A Pawn's Passage

The lone figure was none other than Zhang Juyan, a Special-Rank Golden Purple Instructor at the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

He had an extraordinary demeanor and exuded scholarly elegance. Standing amidst the field of white reed flowers, he appeared ethereal.

As Qi Xuansu and Yao Pei landed on the Star Observation Deck and saw Zhang Juyan, he also spotted them and smiled. “Many people say that Li Changge, Yao Pei, and Zhang Yuelu are young talents with limitless potential and that the future eighth-generation Grand Master will be chosen from among them. Zhang Yuelu is a younger member of my clan, and after the two major cases in Jiangnan, I am completely convinced of her abilities.

“However, the other two young talents have remained reclusive. I have only heard about their exceptional aptitude, but aptitude alone does not equate to strength. I was skeptical, until today. Yao Pei, you truly live up to your reputation.”

Yao Pei showed no change in expression and calmly replied, “Instructor Zhang, you flatter me. I only find it regrettable that someone of your talent is not valued by the Daoist Order but has instead chosen to defect to a secret society.”

Zhang Juyan smiled faintly. “Such is fate. I choose my own path; there is no one else to blame.”

Even though Yao Pei had uncovered his whereabouts and he was now a caged bird within the sealed Wanxiang Daoist Palace, Zhang Juyan showed no sign of panic. He maintained his warm smile and refined demeanor, as if this were a chance encounter while he was taking a night stroll, rather than being caught red-handed by Qi Xuansu and Yao Pei.

Yao Pei declared, “I once told Hu Jiaode that if he cooperated honestly, there might still be a sliver of hope. But if he stubbornly resisted and refused to repent, there would be no mercy in punishment. Now, I pass these words on to you, Instructor Zhang.”

Zhang Juyan chuckled. “Miss Yao, do you think I would believe that? Besides, the outcome has yet to be decided, so how is this considered resistance?”

As the two conversed, Qi Xuansu noticed an amber-like object floating on the lake’s surface, bearing some resemblance to the Xuan Jade. Countless golden threads surged from the lakebed and converged into the amber.

Qi Xuansu murmured, “Is that amber the special vessel you mentioned?”

“Yes.” Yao Pei also noticed the amber. “Those golden threads are divine power. It seems that the elders of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace had already purified the incense power within the Confucian Sage statue, fully converting it into divine power. But that makes sense. After all, the predecessor of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace was the Wanxiang Academy, one of the Three Great Confucian Academies. The scholars there were relatively pure, so their faith contained fewer impurities, making it quite close to divine power.”

Qi Xuansu’s expression grew serious. “That vessel is absorbing divine power. This reminds me of what the Cult of Fates once did in Jinling Prefecture.”

That time, True Lord Siming descended upon Jinling Prefecture and nearly turned half of the city into a ghostly abyss.

Yao Pei did not refute Qi Xuansu’s guess. She extended her hand, and a wooden staff entwined with twin serpents appeared in her palm, exactly as tall as she was.

Qi Xuansu slowly drew Flying Shadow while gripping the handle of the Dragon Painting Pistol with his other hand.

However, Qi Xuansu still harbored a sliver of hope. After all, this was the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, one of the core strongholds of the Daoist Order, with many Heavenly Beings stationed here and various formations in place.

Yao Pei saw through Qi Xuansu’s wishful thinking and warned, “Don’t underestimate the Ancient Immortals. They once infiltrated Jade Capital, which surpasses Wanxiang Daoist Palace by an immeasurable margin in terms of security.”

Qi Xuansu asked in a low voice, “Have you informed Sage Sun?”

Before Yao Pei could respond, Zhang Juyan answered in her stead, “The Upper and Lower Palaces are isolated from each other, so mother-child talismans won’t work. You will have to return to the Upper Palace in person to deliver the message.”

Holding the Staff of Merit, Yao Pei ordered calmly, “Tian Yuan, return to the Upper Palace immediately and notify Sage Sun. Leave this to me.”

“Think you can leave?” Zhang Juyan smirked. “Tian Yuan, didn’t you want to practice swordsmanship? I happen to have learned a few techniques myself. Though I may not compare to Instructor Hu, I’m not too far off.”

By the time the final word left his lips, Zhang Juyan had already vanished and appeared right in front of Qi Xuansu before the latter could blink.

The instructor substituted his finger for a sword and struck at Qi Xuansu’s throat, employing the Star Shift Technique from the Beidou 36 Swords.

This was far beyond Qi Xuansu’s expectations.

Before reaching the Heavenly-Being stage, there were designated mystical abilities for each lineage, such as Divine Calculation, Divine Observation Technique, and so on. However, a Heavenly Being would be allowed to choose what they wanted to learn freely.

Generally speaking, Heavenly Beings in the Xiaoyao stage could only cultivate one perfected method. Those in the Wuliang stage could cultivate either two perfected methods or one perfected method along with three high-attainment methods. Those in the Zaohua stage could cultivate three perfected methods or an equivalent number of high-attainment methods.

However, these were merely upper limits, not strict requirements. The specifics varied from person to person. Some preferred to focus entirely on a single method, striving for absolute purity and refining it to utmost perfection—aiming to use one perfected method to counter all others.

An Immortal would no longer have any restrictions. Typically, mastering one perfected method also meant mastering all methods.

The advantage of Banished Immortals was that they could cultivate two perfected methods simultaneously even in the Xiaoyao stage—typically one orthodox and one unorthodox. For example, Zhang Yuelu’s Cihang Sword Sequence and Six Void Tribulations, or Yao Pei’s Heavenly Blade and Taishang Emotionless Sutra.

No one had ever heard of a Xiaoyao-stage Qi Refiner cultivating two perfected methods.

