A Pawn's Passage

Kukulkan’s divine might had reached an astonishing level. It was so overwhelming that the usually confident Qi Xuansu began to doubt himself. After all, there was no need for him to take excessive risks in this matter, much less gamble with his life.

This had been a risky move, but one he had made only because he believed he had judged the situation correctly.

But if he had misjudged it, then the consequences would be impossible to predict. It might very well end in complete disaster.

Madam Wu said grimly, “At this point, all we can do is stake everything on one final gamble.”

Qi Xuansu’s expression grew solemn.

He truly did possess one final trump card—the Buddha’s sarira, capable of unleashing the strike of an Immortal at a critical moment. Perhaps it would produce a miraculous effect.

Unfortunately, Qi Xuansu’s cultivation was still insufficient. Had he already reached the immortal stage, he alone would have been confident of defeating Kukulkan.

Despite Kukulkan’s boundless divine might, the surging karmic fire above his divine kingdom was no illusion. Back then, when Wu Luo attacked Great Sage Lan with karmic fire, she could draw forth only a very small amount. But if the target were Kukulkan instead, the consequences would be unimaginable. His entire divine kingdom would likely be blown apart.

Qi Xuansu was only at the Zaohua stage, so the amount of karmic fire he could invoke was extremely limited. Although Kukulkan’s divine kingdom appeared engulfed by endless clouds of fire, its structure was actually very stable. It functioned much like the primer of a bullet. It could not simply be ignited at will. Only an expert like Wu Luo knew the proper method to detonate it. Qi Xuansu knew that method as well, but his cultivation simply wasn’t high enough.

Although Wu Luo possessed the ability, she would not detonate Kukulkan’s karmic fire because she would end up setting herself ablaze as well.

Just as Madam Wu and Qi Xuansu were preparing to risk everything, a gentle ray of moonlight shone into this sun kingdom. Even the blazing sunlight could not overwhelm that single beam of moonlight.

Wherever the moonlight passed, moon blossoms and night dew grass sprang forth, spreading across the ground like a carpet, preparing in advance to welcome their master.

The beautiful moon maiden descended within the moonlight, surrounded by a luminous lunar aura that made her seem ethereal and mysterious.

At the same time, a full moon appeared overhead, driving back the sun’s radiance. Night surged in like the tide, claiming half the heavens and creating the magnificent spectacle of the sun and moon sharing the sky.

The maiden stepped barefoot onto the grass. Every plant became veiled in a layer of silvery moonlight, while fireflies danced gracefully through the air.

The moon maiden was holding an ancient ornament resembling a pendant. It was shaped like a strange golden insect, resembling a hunchbacked person bent over like a shrimp, with many legs. Its overall form resembled a crescent moon.

Qi Xuansu recognized it as one of the Nine Worms from the Daoist concept of the Three Corpses and Nine Worms.

The moon maiden, Ixchel, held the Nine Worms Pendant in both hands. Her expression was calm and serene. Even as she faced the furious Kukulkan on the opposite side, she showed not the slightest intention of yielding or backing down.

This was a war between gods.

When one deity entered another deity’s divine kingdom without permission, it was considered an act of divine war.

Ordinarily, such situations were exceedingly rare. A divine kingdom represented the greatest territorial advantage a deity could possess. One side would have marched a great distance, while the other waited in comfort for the enemy to arrive. If the two sides were of comparable strength, the one defending within its own divine kingdom would almost certainly emerge victorious, whereas the invader would essentially be courting death.

Of course, the Daoist Order had done exactly this before. The difference was that the Daoist Order possessed overwhelming numerical superiority. Simply put, they won by outnumbering their opponent. The results had already proven it. Despite having the home-field advantage of her divine kingdom, Wu Luo still could not withstand the Daoist Order’s assault and had nearly been killed within her own divine kingdom. Cases like that defied conventional reasoning.

This was also why the ancient gods feared the Daoist Order. Back then, the Seven Ancient Immortals had united against the Daoist Order, creating an enormous uproar and even wreaking havoc within Kunlun Paradise. But five of them had either fallen or surrendered, while two of them still stubbornly resisted. That demonstrated one thing clearly. The Daoist Order possessed the power to determine the life and death of gods and Immortals. More importantly, the Daoist Order had the patience to resolve such matters gradually rather than rushing for quick victories. To find oneself on the Daoist Order’s list of enemies was undoubtedly a terrifying prospect.

Ixchel naturally did not possess the Daoist Order’s strength, yet she had still entered Kukulkan’s divine kingdom and openly declared war upon him.

This undoubtedly supported Qi Xuansu’s earlier deduction.

Kukulkan was employing the empty-fort strategy.

The gigantic Feathered Serpent coiled itself into formation upon the plaza and let out a thunderous roar toward the heavens.

Countless rays of sunlight transformed into warriors of the sun.

These warriors were not remnants left behind by Itzamna but originated from the Misir Sun God. They possessed the bodies of men and the heads of eagles, with feathered wings growing from their backs. Each wielded a golden longbow, using beams of sunlight condensed into arrows.

Empowered by the blazing sun overhead, these light arrows flowed endlessly, never running out.

Ixchel did not counter with moonlight. Instead, she simply raised the Nine Worms Pendant in her hand.

In an instant, black wormholes appeared one after another around her, densely packed like a honeycomb. Humanoid insects continuously emerged from these wormholes. Some still wore expressions of shock and terror upon their faces, yet they nevertheless charged toward the Sun Warriors guarding Kukulkan.

