A Pawn’s Passage

Sage Qingwei gifted Qi Xuansu a Xuan Jade of Immortality and had thoughtfully granted him three days of leave, which was ample time for him to fuse with it.

More importantly, this Xuan Jade of Immortality had already been activated, saving Qi Xuansu the trouble of seeking divine power to merge with it.

That was why Qi Xuansu called Sage Qingwei generous for helping him to the very end. Since the major gift was already given, there was no point in nitpicking over small details. Sage Qingwei was unlike some people, who would only make it troublesome before giving something to Qi Xuansu.

Of course, Qi Xuansu would never admit that he was silently complaining about Madam Qi or failing to appreciate her kindness.

After ending his conversation with Madam Qi, Qi Xuansu calmed himself slightly and immediately began preparations to fuse the Xuan Jade of Immortality.

For every manmade Banished Immortal, the number of Xuan Jade they could fuse varied according to their cultivation. For instance, Li Changge's current upper limit was five, so when Sage Qingwei said Li Changge had more Xuan Jade than he could use, it was neither boastful nor an exaggeration but a simple fact.

Qi Xuansu's situation was the exact opposite of Li Changge's. He was severely lacking in Xuan Jade, having only four. This was because, unlike Li Changge, who had fused five at once, Qi Xuansu had done so one by one. As a result, his earliest Xuan Jade of Life and Xuan Jade of Death had long been completely "digested," leaving two empty slots. Now he had three open slots. If Qi Xuansu had enough Xuan Jades, he would already be well on the road toward the Zaohua stage.

This was the unreasonable advantage of the manmade Banished Immortal. Before immortality, they were utterly unmatched. Even natural-born Banished Immortals were no match for them, let alone any other lineage.

However, when it came to divine power, Qi Xuansu had been incredibly lucky. His first Xuan Jade of Life, obtained at Yulan Temple, had been activated with Wu Luo's divine power. Later, his Xuan Jade of Death, obtained at Cuowenbu, had been activated with the divine power of the Ghost Kingdom. Afterward, the Xuan Jade of Divinity was activated using the divine power of the True Lord Taiyin that was left behind by Zhang Wuhen and at the Wuxing Mountain left behind by True Lord Ziguang.

These four divine powers had all affected Qi Xuansu to varying degrees. True Lord Taiyin's divine power and True Lord Ziguang's divine power had directly altered his Spiritual Statue, transforming it into the Taiyin Ziguang Spiritual Statue, also called the Star Moon Spiritual Statue.

This alteration of his Spiritual Statue also affected his Spiritual Body, and even his entire Shaman lineage, setting Qi Xuansu on an unconventional path with little precedent to follow.

Next was the Ghost Kingdom's divine power, drawn from the Pingtian Crown on the Emperor Willow. This divine power did not change his Spiritual Statue but gave him the ability to communicate with and locate the Ghost Kingdom. This was why he could wreak havoc in Ise Province while the Ise-jingu was powerless to stop him.

Finally, there was Wu Luo's divine power. On the surface, it seemed to have no effect on Qi Xuansu, but in truth, he had long suspected that it had fully activated the Longevity Stone Heart. After all, Wu Luo was one of the eleven Great Witches of Lingshan, where the original Longevity Stone had come from.

Before fusing his first Xuan Jade, Qi Xuansu often dreamed of Lingshan, but in those dreams, he only saw Wu Xian alone. After obtaining his first Xuan Jade, he began to frequently dream of eleven figures, with Wu Luo among them.

These four types of divine power had an immense influence on Qi Xuansu, yet none of them was truly pure.

This Xuan Jade of Immortality had been activated using the purest Daoist divine power, far surpassing all the other types of divine power.

It was no wonder Li Changge could condense the Heavenly Emperor Spiritual Body, as he had been using the purest Daoist divine power to activate his Xuan Jade since childhood. He simply could not be compared to someone like Qi Xuansu, who had taken the unconventional path.

To put it bluntly, even though both of them possessed the Longevity Stone Heart, the gap between a poor youth and a noble heir was still enormous.

Qi Xuansu took out the Xuan Jade of Immortality and held it in his hand, a sudden curiosity rising in his heart.

It was now clear that the Li family's inherited Longevity Stone Heart was not identical to Qi Xuansu's. For example, while both granted life-preserving abilities, Li Changge's Heart had the wondrous function of foreseeing fortune and disaster, whereas Qi Xuansu's allowed him to return from the dead.

The Longevity Stone Heart was the ultimate fruit of creation by both Ancient Wuism and Daoism. Clearly, Qi Xuansu's version leaned more toward the former, while Li Changge's leaned more toward the latter.

When Qi Xuansu fused a Xuan Jade, he would see the Eleven Great Witches in Lingshan Paradise. This made him wonder,Who would Li Changge see when he fused his Xuan Jades? Could it be his ancestor, the Holy Xuan? And where would Li Changge go? Could it be the Daoist Order's ancestral court, the Kunlun Paradise?

