A Pawn's Passage-Chapter 570: Taiyin (I)

As the stars shifted in the heavens, Deputy Palace Master Yao at the Alkaid position faced Zhang Wuhen. The combined strength of all seven Deputy Palace Masters converged upon Deputy Palace Master Yao as she raised a single finger toward Zhang Wuhen. “Alkaid, Soul of Zeta Tauri!”

Surging elemental energy transformed into a crimson light that descended from the heavens, engulfing the 300-meter radius around Zhang Wuhen in a raging sea of flames.

The entire sky was set ablaze, as if covered by a magnificent sunset of burning clouds, dazzling beyond measure.

These flames suspended in midair had no tangible fuel to sustain them, but they were burning fiercely without end. Even though Qi Xuansu stood far from the battlefield, he could still feel the searing heat radiating outward, so much so that he had to activate his protective qi shield to stay safe.

Standing amidst the inferno, Zhang Wuhen remained unharmed. A faint layer of silver moonlight, as delicate as gauze, enveloped her body, shielding her completely. Then, she spread her fingers wide. The radiant moonlight in her palm coalesced into a curved sword that resembled a crescent moon.

Deputy Palace Master Yao’s face remained expressionless as she chanted another sutra, intensifying the flames. The blaze illuminated not only the sky but also dyed the entire Xingye Lake a deep crimson.

The heat waves rippled, distorting Zhang Wuhen’s figure within the inferno. Her indistinct silhouette flickered in and out of sight.

Zhang Wuhen swung her sword from within the sea of flames.

With a single strike, the raging fire was cleaved in two, split apart like a curtain.

As Zhang Wuhen dispelled the surging flames, Sun Hewu immediately commanded a shift in the Seven Star Net Formation. The stars shifted once more. Deputy Palace Master Yao withdrew from the Alkaid position, while Deputy Palace Master Zhou, at the Mizar position, stepped forward. He raised his hand and declared, “Mizar, Spirit of the Northern Pole!”

A blizzard erupted.

At first, this technique lacked the overwhelming spectacle of the first strike, appearing almost understated. Yet it was no less lethal, for the true killing force lay in the interplay of fire and ice.

In just moments, the 300-meter-radius battlefield was transformed into a realm of frost and snow.

Zhang Wuhen did not move. The raging blizzard surged toward her, but as it came within several meters of her, the snow melted into nothingness, as if it had encountered an invisible furnace.

Shifting from defense to offense, Zhang Wuhen thrust her sword directly at Deputy Palace Master Zhou.

Deputy Palace Master Zhou had no choice but to raise his sword to block the attack.

The two blades met, and in an instant, Deputy Palace Master Zhou’s sword was sliced cleanly in half.

Before Zhang Wuhen could press her advantage, the star formation shifted once more. The swordless Deputy Palace Master Zhou was moved away, and in his place, Deputy Palace Master Zhang in the Phecda position emerged, now facing Zhang Wuhen.

The Seven Star Net Formation corresponded to the seven stars of the Big Dipper as well as the Five Elements, yin, and yang. Alkaid aligned with fire, Mizar with water, and now, Phecda with metal.

Deputy Palace Master Zhang cradled a gourd in his arms, uncorked it, and pointed it at Zhang Wuhen, chanting, “Phecda, True Essence of the Soul!”

Countless silver streaks—as fine as hair and as bright as starlight—erupted from the gourd. Yet upon closer inspection, these silver streaks were actually miniature flying swords. Each of them was as small and slender as a silver needle, barely qualifying as a sword, more akin to concealed weapons than true blades.

Zhang Wuhen swept her blade in an arc. The moonlight that emerged from it did not seem like a sword strike, but more like the flowing hair of a Daoist horsetail whisk. The cascade of silver streaks was drawn into her sword, moving in tandem. In an instant, it was as if Zhang Wuhen had bound a 30-meter-long silver dragon within her grasp.

Wielding so many minuscule flying swords at once was no easy task, even for Zhang Wuhen. Her movements became sluggish, losing the fluid grace they held just moments before. This was the advantage of the Seven Star Net Formation. Any one of the seven Deputy Palace Masters was far weaker than Zhang Wuhen, but together—bolstered by the formation—they could suppress her.

