A Pawn's Passage

The Imperial Capital was shaped as four concentric squares—the outer four cities, the inner eight districts, the Imperial City, and the Palace City at its very heart.

Tonight was New Year’s Eve. The Emperor held a New Year Banquet at the palace, formally beginning at 11:00 pm and concluding just after midnight. It was a very brief window of only an hour.

This late hour was by design, allowing the ministers to dine with their families before attending the imperial banquet, thus avoiding any conflict.

The Grand Scholar of the Imperial Cabinet, Xie Linyuan, arrived in a hurry. He was nearly late, but not quite.

After the Owner was banished by Madam Qi, The Inn’s forces retreated. The Cook alone could not fight off two of Madam Qi’s Three Corpse incarnations, so the Innkeeper had no choice but to reinforce him. This allowed Xie Linyuan to return to the Imperial Palace in time for the banquet.

At that very moment, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were still fighting Prince Liao.

Before the banquet began, the palace was hosting a complex blessings ceremony. Hence, Li Ruoshui, the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion Master, along with Deputy Mansion Master Shi Bingyun, had to arrive early to participate in the ritual.

Daoist blessings followed six levels. The highest was the Universal Grand Ritual, personally led by the emperor, dedicating 3,600 spiritual tablets. Next was the Heavenly Cycle Ritual with 2,400 tablets, followed by the Heavenly Net Ritual with 1,200 tablets, the Golden Ritual, the Jade Ritual, and the Yellow Ritual.

This ceremony was a Heavenly Net Ritual. Since the Daoist reforms during the Holy Xuan Era, its duration had been shortened from the original 49 days to just 14 hours. The ritual resembled ancestral or heavenly worship.

Rituals and war were considered great matters of a nation.

This Heavenly Net Ritual was personally officiated by Great Sage Jiang Hedao, with Li Ruoshui and Shi Bingyun serving as the assistants. Since it spanned 14 hours, it began in the morning and ended at night.

A Great Sage of such stature would not journey all the way to the Imperial Capital without good reason.

After the rites was the imperial banquet and the midnight fireworks display.

As Prince Liao had said, the fireworks of the Imperial Capital were set and ready.

What remained uncertain was for whom tonight’s fireworks would be launched.

Great Sage Jiang Hedao did not attend the imperial banquet. Instead, he went to the Taiping Temple, which held deep ties to the Taiping Sect. If the Imperial Preceptor ever visited the capital, this was where he would stay and converse with the Emperor.

On ordinary days, the Taiping Temple was managed by designated disciples of the Taiping Sect and was off-limits to others. But Jiang Hedao was far from ordinary. He was a first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master, equal in rank to the Imperial Preceptor himself. No one would dare bar his entry.

It had been several years since the Imperial Preceptor last visited the capital. The temple’s last reopening had been for Sage Qingwei’s visit. Yet for the past year, Sage Qingwei had kept a low profile, whereas Sage Donghua had stolen the spotlight.

While Jiang Hedao could excuse himself from the imperial banquet, Li Ruoshui and Shi Bingyun could not. Both were regulars at such occasions, especially Shi Bingyun, who was an old friend of many royal family members. Prince Jin, Qin Quanyi, in particular, was famously well-liked. Some of the more boisterous younger nobles were just shy of calling her “Auntie” to her face.

The banquet was held in the Fengtian Hall.

Time ticked slowly by.

When the hands of the Western-style clock finally pointed straight upward, the palace bells outside began to toll.

Then came a sudden tremor, as if the earth moved.

Of course, the Imperial Capital was still some distance from Wuxing Mountain, so the magnitude of the quake was not too great. But the tables and chairs swayed briefly, and the ripples spread across cups of wine.

In an instant, the vast Fengtian Hall fell into complete silence.

Those in the know remained speechless.

Those who were unaware exchanged uneasy glances.

Xie Linyuan’s hand trembled slightly, spilling a bit of wine. Was it successful?

This success did not mean the completion of the Monkey. Instead, it was the success of the Anchor the Monkey operation.

Many guests tried to steal glances at the Emperor’s expression, only to realize he had already risen and departed.

Some peered outside, hoping to see an omen, perhaps the legendary purple qi from the East.

But apart from the stars shining a little brighter than usual, there were no remarkable signs.

Now that it was precisely midnight and the Emperor had already taken his leave, the imperial banquet had come to an end.

Shi Bingyun stood up and looked toward Li Ruoshui beside her. “With the blessing of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, peace has prevailed. Here’s to another year of tranquility!”

Li Ruoshui showed no expression and said nothing.

Shi Bingyun added, “What is it, Mansion Master Li? Not pleased?”

Only then did Li Ruoshui force a faint smile. “It seems a Great Sage personally officiating a Heavenly Net Ritual truly is extraordinary. Its effects are already manifesting.”

Shi Bingyun’s lips curled as she walked toward Qin Quanyi, who was waiting not far away. The two of them left together.

The long-prepared fireworks display finally began.

Imperial fireworks were on another level, lavishly designed to emphasize grandeur. Combined with the fireworks set off by common folk, the skies above the entire Imperial Capital were filled with colorful bursts of smoke and flames.

Qin Quanyi and Shi Bingyun stood atop the platform in Fengtian Hall, gazing not at the fireworks above, but toward the direction of Wuxing Mountain.

Compared to the gentle tremor felt in the capital, Wuxing Mountain was truly shaken to its core.

Even though the Monkey was at its most vulnerable, it was still a being on par with an Immortal. Even True Lord Ziguang, in this form, had to leverage the violent earth qi of Wuxing Mountain to destroy the Monkey.

