A Pawn’s Passage

Qi Xuansu had not tested the sword in advance, which was a major oversight, to say the least. He had made a careless assumption, much like a general retreating to a canal bank only to realize he had foolishly forgotten to build any pontoon bridges.

To be fair, there were some objective reasons. But mainly, he had far too little time for any type of preparation.

After receiving Green Cloud, he had to participate in the auction. Then, he immediately flew back to Jade Capital. Upon arrival, he barely had a moment to breathe, needing to attend numerous meetings and cram knowledge about Fenglin before heading to Qizhou, where he was stationed at the Seaview Tower, a crowded place with Daoists and court officials alike. Not wanting to attract attention or reveal his hand, Qi Xuansu stayed holed up in his room. Soon after, he was deployed to Fenglin, where he encountered the Yamata-no-Orochi upon reaching the borders. Then came his journey with the wounded survivors back to the army camp.

Qi Xuansu had to admit that he did have chances to try the sword, like when he fought the Yuki-Onna. But like many seasoned Jianghu fighters, he had the bad habit of keeping a trump card for the most critical moment. So in truth, the real problem was his assumption. He thought the threshold for using a semi-immortal object was just it being slightly uncooperative or perhaps oppressively heavy. He did not expect it to be that difficult.

In the end, it came down to inexperience. The crux of the issue was that the Heavenly Preceptor had not mentioned it.

Normally, an elder would give a word of caution if such a threshold existed, but the Heavenly Preceptor had said nothing, which misled Qi Xuansu into believing Green Cloud could be used directly.

He had been fooled by the Heavenly Preceptor's benevolent facade.

Qi Xuansu forgot that such great figures loved testing their juniors for sport. Even Zhang Yuelu had to endure about a hundred trials to earn the Heavenly Preceptor's recognition and support. So why should Qi Xuansu be recognized without reason?

Moreover, someone of the Heavenly Preceptor's stature would not care for such details, as it was always others who had to interpret and grasp his intent.

Besides, this was just a trivial test, one that would not place Qi Xuansu in mortal danger. Thus, Qi Xuansu's real problem was choosing the wrong moment and almost (quite literally) stabbing himself in the foot.

The inscription within the sword was left behind by the Holy Xuan. However, it was not by the young Holy Xuan. That was because when the Holy Xuan first held Green Cloud, he was merely a Xiantian Being and lacked the cultivation to make such an imprint. This inscription was left during his prime, when few could match him in cultivation.

The Holy Xuan had excellent relations with two generations of Heavenly Preceptors—Zhang Luanshan and Yan Feiqing. So, borrowing the Heavenly Preceptor's Twin Swords would not have been difficult. Besides, who would dare cross someone of his stature?

The reason the Holy Xuan left behind such an inscription was to pass on the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique. At that time, he had yet to restructure the Five Lineages or incorporate all perfected methods. He comprehended this sword technique left by the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor from the Punishment Pillars atop the Demon-Vanquishing Platform and wished to return it to its rightful owner. So, he sealed the technique within Green Cloud and Purple Afterglow.

The first part was housed within Green Cloud, and the second within Purple Afterglow.

Some might ask—why go through all this trouble? Why wouldn't he just hand it over in person? However, the two parts of the sword technique were filled with personal annotations and commentaries, many of which diverged from the original text. The Holy Xuan's understanding naturally differed from that of the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor. For his own reasons, the Holy Xuan chose to embed this annotated version of the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique within the Heavenly Preceptor's Twin Swords.

The Holy Xuan did not fully endorse the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor, and Qi Xuansu himself could not fully grasp the Holy Xuan either. So when he recited that line, he did so with a questioning tone, not one of admiration.

Still, there were benefits. The Holy Xuan's engraved legacy worked like an enlightenment ritual, pouring directly into Qi Xuansu's mind. While it did not allow him to master the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique instantly, it did grant him a glimpse of the technique.

Qi Xuansu dared not boast of swordsmanship, but this was enough to pacify Green Cloud.

That was also the main reason Qi Xuansu recovered so quickly. It was not because he had truly subdued Green Cloud, but because with the Holy Xuan's help, he had managed to trick Green Cloud into believing he met the conditions, thus lowering the entry threshold. It would be akin to someone faking a Great Witch's bloodline to wield the Staff of Merit.

Qi Xuansu could not help but sigh as he thought,The Holy Xuan was truly a generous man!

Once Green Cloud stopped resisting Qi Xuansu's touch, he had a shift in perspective again—using the right tool was crucial to doing a good job.

This slash might have seemed plain and unremarkable, but in truth, it surpassed even Qi Xuansu's most forceful blow using other blades.

Shinmen Konosuke had intended to deflect the sword with his kodachi. But at the moment of contact, half the blade shattered and flew off, leaving the already short kodachi just a little longer than its hilt.

Qi Xuansu's own strength was secondary—the key lay in Green Cloud's edge.

Though Green Cloud was a semi-immortal object, it was part of an immortal object and one-half of the Heavenly Preceptor's Twin Swords.

Shinmen Konosuke was utterly shocked. He never imagined Green Cloud could be even more fearsome than before, now that it was under someone's control.

