A Pawn's Passage

There was an innate connection between the humanoid insects, especially between master and disciple. Thus, the moment several elite humanoid insects were captured by Utu, Lu Zhu immediately sensed it.

“This is bad. As expected, someone at the level of a Demon Sovereign has made a move. I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold this place. Hurry, let’s get to the teleportation formation!” Lu Zhu ordered, his expression alarmed.

He had originally thought that this underground palace would be able to hold out for some time, allowing him to observe how the situation developed. After all, according to his subordinates’ reports, only Feng Yang had died. Four of the Five Supreme Elders still remained. Hiding here like a turtle retreating into its shell was still better than going up to the surface to be bombarded. Even if he had to flee, he could not be the first to do so. He had to let the others flee first and draw the Daoist Order’s attention before making his own escape.

Yet he had never expected the attackers to be so ferocious, sweeping through everything in their path as easily as crushing dry weeds and rotten wood. The chain explosions of the poison puppets failed to harm them, and the Poison Water Formation behind it had also been broken.

The person who broke the formation seemed to be Utu, Ixchel’s chosen servant, who had dealt with them before and could even be considered an ally. Now, Utu had found himself a more powerful patron and turned his back on them without hesitation, fighting the humanoid insects more vigorously than anyone else.

“I’m afraid it’s too late.” With a cold laugh, Utu slowly revealed himself.

Once the Poison Water Formation had been broken, the underground palace could no longer suppress the Five Elements Escape Methods or teleportation. Utu had also learned Lu Zhu’s location from soul-searching those humanoid insects, so he appeared here directly and blocked Lu Zhu’s path.

As a Supreme Elder, Lu Zhu had already reached the Ascension stage and was only half a step away from becoming a true Insect Immortal. His cultivation was even a notch above that of the insect ancestor they had encountered in the southern rainforest. In terms of the Daoist Order’s cultivation system, he was roughly on par with Qi Xuansu, with both of them only a hair’s breadth away from becoming Pseudo-Immortals.

Therefore, Lu Zhu was not completely incapable of fighting back against Utu.

There were differences in strength even among Immortals. Great Sage Jiang was clearly stronger than Chen Shuhua and Zhou Mengyao. The same was true of Pseudo-Immortals. Pseudo-Immortals on the level of Master Yin, Wu Luo’s incarnation, True Lord Siming’s incarnation, and Qi Xuansu when possessed by True Lord Ziguang were the strongest. Utu, Hun Ahau, and the others were considerably weaker. This represented a critical threshold. It was not that the deities could not bestow more power, but rather that this was the absolute limit. Thus, even when True Lord Ziguang possessed the now vastly stronger Qi Xuansu, she could still only exert the same level of strength as before and could not go any higher.

Lu Zhu still had a fair amount of confidence. He immediately revealed his true form, transforming into a half-human, half-insect monster that barely retained a humanoid shape while possessing numerous insect-like characteristics.

He was even larger than a Manly Immortal’s True Form, standing 10 meters tall. His body remained bloated and greasy, while his skin had taken on an ominous dark-purple hue. Beneath it, countless streams of thick fluid seemed to churn and surge. Sharp spines protruded from the surface of his body, while several pitch-black eye sockets had formed across his head, each flickering with a crimson glow. Fortunately, this underground hall was extremely spacious. Otherwise, it would not have been able to accommodate such an enormous creature.

Utu already looked inhuman, but compared to the humanoid insect before him, he actually looked more human.

Lu Zhu activated his poison art. Wherever its power passed, everything, including rock or anything else, was completely corroded away. He then condensed his poison essence into his five fingers and brought his claw down toward Utu’s head.

This was formed from the countless toxic substances Lu Zhu had collected over the years and condensed within his body. Now that its power had erupted, even the slightest contact would immediately destroy both body and spirit. Even the soul itself would be corroded away by its extreme toxicity.

Even Utu dared not confront the attack head-on and could only retreat for the moment.

Under Lu Zhu’s all-out assault, countless streaks of light flashed and darted through the surroundings, weaving and crisscrossing through one another. These lights came in all manner of colors, forming a dazzling display. Wherever they passed, they left distinct trails behind, constantly seeking opportunities to penetrate Utu’s body while sealing off his escape routes.

