A Pawn's Passage

A whole day had passed by the time Qi Xuansu woke up from his meditation.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu had finally taken the last step, advancing from the Guizhen stage to the Xiaoyao stage. This meant he had transitioned from a Xiantian Being to a Heavenly Being.

Since Qi Xuansu was not a “complete” Banished Immortal, he did not reach the Banished Immortal’s Five Elements Origin Realm but rather the Rogue Cultivator’s Cicada Shedding Realm. In this realm, he would experience a transformation akin to a cicada shedding its husk. He would undergo a rebirth that would heal chronic injuries and refine his body, which would greatly compensate for his innate deficiencies. This was the unique trait of a Rogue Cultivator in the Heavenly Being stage.

In other words, all the injuries inflicted upon Qi Xuansu by Zhang Juyan, both internal and external, had been completely wiped away. Moreover, his innate physique had finally caught up with his aptitude.

At the moment, he was no longer burdened as though he were trudging arduously through the mud. He felt as if he had stepped out of the mire, able to move freely without any blockage. If he were to practice the Demonic Blade now, his progress would undoubtedly be twice as effective, even if he were to only put in half the effort.

This was the Minor Rebirth, while becoming an Immortal would require another transformation known as the Major Rebirth.

The Major Rebirth involved refining the marrow, shedding the mortal body, and achieving a new existence. This process lasted 49 days, during which the Rogue Cultivator would appear gravely ill. Each person’s “illness” would manifest differently, depending on their environment and past experiences. For example, those who practiced techniques that were extremely yang and rigid would suffer from excessive internal heat. Those who cultivated yin-based techniques would experience qi deficiency and coldness. Those who had lived long in frigid regions might develop lung ailments. Those whose souls were split might suffer from headaches. However, none of these symptoms would affect their cultivation or progression.

Qi Xuansu had expected this Minor Rebirth. The real surprise was that the amber-like Xuan Jade fragment left behind by Zhang Wuhen further completed Qi Xuansu’s Shaman lineage, which granted him a Spiritual Statue.

Different lineages resulted in the condensation of different Spiritual Statues. For example, the Lingshan Witch Cult members that Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu encountered had manifested Wu Luo’s Spiritual Statue. Zhang Yuelu, who cultivated the Cihang Sword Sequence, manifested a white-robed Guanyin Spiritual Statue.

If one was a Shaman from the Daoist Order, they would generally form a Spiritual Statue of the Three Pure Ones, representing the divine manifestations of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. Alternatively, they might form a Spiritual Statue of a Daoist Immortal who no longer resided in the mortal realm. Most Daoist elders, including the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, did not have a Spiritual Statue, making them impossible to condense. Buddhist Spiritual Statues varied greatly, including all kinds of Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Venerable Masters, and Arhats.

Qi Xuansu lacked this background, so he could only use his divine power to form a blank Spiritual Statue without any mystical properties. However, since the Xuan Jade fragment came from Zhang Wuhen, who had inherited the legacy of True Lord Taiyin, Qi Xuansu gained the Spiritual Statue of True Lord Taiyin.

Each Ancient Immortal’s divine power had its own unique traits. True Lord Taiyin specialized in frost-based divine power, which the female instructor who killed Qi Jianyuan also wielded.

After True Lord Taiyin submitted to the Daoist Order, the Xuanyin Sect dispersed. While most followers chose to join the Daoist Order, many others could not accept this change.

The Ancient Immortals and the Daoist Order had battled for decades, so both sides had suffered heavy casualties. To many Xuanyin Sect members, the Daoists were nothing but butchers with blood-soaked hands, responsible for the execution of countless friends and family members. Yet, overnight, none of that seemed to matter anymore. Everything they had fought for was rendered meaningless, as if they had simply returned to the starting point. They were expected to pretend as if nothing had happened, shake hands, and greet each other with smiles. This disillusionment shook the faith of many Xuanyin Sect members, causing them to question the very purpose of everything they had believed in.

In the past, True Lord Taiyin would have made efforts to console her followers. However, after submitting to the Daoist Order, her primary source of divine power came from the Daoist Order, rendering the incense power and faith from the Xuanyin Sect unnecessary.

Without support, these Xuanyin Sect members were scattered across the land and constantly hunted by the Daoists. To survive, most sought refuge in other secret societies. The other Ancient Immortals welcomed these followers, so it was only natural that some within the Ziguang Society wielded the Taiyin Divine Power as well.

After True Lord Taiyin ascended and departed the mortal realm, these Xuanyin Sect members found a way to intercept the incense power of those who still worshipped True Lord Taiyin, diverting it for their own use. It was much like Bai Yongguan’s embezzlement in Yishan City.

Alternatively, they converted other divine powers into the Taiyin Divine Power. Due to this, neither Sun Hewu nor Yao Pei initially associated the female instructor’s use of the Taiyin Divine Power with Zhang Wuhen.

Now, Qi Xuansu could also wield this frigid divine power, rather than merely relying on basic divine power to form a simple golden body.

However, divine power was unlike blood qi, magical power, or innate qi, which could replenish naturally. Once used, it was permanently diminished. Relying solely on one’s own faith to replenish it was still insufficient. The main source of replenishment still had to come from external incense power.

In this regard, Godly Immortals harvested the faith of their followers to expand their divine kingdoms. To restore divine power, they generally absorbed the souls of the deceased followers into their divine kingdoms, granting them rebirth within. The souls would exist eternally alongside these divine kingdoms. However, while this appeared to be eternal life, it was, in truth, a state of bondage. Most ordinary followers were too ignorant to recognize this lack of freedom. Instead, they saw it as a tremendous blessing.

