A Pawn's Passage

Yao Pei’s courtyard was different from Qi Xuansu’s because it was reserved only for the most outstanding disciples. Otherwise, it would remain vacant. Many influential figures of the Daoist Order had once lived here. Zhang Yuelu was one of the most recent residents. Next year, it would house Li Changge.

Within the courtyard lay a small pond that was crystal clear. When Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu first visited Yao Pei, they found her gazing into this very pond.

Yao Pei walked straight into the house, saying as she went, “I need to set up a privacy barrier to prevent others from spying. Daoist Qi, please bring me some water.”

Qi Xuansu nodded and walked over to the pond, scooping up a handful of water with both hands. The water perfectly reflected the moon above.

By the time Qi Xuansu entered the room, Yao Pei had already affixed talismans to the four corners of the living room, each of remarkable quality. Then, she retrieved a fine red thread from her magical receptacle, linking the four talismans together before tying a knot. A flash of light rippled across the talismans and thread, signifying the completion of the barrier.

Yao Pei turned around, pointed at the water Qi Xuansu was holding, and transformed it into a floating sphere, suspending it in mid-air.

Qi Xuansu instinctively stepped aside and silently watched Yao Pei’s every move.

Yao Pei raised both hands to chest level, her palms facing each other but not touching.

The water sphere slowly drifted between her palms. Then, with her eyes closed, Yao Pei kneaded the water sphere in the air, much like a potter shaping a clay vessel.

Moments later, Qi Xuansu was shocked to see the water sphere gradually take the shape of a jade token that was nearly identical to the one Sun Hewu carried.

Yao Pei opened her eyes and carefully inspected the jade token made of water, then made minor adjustments to the details.

Qi Xuansu asked hesitantly, “Are you forging a copy of the Palace Master’s token?!”

“It’s not good enough,” Yao Pei said slowly. “The Palace Master’s token holds a divine power exclusive to the Daoist Order. It requires the activation of special talismanic engravings on the jade for it to unlock the various restrictions within the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. Both components are indispensable. What I’ve created now is merely a replica of the engravings—a rough mold. There’s still one final step.”

Qi Xuansu understood. It was akin to duplicating a key. The shape of the teeth was important, but so was the material. If the material chosen was too soft, the key would snap inside the lock.

While maintaining the mold with one hand, Yao Pei retrieved a completely blank jade token from her magical receptacle with her free hand.

Aside from lacking the engraved talismanic patterns, it was otherwise identical to the Palace Master’s token.

Qi Xuansu was shocked.

Having power and influence did not always mean one needed to stir up great storms as the Li family did. Sometimes, they were revealed in the smallest details.

This blank jade token was an example. A mere fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master would never be able to obtain such an item, not even a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master could have such clearance.

Yet Yao Pei could easily produce one. It had nothing to do with her being a genius or how young she was when she attained fourth-rank status. It was purely about the powerful backing she had.

Yao Pei was not surprised by Qi Xuansu’s reaction and simply explained, “This blank token is also a counterfeit. Compared to the original, it is significantly inferior and can only be used five times—once to enter the alley, once to unlock the main gate of Tianshui Core Tower, once to access the stairs to the second floor, once for the stairs to the third floor, and once to lift the restriction on the third floor. That makes exactly five uses.

“Since the token only temporarily deactivates the seal rather than permanently remove it, we don’t need to worry about resealing the restrictions. They will automatically be restored after a set period.”

Even so, Qi Xuansu remained astonished. “You came fully prepared.”

Yao Pei did not deny it. “The Wanxiang Daoist Palace has more treasures than just this place. There’s also Xingye Lake—”

“What about Xingye Lake?” Qi Xuansu asked. That was, after all, the place where flying ships took off and landed.

Yao Pei did not answer directly but simply said, “With our current cultivation levels, we’d best not dwell on it.”

Qi Xuansu was not a greedy person. In the past, he and Madam Qi were not as distant as they were now, going months without seeing each other. Instead, he had followed her around daily, learning by example.

The first principle Madam Qi had taught him was that being stingy would not cost him his life, but being greedy surely would. Of course, she had said that casually when refusing to buy him a new pair of boots, but Qi Xuansu had committed that lesson to heart after finding that it made sense.

So Qi Xuansu did not press further. He asked, “You said no one else knows about this semi-immortal object. I won’t question how the Earthly Preceptor found out, but what about the Palace Master? He has the authority to enter Tianshui Core Tower. Does he know?”

Yao Pei replied, “Sage Shi is an upright and rule-abiding man. He has the authority to enter, but he won’t because he has no reason to. He is neither the Grand Master nor a Deputy Zixiao Palace Master. He has no jurisdiction over prisoners, and he’s not a warden who needs to check on their condition. So why would he go to the third floor?”

Qi Xuansu understood.

Theoretically speaking, the Palace Master should not know about this semi-immortal object. The last person to enter the third floor was the sixth-generation Grand Master. But that was just a theory. There was no guarantee that the Palace Master would not one day be struck by curiosity and take a look inside.

With a still expression, Yao Pei said, “There is no such thing as absolute certainty in this world. As long as there’s a 70% to 80% chance, that’s enough.”

As she spoke, Yao Pei held the imitation jade token formed from the pond water in her left hand and the blank jade token in her right. Then, she opened her mouth and spat out a small cauldron. The cauldron was entirely purple, shimmering with radiant light, and even had wisps of purple mist swirling around it.

