A Pawn's Passage

“Put it in writing!” Qi Jiaoyao pulled her hand downward, and a contract formed from divine power appeared out of thin air.

It was the first time Qi Xuansu had seen such a method, so he was slightly surprised.

Qi Jiaoyao said, “This is a Heart Demon Contract, an improved version developed by Elder Yao and True Lord Taiyin, inspired by Western Devil Contracts and our Eastern curse-binding arts. Each of us will infuse a drop of blood essence. Once the agreement is set, it’s equivalent to a sworn oath. Anyone who breaks it will suffer backlash. At best, you’ll lose cultivation. At worst, you’ll fall victim to a deadly curse.

“Oh, there’s one more condition. If I win and the Longevity Stone Heart truly exists, it belongs to me. You get nothing. If you win and there is no Longevity Stone Heart, then you get the Bone-Illuminating Mirror. What do you think?”

“Wow, you’re going this far? Didn’t you say we weren’t betting material things? Still, it doesn’t matter. If you’re so eager to give away your immortal object and become my daughter, I won’t object.”

After carefully reviewing the terms and confirming there were no issues, Qi Xuansu squeezed a drop of blood from his fingertip and infused it into the contract.

Qi Jiaoyao did the same, adding a drop of her own blood. Immediately, ghostly flames ignited from the bottom of the contract, and it burned away until nothing remained.

After sealing the contract, Qi Jiaoyao leaped onto the altar and moved to Wu Gu’s chest. “Watch closely!”

Qi Xuansu crossed his arms and floated into the air, watching indifferently, poised to gain both an immortal artifact and a daughter.

There was already a slit in Wu Gu’s chest, so no further incision was needed. With both hands, Qi Jiaoyao pried open the Great Witch’s chest cavity.

In an instant, a radiant emerald glow shone from within Wu Gu’s chest, illuminating Qi Jiaoyao’s face.

Qi Xuansu’s expression froze immediately.

Qi Jiaoyao reached into Wu Gu’s chest and pulled out a green heart—the very Longevity Stone Heart she had longed for.

The first-generation Longevity Stone required immense life force and appeared blood-red. The second-generation Longevity Stone, made primarily from heavenly materials found in the Kunlun Paradise, appeared emerald green. The Longevity Stone Heart inherited the materials and nature of the second generation.

Secondly, the shape differed. As the name implied, the Longevity Stone resembled an ordinary stone, whereas the Longevity Stone Heart had been further refined, fully taking the form of a heart.

Most importantly, the unique aura of the Longevity Stone Heart could not deceive anyone.

Qi Xuansu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, yet no words came out.

Holding the Longevity Stone Heart in both hands, Qi Jiaoyao burst into loud laughter. “Tian Yuan, do you admit defeat or not?”

Qi Xuansu was extremely unwilling, but having just signed the Heart Demon Contract, and knowing that he had to keep his word, he fell silent for a moment before forcing himself to say, “Yes, Mother...”

“Good boy.” Qi Jiaoyao’s smile grew even brighter. “I have a son now!”

Qi Xuansu looked at the Longevity Stone Heart in Qi Jiaoyao’s hands and suddenly realized something. If the Longevity Stone Heart in the Lingshan Paradise still existed, then what was the one inside him? Had the Earthly Preceptor forged another Longevity Stone Heart?

No...that wasn’t right. At that thought, Qi Xuansu instinctively pressed a hand against his chest.

There was no heartbeat at all.

In an instant, an overwhelming sense of emptiness overwhelmed him, unbearably painful in a way he could not describe.

Qi Xuansu groaned and fell back to the ground, dropping to one knee, barely supporting himself as he trembled uncontrollably.

At that moment, Qi Jiaoyao happened to have her back facing Qi Xuansu, her entire attention fixed on the Longevity Stone Heart, completely unaware of his abnormal state.

Qi Xuansu felt as if his chest had become a black hole and a bottomless vortex, devouring his cultivation, even his bones and flesh.

Was his Longevity Stone Heart gone?

At that moment, Qi Xuansu suddenly recalled an old tale.

In ancient times, witch doctors of the Wuist Sect could save lives by replacing a person’s heart with a stone. As long as the recipient believed the stone heart was real, it could substitute for the damaged heart. But once the person realized the heart was fake, the stone would revert to an ordinary rock, and the person would die instantly. This was the Wuist spell of turning falsehood into reality.

Many folk tales followed the same pattern. Those who died suddenly often did not realize they were already dead and continued living as before, but once they became aware of the truth, they would immediately dissipate into nothingness.

Was Qi Xuansu’s Longevity Stone Heart the same? Would it also revert into an ordinary stone once the truth was exposed? But that couldn’t be right.

Even if his past were false and he could deceive himself, the Three Deputy Grand Masters possessed such profound realms of cultivation. Surely, they would not have been mistaken. Mere belief could never sustain a Zaohua-stage cultivation, right?

His Longevity Stone Heart was real. There was no doubt about that.

Had someone used some sort of mystical ability to remove his Longevity Stone Heart without him noticing? If so, who? Elder Yao?

