A Pawn's Passage

However, the dragon lady did not immediately agree. Instead, she asked, “You said that your Grand Master ascended ahead of schedule. May I know why?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Judging by my age, you should know that I wasn’t there to experience it firsthand. I only heard about it from others, so I’m unclear about many of the details. All I can tell you is that it involved a power struggle among the upper echelons of the Daoist Order. The Grand Master lost, so he chose to ascend.”

The dragon lady clarified, “You also mentioned just now that the Daoist Order will soon select the seventh-generation Grand Master.”

Qi Xuansu said, “To tell you the truth, my master, Sage Donghua, is one of the candidates for Grand Master. If you follow me, your future prospects will be assured.”

The dragon lady sank into contemplation. After a moment, she asked again, “What about the woman who came here with you last time?”

Qi Xuansu answered without reservation, “She is my senior sister. Unfortunately, she left the Wanxiang Daoist Palace about two hours ago, so she didn’t get the chance to see you. But there will still be opportunities in the future, provided you’re willing to leave this place. If you prefer staying here, then I won’t force you either.”

The dragon lady exclaimed, “Who would want to stay here? I don’t want to stay here at all! It was you people from the Daoist Order who imprisoned me here!”

Qi Xuansu went straight to the heart of the matter. “No one forced you to infiltrate the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.”

The dragon lady was immediately rendered speechless.

Qi Xuansu continued, “You should be grateful to the sixth-generation Grand Master. He was a good man. I think perhaps the sixth-generation Grand Master imprisoned you here merely because he wanted to temper your attitude. Perhaps he even thought you were someone worth cultivating. After all, if he simply wanted to imprison you, he could have put you in the Demon-Vanquishing Cave or the Demon Suppression Tower. There was no need to waste such a fine place on you. It was just that the Grand Master later became too preoccupied to remember this matter, which was how you ended up being imprisoned here for so many years.”

The dragon lady snorted coldly. “By your reasoning, I should be grateful to him?”

Qi Xuansu shrugged. “That’s entirely your choice. We don’t have to talk about sentiments. We can simply talk about interests. I can release you, and in exchange, you will serve me.”

The dragon lady very much wanted to agree, but her pride made her feel that she ought to bargain a little longer.

Thus, the dragon lady said, “But you have slain dragons. Your hands are stained with the blood of my kind.”

Qi Xuansu replied frankly, “I’ve killed people too. My hands are equally stained with human blood, yet that hasn’t stopped other people from following me.”

Once again, the dragon lady was left without a response.

Qi Xuansu said, “I believe in equality. I treat gods, Immortals, Buddhas, humans, dragons, and demons equally, just as I treat women the same way I treat men. I will not discriminate against you because of what you are, nor will I think more highly of you because of it. Are you satisfied with that answer?”

The dragon lady remained silent for quite some time before saying, “You’ve convinced me. I hope you can truly be as impartial as you claim. But before that, shouldn’t we formally introduce ourselves?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Of course! I’ll go first. My name is Qi Xuansu, also known as Sage Taiwei, one of the 36 Omniscient Sages of the Daoist Order’s Golden Tower Council. Currently, I am serving as the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master. You can call me by my courtesy name, Tian Yuan.”

The dragon lady gave Qi Xuansu a long, searching look. “An Omniscient Sage at such a young age. Your future truly is limitless. No wonder you have such confidence that you don’t even take the Grand Master’s prohibition seriously. Perhaps one day, you might even become the Grand Master yourself.”

Qi Xuansu said, “If you had undergone a formal trial by Fengxian Hall and been sentenced to imprisonment in the Demon Suppression Tower, then there really wouldn’t be anything I could do. But the sixth-generation Grand Master clearly did this on a whim. There is no record and no case file of you, so releasing you won’t violate any laws.”

After a brief pause, Qi Xuansu said, “Alright, your turn.”

The dragon lady said, “We flood dragons don’t have last names. But sometimes, when we are in human society, we follow local customs and give ourselves one. Most of us choose between two last names, either Long or Ao.”

