A Pawn’s Passage

Only one meikai-rank shinkan remained, so he could not hold up the collapsing structure.

It was only then that the jokai-rank shinkan standing upon the altar realized something was wrong. The two meikai-rank shinkan had fallen far too quickly.

These two meikai were at the Wuliang stage, like Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu. They even had 12 samurai assisting and hundreds more shinkan providing reinforcements. Even if they could not achieve victory in offense, their defense should have been impenetrable against 2 Wuliang stage Daoists. Even if their defense was not impenetrable, they should, at the very least, be able to stall for time.

Yet the result was a complete collapse upon first contact. In the blink of an eye, 12 samurai and one meikai-rank shinkan had perished. The defense could no longer be maintained.

Moreover, this young couple had come straight from previous fights and had faced enemies twice their number, yet they had still emerged victorious.

If these two could be slain here, it might be worth more than destroying 10,000 Daoist troops.

In an instant, the jokai-rank shinkan made up his mind. He stopped controlling the altar and turned his power directly against the two young Daoists.

Yet once again, before he could even make his move, he was stunned by a mad man charging at him.

It was Qi Xuansu, fully unleashing the Demonic Blade without the slightest restraint. His eyes were filled only with crimson bloodlust, and he was radiating a savage, murderous aura. Yet each of his movements was precise and cold, the stark contrast striking fear into the opponent's heart.

With no meikai-rank shinkan left to hinder him, Qi Xuansu crossed the 300-meter gap in a single bound. In the blink of an eye, his hands transformed into dragon claws, striking down toward the jokai-rank shinkan's head.

In the Demonic Blade state, Qi Xuansu discarded all stray thoughts, forgot about life and death, and struck purely by instinct. In a sense, it produced an effect similar to Heavenly Calculation. Both the Demonic Blade and the Heavenly Blade were two paths leading to the same destination.

Yet the two were only outwardly alike. Their essence was vastly different. Heavenly Blade could deduce the possible paths of the future, whereas the Demonic Blade could "see" the flow of qi within an opponent's body, exposing the opponent's vital flaws. Some of these weaknesses even lay outside the body.

In the Demonic Blade state, Qi Xuansu cared about nothing. He simply struck by instinct at whatever flaw appeared before him. Thus, it seemed as if he possessed foreknowledge, as though his opponent were deliberately walking into his blade.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu held no weapon. His hands themselves were dual blades.

The jokai-rank shinkan, caught off guard, not only failed to repel Qi Xuansu in the first exchange but fell into a disadvantageous position.

This was not surprising, because this jokai-rank shinkan was born and raised in comfort, rarely participating in fights. Thus, when facing an opponent equal to themselves, they often found it difficult to bring out their full strength.

In contrast, Qi Xuansu had clawed his way up from the very bottom. Even though he now held a high position, the time had been too short to wear away the "wildness" within him. At critical moments, he always dared to risk his life. The greater the danger, the more he was able to draw out not just his full strength but even beyond that.

At last, the jokai-rank shinkan could no longer keep a calm expression. Shame and anger swallowed him.

Beneath his feet was the altar representing Himiko-no-Mikoto, surging with immense divine power. He drew upon this power and summoned a towering female Spiritual Statue—Himiko herself.

The Spiritual Statue stretched out her hand, clashing directly with Qi Xuansu's dragon claws.

Upon impact, Qi Xuansu's dragon claws shattered instantly.

With a furious roar, Qi Xuansu regenerated his shattered palm. Using the Serpent Metamorphosis, he extended his arms, striking from both left and right to coil and strangle the shinkan.

The shinkan fused the Spiritual Statue into himself, transforming it into a Spiritual Body covered in flames, burning Qi Xuansu's arms until they were charred.

Just then, Zhang Yuelu, wielding her Purple Afterglow, had already severed the head of the other meikai-rank shinkan. She raised her sword and pointed it at the jokai-rank shinkan from afar.

A bolt of lightning fell from the heavens, locking firmly onto the shinkan.

The shinkan had no choice but to focus on dispersing this lightning strike.

Scorched by divine fire, Qi Xuansu gradually regained clarity from his Demonic Blade state. He pulled back his arms and no longer relied solely on his Martial Arts Practitioner bodily transformations.

At this moment, he pulled himself out of the Demonic Blade state and drew Green Cloud, deciding to use the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique instead.

Neither Qi Xuansu nor Zhang Yuelu, with their current cultivation, was capable of fully commanding the Heavenly Preceptor's Twin Swords or truly mastering the once-lost Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique alone. Thus, the Heavenly Preceptor had devised a clever workaround.

Green Cloud and Purple Afterglow were a pair, just as Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were a couple. With Zhang Yuelu employing the Dragon Sword Technique with Purple Afterglow and Qi Xuansu employing the Tiger Sword Technique with Green Cloud, both swords and techniques combined were equivalent to the Heavenly Preceptor wielding the Twin Swords with the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique.

