A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu had already been beaten to the point where he could no longer fight back. The only reason he was still alive was that Zhou Mengyao had held back. She simply could not bear to destroy him. What she truly wanted was to bring him under her control once more.

Activating the Guizang Lantern had been Qi Xuansu’s final move. Had Zhou Mengyao anticipated it as well, he would have had no choice but to concede defeat.

Fortunately, it appeared that Zhou Mengyao had failed to foresee this.

That was hardly surprising, as only four people even knew Qi Xuansu possessed the Guizang Lantern.

The first was Zhang Yuelu, who had personally placed the Guizang Lantern into Qi Xuansu’s hands. The second was Little Yin, who had once secretly tampered with the Guizang Lantern, setting off an entire chain of subsequent events. Ever since then, she had been terrified of the lantern. The third was Huangfu Ji, who had only learned about it when Qi Xuansu openly told him the reason he managed to counter the Three Sacred Fist, leaving Huangfu Ji astonished for quite some time. The fourth was the all-knowing Madam Qi.

All four had a unique role in Qi Xuansu’s life, making it impossible for Zhou Mengyao to learn the secret through them. Needless to say, his mother, Daoist companion, and daughter would not betray him. Huangfu Ji, as the designated successor of the Western Daoist Order, understood the gravity of such matters and knew how to keep his mouth shut.

Seeing Great Sage Jiang successfully descend at last, Qi Xuansu let out a long sigh of relief. He could finally rest easy.

Even setting cultivation aside, Great Sage Jiang held an overwhelming advantage simply in terms of the sheer amount of immortal objects. Although Madam Wu remained asleep, leaving him one artifact short, he had obtained Heaven’s Will from Chen Shuhua to make up for it.

With a sharp flick of her wrist, Zhou Mengyao shook off Great Sage Jiang’s grip. She immediately unleashed the Nine Forms of Heavenly Inquiry. She replicated herself into nine bodies, with the other eight Zhou Mengyaos occupying the eight cardinal directions.

Great Sage Jiang wasted no words. Sweeping both palms into a circular motion, he followed the principles of yin and yang and the transformations of the four seasons, forging a separate pocket of space that enclosed all nine Zhou Mengyaos within it.

All nine Zhou Mengyaos moved simultaneously. They were unbelievably fast, with bizarre trajectories. Every movement left behind a visible trail in the air. As the nine figures repeatedly crossed paths, those countless lines gradually outlined the shape of an enormous talisman.

Clearly, Zhou Mengyao’s techniques excelled in combining different techniques into a single seamless art. As the massive talisman, or blade formation, took shape, even space itself was sliced apart.

Without question, Great Sage Jiang and Zhou Mengyao were competing in their mastery and understanding of space itself.

Martial Arts Practitioners were by no means the only ones capable of manipulating space. In truth, Heavenly Immortals were the true masters of such arts. Traversing worlds and creating pocket realms were their specialty. Earthly Immortals and Great Witches possessed their own corresponding methods as well. By comparison, Martial Arts Practitioners approached the matter far more directly. They simply smashed through space with overwhelming force.

Great Sage Jiang’s Heaven and Earth Convergence was such a spatial technique. At its core, it created an independent small world, trapping Zhou Mengyao within before steadily compressing the entire small world inward.

This differed fundamentally from a divine domain. It was like the difference between a divine kingdom and a pocket realm. The former was more metaphysical in nature, while the latter was tangible.

When Zhou Mengyao unleashed the Nine Forms of Heavenly Inquiry to their fullest extent, the blade itself remained tangible, yet the blade technique had become formless.

The trajectories of the blade remained suspended without dispersing, like brushstrokes on a painting. They intertwined and evolved continuously until they turned into a landscape painting. A genuine world gradually emerged, one in which turbid qi descended while pure qi ascended.

The crushing pressure of the small world never reached Zhou Mengyao herself. Instead, it was neutralized by this world she had painted through her blade art.