However, Qi Xuansu had no time to think, nor did he need to. His body had already reacted instinctively due to the Demonic Blade, seamlessly moving with it. Thus, he managed to retreat backward just in time to evade the strike.

At that moment, Yao Pei alerted him. “Be careful! This isn’t really the Zhang family’s perfected Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method. It’s the Li family’s Taiping Qingling Sutra.”

Qi Xuansu had long heard of the Taiping Qingling Sutra. This perfected method had little inherent power, but its greatest mystery lay in its ability to imitate other perfected methods and avoid those side effects. However, its major drawback was its extreme consumption of energy.

Since it required mimicking other perfected methods, the practitioner also had to cultivate those other methods in some form. Though mastery was not necessary and only a superficial imitation was required, this was no easy feat.

Take the Demonic Blade as an example—when activated through the Taiping Qingling Sutra, it could unleash 80% of its full power while eliminating the risk of the practitioner going berserk.

At first glance, this might not seem all that formidable. But imagine if one simultaneously cultivated multiple perfected methods, using the Taiping Qingling Sutra to activate perfected methods like the Beidou 36 Swords, Cihang Sword Sequence, Nandou 28 Swords, and Taiyin 13 Swords.

One moment, the practitioner might employ the Immortal Blood Sword from the Taiyin 13 Swords, and then transform it into the Star Shift Technique from the Beidou 36 Swords, followed by the Great Thunder Sword from the Cihang Sword Sequence. Even if each attack could only reach 80% of its original power, such unpredictable variations would be impossible to counter.

Simply put, the core technique was still the Taiping Qingling Sutra, only its external form was constantly changing. One did not need to fully master each mimicked technique, but at the very least, one had to understand it conceptually.

This resulted in an enormous gap between the upper and lower limits of the Taiping Qingling Sutra. At its peak, someone like Li Changge could imitate nearly 10 perfected methods from the Three Religions. That was why even Qin Lingge, who wielded an immortal object, was no match for him.

On the other hand, if the practitioner’s aptitude was poor and their energy was limited, they might only manage to barely imitate a single perfected method at 80% of its full power. Given that the Taiping Qingling Sutra itself had no inherent strength, this would be an utterly unrewarding endeavor.

Zhang Juyan was cunning, having cultivated the Taiping Qingling Sutra for years, yet using it to imitate the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method, which was an ancestral technique of the Zhang family. Thus, no one had ever questioned its authenticity.

Moreover, since the imitation only had 80% of the original technique’s power, it indirectly concealed his true strength, making Zhang Juyan appear rather mediocre. His decision to remain low-key as a Special-Rank Golden-Purple Instructor at the Wanxiang Daoist Palace seemed entirely reasonable.

It was no wonder Zhang Juyan could replicate the innate qi of the Beidou 36 Swords.

Of course, a forgery always had its flaws. But since the Taiping Qingling Sutra had no tangible form and left no discernible traces, it was nearly impossible to detect these flaws unless one also practiced the Taiping Qingling Sutra or was a cultivator of the original Beidou 36 Swords.

Sun Hewu had a high level of cultivation, but he did not primarily train in the Taiping Qingling Sutra or the Beidou 36 Swords. He also had not considered this possibility, so he failed to uncover the deception.

Since Zhang Juyan was merely imitating the Beidou 36 Swords, he was slightly inferior to Hu Jiaode in the technique and failed to gain the upper hand against Qi Xuansu.

But Zhang Juyan was not surprised by this. He suddenly leaped into the air and swept his leg outward, stirring a violent gust of wind. Countless white reeds bowed in submission and scattered like drifting petals.

This was the Cloud Sweep Technique from the Taiyin 13 Swords. Its sword qi moved like the wind, striking swiftly and lethally and retracting just as rapidly.

At this moment, Zhang Juyan used his leg in place of a sword, catching his opponents off guard.

Yao Pei did not hastily use the Staff of Merit. Instead, she extended a palm, shattering the turbulent sword wind and directly seizing Zhang Juyan’s ankle. With a swift turn of her wrist, she slammed him into the ground.

Zhang Juyan braced himself against the ground with his hands. Wherever his palms touched, the surface cracked. At the same time, his other leg swept outward once more, producing an unceasing whistling wind.

Yao Pei did not take the strike head-on. Instead, she threw Zhang Juyan out like a sack of rice.

However, Zhang Juyan immediately employed the Yin-Yang Polar Reversal Technique. The moment Yao Pei released him, his body twisted midair before landing firmly, using the opportunity to seize Yao Pei’s wrist.

Suddenly, Yao Pei found herself flying back.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was already closing in on Zhang Juyan. But before he could get close, he saw Yao Pei hurtling toward him. Left with no choice, he temporarily sheathed his blade and reached out to catch her. However, Yao Pei’s body was still infused with the overwhelming innate qi from Zhang Juyan’s throw, so she could not neutralize it so easily. As a result, Qi Xuansu and Yao Pei tumbled backward together, rolling across the ground like a gourd falling down a slope.

Seizing the advantage, Zhang Juyan pursued the attack. With a flick of his finger, a brilliant beam shot from his fingertips, flashing through the air and vanishing in an instant.

Qi Xuansu and Yao Pei had just managed to get up when they were struck again. Qi Xuansu let out a muffled groan and staggered backward.

Yao Pei remarked, “The Infinite Coiling Finger Sword.”

Blood slowly spread across Qi Xuansu’s chest, staining his garments and growing to the size of a coin.

Zhang Juyan did not respond. Instead, he flicked his fingers once more. A mystical radiance swirled at his fingertips.

Yao Pei, still holding the Staff of Merit in her right hand, gracefully extended her left palm, dispersing the mystical light one by one with sheer palm force.

Zhang Juyan guffawed. “As long as I can delay you both for a short while, the outcome will be decided.”