A Pawn's Passage

The three major families in the Taiping Sect were the Li, Lu, and Shen families. The Li family was the main family, while the other two families were vassals of the Li family.

The Zhengyi Sect had the same structure, with the Zhang family as the mainstay and the Su family and the Yan family as vassals. The three families often had marriage alliances with each other. So to most people, it made sense for Zhang Yuelu to marry Yan Mingchen.

If Zhang Yuelu married Yan Mingchen, the matron of the Yan family, who was also from the Zhang family, would never let Zhang Yuelu suffer. With Zhang Yuelu’s strength, it was also possible for her to overtake her husband and control the Yan family as the future matron of the Yan family.

It was an excellent marriage for many girls from the side branches of the Zhang family. Generally, only the girls from the main branch of the Zhang family received such treatment. Zhang Yuelu was from a small branch, but because of her extraordinary talents and Yan Mingchen’s interest in her, she defeated other candidates even without competition.

In prestigious families, mutual feelings of love were not a priority because married couples were considered allies, not lovers. As long as they did not fight each other, their families would not care if the couple treated each other coldly or with respect.

However, no one expected Zhang Yuelu to reject this marriage, which most people thought was a perfect union. The reason for Zhang Yuelu’s rejection was even more ridiculous—she said that Yan Mingchen was too old.

It was not unusual for an older man to marry a younger wife. Not to mention, Yan Mingchen was only thirty years old. There was less than a ten-year gap between him and Zhang Yuelu, so it was not considered a big difference.

That was why everyone thought it was just an excuse. The only person who was not surprised by Zhang Yuelu’s rejection was Zhang Yuyue. In Zhang Yuyue’s opinion, Zhang Yuelu had always been idiosyncratic since she was a child, often going against popular opinion.

However, no one dared to force anything onto Zhang Yuelu, including her mother. After all, Zhang Yuelu could easily convert to the Quanzhen Sect and become a nun, cutting off all worldly ties, which included blood-related family members. That way, she would not be bound by any societal expectations.

More importantly, the Earthly Preceptor and the Quanzhen Sect had enough strength to ensure the implementation of this rule. Since there was also an alliance between both sects, it was unlikely that the Heavenly Preceptor would oppose as well.

In fact, some people speculated that Zhang Yuelu had high standards and did not like Yan Mingchen, so she came up with an excuse saying that Yan Mingchen was old. This was reasonable because Yan Mingchen was not as bright as Zhang Yuelu.

Being a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master at the age of 30 meant that Yan Mingchen would only be promoted to the third rank at 35 years old. In that case, he would only be promoted to the second rank in his late forties, likely stopping at that rank.

After all, the Daoist Order’s appointments and promotions had rigid age requirements. Even with the help of the Yan family, he would at most become one of the 36 Omniscient Sages by the age of 60, and he would be in the bottom rung among them.

On the other hand, Zhang Yuelu was already a fourth-rank Daoist master in her early twenties. Judging from her progress, she would most likely be promoted to the third rank before the age of 30. If everything went smoothly, she would be an Omniscient Sage in her forties.

The real question was: how far could Zhang Yuelu climb up the ladder of the Daoist Order?

Would she be content with being an ordinary Sage? Would she advance to become an Omniscient Sage, inheriting the title of Sage Cihang from her master and becoming the top among the 36 Omniscient Sages? Or would she be bolder, becoming a Virtuous Great Sage, a Deputy Grand Master, or even the Grand Master?

Yan Mingchen knew that Zhang Yuelu had a bright future. He would admit defeat if Zhang Yuelu really had high standards and looked down on him. At most, he would reminisce about her many years later as the one that got away.

However, Zhang Yuelu brought a “worthless” person home. In terms of cultivation level, rank, position, and family background, Qi Xuansu was inferior to Yan Mingchen in all aspects. The only advantage Qi Xuansu had was being young.

In the Daoist community, Qi Xuansu was not considered a young talent considering his age and rank. Even if he was promoted to the sixth rank immediately after the New Year, he would be stuck in that rank for a year before proceeding to the fifth rank, where he would have to wait for two more years before another promotion to the fourth rank. It would then take three years to be promoted from the fourth rank to the third rank.

