A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 77: Entering the Flames

Qi Xuansu seemed to be frightened by the middle-aged man’s strength. He ran into the dense forest in the distance without looking back.

This middle-aged man’s name was Chu Liangwang, and he was a Deputy Altar Leader of the Lingshan Witch Cult.

All the major secret societies, including the Lingshan Witch Cult, imitated the structure and system of the Daoist Order, with inner and outer divisions. Their Incense Leaders were equivalent to the Hall Masters, and their Altar Leaders were akin to the Daoist Mansion Masters.

However, in terms of strength, Ancient Immortals were equivalent to the first-rank Tianzhen Daoist masters. The Cult Leader of the Lingshan Witch Cult was only equivalent in strength to a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master. Thus, an Incense Leader of the Lingshan Witch Cult could not defeat a Hall Master, and an Altar Leader was definitely no match for a Daoist Mansion Master.

Therefore, although Chu Liangwang was the Deputy Altar Leader, he was only at the Yuxu stage and not as powerful as a Deputy Daoist Mansion Master like Zhao Jiaowu or a Deputy Hall Master like Zhang Yuelu.

Chu Liangwang pursued Qi Xuansu closely, intending to kill the Daoist priest to avenge his colleague.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu shot out four more spikes. Before the spikes hit him, Chu Liangwang caught them. However, there was no sword qi in these spikes. Instead, Chu Liangwang felt a surge of heat and smelled gunpowder.

The next moment, there was an explosion. The spikes blew up, and a thick smoke engulfed Chu Liangwang.

Qi Xuansu stopped and turned around. “It’s not just spikes this time. These are the Phoenix Eye Bullets.”

Knowing that the spikes were not enough to kill his opponent, Qi Xuansu used the spikes as a distraction method. Once his opponent had a preconceived idea that Qi Xuansu was only using spikes, Qi Xuansu did something unexpected and used the Phoenix Eye Bullets instead.

The spikes were just a tactic to lure the enemy, and the Phoenix Eye Bullet was the real killing move.

When the smoke dissipated, Chu Liangwang reappeared in front of Qi Xuansu. His clothes were in tatters, his body was charred, his hair was gone, and there was even a faint smell of burned flesh, but he was still not dead.

This was the reason Qi Xuansu had to ambush him. It was difficult to kill a Xiantian Being with firearms if the opponent was prepared. This showed how unjustly the other middle-aged man had died.

Of course, if Qi Xuansu had the Dragon Eye Bullet or the Phoenix Eye Bomb, he could kill them all with sheer firepower. It was a pity that these two weapons were restricted even in Tiangang Hall.

Chu Liangwang suddenly shook off his charred skin, revealing his bloody flesh underneath. He clasped his palms together as if he were holding incense and murmured, “I invite the God Wu Luo to possess me.”

After that, a blood-red ray of light shone from the sky and enveloped Chu Liangwang’s body. An illusory statue about three meters high with a blurry human face and a bird’s body appeared in front of Chu Liangwang. Although the face was blurry, it was evident that this was one of the many forms of Wu Luo that were painted on the prayer beads.

This was the Spiritual Statue Realm of Shamans in the Yuxu stage. Shamans in this realm could conjure a Spiritual Statue to help them fight, increasing their combat power. However, the duration of this ability was related to their incense power, hence the disparity in the combat power of Shamans. They could fight against Banished Immortals or be at the bottom of the Five Lineages.

After Chu Liangwang merged with the Spiritual Statue, he flapped his wings and flew up, gathering strong winds. Then he charged at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu did not just stand there and wait stupidly for his demise. Instead, he turned around and ran deep into the forest before Chu Liangwang finished his transformation.

With enough combat experience, although Qi Xuansu did not have a high level of cultivation, he was smart enough to judge his situation, making him a tough opponent.

It was winter, so all the leaves had fallen, leaving only the bare tree trunks. There were no paths in the forest, and the distance between the bare trees was extremely small, good enough for Qi Xuansu to hide. He disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Before Chu Liangwang and his group arrived at the ancient temple, Qi Xuansu had already explored the surrounding terrain, so he had a rough idea of where he should hide in the forest. Chu Liangwang had no choice but to stop flying.

Chu Liangwang’s transformed appearance was quite similar to Lingquanzi’s Yellow Turban Warrior. Although he was not as agile, he was good at defense and offense. Wherever Chu Liangwang passed, he cut down the tree trunks at waist level, littering the ground with dead trees.

After a while, Chu Liangwang could vaguely see Qi Xuansu dodging back and forth behind the trees, so he shouted, “Daoist dog, where can you escape to?”

Qi Xuansu jumped onto a big tree branch, turned around abruptly, and waved toward Chu Liangwang, who was rushing toward him.

Chu Liangwang had already suffered a loss once, so he was wary and stooped low.

But this time, Qi Xuansu faked an attack and mocked him. “Do you think you can win?”

Chu Liangwang grumbled, “What else can you do?”

Qi Xuansu took out a Phoenix Eye Bullet. “Wood fuels the fire. Entering the forest is like entering a sea of flames. I wonder if you’ll be able to keep yourself cool.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Xuansu threw the Phoenix Eye Bullet that he had injected his qi into and quickly jumped back.

Chu Liangwang waved his wings and blocked the Phoenix Eye Bullet that exploded in mid-air, but his body was struck by the shockwave.

