A Pawn’s Passage

Rogue Cultivators had a mystical ability called the Cicada Shedding Technique, derived from the Banished Immortal's Tribulation Substitute, which Qi Xuansu often employed.

After Zhang Yuelu stepped into the Wuliang stage, she had mastered nearly all the mystical abilities of a Banished Immortal, including the Tribulation Substitute.

Upon arriving in Fenglin, Zhang Yuelu had refined her Tribulation Substitute in advance. It required nurturing within her own body, using her heart's blood so that it could perfectly mimic her true body. At a critical moment, releasing the Tribulation Substitute would create a lifelike, flesh-and-blood duplicate for a short duration, capable of diverting all attacks and even invisible curses meant for the true body.

Since the Tribulation Substitute had to be prepared in advance, it was still quite limited.

Moreover, the Tribulation Substitute consumed a tremendous amount of the heart's blood. The physique of a Banished Immortal was still inferior to that of a Martial Arts Practitioner, and frequent use would become an unbearable burden, even affecting one's physique and cultivation. Heart's blood, unlike ordinary blood, was the very essence of a person. Even Martial Arts Practitioners could not endure excessive loss of it.

By using the Tribulation Substitute, Zhang Yuelu deceived Princess Tamako and then subdued her in one decisive move.

The outcome of the duel between the two women was determined not so much by cultivation level as by the element of surprise.

A jokai-rank shinkan watched from a distance.

Behind him stood an underground shrine, not built of traditional wood but of stone.

A meikai-rank shinkan approached the jokai-rank one and whispered, "Master Guji, Zen Master Sosen from Mount Hiei is nearly unable to hold on. Should we..."

The jokai-rank shinkan replied expressionlessly, "Send Sarutobi. Didn't he want revenge?"

The meikai-rank shinkan acknowledged with a nod.

The Koga jonin who died at the hands of Sage Qingwei was also from the Sarutobi family. After his death, his son, Sarutobi Shosai, swore to avenge his father.

However, Sarutobi Shosai had enough self-awareness to know that assassinating Sage Qingwei would be like striking a stone with an egg. After all, even the swordmaster Katsura Yoshiyuki had personally led more than a dozen Heavenly Beings in an assassination attempt and still failed.

Thus, Sarutobi Shosai lowered his aim, turning instead to assassinate other members of the Daoist Order, since not every Daoist possessed Sage Qingwei's power and influence. However, he had yet to achieve any notable success so far.

The jokai-rank shinkan turned and walked into the shrine.

The shrine appeared small on the outside but vast within, not like a typical shrine, but more like the palace of a god. The ceiling was nowhere to be seen, and the interior was silent, the only sound being the shinkan's footsteps echoing through the stillness. Along both sides of the passage stood one altar after another, each enshrining various deities.

At the end of the passage stood a massive stone door adorned with a sun relief, before which the shinkan seemed as insignificant as an ant.

The shinkan took a deep breath, pressed both hands against the stone door, and slowly pushed open a crack that was wider than a normal doorway, enough for him to pass through.

Beyond the stone gate lay a vast altar exuding a primal aura, far older than the shrine itself.

It was likely that the altar had existed first, and the shrine was built afterward.

The shinkan ascended the uneven and broken steps of the altar, producing a golden sun disc made of metal.

Holding the sun disc in both hands, the shinkan knelt down and murmured a prayer.

As the prayer continued, the entire altar began to tremble, the vibrations spreading in all directions until the entire shrine quaked.

Ise-jingu was the ancestral seat of the Tenmon Sect, the very first shrine. Naturally, its location in Ise concealed countless secrets. In comparison, the head of Shuten-Doji was nothing remarkable, and relics like this were far from rare.

With the Daoist army pressing in and the Sonno-joi faction losing ground on the frontal battlefield, their only option was to turn to the legacies left by their forebears.

The tremors spread beyond the shrine, causing an impact even greater than Qi Xuansu's earlier sweeping strike.

The entire underground ruin began to shake, cliff walls collapsing as massive rocks slid down, dust filling the air.

With a deafening boom, a black boulder the size of a house fell from the ceiling, crushing a small squad of ronin into pulp.

Immediately after, the entire dome began to collapse, and giant rocks fell in chunks.

However, the shinkan had been prepared and retreated into the shrine in an orderly fashion.

Amidst the chaos, the shrine became the only untouched sanctuary.

The collapse continued, and before long, daylight could be seen above.

The buildings above ground also collapsed inward. Although most had already been blasted into ruins by the Daoist artillery, one could still vaguely make out their original shapes, with entire streets plunging into the depths. There were even some ronin mixed among them, who had no idea what had happened. They had survived the Daoist bombardment, yet now, they were buried alive beneath the earth.