Qi Xuansu gathered his wandering thoughts and began fusing the Xuan Jade of Immortality.

Having gone through this several times before, Qi Xuansu was already adept at the process, letting the jade slowly "melt" into a stream of green light that flowed into his body.

Then Qi Xuansu returned to that long-absent dream.

He was back at the towering, pitch-black mountain—Lingshan.

This time, Qi Xuansu did not rush to climb the rugged path but stood still for a while.

He could hear the wind howling, carrying with it a woman's voice, like murmured whispers or a soft hum. Ribbons hung from the trees lining the path swayed in the breeze, like countless arms dancing wildly, while flower petals covered the trail, exuding a strange fragrance.

The first time he entered Lingshan Paradise, Qi Xuansu had heard his master calling out to him, telling him to turn back. But he could not, as his neck felt stiff, and his whole body was beyond his own control. He also heard Madam Qi's whispers. Though he strained to listen, he could not make out what she was saying.

As Qi Xuansu's cultivation advanced, or perhaps as the number of Xuan Jade he fused with grew, his autonomy in this place gradually increased.

Now, he could turn his head. Behind him was an apocalyptic scene, the mountain shattered and on the verge of collapse. The Lingshan Paradise only endured the erosion of time without being utterly destroyed due to its sheer size.

The land was split into fragments, barren with ravines and nothing but endless scorched earth. All around lay heaps of white bones, shattered magical artifacts and weapons, and the skeletal remains of colossal beasts as large as small hills.

Many broken mountain peaks floated midair. They were not motionless but drifting extremely slowly, like specks of dust visible in sunlight.

The farthest edge of the sky was warped and chaotic, with faintly visible bolts of lightning flickering nonstop. Even at such a distance, Qi Xuansu could still feel their terrifying might.

The part where Qi Xuansu stood on the mountain seemed to have more rifts. It was as if these rifts were interwoven into a net that formed a barrier around the mountain.

This time, Qi Xuansu finally made out Madam Qi's whispered words that were utterly devoid of emotion. She repeated over and over, "Go up the mountain. Don't wander."

Qi Xuansu was at a loss for words. At first, he had thought it was some sort of hallucination or auditory mirage, like his master's call, having nothing to do with the real person. So naturally, he had never sought out Madam Qi to confirm it. But he had never imagined that these words had been left by Madam Qi herself.

It should have been a simple instruction, telling Qi Xuansu not to wander about the mountain but to hurry to the summit to meet Wu Xian. But why didn't she just say them clearly? Her voice had been so muted before that he could not make them out at all. By the time he could hear them clearly, he no longer needed such instructions. Who knew that these whispers had been meant to guide him forward? Anyone unaware would only think Madam Qi was sleep-talking.

After a moment, the woman who had once guided Qi Xuansu appeared.

Half her face was hidden by long hair, but the other half that showed was no less beautiful than Li Qingnu's.

Qi Xuansu no longer felt apprehensive. Instead, he took the initiative to ask, "Who are you?"

The woman replied, "You may call me Shi Hengbo."

Qi Xuansu instantly noticed one thing. This name was entirely different from those of the Eleven Great Witches. It sounded more like that of someone from the present dynasty or the one before it.

Qi Xuansu asked again, "What is this place?"

Shi Hengbo replied, "This is the Illusory Realm of Lingshan."

Qi Xuansu was taken aback. "This isn't the Lingshan Paradise?"

"No." Shi Hengbo's tone was utterly calm, without the slightest fluctuation. "I am merely a remnant soul."

Qi Xuansu understood then that Shi Hengbo was like the white-bearded elder in novels whose sole purpose was to guide a young man forward. If he had obtained the Longevity Stone Heart through the normal path, Shi Hengbo would have become his teacher.

But he had not obtained the Longevity Stone Heart through the normal path. Strictly speaking, the Longevity Stone Heart had originally been Madam Qi's. She had merely passed it on to Qi Xuansu. Madam Qi must have used it herself at some point. Otherwise, she could not have left her whispers here.

By that logic, Shi Hengbo was in fact Madam Qi's guide, responsible only for her and not for Qi Xuansu. Madam Qi had then taken on the role of Qi Xuansu's guide, both as his adoptive mother and his true teacher.

Qi Xuansu not only had to use Madam Qi's second-hand pocket watch but also her second-hand Longevity Stone Heart.

Still, given the closeness of their relationship, this was nothing to fuss over. In the old prestigious families of the world, heirlooms had often passed through countless hands over the centuries. Qi Xuansu figured this heart could also be considered an heirloom of sorts.

Qi Xuansu asked again, "You really have nothing to say to me?"

"What you ought to know, you already know. I have nothing to add," Shi Hengbo said expressionlessly.

Qi Xuansu nodded. "Then let's go up the mountain."