A Pawn's Passage

Usually, a raging storm would not last long. At nightfall, the rain became less intense. Although it did not stop completely, the heavy downpour turned into a drizzle.

In the night, an old man crossed the city wall and entered Fengtai County. He walked through several muddy alleys and came to the long street in front of the county government office.

At this time, the long street was quiet. The doors of the houses on both sides of the street were closed. There were no lanterns hung up, so it was pitch black. The county government office was already deserted, and the open gates looked like a terrifying beast gaping in the night.

The old man with white hair walked along the street and came to the vast grounds in front of the county government office. He held a white paper lantern in his hand, and the candlelight in the lantern swayed slightly. His shadow swayed with it.

Using the light from the lantern, the old man walked slowly and stopped occasionally, watching his steps.

The traces of the fierce battle that happened had been washed away by the heavy rain. The Green Phoenix Guards had also taken away the corpses. However, the old man happened to stop at the precise spots where the bodies used to be, as he made his way to the gates of the county government office.

When he finally reached the gates, he glanced at the two holes in the threshold and stepped over them. He paused for a moment in front of the broken screen wall before entering the front hall.

There were still traces of the fight in the front hall. The old man examined the marks for a long time and felt that they were most likely the doings of a Daoist disciple.

However, the old man was still not entirely sure, so he continued to make his way to the back residence and came to the courtyard where Qi Xuansu and Li Sanxin dueled. He slowly squatted down, put the white paper lantern aside, pressed his palms on the ground, and slowly closed his eyes.

For a moment, he could see fleeting scenes of the past in his mind of Qi Xuansu and Li Sanxin fighting, but their faces were blurred.

After about half an hour, the old man slowly opened his eyes. He looked relieved because he could finally conclude without a doubt that the Daoist disciples were fighting among themselves.

The old man straightened up again, taking the white paper lantern with him. Due to his old age, his knees actually cracked and popped as he stood back up.

However, a Xiantian Being would never regard this old man as a regular elderly person in his dying years. That was because the old man’s magical ability to use the earth’s energy to recall what happened at a place was a unique geomancy technique.

The old man was a Diviner in the Dream Realm, which meant that he was at the Yuxu stage of Xiantian Beings.

As the name suggested, the so-called Dream Realm was the ability to travel and enter other people’s dreams as a spirit.

There were many stories of individuals meeting a master or a god in a dream who gave them advice or taught them magic. These stories were not fabrications of the mind but most likely an encounter with a Diviner, who had gone into someone’s dreams.

There were some Diviners with bad intentions who, after reaching this realm, entered women’s dreams to be intimate with them. When the woman woke up, she thought it was just an erotic dream and did not suspect that someone was harassing her in her dream state.

The Daoist Order repeatedly issued warnings about such incidents. However, rumors still spread from time to time about female disciples who met handsome men in their dreams after offering incense at certain Daoist temples.

Naturally, the arrival of a Yuxu-stage Diviner at Fengtai County was not because of the death of a seventh-rank county magistrate, but because of the Xuan Jade.

In fact, Jiang Bieyun’s expectations were on point. This time, the three major Daoist sects had sent their disciples to retrieve the Xuan Jade, and this old man came from the Zhengyi Sect.

Meanwhile, another disciple from the Quanzhen Sect was waiting to reap the benefits at Maoxian Mountain, which was outside the city.

......

Qi Xuansu braved the heavy rain and left Fengtai County, stopping at a dilapidated temple on Maoxian Mountain outside the city to take shelter.

There was an unwritten rule among seasoned travelers. They would rather sleep in a cemetery than spend the night in a dilapidated temple.

Although cemeteries were eerie, most people who visited cemeteries were descendants offering sacrifices for their ancestors. They were people who followed the rules and could be reasoned with, so generally speaking, nothing would happen.

However, dilapidated temples, especially those that had been in disrepair for some time, were mainly occupied by evil spirits and monsters. Barging into a dilapidated temple would likely end in either scenario—being eaten by monsters or having one’s yang energy absorbed by ghosts.

There were many such stories documented. A scholar journeying to the Capital for the government exams who had no money to stay in an inn spent the night in a ruined temple. When he was studying in the middle of the night, a beautiful woman showed up, and they made love.

From then on, the scholar indulged in his sexual desires and became sluggish in mind and body. In the end, he lost his soul and consciousness and eventually became paralyzed. By the time he was found and rescued, his qi had weakened, and his body was rotten. He did not survive for more than a few days after the rescue.

Besides evil spirits and monsters, thugs and bandits would often stay in the temple ruins to rob passing travelers. Some lost their possessions as well as their lives.

However, Qi Xuansu was not afraid of any of the above. As a Xiantian Being, he could easily kill ordinary humans and evil spirits. He had such a strong aura that ghosts would not be able to get close to him, let alone absorb his yang energy. As for bandits and the like, they surely could not compare with the Green Phoenix Guard. Thus, Qi Xuansu had nothing to be afraid of.

In fact, Qi Xuansu could continue his journey in the rain, but he had some wounds from his duel with Li Sanxin, so he did not want to strain his body. Continuing his journey in the cold and heavy rain would worsen the injury and cause infections, so he decided to take shelter for the time being.

Qi Xuansu looked around. It was obvious that no one had set foot in this dilapidated temple for many years. After all, it was not far from Fengtai County. Occasionally, passersby who had the choice to enter the city would rather walk a few more kilometers than spend the night at this temple.

There were no ghosts or monsters to be seen. Perhaps they did not exist, or they were scared away by Qi Xuansu’s aura. At least, when Qi Xuansu entered the temple, the place was clean.

Of course, this cleanliness referred to spiritual cleanliness, void of evil spirits. There was still dust and spiderwebs everywhere.

