A Pawn's Passage

If half of Izanagi’s divine kingdom was like a painting, then Sage Qingwei was the discordant stroke that ruined its overall harmony.

As Sage Qingwei flew deeper into the divine kingdom, the temperature grew hotter, and flames appeared with increasing frequency.

Soon, a pitch-black figure as massive as a mountain appeared in Sage Qingwei’s line of sight. Surrounded by overwhelming flames, a thunderous voice roared, “How dare a mere mortal like you trespass into my divine kingdom, relying only on external objects?”

This colossal figure was none other than the nascent form of Izanagi’s golden body. Izanagi had temporarily abandoned his physical body, which made his consciousness even clearer.

Sage Qingwei paid it no mind. He thrust his swordless left hand forward and grasped, unleashing five fierce streams of qi that crashed upon the figure from all directions. At the same time, his body surged ahead, the longsword in his right hand aimed straight at the opponent’s face.

Sage Qingwei had used the Confucian technique called the Five Peaks Sealing Hand. This strike would be as though five mountains had descended upon the enemy. It could crush a man into powder or suppress and imprison them. Back then, the Sage of Mind used this technique to uproot an entire mountain and suppress a Daoist Earthly Immortal beneath it.

The Daoist claim of unifying the Three Religions was not an empty slogan. It absorbed many Buddhist and Confucian techniques. There were even practitioners who cultivated all three. Sage Cihang practiced both Buddhist and Daoist techniques, while Sage Qingwei cultivated Confucian and Daoist Techniques.

Sage Qingwei’s Heavenly Heart Sword Technique and the Five Peaks Sealing Hand were both Confucian. The former was from the Sage of Principle, while the latter was from the Sage of Mind.

From Izanagi’s perspective, Sage Qingwei’s left hand grew exponentially, blocking out everything until only the five towering fingers filled his vision.

Izanagi had no choice but to open his mouth and spit forth a fire dragon to meet Sage Qingwei’s attack.

At first, the fire dragon was only slightly smaller than a flood dragon. But the closer it drew to the hand, the smaller it shrank. In the blink of an eye, it was no larger than a mayfly.

With a furious roar, Izanagi simply swung his fist to meet the grasp.

When the two collided, a tremendous shockwave rippled through the entire divine kingdom. Fiery clouds churned in the sky, magma split open the earth, and burning meteors poured down from above.

Battles within the divine kingdom were free from the restrictions and interferences of the real world, making them all the more grand and spectacular.

In the next instant, Sage Qingwei’s sword had already reached Izanagi. Finally, Sage Qingwei could see the ancient god’s true visage.

At this moment, Izanagi no longer bore the former majesty belonging to a King of Gods. Instead, he was shrouded in surging demonic flames that were pitch black, resembling the demon kings of the underworld from myths. His body loomed as tall as mountains, and he wielded an ancient sword that seemed hewn from a severed peak.

Izanagi opened his mouth in silence, raised the colossal sword, and slashed down toward Sage Qingwei.

That single strike carried the weight of five mountains, forcing apart the fiery clouds and leaving a rift about 300 meters wide.

Compared to this, Sage Qingwei’s strike seemed utterly insignificant, like a mayfly shaking a great tree.

However, Sage Qingwei’s strike severed Izanagi’s colossal sword. It was like a single hair pricking at the brow of this 300-meter-tall golden body—an almost laughable sight. But from the point where the sword pierced, countless cracks spread outward, spilling golden light, black mist, and erupting flames.

The golden light was divine power, the black mist was yin energy, and the flames were Izanagi’s core essence.

In the end, this was only an embryonic form of Izanagi’s golden body, not a fully formed one, so it was far from its peak and was no match for Sage Qingwei.

Sage Qingwei withdrew his sword and stepped back.

Izanagi’s golden body trembled violently as the crack on his brow spread rapidly, covering his entire face in the blink of an eye.

With another furious roar, Izanagi swung the remaining half of his colossal sword at Sage Qingwei.

Sage Qingwei neither dodged nor retreated. The Blood-Garbed Immortal Severing Sword in his hand extended a blade of light over 30 meters long, meeting Izanagi’s broken sword head-on. The repeated clashes thundered like rolling storms until the remaining fragments of the colossal sword shattered slowly.

The cracks on Izanagi’s golden body had already spread down to his chest.

At that moment, the fiery clouds above the divine kingdom began to dissipate, slowly revealing another scene.

This time, it was not a pitch-black void or the starry sky. Instead, another island emerged. It was unlike Izanagi’s divine kingdom, which floated on the sea. This one hovered in the heavens, surrounded by a sea of clouds. Upon the island were buildings of all kinds in a distinctly Western style.

Though this divine kingdom was far from Izanagi’s, one could make out every detail with perfect clarity.