Destroying the Monkey with earth qi was certainly feasible. Leveraging the power of earth qi was far easier than suppressing it, as it was naturally turbulent beneath Wuxing Mountain. To harness it was to go with the current, and suppressing it would be swimming upstream.

The eunuch ancestor of the Xuanhui Court could not suppress the earth qi and contend with True Lord Ziguang. Doing so would leave him caught in a deadly pincer between the earth qi and the Ancient Immortal. He might even be dragged into the whirlpools of earth qi below the mountain. So, he simply gave up trying to suppress it.

The earth qi in the lake boiled like water, and True Lord Ziguang fanned the flames with well-timed ease.

Though the Monkey was powerful, it had yet to develop a mind and spirit. Mind cultivators were unlike strength cultivators, who honed brute force. Their powers centered around the mind, not the body. Thus, the Monkey’s physical form was not especially durable, and it had no conscious resistance to the earth qi. Soon enough, the Monkey dissolved within the surging tide of earth qi.

The death of the Monkey only intensified the earth qi’s rampage.

Earth qi was like water, and the ley lines were like rivers. If a river overflowed, it caused floods. If earth qi surged out, it triggered quakes.

Thus, the vast Wuxing Mountain shook uncontrollably. The ground cracked and crumbled, and boulders rained down like a storm. Fortunately, the Divine Central Guards had long since sealed off the area, so no others were present.

The first to bear the brunt was the cave within Wuxing Mountain.

The formation was rooted in the earth qi. So once the earth qi went out of control, the formation began to collapse as well. In other words, the small world inside Wuxing Mountain would fall apart.

Seeing that the situation was beyond saving, the eunuch ancestor of the Xuanhui Court grabbed Qin Quanxiao and left the area immediately.

By this point, the divine power granted by the Daoist Order was nearly exhausted, as a precaution based on past lessons. After all, True Lord Ziguang had nearly taken control of the Dazhen Mansion and once infiltrated Jade Capital with dubious intent. The Daoist Order could not risk a repeat, so the divine power given to her this time was precisely calculated, just enough to destroy the Monkey but not enough for True Lord Ziguang to pursue any personal affairs.

“What a fine vessel. I almost can’t bear to part with it,” True Lord Ziguang murmured. “What a pity...”

There was a Star Observation Tower in the Taiping Temple. Atop it, Great Sage Jiang Hedao stood with hands behind his back, his gaze piercing through the layers of smoke from the fireworks, fixed on Wuxing Mountain.

Normally, a Great Sage would not impose pressure through their gaze unless it was to send a pointed reminder. Now was such a time. Jiang Hedao’s gaze pierced through the mountain, through all its barriers, and fell upon True Lord Ziguang.

Of course, his gaze could not actually harm True Lord Ziguang. It was merely a reminder that he quite literally had eyes on her.

Before the Monkey was destroyed, Jiang Hedao’s main concern had been the Imperial Court. After its destruction, his concern shifted to ensuring that True Lord Ziguang fulfilled the terms of their agreement.

Under Jiang Hedao’s watchful eyes, countless streams of divine radiance surged from Qi Xuansu’s body, passing through the mountain and flowing upward to the unreachable divine kingdom in the night sky.

Jiang Hedao then withdrew his gaze.

By now, Wuxing Mountain’s barriers were no more, so entry and exit were unimpeded.

Lin Yuanmiao and Zhou Jiaoxian appeared one after the other.

Zhou Jiaoxian did not recognize Lin Yuanmiao, but there were so many parties involved tonight. Seeing that Zhang Yuelu seemed to know the old man, Zhou Jiaoxian paid it no mind and assumed he was a master from the Qingping Society or the Ziguang Society.

Now that the small world was collapsing, its internal structure had become chaotic, and the terrain was no longer smooth. This was the deepest part of the cave, making it difficult to traverse. Though the eunuch ancestor of the Xuanhui Court had come and gone with ease while carrying Qin Quanxiao, Zhang Yuelu alone would likely struggle to escort the unconscious Qi Xuansu out safely.

Lin Yuanmiao only had a Wuliang-stage level of cultivation, but he had the foundation of an Immortal. He remained calm in the face of chaos, picked up Qi Xuansu on his back without hesitation, and signaled to Zhang Yuelu to follow him out.

Originally, the Daoist Order had arranged for Zhou Jiaoxian to handle the aftermath, including rescuing Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu and ensuring the complete eradication of the Monkey.

However, whether due to True Lord Ziguang applying excessive force on purpose or harboring some other intent, the extent and speed of the cave’s collapse far exceeded the Daoist Order’s expectations. If Zhou Jiaoxian chose to save the young ones, it would be difficult for him to verify the Monkey’s destruction afterward.

With Lin Yuanmiao taking away Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, Zhou Jiaoxian breathed a sigh of relief and stopped hesitating. He threw a special talisman into the surging earth qi and took out a compass, aiming it at the Monkey’s original location.

Elsewhere, Madam Qi and Wu Guangbi had also entered Wuxing Mountain.

Madam Qi took over from True Lord Ziguang, holding Yao Pei in her hand like a kitten.

Wu Guangbi simply stood beside Li Changge, the only one among the younger generation who remained completely uninjured and fully mobile.

Li Changge stood with his hands behind his back, holding the now one-meter-long Mortal Vitality sideways and casting a deep gaze at Madam Qi.

Madam Qi glared back at him without the slightest courtesy, as if to say, “What are you looking at? Look again, and I’ll gouge out your eyes!”

There was no need to doubt that Madam Qi was perfectly capable of doing just that.

“Young Master Li, let’s go.” Wu Guangbi stepped forward, subtly shielding Li Changge.

Li Changge nodded and clasped his hands in salute toward Madam Qi. “Elder Yao, until we meet again.”