A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu had still grown too reliant on the Guizang Lantern. Its repeated successful warnings had made him feel that he could already wield the Guizang Lantern as effortlessly as his own limbs. With the Guizang Lantern at his disposal, he had instead lowered his guard.

But he no longer possessed his Pseudo-Immortal cultivation, and he had also used the Guizang Lantern once to accelerate Great Sage Jiang’s arrival without replenishing its “lamp oil” in time. Thus, at this critical moment, the Guizang Lantern failed him once again and gave Qi Xuansu no warning.

Caught off guard, Qi Xuansu was ensnared by the tentacle and found himself unable to break free. If he still possessed his Pseudo-Immortal cultivation, he might have been able to resist it to some extent. But not only had he lost his Pseudo-Immortal cultivation, but his vitality had also been greatly depleted, leaving him far from his peak condition. After all, he had just fought a fierce battle with Zhou Mengyao before heading to Blue Cloud Island, with hardly any time to rest and recover.

The tentacle then began retracting, dragging Qi Xuansu backward with it. The other tentacles had also caught their prey, including some humanoid insects and Spirit Guards.

Hun Ahau and Utu both saw what was happening and immediately moved to rescue Qi Xuansu, but it was already too late. Utu was still at the Ancestral Hall, while Hun Ahau was pinning down Huo Ling, so they were nowhere near Qi Xuansu. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as Qi Xuansu was dragged into the green moon. The other tentacles also withdrew into the gateway, which rapidly closed.

Hun Ahau also stared blankly at the green moon, looking as though he had been struck by lightning. At that moment, only one thought remained in his mind. We’re screwed... Is it too late for me to defect to the Buddhist Sect or the Steam Evangelical Sect?

For a moment, Utu, Hun Ahau, and Tantai Ying wore identical expressions, their faces completely frozen. All of them were wondering how on earth they were supposed to explain this to the Daoist Order.

The successor of the Quanzhen Sect, perhaps even the successor of the entire Daoist Order, had seemingly died in battle while exterminating the humanoid insects.

Would the Daoist Sages believe that?

Qi Xuansu had not died on the Fenglin battlefield. He had not died during Chen Shuhua’s rebellion, nor did he die in the war between the Northern and Southern Continents. He had even survived the battle between deities in the Paititi pocket realm. Even Zhou Mengyao had been unable to do anything to Qi Xuansu.

Yet now, on Blue Cloud Island, a place without even an Immortal or Pseudo-Immortal, Qi Xuansu’s fate was suddenly unknown. It was akin to the Wei Dynasty emperors dying from drowning. Who would believe such a thing?

Had they not witnessed it with their own eyes, even they would not have believed it.

The situation had taken a turn for the worse far too suddenly.

If the supreme commander died on the battlefield while everyone else, including his personal guards, emerged unscathed, there would be no reasonable explanation for it. Someone would have to be punished.

That was even more true given Qi Xuansu’s special status as envoy.

After all, Qi Xuansu now embodied far more than his own efforts and aspirations. His life and death were no longer his concern alone. If Qi Xuansu died, was Zhang Yuelu supposed to become a widow before she even married? If Qi Xuansu died, did that mean Yao Pei would make a comeback?

But even if Yao Pei made a comeback and took Qi Xuansu’s place, even becoming Daoist partners with Zhang Yuelu despite both being women just to maintain the alliance between the two sides, could they defeat Li Changge? This was not to look down on Zhang Yuelu and Yao Pei. Rather, the two of them had simply gotten too late a start. At some point in the future, Li Changge would hold the enormous advantage of an Immortal over Pseudo-Immortals, and that advantage would persist for quite a long time. Even two Pseudo-Immortals could not defeat an Immortal. Even now, it would be Li Changge as a Pseudo-Immortal against two Zaohua-stage Heavenly Beings. The outcome would still be difficult to predict.

