A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 383: Beauty Brings Disaster

Qi Xuansu muttered under his breath, “Phew...that was a close one.”

The Martial Arts Practitioner’s ability to restrain spells did not mean that Martial Arts Practitioners could defeat Diviners in a dream. It only worked if the Martial Arts Practitioner had condensed their spirit and body, so they would not be able to fall into a dream, hence rendering the Diviner’s ability useless.

However, any other lineage would easily stumble into a dream carefully crafted by a Diviner.

If Qi Xuansu did not have the Diviner’s mystical abilities from the Xuan Jade of Death, he could only go through the dream by following the rules set by Lu Long. Only by making the right choice could Qi Xuansu break out of the dream.

What Lu Long did not expect was that Qi Xuansu also had the mystical abilities of a Diviner, so the latter could break the rules and trash the dream. Since Lu Long was unprepared, he was killed by Qi Xuansu in this dream.

Although spells were only effective if one believed in them, Lu Long was already in the game, so believing in them no longer made a difference. As such, the injuries he suffered in the dream would also affect his physical body.

That was how Lu Long died.

From the perspective of others watching the “duel,” the two men merely remained motionless while staring intently at each other. After about half an hour, a stab wound suddenly appeared on Lu Long’s chest, and the winner was determined.

Li Qingnu was also a Diviner, so she could clearly see that the two of them were fighting in a dream, which was more dangerous than a physical fight.

To her surprise, Qi Xuansu won in the end.

She thought to herself, Isn’t he a Rogue Cultivator? Even if he knows some of the Diviner’s mystical abilities, how can he defeat a pure Diviner?

For a moment, Li Qingnu was a little stunned and puzzled.

Long Wuji could not help but whisper to Su Chou beside him. “Brother Wei is truly invincible! Is he really a Banished Immortal from the Daoist Order?”

Su Chou said, “I think so. All Banished Immortals in the Daoist Order are known, which explains why Brother Wei has to travel under a pseudonym. His original identity is probably comparable to Zhang Yuelu, Yao Pei, and the others.”

Long Wuji pondered for a while and felt that this was indeed the most reasonable explanation since all Banished Immortals had been recruited by the Daoist Order. It would also explain Wei Wugui’s Daoist habits and why they had never heard of this name before.

Qi Xuansu cupped his fists and said, “Young Master Lu, these three fighters are indeed powerful. If I hadn’t gone all out, I wouldn’t be able to defeat them. I hope you don’t blame me for giving it my all.”

Lu Yunfeng’s face was ashen, and he was rendered speechless.

Lu Hu held his severed arm and turned to look at his fallen brothers. Lu Niu was paralyzed on the ground, and Lu Long was dead. He could not help but feel sad about the death of his friend, but he was helpless. The three of them took turns fighting Qi Xuansu, but in the end, two of them were seriously injured, and one of them died.

They had nothing to blame but their inferior skills.

Lu Hu walked up to Lu Yunfeng and bowed in apology. “Young Master, I am willing to accept the punishment for being incompetent and for having failed your order.”

Lu Yunfeng ignored Lu Hu. He just scoffed and yelled at Qi Xuansu. “Fine!”

When Lu Yunfeng came to Sycamore Villa, he brought along Lu Long, Lu Hu, Lu Niu, four sedan carriers, and six attendants.

Before Lu Yunfeng gave out the order, one of the six attendants suddenly stepped out and punched Qi Xuansu in the chest. Qi Xuansu immediately blocked the punch with the River Fist.

The attendant did not make a sound. His lower body was stable, as if he had nailed his legs to the ground. He merely concentrated on throwing one powerful punch after another. However, the attendant’s cultivation was slightly inferior to Lu Niu’s, even though he used the same boxing technique.

Qi Xuansu also countered with a punch head-on, with no underhanded tricks.

A thunderous boom echoed in the air as their fists met. The two men’s bodies swayed, but they quickly recovered and punched each other again for the second time.

With another resounding boom, the attendant’s body swayed, and he took a step back. However, Qi Xuansu stood calmly on the spot.

The attendant originally thought that Qi Xuansu had exhausted his energy after fighting three times in a row. So there was a high chance that he could win after a few punches.

To his surprise, he was the one who stumbled back from the shock of Qi Xuansu’s punch. Unwilling to give up, the attendant took a deep breath and punched Qi Xuansu simultaneously with both fists.

Qi Xuansu also countered with both fists. This time, the attendant took three steps back, and blood surged in his chest.

Everyone could hear the sound of joints cracking all over the attendant’s body before he thrust out both arms with an overwhelming force. Qi Xuansu circulated his innate qi and waved his palms, using the Sea Fist to deflect the opponent’s force.

