A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu came to the piles of Mystery Jars and took one without spending time to pick it out. Since he wanted to believe in his luck, he might as well trust it wholly.

He placed the jar on the table.

Su Yan kindly reminded him. “As long as the jar has not been opened, you can still put it back.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “I don’t like to regret my decisions.”

After that, he ripped off the talisman sealing the mouth of the jar.

Just like before, the entire jar began to disintegrate and glow from the inside out, illuminating their faces once more.

Qi Xuansu watched without blinking as the light dissipated.

After Su Yan saw the item, she could not help but gasp. “How could it be?”

Qi Xuansu’s heart raced. The conservation of luck really worked?!

He focused his gaze and saw a bell-shaped, semi-transparent object on the table, shimmering in gold and red hues. Nine dragons intertwined on its outer surface, seeming both real and illusory. A wave of scorching heat radiated toward him.

“What’s this?” Qi Xuansu was also surprised.

Su Yan calmed down. “This is the Nine Yang Fiery Dome.”

Qi Xuansu could not contain his shock. He had heard of this treasure because it often appeared in Daoist stories and legends.

This treasure first appeared in the hands of the 30th-generation Great Heavenly Preceptor, Zhang Jingxiu. Later, Zhang Jingxiu passed it on to his disciple, Yan Feiqing, who was the first Great Sage of the Zhengyi Sect after the revival of the Daoist Order and the only Heavenly Preceptor without the Zhang last name.

Back then, the Ancient Immortals—True Lord Ziguang, True Lord Siming, and Wu Luo—teamed up to attack Jade Capital. That was because Donghuang was the only one in Jade Capital at the time. At the critical moment, Yan Feiqing came to the rescue and used this treasure to attack True Lord Ziguang.

In the description of the story, a red dome, shaped like a golden bell, rose in the sky and expanded to the size of a mountain, trapping True Lord Ziguang in the inferno from the nine fire-breathing dragons on its outer surface. That was how the Ancient Immortal was burned by Dragon Fire.

Qi Xuansu was still in disbelief. “Shouldn’t this treasure be stored in the Dazhen Mansion? How did it end up in this jar?!”

What he really meant was: Huasheng Hall sure is brave to disparage a treasure with such extraordinary historical significance, treating it as a lucky draw item!

Su Yan glanced at Qi Xuansu, surprised by this Black Robes’ in-depth understanding of Daoist history. However, she did not think too much about it. She explained, “Of course, this is not the original piece. It’s just a replica that the Huasheng Hall and Tianji Hall copied based on the original. Since it’s an imitation, it’s considered a substandard treasure.”

Qi Xuansu was speechless for a moment.

There were only two types of immortal objects, namely immortal objects and semi-immortal objects.

Treasures and spiritual objects had 4 grades: excellent, high, medium, and low. However, since the Daoist Order began to imitate various treasures, there was another grade added called substandard.

Substandard treasures were below a low-grade treasure and above an excellent-grade spiritual object. That was because it had major flaws and was normally incomplete. As such, replicas were often considered substandard treasures.

Su Yan continued, “This dome must be activated with true essence or magical power. It can be used as an offense or defense. In defense mode, you can take cover inside the bell, and the flames will be outside to repel your opponent.

“In offense mode, you can trap your enemy in this bell and activate the fire inside, turning your enemy into ashes. It’s advisable not to mix up the two modes so you don’t accidentally burn yourself to death.”

Qi Xuansu reached out and picked up the small bell, thinking to himself, Madam Qi is right...the conservation of luck is real! I can’t believe I got the replica of the Nine Yang Fiery Dome!

He asked, “So, what’s the difference between the real deal and this replica?”

Su Yan answered, “The real Nine Yang Fiery Dome has been continuously refined by the Daoist elders through rituals for many years, so it is now considered a semi-immortal object. As long as the user has a high enough cultivation, the dome can expand to the size of a mountain and have no problem trapping a 300-meter giant. Meanwhile, the replica can only expand to a maximum of 10 meters tall and wide.”

Qi Xuansu was still satisfied. To him, a substandard treasure was still a treasure nevertheless. This replica was certainly better than losing 500 Taiping coins for nothing.