Under such circumstances, the alliance between the Quanzhen Sect and the Zhengyi Sect would either have to concede defeat outright and begin preparing ahead of time for the contest over the ninth-generation Grand Master, or use Qi Xuansu’s death as grounds to launch a powerful counterattack and overturn the table entirely. No matter how Qi Xuansu died, it would be deemed a conspiracy by the Taiping Sect. Even if Qi Xuansu had taken his own life, they would still claim that the Taiping Sect had bewitched him into doing so and use that as justification to move against the Taiping Sect.

This would be the most reasonable explanation and the one that best served their interests.

Qi Xuansu’s death could very well become the fuse that triggered an enormous upheaval within the Daoist Order.

This was also why Zhou Mengyao had not dared to deal Qi Xuansu a killing blow. The repercussions would have been too great for her to contain. She had only wanted to regain control over Qi Xuansu, which was why she had merely given him a beating rather than truly trying to kill him. Had Zhou Mengyao genuinely intended to take his life, Qi Xuansu might not have lasted until Great Sage Jiang arrived.

As the ones directly responsible for Qi Xuansu’s safety, it was difficult to say what fate awaited Tantai Ying, Utu, and Hun Ahau. They might be able to keep their lives, but their futures would certainly be ruined.

“What should we do?” The trio gathered aboard the Horned Dragon flying ship to discuss the situation.

Tantai Ying ultimately had powerful enough backing to make a firm decision. “Whether we notify the Daoist Order can be discussed later, but we must immediately inform Danxiu Mountain so that the Three Great Sages can make a decision.”

Huangfu Zhao had also been promoted to Great Sage, but on many occasions, he represented Huangfu Ji’s position. The Huangfu family had already begun its transition of power ahead of the Western Daoist Order itself. Huangfu Zhao was deliberately reducing his own influence and shifting toward supporting his son. Now, they were merely waiting for Huangfu Ji to become an Immortal. Once that happened, the transition of power within the Western Daoist Order could begin, with Huangfu Ji gradually replacing Tantai Zhenxiao as the leader of the Western Daoist Order.

Since Huangfu Zhao was the youngest of the Western Daoist Order’s three bigwigs, the Huangfu family would enter a period of dominance until Huangfu Zhao eventually ascended, at which point a balance would be restored.

Hun Ahau agreed. “That’s all we can do. Let’s hope that Sage Qi can hold on.”

Utu made a gesture of prayer. “Heaven watches over the fortunate. Sage Qi will surely be alright.”

Of course, Qi Xuansu was not dead, at least not yet.

After being ensnared by the tentacle, Qi Xuansu could not break free for the moment. But he did not simply sit there and await his fate. Instead, he continuously tried all methods, including Izanagi’s demonic fire and Wu Luo’s Red Lotus Karmic Fire. It was unclear which of the flames had worked, but after the tentacle dragged Qi Xuansu into the world within the green moon, it hurriedly released him and began writhing incessantly.

After regaining his freedom, Qi Xuansu wanted to leave this place immediately. However, the gateway had already closed, leaving him trapped within this unknown realm.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu had entered and exited numerous pocket realms and was highly experienced in such matters. Based on the concentration of elemental energy, he could roughly determine that this place was either a divine kingdom or a pocket realm.

If Qi Xuansu were a Manly Immortal, he could shatter the void and break through the barrier to escape. If he were a Heavenly Immortal, he could come and go freely without even causing any damage. But Qi Xuansu was not even a Pseudo-Immortal, so he was trapped here.

This was also why the tentacle felt at ease releasing Qi Xuansu. He could not escape anyway, so there was no need to deal with him immediately.

This tentacle most likely belonged to the legendary Insect Queen.

Realizing that he was in danger, Qi Xuansu was actively finding a way to save himself.

He thought, I still have the Moon Mirror. Can I use it to leave this place? Or perhaps simply summon Great Sage Jiang here?

Of course he could, but there was one problem. Qi Xuansu had just used it while dealing with Zhou Mengyao, so the Moon Mirror could not be used again within such a short period.

Qi Xuansu thought of another idea. Can I contact True Lord Ziguang?

