A Pawn’s Passage

After the shrine transformed into a blazing sun and rose into the sky, a strange scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.

Within a radius of 300 meters around the sun, numerous miniature suns appeared, each radiating the same incandescent brilliance. These tiny suns, about the size of a human head, formed a three-dimensional pattern resembling a talisman, revolving slowly around the massive central sun.

Spirit Guard Jia Shen, a battle-hardened veteran with years of experience, recognized the sight immediately and said in a low voice, "This appears to be an amplification formation."

Li Zhuyu was startled. "The combined spellcasting of the Shinkan-dan is already formidable enough. If further enhanced by a formation, its power would be—"

Spirit Guard Jia Shen activated the voice transmission talisman and ordered, "Diviner Corps, activate the prepared defensive formation immediately. Focus on protecting the heavy artillery positions. The rest are to enter defensive positions."

Li Zhuyu asked, "What about the troops from the Chancellor's Office?"

Spirit Guard Jia Shen replied with an impassive expression, "They'll have to fend for themselves."

The jokai-rank shinkan of Ise-jingu stood upon the altar, the metallic sun disc floating before him.

A wave of genuine intoxication and satisfaction welled up from his heart. This was the feeling of wielding a power far beyond his capabilities, a power that should never have belonged to him.

This shrine was, in truth, a miniature imitation of a divine kingdom.

Ise-jingu was not part of the Daoist Order and naturally lacked such capabilities. It was said that this kind of shrine had been personally constructed and left in the mortal realm by Himiko-no-Mikoto herself. In a sense, this was a relic of the gods.

Not just anyone or any organization could dare to defile, mock, slay, or replicate the gods. In most cases, a divine relic alone was enough to turn the tide of battle.

The shinkan extended his hand, rotating the sun disc before him as if turning the hands of a clock.

The sun disc gradually lit up.

In the shinkan's perception, the altar, shrine, and other surroundings receded like a tide, vanishing from sight. With no obstructions, it was as though he stood between heaven and earth. The sky above was still thick with smoke, and the ruins of Hisai Castle were beneath his feet. He lifted his gaze toward the distant Daoists, where he saw a forest of cannons and a dense, black mass of troops. That was none other than the great army of Chancellor Toyotomi's Office.

The shinkan pointed with one finger, and the scene before him instantly drew closer. The red-hot cannon barrels were clearly visible, with faint traces of smoke still lingering at their muzzles. Yet the Black Robes artillery crews had already begun retreating into pre-built defensive works, the structures marked with obvious Daoist talisman seals.

The shinkan looked slightly disappointed and could not help but sigh.

The Daoist commander's reaction had been far too quick, having already guessed what he intended to do.

With a wave of his hand, the shinkan rapidly switched the view and soon located the Daoist commander.

Spirit Guard Jia Shen seemed to sense something and looked up toward the shinkan, with divine power surging in his eyes.

The shinkan immediately knew that this Daoist commander would be a troublesome opponent.

Thus, the shinkan switched the view again, this time locking his focus above the Toyotomi army.

"Traitors," the shinkan spat coldly, spreading his fingers and pressing them against the very center of the sun disc.

"Divine fire, purify the mortal realm!"

The altar beneath the shinkan's feet began to tremble.

At the same time, fiery clouds gathered over the Toyotomi army, even more dazzling than the red-hued clouds at sunset.

The fire clouds blanketed over a thousand samurai of the Toyotomi army, gradually turning into roaring flames.

The next moment, countless streaks of crimson light and flames poured down from the fire clouds like a meteor shower of fire crashing onto the mortal realm.

Flames splashed across the ground, consuming everything that was combustible. Under the searing heat, many samurai did not even have the chance to scream before they were reduced to ashes.

The rain of fire quickly passed, leaving the ground charred black. Not even bones remained. All that was left were patches of dark ash and human-shaped scorch marks of varying depth.

By conservative estimates, at least a thousand people perished in that rain of fire.

"What tremendous power..." Spirit Guard Jia Shen raised an eyebrow as he observed the scene from his vantage point. "Yinglong, prepare to fire!"

At Spirit Guard Jia Shen's command, the Yinglong Warship, which had been hovering high above, began a slow descent. Its main cannon, the Starcrusher, aimed squarely at the blazing sun.

The Starcrusher had a caliber of one meter and a barrel over 30 meters long. It could fire the Grade-A Series Two Dragon Eye Bomb, weighing 7 tonnes, and the Grade-A Series Two Phoenix Eye Bomb, weighing 4.8 tonnes, with a maximum range of 75 kilometers.

Once Spirit Guard Jia Shen's order was given, the various formations linked to the Yinglong Warship were activated. A great vortex voraciously swallowed the surrounding elemental energy and channeled it all into the cannon.

A fiery red glow swirled deep within the barrel of the cannon.

"Preparation complete." The bridge of the Yinglong Warship relayed the message back to Spirit Guard Jia Shen.

Without the slightest hesitation, Spirit Guard Jia Shen ordered, "Fire!"

