A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu slept for a long time. When he woke up, he found that he had left the Emperor Willow and the Palace City. He was at the place where he first met Yin Jiuyin in the Ghost Kingdom.

At this moment, he could hear a little girl giggling. “Good horsey!”

Qi Xuansu sat up and saw a little girl riding on his grade horse not far away.

Although it was not the most well-bred horse, it was smart enough to know that it should not offend the little girl. It trotted along smoothly and would sometimes turn its head and nicker for attention. It even knew to reveal an ingratiating smile to please the little girl.

What a cunning old horse!

Qi Xuansu looked down again. The Xuan Jade of Death in his hand had disappeared. Thus, he hurriedly meditated to examine his own condition.

He had originally broken through to the 18th vertebrae, leaving only 6 vertebrae and a Yuding Pass before he could reach the Holy Embryo Realm.

At this moment, he realized he cleared 24 vertebrae and broke through the Yuding Pass to enter the upper Dantian, officially entering the Rogue Cultivator’s Holy Embryo Realm.

The Rogue Cultivator’s Holy Embryo Realm corresponded to the Qi Refiner’s Divine Qi Realm, the Banished Immortal’s Nascent Soul Realm, the Martial Arts Practitioner’s Heavenly Connection Realm, the Diviner’s Thunder Realm, and the Shaman’s Golden Body Realm. These realms were collectively referred to as the Xiantian Being’s Guizhen stage, which was just one step before a Heavenly Being.

Qi Xuansu’s advancement to the Guizhen stage was expected. Even without the Xuan Jade of Death, it was just a matter of time before Qi Xuansu reached the Guizhen stage, as he was planning to consume the Blood Pill he obtained from the manufacturing plant in Cuowenbu.

The Xuan Jade’s function was not just to improve one’s cultivation level. Otherwise, the Taiping Sect would not have spent so much effort in scavenging for these precious stones. For the Li family, pills and elixirs for improving one’s cultivation level were abundant and easily available, like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The key function of a Xuan Jade was to make up for the shortcomings of a Rogue Cultivator, who was typically a jack of all trades but master of none. They could learn techniques from all five major lineages, but they were not proficient in anything.

However, after Qi Xuansu obtained the Xuan Jade of Life, it made up for his shortcomings in the Martial Arts Practitioner’s lineage by giving him blood qi and body-regenerative properties. Although Qi Xuansu still could not condense his body and spirit, his physical strength and blood qi were stronger than before. He could even practice the fist intention unique to Martial Arts Practitioners.

This was the true mystery of the Xuan Jade.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu felt that his soul had strengthened like never before. He even had the urge to break away from the constraints of his physical body. It seemed as if his soul could break free from this skeletal cage and soar into the sky with just one Thought. This was the feeling of a Diviner’s astral projection.

In other words, the Xuan Jade of Death helped Qi Xuansu make up for the Diviner’s lineage by giving him magical powers. He was no longer an amateur who could only use Yin-Yang Eyes and could finally learn more advanced spells.

During the Tiangang Hall’s expedition to wipe out the group of sinners on Night Mountain, Qi Xuansu was envious of Lingquanzi’s skills and his ability to manipulate others. He was also amazed at how Yin Jiuyin seemed to be able to create things out of thin air with just a wave of his hand.

From this point of view, the strength of a Martial Arts Practitioner could only be reflected in close combat with their powerful punches and resilient physique. These qualities were far less flexible and convenient than a Diviner’s.

However, like the Martial Arts Practitioner’s fist intention, which required active learning and practice, Qi Xuansu’s newly gained magical powers were just a foundation for him to learn and practice spells more easily.

It was like learning to hammer. One must first have the strength to pick up the hammer and the physical strength to continue swinging the hammer for a long time. Otherwise, it would be impossible to learn and practice hammering techniques.

Therefore, many trades needed certain basic skills. Most would require one to build up strength and stamina before teaching specific techniques. The Xuan Jade eliminated this part of the process by providing the basic foundation depending on the specific properties of the stone.

Just as the Xuan Jade of Life used Qi Xuansu’s innate qi and blood to create blood qi, the Xuan Jade of Death turned Qi Xuansu’s Thoughts into magical power. Magical power was completely different from innate qi and blood qi. It was similar to divine power, but divine power was derived from incense power, which came from other people’s Thoughts and wishes.

A Diviner’s magical power came from one’s own Thoughts. What surprised Qi Xuansu even more was that the Xuan Jade of Death seemed to come with a set of spells, which were ingrained into Qi Xuansu’s mind and imprinted onto his soul’s memory.

This made Qi Xuansu a little dizzy. The advantage was that he could use these spells straight away without having to practice and study.

These spells did not have specific names, as they were unique to the Xuan Jade. Qi Xuansu called the first spell Ghost Machete.

This Ghost Machete spell was used to summon the ghosthead machete that almost beheaded him in the Ghost Kingdom. This Ghost Machete could be illusory and tangible depending on the opponent it was facing.

When encountering a living being, it was akin to an extremely sharp execution knife. But against dead objects, it would be illusory. This machete would change its state depending on the opponent’s beliefs. If the opponent believed that they could not stop the Ghost Machete, then they would be injured by it.

Coupled with the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique, this new Ghost Machete would be elusive and impossible to guard against.

However, this spell also had some limitations. The Ghost Machete could not be used in places with strong yang energy, and it would be restrained by Martial Arts Practitioner’s blood qi.

The reason why Qi Xuansu was helpless against the ghosthead machete when he was in the Ghost Kingdom was because he temporarily lost his blood qi and all mystical abilities. If he were anywhere else, Qi Xuansu would not have been forced to the point of life and death by the ghosthead machete.

Secondly, the Ghost Machete consumed a lot of magical power, so it would not be ideal to use for a long time. Qi Xuansu’s magical power was roughly equivalent to that of a Diviner in the Thunder Realm.

During astral projection, a Divine was most afraid of two things—daylight and thunder, among which spring thunder was most terrifying. That was because the sound of spring thunder could scatter the soul.

Without the protection of one’s physical body, the soul would be torn apart by the vibration of spring thunder. However, at the Thunder Realm, daylight and thunder were no longer constraints. A Diviner in the Thunder Realm would be able to soul travel during the day. As long as their soul was not struck by lightning, astral projection in a thunderous storm would not be an issue either.

Qi Xuansu would be able to control the Ghost Machete with the magical power of a Diviner in the Thunder Realm for about one and a half hours. As his cultivation level improved, his magical power would increase, and the duration for using spells would become longer.

He named the second spell the Ghost Shepherd, which was to control ghosts like how one would herd sheep. In other words, he could summon ghosts with this Ghost Shepherd spell. However, these ghosts were not created out of thin air. They were the various ghosts that the Xuan Jade of Death had absorbed, including the vengeful female ghost in the Xiang Residence and the ghost soldiers on Ghost Street.

With this spell, Qi Xuansu could catch and raise ghosts. Strictly speaking, he could also capture and control Yin Jiuyin, but he would need an extremely high level of cultivation before doing so.

The third spell was the Yin Yang Gate, which allowed him to open a gap between the yin and yang realms and travel through the yin realm to arrive somewhere in the yang realm within seconds. Qi Xuansu had previously strayed into the depths of the Ghost Kingdom. Although he did it unknowingly at that time, he still managed to open the Yin Yang Gate.

This spell was not that useful for Qi Xuansu. Ordinary Diviners only cultivated their souls, so their physical bodies and yang energy were weak. Thus, they could easily enter the Yin Yang Gate. However, Qi Xuansu’s physique was similar to a Martial Arts Practitioner, with strong enough blood qi and physical strength to practice the fist intention. Ordinary ghosts and evil spirits could not get close to him, so this principle also applied to Yin Yang Gate. Thus, Qi Xuansu would still have to ride on horseback like an ordinary man.