That was certainly possible, but it would not accomplish much. Unless True Lord Ziguang descended in her true body, there was little she could do. The Supreme Elders of the humanoid insects were already Zaohua-stage Heavenly Beings. Since the Insect Queen could feed on these Insect Immortals, she had to be an existence at the Immortal level. A divine descent incarnation at the Pseudo-Immortal level would be of little use against the Insect Queen. Moreover, this was the Insect Queen’s territory, giving her the advantage of the terrain. Even if True Lord Ziguang descended in her true body, she might not gain the upper hand, especially since she did not possess as many immortal objects as Great Sage Jiang.

After defeating the humanoid insects in Nanyang, the Daoist Order had once searched for the Spirit Realm but failed to find it. Thus, the Daoist Order did not know the Spirit Realm’s exact location. Even if they learned of Qi Xuansu’s predicament, it would be difficult for them to reach him immediately. At the very least, Qi Xuansu had to hold out until the Daoist Order located the Spirit Realm.

Qi Xuansu was almost in despair. At a time like this, power and authority were of little use. Ultimately, he still had to rely on his own cultivation. At his age, the Holy Xuan had already become an Immortal. If Qi Xuansu possessed the Holy Xuan’s cultivation, he would never have been dragged into this place in the first place. Even if he had been, he could simply have turned the enemy’s scheme against them, seeking out the Insect Queen for a decisive battle.

Yet he still had not seen the Insect Queen. Strangely enough, after those tentacles withdrew, there had been no further movement.

Qi Xuansu looked around. In a way, this place greatly resembled the moon. Or rather, it bore similarities to both Ixchel’s Divine Kingdom and True Lord Taiyin’s Palace of Cold Light.

Beneath his feet was something that was neither cloud, mist, nor water. It looked as though starlight had condensed into ice, yet also resembled a floor paved with glazed crystal, making it difficult to tell exactly what it was. Its surface could even reflect a person’s image. Overhead stretched a vast starry sky filled with countless stars. In the distance, the faint outline of a palace could be seen. It looked nothing like a palace of the mortal world. Being crystalline and translucent, its colors were somewhat subdued, yet it shimmered with a faint luminescence. Above the palace flowed a river of stars, making the place truly resemble an immortal realm. No wonder the humanoid insects believed this place to be the heavens.

It truly resembled the moon far too much, or a palace on the moon.

A thought suddenly occurred to Qi Xuansu. Could the so-called Insect Queen actually be a mutated Moon Goddess?

After all, compared to Sun Gods, there seemed to be far too few Moon Gods.

Deities could also undergo transformations. For example, the Feathered Serpent God Kulkulkan had transformed into the Sun God Kulkulkan and even sought to go one step further to become the Heavenly God Kulkulkan. That was a positive transformation. Of course, there were negative transformations as well. There were plenty of examples, such as the Apostle of Slaughter, Zuriel, and the Apostle of Death, Samuel. These Fallen Apostles had once shone with boundless radiance, yet now each was more bizarre and terrifying than the last.

Of course, when it came to the true forms of the Holy Court’s Apostles, there was much that could be said. Even before they had become Fallen Apostles, they were still terrifying beings despite their boundless radiance.

However, judging from the statue of the Insect Queen created by the humanoid insects, the Insect Queen’s human form seemed like an orthodox deity, so perhaps this speculation was actually correct.

The Insect Queen could very well be a fallen Moon Goddess.

Just then, Qi Xuansu felt a chill sweep over him, so much so that even his Martial Arts Practitioner’s physique shuddered. The instinctive reaction of the Demonic Blade was on the verge of activating, only to be stuck halfway.

Qi Xuansu vaguely sensed that someone was watching him from somewhere unknown.

He instinctively looked up and once again saw a green moon.

If the previous green moon had been the entrance to the Spirit Realm, then what was this one for?

However, Qi Xuansu quickly realized that it was not a green moon at all, but an enormous sphere of light. Or rather, it was an eyeball emanating an eerie green glow, staring fixedly at Qi Xuansu.