The Confucians regarded red as the primary color and considered purple an impure hue. However, Daoists held a different view. They had always regarded black, white, and purple as the primary colors. Xuansu, literally meaning black and white, symbolized the duality of yin and yang.

When the Primordial Daoist Ancestor emerged from seclusion, it was said that purple qi spread 15,000 kilometers from the east. Thus, within the Daoist community, purple carried connotations of supreme honor and prestige, much like how bright yellow was exclusively used for the imperial family of the previous dynasty.

This alone was enough to demonstrate the extraordinary nature of the small cauldron. It was at least at the treasure level.

At first, the cauldron was no larger than a grain of rice. As it left Yao Pei’s mouth, it expanded to the size of an eyeball, then to the size of a human head, growing ever larger until it reached a height of one meter before landing on the ground.

Yao Pei pressed the two tokens in her hands together and cast them into the cauldron.

Then, she clasped her right hand within her left, both palms curling inward. Her right thumb pressed against the tip of her right middle finger, while her left thumb went through the circle created by her right hand and pressed on the padding at the base of her right ring finger. This formed the Taiji Seal.

With a commanding tone, she shouted, “Ignite!”

A green flame instantly erupted from within the cauldron and grew into an intense blaze that distorted the air around them.

Only now did Qi Xuansu truly witness the deep heritage of a noble family’s disciple. It was no wonder Zhang Yuelu always resonated with him when discussing the struggles of being “poor.” She often looked embarrassed when talking about such topics.

Compared to Qi Xuansu, Zhang Yuelu naturally had a more privileged background. However, compared to others of her caliber, she was indeed relatively “poor” for someone of her standing. In such circumstances, the fact that Zhang Yuelu remained independent and refused to rely on others—whether driven by ambition or personal integrity—was remarkable.

Moreover, their situations were quite similar. The Zhang family and the Li family were regarded as the two most prestigious Daoist families. If the Zhangs were on par with the Lis, their wealth and resources must surpass that of the Yao family. Yet, Zhang Yuelu received far fewer resources and privileges than Yao Pei, indicating that either Zhang Yuelu’s family was unwilling to support her, or they only gave her the bare minimum afforded to side branches of the family.

Similarly, Madam Qi, despite being one of the seven Moguls of the Seven Treasure Pavilion, also served as the best intermediary in the Qingping Society. She was undoubtedly immensely wealthy, yet her treatment of Qi Xuansu was even worse than the Zhang family’s treatment of Zhang Yuelu. Madam Qi not only refused to give him anything, but she even found ways to profit off of him.

In this regard, even though Zhang Yuelu’s pride and self-respect prevented her from ever openly expressing it, deep down, she and Qi Xuansu must have shared a sense of mutual hardship.

After all, Zhang Yuelu was not foolish. She had long noticed that Qi Xuansu also had powerful backers. However, out of personal considerations, she chose not to dwell on it, which was precisely why Yao Pei said that Zhang Yuelu was merely deceiving herself.

Thinking of all this, Qi Xuansu could not help but let out a sigh.

Yao Pei paid no attention to Qi Xuansu. She closed her eyes and rested, allowing the green flames within the cauldron to burn silently.

After about half an hour, the flames within the cauldron began to shrink and eventually died out.

Yao Pei opened her eyes and extended her hand. With a flick of her finger, a jade token flew out of the cauldron. At first glance, it was indistinguishable from the one held by Sun Hewu.

This was a masterpiece of craftsmanship, rivaling the work of gods.

Recalling how Yao Pei had carefully traced the original jade token with her hands, Qi Xuansu could not help but ask, “Is this also one of the usages of the Heavenly Calculation Technique?”

“Yes.” Yao Pei caught the jade token and continued, “If Sage Sun thought deeply, he might guess that I used the Heavenly Calculation Technique to memorize all the talismanic patterns. But he would never suspect that I had a blank token imbued with the Daoist Order’s unique divine power.

“In fact, when these tokens were originally designed, the different talismanic engravings only served to distinguish them from other tokens of the same rank. For example, a token from Wanxiang Daoist Palace wouldn’t be able to unlock the restrictions of Wuxu Palace. That’s the purpose of the talismans—to prevent unauthorized use by insiders. That’s why these engravings are not overly intricate.

“But the true key to unlocking the restrictions lies in the token itself and the divine power it holds. This is what defends against outsiders.”

Qi Xuansu nodded, indicating his understanding. “So when will we return to Tianshui Core Tower?”

Yao Pei had already made a detailed plan. She spoke calmly. “Tomorrow early morning, the Wanxiang Daoist Palace will hold its routine council meeting on the third floor of Ming Hall. Apart from the various Deputy Palace Masters, all high-ranking Daoists will attend. Sage Sun will be presiding over the meeting.

“As of now, only you and I can freely enter and exit the nine innermost archive towers of Gen Garden. Everyone else must be escorted by a Deputy Palace Master. During the council meeting, no one will be going to the archive towers, so this is the perfect opportunity.

“This matter should be settled sooner rather than later. The longer we delay, the more likely things will change. My suggestion is that we go first thing tomorrow morning.”

Qi Xuansu was genuinely impressed. He said, “Daoist Yao, your cultivation is outstanding, and your planning is meticulous. You are truly ambitious and talented. It’s no wonder you were chosen by the Earthly Preceptor as the future leader of the Quanzhen Sect. Let’s follow your plan and go tomorrow morning.”