contacted some old friends to help him escape in case something went wrong.

However, Li Tianlan did not leave immediately because he still needed to deal with his assets.

Still, all necessary preparations had already been completed, so once Li Tianlan began fleeing, his various reinforcements arrived one after another.

The first to arrive was Shi Luosi. After he managed to stall for some time, Wu Guangbi arrived as well.

Wu Guangbi had actually been some distance away. As a dignified Pseudo-Immortal, he could not stay at Li Tianlan’s side as a bodyguard. He had merely been monitoring Li Tianlan’s movements, which was why his sword arrived first, and he followed afterward.

The source of Qi Xuansu’s confidence was Madam Wu.

During this period, Madam Wu had been resting or, more accurately, sleeping.

Like Madam Qi, Madam Wu disliked involving herself in the various affairs of the Daoist Order and avoided them whenever possible. After the fifth-generation Grand Master reformed the Daoist Order, the vibe became increasingly strict and solemn, leaving little room for free-spirited people like Madam Wu and Madam Qi.

Qi Xuansu was different. He could adapt to many different styles, saying the appropriate things depending on whom he faced. He could be Madam Qi’s son, or the authoritative Chief Deputy Qi.

Wu Guangbi naturally knew that Qi Xuansu had an immortal object, but he was not very clear on the specifics. Although Wu Guangbi had a high level of cultivation, he was ultimately not part of the Daoist Order’s core. Sage Qingwei and the Imperial Preceptor would never discuss such matters with Wu Guangbi.

If Wu Guangbi asked, they would naturally answer. If he did not ask, they would likewise never bring it up.

It was just like the many questions Qi Xuansu himself had. When he proactively asked, Sage Cihang and Sage Donghua would answer him. But if he did not ask, they had no interest in voluntarily explaining things to him. Only for truly major matters would they deliberately give him a reminder.

In Wu Guangbi’s view, even if Qi Xuansu did have an immortal object, it would still be difficult for him to fully unleash its power at his cultivation level. After all, immortal objects were originally meant for Immortals. If Qi Xuansu could fully utilize an immortal object’s strength, then there would have been no need for him to perform the Twin Sword Union with Zhang Yuelu. It would have been far more convenient to wield both the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords alone.

Wu Guangbi’s reasoning was not actually wrong. The current Qi Xuansu indeed lacked the qualifications to truly control an immortal object. However, the Seven Feather Five Fires Fan was an exception. Madam Wu was capable of wielding herself, capable of fully exercising her own initiative. As long as Madam Wu was willing, she could unleash the object’s full power.

Immortal objects were not merely about fighting and killing. They were about human relationships and worldly connections.

Thus, there was a slight discrepancy between Wu Guangbi’s assumptions and the actual situation.

What seemed like a guaranteed victory was actually still far from certain.

Moreover, they were still within the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion’s territory. Large numbers of Spirit Guards were already rushing over, and Zhang Jucheng could come to Qi Xuansu’s aid.

If this dragged on any longer, the ones in real danger would be them.

However, Wu Guangbi had no need to determine superiority against Qi Xuansu. The real priority was getting Li Tianlan away safely.

“Go!” Wu Guangbi shouted as he grasped his sword that was embedded in the ground.

As he drew the sword upward, it split apart the endless sea of fiery clouds overhead.

Qi Xuansu released the Seven Feather Five Fires Fan from his hand. The fan floated in midair on its own as countless flames gathered behind it into a humanoid shape. Then, a pale hand emerged through the flames and grasped the fan’s handle.

The flames covering the fiery figure receded like a retreating tide, revealing Madam Wu’s true appearance as a female Daoist priest.

Facing this sword strike, Madam Wu merely waved the feather fan in her hand.

Strictly speaking, the Seven Feather Five Fires Fan was more of a magical artifact than a weapon. But an immortal object was indestructible compared to ordinary semi-immortal objects.

The two collided with a clash of metal striking stone.

Qi Xuansu ignored Wu Guangbi entirely and once again headed straight for Li Tianlan.

Li Tianlan tore out another talisman.

A raging torrent of water seemed to emerge from nowhere, cascading down from the highest heavens.

It was as though the world had turned upside down.

A pair of phoenix wings suddenly spread open behind the Manly Immortal True Form, stirring fierce gale-force winds. Stretching over dozens of meters, they shielded the body and blocked the torrent of water.

Even more terrifying was the surging blood qi, which continuously evaporated the water.

Seizing this opportunity, Shi Luosi once again summoned the projection of a holy relic.

This time, it was the projection of the Holy Ark.

The Holy Ark was the golden chest that stored the sacred decrees of the Supreme Will. This holy relic contained the power of laws and contracts, and among all the holy relic projections, it was the one most capable of restraining Qi Xuansu.

A golden square chest resembling a miniature palace appeared out of thin air, its doors fashioned like the gates of a grand hall.