However, Qi Xuansu’s killing move was far more than that. He had parted ways with Zhang Yuelu earlier and explored the forest for about an hour while Zhang Yuelu stayed in the ancient temple.

During this hour, Qi Xuansu was not idle. He hid numerous Phoenix Eye Bullets in the dense forest in advance. That way, if he encountered a powerful enemy, he would lure his opponent into the dense forest. If not, he would just pick up the unused bullets later.

If this Phoenix Eye Bullet exploded, the surrounding bullets would also explode in succession. The flames engulfed the entire forest and shot into the sky. Chu Liangwang was unprepared for this and tried to fly again, but it was too late. He only felt strong heat waves coming from all directions, trying to crush him. In the blink of an eye, the Spiritual Statue in his body dimmed and flickered. His wings would be the first to bear the brunt. They turned into rays of light and dissipated.

Since it was winter, the air was dry, and there was not a single green leaf in the dense forest, which immediately turned into a sea of ??fire with a slight spark. Another gust blew in from the northeast, fanning the flames further and lighting up half of the sky.

Chu Liangwang was trapped in the inferno, and the already shaky Spiritual Statue of Wu Luo completely collapsed. In an instant, Chu Liangwang felt like he was in eternal hell. His flesh and blood withered as the fire engulfed him.

He had been injured by Zhang Yuelu’s paper crane before this and later by Qi Xuansu’s Phoenix Eye Bullet. This time, he was trapped in the raging flames.

Qi Xuansu had already taken precautions, choosing a favorable position in advance, so he was not afraid of getting burned. After throwing out the Phoenix Eye Bullet, he leaped away from the forest.

Although Qi Xuansu was at a disadvantage in terms of cultivation level, he could defeat his opponents by occupying a favorable location and with the help of external weapons.

On the other side, the battle between Zhang Yuelu and the female Shaman was also coming to an end.

At this time, the ancient temple was also set on fire. The Five Elements Qi Shield surged around Zhang Yuelu’s body, making it impossible for the surrounding flames to get close to her. The Amorphous Paper in her hand turned into a long sword, and she moved extremely fast.

The Shaman was slashed in the chest by Zhang Yuelu’s paper sword. Her clothes were torn apart, revealing her breasts, and the sword qi from the paper sword seeped into her body.

Zhang Yuelu gained the upper hand with her sword and struck a series of blows. The thin paper sword was as agile as a snake. It recoiled continuously and attacked the Shaman.

The Shaman’s golden glow dimmed. She was slightly inferior to Zhang Yuelu in terms of cultivation level, to begin with. So with Zhang Yuelu’s semi-immortal object, the Shaman stood no chance against the Banished Immortal.

If she did not have the four strings of prayer beads from the Cult Leader that contained Wu Luo’s divine power, she would have died at Zhang Yuelu’s hands long ago.

Seeing that the ancient temple was showing signs of collapse due to the blazing fire, the Shaman gritted her teeth and broke the four strings of prayer beads on her wrists and ankles, revealing her Spiritual Statue. A three-meter-tall statue in one of Wu Luo’s many forms appeared. This time, it was not a bird body, but a human body with four arms. Each palm held a halo.

The Shaman pushed her four palms, shooting four circles of light at Zhang Yuelu in an attempt to bind the latter’s hands and feet.

Zhang Yuelu refused to sit still and wait for death. The paper sword in her hand duplicated into three swords, blocking out the halos. However, one halo struck Zhang Yuelu in the waist, trapping her in place. The halo tightened as Zhang Yuelu used her Five Elements Qi Shield to resist the force.

Seeing this, the Shaman took advantage of this opportunity to flee. She was not a fool, and she knew that she was no match for Zhang Yuelu. If she continued to fight, she would be defeated. Although destroying the four strings of prayer beads was a heavy loss to her, it was better than losing her life or falling into the hands of the Daoist Order.

Just as Qi Xuansu returned to the ancient temple, he bumped into the Shaman. Qi Xuansu raised his Divine Dragon Pistol without hesitation and fired at the Shaman.

He was quite self-aware, knowing that if he did not rely on external objects for a sneak attack, he would be in a life-or-death situation if he faced off with a Guizhen-stage master. Thus, he did not care about the outcome of the shot and simply fled to the side. In the blink of an eye, he hid behind the east wall of the ancient temple.

This Shaman had the Spiritual Statue and a Golden Body protecting her, so Qi Xuansu’s gun failed to hurt her. It only made her pause in her steps.

The Shaman furiously glanced at Qi Xuansu’s back, but because Zhang Yuelu was about to break free from the restraints, the Shaman dared not pursue him. She took a step forward and flew into the air.

Although only Heavenly Beings could fly, there were some exceptions. Martial Arts Practitioners could not fly even after reaching the Heavenly Being stage, but Shamans could fly for a short period after unleashing the Spiritual Statue.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu finally broke free from the restraints. When she saw that the Shaman had escaped from the ancient temple and flown off into the sky, she immediately transformed the Amorphous Paper into a long bow and shot an arrow aimed at the Shaman’s heart.

This arrow pierced the fleeing Shaman in the back of her heart. Her body shook violently, but she did not fall from the sky. Angered, she turned around with difficulty and glared hatefully at the pair of “Daoist dogs” below. Then she tried her best to control her Spiritual Statue and flew over the conflagration below, gradually disappearing into the glowing red sky.