There was a mountain on the island, and at its highest point stood a rectangular temple held up by 46 Doric columns. The main structure consisted of two great halls, each flanked by a portico with six Doric pillars. The eastern portico led into the inner hall. Both its walls and columns were adorned with exquisite relief carvings.

Looking from the portico into the inner hall, one could see a colossal statue of a goddess at the very end. The statue was dignified, youthful, beautiful, and awe-inspiring.

Sage Qingwei recognized this goddess. She was none other than the Ruler of the Holy Court, known as Queen Pallas. Her position in the Holy Court was akin to that of the Holy Xuan in the Daoist Order. Under her leadership, the Holy Court had first unified the Western lands and established its supreme dominion over the Western Continent.

Within the Daoist Order, the Holy Xuan’s status was second only to the Primordial Daoist Ancestor. In the Holy Court, this goddess’s standing was second only to the Supreme Will, regarded either as the Supreme Will’s daughter or their incarnation in the mortal realm.

The goddess held a sword in her left hand, symbolizing war. It was in the name of salvation that she led the Holy Court to purge all heretics, forcing the arcanists to abandon land and sail the seas, where they founded the Lune Kingdom upon an overseas isle. Through blood and fire, the goddess established the Holy Court’s supreme position. It was just as the Holy Xuan had once led the Daoist Order to supplant the Confucian School, defeat the Buddhist Sect, and establish the Great Xuan Dynasty.

In her right hand, the goddess held a balance scale, symbolizing justice and judgment. After securing the Holy Court’s supremacy, she perfected its legal system, establishing courts and tribunals. Thus, the goddess often bore a scale to weigh the sins within souls, determining whether they ascended to heaven or were annihilated.

The goddess’s statue did not have a single fixed posture. Different depictions conveyed different meanings. Some showed her holding a scepter, a shield, or a sacred law codex, symbolizing authority, protection, and justice, respectively. Others depicted her holding the Holy Emblem with both hands, signifying her unity with the Supreme Will.

Since the Supreme Will had no concrete form and no statue and only had the Holy Emblem as its symbol, the people of the Holy Court erected countless statues of the goddess instead. Nearly every great cathedral and temple contained one, making her well-known even to the Daoists.

In this regard, the Daoist Order was the exact opposite. Statues of the Holy Xuan were rarely seen, with only a few portraits kept in the Zixiao Palace and the Golden Tower. But statues of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor were everywhere.

This sight resembled a reflection in water. It appeared suddenly in the sky, shimmering like a lake’s surface. Queen Pallas had not truly descended into Izanagi’s divine kingdom but existed as a mirage-like projection.

Since this was Izanagi’s divine kingdom and not the mortal world, a mirage-like projection would not appear without cause.

It seemed that the Holy Court had finally intervened at this most critical moment.

Sage Qingwei was well-versed and knowledgeable. He immediately thought of a concept proposed by Great Sage Yan Feiqing two centuries ago during the revival of the Ancient Immortals—the convergence of divine kingdoms.

Simply put, it was the collision of divine kingdoms.

If the real world were likened to a continent, then the divine kingdom would be like a ship sailing across the vast sea. From the deck of that ship, those within the divine kingdom could see other ships at sea.

Each divine kingdom carried its own cargo and crew. In most cases, two such ships remained far apart, never interfering with one another. When they did engage during a war, it would be like an old-fashioned naval battle. The ships would approach each other, and the crew would board the enemy’s deck, fighting in close combat. This was the case when Vairocana intruded into Izanagi’s divine kingdom.

There was another highly unusual situation. When currents or storms drove ships together, forcing them to sail side by side. At such times, the two ships could engage in trade. Some crew members from one ship might cross over to the other. But such circumstances never lasted long. The ships would eventually part ways again, drifting off on separate courses.

Beyond this, gods with strong ties might deliberately steer their vessels closer at times so as to provide mutual aid.

For Heavenly Immortals who could freely roam the cosmos, a divine kingdom was like a spiderweb fixed in place. This was how it appeared from the perspective of heaven and the mortal world. However, within the bounds of the mortal realm, a divine kingdom was not entirely motionless. Generally, Godly Immortals would anchor their divine kingdoms near the places where their followers dwelled, so as to receive incense power or the power of faith at a quicker speed. For example, the Three Great Kami’s followers were mainly in Fenglin, so they would never move their divine kingdoms to the New World.

When the Great Sage Yan Feiqing once sought to bring True Lord Taiyin under Daoist allegiance, he entered her divine kingdom. This was when he had the rare chance to closely observe Wu Luo’s divine kingdom from within. It was from this experience that he first proposed the concept of this convergence of divine kingdoms.

Now, without a doubt, one of the Holy Court’s divine kingdoms had begun to sail alongside Izanagi’s divine kingdom.