A Pawn's Passage

The Sakka was Xu Wugui’s masterpiece, developed based on the foundation of the Gezao Sect and integrating the strengths of Ancient Wuism and the Quanzhen Sect. The Sakka was comparable to the Immortals.

The Three Yin Beings were the pinnacle of Gezao Sect’s creations. Compared with the Sakka, the Three Yin Beings were inferior, but they were sentient, making them living beings.

Due to this, the Three Yin Beings were able to help the Daoist Order manage the Ghost Kingdom and plan their own contingency exit strategy. They were not subjected to induced hibernation like the Sakka.

Of course, the Sakka was not sentient only because Xu Wugui did not want it to have intelligence. At first, Xu Wugui intended to use the Sakka as an external incarnation. After his ascension, the Sakka also disappeared. The Holy Xuan then ordered Ning Yi, the first Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master, to go to the Western Region to capture the Sakka.

The last time the Sakka appeared was on the battlefield between the Daoist Order and the Buddhist Sect, completely invincible. After the Holy Xuan, it was stipulated that the Sakka could only be used by the Grand Master. However, no other Grand Master had ever used this humanoid weapon again. Thus, the Sakka gradually became something from the legends.

The Three Yin Beings were different. They were sentient. After submitting to the Daoist Order, their job was to process yin energy and corpses in the Ghost Kingdom. Records could prove that they had been doing their tasks diligently. Though they rarely appeared in front of people, their experiences were not as blank as the Sakka.

During this time, the Three Yin Beings constantly improved themselves, just like how Daoist priests improved their cultivation through practice.

Although their advancement in strength was much slower than that of Daoist priests, they had far more than a hundred years on this earth.

It had been 200 years since they joined the Daoist Order, so only the Three Yin Beings knew how much they had changed since their creation.

Qi Xuansu did not expect Feng Bo to be killed with just one punch from Master Wan.

For some reason, Qi Xuansu was reminded of that punch he took from Zhuge Yongming near Fengtai County when he was still in the Kunlun stage. That was certainly a bad experience because he was almost beaten to death.

However, no matter how powerful Zhuge Yongming was, he still could not kill Qi Xuansu with one punch. He only managed to beat Qi Xuansu to the point of vomiting blood.

From this perspective, the gap between Master Wan and Feng Bo was far larger than the gap between Zhuge Yongming and Qi Xuansu.

After one punch, the giant fist retracted back into the portal.

From the beginning, Master Wan did not show up fully, only lending Qi Xuansu a hand and disappearing before Qi Xuansu had the chance to thank the giant.

When Master Wan’s fist completely disappeared, the portal formed by magical power and yin energy became illusory and slowly began to dissipate.

The yin energy that was originally surging like the tide in the ocean gradually turned calm again.

Qi Xuansu looked up and noticed no changes to the tomb. Since Feng Bo had been flying in the sky at the time of the punch, his body merely exploded mid-air without damaging the surroundings.

This undoubtedly saved Qi Xuansu a lot of trouble by leaving as few traces as possible. The remaining corpse qi would soon dissipate on its own because of the lack of a source.

Qi Xuansu dusted off his clothes and prepared to receive his inheritance from Feng Bo.

Though he swore he would not loot dead bodies anymore, a Heavenly Being’s possessions were too tempting to pass up. So he decided to put aside his decency for some other time.

Qi Xuansu came to the place where Feng Bo exploded in midair and found some broken limbs. Feng Bo’s entire torso and head had turned into a blood mist, and the remaining broken limbs were beyond recognition after being corroded by the corpse qi.

There was even some corrosive gas visible to the naked eye permeating around those broken limbs. Even if Feng Bo were to carry cash notes and talisman papers, they would have been damaged. All that was left were the higher-grade spiritual objects, treasures, and magical receptacles.

Qi Xuansu dared not touch the remains rashly. He took out the replica of the Nine Yang Fiery Dome and activated it with some magical power to conjure a fire dragon, burning all the remaining corpse qi and Feng Bo’s severed limbs, erasing all traces.

After the fire was extinguished, a ring lay among the ashes.

Qi Xuansu stepped forward and picked up the ring. It was not a spiritual object or a treasure, but a magical receptacle.

Although Qi Xuansu did not have a magical receptacle, he had used Zhang Yuelu’s when they were in the Western Region, so he knew the basics of how to use one.

Qi Xuansu immediately tried to open this magical receptacle that took on the appearance of a thumb ring.

He found that this magical receptacle was actually locked with a miniature talisman array integrated into it. Without knowing the correct combination, he could not open it, and if he cracked it open with force, everything in it would be destroyed.

Zhang Yuelu’s magical receptacle was not locked.

Perhaps these cult demons from secret societies had guilty consciences and did not trust anyone.

A Heavenly Being like Feng Bo should have at least a treasure with him. However, Qi Xuansu had never seen Feng Bo use a treasure. But on second thought, there was also no need to use a treasure to kill a minion like Qi Xuansu.

Moreover, Feng Bo had no time to react to Master Wan’s punch, so he did not get a chance to use the treasure before he was killed on the spot.

Qi Xuansu felt a little disappointed, but there was still a possibility that any treasures Feng Bo might have were placed in his magical receptacle.

After all, not every treasure could change its shape like Zhang Yuelu’s Amorphous Paper, nor could it change in size like the Nine Yang Fiery Dome. If the treasure was a big bow, Feng Bo could not possibly carry it with him because it would be too eye-catching, and it would not suit his image.

This method of setting a lock on the magical receptacle had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was its privacy, but the disadvantage was that it would be cumbersome to open the lock every time one wanted to retrieve something, especially in a critical fight. This could have been the reason Feng Bo failed to use a treasure at the last moment.

Qi Xuansu weighed the ring in his hand, falling into a dilemma.

He knew he would never be able to unlock this magical receptacle based on his own ability. But if he leveraged the Daoist Order’s knowledge, it was possible.

The problem was that he could not explain the origin of this magical receptacle to the Daoist Order.

The questions would probably play out along these lines:

Where did the magical receptacle come from?

—Feng Bo.

How could a Xiantian Being kill a Heavenly Being?

—Master Wan, one of the Three Yin Beings did, not me.

How could you summon the Three Yin Beings to help you, and how did you enter the Ghost Kingdom in the first place?

—No comment.

Qi Xuansu could not admit that he had the Xuan Jade of Death or that he was involved in what happened in Cuowenbu.

Even Zhang Yuelu and Pei Xiaolou only had a rough idea about what happened, not the full story.

Zhang Yuelu knew that Qi Xuansu had interactions with the Three Yin Beings and had reached an agreement with them, but she did not know that Qi Xuansu could summon the Three Yin Beings under special circumstances.

Qi Xuansu held back on the details because he believed that the more he said, the more loopholes Zhang Yuelu would find. She was too intelligent, so she might really find out about his identity as a Qingping Society member if he was not careful. After all, he did not plan to tell Zhang Yuelu about his identity so as not to put her in a dilemma.

As for Pei Xiaolou, Qi Xuansu was hesitant because he felt it was better to leave some things unsaid between them.

There was another person that came to mind—Madam Qi.

Madam Qi was his savior and mentor. She was like a mother to him. She knew all of his secrets, and he trusted her the most.

She was omnipotent and resourceful, so she would probably have a way to unlock this magical receptacle.

Of course, there were also disadvantages to this. Madam Qi would not help him for free. She would most likely demand a cut of the spoils, and how much Qi Xuansu could get would depend on her mood.

But then again, it was better to get less of a share than to not get anything at all.

Thinking of this, Qi Xuansu put away the ring and left the tomb quickly.