A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 101: Diminishing Power

Soon, the sound of fighting resounded in the tunnel leading to the underground palace.

The Black Robes and the Green Phoenix Guards suffered some casualties. However, Zhang Yuelu was like a god of war with infinite energy. Even after consecutive fights with the Shaman, He Nian, Lin Zhenyuan, and Xie Qiuniang, Zhang Yuelu still had the energy to charge into the underground palace to confront Xia Chang, the owner of this place.

Xia Chang was a Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioner in the Heavenly Connection Realm, on par with Wang Zicheng.

Daoist techniques were divided into two categories: martial arts and spells. The Manly Immortal lineage could not perform spells and could only practice martial arts, hence they were called Martial Arts Practitioners. Their fists were their most trusted weapon.

As a Banished Immortal, Zhang Yuelu could perform spells and was proficient in martial arts. She practiced the Cihang Sword Sequence and was skilled in using various weapons. In addition, her master, Sage Cihang, also passed down some secret skills that most people had never even heard of. This was the advantage she had over ordinary disciples who came from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

The underground palace occupied a vast area. The dome was supported by huge pillars, somewhat similar to what Qi Xuansu saw in the Qingping Society’s dream meeting. The six-armed Wu Luo statue was sitting at the deepest end of the underground palace, with countless human heads piled up in front of it.

At this time, the underground palace was in chaos, with the Lingshan Witch Cult believers fighting the Black Robes and the Green Phoenix Guards. Since the cultists were at a disadvantage in numbers, Xia Chang and Zhu Cheng could not join forces to fight against Zhang Yuelu. Xia Chang had to fight Zhang Yuelu alone.

Xia Chang’s punch brought up a gust of cold wind. Faced with this punch, Zhang Yuelu spun around to avoid it. At the same time, she pointed the paper sword in her hand at Xia Chang’s temple.

He forcibly twisted his body and reached out to block Zhang Yuelu’s paper sword. Then he slammed his foot on the ground, unleashing his power and leaving a big pit in the ground.

Xia Chang smirked and threw another punch.

This time, Zhang Yuelu floated backward, a lotus flower growing mid-air in each spot she stepped on. She casually pointed her paper sword again, generating more sword qi before shooting it at Xia Chang’s face.

Xia Chang dispersed the sword qi with one punch. He was a little surprised that Zhang Yuelu was weaker than he imagined. However, on second thought, Zhang Yuelu would have been worn out from escaping Yulan Temple. Since she was not at her peak, this was the perfect opportunity to kill her.

Realizing this, Xia Chang stepped forward, constantly punching Zhang Yuelu's paper sword. Although his fists were made of flesh and blood, the collision between his fists and the paper sword sounded more like metal and stone clanging.

Zhang Yuelu constantly used various sword techniques, making it dizzyingly unpredictable. Each attack was aimed at Xia Chang’s vital points. Her swordsmanship was satisfactory, but compared to the previous sword fight between her and Xie Qiuniang, her sword qi and speed visibly weakened.

However, Xia Chang was far inferior to Xie Qiuniang and was repeatedly injured by the paper sword.

Suddenly, Zhang Yuelu struck downward with the paper sword. It was a simple but lethal move.

Xia Chang roared in anger and stomped hard on the ground, looking like he was prepared to take the blow.

Upon impact, there was an explosion.

Zhang Yuelu drifted backward, like a kite with a broken string, while neutralizing the force.

The ground beneath Xia Chang’s feet cracked. His bones were visible on his arms, and blood flowed freely from his wound.

Zhang Yuelu floated to the ground and pointed the paper sword at Xia Chang, shooting out a burst of sword qi.

Seeing this, Xia Chang was frightened and wanted to retreat. He knew that he should stay on the sidelines and avoid fighting Zhang Yuelu at this time while waiting for Zhu Cheng to aid him. At least, he should not risk his own life. However, Zhang Yuelu appeared in front of him just as he was about to retreat, pointing her paper sword at his heart. The sword qi was not strong, but it was just enough to make him stagger backward.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu turned the paper sword into a broadsword. She held the paper broadsword with both hands and swept it horizontally in front of her.

In a fleeting moment, Xia Chang’s face paled as he looked down at the horizontal red line across his waist.

Zhang Yuelu stepped back, expressionless.

Tiangang Hall and Beichen Hall often dealt with cultists and demons. Most of the cultists had no morals and were fearful of power. It took a righteous soul and extreme methods to frighten and kill these cultists.

A moment later, Xia Chang’s body split into two from the waist. His upper body fell to the ground, struggling to crawl away. However, his lower body remained standing, seemingly stuck to the ground.

However, this attack took up a lot of Zhang Yuelu’s strength. Her face also became increasingly pale. Though she was exhausted, she still insisted on venturing toward the other side.

