A Pawn's Passage

A jade abacus appeared in Madam Qi’s hand. It was rectangular with multiple vertical rods and a horizontal beam. There were two beads above the beam and five beads below, all of them crystalline and transparent. The difference lay in the beads’ color. The two upper beads were black, while the five lower beads were white. The entire abacus resembled an asymmetrical yin-yang symbol.

This was a semi-immortal object that had significant origins. The top 12 rods represented the Ten Heavenly Stems, yin, and yang, while the bottom 12 rods represented the Twelve Earthly Branches.

Each translucent bead was engraved with intricate star patterns, faintly glimmering.

Madam Qi activated the abacus, and the beads began to move on their own, resonating with the power of the celestial stars. Even under broad daylight, stars appeared, transforming the sky into a starlit expanse.

A faint starlight descended from the heavens and fragmented into countless tiny points, forming a distributed pattern based on divination principles. It resembled a map of the 28 constellations.

Stars scattered like pieces on a chessboard.

In broad daylight, it outlined a vast starry sky that one would only expect at night.

The stars constantly shifted their positions, seemingly without any discernible pattern. Wherever they passed, the light dimmed, and even sounds faded into silence. The surroundings began to transform into a starry void.

Moments later, Madam Qi and Wu Guangbi found themselves surrounded by stars.

Wu Guangbi looked around, noting that the stars were distinctly black and white, like pieces arranged on a chessboard. All sounds seemed to come from the distant heavens, growing fainter and more inaudible. The space around him became increasingly vast and ethereal, apart from the darkness resembling a genuine starry night.

“The Nandou 28 Star Formation of the Grand Master’s lineage,” Wu Guangbi remarked, recognizing it instantly. This was originally an exclusive skill of the Taiping Sect, but after the Holy Xuan unified the Daoist Order, anyone could learn it.

Wu Guangbi pondered briefly, then extended his unarmed left hand forward, conjuring a massive palm that aimed to seize Madam Qi by the head. Once Madam Qi was immobilized, he would immediately strike to break the formation.

However, what Wu Guangbi thought to be a sure capture turned out to be a miss. He grasped nothing but air. The figure in front of him shattered into fragments under his grab—it was merely an illusion.

Wu Guangbi immediately realized he had been tricked, but it was too late.

Madam Qi appeared in the distance, shaking her abacus, causing the 28 beads to move according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

The star map suddenly shifted.

The Seven Mansions of the east, south, west, and north transformed into the Nine Fields and Nine Heavens. At the same time, the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon in the East, the White Tiger in the West, the Vermilion Bird in the South, and the Black Tortoise in the North lit up simultaneously.

In an instant, everything but the stars vanished completely. There was no sky, no ground, and nothing beyond the formation. The entire world consisted only of countless black-and-white stars arranged in an array.

For a fleeting moment, Wu Guangbi could no longer discern front from back or left from right. Moving forward felt like retreating as the surrounding stars rotated. Even when he stopped moving, the shifting star formation made staying still an impossibility.

Wu Guangbi reached out to grab the surrounding stars but found them immovable. He was initially stunned before understanding what was happening.

The formation had become a unified whole. While it seemed he was grabbing at a single point, he was, in fact, trying to seize the entire formation. It was akin to being on a boat and attempting to lift it—no amount of strength would suffice.

Understanding this, Wu Guangbi immediately changed tactics. He stood his ground and raised the Sacred Emblem before his chest.

Endless radiance burst forth from the emblem. The light was even purer and more intense than what Shi Luosi had summoned.

The vast array of stars trembled and quaked. Moreover, a beam of light pierced through the star formation, descending directly onto Madam Qi’s head.

Madam Qi’s figure twisted as the surrounding starlight scattered like chaotic raindrops.

Wu Guangbi shouted, “Mogul Yao, business is business. If you insist on stopping me, there will be no room for reconciliation!”

Madam Qi casually fiddled with her abacus. “What reputation does the Heavenly Court even have? How many times have you paid the balance? Doing business with you lot is a risk—if we don’t demand a 90% deposit upfront, we won’t dare ship the goods. As for the remaining 10%, we’ve given up hope of ever seeing it. Frankly, cutting ties with the Heavenly Court suits me just fine.”

Although Wu Guangbi’s assault was formidable, 70 to 80 percent of its power was absorbed by the formation. Madam Qi remained unharmed and only appeared to be at a disadvantage.

