A Pawn’s Passage

Although Qi Xuansu had Flying White Shadow, it was merely a treasure, practically ineffective against enemies of higher cultivation levels. Seeing how well-equipped Li Changge and Yao Pei were, Qi Xuansu could not help but feel a touch of envy. Thus, he still urgently needed a semi-immortal object.

Qi Xuansu did not rush straight to Tianji Hall's temporary branch. Instead, he first took out his Intermediate License to contact Zhang Yuelu.

At that moment, Zhang Yuelu was still with Spirit Guard Ding Wei's army and had not yet returned to the Xiujing field camp.

Once the communication link was established, Qi Xuansu explained his idea to exchange his share of merit for the total ownership rights of Solar Heaven.

Zhang Yuelu did not refuse, nor did she reject the merit he offered.

Firstly, the two of them had not yet become Daoist companions, and neither acted purely on their own behalf. Qi Xuansu had Madam Qi behind him, while Zhang Yuelu had the Zhang family. While the two of them might not distinguish between each other, their factions certainly would. So it was still better to settle accounts clearly.

Secondly, their relationship had always been based on genuine equality. Many people only demanded equality when benefits were at stake, but when it came to yielding interests, they suddenly claimed weakness and demanded protection. Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were not like that. Qi Xuansu would never take advantage of Zhang Yuelu just because she had suddenly risen in fortune.

So, the matter was settled. Qi Xuansu quickly seized the opportunity to chat idly with Zhang Yuelu. Their conversation was private, not for outsiders' ears.

After ending his talk with Zhang Yuelu, Qi Xuansu took the two semi-immortal objects from Fenglin and went to Tianji Hall's temporary branch.

The so-called Tianji Hall branch was a special institution. Rank-wise, it was akin to a local branch and subject to dual leadership. The first chain of command was Tianji Hall's vertical leadership, and the second was the leadership of the local Daoist mansion.

For this position, both the Nine Halls and the local Daoist mansion shared personnel authority equally.

One might ask, if the orders of the two superiors conflicted, whom should one obey?

Generally speaking, one looked at faction alignment. For instance, if one were from the Quanzhen Sect, and the Tianji Hall superior was also from the Quanzhen Sect, while the local Daoist mansion's superior was from the Taiping Sect, then one would naturally obey the Quanzhen Sect superior. If both superiors belonged to the same faction, conflicts rarely arose. This was not written law but rather an unspoken rule aligned with self-interest.

If one were from the Zhengyi Sect, with a Tianji Hall superior from the Quanzhen Sect and a Daoist mansion superior from the Taiping Sect. In such cases, the local Daoist mansion's opinion took precedence.

The Tianji Hall temporary branch set up at the Xiujing encampment was such a case. Its Deputy Hall Master was of the Quanzhen Sect, like Qi Xuansu, making them kin. With the direct order of the Sage Commander, there was naturally no reason to give Qi Xuansu any trouble.

Generally speaking, local branches only had a superintendent and not a Deputy Hall Master. But due to the exceptionally high stakes of the Fenglin campaign, a Deputy Hall Master had been specially appointed this time.

When Qi Xuansu arrived at the temporary branch of Tianji Hall, he found it not only covered a larger area than Sage Qingwei's central command tent but was also far more heavily guarded. It had one level above ground and three underground.

After Qi Xuansu explained his purpose to the Daoist priestess in charge of reception, she quickly went to notify the Deputy Hall Master. Before long, a middle-aged Daoist came out to greet him.

This man was named Sun Jiaoting, a seventh-generation Daoist disciple. However, within the Daoist order, generational rank was not particularly important. What mattered more were office and rank.

Since both were Quanzhen Sect disciples of equal standing, they naturally exchanged pleasantries, circling around with polite words before finally getting to the point.

Qi Xuansu produced Sage Qingwei's order and placed the two semi-immortal artifacts before Sun Jiaoting.

Sun Jiaoting said, "These semi-immortal objects from Fenglin are of the lowest grade. Normally, we would refuse even a two-for-one exchange. But since you and I are family, and we have the Sage Commander's permission, there's naturally no reason not to trade."

By now, Qi Xuansu was favored by all parties. With Madam Qi and Sage Donghua's support, the Quanzhen Sect saw him as one of their own. Through Zhang Yuelu, the Zhang family and Cihang lineage regarded him as a future son-in-law. The Zhengyi Sect considered him half theirs, while under Sage Qingwei's direct command, even the Taiping Sect had no room to trip him up.

What was impossible for an ordinary man became possible for Qi Xuansu.

By saying this aloud, Sun Jiaoting was not making Qi Xuansu owe him a favor but rather forging goodwill.

Qi Xuansu promptly expressed his thanks.

Sun Jiaoting then took out a small booklet, handing it to Qi Xuansu. "This is the registry of semi-immortal objects. Deputy Hall Master Qi, once you've picked your item, we will liaise with Jade Capital."

