Chapter 61: Slaying a Golden Immortal

The Flag Gate Escape is an ancient immortal technique for beheading generals; the one who sets up the formation naturally knows every move of the enemy general entering it.

Otherwise, how could one conceal one’s form, approach closely, and kill with a single strike?

But the spatial range of the ancient immortal technique Flag Gate Escape is extremely narrow.

On the battlefield, one quickly plants two large flags—one in front, one behind—transforming them into an archway; the space between the two flags becomes the Flag Gate space.

Moreover, those who enter the Flag Gate Escape formation are usually only one or two enemy generals, never many.

Now, the Flag Hunter Immortal Kong Zan, far inferior to the mighty Jie Sect masters of the Investiture era, has enveloped the entire Feixian Ferry with Flag Gate Escape, and within the Flag Gate space are Liyang Marquis and two to three thousand others (now more than half dead, fewer than a thousand remain).

The Flag Hunter Immortal Kong Zan must also devote his main focus to the Three Thousand Fire Crows Array.

After all, it was only because the Feixian Ferry was cramped that the Three Thousand Fire Crows Army formed a defensive formation—they were not helpless.

Now the Flag Gate Escape formation is draining the Three Thousand Fire Crows Army, while the Three Thousand Fire Crows Army is simultaneously using blood-sha energy to erode the Flag Gate Escape’s “primordial qi.”

Thus, the Flag Hunter Immortal’s perception of the Flag Gate Escape’s edges—such as the cave and wine cellar—is rather blurred.

Moreover, Xiao Yu’s situation is exceptionally peculiar.

She encountered the good ghost Duan Yuhuan and was led onto the Ghost Dao.

Humans follow the Human Dao, ghosts follow the Ghost Path; thus, when the Flag Gate was originally set up on the eastern side of the Feixian Ferry, the old ghost Qin Squire saw her, yet she never noticed the old ghost behind her.

If Qin Squire had been alive, how could Kong Zan, at his realm, have remained utterly unaware?

Qin Squire got lost because the Flag Gate Escape had not yet been activated, leaving no impact on the space of the northeast highway, only slightly distorting the Ghost Dao near the formation’s core.

The Flag Hunter Immortal Kong Zan had once planned to kill Xiao Yu on a whim.

The invisible blade that nearly severed Xiao Yu’s head came from his casual “flick” within the Eight Trigrams Heavenly Knife Array.

Once Xiao Yu followed Duan Yuhuan into the Ghost Dao, though still within the Flag Gate space, Kong Zan, focused far away on the Three Thousand Fire Crows Army, perceived her even more vaguely, unable to lock onto her position precisely or continue remote “sniping.”

Now that he has entered the fray himself, his perception has sharpened considerably, yet he still must expend considerable effort to block Xiao Yu and Duan Yuhuan as they dart chaotically along the Ghost Dao.

Hmm, he is ultimately a Golden Immortal, and within the Flag Gate space, upon nearing her, he realized it was an old ghost causing trouble.

Now, this little girl has foolishly made matters worse—not only does she not hasten her escape, but she turns back toward him, calling out “Father”... absurdly stupid.

“Your voice is wrong! You—you’re not my father!”

He saw her expression freeze, and she stepped back repeatedly.

Too late now—she is still human, not a ghost.

She is now firmly locked within the Flag Gate space, with no escape.

Even an old ghost, he can slay.

“Guan Huchen took you as his adopted daughter; I can too. After all, Shahuang is one of the Thirty-Six Allied States—why would you recognize a bandit as your father?” the Flag Hunter Immortal Kong Zan smiled faintly.

“I have an adoptive father. A virtuous woman does not serve two fathers! Especially now, since you are my adoptive father’s enemy—how could I betray my father and defect?” Xiao Yu stood firm, like the heroine of the Biographies of Exemplary Women.

“Well said!” Duan Yuhuan, rushing up frantically from behind, was moved once again.

Hmm, the old ghost Duan had not fled—he had come after her.

Kong Zan dismissed it: “Guan Huchen is already dead.”

“Did you kill my adoptive father? Why? We no longer had the Nine-Turn Bone-Transformation Elixir—the Divine Elixir was already eaten by me!” Xiao Yu cried out in grief and fury.

—The Divine Elixir has been consumed, so you should flee quickly!

