A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu’s counterattack had been delayed until now because contacting Liu Gui required time. Another reason was due to his severely weakened cultivation after the battle with True Lord Siming.

Now that Qi Xuansu had received the Xuan Jade from the Earthly Preceptor, he was just one step away from the Zaohua stage. With five pages of the Scripture of Zuriel to supplement him, his combat power was formidable.

Back in Thanglong Prefecture, Qi Xuansu had relied on Master Yin’s power to defeat True Lord Siming’s divine descent vessel. Thus, he had a chance of defeating Wu Guangbi as well.

Now, Qi Xuansu had an additional helper—Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu was also at the Wuliang stage. If both of them used the Scripture of Zuriel to temporarily step into the Zaohua stage, then used their Twin Sword Union with their immortal objects, slaying Wu Guangbi became entirely possible.

Not to mention, Qi Xuansu could still call upon the Three Yin Beings for assistance.

By all measures, Qi Xuansu held a significant advantage. With over a 50% chance of success, the attempt was worth making. The only regret was that Great Sage Jiang had reclaimed Qi Xuansu’s authority to command the Poluo Daoist Mansion’s Spirit Guards. Thus, Spirit Guard Jia Yin no longer answered directly to Qi Xuansu.

Although Qi Xuansu could rely on personal favor to request assistance, he did not want to make things difficult for Spirit Guard Jia Yin, whose full attention was already devoted to hunting Chen Shuhua.

Great Sage Jiang had mobilized most of the Daoist forces in Nanyang, weaving layer upon layer of encirclement to kill Chen Shuhua, making the first-rank Spirit Guards indispensable.

To the Golden Tower Council, this was the true priority. Even though a hostile Immortal alone could not shake the Daoist Order’s foundations, Chen Shuhua could still cause severe instability throughout Nanyang if she returned to peak condition. Thus, time was of the essence. The Daoist Order had to kill her before she recovered.

Great Sage Jiang’s arrival was not all bad. Though he had deprived Qi Xuansu of more authority, his presence in Thanglong Prefecture gave Qi Xuansu the confidence to attack the Heavenly Court. At the very least, Qi Xuansu no longer needed to fear the Golden Patriarch’s interference because Great Sage Jiang would sense it and intervene.

Whenever major crises occurred, aside from the Three Deputy Grand Masters themselves, Great Sage Jiang represented the Golden Tower Council’s highest level of response. The number of immortal objects he commanded far exceeded those of the other Virtuous Great Sages. Although both Great Sage Jiang and Golden Patriarch were Immortals, the sheer amount of immortal objects the former possessed gave him an overwhelming edge. This was also why Great Sage Jiang had the confidence to hunt down Chen Shuhua.

After deciding to launch his counterattack, Qi Xuansu also made preparations. Unlike Zhang Yuelu, whose use of the Scripture of Zuriel simply boosted her cultivation, Qi Xuansu could randomly advance one of his multiple lineages. Even he could not be certain which lineage would be boosted.

From past experience, the first time he used the Scripture of Zuriel was his Martial Arts Practitioner lineage. The second time was his Shaman lineage. Thus, the third time would likely be yet another lineage. Considering his Diviner lineage had just received a major boost, it was very possible that it would be elevated to the Yangshen Realm. If that happened, Qi Xuansu would temporarily lose access to the Shaman lineage’s Fruition Realm and would not be able to summon the Three Yin Beings.

In this case, things would no longer be stable.

After all, Wu Guangbi was a Pseudo-Immortal. If he launched a final strike before death and dragged Qi Xuansu or Zhang Yuelu down with him, either outcome would be an unacceptable loss.

Unfortunately, Lin Yuanmiao was not around. He had been sent to search for the Tongzhen Palace and had yet to return. The only certainty was that he was still alive and unharmed, as his Inner-Demon Oath with Qi Xuansu remained intact. If Qi Xuansu had one more Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being on their side, victory would be nearly assured.

But even without Lin Yuanmiao, there was still Yin Wanmiao.

Qi Xuansu did not expect this Fourth Yin Being of the Ghost Kingdom to contribute much. The little imp liked to bully the weak and feared the strong. Unlike the battle-hardened Three Yin Beings, Little Yin was still immature. She was fearless of death, yet oddly afraid of pain, often ending up wailing after being beaten.

In the end, age was still an important factor. Had it been Little Yin helping Qi Xuansu in Thanglong Prefecture instead of Master Yin, even if she had the same cultivation level, Qi Xuansu believed his odds of survival would have been grim.

However, his experiences in Fenglin inspired Qi Xuansu. He once used the dense yin energy emanating from the severed head of Shuten-Doji to open a portal to the Ghost Kingdom. This showed that Great Yokai or Yin Beings could generate yin energy artificially, much like his divine domain.

In fact, the Three Yin Beings could also do this, but a contradiction existed. If they were close enough to generate yin energy beside Qi Xuansu, then Qi Xuansu would not need to open the portal to the Ghost Kingdom. They could not generate yin energy for Qi Xuansu from afar.

