A Pawn's Passage

After Lin Yuanmiao left, Qi Xuansu walked around the alchemy chamber and discovered that the Bagua disc on the floor could be controlled. When he pressed a mechanism, the Bagua disc began to rotate. The 10-meter-tall alchemical furnace sank into the ground, and a jade platform rose up in its place.

Qi Xuansu took out the Guizang Lantern and placed it on the jade platform.

The Heavenly Preceptor had already lit the Guizang Lantern. Its seven-colored flame illuminated the alchemy chamber, casting Qi Xuansu’s face in shifting rainbow hues.

Qi Xuansu reached out and grasped the Guizang Lantern, then began to activate the pseudo-ascension method taught by the Heavenly Preceptor.

Someone once described the world as a sea of suffering, in which humans were adrift upon the sea, while cultivation was the act of crossing the sea. The human body was the ship, and the soul was the person aboard the ship. The ship carried the person toward the far shore. So in this case, should one cultivate the body and strengthen the ship? Or cultivate the soul so that the person aboard could better navigate the ship?

At this moment, Qi Xuansu felt as though he were sailing across the boundless sea. A true ascension was like an ironclad warship, as the person could control the direction and steer the ship toward their destination of choice. However, a pseudo-ascension was like a wooden sailboat, forced to drift with the currents and winds.

A wooden sailboat was far more fragile than an ironclad warship. One slight misstep was all it took for the boat to be destroyed and the person to be thrown overboard. It was no wonder the threshold for pseudo-ascension had to be the Zaohua stage. If one’s cultivation were any lower, it would not even be a wooden sailboat but a tiny canoe.

The different pseudo-ascension methods were like sea navigation charts, corresponding to different routes and leading to different destinations.

The Daoist pseudo-ascension method bestowed by the Heavenly Preceptor was meant to guide the sailboat toward an island called Kunlun. However, over time, this island’s position had shifted drastically. Most of it had sunk beneath the sea, so much so that even its lighthouse had disappeared.

Such an outdated pseudo-ascension method was, in the present age, considered completely useless, as it only brought disorientation.

However, at this moment, the Longevity Stone Heart within Qi Xuansu began to exert its power. It illuminated the path ahead, guiding Qi Xuansu’s sailboat toward another island called Lingshan. This island had not sunk or shifted. Instead, it had shattered into fragments, as if it had suffered a great earthquake. The original routes had been destroyed and danger lurked everywhere, with hidden reefs all around.

Meanwhile, the Guizang Lantern was like an infinitely extended rope, with one end anchored at Tongzhen Palace and the other end firmly tied to the ship’s hull. It ensured that Qi Xuansu could return along his original route and that he would not drift off course or become lost in chaotic currents in the event of any unforeseen accidents.

At that very moment, the unexpected happened.

Although the process of pseudo-ascension was likened to sailing across the sea, it felt more like moving through primal chaos, a passage between yin and yang. There was no concept of light or darkness or any sense of direction. Even the flow of time became indistinct.

All of a sudden, the primal chaos around him vanished. The concepts of light and darkness returned, and a starry sky emerged.

Some stars that had originally been no more than tiny points rapidly drew closer until it seemed to be within reach. They were also massive, like towering mountains. However, most of the stars still remained far away in the heavens.

Qi Xuansu’s forward movement came to a halt.

It was as if a ship had been caught in a vortex, unable to move.

Immediately afterward, the surrounding starry sky twisted and warped. The arrangement of the stars began to change. Points connected into lines, which became patterns. A higher-being was using the vast cosmos as a medium to project its presence into Qi Xuansu’s field of vision.

It was a colossal figure whose outline was traced by the stars themselves. It had no substance, as if it had existed before time itself. Its form was clearly feminine, and as its features gradually became distinct, Qi Xuansu recognized the identity of the figure.

It was none other than the Ancient Immortal, Wu Luo—the leader of the Lingshan Witch Cult and the final leader of Ancient Wuism.

Either identity signified that Wu Luo had an exceptionally close connection with Lingshan.

Thus, it was hardly surprising that Wu Luo now stood in the path leading to Lingshan Paradise. She likely regarded the Lingshan Paradise as her own backyard. Even if that backyard had long fallen into desolation, she would not permit others to slip inside without authorization.

The Yao family was another matter altogether, because they had the key to Lingshan Paradise and could be considered the true owners of this deserted estate. Moreover, Wu Luo might not necessarily be able to stop them.

However, stopping Qi Xuansu was effortless for Wu Luo.

Qi Xuansu had anticipated such a situation. That was why he had delayed his exploration of the Lingshan Paradise for two years. He needed the Guizang Lantern for this scenario so it could pull him back to the real world if Wu Luo intended to capture or kill him.

However, Qi Xuansu was unwilling to accept this outcome. Was he really to turn back after all his planning, without even catching a glimpse of the Lingshan Paradise?

The Guizang Lantern possessed multiple functions, and each function had its own cooldown period. This particular function of helping Qi Xuansu return could only be used once every 60 years, so wouldn’t it be a complete joke if he used it so soon?

......

The Dazhen Mansion was not only the dwelling place of successive Heavenly Preceptors but also the ancestral court of the Zhengyi Sect.

Many important structures were housed within the Dazhen Mansion. Among them, the most famous one was the Demon-Vanquishing Cave located in the rear mountains. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary water well, but within this well was a nine-level prison, where countless demonic and heretical beings were suppressed.

The Demon-Vanquishing Cave was created by the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor before his ascension. Each of the nine levels was designed to suppress prisoners of different cultivation realms.

