A Pawn's Passage

After completing the monumental undertaking of social obligations, Qi Xuansu turned his attention to studying the map he had obtained from Wang Jiaohe.

Strictly speaking, the map in Qi Xuansu’s possession was only a copy. Wang Jiaohe’s original had been handed over to the Daoist Order. This copy was reproduced by Little Yin while comparing it against the original, for which she had charged the price of two theater tickets.

This map had come from a member of the Goddess Society.

Although the legend of Paititi had existed since ancient times, it had lain dormant for a very long period before resurfacing only in recent years. This was because the Holy Court had uncovered a report written by the Goddess Society missionary Andres within the Holy See’s vast archive. The report that was composed during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Wei Dynasty formally mentioned the existence of Paititi.

However, the Goddess Society suspected that this ancestor of the Peloz Family had betrayed them. Secretly, he had reached certain agreements with the last Emperor of Paititi that were unknown to outsiders.

The last emperor hid in Paititi with the empire’s divine artifacts. It was said that these artifacts were connected to the ancient gods Kukulkan and Ixchel. Whoever obtained them and performed a sacrifice atop Kukulkan’s pyramid in Paititi would gain the power of the gods. The sun itself would be extinguished, plunging the entire world into darkness.

On the surface, Andres had submitted his report to the Holy Court. In reality, however, he merely acknowledged Paititi’s existence without explicitly revealing its location. As a result, the report was buried among the countless documents in the archives and largely forgotten.

In this regard, Andres was highly suspected of playing both sides, deceiving both the Holy Court and the Goddess Society.

Andres’ true intentions had long since become impossible to determine. Nevertheless, Qi Xuansu concluded from all this that the Holy Court most likely did not know Paititi’s exact location.

The map that Wang Jiaohe possessed most likely originated from the Peloz Family. As the “emperor of Nanyang,” it was not difficult for Wang Jiaohe to interact with Westerners or even the Goddess Society. He might have purchased it for an enormous sum, traded valuable treasures for it, or even seized it through deception or force. However, none of that mattered to Qi Xuansu since he had simply taken it from Wang Jiaohe by force.

According to the markings on the map, the entrance to Paititi was not far from Cusco, the former capital of the Tawantin Empire. This made perfect sense. As the empire’s ancient capital, Cusco must have held immense significance, and many theories surrounded its original site selection. It was much like how the Imperial Capital had been built upon the Northern Dragon’s eye, near Wuxing Mountain, which was located at the dragon’s reverse scale. Such placements were no coincidence. They were inevitable.

The relationship between Cusco and Paititi was likely much the same as that between the Imperial Capital and Wuxing Mountain.

To verify this, Qi Xuansu personally conducted a field investigation. The result left him somewhat disappointed. The entire area had become an immense rainforest. All types of lush green vegetation filled the endless expanse. There was not the slightest trace of any manmade structure. The entrance to Paititi lay hidden somewhere within that seemingly endless jungle.

According to the map, Paititi was actually divided into two parts. One part was the pocket realm, while the other existed in the mortal world, which was the entrance to the pocket realm. This entrance was a city in its own right and was likewise considered part of Paititi.

It was somewhat similar to the relationship between Jade Capital and the Kunlun Paradise. The former served as the entrance to the latter, and in the past, Jade Capital had also been considered part of the Kunlun Paradise.

Thus, the entrance to Paititi was not a cave but an entire city.

Now, however, that city had vanished, and Qi Xuansu would have to locate it within the rainforest by following the map.

This was hardly surprising. Vegetation on the Southern Continent was exceptionally lush and spread at an astonishing rate. If a city were abandoned for merely 10 or 20 years, it would be overgrown by plants. Before long, it would completely assimilate into the rainforest, leaving no visible trace from the outside.

Clearly, during that turbulent era following the old empire’s collapse, many cities across the Southern Continent had been abandoned and swallowed by the rainforest, including the entrance to Paititi.

Qi Xuansu did not set out immediately. He had no way of estimating how long this expedition to Paititi might take, and the Shangyuan Festival was just around the corner.

Throughout the Western Daoist Order, operations had entered a temporary standstill. Even the major departments were focused primarily on maintaining stability. Under such circumstances, mobilizing personnel would be inconvenient. It would be better to wait until after the Shangyuan Festival before searching for Paititi.

As such, Qi Xuansu turned his attention to the key he had obtained from the Baron in St. York. This key did not resemble a conventional one but took the form of a circular disc. It had originated from ruins beneath the underground city of St. York. According to the Baron’s account, the disc served as the key to a giant gate, and judging from the murals within the ruins, that gate was supposedly located in Paititi.

The ruins were dedicated to a Sun God and a Moon Goddess. The Baron believed they belonged to Kukulkan and Ixchel. After learning much more about the ancient gods, Qi Xuansu concluded that they more likely belonged to Itzamna and Ixchel—not the current Ixchel, but the complete Ixchel that existed before Chak Chel and Ixchel had become separate entities.

Their ruins were located on the Northern Continent because these ancient gods had originally been the deities of the Northern Continent’s Nojpeten Empire. After the divine war, the faction led by Itzamna was defeated by the Holy Court’s Apostles and forced to migrate to the Southern Continent. Eventually, through the mediation of the Western Daoist Order, they became the gods of the Tawantin Empire. Therefore, it was only natural that they had left ruins behind in their original homeland.

