A Pawn's Passage

The reason Earthly Immortals were powerful was that they could either unite with heaven and earth or fuse with a paradise while they were still in the Fusion Realm. The former, similar to the inner elixir faction, promised a grand future. The latter, like the outer elixir faction, offered a faster path to immortality. As long as the paradise did not perish, their body would not decay. Once the Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being unite with the paradise, they would gain a terrain advantage, so much so that they would be able to match the combat strength of an Immortal without the threat of heavenly tribulation. But there were gains and losses in this method. There was no turning back after merging with the paradise. They would never be able to leave this paradise and would gradually assimilate with it, their consciousness ultimately dissolving and becoming part of the paradise itself.

There were definite interconnections among the Five Immortals. Heavenly Immortals could create paradises but could not merge with them; Earthly Immortals could merge with paradises but could not create them; Godly Immortals combined the strengths of both, but the divine kingdoms they created could not last as long as paradises.

There was no doubt that Saintly Peace had chosen to unite with the heavens and earth, not with a specific paradise. First, it was because merging with a paradise was too limiting, especially as the end of the era was imminent and paradises were slowly descending into the mortal realm. Making such a fusion would mean a dead end. Second, there were not many paradises available for merging, as most were controlled by the Daoist Order. Even if one were determined to do so, they would need the Daoist Order’s permission.

Godly Immortals could counter Earthly Immortals precisely because their divine kingdoms could isolate the Earthly Immortals’ power from fusing with the heavens and earth, forcing both sides to rely on their true abilities. That was why, as long as the Godly Immortal had sufficient divine power, they could hold their ground against an Earthly Immortal within their own divine kingdom.

At this moment, the Innkeeper unleashed his Fruition Realm to specifically counter Saintly Peace’s Fusion Realm.

But for a Qi Refiner, this was not too concerning. After all, the Innkeeper’s Fruition Realm, which only spanned 15 kilometers, was limited, but the vastness of heaven and earth was boundless. As long as Saintly Peace could step outside that range, it would be a whole different game.

The biggest flaw of a divine kingdom was that it could not move, or it moved extremely slowly, nowhere near the flexibility of an Earthly Immortal, and even less compared to a Heavenly Immortal, who could freely traverse the cosmos.

Even if, for various reasons, the Earthly Immortal could not leave, they were still ranked second among the Five Immortals, and their raw ability alone was not something ordinary Godly Immortals could match.

Saintly Peace showed no fear, swinging his invisible Daozi Sword as he charged at the Innkeeper.

The Innkeeper did not meet the attack head-on. Having activated the Fruition Realm, the Innkeeper could command all beings within the scope of his domain with just words. However, he had yet to master this technique fully.

The Innkeeper muttered, “Halt.”