Even though the “Great Dad Annihilation” trigger had activated, she still did not wish to fight the Flag Hunter Immortal to the death.

Not only because of the risk, but the Flag Hunter Immortal is not alone.

The “Jade-Faced Civil Star” Dou Yilin had plainly said: “The Eight Immortals of the West each display their own miracles.”

She could not be certain whether eight Golden Immortals had arrived, but their number could only be greater, not fewer.

The Flag Hunter Immortal is merely one among many immortals.

“So that’s how it is.”

After inspecting her thoroughly, Kong Zan sighed with regret: “I should have come sooner.”

He believed her—and suddenly understood.

Earlier, he had been puzzled: how could the “Sword God” who had slain eight elite Shu soldiers in the wine cellar be such a tiny girl?

Now he understood—she possessed a natural talent for sword Dao, which explained it all.

“Since the Divine Elixir has already been consumed, you may go.”

Kong Zan sighed with annoyance and waved his hand dismissively, telling her to leave.

“Thank you, General, for sparing my life!”

Xiao Yu froze for a long moment—gaining time to digest the “Method of Killing Kong Zan” she had just deduced in her mind—then bowed with apparent gratitude, turned around calmly, and even sheathed her Long Wen sword with a clear “clang.”

In the instant she turned, Xiao Yu’s gaze sharpened like a blade, a dense aura of killing intent coalescing in her pupils.

At the instant Xiao Yu turned, Kong Zan’s expression of helplessness and regret vanished, replaced by coldness; his eyes, too, sharpened like blades.

—To slay eight elite soldiers clad in iron armor and possessing internal qi within a single breath—what terrifying sword Dao ability is this?! And she has ingested the Divine Elixir that reverses fate and alters destiny—her ability must now rise another tier.

If she openly turned hostile, she might well deliver him a considerable surprise.

Before leaving the Eight Trigrams Heavenly Knife Array platform, Old Dou had repeatedly warned him: once the Divine Elixir was obtained, return immediately.

Now is the critical moment of the “Eight Immortals Shooting the Sun”—he had neither time nor energy to deal with minor surprises or unexpected turns.

So, better to cut her down swiftly and cleanly.

Soundlessly, Kong Zan’s figure vanished entirely.

The next instant, he appeared behind Xiao Yu.

What became visible to the human eye was a three-chi-long, two-finger-wide, gleaming blade—like lightning splitting the night sky—appearing directly upon Xiao Yu’s nape.

Yet the hilt, the hand gripping it, and Kong Zan himself remained invisible and intangible.

As if he were hidden within some pocket dimension, with only half the blade protruding.

“Hmm, a bit disappointing...”

A soft sigh reached Kong Zan’s ears; his pupils contracted—before his eyes, Miss Xiao’s figure had vanished.

The blade had appeared directly upon her nape.

The three-chi straight blade had moved as swiftly as lightning, yet it had struck nothing.

As if choreographed, he slashed from behind, and she turned just in time to evade...

“Puch!”

A cold blade slid precisely along the ribcage’s gap and thrust into her pounding heart.

Kong Zan seemed to hear the sound of his heart bursting.

“How is this possible?” His mind remained mostly bewildered.

Xiao Yu twisted the hilt, withdrew the blade gently, then drove it swiftly into Kong Zan’s left neck.

“Puch!” The Long Wen pierced clean through his entire neck.

Only then did Xiao Yu speak softly: “You cultivated the Flag Gate Escape—don’t you know its nature yourself?

Perhaps through celestial qi, it interferes with the normal flow of time and space to some degree, but its essence remains an illusion that disrupts the five senses and the spirit.”

Previously, she had assumed the “Flag Gate space” was a pure spatial manipulation technique of the immortals.

After all, when she stepped forward, she appeared instantly outside the wine cellar, and the invisible blade had teleported above her head, nearly splitting her in two.

Only when Kong Zan triggered the “Great Dad Annihilation” and she deduced the “Method of Killing Kong Zan” through her purple palace did she realize the Flag Gate Escape was not a spatial immortal technique, but an illusion that manipulates the five senses and spirit.

This was also terrifying.

When all five senses are distorted and the spirit is confused, the master of Flag Gate Escape makes you believe what he wishes is real—its effect is even more tyrannical than true spatial disruption.