It was said that there were countless Buddhist disciples in the Lord Buddha’s Pure Land, as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River. These Buddhist disciples chanted scriptures unceasingly, day and night. That way, there would be an immense pool of divine power, enough to sustain the divine kingdom and continuously reinforce the Lord Buddha’s golden body.

During the war between the Buddhist Sect and the Daoist Order, the Lord Buddha and the Holy Xuan fought a decisive battle. The Lord Buddha’s golden body was shattered, bringing him to the brink of his first death. This resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the Buddhist Sect, forcing them to seek peace with the Daoist Order. Yet despite such a grievous injury, the Lord Buddha required only ten years to fully recover, showcasing the immense depth of his divine power.

However, even within the Buddhist hierarchy, the Lord Buddha was not the supreme figure. Amitābha was the leader and had established the Six Paths of Reincarnation within his Pure Land. This allowed the followers within the Buddhist divine kingdom to continuously reincarnate, erasing past memories and starting anew, ensuring eternal renewal and perpetual vitality.

The Lord Buddha’s Saha World took it a step further, enabling followers to descend into the mortal realm by seizing bodies as Ghostly Immortals. After 100 years of trials in the human realm, they would return to the Pure Land. It was an unending cycle, like flowing water that would never stagnate. These returning individuals were not merely ordinary disciples but became the Lord Buddha’s direct subordinates, even achieving the ranks of Vajras or Arhats.

Thus, Buddhist followers firmly believed in reincarnation. In a certain sense, this was indeed a new life, yet how different was this eternal cycle from perpetual bondage? Perhaps that was a matter of perspective.

Compared to the meticulous methods of the Buddhist Sect, the Ancient Immortals employed far cruder techniques. Within their divine kingdoms, everything remained unchanging for eternity. Their followers and subordinates would spend centuries repeating the same actions, which inevitably led to numbness and apathy.

Thus, devotion diminished, drastically reducing the incense power they could provide. As their followers withered away in spiritual exhaustion, the only solution was to aggressively expand their base of new believers, which in turn severely disrupted the foundations of the Daoist Order. However, none of these methods mattered to Qi Xuansu because he did not have a divine kingdom or followers.

Qi Xuansu’s only option was to obtain divine power from the Daoist Order, just like the Spirit Guards did.

In fact, Qi Xuansu had an advantage. Initially, the distribution of divine power was overseen by the Zhengyi Sect because they governed supernatural matters, while the Taiping Sect controlled the empire’s currency because they were responsible for mortal affairs.

However, after the Holy Xuan’s reformation, the powers of all three sects were consolidated under the Nine Halls, with Ziwei Hall overseeing the distribution of divine power. This authority was the foundation of Ziwei Hall’s claim as the foremost among the Nine Halls. The first Ziwei Hall Master once said that whoever managed Taiping coins controlled the mortal realm, and whoever controlled divine power commanded the heavens.

For large-scale divine power expenditures, such as subjugating True Lord Taiyin, approval was required from the Grand Master and the Golden Tower Council. However, Qi Xuansu’s consumption of divine power was no more than that of a third-rank Spirit Guard, which did not even require authorization from Sage Donghua. As a Deputy Hall Master, Lei Xiaohuan could handle this distribution. All that was needed was a justifiable reason.

That reason was already prepared. According to Sun Hewu, the Xuan Jade fragment was not included in the official merit system. In other words, Sun Hewu intended to submit a report to the Golden Tower Council and claim merits for Yao Pei and Qi Xuansu.

Under the Daoist merit system, disrupting a minor divine descent of an Ancient Immortal counted as an Earth merit. However, True Lord Siming’s descent into Jinling Prefecture did not qualify as a divine descent but rather an incarnation. Slaying a cult demon at the Heavenly Being stage also counted as an Earth merit.

Although Qi Xuansu and Yao Pei failed to prevent Zhang Wuhen’s resurrection, they delayed and obstructed the process, allowing the Wanxiang Daoist Palace to respond in time. Zhang Juyan also died indirectly due to their hindrance. If Zhang Juyan had not been severely wounded, he would not have died when he used the Immortal Blood Sword.

By this calculation, Yao Pei would receive primary merit, which would amount to a full Earth merit. As a supporting contributor, Qi Xuansu would likely receive a Xuan merit.

To be promoted to a third-rank Youyi Daoist master, a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master would have to accumulate three Earth merits, which was equivalent to one Heaven merit. According to the rules, two Earth merits could be exchanged for either two ordinary treasures or one high-grade treasure.

One Xuan merit could be exchanged for a standard spiritual object or converted into Taiping coins. Thus, if it could be converted into Taiping coins, then it should logically be exchangeable for divine power as well.

Of course, there was no explicit exchange option for this. However, since there were no strict prohibitions, the decision lay in the hands of the administrators. Given Qi Xuansu’s relationship with Lei Xiaohuan, this should not be difficult.

This was the advantage of having a backer.

Qi Xuansu had a rough idea of how much Taiping coins a spiritual object was worth, but he had no clue how much divine power one Xuan merit could be exchanged for. He did not even know the unit of measurement for divine power.

Nonetheless, Qi Xuansu felt quite satisfied. He was never particularly invested in the Shaman lineage because his true forte was the Martial Arts Practitioner lineage. Rather than completing his Shaman lineage, he would much rather enhance his Martial Arts Practitioner lineage, striving to condense his body spirit and reach the Divinity Realm.

Qi Xuansu lifted the privacy barrier on his residence and stepped outside.