Through Heavenly Calculation, Zhou Mengyao discerned the flaws hidden within Great Sage Jiang’s Heaven and Earth Convergence. Her blade intention slipped through those fleeting cracks, bypassing the confines of the small world and striking Great Sage Jiang directly.

Although Great Sage Jiang’s hechang appeared completely untouched, blood slowly seeped through it. Zhou Mengyao’s blade qi did not dissipate after inflicting the wound. Instead, it lingered within the injury, preventing the wounds from healing.

“Daoist Zhou, although you never truly cultivated the Taishang Emotionless Sutra, and merely imitated it through the Taiping Qingling Sutra, your mastery of the Nine Forms of Heavenly Inquiry has already reached perfection. It’s truly remarkable.” Great Sage Jiang offered sincere praise.

He did not look infuriated or fearful. Instead, his entire body gradually began to glow with the radiance of a midnight star-filled sky.

As Great Sage Jiang’s body transformed into a vast expanse of stars, leaving behind only a vague silhouette, he soon returned to his original form. Every wound on his body had disappeared. The blade qi lodged within those injuries vanished without a trace, and even the true essence he had expended was completely restored.

This was a secret technique of the Shamanistic Sect, known as the Shaman King Beneath the Starry Sky, or the Blessing of the Dark Eternal Heaven.

The Shaman King was the Supreme High Priest of the Shamanistic Sect and concurrently served as the Imperial Preceptor of the Golden Horde.

The Shamanistic Sect worshipped the Eternal Heaven, whose name simply referred to the heavens themselves. The Dark Eternal Heaven was the night sky. The Shaman King was the one blessed by the Eternal Heaven with immortality and was thus forbidden from claiming the throne. Instead, the Golden Horde Khan would rule, borrowing the power of the Eternal Heaven.

During the Holy Xuan Era, the Shaman King joined forces with Song Zheng to refine the Great Khan, who ruled by the power of the Eternal Heaven, as well as more than a hundred thousand lives, into the Longevity Stone. Although the Longevity Stone could no longer elevate the cultivation of the already-Immortal Shaman King, it remained an extraordinarily unique immortal object capable of strengthening its wielder. With its aid, the Shaman King ultimately survived a heavenly tribulation and became a First-Tribulation Immortal.

However, Tantai Yun and Elder Xu seized the opportunity while the Shaman King was weakened after surviving the heavenly tribulation, joining forces to defeat him. His legacy passed into their hands. Later, Song Zheng took part in the Rebellion of the Deposed Heavenly Preceptor and was likewise defeated by the Holy Xuan. Even the Daxue Mountain Palace of the Shamanistic Sect fell to the Western Region Daoist Mansion. In the end, the Shamanistic Sect’s cultivation arts, including the Fundamental Law of Eternal Heaven, became possessions of the Daoist Order.

The Shamanistic Sect was hardly the only source of such techniques. The Daoist Order also preserved a vast collection of supreme Confucian and Buddhist arts, all acquired as spoils of war. It was common knowledge that Sage Cihang cultivated Buddhist supreme arts. After all, the Cihang lineage had originally been a branch of the Buddhist Sect before later joining the Daoist Order. Likewise, Sage Qingwei had cultivated the Confucian righteous qi alongside his Daoist techniques, employing it frequently during the Fenglin Campaign.

In truth, the Heavenly Court’s boast of unifying the Five Religions was nothing more than the delusion of fanatics. The Daoist Order, however, could legitimately claim to have united the Five Religions, provided one replaced the Holy Church with the Ancient Wuist Sect.

However, the Daoist Order never fully acknowledged the Ancient Wuist Sect, claiming the latter’s doctrines were excessively savage and bloody, no longer suited to the current age. Moreover, because the Ancient Daoist Order itself shared certain lines of inheritance with the Ancient Wuists, and because the Daoist Order had absorbed a great deal of Wuist arts during its rise, there was considerable overlap between the two. One could see traces of this in the Taiping Essential Arts left behind by the Heavenly Empress within the Dragon Palace. Since the Shamanistic Sect was merely a branch of the Ancient Wuist Sect, the Daoist Order rarely mentioned either the Ancient Wuist Sect or the Shamanistic Sect, choosing instead to emphasize only the unification of the Three Religions.

