A Pawn's Passage

Within the Daoist Order, there were several tactics to circumvent certain commands issued by one’s superior, especially if the commands were not entirely correct and one did not wish to shoulder the blame. Thus, it was often best to leave behind some form of proof, as verbal orders were never as reliable as written directives.

If there was no written directive and the superior later refused to acknowledge giving a verbal order, who would bear the blame when something goes wrong? Conversely, if there was a written directive, then any wrongdoing was considered following orders. According to Daoist law, only the one who issued the order was held accountable.

Thus, whether or not a written order existed completely changed the nature of the matter.

If Great Sage Jiang had merely said as much, Qi Xuansu would still have harbored doubts in his heart. But Great Sage Jiang proactively provided the written directive, clearly demonstrating his decisiveness.

If Wang Jiaohe does not flee, then for the sake of decades of association, the Daoist Order would at least spare his life, even if his crimes were grave. However, his property, status, power, and position would certainly be lost, and he would end up imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Tower since he was from the Quanzhen Sect.

But if Wang Jiaohe intended to flee, then there would be no mercy. He could be killed outright.

Although in recent years, the Daoist Order had rarely resorted to killing high-ranking Daoists, especially those at the second rank and above, such cases still existed.

In fact, during the Holy Xuan and Donghuang era, such executions of high-ranking individuals were common. After all, those were times of war, when they fought the Confucians and the Buddhists. Those who committed grave offenses were dealt with under military law.

In the present era of peace, things were different. Harmony and compromise prevailed, and lethal measures were rarely taken.

However, as conflicts among the Three Sects intensified, the situation once again changed.

After the meeting concluded, Qi Xuansu followed Great Sage Jiang to the office.

Great Sage Jiang did not write a new directive. Instead, he withdrew one from his sleeve, clearly having prepared it in advance. He placed it gently on the table and slid it toward Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu took the written order and glanced over it. The paper was smooth but also textured, resembling a kind of talisman. At the very top read, “Golden Tower Council,” in large golden text, marking it as special stationery reserved exclusively for the Golden Tower Council.

Below was text in some form of stamped script, authorizing the purging of traitors and providing a detailed definition of who fell within that scope. The most crucial part were the two seals and signatures—one belonging to the Great Sage Lunzhi Li Changeng, and the other belonging to the Chief Omniscient Sage of the Golden Tower Council, Sage Donghua.

This made Qi Xuansu think of the document issued by the Golden Tower Council appointing him as the Acting Chief Deputy Mansion Master of Poluo. Both documents had identical handwriting, down to the smallest detail. He even suspected that the two documents had been issued at the same time. One was delivered to Poluo by Lu Yushu, and the other was handed to Great Sage Jiang. Or rather, after Chen Shuhua’s defection, the upper echelons of the Daoist Order had already considered every possibility and had effectively sentenced Wang Jiaohe to death—at the very least, the death of his official career.

After Qi Xuansu put the document away, Great Sage Jiang spoke. “Wang Jiaohe is a Pseudo-Immortal. This also involves Great Sage Sun Heyu. What preparations have you made?”

Great Sage Jiang paused slightly, then teased, “You wouldn’t seriously think that you four youngsters could stop two old fellows, would you? If anything happened to the four of you, another three old fellows would probably tear me apart.”

Qi Xuansu carefully chose his words and replied, “I would never dare think that way. Sun Heyu is injured, and I have gathered the remaining forces of the Daoist Mansion to overwhelm him with numbers. Coupled with so many semi-immortal objects, it should be enough to hold him back. As for Wang Jiaohe, I have arranged for a Pseudo-Immortal to deal with him.”

“The one who escaped from Chen Shuhua?” Great Sage Jiang showed a hint of interest.

Great Sage Jiang knew of this person, who apparently worked for the Heavenly Preceptor. He was a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master but not an Omniscient Sage, registered under the Shangqing Palace, and holding the title of Deputy Palace Master.

Although this man’s cultivation was high, his origins were unclear. He could not serve as an Omniscient Sage, nor was he suited for great authority, so he was assigned to Zhang Yuelu’s side.

Each of the Three Sects had its own secrets, and Great Sage Jiang could not probe too deeply into them, nor would he dwell on such matters. However, it was precisely because of this person that the Daoist Order had been able to track down Chen Shuhua, which counted as a meritorious contribution. That was why Great Sage Jiang had a very strong impression of Lin Yuanmiao.

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Yes, it’s him. Although he’s only at the Zaohua stage, I have a page of the Scripture of Zuriel bestowed by the Earthly Preceptor, which will temporarily elevate him to a Pseudo-Immortal level.”

Great Sage Jiang pondered for a moment before nodding as well. “That should be sufficient.”

He then added, “But to be safe, I will temporarily lend you an item.”

With that, Great Sage Jiang placed a Ruyi scepter in front of Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu blurted in shock the moment he saw the weapon, “The Three Treasures Scepter!”

When Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had jointly ambushed Wu Guangbi and Li Changge, Golden Patriarch and Great Sage Jiang had intervened. At that time, Great Sage Jiang had used this scepter to shatter Golden Patriarch’s finger, leaving an especially deep impression on Qi Xuansu.

