A Pawn's Passage

With an invisible yin energy permeating the mountain and creating dark clouds, the sky was constantly dark at all hours of the day, hence the name Night Mountain. Entering the vicinity rashly would make one feel dizzy and weak.

One would be easily affected by concentrated evil energy or yin energy over time. At the very least, one would be susceptible to hallucinations and have a tainted soul. At the worst, one’s soul would be lost forever, turning one into a madman. Even the body would gradually corrode, and the yang energy would fade, thus reducing one’s lifespan.

The Yin Halberd Formation’s purpose was to disperse yin energy and evil energy.

After receiving the order, the Diviners took out a bag of powdered stone from their saddlebags and used it to draw a large formation about 300 meters long and 30 meters wide. It was nearly a hundred times the size of an ordinary Yin Halberd Formation. That was because only a Yin Halberd Formation of this size could divert the yin energy on this mountain.

The Martial Arts Practitioners blocking the earth’s energy would complement the Yin Halberd Formation. If the earth’s energy was allowed to flow continuously, it would be a classic example of a common exam question in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. If a pool was filled and drained at the same time, how long would it take for the pool to be filled to the brim or fully drained?

The Martial Arts Practitioners were physically strong, with ten of them equivalent to the strength of a hundred civilians. With the help of explosives, they followed Lingquanzi’s instructions and blocked or destroyed several key nodes of the earth’s energy, creating a perimeter within which they were in control.

The Qi Refiners, who were on high ground, then sent a signal with the mother-child talisman.

Lingquanzi, who was guarding the mountain pass, stretched out his hands, raised his index and middle fingers, and drew a symbol in the air. A thin red line spurted out from his fingertips, like ink marks under a brush. As he moved his fingers, a drawing of a halberd surfaced in mid-air and glowed with a spiritual light.

Then he waved his hand again and pointed the same two fingers at the halberd drawing, muttering, “Go.”

Ordinary Diviners had to draw formations with powdered stone, but Lingquanzi had a higher level of cultivation and was able to draw the Yin Halberd Formation without using any external objects.

In an instant, Lingquanzi’s Yin Halberd Formation merged with the massive Yin Halberd Formation on the ground, adding the finishing touch.

The Yin Halberd Formation was called a halberd, but it looked more like a simple arrow. At this moment, it glowed. Immediately afterward, the wind blew from all around. It was not the spring breeze, scorching summer draft, bleak autumn draught, or biting cold gale. It was a yin current that carried sounds of crying and laughter. The current flowed in the direction of the Yin Halberd Formation’s “arrowhead” and surged out of the mountain, like a coursing river invisible to the naked eye.

After more than an hour, the yin energy in the mountain was drained, and the layer of fog around Night Mountain suddenly cleared, as if the sun was breaking out of the clouds.

When Arthur saw how the Daoist priests of Tiangang Hall had purified the place, he said to Qi Xuansu, who was beside him, in broken Mandarin, “Qi, you guys are great!”

This was also the first time Qi Xuansu had witnessed such a formation, but he said, “Of course! We do this for a living.”

While they were talking, Zhang Yuelu, who was standing on a big tree, floated down and ordered, “Superintendent Lingquan, Deacon Qi, and Bishop Arthur, please follow me up the mountain. The rest of the group will follow Deacon Zhou’s command. Don’t let any demons get away.”

Everyone responded, and the people Zhang Yuelu named followed her up the mountain.

Shangguan Dun did not hear his name mentioned, so he hurriedly went to Zhou Bai’s side. Over the last few days, Shangguan Dun became familiar with the deacons.

Among the people who went up the mountain, Qi Xuansu had the lowest level of cultivation, but he was also the best among the Kunlun stage disciples. The small group walked on the rugged terrain as if they were walking on flat ground. Soon, they arrived at the gates of Fort Cimut.

As Ai Li described, Fort Cimut was indeed an abandoned castle. Part of the wall collapsed, and all wooden structures were destroyed. Only the basic masonry structure was left. However, the gates of this fortress were still well-preserved and tightly closed.

Zhang Yuelu stretched out her hand and pressed it against the seven-meter-tall gate. They only heard a rustling, like silkworms crunching on mulberry leaves. The two giant gates then turned into fine sand and scattered with the wind, leaving nothing behind.

This was the sole move that Zhang Yuelu used to defeat Xu Kou—Six Void Tribulations. It was a perfected method from the Qi Refiner lineage. The threshold for learning this technique was extremely high. Even after simplification, ordinary Qi Refiners had to be in the Heavenly Being stage to practice this. On the other hand, Banished Immortals in the Nascent Soul Realm could acquire this ability.

This was the advantage of Banished Immortals. Otherwise, the Daoist Order would not have tried to cultivate Banished Immortals, resulting in an imitation version—Rogue Cultivators.

Arthur owned a magical receptacle, which they called a Space Bag. He took out a two-handed sword from it and led the group into the fortress. Lingquanzi followed closely and took out two talismans that floated around him in rotation.

Zhang Yuelu took out her Divine Dragon Pistol and a bag of bullets, handing them to Qi Xuansu. “I don’t need these things. You can use them for self-defense.”