The next instant, a thunderous boom erupted.

The entire Yinglong Warship seemed to shudder. A ring of airwaves spread outward from it in all directions, scattering the drifting clouds like a gale.

An unbroken stream of blazing light shot forth from the barrel of Starcrusher, cutting across the sky and striking the sun. It resembled a long, endless line linking the Yinglong Warship and the fiery sphere.

Though called a "line," it was in fact as wide as the one-meter muzzle of the cannon.

However, these two fires were not the same in nature. The flames born from the shrine were manifestations of divine power, which was considered a living force, in a sense. This could penetrate a Banished Immortal's Joyous Cloud Shield. This was unlike the inanimate flames of the Grade-A Series Two Dragon Eye Series.

This strike pierced the stars.

The outermost formation of the sun—a three-dimensional talisman formed by countless tiny suns—shattered on contact, bursting into countless drifting sparks. The beam of firelight struck the sun, sending ripples across its surface, which caved inward until a downward-spiraling vortex formed.

Through the layers of raging flames, the shrine itself could be seen.

After a couple of minutes, the endless torrent of flames from Starcrusher's muzzle finally waned, the beam having forcefully pierced through the entire shrine.

Starcrusher now entered a long cooldown and could not be fired again for some time.

However, the shrine had suffered near-irreversible damage. The dispersed flames could not recombine, leaving a massive gaping hole through which the interior was clearly visible.

At that moment, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu seized the opportunity and darted into the shrine one after the other.

Qi Xuansu flapped his phoenix wings, taking the lead in the charge, as he was several times faster than regular Heavenly Beings.

Zhang Yuelu transformed the Amorphous Paper into a giant paper crane that was even larger than a real celestial crane, then had it carry Princess Tamako toward the Daoist camp. She herself rode on a colorful cloud, following closely behind Qi Xuansu and entering the shrine through the breach blasted open by Starcrusher.

Inside the shrine, the shinkan were already braced as if facing a formidable enemy.

The moment Qi Xuansu stepped into the shrine, the shinkan struck. Everything around him was nothing but crimson flame.

But Qi Xuansu had been prepared. Before entering the shrine, he had already begun to gather his strength and had inhaled deeply. His throat swelled, bulging downward until it reached his abdomen, as though that were his true belly.

This was the Kui Throat, one of the Hundred Forms of the Manly Immortal's True Body.

Almost as soon as Qi Xuansu entered the shrine, his preparation was complete. He opened his mouth and let out a long roar. Vast, surging blood qi transformed into rolling sound waves that spread in all directions. The massive waves of sound not only pierced one's eardrums but also carried thick, potent blood qi, turning into a howling gale. Some with lower cultivation could not even stand steadily and slid backward uncontrollably.

A Martial Arts Practitioner's Blood Roar was good enough to counter spells. With the addition of the Kui Throat, its power was multiplied severalfold.

Countless flames were scattered by the single bellow, and several shinkan in the forefront were shaken until blood streamed from their orifices.

The crimson Martial Arts Practitioner's blood qi was nearly like tangible flames, sending out waves of scorching heat. That was most effective in restraining all kinds of ghosts and the yin spirits of Diviners.

The fundamental principle of the Manly Immortal's Hundred Forms lay in the body spirit's fine and precise control over the physique, allowing the Martial Arts Practitioner to imitate various beasts like the dragon, phoenix, qilin, kui, rhinoceros, whale, tiger, elephant, and so on. Compared to the early-stage martial arts techniques that merely mimicked animal forms, this was a great leap forward. That was because each divine ability further enhanced a Martial Arts Practitioner's means of combat.

For instance, the Kui Throat enhanced a Martial Arts Practitioner's Blood Roar, which could shatter most spells.

In fact, before the Daoist Order integrated the Manly Immortal lineage, Martial Arts Practitioners had nowhere near so many methods. They simply struck with their fists. The difference lay only in the force. No matter the opponent, all they needed was one punch.

After the Daoist Order integrated the Manly Immortal lineage, they dismantled the original true form, which was previously usable only at the Pseudo-Immortal level, into many partial true forms by body parts. Thus, there were now a hundred forms of the Manly Immortal's True Body that greatly enriched the Manly Immortal's repertoire in combat. That way, they were no longer limited to mere punching.

Facts proved that the evolved Martial Arts Practitioners were far better suited to complex battlefields compared to those who only knew how to punch. By now, those "pure" Martial Arts Practitioners who did nothing but throw punch after punch had been gradually eliminated, and a new generation of Martial Arts Practitioners had completely replaced them.

After Qi Xuansu broke open the enemy's formation and secured his footing, he retracted the Phoenix Wings on his back and transformed them into the Dragon Tail for a sweeping strike. Even a Wuliang-stage Bhikkhu would suffer torn muscles and broken bones from such a tail sweep, let alone these shinkan. In an instant, over a dozen died on the spot.

At that moment, Zhang Yuelu also entered the shrine. Purple lightning swirled in her palm. It was none other than the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method.