A Pawn's Passage

Sage Qingwei gazed at the strange, black-covered book with a grave expression.

At that moment, Qi Xuansu, who was hiding inconspicuously in a corner of the divine kingdom, also witnessed the scene and could not help but ask, “What is that?”

Through the Green Cloud embedded in Qi Xuansu’s abdomen and the Heavenly Preceptor’s seals left beforehand, the Heavenly Preceptor could share Qi Xuansu’s perception and converse with him. The elder explained, “That is a divine artifact known as the Scripture of Zuriel.”

Thanks to the success of Western studies, Daoists were no longer clueless to the outside world. Instead, they had a clear understanding of the Western Continent and were well-informed about many of its famed divine artifacts.

“Just as our Daoist Order must guard against hidden cults causing unrest, the Holy Court in the West also had to guard against heretics. In the Western Continent, there is a special cult called the Fallen Apostles, akin to the Cult of Fates or the Lingshan Witch Cult of our continent. According to legend, some Apostles refused to submit to Queen Pallas’s rule and started a rebellion, but they were quickly suppressed. The Holy Court claimed that these traitorous Apostles were cast into Hell but not completely destroyed, hence the name, the Fallen Apostles.

“In my view, most rebellions are born from issues of distribution. Some seize too much, others too little. The problem is not scarcity but inequality. It was the same during the Daoist Order’s revival. We couldn’t recruit so many Ancient Immortals and could only let them fend for themselves. The Holy Court must have faced a similar situation. After suppressing that rebellion, many Apostles were exiled, becoming existences akin to our Ancient Immortals.

“Among the many Fallen Apostles, there was one named Zuriel, known as master of slaughter and conspiracy. He was said to be an elder who appeared almost at the same time as the Supreme Will. After the Supreme Will departed from the mortal realm, he sought to conquer other deities. Since a god’s power is tied directly to the number and scale of his followers, Zuriel created a tome that could convert the followers of any other deity who saw or heard it into his own fervent believers. With this, he would destroy other gods, drain their faith, and drive them into the First Death, while he alone became the sole deity. This book is the Scripture of Zuriel.

“It is said the Scripture of Zuriel was completed only after the sacrifice of 397 scribes. Zuriel tested it on another Apostle, and the scripture successfully wove a web of lies within the reader’s consciousness. That Apostle was forced to relinquish part of his divine power before barely breaking free from the scripture’s absolute domination. From this, it became clear that any being weaker than the Holy rank would fall under its sway.

“If a mortal who has not yet attained immortality reads the Scripture of Zuriel, they will believe everything written within, which preached that Zuriel was the one true God, the supreme deity above all others, and thus the only one worthy of worship. Followers of other deities would be converted into Zuriel’s believers, who would ceaselessly spread his divine revelations. Longevity-stage Immortals and Pseudo-Immortals can resist the scripture’s influence if properly prepared, but only by sacrificing a part of their cultivation, risking even a drop in realm. Moreover, exposure to the scripture does not grant immunity, unlike surviving smallpox. One may still fall under its sway again upon another reading.”

Qi Xuansu was shaken by the sheer power of the Scripture of Zuriel and could not help but ask, “Why would the Holy Court send the Scripture of Zuriel here? Do they want Izanagi to become their believer? Setting aside whether Izanagi will be affected by the tome, Zuriel has already betrayed the Holy Court and become a Fallen Apostle. So even if Izanagi were influenced by the book, he would become Zuriel’s follower, not the Holy Court’s. Isn’t the Holy Court just shooting itself in the foot?”

The Heavenly Preceptor answered, “The Scripture of Zuriel does not have only one effect. Earlier, I mentioned that a Longevity-stage Immortal who tries to resist the Scripture’s influence would suffer a drop in cultivation, but I didn’t mention what the scripture actually does to such beings. In truth, Zuriel never expected the Scripture to convert a peer into his believer. Its influence on Longevity-stage Immortals takes another direction. He does not make them his followers. Instead, the tome causes their egos to inflate, making them grow arrogant.

“For Manly Immortals and Earthly Immortals, such arrogance merely clouds the mind. But for Manly Immortals, whose spirit and body are unified, the impact is negligible. For Ghostly Immortals and Godly Immortals, whose strength lies in will and belief, this arrogance grants them a false surge of cultivation in a short time. This too is a form of belief that makes it real. Once they themselves have a belief, the resulting power is far greater than ordinary spells.”

Qi Xuansu was even more shocked. “If that’s the case, isn’t it a good thing? Then why would such deities rather sacrifice cultivation and resist the Scripture of Zuriel than remain under its influence?”