More importantly, the Three Treasures Scepter was the Grand Master’s token.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu’s thoughts began to wander.

Was Great Sage Jiang implying something by handing him the Grand Master’s token? After all, there had recently been various rumors suggesting that Qi Xuansu might have a chance to compete for the position of the eighth-generation Grand Master. Thus, to say that Qi Xuansu had not been tempted at all would be a lie.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Wouldn’t it be inappropriate?”

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Great Sage Jiang said. “You’re currently at the Wuliang stage, so it will be a little difficult for you to wield an immortal object. However, once you rely on the Scripture of Zuriel to step into the Zaohua stage, you will be able to wield it freely. Among all immortal objects, the Three Treasures Scepter has the lowest threshold. If it were another immortal object, you might not be able to use it at all.”

Qi Xuansu hurriedly replied, “That’s not what I meant. I just think that since the Three Treasures Scepter is the Grand Master’s token, it might not be appropriate for me to use it rashly.”

Great Sage Jiang laughed. “I didn’t expect you to still harbor some Confucian thinking. The Daoist Order is not the Confucian School, and the Grand Master is not an emperor, so you don’t have to worry about overstepping authority. I’ve used this scepter myself, and I’m not the Grand Master. So should I be dragged out and beheaded?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Great Sage, you’re the Zixiao Palace Master and already bear the responsibility of safeguarding the Grand Master’s immortal objects. Naturally, that’s a different circumstance.”

Great Sage Jiang waved his hand. “No one ever said that the Grand Master’s token can only be used by the Grand Master himself. Back when the Holy Xuan was still around, this scepter was always in the hands of his wife. He rarely used it himself.”

Qi Xuansu felt a trace of disappointment. “Great Sage Jiang, you still have to deal with Chen Shuhua. Will the outcome be affected without this immortal object?”

Great Sage Jiang replied, “The Grand Master has a total of four immortal objects. I can’t use all of them anyway. Moreover, there’s no need to use so many to kill Chen Shuhua.”

At this point, Qi Xuansu could no longer refuse and could only accept the immortal object.

At first glance, the Three Treasures Scepter looked no different from an ordinary Ruyi scepter, yet when Qi Xuansu casually picked it up, he was startled.

It was far too heavy, even heavier than Qi Xuansu’s Star Plucker. But this was only a sensation. This kind of heaviness was profoundly metaphysical.

If the Three Treasures Scepter were truly that heavy, it would have crushed the table and perhaps even overwhelmed the ground beneath it. Yet in reality, both the tabletop and the floor remained completely intact, showing that the Three Treasures Scepter was not actually that heavy.

But when Qi Xuansu held it, it felt extraordinarily heavy, too heavy to lift. Even if he managed to lift it with effort, it was impossible to wield it freely. This was likely due to his insufficient cultivation. It was no wonder Great Sage Jiang had said that Qi Xuansu would need to be at the Zaohua stage before he could use it at all.

Seeing this situation, Great Sage Jiang decided to do Qi Xuansu a favor. He took out a jade ring and gave it to the boy. “Since it’s an immortal object, it can’t be stored in an ordinary magical receptacle. I can tell that your magical receptacle is quite ordinary, far inferior to the other three prodigies. So you might as well use my Jade Dragon Ring.”

Qi Xuansu took the ring and saw that it was entirely made of emerald-green jade, carved into the shape of a dragon, with its head and tail meeting to form a circular ring.

Qi Xuansu’s magical receptacle had originally been taken from Feng Bo, who was from the Heavenly Court and could not be compared to a Daoist Sage.

Back then, Qi Xuansu might have considered Feng Bo’s magical receptacle to be fairly decent, but now, it was ordinary and even somewhat beneath Qi Xuansu’s status.

Many people who saw Qi Xuansu’s magical receptacle would call him frugal, which turned out to be an unintended blessing.

In the past, Qi Xuansu had never paid much attention to this, but his magical receptacle had become somewhat inadequate. Whether in terms of stability or spatial capacity, the Jade Dragon Ring was several times better. If placed on the market, the Jade Dragon Ring would likely cost tens of thousands of Taiping coins. But for a Great Sage who wielded four immortal objects, it was nothing more than a trivial little trinket.

This time, Qi Xuansu stopped hesitating. “I dare not refuse a gift bestowed by a respected elder. It is my honor to receive this.”

It was taboo for subordinates to give gifts to their superiors, but it was not so when an elder gave a gift. After all, no one would think that a Virtuous Great Sage would need to curry favor with Qi Xuansu.

Great Sage Jiang waved his hand, signaling that Qi Xuansu could leave.

Qi Xuansu placed the Jade Dragon Ring on the index finger of his right hand, then stored the Three Treasures Scepter inside the magical receptacle. After saluting Great Sage Jiang, he turned and walked out.

At the same time, he silently calculated the number of pages he had left. He had used three pages of the Scripture of Zuriel against Yang E, True Lord Siming, and Wu Guangbi. Zhang Yuelu had used two pages against Wu Guangbi and Sun Heyu. So now, only two pages remained, which was just enough for him and Lin Yuanmiao to each have one.