Qi Xuansu took the Divine Dragon Pistol and put the bullets into his satchel. For the first time, he did not thank her and merely said, “Noted.”

Zhang Yuelu then walked into the fortress. Qi Xuansu hung the Divine Dragon Pistol and Green Bird Pistol on both sides of his waist and tightened his short sword. He was the last one to enter the fortress.

It was dim inside. There were twelve round columns arranged vertically in the lobby, but half of them had collapsed, making the structure unstable.

With a wave of his hand, Lingquanzi lit up the wall lamps.

Arthur quickly and skillfully explored the fortress and found some human skeletons, some of which were old and some of which were recently deceased. This undoubtedly confirmed Ai Li’s speculation.

After Zhang Yuelu entered, her gaze immediately fell on a tattered tapestry with a strange symbol painted on it. Tapestries, woven with wool, were a popular decoration in the Western Region, while those in the Central Plains preferred to use screens.

Qi Xuansu followed Zhang Yuelu’s gaze and asked, “What’s that?”

Zhang Yuelu replied, “That’s the mark of the Ancient Immortals.”

The war between the Daoist Order and the Ancient Immortals had been ongoing for more than two hundred years. The Daoist Order once had the opportunity to completely end this war but failed due to the Buddhist Sect’s intervention. This led to a series of wars between the Daoist Order and the Buddhist Sect in the Western Region. It was not until the Holy Xuan confronted the Buddha that the wars came to an end.

This also led to the so-called Post-Three-Religions Era.

In the Pre-Three-Religions Era, the Confucian School dominated the world. At that time, the Daoist Order and Buddhist Sect joined forces to go against the Confucian School, eventually defeating the latter. The Daoist Order replaced the Confucian School and became the world’s orthodox authority, making the Confucian School and Buddhist Sect its vassals.

In the past, the Confucian School took the lead and promoted the unification of the three religions. Then, the Daoist Order took the lead and continued to promote the unification of the three religions.

At a certain point, the Daoist Order became the de facto leader of the three religions. The three great scholars of the Confucian School of Principle, Philosophy, and Qi chose to pledge allegiance to the Holy Xuan. They were equivalent in status to the Deputy Grand Masters.

In the Post-Three-Religions Era, the Buddhist Sect challenged the Daoist Order for dominance. The Daoist Order joined forces with the Confucian School to suppress the Buddhist Sect. Eventually, the Buddhist Sect was forced to enter a truce with the Daoist Order and recognize the latter’s leadership.

However, the Buddhist Sect still disagreed with the Daoist Order on many things, creating friction on many fronts, especially regarding the matter of the Ancient Immortals. The Buddhist Sect publicly supported the Daoist Order in eliminating clandestine organizations, but it secretly aided the Ancient Immortals in restraining the Daoist Order.

The Ancient Immortals amassed believers in the form of secret societies, so the Daoist Order spent a lot of energy every year to eliminate them.

Qi Xuansu asked, “If there are traces of the Ancient Immortals here, does it mean that this place is the base of a secret association? In other words, those sinners may be collecting living souls to please the Ancient Immortals in hopes of gaining their help, right?”

“Yes, it’s probable.” Zhang Yuelu nodded.

Qi Xuansu finally asked, “Who are the Ancient Immortals?”

Zhang Yuelu hesitated for a moment before she said, “Ancient Immortals are akin to evil deities or the Devil. They are a powerful existence that the Daoist Order wants to eradicate. The reason they are called Immortals is that some of them are considered the Elders of the Daoist Order.

Qi Xuansu was taken aback. He subconsciously lowered his voice. “Our Elders?!”

Zhang Yuelu continued. “There is a saying that unconventional methods in the hands of a righteous person can serve good purposes, but likewise, conventional methods in the hands of the wicked can be twisted for evil ends. The Daoist Order does not completely agree with this saying, but they have to admit that the Ancient Immortals are wicked, twisting conventional methods for evil purposes.”

Qi Xuansu was curious. “Why did the Ancient Immortals betray the Daoist Order?”

Zhang Yuelu did not answer his question directly. Instead, she asked him back. “Flying swords are more powerful than guns, and many powerful spells are far more powerful than artillery, but why do the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court still develop firearms so vigorously? Why are the Quanzhen Sect’s machinery faction and formation faction fighting against each other? Have you considered this issue?”

Qi Xuansu was startled.

It was clear that Zhang Yuelu knew many secrets in the Daoist Order that ordinary priests were not privy to. She whispered, “If all the magic and mystical abilities in the world disappear one day, what will happen to us?”

Qi Xuansu frowned. “What does this have to do with the Ancient Immortals?”

Zhang Yuelu sighed. “Of course, it’s connected. But, according to the regulations in the Daoist Order, someone of your rank doesn’t have clearance to know this information. You will naturally understand once you become a Deputy Hall Master or a third-rank Youyi Daoist master.”

That was when Qi Xuansu realized Zhang Yuelu only knew these secrets because of her status as a Deputy Hall Master, not because of her fourth rank. In that case, Lingquanzi, Sun Yongfeng, and the others were also unaware of it.