The Heavenly Preceptor explained, “Because such false cultivation will ultimately rebound upon them. It’s like borrowing money. You can borrow to get through a crisis, but you cannot treat borrowed money as your own to squander freely. This false surge of cultivation will end up costing more, so no one will ever make such a disastrous deal?”

Qi Xuansu immediately understood.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary deities would certainly never “borrow money” and saddle themselves with such usurious debt. The so-called sacrifice of cultivation to rid themselves of the influence was simply like repaying the debt before it snowballed into something unbearable, cutting losses to ward off a disaster.

But if one truly faced hardship, or worse, stood at the brink of life and death, then such considerations no longer mattered. It was a case of grasping at a lifeline in a moment of desperation.

Without a doubt, Izanagi was at such a desperate juncture now. He could no longer afford to hesitate. Without the slightest pause, Izanagi seized the unsealed Scripture of Zuriel.

The tome instantly shifted in size to match Izanagi’s form.

Whatever consequences the future might bring, Izanagi would think of them later. For now, he had to survive the present trial.

By contrast, Sage Qingwei, with all to lose, dared not touch the Scripture rashly for fear of its influence. He did not even stop Izanagi from taking hold of it, lest he himself accidentally glimpse its contents.

It was said that the Scripture of Zuriel’s influence seeped into every crevice. Even its creator, Zuriel, had once been caught by its sway, deluded into believing himself equal to the Supreme Will. In his arrogance, Zuriel launched a solo assault on the Holy Court, attempting to triumph over millions with his lone strength and dominate the realm.

This was something even the Sage of Mind had never achieved. Although people said the Sage of Mind suppressed the Daoist rebellion of that era, he had not been fighting alone. He was the leader of the Confucian School and had their vast power backing him. He did not single-handedly sweep across the entire Daoist order.

Though Zuriel’s strength surged for a short while under the Scripture of Zuriel’s influence, he was still far from the level of the Supreme Will. The result was utter defeat. Zuriel nearly lost his life, forfeited the Scripture, and his cultivation fell drastically, leaving him a shadow of his former self.

Thus, the Scripture of Zuriel fell into the hands of the Holy Court. They did not destroy it, but instead sealed it and kept it as a weapon against their enemies. Moreover, many drafts and copies of the Scripture had been lost to the outside world, each carrying fragments of its power.

For this reason, only a mighty being like Taurinus could personally deliver the Scripture of Zuriel. No other means of transport would suffice.

One had to admit that the Holy Court’s scheme was a success, and their timing precise.

Once Izanagi obtained the Scripture of Zuriel, he immediately turned his gaze to its open pages.

The text within was not in the script of any language in the mortal realm. Instead, it struck directly at one’s soul.

After reading the Scripture of Zuriel, Izanagi closed his eyes. The cracks on the golden body, which had already spread to his chest, immediately ceased. Not only that, the existing cracks rapidly vanished. In the blink of an eye, Izanagi’s golden body was restored to perfection, without a single flaw.

Not just that, the golden body continued to perfect itself. All the black mist vanished, replaced by a radiance. Once more, Izanagi bore the majesty expected of the King of Gods, matching the version of himself in his memories.

It would not take long before Izanagi could fully remold his golden body and regain control over his divine kingdom.

Without a doubt, the Scripture of Zuriel had already begun to exert its effect. It made Izanagi believe that he was restored to his peak state, once again the sovereign of Fenglin, the one whom the Three Noble Children dared not defy.

Izanagi believed this with absolute conviction, which made it a reality.

The higher the cultivation of the one influenced by the Scripture of Zuriel, the greater the false power it bestowed.

At this moment, Izanagi already possessed the realm of a quasi-First-Tribulation Immortal.

Suddenly, Izanagi’s eyes snapped open. Flames blazed within them as he fixed his gaze firmly upon Sage Qingwei.

In that instant, even Sage Qingwei, one of the Daoist Order’s heirs apparent, could not help but silently lament his situation.

Had he already stepped into immortality, he might have stood a chance in battle with the aid of the Qinghuo Pearl. However, he was still only a Pseudo-Immortal at this moment, so he could never be Izanagi’s match. Sage Qingwei also could not break through to immortality in the heat of battle, so he was now in an extremely perilous situation.

However, there was a silver lining. The Scripture of Zuriel was built on deception, so it could not restore reason and would only cloud one’s mind further. Izanagi, whose mind was already fragmented, fell into madness under the book’s sway. He was completely driven by instinct and could no longer differentiate his foe.