Not only was the elemental energy within the Demon-Vanquishing Cave extremely sparse, making cultivation impossible, but it was also bound by formations left behind by the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor. Any slight disturbance would trigger the Thunder Curse he set in place. The greater the disturbance, the harsher the punishment. At the same time, it drained the prisoners’ cultivation to power the Punishment Pillars. Thus, the demonic beings imprisoned there had no possibility of fighting or slaying one another. After all, the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s true purpose was not to breed monsters but to persuade people to abandon evil and return to righteousness.

Later generations built the Demon-Vanquishing Platform on this foundation.

The Demon-Vanquishing Platform was shrouded in mist all year round, so standing upon it was like being amid a sea of clouds.

In its earliest days, the Demon-Vanquishing Platform had not the slightest trace of gloom. Instead, it was imbued with an immortal aura and enjoyed spring-like weather throughout the year—a perfect place for viewing the scenery.

It was only after the third-generation Heavenly Preceptor that the Demon-Vanquishing Platform gradually became a place of execution, filled with a murderous aura that filled the area.

Two Punishment Pillars, resembling ceremonial columns, rose straight toward the sky.

The Heavenly Preceptor ascended the Demon-Vanquishing Platform alone and clasped his hands behind his back as he gazed at the surging sea of clouds. He then turned to look at the Punishment Pillars.

It was here that he had once slain his sister, Zhang Wuhen, with a single sword for her grave transgression. From that moment, he caught the eye of the fifth-generation Grand Master and ultimately inherited the position of Heavenly Preceptor.

The Heavenly Preceptor let out a soft sigh and walked toward the Punishment Pillars. His fingers brushed across the talismans carved upon their surface. The moment his fingertips touched the pillar, a cluster of electric sparks burst forth, yet they did not harm him in the slightest. The sparks flowed continuously around his fingertips, unable to penetrate his body. After a moment, the lightning dissipated completely, leaving nothing behind.

The Heavenly Preceptor did not withdraw his hand. He rested it upon the Punishment Pillar and fell into deep contemplation.

Countless purple lightning blossoms, each as large as a human head and shaped like six-petaled snowflakes, scattered in all directions. A chaotic web of fiery light surged across the surface of the Punishment Pillars, yet the Heavenly Preceptor remained completely unmoved. Not even the cuff of his sleeve was damaged in the slightest. He allowed the lightning to roam across his palm until it quickly vanished.

The Punishment Pillar’s resistance grew even more intense. Countless arcs of lightning surged from its surface, gathering into a colossal lightning dragon that coiled upward around the pillar.

Thunder roared across the Demon-Vanquishing Platform, yet no one came to investigate.

After a moment, the Heavenly Preceptor finally came back to himself, withdrew his hand, and flicked out a precious seal from his sleeve.

This was the Heavenly Preceptor’s Seal, one of the two fundamental immortal objects of the Zhengyi Sect.

“Remnants of the Witches,” the Heavenly Preceptor murmured softly.

He raised the Heavenly Preceptor’s Seal in his left hand and drew the fingers of his right hand inward to form a Five Thunder Seal.

At the same time, a burst of purple light erupted from the Wanfa Ancestral Altar, which was also known as the Zhengyi Altar. It was located on the west side of the Heavenly Preceptor Hall and enshrined 138 bronze statues. These statues were all recognized as orthodox deities by the Daoist Order. At the center of the altar was not the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, but his incarnations—the Three Pure Ones. The other deities were arranged on either side.

After the purple light burst forth, a female statue fell to the ground with a crash.

Immediately afterward, a vast surge of purple light shot out from the main gate of the Wanfa Ancestral Altar, sweeping across the Dazhen Mansion and finally descending upon the Punishment Pillar corresponding to Green Cloud.

The Heavenly Preceptor intoned, “Open!”

In an instant, the purple light vanished without a trace.

......

Wu Luo gazed at this familiar-looking stranger. She had seen this man more than once and had even sensed traces of her own divine power on him. Through this faint connection, she quickly deduced his origins. This was the man who had tried to kill True Lord Siming twice, so he must not be allowed to live.

Just as Wu Luo was about to destroy this Daoist who had once ruined her great plans in Poluo, an indescribable force suddenly swept in from nowhere.

This force was so overwhelming that even Wu Luo found it difficult to resist.

From Wu Luo’s transcendent perspective, she could see three distinct forces—the Heavenly Preceptor’s Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method, the Heavenly Preceptor’s Seal, and True Lord Ziguang.

Wu Luo cried out in fury, “True Lord Ziguang, do you also wish to become like True Lord Taiyin?”

Before she even finished her sentence, these three distinct forces converged into the Guizang Lantern, causing its aura to surge dramatically.

The seven-colored flames followed the mysterious connection between the Guizang Lantern and Qi Xuansu, rapidly spreading over his body and enveloping him completely.

In an instant, Qi Xuansu transformed into a blazing man. His body was shrouded in flames, and his orifices were spewing rainbow fire.

Wu Luo exerted all her strength, trying to push Qi Xuansu into the chaotic currents.

However, at this moment, Qi Xuansu had the support of two Immortals and two immortal objects, so he did not budge in the slightest.

The power of the Immortals and the immortal objects clashed unceasingly, locked in stalemate, until they ultimately dissipated.

Everything was twisted.

Moments later, Wu Luo’s projection, which was formed from the starry sky, began to collapse.

The starry sky was like a vast curtain with a big hole burned through by the seven-colored flames. This hole continued to expand, revealing the primal chaos behind it.

In the end, Qi Xuansu was irresistibly drawn into that hole.