A Pawn’s Passage

Taiyin 13 Swords existed in two versions. The earliest, original form was created by True Lord Taiyin, while the widespread version was later refined by the Earthly Preceptor Xu Wugui. After True Lord Taiyin was recruited into the Daoist Order, she accepted Xu Wugui's improvements, and the two versions eventually converged.

Although Qi Xuansu had obtained the Taiyin 13 Swords with relative ease, his version was far less natural and fluid than one painstakingly cultivated through personal practice. Each time he wished to use it, he had to activate his Spiritual Body. Otherwise, he would not be able to use the technique. In essence, his skill was borrowed, akin to invoking a divine descent.

Since it required the Spiritual Body, he could not cultivate sword slaves, and naturally could not employ the Taiyin Sword Formation, which required the cooperation of 13 such slaves.

Beyond the necessity of the Spiritual Body, this borrowed skill had further limitations. Those who trained in the Taiyin 13 Swords through their own efforts could even innovate upon the original framework. But borrowed techniques were rigid and could not be altered, since they were already fixed in form.

Since it was borrowed, it did not come for free. One had to pay in terms of divine power or incense power. To be fair, divine power was far more precious than true essence or innate qi, as the latter two could be restored quickly from within oneself, but divine power had to be drawn from external sources, just like Taiping coins.

In a sense, Taiping coins served as the currency of the mortal world, while divine power was the universal currency of Immortals.

For this campaign, Qi Xuansu had received only 800 marks of divine power from the Daoist Order.

Clearly, according to Daoist assessments, 800 marks was more than sufficient to sustain a Xiaoyao-stage Heavenly Being through prolonged combat.

But seeing nearly 400 marks of divine power squandered away, Qi Xuansu had no choice but to withdraw the Taixuan Sword Heart Series and stop the sword formation. Instead, he shifted to using the Reversing Qi Technique.

Unlike ordinary slashing and thrusting, the Reversing Qi Technique followed strange, contorted arcs, never straight lines.

By logic, the shortest path between two points was a straight line, and a curved path, though varied, would surely be slower. Yet against all reason, the Reversing Qi Technique was particularly fast. Its paths were all curved, and still, each strike landed before Katsura Yoshiyuki's, as if space itself had been distorted, distance and proximity inverted.

Moreover, the Reversing Qi Technique was endlessly erratic, full of contradictions. It seemed riddled with flaws, yet within those flaws had unpredictable shifts and deadly traps, impossible to anticipate or guard against.

In recent years, Fenglin had grown stagnant, revering the old and scorning the new. Many Heavenly Beings possessed lofty cultivation, but their combat methods were mediocre. For generations, swordmasters had fought within the same few schools of technique, every move and counter well-known. Thus, when confronted with a foreign and novel technique, they inevitably found themselves at a loss.

In contrast, the Taiyin 13 Swords, created by True Lord Taiyin and Elder Xu, contained such profound mysteries that even Katsura Yoshiyuki, a Pseudo-Immortal, found them difficult to decipher.

If not for Katsura Yoshiyuki's cultivation being a notch higher than Qi Xuansu's, allowing him to break subtlety with brute strength, he would have long since been wounded under Qi Xuansu's sword.

Hatred surged in Katsura Yoshiyuki's heart. Were it not for his defeat at the hands of Sage Qingwei, sustaining the grievous wounds that never healed, which caused his cultivation to plummet to merely one-third of his peak strength, he would have been able to subdue a junior like this in a few moves.

But regret was pointless. He could only unleash another of his ultimate techniques—the Reverse Swallow.

Katsura Yoshiyuki swung his blade with desperate ferocity, like a trapped beast or a swallow struggling against headwinds. He slashed left and right, hacked forward and back, chaotic yet unpredictable. Eight consecutive strikes lashed out in all directions, each birthing gusts of wind, interweaving into a net that roared with storm and thunder.

Whatever the case, Katsura Yoshiyuki was still one of Fenglin's peerless Kengo. Though hindered by Fenglin's restrictive environment, he had his unique strengths. As a leader of the Sonno-joi faction, not born of noble families but one who had wandered Jianghu alone, he had survived countless life-and-death battles. Thus, even while at a disadvantage, he showed no sign of collapse.

Blades clashed ceaselessly. Qi Xuansu might not have been losing ground, but the drain on his divine power pained him greatly. After only a short while, he had just 5,000 marks left.

In other words, since entering Fenglin, Qi Xuansu had already burned through 1,000 marks of divine power.

As Qi Xuansu's status and power grew, he no longer cared much for Taiping coins. But his need for divine power had risen sharply. A thousand marks of divine power was not equivalent to 1,000 Taiping coins. Instead, 1,000 marks of divine power equated to 3,000 Wuyou coins, or 30,000 Taiping coins.

Qi Xuansu had already spent 30,000 Taiping coins' worth, with nearly 20,000 Taiping coins wasted on this Kengo before him. How could he not ache at the thought?

If he could kill Katsura Yoshiyuki, a Heaven merit would naturally make up for it. He would even end up with excess. Even if he had to split the credit with Zhang Yuelu, the gain would remain within the family. The problem was that he alone could not kill Katsura Yoshiyuki. At best, they were evenly matched. Thus, this became a scenario akin to throwing money into water.

