A Pawn's Passage

Quan’s fear of the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor was not without reason.

Even though the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor was no longer in the human world, his domineering might still lingered in the restrictions he left behind.

The heavenly thunder tore open a skylight in this ancient temple and almost killed Quan.

After all, the gap between the Zaohua stage and a Second-Tribulation Immortal was simply too great.

With such a useful tactic at hand, Qi Xuansu naturally could not be satisfied with using it just once. He immediately shouted the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s name again.

He even thought that no matter how dangerous the Lingshan Paradise was, as long as he kept shouting the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s name along the way, those dangers would amount to nothing. His journey to Lingshan might even turn out to be unexpectedly easy.

However, Qi Xuansu was soon disappointed, because no heavenly thunder descended this time.

Qi Xuansu could faintly sense that there had indeed been a response, but the heavenly thunder lost its momentum halfway through its gathering. From this, he deduced that the heavenly thunder of the Lingshan Paradise was similar to the Five Innate Tais of an Earthly Immortal, requiring a certain interval between each use. After all, this place was leaking from all sides, unlike the completely sealed Demon-Vanquishing Cave, so it was impossible to form an unending cycle.

With no other choice, Qi Xuansu had to rely on himself to get rid of his opponent, wielding Green Cloud and charging toward Quan.

Quan was a dried corpse to begin with. After being struck by heavenly thunder, he became like a charred corpse, truly a pitiful sight.

Qi Xuansu slashed down with a single sword strike, faintly accompanied by the roar of a tiger.

Quan let out a sharp scream. “The Dragon Tiger Sword Technique!”

Quan had been severely wounded by the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s heavenly thunder. Now seeing the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor’s sword technique, Quan was completely terrified and would rather flee beneath the Blood Moon than face Qi Xuansu again.

Thus, Quan transformed into countless shadows and scattered in all directions, evading Qi Xuansu’s sword strike and vanishing out of the temple into the blood-red moonlight.

The Blood Moon illuminated the entire Lingshan Paradise. However, the broader the coverage, the weaker the power. Therefore, the Blood Moon was unlikely to threaten the life of a Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being. It would only cause some harm.

It was like a winter storm. One would not immediately freeze to death the moment one stepped outside. With sufficient preparation, it was possible to remain safe and unharmed, though the cold would still be unbearable. Therefore, it was better to stay indoors if one had the option to. Going out in the snow was a last resort.

Seeing Quan disappear into the moonlight, Qi Xuansu immediately followed.

After entering the blood-red moonlight, Qi Xuansu heard various sounds—of war drums, battle cries, and beast roars—just like what he had experienced earlier in his dazed state. Under this moonlight, countless blood-colored pupils also lit up, even redder than the moonlight itself.

In the past, Qi Xuansu would not have understood what was going on and would have probably been terrified of this scene. However, the current Qi Xuansu was no longer afraid, as he was now experienced.

Wu Luo had once summoned projections of her deceased sisters, which had been countered by Great Sage Lan’s Nether Passage Lantern. The Blood Moon operated on the same principle by summoning the imprints of the dead and turning them into projections. However, since the Blood Moon covered too wide a range, its power was greatly dispersed, so it was unlikely to summon projections with an Immortal’s power. At most, it was at the Xiaoyao stage.

Once the mystery was gone, so was the terror.

Several blood shadows lunged toward Qi Xuansu. He manifested the Taiyin Spiritual Body to employ the Taiyin 13 Swords. The demonic sword howled as it moved. Relying on the advantage of Green Cloud, Qi Xuansu managed to slaughter all the blood shadows.

However, this alerted the blood shadows in other places, which surged toward Qi Xuansu like a tide of blood.

Qi Xuansu made a quick estimate in his mind. If he truly wanted to slaughter all the blood shadows in this area, he could do it, but it was not worth the effort, as it would greatly damage his vital energy. Thus, avoiding them whenever possible was the best course of action.

Moreover, Qi Xuansu suspected that these blood shadows were capable of continuous regeneration. When the Heavenly Sect conquered the Lingshan Paradise back then, they should have already wiped out all the blood shadows. But after the Heavenly Sect left, these blood shadows began to regenerate and accumulate. Over so many years without anyone dealing with them, they had grown like wild weeds, once again reaching such a scale.

Qi Xuansu scanned the surroundings again but did not see any trace of Quan. After all, Quan was a native of the Lingshan Paradise and understood this place far better than he did. If she truly wanted to hide, it would not be difficult.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu had no choice but to retreat back into the temple.

