A Pawn's Passage

Some worms continued to writhe even after death, just as some fallen Immortals might still cling to a sliver of life. Daoist texts were filled with such records. The most notable examples were the Ancient Immortals.

In recent years, there has been a growing phenomenon of body-snatching. These takeovers were strange, leaving no trace, as even mystical abilities like Seer Eyes or Divine Observation Technique failed to detect them. One could only determine possession through drastic changes in behavior.

For example, if someone long considered a fool suddenly became eloquent and well-versed in artisan skills, or if a shy boy who used to blush in front of girls suddenly became a charismatic flirt juggling multiple women, these would be deemed signs of suspected possession. Once discovered, these individuals would be taken away, never to be seen again. The Daoist Order encouraged commoners, gentry, and fellow Daoists to actively report such cases, with verified reports earning monetary rewards based on the accuracy and severity of the impact.

This policy was meant to prevent Ancient Immortals from reincarnating through borrowed bodies, as the goal was to keep their numbers below three.

As the end of the era approached, more of these Immortals who survived death would be surfacing in a last-ditch effort to escape ruin. Otherwise, they would go down with the ship and remain trapped forever.

These were fallen Immortals, like fallen nobles. The downside was that they had lost most of their cultivation, so they were sometimes weaker than Pseudo-Immortals or Zaohua-stage Heavenly Beings. The upside was that they could exploit a loophole in the heavenly laws. Since they had once achieved immortality, they were immune to the Three Corpses plague. But being a fallen Immortal, they were no longer subject to the 100-year lifespan limit, allowing them to linger in the mortal realm for centuries.

But even their dragged-out lives were reaching the final chapter. They had to face the threat of the end of the era—a sweeping purge from the heavens meant to fix all corruption once and for all.

The only solution was to find a way to restore their former cultivation level and ascend from the mortal realm before the end of the era.

Oftentimes, their original bodies were too damaged for reuse. Thus, the priority was to find a suitable new host. They could attach themselves to personal relics from their lifetimes and wait for a “fated person” to appear. These objects, having once been in the hands of an Immortal, were extraordinary, often mistaken for divine gifts from heaven. But people forget that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

Having once ascended, their body-snatching methods were incredibly refined. Most hosts remained unaware. Even Heavenly Beings could not detect them. Those less skilled in possession might pretend to be some ancient master who lost his body and now had to rely on the host to survive. They posed as mentors, teaching cultivation and boosting the host’s strength, while secretly preparing for takeover. Sometimes, they would ask for help to rebuild a body or avenge old grudges. By the time they struck, they would usually be strong enough to hold their ground against their host.

These hosts viewed their experiences as fortuitous encounters or heavenly gifts. Some even believed they were destined to make a splash in this turbulent era. Like the Western saying, they were selling their soul to the devil.

The Daoist Order had comprehensive preventive teachings on these matters. Anyone raised within the Daoist system usually would not fall for such tricks.

Madam Qi could not be easily categorized. She had a body and was still relatively young, so she had no need for such methods. It was entirely possible that while Qi Xuansu was still grinding through the Heavenly Being stages, she had already become an Immortal. Furthermore, she had the backing of both the Yao and Pei families, which were centuries old with reputations to uphold. If they wanted something, they could act directly with no need to scheme against a minion.

Even so, Qi Xuansu still could not rest easy. He had asked Madam Qi more than once what hidden price she had marked for him. Zhang Yuelu was even more worried, afraid that Qi Xuansu might one day fall beyond redemption.

The mortal shell before them, claiming to be Lin Lingsu, was one of those Immortals who had never fully died.

Even if the figure before them was a Daoist elder, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu did not lower their guard. Among these reawakened Ancient Immortals, five out of ten were former Daoist elders. Before the Daoist sects were unified, the Daoist Order was just a vague umbrella term. Most sects were constantly at odds with each other, and moral standards among members varied wildly. Thus, many of them were unscrupulous and vicious. More than half of the prisoners in the Zhengyi Sect’s Demon-Vanquishing Cave were once Daoist elders, so trust could not be easily given.

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu subtly took up a flanking position, maintaining distance from the mortal shell. Who knew if it was hungry for flesh? Perhaps devouring the two of them was the key to breaking its confinement. If so, Qi Xuansu’s Longevity Stone Heart might just chip one of its teeth.

Qi Xuansu questioned, “You claim to be Master Tongzhen Daling, Lin Lingsu, but words alone can’t prove anything. Do you have any proof of identity?”

The mortal shell was silent for a moment before replying, “I don’t.”

Qi Xuansu immediately drew his sheathed Flying White Shadow. The paper armor he wore turned into a paper sword and flew back into Zhang Yuelu’s hand.

The two were ready to strike.

So what if this mortal shell was once an Immortal? It was nothing compared to its former peak. Back when they were just Xiantian Beings, the two of them had teamed up to slay a gravely wounded Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being, Desmond. Now, they were both Heavenly Beings in the Xiaoyao stage, so taking down this mortal shell of a fallen Immortal was not entirely impossible.