Likewise, Katsura Yoshiyuki grew increasingly anxious.

In Maeda Masao's planned strike, Katsura Yoshiyuki was supposed to spearhead the charge, relying on his cultivation to smash through the defenses. When he saw Qi Xuansu soar overhead midway, he thought that even wounded, his higher cultivation would surely allow him to swiftly defeat the Daoist. Instead, he was dragged into a prolonged duel.

But in war, speed was everything. An army could not halt nor wait. This prolonged fight disrupted their original plan.

If the breakout failed, the entire army would face annihilation. Thinking of this, Katsura Yoshiyuki felt desperate.

This clash wore both men down. One watched precious time slip away, battle chances vanishing in an instant; the other saw his divine power draining, as if he were burning money. Yet neither of them could retreat.

Qi Xuansu knew that holding Katsura Yoshiyuki here was already a great merit in itself, as it would relieve immense pressure on Spirit Guard Jia Shen's side. Painful as it was, these Taiping coins had to be spent.

Katsura Yoshiyuki also knew that even if he ignored Qi Xuansu, the latter would never stand aside. He would surely go to aid Spirit Guard Jia Shen. Sooner or later, they would clash, so being entangled here was not entirely pointless.

The two figures crossed swords, weaving back and forth in constant exchange.

Qi Xuansu unleashed every means he had. His right hand wielded Green Cloud, using the Taiyin 13 Swords, while his left hand grasped the Solar Heaven sun disc to summon Solar Flames. At times, he even unleashed True Samadhi Fire. Add to this the strain of sustaining his Spiritual Body, which drained his divine power endlessly.

He finally understood why it was said that Shamans, with enough divine power, could face Banished Immortals without fear. He had to admit that borrowing external power truly was unfair in a duel.

Katsura Yoshiyuki countered solely with his long blade, relying on his superior cultivation to match Qi Xuansu evenly. They fought blow for blow, neither gaining the upper hand.

Just after Qi Xuansu had burned through another 300 marks of divine power, the long-awaited shift finally appeared.

Accompanied by the thunder of hooves, a black mass appeared at the far horizon.

It was none other than Spirit Guard Jia Chen leading the Black Robes Heavy Cavalry.

This cavalry made no pretense of infantry-cavalry coordination, keeping only the cavalrymen to achieve unparalleled mobility, second only to Daoist flying ships.

At full charge, the Black Robes Heavy Cavalry's speed surpassed even Maeda Masao's expectations.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen had already spotted two figures locked in an aerial battle.

As four armies clashed in succession, the battlefield's blood qi thickened. Spirit Guard Jia Chen could already feel its oppressive weight.

The battlefield's suppression of different lineages could be divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D.

Martial Arts Practitioners suffered the least suppression at level D. Next were the Banished Immortals, Qi Refiners, and Rogue Cultivators, whose innate qi-centered lineages put them at level C suppression. Shamans and Spirit Guards, who were reliant on divine power, fell into level B. The worst off were Diviners at level A. Their spells faltered, and their souls could not leave their bodies. Only joint casting could offset the suppression, like trying to evaporate a cup of water. Alone, their strength plunged by at least two realms.

If Katsura Yoshiyuki were at his peak, only suffering level-C suppression while Spirit Guard Jia Chen endured level-B suppression, then Spirit Guard Jia Chen truly would not be his match.

But now, Katsura Yoshiyuki was still gravely wounded and entangled in a fight with Qi Xuansu, making it far less difficult for Spirit Guard Jia Chen to defeat the Kengo.

Spirit Guard Jia Chen remained seated firmly on his horse. He drew a large bow that was half his height, with a matching long arrow.

"Hear me, wretched traitor! The Daoist Order is magnanimous and merciful. If you repent and surrender with due propriety, you will not be denied a place with us. But if you remain obstinate, the one to execute you shall be none other than myself, Spirit Guard Jia Chen!"

With those words, Spirit Guard Jia Chen bent his bow and set the arrow, aiming squarely at Katsura Yoshiyuki from afar.

In an instant, boundless divine power gathered. The arrow was first edged in gold, then it turned translucent, brimming with endless golden radiance, as if forged from purest gold. Its tip shone like a cold star, dazzling and piercing.

Of course, Katsura Yoshiyuki would not surrender. He only pressed his attack harder, heedless of the cost. His blade light flared in brilliance, the edge beneath it cold and sharp.

For a time, Qi Xuansu was completely forced onto the defensive, compelled to rely once more on the Taixuan Sword Heart Series to shield himself.

It was clear Katsura Yoshiyuki had resolved to first rid himself of Qi Xuansu before dealing with Spirit Guard Jia Chen.

Seeing this, Spirit Guard Jia Chen showed no mercy. He instantly released the bowstring.

The arrow seemed to skip the flight entirely, leaping across space. It was already in front of Katsura Yoshiyuki before the Kengo had time to react or evade.

In his haste, Katsura Yoshiyuki could only deflect the arrow slightly with his long blade. Thus, it did not pierce straight through his heart. Instead, it tore through his abdomen.

Yet the arrow's terrifying power still blew a gaping hole clean through his abdomen, carrying on unstopped, tearing apart the battlefield's blood qi as it continued its trajectory into the farthest horizon.