When the doors opened, ten stone tablets could be seen floating within, each inscribed with the sacred decrees of the Supreme Will.

One of the stone tablets flew out. It was the sixth commandment—Thou shalt not kill.

This was a rather broad concept.

Qi Xuansu had never truly intended to kill anyone. His fundamental objective was to arrest Li Tianlan and bring him to justice. Although Qi Xuansu had verbally claimed that even if he beat Li Tianlan to death, Sage Qingwei could do nothing about it, he would not actually do so.

Thus, this commandment did not have any substantial effect on Qi Xuansu.

However, the Holy Ark was not limited to this alone. The commandment began expanding outward, extending from the prohibition against killing into a prohibition against the use of violence.

This would indeed affect Qi Xuansu.

Many people treated Qi Xuansu as an ordinary Banished Immortal or a Martial Arts Practitioner because they did not understand the true nature of the Longevity Stone Heart, and they paid dearly for that mistake.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu found himself in a similar situation. He was unfamiliar with these holy relics of the Holy Court, so in a short span of time, he had no means of unraveling their mysteries.

The Holy Nail belonged to the offensive type of holy relic. It either worked instantly or failed instantly. The projection of the Holy Nail had exhausted its power without being able to do anything to Qi Xuansu and dissipated on its own. However, the Holy Ark was far more enduring.

Qi Xuansu could not simply wait for the Holy Ark’s power to run dry. So his option was to use brute force to shatter this projection of the Holy Ark.

Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed the Present Saha from the Three Sacred Fist.

The greatest difficulty of this move lay in how a Martial Arts Practitioner could control the innate qi of a Qi Refiner. For Qi Xuansu, this was not at all difficult.

In an instant, winds and clouds surged overhead, dragging vast masses of cloud energy downward and forming a gigantic vortex in the sky. Below, the earth’s energy was stirred up, transforming into a sea of yellow-brown mist that churned violently.

Whether it was the lingering rain clouds or Li Tianlan’s talismans, everything was swept away in a single impact.

The spectacle was magnificent, drawing power from the heavens above and the earth below.

The Holy Ark stood at the point where the two forces converged.

Yet the attack felt as though it had struck empty space, like trying to cut water with a blade.

The defense of the Holy Ark was not one of pure hardness. It resembled the golden body of a Godly Immortal.

Qi Xuansu’s thoughts raced rapidly.

If the principles behind this Holy Ark were similar to a golden body, then Qi Xuansu still had another method at his disposal—Wu Luo’s karmic fire.

The Red Lotus Karmic Fire was not rare. Many Buddhist cultivators, including those of the Cihang lineage, could use it. Even Bai Yingqiong had once employed it against the Cult of Fates. However, Wu Luo’s Red Lotus Karmic Fire was different due to its purity.

Wu Luo’s Red Lotus Karmic Fire was like pure gold in the truest sense. Not only was it extremely difficult to refine, but its power was far greater. Compared to the Buddhist version, which leaned more toward restraining others, Wu Luo’s karmic fire existed purely for killing. It was a method specifically used by Wu Luo to deal with Immortals.

The Red Lotus Karmic Fire controlled by Qi Xuansu possessed sufficient quality. But it was still lacking greatly in quantity. If he wished to use it against a true Immortal, it would be like trying to extinguish a raging inferno with a single bucket of water. But it would be more than enough to put out a budding flame.

Crimson flames blooming like lotus flowers instantly enveloped the stone tablets and the golden chest.

Under the searing heat, cracks spread across the stone tablets, and the commandments binding Qi Xuansu dissipated accordingly. Soon after, the golden chest began to turn illusory.

If a golden body could be likened to metal, then the Red Lotus Karmic Fire existed precisely to melt metal.

This was also something Izanagi’s demonic fire could not compare to. But each possessed its own strengths.

Very quickly, the projection of the Holy Ark completely shattered before dissipating.

As a result, Shi Luosi, who had summoned the projection, suffered backlash. Earlier, the Holy Nail projection had vanished on its own after exhausting its power, but the Holy Ark projection had been forcibly shattered by Qi Xuansu, so Shi Luosi could not escape the consequences.

Some people said that whenever foreign allies were involved, the matter became of utmost importance, and extreme caution must be exercised to avoid shocking those allies and thereby damaging national prestige.

However, there was one exception: internal power struggles. If foreign allies attempted to interfere in domestic power struggles, that could not be tolerated.

Thus, Qi Xuansu was not afraid of beating Shi Luosi to death even though the latter was a representative of the Holy Court.

At the same time, the Spirit Guards of the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion rushed toward the area like a black tide.

Their synchronized footsteps pounded against everyone’s ears and hearts.

Small flying ships also appeared overhead, with Spirit Guards continuously descending from the sky.

Although the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion had neither a first-rank Spirit Guard stationed there nor a designated Yinglong Warship, it still had second-rank Spirit Guards.