A Pawn's Passage

After his consciousness withdrew from the Longevity Stone Heart, Qi Xuansu continued pondering this question.

If what Shi Hengbo said was true, then how did the Yao family come into existence?

Although Elder Yao did indeed have parents and family members, bloodlines could only be passed down to one’s offspring, never to siblings, parents, or relatives.

After all, Elder Yao only became Wu Xian later. She was not born as Wu Xian.

Yet the present-day Yao family undeniably possessed the bloodline of a Great Witch, which indicated that Elder Yao must have had offspring. This then contradicted Shi Hengbo’s statement.

Qi Xuansu was still inclined to believe that Shi Hengbo had not lied to him, because there truly were no records whatsoever about Elder Yao’s husband. The Yao family always spoke only of Elder Yao herself, never mentioning another ancestor, as if that person had never existed at all.

If they had followed the Li family’s practice of adopting sons and sons-in-law, then how was the Great Witch bloodline passed down? It surely could not be that Elder Yao artificially created a bloodline and implanted it into her adopted children, passing it down generation after generation, right?

Among the three great families, the Zhang family had the most orderly lineage. Every generation was clearly recorded. Their genealogy ran from the Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor all the way down to Zhang Yuelu’s generation without a single omission. They were a thousand-year clan that was comparable to the descendants of the Confucian Sage. The Li family was somewhat more chaotic, though at least, its line of descent could still be traced. Only the Yao family was the most mysterious and the least known to outsiders.

Qi Xuansu suddenly thought of someone—Lin Lingsu, the Imperial Preceptor of the Jin Dynasty.

Lin Lingsu had originally been one of the Three Corpse Incarnations of Master Tongwei Xianhua. Later, the original body completely severed the connection, turning Lin Lingsu into an independent individual, who then rose to become the Imperial Preceptor of the Jin Dynasty.

Could Elder Yao have left behind descendants through a similar method?

Since Immortals had too high a cultivation, it was extremely difficult for them to bear children through the ordinary union. But they could sever a part of themselves, spreading their seed.

It required one to sever a Three Corpse Incarnation, then employ the Liberation Method so that the incarnation would be completely separated from the original body. It was like an autumn fruit falling to the ground and growing into another great tree, becoming a completely independent being.

That was because a Three Corpse Incarnation was a half-independent entity, almost indistinguishable from a living person. However, it lacked a physical body and must consume the original body’s true essence, which meant that it could not remain in the human world for long.

A Liberation Immortal, on the other hand, relied on an external object as its anchor and possessed a physical body, allowing it to exist in the human world for a long time. Yet, it lacked independent consciousness and functioned much like a puppet.

The Three Corpse Severance Realm and the Liberation Realm complemented each other. If one could combine the two, the incarnation could be completely severed, becoming a fully independent individual.

Thus, it was not impossible that one person could become an entire family.

Qi Xuansu speculated that such a method would also greatly damage one’s cultivation, and it would demand extremely high standards for the external object serving as the physical anchor.

Thus, most Banished Immortals only severed their Three Corpse Incarnations without employing the Liberation Method. Such Three Corpse Incarnations were therefore not independent individuals, as they had a spirit but no physical form.

If one only used the Liberation Method, the result would be the opposite—having form but lacking spirit. That likewise could not be considered an independent individual.

If this conjecture were correct, then the relationship between Elder Yao and the third-generation Earthly Preceptor would not be that of parent and child, but rather like the relationship between Master Tongwei Xianhua and Lin Lingsu.

Once such an incarnation was separated from the original body, it no longer retained an Immortal cultivation and must cultivate anew. However, because it had the original body’s experience, it could avoid many detours.

Without Immortal cultivation, the incarnation could naturally reproduce through ordinary means. Thus, the Yao family came into existence.

This could also explain the various experiments Elder Yao conducted within the Lingshan Paradise, including research on how to refine a suitable physical body.

After all, it had to be a body capable of bearing offspring and one capable of passing down the Great Witch bloodline. Such a body would be an exceptionally perfect vessel.

This also explained why the Li and Zhang families—despite having many Immortals—did not follow the same path. Leaving aside the ethical issues involved, the key lay in the suitable external object. The Li and Zhang families likely could not refine such a perfect vessel.

This speculation sparked Qi Xuansu’s thoughts further.

Producing a truly independent incarnation simultaneously involved the Banished Immortal and Rogue Cultivator lineages. In theory, since the Banished Immortal lineage was the foremost lineage combining the strengths of the Five Immortal lineages, it should likewise be able to cultivate the Rogue Cultivator’s Liberation Method. However, there was one prerequisite: breaking through the shackles of the Five Immortal Lineage created by the Holy Xuan.

The Holy Xuan greatly raised the lower bound while severely limiting the upper bound. It was as if Holy Xuan personally drew the boundaries for each lineage, setting limits that could not be crossed.

Before this, Immortals—especially Heavenly Immortals—did not face such sharply defined boundaries, as they were nearly capable of anything and proficient in everything. There were also figures like Tantai Yun, who freely shifted between different lineages.

