A Pawn's Passage

After learning this news, Qi Xuansu neither felt particularly happy nor unhappy.

After all, even before the decision was officially confirmed, rumors had already spread that Qi Xuansu would return to the Wanxiang Daoist Palace as its Palace Master. The rumors had even caused numerous disturbances, forcing Qi Xuansu to deal with Qi Wangui in order to intimidate others. Now, at last, the other shoe had finally dropped.

Becoming a Palace Master was certainly a good thing. It meant entering the Golden Tower Council and becoming one of the 36 Omniscient Sages. It was a completely new stage of life.

However, in terms of actual power, the position would undoubtedly be weaker and could not compare to being the Chief Deputy Beichen Hall Master.

Objectively speaking, the chief deputies of the Three Great Halls resembled high-ranking secretaries, positions that appeared low in rank yet carried immense authority. Naturally, this classification of “high” and “low” was relative. Compared to Omniscient Sages, ordinary Sages without that title were considered lower in status. Yet power was not determined solely by rank. Proximity mattered just as much. The closer one stood to power itself, the greater one’s real influence became.

For Qi Xuansu, although the authority of a Palace Master was lesser, the amount of free time he had would certainly increase.

That was because he still had Great Sage Shi above him controlling the overall direction of the institution. After so many years, the Wanxiang Daoist Palace already operated according to established precedents and procedures. Qi Xuansu’s role would mostly be to familiarize himself with the system and serve as an auxiliary figure of secondary importance.

Beneath him were numerous Deputy Palace Masters and instructors. The Lower Palace disciples already had teachers assigned to them. Second-rank Taiyi Daoists were instructed by respected first-rank Tianzhen Daoists. Qi Xuansu only had to personally lecture a few classes to the fourth-rank Jijiu Daoists, which hardly consumed much time at all.

With all the extra time, Qi Xuansu could engage in more theoretical and scholarly pursuits, publishing commentary articles in the various newspapers under the Qingping Publishing House. All three Daoist Heirs had done similar things before. Qi Xuansu still vividly remembered an article written by Sage Donghua, titled “The Post-Daoist Era.”

He could also use the time to improve his cultivation. Clearly, this was a period specially arranged by the Daoist Order for Sages who had long been occupied with administrative duties and neglected cultivation. If one wished to make up for lost cultivation progress without delaying career advancement, such a position was ideal. After all, not everyone possessed the Longevity Stone Heart and could balance cultivation and official duties simultaneously.

Qi Xuansu might even find half a day of leisure to properly rest for once.

Early the next morning, Qi Xuansu once again sought out Tantai Ying and asked her to accompany him to Kamakai.

As for what happened the previous night, it had been Gong Fu who offended her, not Qi Xuansu. Thus, Qi Xuansu had nothing to feel awkward or embarrassed about. He was no longer an immature youth, so there was no need to become flustered around women due to misunderstandings.

Tantai Ying, for her part, clearly distinguished between grudges and responsibilities. She did not redirect her anger over Gong Fu’s drunken remarks toward Qi Xuansu and continued cooperating with him in investigating the Shadow Cases.

The group from the Juesheng Hall traveled to Kamakai aboard a small flying ship.

Upon arriving above the island and looking down from the deck of the flying ship, they saw that the entire island had been completely enveloped in black shadow. Only through the constantly shifting cracks in the darkness could faint traces of vegetation and buildings occasionally be glimpsed before vanishing again. Against the backdrop of the blue ocean, the island resembled an enormous blot of black ink soaking into paper. It even showed signs of spreading outward.

Standing beside Qi Xuansu, Tantai Ying explained, “Chief Deputy Qi, this is Kamakai. According to observations from the personnel we stationed here, the shadows covering the island have recently begun to spread, though the speed is very slow. Seawater cannot serve as a medium for the shadow’s transmission. Humans, however, are much more suitable as hosts for the shadows. These shadows possess a certain form of activity.”

Qi Xuansu said, “That’s not surprising. During the Fenglin War, demonic fire once erupted on a massive scale. Anyone touched by it would be forcibly transformed into a monster. Before the transformation manifested, it hid within the human psyche, quite similar to these shadows. In the end, it was discovered that the demonic fire was connected to a First-Tribulation Immortal whose body had been dismembered and sealed away. Sage Qingwei mobilized five Immortals, himself included, to retrieve the corpse fragments from the seals and ultimately used heavenly tribulation to kill that First-Tribulation Immortal. Only then was the spread of demonic fire brought to an end. Incidentally, that First-Tribulation Immortal was also a sun god.”

Tantai Ying fell silent for quite some time before saying, “We don’t have five Immortals. We don’t even have five Pseudo-Immortals.”

Qi Xuansu replied, “As long as we can verify certain things, then we will have them. You should trust in the power of the Daoist Order. While the Daoist Order cannot station an Immortal in the Southern Continent permanently, it’s hardly a problem for a few Daoist Immortals to spare a couple of days to resolve certain matters.”

Tantai Ying asked, “Do you need me to accompany you inside?”

Qi Xuansu shook his head. “No need. It’s better to be cautious. Stay outside and coordinate support. If something unexpected happens, you can immediately contact Great Sage Gong to rescue me. If we all get trapped inside together, that wouldn’t be ideal.”

Tantai Ying did not object, though she knew it was merely an excuse. Members of the Juesheng Hall had entered before and managed to come back out, so how could Qi Xuansu possibly get trapped inside? After all, Qi Xuansu was capable of directly fighting the Hun brothers head-on. His cultivation was already comparable to that of a Pseudo-Immortal.

