The True Dao of the Jade Pivot wasn't a yao cultivation method. Yuan Qi couldn't make sense of it. He raised his tail like a student in class.
"Immortal Master, that pivot thing is too hard for me. Do you have something simpler? Martial arts would work. I'm not blessed with immortal talent."
The white-robed figure sat motionless, eyes closed.
Yuan Qi wouldn't give up. He shouted and complained until everyone in the hall glared at him. Finally the immortal opened his eyes.
"You noisy serpent." He tossed down a scroll. "This is True Cultivation of the Ba Serpent. A martial method suited for your kind. Take it and leave."
Yuan Qi flipped through it with his tail. "Master, the Ba serpent and I are different species. Same family, different branch. If I practice this, my cousins will laugh at me."
The immortal's jaw tightened. He tossed another scroll. "Dragon-Serpent Awakening Art. Now get out."
Yuan Qi collected both scrolls, overjoyed. "Master, I love reading. Can I have the Ba Serpent one too?"
The immortal waved his sleeve. Yuan Qi kowtowed tearfully. "No one has ever been so kind to me. You're my second parent."
The immortal's fists clenched beneath his robes. "You have filial piety. Good. Leave."
Yuan Qi wiped his eyes and slithered out. The immortal exhaled in relief—then saw the serpent returning.
"What now?"
"Master, I have a very smart friend outside. He's clever and talented. You'd love him. I'll accept him as your disciple on your behalf. Could you give me one more scripture for him?"
The immortal's face twitched. He forced a smile. "You are loyal to your friends. Very well. I will teach you the True Dao of the Jade Pivot personally. Every word you don't understand, I will explain."
Yuan Qi kowtowed again. "This disciple understands nothing."
"Then I shall start from the beginning!"
* * *
Outside, Su Yan pushed toward the great temple. The great bell groaned but followed.
A crash echoed ahead. A stone idol had awakened and was slaughtering everyone in its path. Several Yongzhou clerks lay dead. Others fought back with nuo techniques.
One clerk wore a strange mask on his back—a pale face with bulging eyes, a long tongue, and fangs. It looked like the folk-reaper Wuchang. He strapped it to his face. Fleshy tendrils sprouted from the mask's edges and burrowed into his skin. His body stretched to sixteen feet, thin as a skeleton, powerful as a demon. His tongue hung to the ground.
He became Wuchang itself.
His nuo techniques turned ghostly, wounding the stone idol's spirit. But their opponent was a three-eyed god riding a black tortoise, armored in gold, its divine power deeper than anything Su Yan had faced.
The battle raged. The Wuchang-clerk was cut in half. His mask rolled to Su Yan's feet.
"Save me..." the clerk whispered.
A massive foot crushed him. The tortoise-mounted god moved on.
Su Yan grabbed the mask and hid in a ditch, not daring to breathe. When the god passed, he examined the mask. What was this thing? Yuan Qi would know.
He strapped it to his back and looked for another path. More combat thundered ahead—worse than before, shockwaves flattening forests.
Su Yan crept closer. The three-eyed god faced a middle-aged man.
*Zhou Zheng.* The Yongzhou Judicial Commissioner who had led the hunt for Su Yan. His cultivation far exceeded Zhou Yihang's. With a roar that shook the mountains, Zhou Zheng transformed into a golden-winged roc, diving at the god. The three-eyed god's forehead eye blazed, severing the roc's wings. Zhou Zheng fell—then sprouted fur, becoming a giant golden ape, smashing the tortoise backward.
The god's eye blazed again. Zhou Zheng shed the ape form, golden scales covering his body, becoming a dragon-headed giant walking on lightning. The god's eye-beams reflected off the dragon scales, carving holes in the earth.
Zhou Zheng's palm gathered lightning into a blade and severed the god's head.
"Killing my Yongzhou men—death is too kind for you."
Su Yan didn't dare move. This man made Zhou Yihang look like a child.
Zhou Zheng turned. "Where is that Xu Ying? Five mountains, so many awakened gods—finding him is a pain. Verdant Puppet Art!"
He stomped. Life force exploded outward. Every plant within range tore itself from the ground. Weeds became green-clad swordsmen. Wildflowers became thumb-sized girls in straw hats. Bushes grew thorn-armor and charged like wolves. Trees became treants.
They swarmed in every direction, searching.
Su Yan found himself surrounded by tiny weed-men staring up at him. A flower-girl unrolled a portrait and compared it to his face.
Su Yan pointed elsewhere. They didn't fall for it. He whispered, "This isn't me. See, my clothes have a hole here. His don't."
The flower-girl looked past him.
Su Yan slowly turned.
Zhou Zheng stood twenty paces away, smiling. "Criminal Xu. Any last words?"
Su Yan laughed and sprinted for the mountain's edge. He leaped into the void. Zhou Zheng reached the cliff—and saw Su Yan riding the great bell, floating lazily toward the temple.
Zhou Zheng smiled. His body shifted into a bird-headed, winged tianpeng spirit. He flew after Su Yan, unhurried.
Su Yan unleashed the Grand Unity Daoyin Art. His half-acre light-field blazed, expanded to a full acre—a blazing beacon in the sky.
Zhou Zheng's smile faltered. "He's not restoring his power. He's using the phenomenon as a signal!"
Incense qi streamed through the air from every direction, becoming flying swords aimed at Zhou Zheng. City gods from Ningyuan, Dongning, Daozhou, Jiangyong, and Lanshan soared on auspicious clouds, intercepting him.
Zhou Zheng cursed, golden feathers clashing against divine swords. He watched Su Yan drift toward the temple, helpless.
"That brat's backside," he thought. "I hate that backside."