Thus, Master Tongwei Xianhua could sever Lin Lingsu because he existed before the Holy Xuan and was not confined by the Five Immortal Lineage framework established by the Holy Xuan.

Likewise, figures such as Wu Luo, True Lord Siming, and True Lord Ziguang were Godly Immortals who possessed their own distinct nature rather than conforming to a single mold.

It was somewhat like the Hundred Schools of Thought. Before the Holy Xuan, it was an era of competing philosophies. After the Holy Xuan, it resembled the dominance of Confucianism, unifying thought but also restraining it.

As someone from the same era as the Holy Xuan, Elder Yao would not be restricted by the Holy Xuan’s Five Immortal Lineage. Thus, she could employ both methods simultaneously.

In fact, Qi Xuansu and Li Changge showed the same tendency. If the two of them succeeded in becoming Immortals, they would not resemble the standard Immortals cultivated by the Daoist lineage system. Instead, they would be more like the Ancient Immortals of earlier eras.

Qi Xuansu would be even more extreme—more akin to an all-capable Great Witch such as Wu Yang.

Then there was Zhang Yuelu. She had originally been a standard Daoist disciple, but after the Heavenly Preceptor chose her as the heir of the Zhang family, True Lord Ziguang bestowed upon her a lightning talisman, granting her the complete and original Five Thunders Celestial Heart Method, setting her on the path of breaking the shackles of the Five Immortal Lineage as well.

The Holy Xuan did not deliberately impose shackles to restrict later disciples. Rather, most people lacked sufficient talent. With the Holy Xuan’s structured framework, most people could actually go farther. This was also why the Daoist Order had produced so many Heavenly Beings over the past two centuries.

However, compared with the Heavenly Beings of Holy Xuan’s era, these later ones seemed somewhat weaker for the very same reason.

Gain and loss always went hand in hand. Taking the Holy Xuan’s shortcut naturally came with a corresponding price.

But certain geniuses had no need for such shortcuts, nor did they need these methods to raise their lower bound. They were better suited to breaking the shackles and walking a broader path. An example was Zhang Yuelu.

Without the Longevity Stone Heart, neither Qi Xuansu nor Li Changge would even be able to touch the hem of Zhang Yuelu’s robe. They would merely become stepping stones on her path toward becoming the Grand Master.

This also made Qi Xuansu think of Qi Haoran.

Could it be possible that Qi Haoran was not a Corpse Liberation Immortal within the standard Daoist system but rather a Heavenly Immortal who had broken through the shackles of the Five Immortal Lineage? That would explain why he could use the Liberation Method.

This would explain why Great Sage Jiang and Great Sage Lan both knew nothing about the existence of such a Corpse Liberation Immortal. Qi Haoran was never a Corpse Liberation Immortal, but a Heavenly Immortal capable of using the Liberation Method.

The direction of the investigation had been wrong from the very beginning, so it yielded no results afterward.

A cold sweat broke out across Qi Xuansu’s body.

Did this not further prove how terrifying Qi Haoran was and how vast his schemes might be?

An Immortal who had broken through the shackles of the Five Immortal Lineage framework had concealed his identity while pushing his pawn Qi Xuansu to take the first step, thereby triggering a chain reaction.

Although Qi Xuansu was protected by the Daoist Order and did not need to fear too much so long as he did not lose power, he still felt a growing sense of urgency. He had to accelerate his pace and increase his cultivation.

However, the Xuan Jade was not exactly easy to obtain, because there were very limited pieces scattered outside. Most of them were either in the hands of the Li family or the Yao family.

Qi Xuansu also wanted to investigate how the Huasheng Hall had leaked the Xuan Jade. But this was an old case from many years ago, so any traces or clues had likely long been wiped clean.

However, there was still another direction to pursue—the Eight Tribes that had split off from the Creation Project.

This secret society had left the Daoist Order because it opposed the Holy Xuan’s abolition of the Creation Project. Over the years, it had committed a few notable misdeeds and maintained an orderly lineage, so it likely knew many of the inside details from that time.

Up to now, Qi Xuansu still did not know who exactly the leaders of the Eight Tribes were. He only knew that Madam Qi was the leader of the Heaven Tribe and one of the Eight Leaders. Her position seemed to indicate that the Yao family held considerable influence over the Eight Tribes as well. But he was unsure whether the Yao family held complete control or merely partial control over the Eight Tribes.

The simplest method would have been to ask Madam Qi directly. But unfortunately, she refused to say anything.

......

Meanwhile, far away in the Lingnan Daoist Mansion, Little Yin was lying over a low table, with tears and snot streaming down her face as she copied The Book of the Way and Its Virtue with an oversized brush. As she wrote, she muttered under her breath, “Bad Old Zhang, stupid Old Qi...”

Just then, a stern voice came from behind Little Yin, “What did you say?!”

Little Yin jumped in fright. “N-Nothing...I didn’t say anything.”

Zhang Yuelu walked over and examined the part Little Yin had already copied. She spoke in a patient tone, “You’re being punished to copy scriptures, not to practice calligraphy. Don’t just rush to finish it and try to understand its meaning, alright?”

With a miserable little face, Little Yin continued writing vigorously, even reciting aloud, “The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name...”