But it is ultimately not a spatial immortal technique.

If it were a spatial technique, Kong Zan would be hiding in another dimension, like Obito from Naruto—she could never strike him.

She lacked the power to break spatial barriers.

Because Flag Gate Escape is an illusion, he is truly standing behind her—only all five senses and spiritual perception directed at him are twisted and deformed. Thus, if she finds the correct position, her sword will inevitably strike its target.

“Impossible...” Kong Zan swayed, one hand clutching his chest, the other his neck, spewing thick purple-red foam, “All cultivated beings with insight know Flag Gate Escape is an illusion.

But I have never met anyone who could break it directly.

Even Liyang Marquis could not.

He understood Flag Gate Escape, so despite the Eight Immortals displaying their miracles, his army remained motionless.

He dared not move.

Even his spiritual sense had been twisted in direction and spatial perception.”

This was true.

Flag Gate Escape had already gained fame during the Investiture era; many cultivators knew it was an illusion.

In fact, experienced cultivators could deduce directly from the method of transforming the flags into an archway that it was an illusion.

Illusion techniques are not lowly.

After all, cultivation itself is about turning falsehood into truth.

Flag Gate Escape nearly achieved illusion-based control over space and time.

“How are you still alive?” After listening to his long speech, Xiao Yu did not boast—she remained wary, instantly closing in behind his back, “Tear-Heaven Sword!”

“Puch!”

Kong Zan’s head tilted, rolling onto the ground.

“What a ruthless villain—you’ve gone too far, utterly destroying my physical form.”

Kong Zan’s expression twisted into extreme malice, his eyes filled with despair and boundless hatred.

“Your head is severed—yet you can still speak? You...”

Before Xiao Yu could finish, a fierce, murderous aura surged toward her face.

“Miss Yu, be careful—he’s become a vengeful ghost!”

Duan Yuhang snapped out of his shock at Xiao Yu’s reversal against the human immortal and let out a piercing, ghostly scream.

Xiao Yu had no time to hear his warning.

In an instant, her scalp prickled, every muscle tensed—“Tiger Roar Sword!” (Tiger Roar Knife!)

“Roar!” Her soul transformed into a ten-foot-tall ferocious tiger, slamming head-on into the blood-red ghostly shadow (the cultivator’s yin spirit).

Without sound or ripple, her soul collided violently with Kong Zan’s yin spirit.

“Umm~~~” Xiao Yu staggered back two steps, blood threads trickling from all seven orifices except her ears.

“You seek death!” Yet she did not retreat; instead, fury burned within her as she reactivated the ferocious tiger’s spiritual intent.

But this time, she didn’t act foolishly—she didn’t directly pit her soul-formed tiger against another’s yin spirit, cultivated over countless years.

She channeled the “Ferocious Tiger Sword Intent” into her sword-bone, making her body the sword, wielding “Body-Sword” to execute the “Slaying Ghost Sword” (Slaying Ghost Knife), meeting Kong Zan’s charging yin spirit with a direct, brutal slash.

“Whirrrrrr~~~” Xiao Yu seemed to have truly become a drawn divine sword.

Her skin was covered in a sharp, blood-red ferocious tiger aura, and a clear, resonant sword hum emanated from within her body.

To Duan Yuhang’s eyes, Miss Yu had indeed become a ten-foot-long great sword.

Upon the great sword crouched a black tiger.

The black tiger roared, its body wreathed in a black-red aura that filled him with dread and pain.

Though his soul-body was being corroded by the aura, he did not retreat—“The ferocious ghost is back again, watch out~~ ehh~~”

Kong Zan, as before, was monstrous and full of venomous malice—but now, like a buffalo hide striking a blade, though resilient, he was still cleaved cleanly in two by the sharp edge.

“This is... your sword Dao technique, the spirit within the sword? Indeed, such piercing sword intent~~~”

These were the last words Xiao Yu heard from Kong Zan.

“Miss Yu, be careful—someone else is coming!”

Duan Yuhang, enduring the agony of the ferocious tiger aura corroding his soul-body, let out another shrill ghostly cry.

“Swoosh~~~”

Before the figure arrived, a point of cold light sliced through the thick fog, arriving ahead of him before Xiao Yu.

It was a three-foot silver-glowing flying sword!