These massive rocks and surface buildings crashed into the underground with deafening booms, filling the air with clouds of dust.

As a Daoist Crane Craft swept over the skies of Hisai Castle, the startled Spirit Guard on board saw that the city's very center had completely caved in, forming a massive hollow.

The immense impact was enough to crush Xiantian Beings to death, yet it could do nothing to a Wuliang-stage Martial Arts Practitioner.

Amidst the countless piled rocks, an arm suddenly burst through the rubble, reaching upward.

The five fingers clenched into a fist, unleashing a fierce burst of fist intention that shattered the surrounding stones.

Qi Xuansu pushed aside and smashed the rubble weighing him down, leaving only his legs still buried beneath the debris. However, he bore no obvious injuries.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu had already withdrawn his Manly Immortal True Form, returning to his original appearance.

A wound on his chest was still in the process of healing. During the chaos of the ceiling's collapse earlier, a ninja had seized the opportunity to slash him once and immediately fled after landing the blow, giving Qi Xuansu no chance to retaliate.

Qi Xuansu paid it little mind, focusing all his attention on the black-robed monk. The two had fought fiercely until the very last moment, before both were buried beneath the falling boulders.

He pulled out his right foot, only to see a hand clutching his ankle, the five fingers nearly piercing into his flesh.

Qi Xuansu bent down, pried open the hand, then groped through the rubble for a moment before lifting upward.

A bald head emerged, gripped at the crown by Qi Xuansu's five fingers.

Qi Xuansu exerted more force to yank upward. Beneath the bald head was a monk's corpse, its bones completely shattered and meridians severed.

Even in death, the monk still clutched Qi Xuansu's ankle tightly, his eyes wide open, filled with nolition and shock.

Three days ago, Qi Xuansu would have had no chance of beating him to death without using Green Cloud. But in just three short days, he was able to kill a Wuliang-stage Bhikkhu with his bare hands.

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment, then twisted off the monk's head, wrapped it in the monk's robes, and hung it at his waist.

Although the Daoist Order no longer used severed heads to tally merits, for an opponent of this caliber, it was still best to have some proof.

In fact, the monk was not weak. If Qi Xuansu had relied solely on his Martial Arts Practitioner lineage, he could have won, but it probably would not have been enough to kill the monk. As the fight dragged on, Qi Xuansu employed his other lineages and attacked from multiple angles. In the end, he beat this Wuliang-stage Bhikkhu to death, shattering his Dantian, severing his meridians, crushing his bones, and turning his flesh into pulp, leaving only his head and an outer layer of skin intact.

Qi Xuansu was not worried about Zhang Yuelu's safety because her Joyous Cloud Shield would protect her from most inanimate objects like firearms and falling rocks.

What Qi Xuansu was concerned about was the Shinkan-dan hidden in the shrine. What exactly were they plotting to have caused such a commotion?

Clearly, the shrine was the key. But how was he to find this shrine?

It was not long before the shrine answered his question.

Another great tremor came from beneath his feet, as though something was about to emerge from the ground.

Qi Xuansu's expression shifted slightly. A pair of colorful phoenix wings sprouted from his back.

These were the Manly Immortal's Phoenix Wings.

It was well known that among the Six Lineages, only the Martial Arts Practitioner Lineage could not fly upon becoming a Heavenly Being at the Xiaoyao stage. However, upon reaching the Wuliang stage, a Martial Arts Practitioner was able to fly like the others and could even grow wings for flight, making them even faster.

Qi Xuansu flapped his phoenix wings once, shooting into the sky and soaring toward the massive opening above.

Soon, Qi Xuansu spotted Zhang Yuelu standing upon a cloud. Beside her was the listless Princess Tamako.

After subduing Princess Tamako, Zhang Yuelu had employed the Six Void Tribulations on her, leaving her with no power to resist.

Beneath Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, an ancient shrine built entirely of stone broke through the earth and continuously rose.

At the same time, dazzling beams of light burst forth from within the shrine, multiplying rapidly.

Soon, countless rays of light surged from within the shrine, engulfing it entirely.

Moments later, the shrine was no longer visible. Only a blazing sun radiating scorching light could be seen, slowly rising into the air.

The massive crater at the center of Hisai Castle continued to spread outward, as if a gigantic maw from the abyss sought to swallow the entire city whole.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu shot out from the enormous pit one after the other, landing briefly on the ground before soaring back into the air.

Immediately afterward, the "sun" formed from the shrine flew out from the pit, rising ever higher. Its radiance was so intense that even the Daoist army far outside the city could see it clearly.

At the same time, its oppressive aura spread in all directions.

Spirit Guard Jia Shen saw this scene as well. Staring at what seemed to be a man-made sun, he murmured to himself, "So this was the thing that destroyed the Black Robes Heavy Cavalry earlier, huh?"