Qi Xuansu departed from the flying ship and hovered high in the sky, manifesting his Celestial Phenomena Spiritual Body, with Himiko as its primary aspect. Although Qi Xuansu had expended a great deal of divine power in seeking guidance from True Lord Ziguang, he had fully replenished his reserves before departing for the New Continent. The replenishment had been done directly at the Qizhou Daoist Mansion, with Sage Qingwei’s explicit approval.

After all, one should never send hungry soldiers into battle. The Daoist Order possessed immense resources. Since they had already sent Qi Xuansu out to handle matters, granting him the authority of a special envoy and supplying him with immortal objects, there was no reason to be stingy over a bit of divine power.

True Solar Flames appeared within Qi Xuansu’s palm. This was a divine ability originating from an Eastern sun god. If these shadows truly came from a sun god, perhaps some kind of reaction or transformation would occur.

Initially, these flames were nothing more than a tiny spark, but when he clenched his fist, it was as though an entire sun materialized out of thin air. A great sun descended from the heavens.

Many of the Juesheng Hall disciples aboard the flying vessel were startled. What exactly is Chief Deputy Qi planning to do? This display is far too overwhelming, isn’t it?

Of course, this was not a real sun, merely a fireball roughly the same apparent size as the sun when viewed from a normal perspective.

The massive fireball collided with the shadows enveloping the island, yet there was no sense of light dispelling darkness, nor did the shadows melt away like ice under the heat. Clearly, solar flames did not inherently suppress the shadows. Instead, the shadows directly resisted the sun. The two forces clashed violently against one another. The shadows were scorched and began to dissipate, while the sun itself gradually dimmed.

Still, brute force could overcome all techniques.

In the end, Qi Xuansu’s solar flames burned a massive hole through the shadows above the island. Through the opening, the interior of the island became visible. Vegetation and buildings could be seen, though everything was covered in a layer of gray mist, as if shrouded in shifting, distorted light.

At the same time, endless shadows surged toward the opening. It seemed that the shadows were willingly thinning themselves overall, sacrificing density elsewhere in order to redirect enough darkness to repair the hole Qi Xuansu had burned through.

Qi Xuansu did not hesitate for long. He withdrew his Spiritual Body and dove straight down into the opening.

In an instant, all the shadows and mist erupted into turmoil, as though countless voices were screaming in unison. Such sounds could terrify ordinary people, even drive them insane. Even those with solid cultivation would still be affected to some extent, becoming agitated and restless. Over prolonged exposure, it could greatly increase the risk of qi deviation.

But to Qi Xuansu, these voices were nothing more than insignificant background noise. By activating the body spirits associated with his ears, he could completely shut them out.

There were also voices penetrating directly into the heart, but Qi Xuansu no longer possessed a true human heart. The Longevity Stone Heart protected his soul, capable of withstanding heavenly tribulation itself.

Qi Xuansu crashed to the ground like a meteor. The earth trembled violently, and shockwaves erupted outward from him in all directions, stirring the shadows into ceaseless turbulence.

Under normal circumstances, the blood qi surrounding a Zaohua-stage Martial Arts Practitioner remained invisible unless they were fully circulating it. Yet beneath the contrast of the surrounding shadows, Qi Xuansu’s ordinarily invisible blood qi became visible to the naked eye. It resembled layers of blazing aura enveloping his body, not only forcing back the nearby shadows and preventing them from approaching, but also making Qi Xuansu the island’s sole source of light.

Qi Xuansu looked around. The body spirits associated with his eyes lit up, granting him the power to pierce through illusion. In fact, it was even more effective than the Divine Observation Technique because his cultivation level was already at such a height. Yet, to his surprise, his sight was still obstructed, and even his divine sense was restricted.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was roughly at the center of the island, the very area the Juesheng Hall investigation team had failed to reach. There was no helping it. Those with sufficiently high cultivation could simply ignore ordinary logic.

According to the map of Kamakai Island, this location had originally been a temple. This was also a common habit among the natives of the Southern Continent. No matter where they went, regardless of whether they themselves lived in shacks, they would first build a temple, and always in the best location available.

This was a temple dedicated to the sun god, and Tantai Ying suspected that the shadows had erupted from this very place.

Qi Xuansu glanced upward once more. The massive hole he had burned open had already begun to dim, as though covered by a thin layer of black gauze. Before long, it would likely be sealed shut by the shadows once again.

He withdrew his gaze and took out the Pure Bodhi, adding yet another layer of protection to ensure that his mind would remain unaffected.

Then, relying on the marked locations from the map stored in his memory, Qi Xuansu began walking toward the direction of the sun god’s temple.

The scene around him reminded Qi Xuansu of walking through dense fog during his childhood, when one could only see within a radius of about 10 meters.

Relying on his Martial Arts Practitioner’s physique, Qi Xuansu ensured that he was always moving in a perfectly straight line. There would be no perceptual distortion where he believed himself to be walking straight while actually drifting in a curve.

As long as he maintained a straight path, everything was manageable. At worst, he would simply walk from one end of the island to the other. He would never end up wandering in circles on the spot.

Spatial displacement through formations was ineffective against Martial Arts Practitioners. When Li Tianlan had confronted Qi Xuansu, he once used a talisman capable of sending someone several kilometers away in an instant, yet Qi Xuansu had not moved even one meter. Such was the innate gift of Martial Arts Practitioners.