In this regard, Quan had not lied to Qi Xuansu. These buildings could truly block the entry of the blood shadows. After Qi Xuansu closed the doors of the temple, the various sounds outside gradually grew quieter and faded away.

Qi Xuansu raised his head and looked toward the dome of the temple, where a hole had been pierced by the heavenly thunder.

A beam of blood-red moonlight shone down from this hole. Blood shadows emerged within it, yet they could not leave the area illuminated by the moonlight to enter places untouched by it, as if trapped within a cage.

Qi Xuansu did not feel particularly regretful for failing to kill Quan. To him, the result mattered more than the process. His primary goal was not to kill but rather to protect himself. Now that Quan had fled in disgrace while Qi Xuansu remained unharmed, he had achieved his intended outcome.

He cared even less about whether Quan had deceived him. Frankly speaking, what had just happened was nothing more than two wary strangers testing each other before coming to blows. After all, no one would fully reveal everything to someone they had just met. Moreover, this kind of cunning was far more direct than that of the court, tearing away all masks of warmth.

Those who had lived in peaceful times, like the flowerbed Daoists, tended to overemphasize procedures, rules, and morality. But these rules had to be enforced with violence. Otherwise, it would be meaningless.

From another perspective, rules, procedures, and morality were merely ornaments to cover up violence. The more civilized a society was, the more elaborate and intricate these ornaments became. The more barbaric it was, the cruder they were. Sometimes, they did not even bother concealing it.

In this uninhabited area detached from the civilized world, there was no need for concealment at all. Only violence could speak.

Was Qi Xuansu supposed to condemn Quan and lecture him about rules and procedures? This was not a deliberation in the Daoist Mansion Council.

At times, the flowerbed Daoists would obsessively pursue the rationality of morality, rules, and procedures, especially when encountering certain issues. One could not kill for the sake of personal vendettas. One had to first seize the enemy’s weakness and occupy the moral high ground to pass judgement on the enemy.

Morality had to be flawless, aligned with the correct values. Those who were adept at using rules were also limited by these rules. They could not extricate themselves from hierarchical systems, and dared not overstep their bounds, without the slightest transgression.

This proved that the Daoist Order’s discipline over the flowerbed Daoists was too intense. In essence, discipline was a mechanism of rewards and punishments. Merit was rewarded, and faults were punished. The flowerbed Daoists’ difficulty in escaping discipline also meant that they could gain greater benefits within the disciplinary framework of the Daoist Order. That was why flowerbed Daoists were adamant on maintaining this system.

Wild Daoists favored violence and detested the constraints of tedious formalities. Meanwhile, flowerbed Daoists prefer to use civilized constructs such as justice, reason, and rules to restrain violence. Needless to say, both sides favored a world that was more conducive to their own survival.

The upper echelons of the Daoist Order were neither, as they were the makers of rules and morality.

Qi Xuansu naturally acknowledged this point. Within the framework of the Daoist Order, one had to act a certain way. Failing to follow procedures or conform to morality would easily lead to one’s demise. Therefore, when within the Daoist framework, he always spoke and acted according to rules and never overstepped them.

But once he left the Daoist framework, he had no qualms of abandoning morality. After all, he was not a saint. Under Madam Qi’s influence, Qi Xuansu was a pragmatist. When rules were advantageous, he followed them without the slightest transgression. But when violence was advantageous, he would have no hesitation in breaking rules.

Thus, Qi Xuansu had two sides—black and white, like his name. He would adapt his attitude based on his external environment. He could be the radiant Chief Deputy Qi, or the wild Wei Wugui who lurked in the shadows and struck with deadly violence.

At this moment, within the Lingshan Paradise, Qi Xuansu had no use for rules.

Qi Xuansu sat in the ancient temple through the night. When dawn arrived, he pushed open the doors. Everything outside had returned to normal. Only the traces left behind by his sword when he slew the blood shadows proved that everything that had happened the previous night was not an illusion.

He glanced once more in the direction of Lingshan and set out on his journey again.

......

On the other side in the real world, Little Yin drew a door on the wall of the alchemy chamber with her magical brush and quietly slipped inside. She did not find any trace of Qi Xuansu. All she could see was a lantern placed on a jade platform. Curious, she tiptoed to the Guizang Lantern and examined it from side to side.