A second later, the attendant bellowed in agony. His body shook violently, and the bones in both his arms shattered completely.

He still could not understand how Qi Xuansu still had so much energy left after fighting three battles in a row.

In fact, the reason for this was simple. Qi Xuansu was not a true Banished Immortal. He only had the blood qi of a Guizhen-stage Martial Arts Practitioner, the innate qi of a Guizhen-stage Rogue Cultivator, and the magical power of a Guizhen-stage Diviner.

The third battle against Lu Long only consumed Qi Xuansu's magical power, while the second battle against Lu Hu consumed his innate qi. The first battle against Lu Niu consumed his blood qi and some innate qi. As such, even after three consecutive battles, Qi Xuansu still had a lot of energy left, which was beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

At this moment, two more attendants jumped out.

Qi Xuansu only felt two silent gusts of wind hitting him from the left and right, extremely fast. Startled, Qi Xuansu quickly used his palms to take the blow. They were locked in a stalemate when their four palms touched.

Suddenly, Qi Xuansu's sides were slapped at the same time.

Qi Xuansu groaned and backed away. It was difficult for him to defeat two opponents at once because each of them used one hand to restrain Qi Xuansu’s palms while using their free hand to strike Qi Xuansu’s body.

Seeing this situation, Su Chou and Long Wuji no longer hesitated. The two attendants left Qi Xuansu alone and fought against Su Chou and Long Wuji, respectively.

In a head-on confrontation, Su Chou’s and Long Wuji’s bodies swayed, while the two attendants staggered back a few steps. The attendants could feel blood rising in their chests.

Finally realizing he was bound to lose, Lu Yunfeng quickly cut his losses and waved his hand to stop the fight. He looked disgruntled as he shouted to his subordinates. “Let’s go!”

The two attendants fighting with Su Chou and Long Wuji retreated immediately.

The other three attendants and the three sedan carriers picked up Lu Long’s corpse, the paralyzed Lu Niu, the poisoned sedan carrier, and Lu Hu with his amputated arm. They certainly did not look as flashy as they did when they first arrived.

At this moment, Li Qingnu called out. “Stop right there!”

Lu Yunfeng halted in his steps and slowly turned his head to look at Li Qingnu. “I won’t step foot into Sycamore Villa again.”

Li Qingnu smiled slightly. “Young Master Lu, you must be forgetful. That’s not what I want to say. You promised to give him 1,000 Taiping coins for every master he defeats, so that’s 3,000 Taiping coins.”

Lu Yunfeng’s face turned gloomy. A noble person like him would not carry coins or cash notes around because most things would be put on a tab. However, he had already made a promise, so he could not go back on his word.

In the end, he took off a jade pendant from his waist and begrudgingly threw it to the ground. “I spent 5,000 Taiping coins to buy this jade pendant. It should be enough to cover the 3,000 Taiping coins I owe you. It’s yours now.”

Qi Xuansu did not bend down to pick it up. Instead, he stomped on the ground and used his innate qi to summon the jade pendant. The moment he touched the jade pendant, he knew that Lu Yunfeng was not lying.

This jade pendant was actually a spiritual object. Holding it in his palm gave him a sense of peace and tranquility. It was probably a spiritual object specially designed to protect against Diviners.

For ordinary folk like Qi Xuansu who had limited money, they would often purchase spiritual weapons first, followed by spiritual armor.

Very few people would choose to buy this kind of spiritual object that was specifically designed to deal with a certain situation.

This jade pendant was very effective against Diviners, but it was useless against Martial Arts Practitioners. Ordinary people would not have enough money to buy such targeted spiritual objects. Thus, only those from prestigious families with abundant wealth would carry such spiritual objects with them.

Qi Xuansu weighed it in his palm and decided to find a suitable opportunity to sell it.

Lu Yunfeng took a deep look at Qi Xuansu before leaving in a huff.

After he left, Li Qingnu came to Qi Xuansu and asked softly, “Are you alright?”

Qi Xuansu nodded, indicating that he was fine.

Li Qingnu quipped, “Well, you’ve gained another enemy today. What are your thoughts on this?”

Qi Xuansu shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Li Qingnu asked, “Aren’t you afraid that Lu Yunfeng will cause trouble for you in the future?”

Qi Xuansu shook his head. “Nope.”

Li Qingnu suddenly laughed. “Right. You’re not even afraid of Li Tianzhen, so how can you be scared of Lu Yunfeng?”

Qi Xuansu glanced at her. “If you must know what my thoughts are on this, I have to say that beauty sure does bring disasters.”