As Madam Qi manipulated the abacus beads, the 28 constellations spiraled, crashing toward Wu Guangbi one after another. Wu Guangbi swung his wooden staff to disperse them, beams of light flickering as starlight extinguished and regenerated.

After dispersing another beam of starlight aimed at him, Wu Guangbi sneered at Madam Qi. “Do you really think you can take the Xuan Jade right under my nose?”

Madam Qi chuckled. “I’m not here for that stupid jade.”

Clearly unconvinced, Wu Guangbi asked, “Then what are you up to?”

Madam Qi put away her abacus and took out her tobacco pipe, blowing forcefully.

In an instant, countless clouds of smoke surged from the pipe, blotting out the sky and the sun.

Wu Guangbi’s pupils contracted. Even with his level of cultivation, he could not see through the billowing smoke.

Is this Yao woman intending to forcibly seize the Xuan Jade, disregarding her own status? Wu Guangbi thought to himself, though he was not particularly worried.

Even if she obtained the Xuan Jade, she would not escape. While the Nandou 28 Star Formation was formidable, it was immobile. Without the formation, this Yao woman was no match for him.

As expected by Wu Guangbi, once the smoke dispersed, Madam Qi had already taken the Xuan Jade into her hands.

Wu Guangbi let out a roar, unleashing his full cultivation. The red orb at the top of his wooden staff radiated a dazzling light that grew brighter, like a blazing sun rising within the star formation.

Countless stars fell, and under the crimson glow, the starry night quickly retreated, revealing the daylight once more.

As such, Madam Qi could no longer reverse positions to hinder Wu Guangbi’s advances.

“Hand it over!” Wu Guangbi approached Madam Qi, swinging his staff directly at her head.

Madam Qi raised her tobacco pipe to block the staff.

Wu Guangbi’s gaze darkened as he coldly commanded, “Let go!”

As if his words carried authority, Madam Qi’s tobacco pipe nearly flew from her hand. She also staggered backward uncontrollably.

However, Madam Qi quickly steadied herself and swung the tobacco pipe, known as the Face Wrecker, back at Wu Guangbi.

Wu Guangbi sidestepped several meters and used his staff to block Madam Qi’s strike.

Both were top figures in Jianghu, yet their exchanges lacked the awe-inspiring impact of typical battles between Heavenly Beings.

One wielded a staff, and the other a tobacco pipe. Each struck back tit-for-tat, with no trace of sophisticated techniques. If not for the earlier star formation, it would have been hard to associate them with Heavenly Beings or Pseudo-Immortals.

Yet each time Wu Guangbi swung his staff, it left a lingering trail in the air. After a few exchanges, these trails intertwined into a net, blocking all of Madam Qi’s escape routes.

Wu Guangbi shouted again, “Mogul Yao, hand over the Xuan Jade!”

“Fine,” Madam Qi replied briskly, tossing the piece of jade with a flick of her wrist.

The Xuan Jade streaked across the air like a meteor. Propelled by immense force, both Daoist priests and Spirit Guards quickly tried to dodge the falling jade. Those unable to evade were sent flying back.

While Wu Guangbi had trapped Madam Qi, he was also entangled by her. He helplessly watched as the Xuan Jade flew farther until it struck a young man’s chest and disappeared inside him.

Madam Qi laughed. “Wu Guangbi, you broke the rules first. We agreed beforehand not to interfere with matters in Jinling Prefecture, but you didn’t keep your word and made the first move. So you can’t blame me for reciprocating. I don’t need the Xuan Jade, but I just won’t let you have it.”

Wu Guangbi was infuriated. He moved to strike at the young man who now possessed the jade, only to have Madam Qi block his path with the Face Wrecker.

Vexed, Wu Guangbi glared angrily at Madam Qi.

Madam Qi taunted. “What now? Are you planning to kill this boy in broad daylight? Murdering a Daoist Superintendent in front of so many Deputy Hall Masters and Deputy Mansion Master is a direct slap in the face to the Daoist Order. They can’t turn a blind eye even if they want to. True Lord Siming may be an Ancient Immortal who doesn’t fear retaliation from the Daoist Order, but you aren’t. I suggest you think through it.”

Wu Guangbi had no choice but to suppress his fury. He scoffed. “Fine! Mogul Yao, I finally know what you’re capable of!”