Utu immediately invoked a divine spell, summoning a pillar of moonlight that connected heaven and earth. It pierced through the thick layers of soil and enveloped Lu Zhu, immobilizing him completely. Utu then summoned a surging Shadow Tide.

The Shadow Tide was not a poison but a manifestation of divine power. No matter how impervious Lu Zhu was to all kinds of poisons, he could not simply ignore the Shadow Tide.

Qi Xuansu did not remain idle. He used the True Solar Flames to scorch Lu Zhu’s body. It was as though he were rendering oil, as fats continuously seeped from Lu Zhu’s skin.

Lu Zhu gritted his teeth and detonated the insect eggs and cocoons accumulated within his body to obtain even greater power. As a humanoid insect at the Ascension Stage, he still had considerable fighting strength. A dark green light that was nearly black surged from all over his body before spreading outward from Lu Zhu in concentric circles, wave after wave, each following relentlessly upon the last.

The first thing to suffer was the underground palace itself. The supporting pillars and walls had originally been protected by talismans and were resistant to corrosion, but this time, even the talismans could not withstand the corrosive power of Lu Zhu’s poison. The walls and pillars became like rotten, decaying wood, no longer capable of supporting the weight of the underground palace, so the entire structure began to collapse.

The other surviving humanoid insects were no weaklings. With no time to worry about anything else, they each fled for their lives, using the Five Elements Escape Methods to escape from this place. Whether Spirit Guards were waiting for them above was a problem for later. It was still better than being buried alive here. Though they might survive being buried alive, the real problem was the fierce battle between Utu and Lu Zhu. Anyone who remained would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.

This also demonstrated the formidable strength of the Blue Cloud Sect. If the Five Supreme Elders had been able to work together, coupled with Zhou Mengyao, Qi Xuansu truly might have suffered a serious defeat in their hands. However, Zhou Mengyao had already fled after a crushing defeat, while the Five Supreme Elders each harbored their own thoughts and schemes, with more than a few among them concealing ulterior motives. Therefore, their defeat and destruction were inevitable.

Under the relentless assault of the Shadow Tide, Lu Zhu’s poison art was broken.

Utu manifested a gigantic skeletal claw and tore open Lu Zhu’s torso, pulling out an insect the size of a grown man. It was an adult insect with a body shaped like a cervical spine, with numerous legs resembling tentacles and branching meridians, but its head had completely transformed into a human face identical to Lu Zhu’s.

Utu used moonlight to completely annihilate the now vulnerable adult insect.

In the end, the Supreme Elder of the Water Lineage could not endure it any longer and was defeated.

Qi Xuansu had only participated in half the battle before leaving the area.

Although the underground palace had already collapsed, Qi Xuansu could activate the Golden Light Leap, which was even more useful than the Five Elements Escape Methods. Not only was it faster, it could ignore all kinds of obstacles. Its only limitation was that it could not travel continuously over long periods or over great distances, unlike the Western Daoist Order’s Divine Shuttle.

Qi Xuansu had only just returned to the surface when a streak of sword light shot straight toward the middle of his back.

Although Qi Xuansu did not have Li Changge’s strong premonition, he had the Guizang Lantern, so he had already foreseen this scenario. Thus, he remained calm and used Green Cloud to block the sword strike.

The wielder of the sword was a woman dressed in white. Her expression was as cold as frost. Both her attire and cultivation level revealed her identity. She should be Huo Ling, the Supreme Elder of the Blue Cloud Sect’s Metal Lineage.

She had not thrown her life away in vain like Feng Yang, nor had she planned to abandon the island and flee like Sun Yong and Chen Yan. Instead, she had gone into hiding, searching for an opportunity to assassinate a high-ranking figure of the Western Daoist Order’s fleet.

The commotion caused by Lu Zhu had been considerable, so there was no way she could have remained unaware. As it happened, she truly managed to seize an opportunity. Taking advantage of the rare gap while both Utu and Hun Ahau were absent, she managed to create a brief one-on-one encounter with Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu did not show mercy simply because his opponent was a beautiful woman. Once he made a move, there was no room for mercy. If he intended to show mercy, then he would not make a move at all.