Qi Xuansu could not help but laugh. “It’s just like how foxes either take the last name Hu or Su. As far as I know, the Su foxes and Ao flood dragons seem to have higher status. Are you an Ao?”

The dragon lady shook her head. “My name is Long Xiaobai. I don’t have a courtesy name nor a Daoist title.”

Qi Xuansu said, “No wonder you’re dressed in so much white. Is your true form also a white dragon?”

The dragon lady immediately flushed with embarrassment and anger. “How is that any of your business?”

Qi Xuansu said, “My apologies. If you’ve made up your mind, we can enter into a contract.”

The dragon lady sneered. “I knew it.”

Qi Xuansu said, “Isn’t it reasonable to put everything down in black and white since both sides are entering this contract willingly?”

Long Xiaobai replied irritably, “Hand it over then.”

Qi Xuansu was quite experienced in such matters by now. The first contract he entered was with Lin Yuanmiao, and then the Heluo God. Having become thoroughly familiar with the process, he quickly drafted a contract.

The general terms were that Qi Xuansu would rescue the dragon lady, while in return, she would serve him for 20 years and obey his orders. Qi Xuansu would also arrange an appropriate status and corresponding benefits for her. He could not promise her the rank of a second-rank Taiyi Daoist priest, but securing treatment equivalent to the second rank should not be difficult.

After reading it, the dragon lady immediately accused him, “This is basically a contract of an indentured servant. You might as well ask me to sell my body!”

Qi Xuansu replied earnestly, “The way you put it sounds terrible. But don’t worry. I have no interest in taking advantage of you as a woman. I’ll only make you risk your life for me. I definitely won’t make you sell your body.”

Long Xiaobai was speechless for quite some time. “In that case, I’d almost rather sell my body.”

Qi Xuansu said, “Those are the terms, anyway. If you agree, we’ll enter into the contract. If you don’t, I’ll leave. I’m not the type to force others.”

Long Xiaobai wrestled with the decision for a long time but ultimately agreed.

She did not want to remain in this wretched place for even a moment longer.

However, the difficult part was never convincing Long Xiaobai. After so many years in the Daoist Order, Qi Xuansu had long since developed a keen eye for reading people.

At a glance, he could tell that this little white dragon was already tempted by his offer and would not escape his grasp. It was only because he was considering the long term that he was willing to offer her certain benefits. Had it been someone else, even without offering her any benefits at all, this little dragon would still have agreed.

The real difficulty lay in figuring out how to undo the restriction left behind by the sixth-generation Grand Master.

After all, it was the handiwork of an Immortal. Even though Qi Xuansu had already reached the Pseudo-Immortal stage, dealing with it would still require considerable effort.

Anyone could see that the key lay in the Eight Trigrams Mirror. Although its master was no longer present to control it, the mirror continued to function on its own, rendering a Pseudo-Immortal completely immobile. This was beyond the capabilities of a semi-immortal object and seemed much more like a true immortal object.

Back when Qi Xuansu and Yao Pei had come here, their cultivation levels were still too low. Even taking away the Staff of Merit was a challenge, let alone trying to seize an immortal object.

But things were different now. Qi Xuansu was reasonably confident that he could accomplish it. After all, no matter how powerful an immortal object might be, it could not be more powerful than an actual Immortal.

Long Xiaobai was still somewhat uneasy. “Can you really do it?”

Qi Xuansu was in a good mood and replied, “There’s no reason I can’t.”

With that, Qi Xuansu gave his body a slight shake and separated his Corpse-Liberation Incarnation. Supported by the divine power of the Heluo God, this incarnation was at the Pseudo-Immortal stage even before Qi Xuansu became a Pseudo-Immortal himself. Now that Qi Xuansu’s true body had also advanced to the Pseudo-Immortal stage, the incarnation had risen to an even higher level.

As such, this Corpse Liberation Incarnation radiated an aura of extreme yin and even possessed somewhat feminine features.