If Elder Yao’s true body were present, Qi Xuansu believed she could do such a thing, but this was only a fragment of her divine consciousness. With a heavenly tribulation every hundred years, there was no reason for Elder Yao to imprison herself in the Lingshan Paradise instead of ascending.

It still made no sense.

At that moment, Qi Xuansu recalled another old tale.

Legend spoke of a sage in ancient times who possessed a rare heart born with seven holes. Later, the sage had remonstrated frankly with Emperor Xin and was sentenced to have his heart carved out.

However, this sage was close friends with a Daoist master, who gave him a divine talisman. After taking it, the sage’s internal organs would be protected, allowing him to survive even after his heart was removed. Yet there was a condition. If, on his journey afterward, he encountered someone selling hollow-stem vegetables, he must ask the seller if a person without a heart can live. If the seller answered that a person without a heart can live, he would survive. If the reply was that a person without a heart would die, then he would perish immediately. In the end, while fleeing, he heard a female vegetable seller say that a person without a heart would die. He then died on the spot.

With great difficulty, Qi Xuansu lifted his head to look at Qi Jiaoyao and, as if compelled by some unseen force, asked, “Daoist Qi...can a person live without a heart?”

Qi Jiaoyao, who was engrossed in examining the Longevity Stone Heart from every angle, paused slightly at the question. Without turning around, she replied, “That depends. Ordinary mortals can’t live without a heart. But for Immortals, it doesn’t matter much. That’s considered a minor injury. Even if Immortals lose all their internal organs, they wouldn’t necessarily be dead. Pseudo-Immortals might survive too, though they would suffer severe damage and a loss of cultivation.”

Qi Xuansu felt himself growing weaker and asked again, “What about Heavenly Beings?”

Still looking at the Longevity Stone Heart, Qi Jiaoyao answered, “It varies. Diviners could probably survive, since the body is just a vessel to them. It’s hard to say for other lineages. Don’t be fooled by a Martial Arts Practitioner’s strength. Since the heart governs the flow of blood qi, connects the hundred acupoints, links the meridians, and anchors the organs, without a heart, the odds would be grim.”

After she said this, Qi Xuansu’s face turned deathly pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.

Gathering the last of his strength, Qi Xuansu asked, “If I don’t have a heart...can I still live?”

Qi Jiaoyao paused for a moment, but she was still immersed in overwhelming joy and failed to notice Qi Xuansu’s abnormal state. “Are you trying to trick me out of my Longevity Stone Heart? I just got it, and now you’re asking about hearts and stuff. What are you up to? Let me remind you—according to our contract, the Longevity Stone Heart is mine. You don’t get a share.”

Qi Xuansu could no longer hold on. His body swayed once before collapsing to the ground. His aura weakened rapidly.

Qi Jiaoyao finally realized something was wrong and turned toward him.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was already at the end of his strength, like a lamp running out of oil.

Holding the Longevity Stone Heart, Qi Jiaoyao leaped to his side. “W-What’s wrong with you?! It’s just a bet. There’s no need to take it so seriously that you anger yourself to death!”

Qi Xuansu could no longer speak. He slipped into a dazed state as memories from his life flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, finally freezing on a single dark silhouette. It was The Inn’s assassin.

For the present-day Qi Xuansu, such an assassin would be insignificant, something he could dismiss with a wave of his hand.

He could no longer even remember the man’s face. Only a vague shadow remained.

But now, Qi Xuansu had no strength to resist. He could only watch helplessly as the shadow approached him step by step. In the end, he watched as the blade plunged into his chest.

“Tian Yuan! Qi Xuansu! What’s happening to you?!” Qi Jiaoyao began to panic and reached toward his chest.

There was nothing—utter stillness.

Gritting her teeth, Qi Jiaoyao tore open his clothes to expose his chest. Qi Xuansu was so weak that she was able to pry open his chest cavity with her bare hands.

There was nothing where his heart should have been.

Qi Jiaoyao glanced at the Longevity Stone Heart in her hand. Without hesitation, she shoved it into his chest. But it had no effect.

Implanting the Longevity Stone Heart required a precise and complex procedure. It was not something that could be fixed simply by plugging it inside. This had already been proven when Qi Xuansu tried to remove the prototype Longevity Stone before.

“H-How do you implant this? I’ve never learned how!” Her hands were covered in blood as she tore off the bronze mask from her face, revealing her true appearance. “Qi Xuansu...are you really going to die just like this?!”

Qi Xuansu entered a state of final lucidity before death. Even setting aside the Longevity Stone Heart, he still had some cultivation he had painstakingly earned. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw a face that felt somewhat familiar.

Her eyes were unfamiliar, yet everything below the nose bridge felt strangely familiar, like someone he saw every day. Though for the moment, he could not recall who it was.

Qi Xuansu looked at Qi Jiaoyao and said, “I...never expected...it would end...like this.”

Qi Jiaoyao pressed both hands against the Longevity Stone Heart, trying to press it in. It was impossible to tell whether the drops on her nose were sweat or tears. She shouted angrily, “Move, damn it! Isn’t this supposed to be the legendary Elixir of Immortality?!”

Qi Xuansu shook his head with difficulty and forced a faint smile. “Maybe next time...next time, we’ll do it properly.”

Then, everything before his eyes went dark, and he felt as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss.