A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu was unaware that Zhang Yuelu had arrived at Wuxu Palace, nor did he know that Zhang Yuelu had deduced his identity as Wan Xiuwu’s killer through various clues.

But even if Qi Xuansu was aware of this, there was nothing he could do. Since he was slightly weaker than Wan Xiuwu in terms of cultivation, he had to use the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique to gain an advantage in the fight. If he had not used the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique to continuously exhaust Wan Xiuwu’s physical energy and blood, Qi Xuansu would not have won in their final close combat.

Of course, if Qi Xuansu were to face Wan Xiuwu again with his current level of cultivation, he could have used other methods to eliminate Wan Xiuwu without needing to use the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique. However, catching Wan Xiuwu roaming around alone outside the Wuxu Palace was a golden opportunity for Qi Xuansu to exact revenge.

The key to vengeance was getting the right opportunity. Cultivation level was secondary. If Wan Xiuwu had been hiding in Wuxu Palace or traveling in a group, it would have been difficult for Qi Xuansu to kill him. After all, it was impossible for Qi Xuansu to sneak into the Wuxu Palace to kill Wan Xiuwu.

After this incident, Yue Liuli would be on guard, so Qi Xuansu would not have another chance to attack her for the time being.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu did not repeat the same mistake as the time he killed Jia Zi from the Heavenly Court. This time, he was smart enough to burn Wan Xiuwu’s body with the Dragon Eye Bullet to destroy his biological material. That was why the people from Wuxu Palace lacked a medium to track him like Feng Bo did.

At this time, Qi Xuansu had left Beimang Mountain and continued toward Longmen Prefecture with his grade horse, Bu Yue.

If it had not been for his experience in the Ghost Kingdom, Qi Xuansu would not have been delayed for about two days and would have arrived at Longmen Prefecture by now.

Longmen Prefecture was also known as the Peony City. Perhaps Qi Xuansu would arrive in time to catch the Peony Festival.

There was a county between Beimang Mountain and the capital of Longmen Prefecture called Beimang County, where Qi Xuansu stayed for one night.

That night, Qi Xuansu once again revisited the same dream that had haunted him for many years.

This time, there was another change to the dream, which Qi Xuansu attributed to the second piece of Xuan Jade he activated.

In the dream, Qi Xuansu came to the mountain road leading to the dark mountain. Unlike before, he was well aware that he was dreaming, so he began to explore the boundaries of this dream.

Qi Xuansu discovered that there were actually many palaces along the mountain road. The style of the palace was different from the buildings he was accustomed to seeing. These palaces were more rustic, ancient, and dilapidated, with only the remains of severed limbs from the various statues left behind.

He continued forward and saw a tragic battlefield that was covered in snow and ice. Countless lifelike ice sculptures still maintained their expressions before death.

There were also many illusory figures standing expressionlessly on the mountain road. They looked somewhat translucent, but other than that, they were no different from living people. There were at least hundreds of them standing shoulder to shoulder. They had lost all consciousness, like dolls. It seemed like they were under some powerful spell when their souls had been forcibly extracted and their bodies had been destroyed.

Qi Xuansu tried to walk toward the surrounding palaces and the battlefield below, but he discovered invisible walls around him, restricting him to this small area.

He could only go up the mountain path and come to the bonfire. The battlefield below and the tall palaces hidden in the darkness were unreachable.

Qi Xuansu was unsure if it was his soberness or the Xuan Jade of Death that allowed him to see part of the mountain’s true appearance through these invisible barriers and the surrounding darkness.

This was a mountain on the verge of disintegration. The mountain road seemed normal enough, but outside the mountain, there were several huge tornadoes and thunderbolts that were continuously destroying the mountain. A part of the mountain had already collapsed, but due to some strange force, this part of the mountain had yet to fall off. It still remained in its original approximate position.

The reason why Qi Xuansu thought it was an approximate location was because of a huge crack between the two. One might not be able to see this crack from afar, but from where he was standing, he could see that the cracks were more than 30 meters wide, like insurmountable chasms. Of course, Heavenly Beings would have no problem flying over such a distance, but considering the tornadoes and lightning outside, it would be a dangerous journey.

Qi Xuansu’s first impression was that this place looked like a mirror that had been broken into pieces and forcibly glued back together. But it was tough to repair a broken mirror, as the cracks were hard to cover up.

Qi Xuansu quickly overturned this first impression because he discovered many small gravels and large boulders suspended in mid-air, as if they were in the process of cracking and sputtering. They were not moving at all, so it seemed like time had stood still at this moment.

It was as if someone had used great supernatural powers to freeze everything in place just as the mountain began to crumble, keeping it at this moment before the mountain was completely obliterated.

The only exception to the destruction was the mountain road at the foothill and the bonfire at the top of the mountain, which Qi Xuansu frequented. The mountain road and the fire were constantly changing, while the places on the mountain where Qi Xuansu could not set foot on were completely static.

The tornadoes and lightning outside the mountain were alive and moving, but the mountain seemed dead and still.

This stark contrast of chaotic movement and absolute stillness was an extremely bizarre image.

However, Qi Xuansu could only go so far on this mountain, so this was the only perspective he could see. Thus, he was unable to get a full view of the mountain and the exact situation.

At the top of the mountain, there was only one tall, dark figure with red eyes standing by the fire.

Behind this figure, countless dark shadows about the same height as ordinary people held their hands in prayer positions while reciting chants.

This time, the tall figure did not look at Qi Xuansu but turned to look in another direction, so Qi Xuansu followed their gaze.

That was when he saw two figures fighting outside the mountain, completely unafraid of the tornado and lightning around them. They moved around seamlessly through the forces of nature while shattering countless suspended gravels and boulders in their wake. The ripples visible to the naked eye expanded outward and even broke some of the stillness of the mountain, causing part of the mountain to plummet downward.

One of them kept waving around crescent-shaped sword qi, which fell like rain. This sword qi was so strong that it could temporarily cut off the tornadoes and thunderbolts.

The other person summoned large swaths of cold flames. At first glance, these flames seemed to take on human-like features, and the tail of the flames resembled hair that kept growing upward until it covered the sky.

The clash of sword qi and cold flames blinded Qi Xuansu’s vision for a while. All he could see in the fleeting gap were the tornadoes and lightning in the background.

Qi Xuansu could not help but marvel at the cultivation level of those two people. He figured that they would at least have to be the top among the Heavenly Beings.

At this moment, the tall figure watching the battle from the bonfire let out a long and heavy sigh.

The next second, Qi Xuansu woke up with a start.

Everything in front of him disappeared, and he found himself back in the guest room of the inn.

Qi Xuansu sat up and waited for himself to sober up completely.

He was unsure what this dream meant. Those tornadoes and lightning had already existed before the two figures started fighting, indicating that their fight was not the cause of the mountain’s destruction.

Qi Xuansu wondered, Is this a dream revealing the origin of the mountain? Or is this a dream foretelling the future?

He pondered seriously for a while, but he still had no clue. So he simply stopped dwelling on it.

Qi Xuansu left the inn in Beimang County and continued to Longmen Prefecture.

With the warmth of spring, the flowers bloomed, and everything came back to life.

Looking around the sprouting farmland on both sides of the road, Qi Xuansu felt his mood lifting.

The Wanxiang Daoist Palace forbade orphans who had graduated from returning unless they were continuing their studies at the Upper Palace to become fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist masters.

In Qi Xuansu’s batch, no one has had the honor of becoming a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master.

That was why Qi Xuansu did not go back to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace since he graduated. This time, since he had an errand in Longmen Prefecture, he wanted to take a look at the place where he grew up from a distance.

Qi Xuansu rode his horse leisurely. In the blink of an eye, they arrived in Longmen Prefecture.

Standing on the wide official road, one could look up and see the towering city walls of the Longmen Prefectural Capital. After all, this city served as the ancient capital of 13 dynasties. In terms of scale and regulation, it was actually not inferior to the current Imperial Capital.

Qi Xuansu stopped his horse and looked up.

It was a grand city in its decline, yet it still retained a measure of its past glory. Qi Xuansu could not help but wonder how splendid this city was at its peak.

A sincere smile appeared on his face, as being here again after so many years evoked a sense of nostalgia in him. He thought, It’s been a while, Longmen Prefecture. I wonder if you’ve changed...