A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu had killed demons in the Guizhen stage, so he was not afraid of Yan Mingchen. After all, the Yuxu stage was just one level below the Guizhen stage.

The only thing that Qi Xuansu had to pay attention to was Yan Mingchen’s lineage. Qi Refiners ranked second among the six major Daoist lineages, below the Banished Immortal lineage. Qi Refiners had almost no weaknesses. This was the fundamental reason why Qi Refiners were superior to Martial Arts Practitioners and Diviners.

In that case, Qi Xuansu could not play tricks like the time he killed the scholar from the Lingshan Witch Cult. When Qi Xuansu fought with others in the past, he rarely took the initiative to draw his short sword, only using his sword as a last resort. But this time, he took the initiative to draw Qing Yuan from his waist.

Yan Mingchen was so conceited that he did not use any weapons. He only stretched his arms out slightly. Qi Xuansu did not waste any time and struck Yan Mingchen in the face with a sharp sword qi.

In any case, Qi Xuansu was in the Yuxu stage. After taking the medicinal wine from Daoist Ji, his qi became purer, and he progressed one step closer to the Guizhen stage. Qing Yuan was a spiritual object, so Yan Mingchen did not dare to just use his qi shield to block this attack.

Yan Mingchen stood still and pushed one palm forward. As he pushed his palm out, the air in front of him began to vibrate violently, slowing down Qing Yuan’s momentum significantly.

Qi Xuansu moved slower, as if he were swimming against the current. Yan Mingchen had to use his qi to counter Qi Xuansu’s attack.

Since Qi Xuansu had a lower cultivation level, he tried not to fight Yan Mingchen head-on and jumped back to avoid the surging qi from the latter’s palm. They were far from each other, so Yan Mingchen struck again with both palms.

However, this time, Qi Xuansu did not dodge. Qi Xuansu only felt a cold air coming over him, making him shiver. His body also froze.

Yan Mingchen’s palms emitted two different energies: one yin and the other yang. The palm with the yin energy struck first, emitting cold air, while the palm with the yang energy followed immediately after. Qi Xuansu felt a surge of hot air that almost suffocated him, making his body sway.

Qi Xuansu was not a pure Rogue Cultivator as he had some traits of a Martial Arts Practitioner, like a strong physique and surging blood qi. Moreover, due to the medicinal wine, his innate qi was particularly abundant. When these two yin and yang energies washed over his body, the innate qi and blood qi in his body responded accordingly.

The rule of thumb was that three Yuxu-stage practitioners could defeat a Guizhen-stage practitioner. Since Qi Xuansu possessed innate qi and blood qi, he could be regarded as two people. Although he was shaken by the palm energies, he only felt uncomfortable for a moment before he thrust out his sword again.

Yan Mingchen expected Qi Xuansu to fall to the ground and be seriously injured from this strike. But to his surprise, Qi Xuansu was unharmed. He was even more startled to see a sword light charging toward his palms. Reacting quickly, Yan Mingchen crossed his palms and pushed forward.

The next moment, Yan Mingchen only felt a sharp pain when the Qing Yuan penetrated his palms. He did not know whether Qi Xuansu stabbed his palms or if he had accidentally extended his palms when Qi Xuansu’s sword was nearby. His left palm was in front of his right palm, with the tip of the sword penetrating around ten centimeters from the back of his right hand.

Qi Xuansu’s short sword could only go so far. Yan Mingchen groaned and suddenly retracted his hands, pulling away from the sword’s tip and jumping back.

Like a coach watching from the sidelines, Zhang Yuelu could not help but praise Qi Xuansu. “Nice move.”

That was because Zhang Yuelu knew that Qi Xuansu’s swordsmanship was not the key to this successful attack. The key lay in calculating Yan Mingchen’s reaction accurately.

Qi Xuansu had a Martial Arts Practitioner’s physique that no one but Zhang Yuelu knew of. After Qi Xuansu deliberately took the hit, Yan Mingchen let his guard down, thinking that he had defeated Qi Xuansu, so he wanted to reign in his qi.

When Yan Mingchen saw that Qi Xuansu was unscathed, he wanted to attack again. But during this split second of Yan Mingchen's qi withdrawal, Qi Xuansu had the opportunity to strike. Qi Xuansu drew his sword and expected Yan Mingchen to defend himself.

Qi Xuansu deliberately aimed straight at Yan Mingchen’s chest, looking as if he wanted to kill the latter. But in fact, he was just tricking Yan Mingchen into a defensive posture. Sure enough, Yan Mingchen panicked and pushed both palms out.

Logically speaking, Yan Mingchen only needed one palm for defense against Qi Xuansu due to his higher level of cultivation. But he overlapped his palms and thrust them out simultaneously with the intention of counterattacking.

However, due to Yan Mingchen’s split-second delay in changing from energy withdrawal to exertion, Qi Xuansu managed to catch that exact moment to strike and pierce both of Yan Mingchen’s palms.

Although Qi Xuansu had a lower cultivation level, he had a firm grasp of the situation from the moment he tricked his opponent into thinking that he was weak. If Qi Xuansu had been at the Guizhen stage, he could have thrust his sword straight into Yan Mingchen’s chest after piercing through the latter’s palms.

This was the difference between “wild” priests and “flowerbed” priests. The former had ample experience in real battle, so they could adapt to changes like it was their second nature. However, flowerbed priests could only resort to rote tactics.