A dazzling array of magical treasures collided head-on with the Sun Warriors’ relentless rain of arrows.

For a time, both the humanoid insects and the Sun Warriors suffered devastating casualties.

The humanoid insects were selfish by nature and would never willingly sacrifice their lives for someone else’s cause. They always sought the advantage and avoided harm, so expecting them to march fearlessly to their deaths was nothing but wishful thinking. But once they had swallowed the bait known as the Foundation Building Elixir, they no longer had a choice. Whether they wished to die or not, they had to obey. After all, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

The Nine Worms Pendant in Ixchel’s hand was precisely the key to controlling the humanoid insects.

Ixchel had cultivated these humanoid insects for so long precisely for this day.

The Nine Worms Pendant in Ixchel’s possession had come from the Insect Queen and served as the token of their alliance.

When the humanoid insects first formed an alliance with the ancient gods, they did not send representatives, for they were not qualified to stand as equals with the gods. Instead, Itzamna entered the Spirit Realm through the convergence of divine kingdoms and met the Insect Queen in person.

The Insect Queen agreed to ally herself with the ancient gods. She would dispatch humanoid insects to assist the gods in their southward migration. In return, the gods were to ensure the continuation of the humanoid insect race and help them open a passage to the Spirit Realm. Thus, the humanoid insects were allowed to serve as priests of the ancient gods and were entrusted with important responsibilities.

This Nine Worms Pendant was the symbol of the alliance between the two sides, which was why it displayed two completely different artistic styles. When faced with the pendant, virtually all humanoid insects, save for a handful of old monsters at the Nascent Soul stage, were powerless to resist and could only obey its commands.

In the beginning, Itzamna personally held authority over the humanoid insects. At the same time, they served as his spies, monitoring the followers of the other gods. The devotees of the Rain God Chaac and the Maize God Yum were among their primary targets.

After Itzamna fell in battle, this pendant passed into Ixchel’s hands. That was why the humanoid insects obeyed Ixchel’s commands and why Ixchel had always gone to such lengths to protect them.

With that, everything finally made sense.

At this moment, Ixchel was using the humanoid insects as expendable pawns to drain Kukulkan’s divine power, showing not the slightest trace of pity. It seemed that when she had promised Qi Xuansu she would resolve the humanoid insect problem, she had not been lying. She had already begun resolving it.

As Itzamna’s consort, Ixchel understood the contents of the alliance perfectly, as well as the Insect Queen’s true intentions.

The Insect Queen likewise felt no sympathy for ordinary humanoid insects. The only ones she truly cared about were the fully mature humanoid insects at the Nascent Soul stage. She promised these mature insects the prospect of ascension, portraying the Spirit Realm as something akin to the Immortal Realm, a blissful paradise beyond both life and death, where they could enter through ascension.

In truth, the Spirit Realm was merely the Insect Queen’s hive. She devoured the mature insects that “ascended” to her divine kingdom, using them to obtain even greater power. This method was even more sophisticated than blood sacrifice. As long as the lie continued to hold and those mature insects remained, a new generation of larvae could soon be hatched. The Insect Queen could then reign for countless ages, enduring until the end of the era.

Ixchel personally suppressed the sun in the sky, which was the source of the divine kingdom’s power, while using the humanoid insects to drain Kukulkan’s divine power. Even so, the two sides were merely evenly matched. Defeating Kukulkan was still a long way off.

At that very moment, a fine rain suddenly began to fall across Kukulkan’s divine kingdom.

The rain fell in dense, slanting strands. It spread from the distance until it enveloped the entire palace, shrouding the rooftops of every building in a thin veil of mist.

Dark clouds arrived with the drizzle, obscuring the moon and dimming the sun. The sky was now gloomy and gray.

The drizzle fell upon the night dew grass and moon blossoms, making them vibrant and full of life. Yet when it fell upon the sun and the Sun Warriors, it dulled their radiance, leaving them dim, emitting only faint halos of light.

Needless to say, the Rain God Chaac had arrived.

Ixchel truly had allies and contingency plans. This time, she had come fully prepared.

Qi Xuansu roughly understood what had happened. The reason Ixchel had delayed making her move was because she had been uncertain of Kukulkan’s true condition. They had not dared to test him rashly, for his strength was well known. They also did not want to alert him prematurely. Yet Qi Xuansu had barged in like a reckless novice, inadvertently helping them determine Kukulkan’s true state. Once they concluded that Kukulkan was merely putting on a show of strength, they finally decided to act.

Now it seemed that Kukulkan really had been bluffing. Though he appeared overwhelmingly powerful, even within his own divine kingdom, he could only fight Ixchel, who was weaker than him, to a standstill. That alone spoke volumes.

There was just one thing Qi Xuansu still could not figure out.

Where had Chak Chel gone?

Had Chak Chel and Ixchel always been one entity? Was the claim that they had split into two separate entities merely a deception aimed at Kukulkan? If that were true, then there would have been no reason for Chak Chel to support Kukulkan in the first place. Without Chak Chel’s backing, it would have been extremely difficult for Kukulkan to seize power successfully.

Or had Chak Chel initially yielded to pressure from the other ancient gods, choosing the lesser of two evils by elevating the seemingly easy-to-control Kukulkan to the position of chief god? Perhaps the two had reached some sort of agreement, only for Chak Chel to later discover that Kukulkan was far less controllable than expected. He even intended to discard her once she had outlived her usefulness. If so, Chak Chel’s decisive betrayal of Kukulkan would make perfect sense.