A Pawn's Passage

Before the might of immortals, Qi Xuansu once again felt his own insignificance and helplessness. His so-called “limitless future” was nothing but a mirage that could vanish at any moment.

But Qi Xuansu had grown step by step. He was long accustomed to this powerlessness. Thus, he did not feel despair or betrayal. He even steeled himself to face a life-and-death struggle.

In the blink of an eye, a ruined world of magma and ash appeared before Qi Xuansu.

At first glance, Qi Xuansu did not even recognize it as the massive island he had once glimpsed in Izanagi’s memories. There were no forests or cities, only ash, charred remnants, and crisscrossing abyssal fissures that belched flames and magma.

Fiery clouds spanned the heavens, pressing downward endlessly until it felt suffocating.

Waves of heat surged, so breathing alone scorched his throat and seared his lungs.

Fortunately, as a Wuliang-stage Martial Arts Practitioner, Qi Xuansu could switch to embryonic breathing, avoiding the burn of the air.

What shocked him more was that the demonic fire within him that had dragged him into this world now lay strangely dormant in this divine kingdom.

Qi Xuansu did not believe the fire had gone still of its own will. It must have been suppressed by some external force.

At that thought, he instinctively looked down at his abdomen. Green Cloud was still lodged in his belly.

Qi Xuansu was no fool. Linking this with the sudden collapse of the Heavenly Preceptor’s seals, he could roughly piece together the truth.

Just as he was about to draw Green Cloud from his abdomen, a voice sounded in his ear. “Xuansu.”

Qi Xuansu’s expression grew solemn. “Heavenly Preceptor.”

The Heavenly Preceptor’s tone was gentle, unlike the Imperial Preceptor’s stern voice. “Time is of the essence, so listen to every word I say.”

“Yes, sir,” Qi Xuansu replied without the slightest resistance. The reason was simple. Madam Qi had taught him to always read the situation first. After all, he had no strength to oppose the Heavenly Preceptor, and he wanted to leave this place alive.

Though it was the Heavenly Preceptor who had thrown him into this cursed realm, Qi Xuansu’s only hope of leaving safely still lay with him. Even after leaving the divine kingdom, Qi Xuansu would still have to face the Heavenly Preceptor again. So resisting in this situation was pointless. The only thing that mattered now was leaving this place alive.

This was the reality of being a pawn. But as the saying went, it would never be too late to take revenge.

Even if Qi Xuansu wished to voice his dissatisfaction, he would have to endure until the day he truly had the qualifications. Otherwise, it would only invite ridicule.

Of course, Qi Xuansu was a pragmatic man. If the Heavenly Preceptor could offer him a price worth his while, he would not hold a grudge.

Madam Qi taught him that harmony brought wealth and to strive for mutual benefit.

In the arena of power and profit, interests mattered more than feelings. There was no point in talking about being used or feeling stifled. It was a fact that money was hard to earn, and shit was hard to swallow. If someone hurt him, it would be best to move on and continue with business, so long as the price was fair.

Though Qi Xuansu did not fully agree with this, it held some truth.

The Heavenly Preceptor spoke slowly. “The Taiping Sect has revived Izanagi, so I temporarily lifted the seals within your body, letting the demonic fire inside you draw you into Izanagi’s divine kingdom. Izanagi seeks to use your body as the foundation to rebuild his divine form, but I have activated the Haotian Bright Flame in the Heavenly Preceptor’s Seal to suppress that fire within you for now and to shield you from Izanagi’s perception. Though this is his divine kingdom, ever since it shattered and mutated, he cannot command it in full, and he is not omnipotent here.”

Hearing this, Qi Xuansu glanced down at his wound where Green Cloud had pierced him. Faint, translucent white flames flickered. This must be the Haotian Bright Flame the Heavenly Preceptor had mentioned, channeled into his body remotely through the blade. It showed just how far ahead the Heavenly Preceptor had laid his plans. This alone was enough to inspire awe and fear.

But Qi Xuansu still wondered why the Heavenly Preceptor had sent him here. Surely, it was not just to throw him to his death, because there was no need for such elaborate trouble.

If the Heavenly Preceptor wanted to let him aid Izanagi’s rebirth, thereby ruining Taiping Sect’s schemes, then there was no reason to suppress the demonic fire. Even in a second divine descent, the best he could channel through him was the strength of a Pseudo-Immortal and not full Immortal.

The Heavenly Preceptor would not rely on a small pawn at the Wuliang stage like him to play the sparrow behind the cicada for a sneak attack. At best, Qi Xuansu was just another cicada, or perhaps not even one.

The Heavenly Preceptor went on: “Li Wugou has already entered Izanagi’s divine kingdom. Deep within this realm lies the secret of Izanagi’s undying body, which is Li Wugou’s true goal. If he succeeds, the balance among the three sects will collapse, and unpredictable upheaval will follow. Thus, we must stop Li Wugou. With your current cultivation, there is no way you can stop him. That is why I will grant you access to a certain power.”

