A Pawn's Passage

The reason Qi Xuansu dared to make such a promise was not because he was arrogant, but because he was confident in his chances of defeating that scholar, who was a Diviner.

If the scholar continued to hide in the dark as before, Qi Xuansu would not be able to deal with him. However, since they had already invaded the stronghold of the Lingshan Witch Cult, the scholar had nowhere to hide. Qi Xuansu would be able to kill the Diviner in close combat.

The Martial Arts Practitioner’s blood qi was a strong existence that could restrain illusory spells. Therefore, once a Martial Arts Practitioner approached a physically weak Diviner, the former could break the latter’s spells with his blood qi. Thus, in close combat, a Diviner would die easily against a Martial Arts Practitioner.

On the contrary, if the Diviner distanced himself from the Martial Arts Practitioner, the latter would not be able to break the former’s spells and would always be put in a passive situation. In a continuous fight, the Martial Arts Practitioner would lose and be killed by the Diviner sooner or later.

After Qi Xuansu obtained the Xuan Jade, he gained some properties of Martial Arts Practitioners. His body had regenerative abilities, and his blood qi had a spell-breaking effect. However, he could not condense his acupoints and spirit, so he was not considered a true Martial Arts Practitioner.

Even so, his new-found abilities were enough to ambush a Diviner in the Guizhen stage.

Qi Xuansu blended into the chaos and soon found the scholar’s location.

The scholar’s fighting method was similar to that of Lingquanzi after emerging from the shadows. He used talismans to summon a group of soldiers to protect him. These soldiers wore armor and held 18 kinds of weapons. However, their armor was different from the Black Robes. They resembled costumes instead.

This was the Diviner’s unique ability, the Talisman Soldier Technique. Its power depended on its carrier. Low-grade Talisman Soldiers used paper as the carrier, while high-grade Talisman Soldiers used pills as the carrier. That was how the saying “casting beans onto the ground to transform into soldiers” came about, signifying a situation where one worked miracles.

In this method, the Diviner just had to pinch and hold his fingers to perform the spell, which was simple enough.

However, this spell should not be underestimated, as it was used to crush Wang Zicheng’s boat and rescue Lin Zhenyuan by creating a portal mid-air.

The most amazing thing about this spell was that it could penetrate all obstacles and attack the opponent.

In other words, the scholar could crush the opponent’s internal organs through armor, clothing, qi shields, or resilient flesh and skin.

This was called the Star-Catching Hand Technique. When it was first created, it was used as simple hand tricks. However, it gradually developed for lethal purposes, which greatly deviated from its original intention.

The scholar was at the Guizhen stage, so his “star-catching” range was within a 30-meter radius. With every hand movement the scholar made, dozens of Black Robes and Green Phoenix guards died.

However, this method was not omnipotent. For example, it could penetrate a Martial Arts Practitioner’s flesh and skin, but it was difficult to crush a Martial Arts Practitioner’s internal organs. After all, the internal organs were where a Martial Arts Practitioner’s blood qi gathered, making them extremely resistant to spells.

That was why the scholar did not manage to harm Wang Zicheng, even after several tries.

The Black Robes and the Green Phoenix Guard also sensed something wrong and stopped forcing their way through. Instead, they distanced themselves and continuously shot at the scholar with their pistols.

Unfortunately, the Black Robes did not have projectiles engraved with talismans to break spells, so their rapid-fire was ineffective.

Qi Xuansu quietly approached the scholar. When he was just 30 meters away, Qi Xuansu suddenly lunged at the man.

Two armored soldiers guarding the scholar shot crossbow bolts at Qi Xuansu, but Qi Xuansu split the bolts in half.

The scholar took this opportunity to reach out and pinch his fingers. This time, his target was Qi Xuansu, who felt a sharp pain in his heart. A trace of blood flowed from the corner of Qi Xuansu’s mouth.

However, the scholar was surprised that he failed to crush Qi Xuansu’s heart. It was not only because of the obstruction of Qi Xuansu’s blood qi but also because Qi Xuansu’s heart was tough, beyond that of ordinary people.

When Qi Xuansu was still in the Kunlun stage, his body was transformed by the Qingping Society. At the time, his body was already comparable to that of a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Yuxu stage.

After Qi Xuansu’s body was transformed for the second time by the Xuan Jade, he experienced a rebirth and entered the Yuxu stage of cultivation. His physique was comparable to that of a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Guizhen stage. Thus, it was impossible for the scholar to crush Qi Xuansu’s heart using the Star-Catching Hand Technique.

Qi Xuansu took this opportunity to get close to the scholar and simply thrust out his sword. The scholar's body immediately shattered like fine porcelain, scattering in all directions.

Then, a cloud of smoke condensed into the scholar’s intact body, which was about 30 meters away from Qi Xuansu.

