A Pawn's Passage

On the other side, Qi Xuansu decided to capture the leader to stop this siege. After the trio left to attack Zhang Yuelu, Qi Xuansu rushed toward Yuan Shangdao.

Earlier, Zhang Yuelu could capture Yuan Shangdao in one move because he was caught off guard, and Zhang Yuelu was almost a Heavenly Being. When Yuan Shangdao saw someone attacking him, he did not dodge and waved his palm to confront his attacker.

Unexpectedly, Qi Xuansu suddenly changed his move at the last minute, landing a punch on Yuan Shangdao’s forearm. Yuan Shangdao felt the force of Qi Xuansu’s fist and felt a strange pain that penetrated his bones.

Yuan Shangdao was shocked that his qi shield seemed useless against this punch. He raised his hands and unleashed a bout of qi.

Qi Xuansu had experienced hundreds of battles, so he was wary at first because he had heard about the strength of the Confucian qi.

After exchanging a few moves to test the waters, Qi Xuansu realized that Yuan Shangdao’s innate qi was powerful, but it was straightforward with little changes. Qi Xuansu immediately relaxed and used multiple postures of the Tantai Fist Intention.

Yuan Shangdao gradually became exhausted after ten moves.

Suddenly, Qi Xuansu used the Sea Fist.

Back when Lei Xiaohuan was guiding Qi Xuansu on the Tantai Fist Intention, she had mentioned that one’s cultivation was the foundation of mastering the techniques because the power one could exert would vary. Tantai Yun used her fists to dominate the world back then, and very few could defeat her. So even if Qi Xuansu had learned the techniques in the Tantai Fist Intention, he would not be able to defeat a true master if his fist intention was impure.

Qi Xuansu knew very well that he had to be a Heavenly Being to use the Sea Fist to its full potential. If he used it forcefully at his current level, he would inevitably reveal some flaws. That was why he dared not use the Sea Fist when fighting with Zhang Yuelu earlier, as she would be able to catch his weakness.

However, Yuan Shangdao could not hold a candle to Zhang Yuelu. That was why Qi Xuansu did not hesitate to use this move that he lacked practice in.

Since Tantai Yun was a master in two lineages, the Sea Fist encapsulated both the strength of the fist intention and one’s innate qi.

Yuan Shangdao suddenly felt a current of innate qi surging and rotating around him, as if he were stuck in a vortex at sea. As long as he moved, his innate qi would be absorbed into the surroundings, and the overwhelming pressure would increase.

However, if Yuan Shangdao did not take any action, the force would crush him, just like the unbearable pressure in the deep sea.

In such a situation, the only thing Yuan Shangdao could do was forcefully overcome this by exerting more qi than what the vortex could absorb. However, his cultivation level would need to be far superior to his opponent to achieve such a feat.

In fact, Qi Xuansu’s Sea Fist at this time had a huge flaw, but he hid it well. If Yuan Shangdao could find the flaw, there was no need to forcefully overcome this with his innate qi. However, the pampered Yuan Shangdao was only at the Guizhen stage, and he lacked combat experience. So he could not identify the flaw in his opponent’s moves.

For a moment, Yuan Shangdao was in a dilemma.

The vortex of qi around him had not subsided and was growing stronger. It felt like a towering wave set off by a tsunami, pressing down on him until his breathing became labored.

There were shadows in front of him flickering constantly, as if there were countless phantom fists and palms, both real and illusory, difficult to distinguish.

The people around them could not tell what was real and what was an illusion. They only saw many duplicates of Qi Xuansu running back and forth. Since they were afraid of hurting Yuan Shangdao, they dared not take action rashly.

After more than a dozen rounds like this, Qi Xuansu suddenly struck with a thunderous force, punching Yuan Shangdao in the chest. Yuan Shangdao’s body trembled, unable to move.

In the blink of an eye, Qi Xuansu came behind Yuan Shangdao and punched him in the back. Yuan Shangdao staggered two steps forward and landed on his knees, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He could no longer fight back.

Qi Xuansu was about to capture Yuan Shangdao when a man suddenly shot out from the crowd to attack him. The attacker moved so fast that the strong wind created in his wake made Qi Xuansu breathless.