Qi Xuansu nodded and accepted the booklet.

The booklet divided semi-immortal objects into three categories: weapons, magical devices, and mystical tools.

Weapons were straightforward. These were blades, swords, and the like, used for direct combat, such as Li Changge's Mortal Vitality or Yao Pei's Yield Sovereignty. Magical devices contained divine powers or amplified spells, like Yao Pei's Staff of Merit or Li Changge's Bright Crown. Mystical tools were auxiliary items, like the Haotian Mirror or Moon Mirror.

Green Cloud and Purple Afterglow were not listed here, as they were considered an immortal object as a pair.

Qi Xuansu first ruled out the mystical tools category, as these semi-immortal objects were generally meant for Immortals. For Heavenly Beings like him, weapons and magical tools provided the greatest boost. Generally speaking, the threshold for weapons was lower. Even if one could not wield their full power, they were always somewhat useful. Magical tools had higher thresholds. One could either use them or not at all. There was no in-between.

Thus, Qi Xuansu decided to choose from the weapons category.

Each major category was further divided into subcategories. Under weapons were swords, blades, spears, staves, armor, shields, and exotic weapons. Zhang Yuelu's Amorphous Paper was classified under the exotic subcategory of weapons.

Qi Xuansu flipped to the sword category and found that dual swords and greatswords were also listed under it.

First, there was a note that the ranking did not denote power or precedence. It was only for convenient cataloging.

The first on the list was Bone Flowing Radiance, one of the Holy Xuan's swords, reforged from Mystical Lord of White Bones and the treasured blade Cold Beauty.

Qi Xuansu's eyelids twitched as he inexplicably thought of Madam Bai and Little Yin's explanation that the previous Mystical Lord of White Bones had been forged into a sword by the Holy Xuan. It was truly a tragic fate.

The second on the list was Mortal Vitality, another of the Holy Xuan's swords. However, it was marked as "missing" because it was now in Li Changge's hands. Qi Xuansu guessed that Mortal Vitality had never entered the Tianji Hall's vault at all but had always remained in the Li family's treasury. Its name was only listed here for formality's sake.

The third on the list was the Sword of Mandate, also marked "missing." Qi Xuansu had seen it himself in the hands of Prince Liao. Since the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court were essentially one, this was not surprising.

Ranked fourth was the Dharma Lotus, likewise marked "missing." This was Sage Cihang's personal sword. In the future, it might very well become Zhang Yuelu's weapon.

Further down was a pair of twin swords, collectively named Hidden Dragon in the Abyss. It was Donghuang's weapon, elevated by him to a semi-immortal object. This was also marked "missing."

The Blood-Garbed Immortal Severing Sword was also marked "missing." Qi Xuansu had seen it in Sage Qingwei's possession.

Heavenly Demon Immortal Slaying Sword—missing.

Bamboo Sword—missing.

Mysterious Maiden Sword—missing.

Qi Xuansu skimmed the long list, with a large number of items marked "missing." This was unsurprising, as Daoists generally favored swords. Half of them were in the hands of the Li family, fittingly so for a clan renowned for its mastery and love of swordsmanship, just as the Zhang family favored thunder techniques.

Most of the remaining ones had various flaws. Since Qi Xuansu was not a sword-user anyway, he skipped over them and moved on to the next subcategory—blades.

Again, the rankings were in no particular order.

The first listed was Supreme Master, wielded by Song Zheng and the Holy Xuan's wife.

Qi Xuansu was drawn to it at once. He had studied the Demonic Blade, so this blade seemed made for him. Unfortunately, the glaring mark beside it left him bitterly disappointed—"missing."

Next was called Pure Chill, Great Sage Ning's blade. It had not been a semi-immortal object at first but was elevated to one by Great Sage Ning himself. This one was not marked missing. Still, it did not resonate with Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu continued reading down the list.

The Defier, the blade of the Great Sage Changsheng and the Holy Xuan's wife. It was very much to Qi Xuansu's liking, but clearly, others thought so too, as it was marked "missing."

The Great Sage Changsheng was none other than Emperor Gaozu, the founding emperor of the Great Xuan Dynasty. This blade was likely in the possession of some Imperial Prince or even in the hands of the reigning emperor. So it was best not to even hope it was available.

Daoist cultivators were not fond of blades to begin with, which meant their number was few. With so many marked "missing," even fewer remained available.

Several of these blades came from the Golden Horde, most of them curved blades. These were even less suited to Qi Xuansu's style. He could not even handle Monohoshizao, let alone curved ones.

At the very end, Qi Xuansu suddenly spotted a blade with an unfamiliar name.

Pure Bodhi, originally the blade of the Chan Buddhist lineage. After the Chan Buddhist Sect was destroyed, it came under the Daoist Order's control.

Finally, one that was not marked "missing."

Since this was a Buddhist blade, no one had taken an interest in it.

However, this blade was different from a traditional Buddhist precept knife, being slightly longer and narrower than a traditional one.