While Zhang Yuelu was fighting with Xia Chang, Wang Zicheng faced off against Zhu Cheng, who was also a Martial Arts Practitioner. In this fight, the former was at a disadvantage because he was already injured previously. Thus, his life was in danger. If the fight had continued, Zhu Cheng would have defeated Wang Zicheng.

Zhu Cheng pressed down the Buddhist Seal on Wang Zicheng, who dropped to one knee and began bleeding from all his orifices.

At the critical moment, Zhang Yuelu arrived, replacing Wang Zicheng in the fight. Zhu Cheng brazenly punched her, but she dodged to the side.

In her previous fight with Xia Chang, who was always known for his brute strength, he did not manage to touch Zhang Yuelu at all, indicating how fast Zhang Yuelu was. However, Zhang Yuelu could not completely dodge Zhu Cheng’s punch at this moment.

When his fist landed on her left shoulder, her body tipped sideways. But she flipped her body mid-air and landed on her feet smoothly without a sound.

Since Zhang Yuelu was not yet a Heavenly Being, her energy was severely depleted after consecutive fierce battles. Thus, she was no longer at her peak performance.

However, Zhang Yuelu advanced instead of retreated when she landed on her feet. Wisps of sword qi lingered on the blade of her paper broadsword.

Zhang Yuelu’s swordsmanship was straightforward, without any flashy tricks. It was most suitable for battle because her goal was to kill.

Facing Zhang Yuelu’s aggressive strikes, Zhu Cheng used brute force to neutralize the attack. He also punched Zhang Yuelu between her eyebrows. The wind from his punch caused Zhang Yuelu’s hair to fly back, but when his fist was only an inch away from her forehead, she drifted backward and narrowly avoided that punch.

Zhu Cheng did not show any mercy and followed her closely.

Green veins bulged on Zhu Cheng’s arms, looking like tiny dragons slithering under his skin. At the same time, his blood was surging like a torrential river, his aura domineering, like a typical Martial Arts Practitioner.

Zhu Cheng took a step forward, forming a dip in the ground. Then he gathered the energy at his feet and tensed his body before springing forward and appearing in front of Zhang Yuelu. Even if Zhang Yuelu was a Banished Immortal, she was not in a state to counterattack. Thus, her only choice was to retreat and avoid the blow.

The two maintained a distance between them, with Zhu Cheng charging forward while Zhang Yuelu slid backward. Every time Zhu Cheng took a step, the ground shook, leaving a deep footprint. Suddenly, he lunged forward. The joints all over his body cracked before a series of explosive sounds resonated from his chest, abdomen, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fists.

His powerful punch thundered as it struck Zhang Yuelu, who had no way to avoid it.

Zhang Yuelu flew backward from that punch and landed on her back. However, she slapped one palm on the ground to prop herself up and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Mage Zhang...” Wang Zicheng dragged his seriously injured body and took a step forward with difficulty.

Zhang Yuelu raised her hand to stop his unspoken question, signaling to him that she was fine.

Seeing this, Wang Zicheng stopped talking, but he could not conceal the worry on his face.

Zhu Cheng sneered and struck again. There was nothing fancy about this strike as it was another straight and powerful punch. His speed was not at all inferior to that of Zhang Yuelu.

Facing this attack, Zhang Yuelu had no choice but to resist head-on. She turned the paper sword into a paper umbrella, positioning it in front of her. However, the power of this punch was so intense that even the paper umbrella could not dampen the impact. Cracks appeared in the ground under Zhang Yuelu’s feet, and her body slipped backward, creating two plow marks in the ground.

Zhu Cheng took a shallow breath before striking, his fist descending with the force of wind and thunder. The hidden force exploded, accompanied by a loud bang. Zhang Yuelu maintained her posture, holding the umbrella in front of her while sliding back further away from Wang Zicheng.

Not wanting to give Zhang Yuelu a chance to catch her breath, Zhu Cheng was unyielding when he gained the upper hand. He charged forward like a cavalryman, his fists like an arrow on a taut bow. Then he followed up with another punch, making it impossible for Zhang Yuelu, who was still in mid-air, to dodge.

Zhang Yuelu took the blow head-on, her qi resonating like firecrackers. The ground cracked when she landed on her feet, and her paper umbrella shattered into paper scraps that flew in all directions.

The advantage of the Amorphous Paper was in its morphing abilities. It was like the Rogue Cultivators of weapons, having a little bit of everything but were not superior in one aspect. The Amorphous Paper could be used to attack and defend, but it could not compare to other semi-immortal objects in either aspect.

The Amorphous Paper withstood three of Zhu Cheng’s punches in succession, which caused a considerable loss of energy. Zhang Yuelu had also exhausted too much of her energy in the previous battles, especially when she had just confronted Xie Qiuniang, a Hermit who was on par with her, in Yulan Temple. The Spiritual Statue Technique she used earlier had also greatly depleted her energy.

At this moment, she only had less than half of her innate qi left, so she could no longer turn the Amorphous Paper into a weapon.

If she continued to fight like this, she would be putting her life at risk.