Thus, Qi Xuansu turned his attention to Little Yin.

Little Yin was also a Yin Being, born from the Emperor Willow, so she had limitless potential. There was no reason for her not to possess such abilities.

At the Zaohua stage, Qi Xuansu would be able to generate yin energy as well, let alone a natural Yin Being like Little Yin. She was already at the Wuliang stage, so she should be able to produce enough yin energy by now.

Under Qi Xuansu’s interrogation, Little Yin reluctantly admitted that she could indeed generate yin energy and could even open the portal to the Ghost Kingdom just like Qi Xuansu. After all, this was a built-in function that allowed her to return home at any time.

Thus, Qi Xuansu decided to bring Little Yin along. She was not afraid of death anyway, so he did not have to worry about her safety.

Aside from that, Qi Xuansu also requisitioned two rounds of Grade-A Series Three Dragon Eye Bullets from the Old Port Pacification Commission Office. He had already used up the three rounds previously granted to him by Sage Donghua—two against True Lord Siming and one against Chen Shuhua. Fortunately, the Commission Office still had stock, and Qi Xuansu did not have to pay for them.

Such was the benefit of power. In the past, Qi Xuansu had to save up to buy Dragon Eye and Phoenix Eye Series Ammunition, at most with a small discount. Now, he could use them for free.

So long as Qi Xuansu did not sell them off but used them for proper matters, even if someone investigated later, it would amount to no more than a verbal reprimand.

It was the same principle as spending funds. So long as the money did not end up in one’s own pocket, even if used improperly, most would not be too harsh. This was how the many deficits were accumulated.

This was why so many pursued power. The difference it made was enormous. Without his current rank and standing, Qi Xuansu would not even be allowed to see the Grade-A Series Three Dragon Eye Bullets, let alone requisition them.

Qi Xuansu could technically mobilize a Yinglong Warship as well. Though Spirit Guard Jia Yin could not leave his post, he could still assist. Qi Xuansu would not even have to pilot it himself.

However, Qi Xuansu abandoned the idea, since a Yinglong Warship caused too much commotion and would easily alert the enemy.

In the end, Qi Xuansu handed Zhang Yuelu two pages of the Scripture of Zuriel and repeatedly stressed that their side effects were severe. With their current cultivation, using a single page was still within tolerable limits. But using two within a short time would bring backlash, causing a disastrous loss of cultivation, like Qi Xuansu previously.

He gave Zhang Yuelu two pages as a contingency. After all, survival came first. At a critical moment, one had to use whatever means to stay alive, even at the cost of becoming crippled. As long as one lived, there was hope.

As for pills and supplies, neither Qi Xuansu nor Zhang Yuelu lacked any.

Once all preparations were complete, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu quietly left Lion City with Little Yin. Since the island where Wu Guangbi resided was not far, they would arrive in moments. Their brief absence would not alarm anyone.

If everything went smoothly, they would be back in a matter of hours.

But to be safe, Qi Xuansu instructed Chen Jianchou to immediately notify Second Deputy Xu in the event he did not return. Second Deputy Xu could then report the situation to Great Sage Jiang.

That night, the sea was calm. A bright moon hung high in the sky, its reflection spreading across the waters, casting a vast moon upon the sea.

Dragon Scale Island lay tranquil beneath the moon. It was named for its resemblance to a dragon’s scale. A legend claimed that a flood dragon once dwelled here.

Dragon Scale Island sat deep within the archipelago, somewhat hidden and secluded. Though it was close to major sea routes, ships usually skirted around the islands and seldom entered their depths, making it a quiet retreat amid the bustle.

Thirty years ago, a noble of the Li family took a liking to this place during a visit to Nanyang and decided to claim it as private property, even building a grand villa there.

The Li family had four places of residence for the different seasons. Their Qizhou residence was typically used in spring for ancestral rites. In the sweltering summer, they liked to stay at the Three Immortal Islands in Donghai. In the crisp autumn, they hunted along Liaodong and Beiting Protectorate. In the freezing winter, they retreated to Nanyang.

This villa on Dragon Scale Island was one of the Li family’s many winter villas.

It was precisely for this reason that Qi Xuansu suspected Li Tianzhen was on this island.

Using the cover of night, Zhang Yuelu, Qi Xuansu, and Little Yin flew above the sea and walked onto the moonlit shore.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu each carried a long sword on their backs, making them seem like a Jianghu power couple. With a little girl in tow, this scene looked like a small family outing.

There were guards stationed here, but Qi Xuansu knocked one down from afar with a single gesture. Due to their extraordinary circumstance, he even used slang, which he had not used in a long time. “Huh, a black tit. That’s rare.”

Little Yin ran ahead, dragged the person back, and discovered the guard was a woman. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “What does ‘black tit’ mean?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “It means an adult woman in slang. A little girl like you is called a pointed tit.”

Little Yin had yet to react, but Zhang Yuelu instantly understood the connotation and shot Qi Xuansu a fierce glare.

The word “tit” was used to describe a particular body part of a woman.