A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1455: The Mystery of the Earthly Preceptor (I)

Up to this day, Qi Xuansu had still never met the Earthly Preceptor. It was no exaggeration to say that among the Three Deputy Grand Masters, the Earthly Preceptor was the most mysterious figure.

This was not strange.

During the previous dynasty, when the Confucian School still dominated the world, every successful candidate who participated in the imperial examinations should have, in theory, met the emperor. However, Emperor Shizong had refused court audiences for 20 years, devoting himself entirely to cultivation, and even stopped personally presiding over the triennial palace examinations. As a result, officials who passed the examinations after the 21st year of the Mingyong Era never had the chance to behold the emperor’s face. Aside from cabinet ministers and a few veteran officials, none of the court officials, great or small, recognized the emperor.

Given Qi Xuansu’s current status and position, it was not unusual that he had never met the Earthly Preceptor. He had only seen the Imperial Preceptor a handful of times. Though he had met the Heavenly Preceptor more often, that was largely thanks to Zhang Yuelu. But when the Heavenly Preceptor chose to avoid meeting him, Qi Xuansu still could not see him.

One could say that the Earthly Preceptor had intentionally avoided Qi Xuansu, or it could simply be a coincidence. Thus, although Qi Xuansu had harbored some doubts in the past, he had never investigated too deeply.

But now, after hearing Li Tianlan say this, the doubts hidden within Qi Xuansu’s heart surged forth uncontrollably.

The fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor looked very similar to the current Earthly Preceptor?

If Li Tianlan’s speculation were true, and the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor truly was the current Earthly Preceptor, was there a possibility that the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor had already become a First-Tribulation Immortal?

However, Qi Xuansu quickly rejected this conjecture.

If the Earthly Preceptor were truly a First-Tribulation Immortal, then why not simply become the sixth-generation Grand Master? There would be no need to cling to the position of Deputy Grand Master.

Other than that, there were still two possibilities.

The first possibility was reincarnation into a mortal body, just as Wu Xian had reincarnated as Elder Yao. Although some cultivation would be retained, one would no longer be an Immortal, thereby circumventing the restrictions of heavenly tribulations and starting over.

The second possibility was that a Heavenly Immortal had severed an incarnation to descend into the mortal world. Once that incarnation ascended a second time and returned to the original body, the Heavenly Immortal could advance even further.

This method came with enormous limitations and four major difficulties.

First, the Heavenly Immortal must possess some deep attachment or obsession. Only a sufficiently powerful fixation could break through the barriers between the two realms. Otherwise, one would require the cultivation level of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. If the Heavenly Immortal held no attachments, it would be impossible to sever off an incarnation and return to the mortal world. What was the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor’s obsession?

Second, a considerable amount of divine power was required to open a temporary passage between the two realms. However, this passage was extremely fragile, and the Heavenly Immortal’s true body could not pass through it. But for the powerful and resource-rich Quanzhen Sect, this was not much of a problem.

Third, a vessel was required. Usually, an unborn fetus whose soul had not yet formed would be chosen to avoid karmic sin. However, to find one compatible with the Heavenly Immortal that was capable of bearing and containing the Immortal’s consciousness and thoughts, extensive effort and careful selection were necessary. The Quanzhen Sect inherited the creation project, so manufacturing such a vessel was not difficult either.

Fourth, after the Heavenly Immortal descended, they would completely forget their former identity and past events. Without someone to enlighten them, or some other fortuitous opportunity, they might never recall their previous life for their entire lifetime, muddling through existence in confusion, as though they had come into the world for nothing. Therefore, dedicated guidance was necessary. With the strength of the Yao family, accomplishing this was not difficult.

If all four difficulties were resolved, then the Heavenly Immortal’s incarnation could stay in the mortal world normally, either to sever worldly ties or to cut away lingering obsessions. However, the incarnation itself did not have the slightest trace of cultivation and had to begin anew from scratch. It merely retained the experience and comprehension of a Heavenly Immortal, allowing its progress to far surpass ordinary people.

But even if cultivation succeeded, that did not mean all was well. The Heavenly Immortal’s incarnation had descended in order to sever worldly ties. If this incarnation had too many karmic entanglements, it would be unable to return to the original body for a long time. Worse still, if the karmic entanglements began affecting the original body, the original body would have no choice but to sever the incarnation entirely, allowing it to become an independent individual.

From this perspective, the incarnation was indeed the Heavenly Immortal’s true self, but the Heavenly Immortal’s true self was not merely the incarnation.

After overcoming countless difficulties, the incarnation would finally ascend a second time and return to the original body, allowing the Heavenly Immortal’s cultivation to advance even further.

Assuming the second possibility was true, that the current Earthly Preceptor was an incarnation severed from the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor after ascension, then there was only one key question. What was the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor still attached to?

In terms of cultivation, the Holy Xuan stood even higher, yet the Holy Xuan had never severed an incarnation to reenter the mortal world. This showed that the Holy Xuan no longer had any attachments.

Qi Xuansu had once fantasized about whether he might be an incarnation of the Holy Xuan. However, many great figures had already verified that he had no connection whatsoever to the Holy Xuan.

Once an incarnation reached the Pseudo-Immortal stage, they could naturally awaken and remember both past and present lives.

Even though Qi Xuansu was not yet a Pseudo-Immortal, awakening would not involve suddenly remembering everything overnight. Rather, it was a gradual process. Before fully awakening and recalling past-life memories, one would intermittently dream of scenes from the past. The lower one’s cultivation, the vaguer the dreams; the higher the cultivation, the clearer the dreams. Such dreams might even continue throughout one’s entire life.

Qi Xuansu did dream frequently, but what he dreamed of was always the Lingshan Mountain and the Great Witches. If he were an incarnation, he would more likely be an incarnation of a Great Witch, completely unrelated to the Holy Xuan.