At the time, the Baron had stated that the giant gate was located in Paititi. This conclusion had clearly been drawn from the murals within the ruins, and Qi Xuansu had naturally assumed that the gate was situated inside the pocket realm itself.

Now that he reconsidered the matter, another possibility presented itself. That gate might actually be a portal leading into the Paititi pocket realm. After all, the city that existed in the mortal world was also considered part of Paititi. The complete Paititi included the earthly city and the pocket realm.

The only unresolved question was why the ancient gods of the Northern Continent had built a pocket realm on the Southern Continent in the first place. Had Itzamna and the others foreseen their eventual defeat and prepared a contingency plan in advance? Or had they simply seized an existing pocket realm from the gods in the Southern Continent? After all, the ancient gods in the south had all perished.

Uncovering the truth to this mystery would not actually be difficult. Qi Xuansu could simply ask Ixchel directly. As one of the parties involved, she undoubtedly knew the whole story. However, Qi Xuansu could not completely trust her, nor did he wish to alert the enemy unnecessarily. Since the matter was not particularly urgent, he ultimately decided against questioning Ixchel.

By the time Qi Xuansu had finished handling these matters, the Shangyuan Festival had arrived. There were two ongoing celebrations. The smaller celebration was the more prestigious one. It was held on Danxiu Mountain, and its attendees were primarily the true powerholders within the Western Daoist Order.

Naturally, Qi Xuansu was invited to the Danxiu Mountain celebration. As the representative of the Daoist Order, he was seated near the front, sharing the same row as the three current leaders of the Western Daoist Order—Tantai Zhenxiao, Gong Fu, and Huangfu Zhao. Huangfu Ji, currently the fourth-ranking figure and the future leader, was also present.

The three great families rotated leadership, much like how the Three Sects of the Daoist Order alternated in holding power. There was no rule stating that the Tantai family must always lead the Western Daoist Order, just as there was no requirement that the Grand Master of the Daoist Order had to be a Li. Thus, Tantai Zhenxiao harbored no resentment over Huangfu Ji’s eventual succession. Moreover, even after becoming the leader of the Western Daoist Order, one would not possess absolute authority but would still be constrained by the other two families.

The leader of the Western Daoist Order was essentially the same rank as a Deputy Grand Master of the Daoist Order. Of course, this title was largely honorary. Unlike the other Three Deputy Grand Masters, the Western Daoist Order’s leader could not participate in the affairs of the Daoist Order. Just as the Great Xuan Emperor, despite being the Great Sage Ziji who was nominally an equal to the Grand Master, could not wield the same power and influence within the Daoist world as the Grand Master.

In terms of actual authority, the Western Daoist Order’s leader was also inferior to the Daoist Order’s Grand Master. The position of Grand Master was far from ceremonial. How much power it wielded depended entirely on the individual holding it. If the Grand Master were capable and forceful, then the Deputy Grand Masters, the Golden Tower Council, and even the Nine Halls would all have to obey him or her. The Holy Xuan and the fifth-generation Grand Master were excellent examples of this.

By comparison, the Daoist Order’s Grand Master resembled an emperor. Whether the emperor was a seasoned adult or a child made an enormous difference in the power he could actually exercise, making the emperor’s own abilities critically important. The Western Daoist Order’s leader, on the other hand, was more like the leader of an alliance—nominally supreme, but lacking absolute power.

For example, if Tantai Zhenxiao wanted to remove Gong Fu from office, Gong Fu would certainly refuse, and there would be no way to force him out. Huangfu Zhao would not side with Tantai Zhenxiao. Instead, he would likely join forces with Gong Fu against him, potentially splitting the Western Daoist Order apart. In the Daoist Order, the Grand Master truly could dismiss a Deputy Grand Master. The Holy Xuan had done so, and so had the fifth-generation Grand Master.

Soon, the celebration officially began with fireworks, followed by a series of performances.

One performance left a particularly deep impression on Qi Xuansu. A thousand young disciples of the Western Daoist Order performed synchronized martial forms in the square before the Danxiu Palace. Their movements were perfectly uniform and impressive. He wondered how long they had rehearsed.

There were also performances by female dancers, but Qi Xuansu had little interest in them.

What caught his attention were the Western Daoist Order’s newly written plays. They delighted in adapting every famous tale from the Northern Continent’s Steam Evangelical Sect, restaging them in the style of the Central Plains. The result was far more down-to-earth and relatable.

For example, in the story of the virgin giving birth, the Western Daoist Order told tales about noble young ladies who mysteriously fell ill before marriage, only to be sent to an estate outside the city for a year of recuperation, after which they returned miraculously cured. Everyone could more or less guess what sort of illness it really was—a pregnancy out of wedlock. They simply chose not to say it aloud so as not to embarrass all parties.

Without question, this was one front in the Western Daoist Order’s propaganda campaign, which genuinely succeeded in entertaining the audience of the Southern Continent.

After the performances concluded, the leading figures conducted a formal Heavenly Official blessing ritual as a ceremonial formality.

In the blink of an eye, the 45th year of the Jiushi Era came to an end, ushering in the 46th year.