The formation shifted once more. Deputy Palace Master Zhang retreated, and in his place, Deputy Palace Master Nangong at the Merak position stepped up to face Zhang Wuhen.

Deputy Palace Master Nangong was a dignified woman and an expert in music. She wielded a jade flute that was emerald green, with a few crimson spots near the mouthpiece, making its luster even more vivid. As the wind howled through the heavens, she raised the flute as if it were a sword, and with a gentle wave, the wind whistled through the flute’s holes, birthing a melody.

The roaring gales transformed into sound blades, slicing toward Zhang Wuhen.

Zhang Wuhen had no choice but to take a step back. The moonlit blade in her hand expanded into a full moon, shrouding her form completely.

More astonishingly, all one could see from any angle—be it north, south, east, west, above, or below—was a luminous full moon. Zhang Wuhen herself was nowhere to be seen.

Countless sound blades struck the moon’s surface, yet they only rippled across its luminous form before vanishing into nothingness.

The moon shrank until it condensed into a single shining point. Then from that very point, Zhang Wuhen emerged once more. It was first as miniscule as a speck of dust, then a grain of rice, expanding until she had fully regained her normal form.

The formation shifted again. This time, Deputy Palace Master Xu in the Dubhe position advanced, pressing his middle and index fingers together to form a sword seal.

At his fingertips, a single point of brilliance erupted. As soon as it appeared, the surrounding light was drawn toward it, thread by thread, entwining and weaving together, converging at his fingertip. The result was a blinding radiance that was as dazzling as a miniature sun, impossible to look at directly. The Dubhe position corresponded to the yang element.

Deputy Palace Master Xu’s voice was steady and firm. “Dubhe, Soul of Radiant Yang!”

He flicked his fingers, and countless beams of divine light shot toward the heavens, rising like pure energy. In the sky, the light wove into a vast heavenly net before descending straight down toward Zhang Wuhen.

Zhang Wuhen lifted her head and gazed at the heavenly net. Though it descended at a measured pace, its reach was immense, nearly covering the entire Xingye Lake. Its mesh was wide, but nothing could escape.

With a sweep of her sleeve, a crescent moon shot into the sky like a pair of sharp scissors, cutting up the descending heavenly net. The shattered fragments of the heavenly net scattered across the sky, transforming into countless radiant specks that drifted like a swarm of fireflies.

A rain of light fell upon the entirety of Xingye Lake. However, before the luminous droplets could touch the water’s surface, they dissipated midair, returning to their most primal state—pure elemental energy. Though it was not divine power, it provided Zhang Wuhen a fleeting respite, allowing her to replenish a fraction of her depleted energy. After all, she had only just awoken from her slumber and remained in a weakened state.

At Deputy Palace Master Xu’s fingertip, the miniature sun that had shone so brilliantly now rapidly shrank, dwindling to the size of a soybean before vanishing entirely.

Taking the opportunity, Deputy Palace Master Xu withdrew. In his place, Ning Lingyun stepped forward, occupying the Alioth position.

Ning Lingyun spread his five fingers and intoned, “Alioth, Essence of the Elixir!”

In the next instant, a vast surge of qi rose from beneath the lake.

Xingye Lake transformed into an enormous Go board. A traditional board had 19 by 19 intersecting lines, but this board spanned 19,000 by 19,000 lines. As Ning Lingyun executed his technique, these intricate intersecting lines rose into the air and formed yet another vast, interwoven net that became an inescapable web.

These two nets became a cage in which even a winged creature could not escape. Within the formation, Ning Lingyun represented the central earth element.

Where the heavenly net had descended slowly, the earthly web was the complete opposite, surging upward with alarming speed. Zhang Wuhen had no choice but to ascend rapidly to evade being captured by the earthly web. In mere moments, she was on the verge of colliding with the grand formation that separated the Upper and Lower Palaces.

Zhang Wuhen had no other escape routes, but she still remained composed.

She reached out and grasped the very fabric of the grand formation above.

In an instant, the previously hidden formation revealed its true form, which consisted of countless talismanic inscriptions and ancient seals shimmering across its surface.

