Chapter 699: Retreat
Qi Xuansu’s battle with The Inn’s Earth-ranked attendant ultimately ended with him resorting to his Shaman lineage.
He had a partial Golden Body Transformation on his left hand. Combining the strength of a Martial Arts Practitioner and the innate qi of a Rogue Cultivator with his golden hand, he forcibly grabbed the Earth-ranked attendant’s sword. Though he could not break it, he managed to hold it, then used his right hand to sever the man’s sword-wielding arm. After all, the Earth-rank attendant only wore a cuirass that protected the torso but had no shoulder guards.
One misstep led to another. After losing his arm, the Earth-ranked attendant could no longer match Qi Xuansu. When he tried to turn and flee, Qi Xuansu seized the opportunity and decapitated him.
Qi Xuansu did not use the mystical abilities in the Spiritual Body Realm because of divine power.
In the Daoist Order, divine power and incense power were measured in marks. This unit originated from vessels designed to store divine power. Roughly 3 marks of incense power could be refined into 1 mark of divine power. A fourth-rank Shaman could receive 100 marks of divine power monthly, while a fourth-rank Spirit Guard consumed 30 marks per month during non-war times.
Zhang Wuhen’s vessel—the amber-looking Xuan Jade—contained tens of thousands of marks of divine power. Most of it was absorbed by her during her resurrection, body reconstruction, and the battle with Sun Hewu, who had drawn upon the power of the Seven Star Net Formation. But in her haste, Zhang Wuhen did not absorb it all. Many fragments drifted away and ultimately fell into Qi Xuansu’s hands, which amounted to about 2,000 marks.
Of that, 1,000 marks were used by Qi Xuansu to complete his Shaman lineage and advance to become a Heavenly Being. Normally, 1,000 marks of divine power would not be enough to achieve this, but since he had already reached the ninth level of the Guizhen stage, he was only a step away from becoming a Heavenly Being and did not need much more divine power.
Qi Xuansu stored the remaining 1,000 marks for emergencies. He could only produce 3 marks per day himself, which was barely enough for daily needs, leaving him in a constant deficit. He could not forgo his stipend to claim more divine power either. Last time, manifesting his Spiritual Body in the battle against Gan Longchi and repairing it afterward cost him nearly 100 marks. Naturally, he now needed to conserve it carefully.
He had originally planned to strip the dead man’s cuirass, take his sword, and search for any magical receptacles. But the circumstances changed too quickly.
Another Earth-ranked attendant temporarily abandoned the Heaven-ranked attendant’s physical body and flew toward Qi Xuansu, clearly intending to take his life.
Qi Xuansu had no choice but to abandon his loot and retreat swiftly.