If Qi Xuansu was promoted to the sixth rank at the age of 25, he would be 26 when he was promoted to the fifth rank. In the best case, he would be promoted to the fourth rank when he was 28 years old. However, there was a significant threshold for a promotion from the fifth to the fourth rank.

Only a few people could rise to that level within two years. Most of them would take several years. Many priests simply stopped there and never progressed further because they could not get over the threshold for being a high-ranking Daoist priest.

Therefore, Yan Mingchen refused to accept Zhang Yuelu’s rejection until he met Qi Xuansu in person. At first glance, Yan Mingchen was not impressed by Qi Xuansu and felt even more unconvinced.

Zhang Yuelu noticed Yan Mingchen’s simmering anger and resentment. She reminded him. “Back when we were in the Upper Palace of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, I told you that we could only be friends, not anything more. If you don’t take my words seriously, we can’t even be friends anymore.”

Yan Mingchen closed his eyes and spoke in a slightly trembling voice. “I don’t mind if you hate me, but why are you degrading yourself?”

“Degrading?” Zhang Yuelu raised her eyebrows slightly.

Yan Mingchen admonished. “I won’t object and will even offer my blessing if you can marry someone better than me. I don’t want you to treat yourself like this.”

Zhang Yuelu’s tone grew heavier. “And how do I treat myself?”

Yan Mingchen suddenly opened his eyes, glaring daggers at Qi Xuansu. “He’s not worthy of you.”

“Whether he’s worthy or not has nothing to do with you. Only my opinion matters.” Zhang Yuelu did not conceal her cold tone.

Qi Xuansu remained silent as he sized up Yan Mingchen cautiously, like a hunter assessing his prey’s level of threat.

Yan Mingchen sighed. “Why are you lying to yourself?”

Zhang Yuelu was infuriated. Her body emitted a qi and heat so strong that it melted the fluttering snow one meter all around her. The snowflakes disappeared like moths flying into a flame.

Yan Mingchen turned his attention to Zhang Yuelu again. “I know that it’s just a matter of time before you’ll advance to a Heavenly Being, and I admit that I’m not your opponent.”

Zhang Yuelu narrowed her eyes and did not answer.

Yan Mingchen turned to Qi Xuansu and said bluntly, “But he’s not my opponent.”

“That’s not necessarily the case.” Qi Xuansu, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

The tension in the air rose exponentially.

Qi Xuansu murmured, “Qing Xiao, this man is targeting me. I can’t keep hiding behind you. It just so happens that I’ve refined all the medicinal power lately and have increased my cultivation level. It’s the perfect timing for me to test my skills with Mage Yan.”

Zhang Yuelu hesitated for a moment, but she still chose to believe in Qi Xuansu. “Be careful, then.”

Qi Xuansu took a step forward and goaded. “Mage Yan, it looks like you have something to teach me.”

Yan Mingchen was furious to see their friendly interaction, but he suppressed his anger and scoffed. “I’m older than you, and I have a higher level of cultivation. If we fight, people will say that I’m bullying the weak. You will also get hurt. It’ll be troublesome if your cultivation is damaged.”

Qi Xuansu stretched his fully recovered arm. The blood qi and innate qi in his body surged at the same time as he asserted himself. “Mage Yan, as long as you are not a Heavenly Being, I will still stand a chance against you.”

When Yan Mingchen heard this, he stopped talking and circulated his innate qi. Then he signaled for Qi Xuansu to make the first move.

As mentioned earlier, Yan Mingchen was older than Qi Xuansu and had a higher level of cultivation. If he made the first move, he would look completely shameless, especially with Zhang Yuelu around. He did not want to ruin his image.

Right after Qi Xuansu raised his hand, a cold light flashed across Yan Mingchen’s left eye.

It was a throwing knife.

Yan Mingchen simply extended one finger to block the throwing knife. His fingertip was not injured at all, but the throwing knife slowly shattered into pieces of scrap metal.