He humbly asked, “Superintendent Su, you mentioned that there are two modes of offense and defense. How does one activate the two modes?”

Su Yan said, “This replica comes with a manual called the Three Bing and Three Ding Fire Technique. Bing and Ding symbolize Yang Fire and Yin Fire, respectively. If you can master that technique, you will be able to use this substandard treasure.”

Qi Xuansu pursued further. “Then how can I learn the Three Bing and Three Ding Fire Technique?”

Su Yan’s face turned solemn. “You are not a Daoist disciple, so you cannot learn this method.”

Qi Xuansu was unrelenting. “What if I pay to learn it?”

Su Yan shook her head. “When have you ever heard of Daoists selling our techniques for money?”

Qi Xuansu could not help but feel a little disappointed. Anyway, he would be returning to the Daoist Order soon. In that case, he could ask Zhang Yuelu, Pei Xiaolou, and even Madam Qi about this method.

At this moment, Su Yan suggested. “But I can confirm that the manual for the Three Bing and Three Ding Fire Technique is among these Mystery Jars.”

“Really?” Qi Xuansu was doubtful.

Su Yan stretched her hand out as if she were taking a solemn oath. “Absolutely, I will never lie to you.”

Qi Xuansu gritted his teeth and took out the three brand-new cash notes that he had just received for selling the Imitation Spirit Guard Armor. Then he took out another two cash notes, totaling 500 Taiping coins.

He slapped all five cash notes on the table in front of them. “I’ll take one more!”

Qi Xuansu, who had just obtained a (substandard) treasure, was confident in his lucky streak and had a strong feeling that great things came in pairs.

Su Yan no longer felt bad for Qi Xuansu ever since he gained the replica of the Nine Yang Fiery Dome. Instead, she felt as if Huasheng Hall had sustained a loss.

Hearing that Qi Xuansu wanted to buy another Stupid Jar, Su Yan smirked and nodded. “Good luck.”

Qi Xuansu once again took a jar from the shelf without picking.

“Are you sure you want to open it?” Su Yan asked.

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Yes.”

After that, Qi Xuansu slammed the jar on the table and quickly ripped out the talisman sealing the mouth of the jar.

The jar disintegrated, and a bright light flashed.

This time, a book appeared on the table.

Qi Xuansu was so excited that he lunged over to pick up the book.

The title of the book was The Female Sword Immortal.

The Female Sword Immortal was the representative work of the Holy Xuan’s wife, solely published and distributed by the Qingping Bookstore. After more than 200 years, more than one million copies had been published.

In other words, it was very common and found everywhere.

The excitement on Qi Xuansu’s face vanished the moment he saw the title.

He could not help but ask resentfully, “I can understand the tailoring, but how do you explain this?! The Qingping Bookstore can’t be under Huasheng Hall’s command, right?”

Su Yan took the book from Qi Xuansu’s hand, examined it, and said, “This is a collector’s edition of The Female Sword Immortal that was published in the 20th year of the Taiping Era. It can fetch more than 300 Taiping coins.”

Qi Xuansu let out a sarcastic laugh. “Even if it is valuable, why is this a part of Huasheng Hall’s stock? Does it have anything to do with Huasheng Hall at all?!”

Su Yan kept her mouth shut and only handed the book back to Qi Xuansu.

There was a good reason why the Mystery Jars gained a bad reputation.

After Qi Xuansu put away the book, Su Yan asked, “Do you want to open another one?”

Qi Xuansu hesitated.

After a while, Qi Xuansu gave a high-sounding speech. “I have always been a staunch believer in fate. This is the last 500 Taiping coins that I have left. If I still don’t get what I’m looking for, it simply means that it’s not meant to be.”

“Good luck.” Su Yan smiled like a fox.

Half an hour later, the bankrupt Qi Xuansu left the Huasheng Hall branch with a gloomy expression and a free suitcase given to him by Su Yan.

At this time, he only had one thought. The ancient saying is right! Frequent gambling will surely lead to losses. Nine out of ten bets are scams!