Zhang Wuhen struck the formation with a single powerful palm, triggering its built-in counterforce. But rather than resisting it, she redirected that immense energy downward, channeling it directly into the web below.

In a single stroke, both the descending heavenly net and ascending earthly web felt the counterforce from the grand formation and neutralized each other, vanishing into nothingness.

With Ning Lingyun retreating from the Alioth position, the final opponent stepped forward—Sun Hewu, standing at the Megrez position.

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Sun Hewu was the highest-ranking Deputy Palace Master. His white hair was meticulously combed back, and his attire and accessories were arranged with absolute precision—not a single thread out of place. Though his eyes were hazy with age, they gleamed with piercing insight.

As Zhang Wuhen studied him, he too was scrutinizing her.

The two were not acquainted. They were merely peers of the same generation. However, Zhang Wuhen’s past had once caused an uproar across the city, so Sun Hewu had certainly heard of it.

Sun Hewu spoke. “Daoist Wuhen, your divine power bears an 80% resemblance to that of True Lord Taiyin. It seems the rumors of you stealing her legacy were indeed true. It was no wonder the Heavenly Preceptor sought to execute you with the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords.”

Zhang Wuhen sneered. “If he was so determined to uphold righteousness by killing his own kin, was I supposed to just sit there and let him?”

Sun Hewu sighed. “What I did not expect was that you were already a Pseudo-Immortal and had begun to manifest the mystical abilities of a Godly Immortal. Even the Heavenly Preceptor’s power and the might of his Twin Swords failed to truly end you in your first death.”

A Godly Immortal experienced death three times.

The first death occurred when their divine form decayed. However, this was only a false death—like a river running dry or a lake evaporating. As long as new incense offerings and mortal faith continued to pour in, a Godly Immortal’s divine form could be reconstructed within their divine kingdom.

Due to this, the Daoist Order found the three Ancient Immortals to be a perpetual headache. Simply killing them was not a true solution. Slaying an Ancient Immortal was merely a temporary fix, a treatment of symptoms rather than the actual root cause. The real key was cutting off their sources of faith, ensuring that these heretical cults could no longer sustain them.

Yet throughout history, these cults have proven impossible to eradicate completely. For example, the infamous White Lotus Sect that was founded in the Jin Dynasty had survived through the rule of the Golden Horde, the Wei Dynasty, and the Great Xuan Dynasty, persisting despite multiple dynastic overthrows. Its resilience rivaled that of the Three Religions themselves.

The Daoist Order faced the same struggle against secret societies.

Zhang Wuhen was not a true Godly Immortal because she did not have a divine kingdom. But she had already set foot upon the threshold of becoming a Godly Immortal. Thus, she found an alternative for a divine kingdom, and that substitute was the amber-like Xuan Jade.

This amber was an early version of the Xuan Jade, vastly different from the Xuan Jade that Qi Xuansu and Li Changge had encountered.

This method was not Zhang Wuhen’s original creation. She learned of it by chance during her conversations with an acquaintance from the Western Continent.

In the West, there was a powerful type of undead called the lich. These beings had once been great Arcanists, Shamans, and Sacrificants. To extend their lifespans beyond a hundred years, they willingly abandoned their fragile mortal bodies, embracing immortality as undead entities like living corpses. They possessed an artifact known as a phylactery that stored their life force. As long as their phylactery remained intact, they could be reborn indefinitely.

Zhang Wuhen knew her elder brother too well. She foresaw her own death long ago, so she combined her knowledge of divine kingdoms with the Western concept of lich phylacteries, using an early version of the Xuan Jade to create her own phylactery.

The crucial challenge of a lich lay in hiding their phylactery, just as demons took extreme precautions to conceal their true names. Zhang Wuhen pondered this problem for a long time. In the end, she decided to entrust the amber-like Xuan Jade that carried her life force to the one person she trusted above all others—her son.

The Heavenly Preceptor Zhang Wushou never anticipated that his sister would conceive such an audacious plan. In the end, it was his own guilt from personally executing his sister that blinded him, as he did not suspect Zhang Juyan at all.

This was how Zhang Wuhen was resurrected from her first death.