A Pawn’s Passage

Hinnyo's words reeked of arrogance, but it was justified.

The Shaman lineage had always been renowned for its limitless potential. If one's Spiritual Statue was of high quality and one had a sufficient supply of divine power, fighting above one's realm was not impossible.

Hinnyo's Spiritual Statue was none other than the Vairocana, which was the foremost among Buddhist Spiritual Statues, standing on par with the Amitabha Spiritual Statue.

He had also come meticulously prepared with a stockpile of divine power from the Hongan-ji. In the blink of an eye, he squandered 5,000 marks of it without flinching and was now as powerful as a Pseudo-Immortal.

Thus, Li Tiangang was not a match for him.

Great Sage Zhang Qihan could have intervened and crushed Hinnyo. But at that very moment, the Great Sage of the Fenglin Daoist Mansion was sitting across the negotiation table from two jokai-rank shinkan. If they decided to get violent, the shinkan's divine artifacts and divine descents could delay the Great Sage long enough, even if they could not win the fight.

When else would Ise-jingu's hoarded divine power be unleashed, if not now?

Zhang Qihan saw through their trap. That was why he did not intend to intervene and instead dispatched Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu to cover for Li Tiangang.

As soon as Hinnyo's voice faded, a beam of boundless sword light ripped open the divine kingdom, descending from the heavens.

The burning clouds of Solar Flames that blotted out the sky were split into two by the sword light, forming a trench about 30 meters wide.

The green-purple light cleaved the Buddha's wrist.

Though the sword light's edge dulled after going through the divine kingdom, the entire palm was nonetheless severed at the root.

The colossal Buddha's palm crashed down, shattering into a rain of sparks. Torrents of flame gushed from its stump, falling with the embers into the sea below. However, the seawater could not extinguish this fire. Instead, the sea itself became a blazing inferno.

Hinnyo was infuriated. He could no longer keep his attention on Li Tiangang. Instead, he whirled around to face the source of this sword light, only to see a young couple standing before him.

The man wielded a green sword, while the woman had a purple sword.

Their individual cultivation was merely at the Wuliang stage, yet the swords in their hands were a true immortal weapon.

Even when Immortals clashed, the presence of an immortal weapon could tilt the balance. Whoever wielded one more of such a weapon held the advantage, and perhaps even the victory.

Ordinarily, Hinnyo would have dismissed two juniors at the Wuliang stage. However, he could not ignore these two who could wield an immortal weapon.

That single sword strike moments ago was proof enough.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were not the Heavenly Preceptor himself. Even combined, they were not worth even a fraction of the Heavenly Preceptor's single hand. Thus, after each twin sword convergence, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were forced to pause, like cannons that needed to cool their barrels between each strike, lest they get overheated.

Zhang Yuelu quickly swallowed a Qi-Restoring Pill and pointed Purple Afterglow at Hinnyo.

A thunderbolt almost half a meter thick descended, striking Hinnyo's Spiritual Body square in the forehead.

Yet against the gargantuan Spiritual Body, that terrifying bolt did nothing but scatter some golden sparks, doing little harm.

But that was not all the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method was capable of.

In its wake came five more thunderbolts, merging as one, swelling until they engulfed the Vairocana's entire head.

This was where the gulf between Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu became evident. Green Cloud, in Qi Xuansu's grasp, was just a sharp blade. But Purple Afterglow in Zhang Yuelu's hand was no longer a mere sword but also a conduit of heavenly thunder. By her cultivation alone, she could never summon such might. But empowered by the sword, any thunder technique was magnified tenfold.

Around Purple Afterglow, 36 illusory figures emerged, like fireflies dancing in the night. These corresponded to the 36 Chief Deities of the Thunder Department.

When Hinnyo's Spiritual Body was struck full on by the Five Thunders. His visage vanished, taking in the surging thunder that raged for a few minutes before fading.

The Spiritual Body's head was unrecognizable, with molten gold dripping. Its features were twisted, and tiny serpent-like lightning still writhed across its surface. The radiant halo behind its head also dimmed.

Qi Xuansu did not know any thunder techniques, but he had his Celestial Phenomena Spiritual Body. The sun, moon, and stars revolved around him. He drew the sun to the front and invoked the True Samadhi Fire.

That fire coiled into a dragon that flew right at the Spiritual Body's head. Combined with the lightning's assault, the Vairocana's face sagged further, as though it were molten gold.

However, such wounds did no damage to such a gargantuan Spiritual Body. As long as one was willing to expend divine power, the Spiritual Body could heal in an instant. It was like how the Innkeeper once regrew an arm that Saintly Peace had torn away at a speed faster than any Martial Arts Practitioner.