At the same time, many Talisman Soldiers armed with various weapons attacked Qi Xuansu, intending to distract him.

Taking this opportunity, the scholar prepared another spell.

Although ordinary guns could not damage these Talisman Soldiers, Qi Xuansu’s short sword, Qing Yuan, was a spiritual object. Coupled with Qi Xuansu’s spell-resistant blood qi, he could easily break through the Talisman Soldiers’ armor.

Qi Xuansu’s swordsmanship was not as good as Zhang Yuelu’s, but it was enough to get rid of the Talisman Soldiers. He swung his sword forward, and in the blink of an eye, he had knocked several Talisman Soldiers to the ground, turning them into broken paper figures. Their spiritual energy also dissipated.

However, the scholar had already prepared another spell. He swayed his body and duplicated eight clones, all transformed by his Thoughts. The eight clones cast their spells, using fire, wind, thunder, ice, ghosts, and various illusions.

At this moment, the scholar used everything possible that he could think of. Eight completely different spells attacked Qi Xuansu simultaneously.

However, Qi Xuansu’s response was simple. He merely shouted at the top of his lungs.

The surging blood qi rushed out of Qi Xuansu’s body, turning into steam visible to the naked eye. This move was still slightly lacking compared to a Guizhen stage Martial Arts Practitioner, who could turn blood qi into a blood-red steam, forming a blood cloud.

This was a mystical ability for Martial Arts Practitioners. It was not a complicated technique, but the key was to maintain control over the blood qi in the body so that it could be released.

After Qi Xuansu was reborn, he felt that his spirit, blood qi, and innate qi were at their optimum and that he could release and retract them however he wished. Everything followed his will. He had mastered this mystical ability without being taught.

The reason most Martial Arts Practitioners could not practice this technique was that they struggled to control their blood qi. Qi Xuansu did not have such problems.

All the scholar’s spells were ineffective as soon as they touched the blood qi. The scholar also did not expect Qi Xuansu to have such intense blood qi. Otherwise, he would not have confronted Qi Xuansu and would have tried his best to keep a distance between them.

However, it was too late for the scholar to distance himself. Qi Xuansu took this opportunity to step forward and stab the scholar’s chest with his Qing Yuan.

In an instant, the scholar’s illusory figure flew out of his physical body, which was standing there with dull eyes and a sword to the chest. Meanwhile, the illusory figure had no injuries.

A Diviner in the Divine Yin Realm could separate his soul from his physical body without relying on external objects. A soul without a body was particularly fragile, but it would feel as if all burdens had been shed.

After the scholar’s soul came out of his body, he offered up a string of jade prayer beads.

The prayer beads exploded, releasing divine power and turning into a huge palm that grabbed Qi Xuansu head-on.

The essence of spells was to turn illusions into reality. A Diviner at a higher cultivation level could create more realistic illusions that would not be affected by blood qi.

There was also a shortcut, which was to borrow divine power to perform spells. This huge palm was made of flesh and blood. It even had realistic wrinkles. It was as if it was no longer an illusory spell but a real human hand.

Qi Xuansu had no power to dispel this, even with his blood qi. He used all his might to strike the incoming palm with his sword, piercing a bloody hole in the palm.

However, the palm did not disintegrate. Instead, it grabbed Qi Xuansu and restrained him. For a moment, Qi Xuansu could only move his arms and upper body, while his lower body was held in a vice-like grip.

The scholar’s soul clenched his fist, and the huge palm tightened its grip on Qi Xuansu like it was trying to squeeze him to death.

Prior to the body transformation by the Xuan Jade, half of Qi Xuansu’s body would have turned into mush. However, after his rebirth, Qi Xuansu’s body was as tough as a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Guizhen stage. Therefore, Qi Xuansu’s joints cracked, but he was far from dead. He was not even seriously injured.

Qi Xuansu did not rush to break free from the shackles of this giant palm. Instead, he used the Sword Controlling Technique to maneuver Qing Yuan.

Qing Yuan flashed by and pierced the head of the scholar’s physical body. A Diviner’s physique was inherently fragile, the opposite of a Martial Arts Practitioner’s. At this time, the scholar’s body, having suffered various critical injuries, collapsed.

Without a physical body, the out-of-body soul was like a floating cloud. It became unstable, as if it could dissipate at any time. The scholar knew that he would not be spared, so he gritted his teeth and turned his soul into a rainbow, wanting to kill Qi Xuansu before he died.

Qi Xuansu roared again, releasing his surging blood qi. The Black Robes and the Green Phoenix Guards around Qi Xuansu felt a buzzing in their ears and lost their balance for a moment. However, the scholar’s out-of-body soul scattered like dandelions in the wind when facing Qi Xuansu’s roar at such a close distance.

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