Taken aback by the sudden change, Qi Xuansu quickly changed from the Sea Fist to the Sea Mountain Fist.

This was the beauty of the Tantai Fist Intention, where every move could be modified and combined as needed.

The Sea Mountain Fist had the advantages of both the Mountain Fist and the Sea Fist. The former was motionless and stable, while the latter was fluid, like the ebb and flow of the tide. This perfectly incorporated the balance of yin and yang. Coincidentally, combining these moves could make up for the deficiencies in Qi Xuansu’s Sea Fist.

When Qi Xuansu’s fists met the attacker’s palms, the force from both parties caused a powerful explosion due to the overwhelming energies from each party.

Qi Xuansu had to turn his fists into palms, drawing a large circle in front of him and turning his body to deflect the immense force. Even with this deflection, Qi Xuansu still felt a tightness in his chest. His arms were trembling, and his body swayed involuntarily. He had to take two steps back to relieve the pressure, each step planting a deep footprint in the ground.

This finding was startling because it indicated that his attacker was not inferior to Zhang Yuelu.

However, on second thought, it was reasonable. Not everyone was included on the Ruyi Leaderboard because there was an age limit below 30 years old. The fact that Li Changge, Yao Pei, Zhang Yuelu, and some others could reach the top only showed that they were the best among the younger generation. They had unlimited potential, but that did not mean they had no other opponents in the Guizhen stage.

After all, some people were stuck before the Heavenly Being threshold for various reasons, but their cultivation and experience should not be underestimated.

Qi Xuansu finally got a good look at his attacker. It was an old man with white hair and a white beard.

The old man was also surprised that Qi Xuansu could deflect his move.

Qi Xuansu settled his mind and body before attacking again instead of retreating. This time, he combined the River Fist and the Dragon Fist into the River Dragon Fist and went straight for the old man’s face.

Halfway through the punch, Qi Xuansu suddenly changed his direction. He was emulating a dragon twisting and turning in a winding river, stirring up strong currents.

The white-haired old man gasped as he stretched out his hand to receive Qi Xuansu’s fist, which exuded one wave of energy after another, each wave building up on the previous one. He stood there motionless while generating a counterforce.

Qi Xuansu only felt an endless loop of the old man’s innate qi. This surprised Qi Xuansu yet again. Is this man a Heavenly Being?

But before he could delve deep into this thought, the old man roared and swept his palm across.

Qi Xuansu dared not take the hit, so he retreated. At the same time, he used the River Fist to protect his body, like a dense water net.

The old man laughed. He lightly stretched his hand toward Qi Xuansu and flicked the air. Qi Xuansu’s body immediately rotated involuntarily, like a top. When Qi Xuansu managed to stabilize himself, the old man slapped him with a palm strike. The weight of five mountains came crashing down on him.

Qi Xuansu had no choice but to counter it with his fists.

As soon as the two of them collided, Qi Xuansu could taste a metallic sweetness in his throat. He flipped back, trying to neutralize the force from the old man’s palm strike. Meanwhile, the old man’s body swayed slightly. The old man then charged at Qi Xuansu faster than the latter could retreat.

Qi Xuansu was still in the midst of his backflips when he felt a huge force rushing forward.

With no time to spare, Qi Xuansu clenched his fists. However, the old man managed to bypass Qi Xuansu’s fists, striking him straight in the chest.

Qi Xuansu immediately spat out a mouthful of blood as his entire body flew backward uncontrollably.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu suddenly felt a tightness on his waist. A long, white paper rope flew over and wrapped around his body, catching his fall. At the same time, the rope dragged him through the clouds.

Naturally, it was Zhang Yuelu who had saved him. While she was fighting with the three people, she was also keeping an eye on Wei Wugui’s situation. When she saw him getting defeated by an old man who came out of nowhere, she immediately turned the Amorphous Paper into a long rope to catch his fall. Then she fled at her top speed, dragging him along with her.

Yuan Shangdao’s people were too scared to confront Zhang Yuelu as soon as they saw her turning the Amorphous Paper into hundreds of swords. Thus, the encirclement was no longer as tight as before. In addition, without Yuan Shangdao’s command, these people only thought about protecting themselves.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu immediately broke through the encirclement and rushed toward the dense forest, dragging along a “kite” that happened to be Wei Wugui.

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