Qi Xuansu shook his body once more, separating a Three Corpse Incarnation from his Banished Immortal lineage. Since Qi Xuansu’s Banished Immortal lineage was only at the Zaohua stage, he could sever only one Three Corpse Incarnation.

This Three Corpse Incarnation inherited Qi Xuansu’s violent and ferocious impulses, making it irritable and quick to anger. In contrast to the other incarnation, it radiated an intensely yang and masculine aura.

The only drawback was that the Three Corpse Incarnation was one level below his true body at the Zaohua-stage. It also could not be maintained for long.

Qi Xuansu took out the final page of the Scripture of Zuriel. He had originally obtained two pages and had used only one against Zhou Mengyao, leaving him with one remaining page.

Then, Qi Xuansu handed the page to his Three Corpse Incarnation.

Since Qi Xuansu had already reached the Pseudo-Immortal stage, even if he used a page from the Scripture of Zuriel, it would have been impossible for him to leap directly into the Immortal stage. The complete Scripture of Zuriel might be able to elevate him, but he would certainly suffer an intense backlash. Using it would be gambling with his own life. Thus, a single page no longer held much significance for him. There was no better time to use it than now.

As soon as the Three Corpse Incarnation received the Scripture of Zuriel, its cultivation level immediately surged, propelling it into the Pseudo-Immortal stage. However, its mind was also affected and began losing control.

Qi Xuansu already had experience dealing with this. He promptly handed Pure Bodhi to his Three Corpse Incarnation, allowing it to gradually regain clarity of mind.

Long Xiaobai was dazzled by everything she saw. Never in her wildest imagination had she expected Qi Xuansu to possess such methods. If the two of them were to fight, she would be no match for him whatsoever. Even with her naturally formidable physique and vigorous blood qi, two fists could hardly contend against six hands. This was far too unfair.

With three Pseudo-Immortal Qi Xuansus joining forces, he could have even fought against an ordinary Immortal, let alone dismantle this immortal object.

The next moment, all three Qi Xuansus struck simultaneously.

Long Xiaobai cooperated as well, exerting all her strength to break free from the suppression.

Even though the Eight Trigrams Mirror was an immortal object, it could not withstand the combined assault of four Pseudo-Immortals from both inside and outside. The mirror immediately began trembling violently.

Long Xiaobai unleashed one roar after another, causing waves of ripples to spread through the black-and-white pillar of light.

Fortunately, the Tianshui Core Tower was protected by formations. No matter how great the commotion inside was, not the slightest sound or disturbance could escape.

With the assistance of his two incarnations, Qi Xuansu slowly advanced. His progress was exceedingly slow, but he nevertheless managed to force his way through the layers of restrictions surrounding the Eight Trigrams Mirror and reached out to grab it.

The Eight Trigrams Mirror was an ownerless artifact, so it immediately became Qi Xuansu’s possession.

The two-colored radiance that had enveloped Long Xiaobai instantly vanished. Finally freed from her imprisonment, Long Xiaobai could barely restrain herself from revealing her true form right then and soaring into the heavens.

This had also been the difficulty Yao Pei and Qi Xuansu faced back then. Even if they had somehow managed to seize the Eight Trigrams Mirror through some clever trick, they would not have been able to restrain Long Xiaobai once she broke free. Instead, they would have been courting their own deaths.

But for the present-day Qi Xuansu, this was clearly no longer a problem. His true body put away the Eight Trigrams Mirror while his other two incarnations held Long Xiaobai down. “You are not allowed to reveal your true form without my permission!”

Long Xiaobai had no choice but to suppress her impulses for the time being.

Even putting the contract aside, Long Xiaobai glanced at the two powerful incarnations on either side of her and could only nod obediently.

When under another’s roof, one had no choice but to bow one’s head.

She could not help but wonder, Is this man really only a Pseudo-Immortal? Is he truly not an Immortal? How can there be such an enormous difference between people who are supposedly at the same stage?