However, the Yin Yang Gate was not completely useless to him. Qi Xuansu had a connection with the Ghost Kingdom because of the newly established contract between him, Yin Jiuyin, Master Wan, and Madam Bai, so he could summon one of them through this gate.

As Yin Jiuyin mentioned before, there were restrictions to this. The Yin Yang Gate could only be opened somewhere with strong yin energy and weak yang energy.

Qi Xuansu mainly lingered around cities, so this seemingly useful spell was not that practical to him. Moreover, the Yin Yang Gate itself was not stable, so he could not open the gate while fighting with others. The Yin Yang Gate could only be opened in advance or after the fight. As such, it was not possible to summon Master Yin or Madam Bai in the middle of a fight. Perhaps it could be done if Qi Xuansu’s magical power and Thoughts increased in the future.

In addition, he had also gained the Diviner’s soul-traveling properties from the Xuan Jade of Death. It was just like how he gained the Martial Arts Practitioner’s body-regenerative properties from the Xuan Jade of Life. These were properties that were more of an instinct than a skill, so there was no need to consciously practice them.

For genuine Diviners, this was the foundation of fighting. They could enter other people’s dreams, possess others, cast spells, control magic weapons, draw talismans, recite spells, and many more. Without the constraints of their physical body, they could be more efficient in fighting.

For Qi Xuansu, the biggest advantage was that his soul, invisible to ordinary people, could fly and pass through walls. It was beneficial for reconnaissance and infiltration. However, without the protection of the physical body, the soul was very fragile. So he had to avoid the blood qi of Martial Arts Practitioners and the righteous qi of Confucians.

In addition, after reaching the Holy Embryo Realm, Rogue Cultivators could acquire three new mystical abilities: the Soul Projection Technique, the Qi Observation Technique, and the Divine Calculation Technique.

The Soul Projection Technique was a simplified version of the Diviner’s astral projection, so it was no longer needed.

The Qi Observation Technique was a simplified version of the Banished Immortal’s Divine Observation Technique. He would be able to see through other people’s cultivation levels, trace qi for a short distance, and differentiate the types of qi. However, this would consume more innate qi. However, unlike the Divine Observation Technique, the Qi Observation Technique would not be able to see through illusions, ghosts, or transformation techniques used by demons.

Out of the three mystical abilities, the Soul Projection Technique and the Qi Observation Technique were simplified versions from other lineages. The Divine Calculation Technique was similar to the Banished Immortal’s Purple Star Astrology, but it had its own merit and was considered a Rogue Cultivator’s unique skill.

The Divine Calculation Technique could predict trends by manually calculating various variables rather than predicting the future by heaven’s will. Therefore, one’s brain power would increase significantly after practicing the Divine Calculation Technique to a certain level. This was reflected in the improvement of one’s memory and comprehension.

Secondly, the Divine Calculation Technique could be applied to fighting with others. A Rogue Cultivator could calculate the enemy’s location, mystical abilities, body movements, changes in weapons, and even the intensity of light, the terrain, changes in airflow, and so on. The calculations were extremely complex, and once calculated accurately, they would be hard to miss.

At a high level, one would be able to predict the enemy’s moves. Masters also did not have to move their fingers to calculate these variables. From a third-party perspective, someone fighting a Rogue Cultivator proficient in the Divine Calculation Technique would seem as if they were offering themselves to the Rogue Cultivator for a beating.

If one could practice the royal family’s Taishang Emotionless Sutra and abandon all emotions and desires, one could turn this Divine Calculation Technique into Heavenly Calculation. In that case, one would have the absolute advantage in fights because there would be no flaws in their defense or offense.

However, the disadvantage of the Divine Calculation Technique was that it consumed a lot of brain power and willpower, so it could not be practiced until the Guizhen stage.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu wondered how he could learn the Divine Calculation Technique when he was no longer in the Daoist Order. It seemed that he would have no choice but to ask Madam Qi for help.