The mortal shell noticed their hostile expressions. These two held no reverence for him as a Daoist patriarch and even looked ready to attack. He had no choice but to explain, “I cannot prove my identity because all my belongings were taken by my original body. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lost to Sage Changchun.”

“Original body?” Qi Xuansu was taken aback.

The mortal shell said, “I am Lin Lingsu’s external body.”

Someone as limited in knowledge as Qi Xuansu could only look toward the well-educated Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu’s expression turned solemn as she said, “The Three Corpses Severance Realm.”

The mortal shell replied, “Exactly. Back then, my original self used supreme methods to sever and manifest the Three Corpses’ incarnations and further employed the Liberation Method of the Corpse Liberation Immortals, anchoring the incarnations to external objects. This allowed the incarnations to fully detach from the original body, like an autumn fruit falling to the earth, growing into another tree altogether. That is how Lin Lingsu, the Imperial Preceptor of the Jin Dynasty, was born.”

As a Rogue Cultivator, Qi Xuansu naturally understood the Liberation Method of Corpse Liberation Immortals. It was the final realm for Rogue Cultivators before reaching immortality, equivalent to the Fusion Realm of Qi Refiners, the Three Corpses Severance Realm of Banished Immortals, the Shattered Void Realm of Martial Arts Practitioners, and the Yangshen Realm of Diviners.

Before the Holy Xuan consolidated the Six Lineages, Corpse Liberation Immortals were further divided into Fire Liberation, Water Liberation, Sword Liberation, and many more. The techniques included the Taiqing Corpse Liberation, Taiyi Corpse Preservation, Taiji Concealment, Baojing Corpse Liberation, Taiyin Form Refinement, Water-Fire Form Refinement, Yin-Yang Six Jia Refining Technique, and so on. Later, the Daoist Order compiled and standardized them under the Liberation Realm.

To put it plainly, among the many ascension methods, Corpse Liberation Immortals were the lowest tier. Others ascended with their physical bodies, but Corpse Liberation Immortals could only send up their primordial spirits and leave their corpses behind. The Liberation Method involved substituting the corpse with an external object, such as a sword, so that the Corpse Liberation Immortal could take a physical body along, just like the other Five Immortals. Using a sword as a substitute was known as Sword Liberation. Eventually, all such methods were grouped under the general Liberation Method.

Beyond facilitating ascension, the Liberation Realm could also sever incarnations, using external objects as anchors. The higher the grade of the object, the stronger the incarnation.

Though both realms could sever incarnations, there were many similarities and differences between the Liberation Realm of Rogue Cultivators and the Three Corpses Severance Realm of Banished Immortals.

The Three Corpses’ incarnation was a semi-independent being, nearly indistinguishable from the original body. However, it lacked a physical body and consumed the true essence of the original body. Thus, it could not linger for long in the world. In contrast, the incarnation of Rogue Cultivators that relied on an external object had a true corporeal form and could remain in the world indefinitely. However, it lacked an autonomous consciousness and functioned more like a puppet.

In theory, the Three Corpses Severance and Liberation Realms were complementary. If the two were combined, the incarnation could be fully severed, becoming a completely independent individual.

Qi Xuansu clarified, “You mean to say that Master Tongzhen Daling was originally someone’s Three Corpse incarnation, and after being severed from the original body, became an independent individual and took the name Lin Lingsu. He flattered the emperor and became the Jin Dynasty’s Imperial Preceptor.”

The mortal shell nodded. “Exactly.”

Zhang Yuelu immediately asked, “Then who is the original body that you speak of?”

The mortal shell replied, “I don’t know.”

Qi Xuansu drew Flying White Shadow, preparing to strike.

The mortal shell said helplessly, “Because I am one of Lin Lingsu’s Three Corpses...my memory is incomplete.”

This time, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were truly stunned. He was the Three Corpses of the Three Corpses.

The mortal shell explained, “Once Lin Lingsu became a fully independent being, he no longer had any connection to the original body. He was a person in his own right and hence had his own Three Corpses. After reaching the Longevity Realm, Lin Lingsu severed his Three Corpses and forged them into Three Corpse incarnations. It wasn’t until he was suppressed by Sage Changchun and passed away here that I was able to occupy his body.”

Zhang Yuelu pondered aloud. “That would mean Lin Lingsu was likely a fully detached Three Corpse incarnation severed by True Lord Qingxu Yuanmiao, becoming an independent individual. After all, only a First-Tribulation Immortal could perform such a feat. Once Lin Lingsu became a person of his own, he in turn grew his own Three Corpses and severed them. But since Lin Lingsu’s cultivation was far inferior to that of True Lord Qingxu Yuanmiao, his own Three Corpse incarnations never became fully independent. After Lin Lingsu’s death, one of his Three Corpses took over his mortal shell, and that’s who we’re facing now.”

The mortal shell said, “Lin Lingsu is not me. I am Lin Lingsu.”

A Three Corpse incarnation was part of the original body, but that did not mean that the original self was the Three Corpse incarnation.