With a wave of his sleeves, Qi Xuansu cleared out the dust from a small area and sat there to meditate and adjust his breathing.

There were three major Dantians in the human body, namely the lower Dantian where jing[1] was stored, the middle Dantian where qi[2] was gathered, and the upper Dantian where shen[3] was nourished.

The section of the spine from the tailbone to the second lumbar vertebrae was the coldest region of the body, also known as the Snow Mountain Area. The effort required for the qi to cross this area was minimal. Thus, Daoists named this phenomenon the Goat Cart, which corresponded to the lower Dantian.

Behind the Snow Mountain Area was the spine, consisting of 24 segments corresponding to the 24 solar terms. The head and tail of the spine were called the Dragon and the Tiger respectively. This Dragon and Tiger Pass was the longest section and required the most effort for the qi to cross. Daoists called it the Deer Cart, which corresponded to the middle Dantian.

After the Dragon and Tiger Pass, the qi would reach the Fengchi acupoint at the back of the head, also called the Yuding Pass. It had the smallest orifice, which was difficult for qi to pass through. Thus, the most precise amount of force must be used. Daoists called it the Ox Cart, which corresponded to the upper Dantian.

For Houtian Beings in the regular cultivation stage, their focus was on the lower Dantian. Their focus shifted to the middle Dantian in the Baodan cultivation stage. Only Xiantian Beings in the Kunlun stage could open the upper Dantian, connecting the three major Dantians.

This enabled the qi in the body to circulate freely so that the cultivator could manipulate it at will. It was the only way qi could be released out of the body to move objects, strike others from a distance, or heal injuries.

Qi Xuansu was not a Qi Refiner. He was a Rogue Cultivator with a relatively low status within the various lineages. However, the principle of using qi to heal wounds was the same. Any blocked meridians would be cleared wherever qi passed through, allowing the blood to circulate properly and thus allowing the external wounds to heal faster.

The rain became lighter, and the sky darkened. It was unwise to continue his journey in the mountains at night, so after some hesitation, Qi Xuansu decided to stay in the dilapidated temple for the night so that he could continue healing. After all, the Green Phoenix Guard was not so capable as to search the entire Maoxian Mountain overnight.

After nightfall, the dilapidated temple was pitch black. Qi Xuansu completed 36 minor circuits in qi circulation and felt that his injuries had healed. Then he took out Li Sanxin’s flying sword and gently stroked the blade with his fingertips. There was an engraving that read, Green Snake. He figured that it was the name of this sword. Judging from the patterns on it, he inferred that the sword should be from the Lu Clan of the Taiping Sect.

There were three major sects in the Daoist Order. Among them was the Taiping Sect, which had three factions within itself, namely the Li Clan, the Shen Clan, and the Lu Clan. The Li Clan was the most powerful, followed by the Lu Clan and the Shen Clan. Li Sanxin was probably from the Li Clan.

As a Daoist disciple, Qi Xuansu knew a little bit about the techniques of the Lu Clan. This sword was of excellent quality in terms of the casting technique and the materials used. It was a pity that such a treasure fell into Li Sanxin’s hands. Li Sanxin was only at the Kunlun stage and could barely control the flying sword. Moreover, this was such a high-quality flying sword, which was completely wasted on that man.

But having said that, Qi Xuansu was lucky that Li Sanxin was a novice. If Li Sanxin was in the Yuxu stage of cultivation and could utilize all of this flying sword’s potential, Qi Xuansu would not have been able to defeat him.

Qi Xuansu tried to inject some qi into the Green Snake. He discovered that Li Sanxin was not great at controlling the flying sword, but the latter had cultivated that sword well. Li Sanxin was willing to put a good amount of his qi into this flying sword to cultivate the Sword Embryo.

In a flying sword, the raw material and casting skills were not the only important variables. It had a lot to do with the effort of cultivating the sword. It was like sailing against the current. If one did not advance, one would regress. Since Qi Xuansu intended to sell this sword at a good price, he had to get a buyer as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would lose its value.

These external objects were generally divided into four grades: mortal, spiritual, treasure, and immortal.

Mortal objects that corresponded to Houtian Beings were made of refined iron and were worth nothing to Xiantian Beings. The Green Phoenix Guard’s Sheep Saber and Flying Squirrel Armor were mortal objects, while the Slim Tiger Saber and the Bull Dragon Armor were top-tier among the mortal objects.

Above that were spiritual objects corresponding to Xiantian Beings. Most of these objects were made of rare materials and contained spiritual energy. The objects were no longer “dead” because they had spirituality and were very mysterious. This flying sword, the Green Snake, was a spiritual object.

If a Daoist disciple was successful in reaching the Yuxu stage of cultivation, they would be given a spiritual object. However, those not from any sect would have to spend a lot of effort to obtain a spiritual object.

Treasures, which corresponded to the Heavenly Beings, were precious, as the name suggested. It had spiritual and mystical properties.

Semi-immortal objects were ranked above treasures. Qi Xuansu had never seen one before. He merely heard of a semi-immortal object being gifted to a prodigy from the ancestral court who had attained the Guizhen stage of cultivation. That prodigy was only one step away from ascending to the Heavens.

Above that were immortal objects, which were not something ordinary people could learn of. Perhaps only the 36 Sages could obtain such things.

Qi Xuansu tried cultivating the flying sword with the Sword Controlling Technique.

1. One of the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine, "jing" means essence, the fundamental source of one's energy important for major stages of development (puberty, menopause, etc.). ☜

2. Another element in the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine, "qi" means energy that flows through all meridians, used for daily operation. ☜

3. The last of the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine, "shen" means spirit, the guiding force for one's emotions and intelligence, and a gateway to connecting oneself to the universe. ☜