Qi Xuansu was not a complete beginner in using swords. He was just stuck at the level of an ordinary Xiantian Being, too unrefined to show off. Thus, he simply wielded the sword as if it were a saber.

The essence of the sword lay in the thrust, while the saber lay in the cleave.

So Qi Xuansu raised Green Cloud and simply chopped downward without any fancy techniques.

Green Cloud's radiance burst before Shinmen Konosuke's eyes, flooding his vision completely.

Shinmen Konosuke's first instinct was to dodge since he could not withstand it head-on.

Just then, several pitch-black chains manifested out of thin air, binding his feet, legs, arms, and neck, rendering him immobile.

This was a rarely used Diviner technique that Qi Xuansu had, which was passed on to him by Master Yin along with the Green Netherworld Armor. It was the Nine Nether Chains, primarily used to restrain enemies at the cost of magical power.

Though Shinmen Konosuke quickly shattered the Nine Nether Chains, it was already too late to dodge.

He could only raise his tachi horizontally in front of him to block.

Under that strike, even Shinmen Konosuke, whose cultivation level surpassed Qi Xuansu's, was forced to stagger backward. His top-tier tachi, Izumi-no-kami Kanesada, though not snapped in half like the kodachi earlier, still chipped at the edge.

Green Cloud's sheer sharpness was overwhelming. It was no wonder Zhang Yuelu had always favored the offensive might of Green Cloud over the thunder-summoning specialty of Purple Afterglow.

Qi Xuansu showed no mercy in victory. While Shinmen Konosuke was still reeling from the first strike, he followed up immediately with a second, identical slash directly overhead.

There was nothing wrong with repetition.

The move need not be novel so long as it worked.

Shinmen Konosuke had no choice but to take the blow head-on and retreat again.

Each of Qi Xuansu's strikes landed at the same spot, widening the fracture in the blade, which groaned under the strain.

With each retreat, Shinmen Konosuke stepped back farther. At first, it was one step per strike, then it became three steps, and eventually, five.

As Qi Xuansu brought down his seventh strike, Shinmen Konosuke was forced back over 10 meters. His famed Niten Ichiryu technique was nowhere to be seen. The ronin now held his blade with both hands, which were bleeding.

Qi Xuansu's technique was nothing fancy, just one cleave after another, repeated without variation.

However, his brute force trumped any refined techniques.

Shinmen Konosuke had considered counterattacking, but Qi Xuansu's response was simple. He had his indestructible body, Green Netherworld Armor, Golden Body, and the Youyi Cloud Robe. So in a trade of blows, Qi Xuansu would win against the shirtless ronin every time.

If Shinmen Konosuke dared to take Green Cloud's strike with his flesh, he would likely lose his life, or at the very least, a limb or two.

On the final strike, Izumi-no-kami Kanesada was cleaved in two, the upper half of the tachi flying skyward.

Green Cloud did not stop there, continuing to sever one of Shinmen Konosuke's arms, which still clutched the hilt of his tachi even as it flew off.

Qi Xuansu felt a rush of satisfaction. Having a semi-immortal weapon truly made a world of difference. He now understood the joy of being as well-equipped as Li Changge and Yao Pei.

At this point, Shinmen Konosuke no longer had the strength to counterattack or even defend himself.

Qi Xuansu mimicked Shinmen Konosuke's move, gripping Green Cloud with both hands. He said, "I've heard that among the Fenglin folk, there's a custom called kaishaku, which is a more honorable way to die. Lucky for you, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll grant you some dignity. No need to thank me."

As he finished speaking, Qi Xuansu kicked the back of Shinmen Konosuke's knees, forcing him to kneel. He then raised Green Cloud and cleaved down.

A severed head tumbled to the ground. It was a clean and swift cut.

On the other side of the ship, Li Tiangang held his ground against two foes without faltering.

Had that shinkan not kept healing Nichinin's wounds and bolstering him with various enchantments, Nichinin would have long since been reduced to a pulp under Li Tiangang's blows.

Still, if not for Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu easing the pressure, Li Tiangang might have been defeated by facing four opponents alone. The miko's Kiku-ichimonji Norimune, a famed katana equal to a semi-immortal object, was more than enough to wound him.

Suddenly, Li Changge, donning a black-and-white ceremonial crown, appeared behind Nichinin.

Two dragon whiskers—one black, one white—were woven into a wreath-like crown, inlaid by the Holy Xuan's wife with a small Dragon Pearl. This was the Bright Crown, which was also a semi-immortal object. It symbolized the sun and the moon alternating in the flow of time.

With the crown's time-slowing power, Li Changge approached Nichinin's back.

To others, Li Changge seemed to move with impossible speed, far too fast for anyone to react.

Li Changge did not bother speaking. He merely drove his dagger-sized wooden sword, Mortal Vitality, straight into Nichinin's waist.

Nichinin never imagined the dignified Junior Imperial Preceptor would resort to a sneak attack. A cold shock bloomed at his waist, and all his strength drained away. Unable to resist Li Tiangang's overwhelming force, his blood spurted from all orifices, his bones cracked and splintered under the crushing pressure of innate qi, and he collapsed into a mangled heap of gore. Not even a deity could have saved him.