This was also a point of pride for the Heavenly Preceptor. After all, no other young couple across the entire Daoist Order could emulate Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu.

Although the shinkan was not skilled in combat, he was well-versed in knowledge. At a glance, he recognized that the swords in the hands of this young couple were no ordinary weapons. He dared not take them lightly.

He reached out and summoned forth a metallic sun disc, its surface densely inscribed with talismans. Though the disc was not a divine artifact, it was bolstered by the altar's divine power, so he did not fear that the Daoist immortal swords could cleave it in half.

The shinkan swung the sun disc in his hand, sweeping aside the twin swords. He strode boldly, the disc spinning at great speed, launching ferocious attacks at the pair. Qi Xuansu raised his sword to block, but even with the strength of a Martial Arts Practitioner, his weapon was nearly torn from his grasp by the terrifying divine power within. Pressing his advantage, the jokai-rank shinkan hammered down at Qi Xuansu. Even before the disc descended, waves of scorching heat surged forward.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu raised their twin swords together, the tips of their blades bracing against the sun disc. With their combined strength, they could barely ward off the blow.

They then flung the disc aside. Qi Xuansu thrust Green Cloud toward the shinkan's upper body, while Zhang Yuelu swept Purple Afterglow low to target his lower half. The jokai-rank shinkan stomped the ground, raising layers of flame to block Zhang Yuelu, while the sun disc itself blazed with fierce fire, slashing at Qi Xuansu's neck.

A pair of resplendent phoenix wings shot out from Qi Xuansu's back. His body spun like a circling swallow as he thrust Green Cloud straight at the jokai-rank shinkan's back. This move served both offense and defense, rescuing himself from danger and striking at the opponent's vital point all at once.

Seeing Qi Xuansu in peril, Zhang Yuelu twisted her slender waist and sent Purple Afterglow darting forth in a fierce thrust. The momentum of this strike was sharp, domineering, and awe-inspiring, like a dragon surging out to sea.

The jokai-rank shinkan could not block both thrusts at once. He retreated hastily, yet both swords still managed to pierce him. Fortunately, he evaded just in time so that both strikes did not hit vital points. He was left in shock by their battle prowess.

Qi Xuansu struck from above, while Zhang Yuelu's sword was completely unpredictable. The jokai-rank shinkan, harried on all sides, was forced to retreat two more steps to avoid their blades.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu cooperated seamlessly. Every opening left by one was instantly covered by the other. Their lethal techniques were relentless.

Moreover, two streams of sword qi alternated endlessly. Unless both were extinguished at once, they would regenerate without end, infinite and inexhaustible.

The jokai-rank shinkan's momentum faltered, showing signs of defeat.

It was said that the Heavenly Preceptor's Twin Swords had been bestowed by the Primordial Daoist Ancestor himself. Though the world held countless sword manuals, almost all were for single swords. Few were for dual blades. To maximize the power of this pair of immortal swords, the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor specially devised the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique. At the time, it was merely meant to unleash the full might of the Twin Swords, not for general use. Its essence was for two swords in both hands. Thus, its applicability was low and was naturally lost to time. The Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor probably had never foreseen that, centuries later, a young couple would each wield half the sword technique with one sword.

At first, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had not fully grasped the subtleties of the sword technique. But as they fought on, their mastery grew ever smoother and more natural.

For this twin-sword method, cultivation was secondary. The key was mutual understanding. Thus, it was fitting for a pair of young lovers to wield it.

From beginning to end, the two did not speak a single word to communicate. All they needed was the occasional meeting of gazes for perfect cooperation.

If the man and woman using this sword technique were not lovers, many of its exquisite subtleties would be impossible to comprehend.

Without tacit understanding, they could never achieve the seamless harmony, as a left hand and right hand would work as one.

If one could not sacrifice oneself for the other, only caring for one's own safety, then the true meaning of this sword technique would be completely lost. After all, it was made for one person wielding two swords. There was no logic in standing idle while the other hand was severed.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu alternated between offense and defense, covering each other seamlessly. With almost no flaws in their coordination, they quickly drove the jokai-rank shinkan into a desperate corner.

This was only natural. In ancient times, the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor had defeated four Great Witches and destroyed the Six Ghost Kings of the Fengdu Ghost Kingdom. By wielding the twin swords with the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique, he rampaged across the world, undefeated, becoming the undisputed number one of his era.

Later, the Holy Xuan comprehended the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique from the Punishment Pillars of the Demon-Vanquishing Platform. With it, he defeated Tantai Yun, the leader of the Western Daoist Sect.

Now, with Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu combining their strength in the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique, it was more than enough to strike down the jokai-rank shinkan.

If not for the fact that this jokai-rank shinkan was already in the Zaohua stage and held the advantage of terrain, he would have already been defeated. Had he been at the Wuliang stage like the couple, they would have taken him down within three moves.

Knowing he could not win, the jokai-rank shinkan recklessly attempted a divine descent, his body erupting into blazing flames.