Qi Xuansu was somewhat surprised.

After Sage Qingwei granted him and Zhang Yuelu leave, Qi Xuansu could only vaguely guess what the Sage Commander was up to. But he did not know what Sage Qingwei’s ultimate purpose was,or how far his plans had already advanced.

Now, the Heavenly Preceptor had made it perfectly clear. Sage Qingwei did not care about the demonic fire. What he truly sought revolved entirely around life and death—immortality and resurrection.

Sage Qingwei’s progress was astonishingly swift. He had already forced his way into the divine kingdom, akin to breaking down the door. On the other hand, Qi Xuansu had been brought in by the master of this divine kingdom. The difference in difficulty between the two was worlds apart.

Furthermore, the Heavenly Preceptor would never have sent him into this divine kingdom merely to use an ant to stop a chariot. There had to be a deeper stratagem behind it.

The Heavenly Preceptor had spoken bluntly as well, without invoking moral righteousness. Instead, he disclosed the core objective, which was to stop the Taiping Sect from breaking the balance of the three sects. In a way, the Heavenly Preceptor was treating Qi Xuansu as one of his own. If Qi Xuansu managed to return from this mission alive, this would bring monumental changes to his status.

Meanwhile, once Sage Qingwei entered Izanagi’s divine kingdom, he immediately became a target. Qi Xuansu was unharmed because he carried the same trace of demonic fire and was regarded as part of the divine kingdom. The fiery clouds above twisted into a massive vortex, raining fire down. From the fissures in the scorched ground surged hordes of yokai. They had fangs and a green face, but their bodies were enveloped in flames. Some were even creatures formed of molten lava, all charging toward Sage Qingwei in unison.

Sage Qingwei’s Joyous Cloud Shield protected him from the flames. With a sweep of his sword, countless sword qi, as fine as ox hair, shot forth. Though they left only hair-thin marks invisible to the naked eye upon those yokai, each stroke instantly extinguished their life force. These native yokai of the divine kingdom perished without the slightest ability to resist.

After death, the yokai melted into magma, writhing and merging until they reformed into a divine guardian that was 30 meters tall.

This guardian resembled the one Qi Xuansu had once encountered in the sealed lands, but its body was marred with charred cracks, molten fire dripping ceaselessly from the seams of its armor. In its grasp was an ancient sword wreathed in flames, which crashed down upon Sage Qingwei’s head.

Sage Qingwei answered with a single stroke, cleaving the towering guardian cleanly in two.

Such a colossal guardian could not be called weak, but before Sage Qingwei, who wielded the strength of an Immortal, it was not worth mentioning.

Sage Qingwei could clearly sense that something within the divine kingdom itself was beginning to change.

Although Zhang Qihan and Princess Himiya Akiko suppressed Izanagi, preventing him from fully entering his divine kingdom, if they could hold long enough, it might even trigger a Heavenly Tribulation.

Of course, this was merely their conjecture, since Izanagi had already endured his first heavenly tribulation. However long he lingered in the mortal world before that, the hundred years after crossing the first tribulation had to be recalculated.

The Daoists could not ascertain whether, before his defeat at the hands of Vairocana, Izanagi had already spent his second century in the mortal world. If not, then the hope of relying on heavenly tribulation to annihilate this ancient god might prove to be futile.

Izanagi’s powers went far beyond this. He had already begun reconstructing his golden body within his divine kingdom. Even if his true body had perished under the second heavenly tribulation, as long as he still retained his golden body and his divine kingdom, he would not be truly dead. This was precisely what made Godly Immortals so troublesome to kill. Godly Immortals relied extremely on divine power, making ascension almost impossible under normal circumstances. They were far from attaining true freedom, yet what they gained was unmatched survivability with their three deaths. They could also linger in the mortal world for ages, beyond what any other Immortals could rival.

The reason Izanagi had lost control over his divine kingdom, unable to be omnipotent within it, was partly due to the divine kingdom’s collapse. More importantly, it was due to the loss of his golden body, which acted as the command center.

Thus, Sage Qingwei could not allow Izanagi to reconstruct his golden body within the divine kingdom. Here, Izanagi held the advantage of terrain, which would pose a great trouble for Sage Qingwei. Therefore, before Sage Qingwei could search the divine kingdom, he would first have to shatter the nascent form of Izanagi’s golden body.

What Sage Qingwei did not know was that the Heavenly Preceptor had hidden Qi Xuansu’s existence. Thus, Izanagi was forced to rebuild his golden body entirely from nothing. Had the Heavenly Preceptor decided to sacrifice Qi Xuansu outright as a ready-made vessel, Sage Qingwei would now be facing Izanagi’s fully reforged golden body.