Unable to make sense of things for the moment, Qi Xuansu continued asking, “What did the Imperial Preceptor say?”

Li Tianlan said, “Without evidence, even the Imperial Preceptor cannot say much. There are only those few possibilities.”

Qi Xuansu once again fell into deep thought.

Appearance alone naturally could not serve as evidence. Descendants resembling their ancestors was still a reasonable explanation.

Altering one’s appearance was not difficult, but it would require maintaining it with one’s cultivation, and it might leave traces behind, making flaws easy for others to detect.

Even the Manly Immortal’s Hundred Forms could hardly claim to leave no traces at all. That was because the technique could alter the outer appearance of a Martial Arts Practitioner, but it could not change the body spirits.

The soul itself was also part of the true appearance. Transformations of the soul were no more than illusions and could still be seen through.

However, rejuvenation was another matter entirely. Whether as a child, an old man, a youth, or a middle-aged adult, all were still one’s true form. It was merely from different periods of life.

The Daoist Order had many experts and Immortals. Even secrets hidden within the cracks of time could be dug out. Secretly changing one’s appearance only to have someone later uncover one’s true form would merely provoke suspicion. Thus, it was better to openly maintain one’s original appearance from the start.

There was another reason as well. The Earthly Preceptor had become an Immortal gradually, with a complete personal history and record. He had not suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Such miraculous rise-to-fame figures might exist, but they could not possibly become a Deputy Grand Master with the Daoist Order’s stringent investigations and vetting procedures.

When the Earthly Preceptor’s cultivation was low, he would not have been capable of changing his appearance, so others would have surely seen his true face before. Using external objects to conceal his appearance would only draw unnecessary suspicion.

Elder Yao’s case was unique. She had not possessed another body but rather merged with another existence. In other words, Wu Xian and Elder Yao fused into a single person. One could say she was both Wu Xian and Elder Yao, or she could be neither, as she was an entirely new being. Thus, her true form had permanently changed.

Now it seemed likely that the Earthly Preceptor’s inability to alter his true form did indicate some connection with the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor.

This could also explain why the Earthly Preceptor so rarely appeared in public. Eighth-generation disciples had essentially never seen the Earthly Preceptor’s true appearance.

Since Li Tianlan was an older man, during his youth, the fifth-generation Grand Master was still alive. At that time, the Earthly Preceptor had not yet possessed the authority to refuse all audiences. Thus, Li Tianlan had indeed seen the Earthly Preceptor before.

Among the people who had seen the Earthly Preceptor’s true appearance, almost none had ever seen the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor. Naturally, nobody connected the two together. It was only through a fortunate coincidence, when Li Tianlan accompanied an elder of his family to meet the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor, that he came to know this secret.

Qi Xuansu asked again, “Logically speaking, the Heavenly Preceptor, the Imperial Preceptor, Great Sage Jiang, Great Sage Shi, and the others should have also seen the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor. Why have they never mentioned this matter?”

Li Tianlan said, “That’s not the case. The Great Sages you mentioned are indeed older than I am, but when I was still a child, they were only young men with low seniority and cultivation. They were still far removed from the Daoist Order’s upper echelons, so it was not easy for them to meet the powerful yet deeply reclusive fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor.

“As the eldest grandson of the Li family’s main branch, I merely tagged along on a visit with my elder, who was close with the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor. That was how I got to see the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor’s true face.”

Qi Xuansu understood.

The fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor had also been extremely mysterious. Since Qi Xuansu himself had never met the Earthly Preceptor, it was perfectly reasonable that those Great Sages had never met the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor during their youth either.

Thus, most who had seen the Earthly Preceptor’s true face had never seen the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor, while most who had seen the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor’s true face were already dead.

It was merely an accident that Li Tianlan uncovered the Earthly Preceptor’s secret.

There was still another issue. The timelines of the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor and the current Earthly Preceptor overlapped. While the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor was still alive, the current Earthly Preceptor had already reached adulthood. This seemed to rule out both the incarnation theory and the reincarnation theory.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Who have you told about this matter?”

Li Tianlan said, “I never amounted to much in this life. I spent my entire career circling around regional Daoist Mansions, and even in old age, I only managed to become a Second Deputy. So by the time I truly met the current Earthly Preceptor, it was already quite late.

“I remember it was when the fifth-generation Grand Master replaced the three Deputy Grand Masters. I followed the Imperial Preceptor to Jade Capital and met both the current Earthly Preceptor and the current Heavenly Preceptor for the first time.

“At first, I merely felt the face looked familiar, as though I had seen it somewhere before, but I didn’t think much of it.

“Only later, during an ancestral rite within the Li family, did I recall the old occasion when my elder brought me along to visit his friend. Only then did I suddenly realize how astonishingly similar the current Earthly Preceptor and the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor were. The matter was too serious, so I dared not spread this news. I merely informed the Imperial Preceptor, who instructed me not to tell anyone else. That was the end of it. I don’t know whether the Imperial Preceptor told anyone else later.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Did the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor leave behind no portraits?”

Li Tianlan said, “When I first remembered this, I feared I might be mistaken, so I deliberately sought out portraits of the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor for comparison. But the official portraits left behind looked nothing like the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor in my memory. The distortion was severe, clearly altered.

“I searched for several other portraits related to the fourth-generation Earthly Preceptor, but they were all side profiles or back views.”

A dignified Deputy Grand Master had not left behind portraits besides a heavily distorted official one. Was this intentional from the beginning, or were the others destroyed later?

It seemed that the Quanzhen Sect had far deeper secrets than Qi Xuansu had imagined.

Qi Xuansu let out a sigh and asked no further questions.