When the lightning and flames subsided, Hinnyo gave a cold snort. With a single flare of golden light, all wounds vanished. The Buddha's hand regrew, and its visage regained its solemn grace. The Vairocana Spiritual Body was resplendent once again.

Only Hinnyo knew how much divine power he had burned through. But it was surely an astronomical sum, enough to make most Tenmon Sect cultivators blanch.

Restored once more, Hinnyo turned his colossal hand and struck toward Zhang Yuelu.

To his eyes, the woman who summoned heavenly thunder was the greater threat, and the boy wielding fire seemed the lesser.

This was only natural because Zhang Yuelu bore Purple Afterglow.

Zhang Yuelu dared not meet the strike head-on. She leaped back, but the Buddha-hand locked onto her. Thankfully, her Joyous Cloud Shield managed to shield her presence, and the strike landed in a void.

Just then, a vast fleet appeared upon the sea.

At its center loomed a ship that was as massive as a Yinglong Warship, perhaps even greater in size. It was hailed as the "Yinglong of the Sea."

Such a leviathan naturally carried the Starcrusher. Its muzzle had long since been aligned with the 300-meter-tall Spiritual Body.

The Black Robes on board labored to operate the massive cannon, their voices echoing one after another. "Ready!"

At a single command, the elemental energy around the ship swirled inward, spiraling into the cannon like a whirlpool. A ruddy glow welled up deep within its barrel.

Then came a thunderclap that shook the heavens.

The ship lurched, sinking by three spans. The surrounding sea hollowed into a vast bowl, waves rolling outward, battering the escort ships until they pitched and reeled.

The disadvantage of a Spiritual Body that big was that it became an easy, large target for artillery strikes.

A flaming meteor struck Hinnyo's Spiritual Body square in the chest, bursting into a storm of fire, swallowing half his titanic form.

Upon impact, Hinnyo staggered a little and shuddered violently.

The Dragon Eye Series was not merely the pinnacle of ammunition but also the culmination of Daoist talismanic prowess. It was able to pierce through armor and even the Joyous Cloud Shield. Nothing could withstand its might.

When the flames subsided, a massive hole remained in Hinnyo's chest, so much so that one could see through him to the other side.

Hinnyo had expected the Donghai Navy to get involved, but he had not foreseen the sudden arrival of Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu. In that instant, Hinnyo realized that the outcome of this battle was slipping from his grasp.

Li Tiangang invoked his Fusion Realm, rapidly absorbing the elemental energy from heaven and earth to replenish his strength. Then, he raised the Daozi Sword once more and charged at Hinnyo.

Meanwhile, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu caught their breaths, readying their swords for another union.

In truth, all their might was spent solely in harnessing the twin sword's might, relying on their innate power like how common soldiers relied on their firearms.

If they were both in the Zaohua stage, then they could have added to their swords' innate power, shattering Hinnyo's Spiritual Body in the very first strike.

However, it did not matter if they defeated Hinnyo in one slash or multiple strikes. The end would be the same anyway.

Hinnyo burned through his divine power, mending his Spiritual Body's chest as he fended off Li Tiangang's relentless assault.

In that moment, the second union of the twin swords was complete.

Zhang Yuelu raised Purple Afterglow skyward. Rolling clouds surged, turning the heavens a deep purple that rippled outward in visible waves.

Qi Xuansu pointed Green Cloud toward the ground, causing the earth to quake. Green mist welled up like a boundless lake, with waves of smoke spreading to the horizon.

The purple clouds swirled downward like a vast funnel, while the green mist rose upward, piling ever higher.

The twin swords, like a purple and a green dragon coiling around each other, drew the power of both heaven and earth as they merged.

Everything became crystal clear as a purple and green qi spread into a boundless sea of mist.

One sword fell from heaven, while the other surged from earth. Together, they became a colossal pillar of purple-tinged green light.

Compared with their hurried first strike, this second try was mightier by far.

The sword light swept through Hinnyo's Spiritual Body, marking a single fine line from his neck to flank. From that line, countless rays of golden light burst forth.

Hinnyo was startled. When he glanced downward, the world before his eyes seemed to tilt.

In an instant his upper body sheared along that fine line, sliding at an angle like a mountain breaking apart. More golden radiance gushed out, mingling with Solar Flames.

The Spiritual Body's lower half still stood upright, but its brilliance dimmed rapidly as fire and golden light erupted above.

As Hinnyo's Spiritual Body collapsed, the wondrous illusions that had filled the sky dissolved and ebbed away like a receding tide until only the true world remained.

At last, Hinnyo's true form was revealed. Though the Spiritual Body had borne the brunt of the sword light and spared him fatal wounds, the drain upon his divine power was so immense that it exceeded all the reserves he carried. He could no longer hope to reforge the Vairocana Spiritual Body in short notice.