In this peaceful and prosperous society, most of the troubles from the secret societies were dealt with by the Tiangang Hall and the local Daoist mansions. Thus, most Daoist priests lacked practical fighting experience. Many of them had a high cultivation level but fell short in combat.

This was also the reason why Tiangang Hall had continuously recruited elite priests and “wild” priests from the local Daoist mansions in recent years. The pampered flowerbed priests could not fight well or bear hardships, so they were difficult to train.

Although Yan Mingchen worked in the local Daoist mansion, he was a scion from a prestigious family and had been superior all his life. He did not have to do most things for himself, which included fighting in battles. Thus, he was considered a flowerbed priest.

Qi Xuansu held the sword behind his back, with the tip of the sword facing down. Then he cupped his hands in salutation. “Mage Yan, your cultivation level is indeed high, but your experience in battle is slightly lacking. Let’s stop here for now.”

Due to his lower cultivation level, Qi Xuansu also knew that he would likely lose if they continued fighting. He could only win with the element of surprise. Since there was no enmity between him and Yan Mingchen, there was no need to fight to the death. Thus, he used this opportunity to stop the fight while he still had the upper hand.

However, Qi Xuansu miscalculated the situation this time. He only thought from his perspective when he thought that there was no enmity between him and Yan Mingchen, but the latter hated him for stealing his wife. So, Yan Mingchen did not want to let him go.

Without a word, Yan Mingchen suddenly rushed forward with his palm aimed at Qi Xuansu. The wind from Yan Mingchen's palm hit Qi Xuansu in the face like a strong gust of wind, almost suffocating him.

This strike was enough to shake one’s soul. If Qi Xuansu was hit in the face by Yan Mingchen's palm, he would be seriously injured, if not dead.

However, Qi Xuansu did not let down his guard like Yan Mingchen did earlier. Being an experienced fighter, Qi Xuansu always had the habit of staying vigilant, so he dodged immediately. At the same time, he aimed a few throwing knives at Yan Mingchen’s eyes and vital points so that Yan Mingchen would stop chasing him.

Zhang Yuelu originally wanted to help, but when she saw that Qi Xuansu was fighting back, she stayed put in consideration of Qi Xuansu’s feelings.

Qi Xuansu’s weapon was a short sword, which did not have the advantage of length, so he could only close the distance between them.

Yan Mingchen blocked the throwing knives effortlessly and struck Qi Xuansu again with his palm. This seemingly simple and direct palm strike instantly changed into twelve different variations. At the same time, it created a loud whistling sound. The immense qi created cracks in the ground.

An ordinary person would have been crushed by the qi and turned into a blood mist almost immediately. When the tip of Qi Xuansu’s sword collided with Yan Mingchen’s palm, the two men retreated.

They both looked calm, but Qi Xuansu’s right hand, which was wielding the sword, was actually trembling slightly. Yan Mingchen was not much better either. After all, he did not have the physique of a Martial Arts Practitioner. He had a deep wound in his palm, with blood overflowing nonstop.

Qi Xuansu remarked, “The Divine Palm Technique.”

Yan Mingchen did not answer and struck with his palm again.

The Divine Palm Technique was a high-attainment method with astonishing power in the palms and multiple variations. Yan Mingchen’s palms turned into dozens of palms in the blink of an eye to confuse Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu drew his sword and injected qi into it, creating a white glow around the sword. For a moment, they could only see palm shadows and sword lights, accompanied by a series of clashing sounds.

Qi Xuansu could no longer use the element of surprise. After all, Yan Mingchen had learned from his past mistakes. Thus, Qi Xuansu had to rely on his swordsmanship to compete with Yan Mingchen.

The fight between the two men gradually slowed. Suddenly, Qi Xuansu stopped abruptly and leaped forward, shattering the ground beneath his feet. Yan Mingchen frowned and remained motionless with one hand behind his back. As Qi Xuansu swept his sword horizontally, Yan Mingchen blocked it with his left sleeve.

This seemingly gentle flick created a thunderous crack when it collided with the edge of the Qing Yuan, creating a string of sparks.

That was when Qi Xuansu raised his leg and kicked Yan Mingchen in the chest. Yan Mingchen grabbed Qi Xuansu’s ankle, spun him around, and flung him outward off the cliff.

Zhang Yuelu was shocked at first, but she quickly regained her composure. Qi Xuansu was seen flying off the cliff, but he slowly disappeared. It turned out that he had created a fake body using the Cicada Molting Technique of Rogue Cultivators in the Yuxu stage.

With Qi Xuansu’s cultivation level, he could create two false bodies. Each time he advanced to a higher level, he could create an additional false body.

At this time, Qi Xuansu’s real body ran for several meters before leaping and slashing at Yan Mingchen. A crescent moon-shaped sword qi flew out of Qing Yuan but landed like a splash of water in front of Yan Mingchen.

Yan Mingchen hooked his fingers to crush the sword qi. He pushed his palm out again, slapping Qi Xuansu on the forehead. In the meantime, Qi Xuansu stabbed Yan Mingchen in the chest.

Qi Xuansu suddenly drifted backward. After landing, he stepped back heavily to release the extra qi from his body, leaving deep footprints in the ground.

Yan Mingchen’s chest was stained with blood. He slowly rolled up his sleeves with an expressionless face, revealing the bulging veins on his arms that resembled tiny snakes. Some of these veins were purple, and they were so densely packed that most people would be intimidated.

Qi Xuansu warned, “Since you’re so determined to fight to the death, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”