The Eternal Heaven’s concept of immortality was embodied in the word eternity. Seas could become mulberry fields and landscapes could transform beyond recognition, yet the heavens remained above, enduring alongside the world itself. Thus, Great Sage Jiang had not healed his wounds through true essence. Instead, he reversed his own personal timeline, restoring himself to the exact state he had been in before exchanging blows with Zhou Mengyao.

The river of time flowed onward with irresistible momentum. Reversing its current, stopping it entirely, or even slowing or accelerating the river as a whole was utterly impossible. Yet through certain methods, one could hasten or slow the passage of time for oneself alone or even move a very short distance upstream against the current. That was precisely the technique Great Sage Jiang was employing.

Freezing time within a limited area was an even more advanced feat. In essence, it isolated a fragment of time itself, as though one had carved out a small pool from the river of time. While the river continued rushing onward, that isolated pool remained motionless. However, such separation was exceedingly fragile beneath the relentless current of time, lasting only briefly before collapsing.

Qi Xuansu’s return to the Lingshan Paradise of the past could not be explained by ordinary principles, as too many Immortals had been involved, too many immortal objects had played a role, and too many extraordinary coincidences had converged. Hidden mysteries beyond ordinary understanding were at work. It lay entirely outside the Fundamental Law of Eternal Heaven.

Zhou Mengyao’s voice echoed from within the small world. “Impressive techniques, Brother Jiang. I never realized you had mastered the Fundamental Law of Eternal Heaven, so much so that even the Blessing of Eternal Heaven passed down by Song Zheng is now second nature to you.”

As her words faded, a flash of blade light burst forth within the small world. The nine Zhou Mengyaos merged back into one. The small world created by her blade art and the small world formed through Great Sage Jiang’s Heaven and Earth Convergence both shattered completely. Zhou Mengyao then emerged from the collapsing space with her blade in hand.

Seeing Zhou Mengyao reappear, Great Sage Jiang showed no urgency to attack.

He said, “Over the years, you have devoted yourself entirely to perfecting the blade. In this age, the Imperial Preceptor is unrivaled in swordsmanship, while no one can surpass you in bladesmanship, Daoist Zhou.”

“I dare not accept such exaggerated praise from you, Brother Jiang. But may I ask what guidance you intend to offer by coming here today?” Zhou Mengyao sneered.

Though she spoke calmly, Zhou Mengyao remained on full alert. Their recent exchange had appeared evenly matched, yet she knew perfectly well that Great Sage Jiang had yet to fight with his full strength. At the very least, he had not used any of his immortal objects.

Jiang Hedao replied unhurriedly, “Daoist Zhou, you should know the punishment for raising weapons against your own brethren. Whatever disagreements may exist, they can always be resolved through lawful means. One should trust the Fengxian Hall and place faith in the rule of law upheld by the Daoist Order.”

Zhou Mengyao let out a cold laugh. “Hearing you speak of the law makes me laugh!”

Jiang Hedao’s expression remained composed. “Allow me to remind you, Daoist Zhou. You are acting in contempt against the Daoist Order. On that charge alone, I could arrest you and hand you over to the Fengxian Hall for prosecution.”

Zhou Mengyao narrowed her eyes. “I know well enough. There are things one may do but never speak of, and things one may speak of but never do. But I am already an Immortal. I no longer seek further advancement, so why should I continue to be bound by all these rules and restrictions?”

Jiang Hedao’s voice turned solemn. “The Daoist Order has established the laws of the world for more than 200 years. If you possessed the power of a Second-Tribulation Immortal and truly chose to ignore the Daoist Order’s laws, then so be it. When all supreme power rests entirely within oneself, one naturally enjoys absolute freedom. Likewise, if you’d have ascended to the heavens, you would no longer be bound by the rules governing the mortal world. But even a First-Tribulation Immortal must obey the rules as long as one remains in the mortal world. Not the slightest lawlessness can be tolerated. Have you already forgotten what became of Chen Shuhua?”