Now that Qi Xuansu had become a disciple of Sage Donghua, he had learned some skills from his master. Otherwise, people might say that the master and disciple were far too utilitarian, or worse, it might become a joke that the future leader of the Donghua Lineage did not even know their own signature techniques.

Just as the Cihang Lineage had the Cihang Sword Sequence and the Qingwei Lineage had the Beidou 36 Swords, the Donghua Lineage also had an ancestral sword technique known as the Donghua Ziwei Sword Technique. It was a high-attainment method, so its power could not be compared with the former two. However, it was also much easier to learn and lacked the complications of a perfected method. As a disciple of the Donghua Lineage, Qi Xuansu had to learn this signature sword technique.

Purple qi surged across Green Cloud’s blade. Then, as sword light burst forth, the sword transformed into a long purple rainbow and shot straight toward Huo Ling.

Huo Ling held her sword horizontally to block the rainbow, remaining unmoved. Just as the sword light reached about one meter in front of her, Qi Xuansu abruptly changed his move. His sword circled around and slashed toward her left shoulder. Although the strike was simple, it was incomparably swift, so much so that an ordinary opponent would have found it extremely difficult to defend against. Yet Huo Ling was equally fast. With only a slight turn of her body, her sword moved with her and blocked the strike.

Qi Xuansu changed his move again, thrusting straight through the center. The tip of his sword trembled incessantly, suddenly shifting upward midway through the thrust, then downward, then left and right. It seemed both real and illusory, its transformations unpredictable and without fixed form.

Huo Ling responded to countless changes with constancy. She simply brought her sword straight down from above. No matter how many transformations her opponent employed, she would follow only one path.

Qi Xuansu did not clash with her head-on. He turned aside to evade the strike before thrusting diagonally with his sword. His technique was equally precise and disciplined, leaving no openings.

Huo Ling had no intention of becoming entangled in a prolonged fight with Qi Xuansu. She spread out her sword light until it seemed to blanket heaven and earth, dazzling the eyes as it completely enveloped Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu only felt that as the sword light circulated, the surrounding light underwent a strange degree of distortion. At the same time, the area became filled with an invisible magnetic force that continuously tugged at Green Cloud in his hand, slowing his movements and making him extremely sluggish.

Although the methods of these humanoid insects were far from orthodox, after so many years, they had indeed developed some remarkable techniques of their own.

Huo Ling’s movements grew increasingly rapid, producing more sword light until the entire area within a 300-meter radius was filled with it. The sword light rained down in torrents, blasting countless crisscrossing trenches into the ground.

Qi Xuansu merely maintained a tight defense. No matter how numerous or relentless the sword lights became, he remained completely unmoved.

Having attacked for so long without success, Huo Ling grew impatient, especially when she saw that the Spirit Guards had already noticed the disturbance and were beginning to converge on the area.

Her momentary distraction created an opening for Qi Xuansu, who moved as one with his sword to break free of Huo Ling’s sword blockade. His speed increased dramatically as he surrounded Huo Ling with countless afterimages of himself.

Huo Ling immediately contracted her sword radius to about 3 meters around herself, making it seamless and concentrated. Layer upon layer of sword qi circulated like rippling water. Although she was now on the defensive, her defense was exceptionally tight. No matter how Qi Xuansu piled on attacks against her, they all failed.

However, Qi Xuansu’s sword qi surged relentlessly. Countless streams of sword qi could be seen circling Huo Ling, continuously colliding with her defenses and scattering innumerable tiny stray sword qi in every direction, some of which struck the distant mountain cliffs. Despite traveling more than 10 kilometers, these sword qi still pierced small holes into the solid rock, showing just how sharp they were.

By this point, Qi Xuansu was already fighting with his full strength. If anyone else had fought with such intensity, it would have been fierce but impossible to sustain. Yet Qi Xuansu possessed all Five Immortal Lineages, so he was not worried that his qi or essence would be exhausted.

By the time the Spirit Guards converged on the area, Qi Xuansu remained just as fierce and powerful as when the battle began, while Huo Ling was gradually falling into a disadvantage.