A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1379: The Whereabouts of the True Body

After leaving St. York, Qi Xuansu’s true body and Liberation Incarnation did not reunite. From capturing Ape God to overseeing intelligence operations, everything was handled by his Liberation Incarnation. His true body never made an appearance.

Qi Xuansu’s true body went to New Paititi, traveling incognito to observe the land. His purpose was similar to his trip to St. York, to understand the situation directly. Though the Daoist archives contained detailed records, knowledge gained from books could not compare to those that were gained firsthand. Thus, it was better to travel far and see for oneself.

Preventing the Western Daoist Order from escalating the conflict and ending the Northern and Southern War was only a temporary solution. His deeper mission was to reconcile the situation across the Southern Continent.

Frankly speaking, this task was extremely difficult for Qi Xuansu. It was a responsibility suited to a Virtuous Great Sage. If a Daoist Immortal were to mediate, pulling Gong Fu with one hand and Tantai Zhenxiao with the other to reconcile them, or casually converse with the ancient gods of the Southern Continent, it would seem entirely reasonable. After all, mediation depended heavily on status and strength.

But due to various circumstances, this task fell to Qi Xuansu, which made things seem rather awkward. There was a clear gap in status between him and those Immortals. Asking him to mediate between Gong Fu and Tantai Zhenxiao was like a child trying to pull apart two grown men. He lacked the authority to do so, so it was a naturally difficult task.

Yet no matter how difficult it was, Qi Xuansu had no choice but to carry it out.

Thus, Qi Xuansu operated on two fronts. On one side, his Liberation Incarnation worked with Huangfu Ji on covert operations. On the other side, his true body went to New Paititi.

On his journey to New Paititi, what Qi Xuansu saw most were temples, referred to here as pyramids. However, unlike the triangular pyramids of Misir, these were more like stepped trapezoids, with flat tops where the temples were constructed.

Most of the temples he encountered were abandoned, decayed, and covered in dust. The ancient gods associated with them had likely met misfortune, either entering the first or second stage of death or had fallen into deep slumber.

This was not surprising. When the Holy Court invaded the New Continent, in addition to conventional warfare, there were also divine wars targeting the native gods.

The three Holy-rank apostles—Seraphim, Taurinus, and Cherubim—supported by the Son-rank apostles and Spirit-rank apostles, launched a full-scale war on these ancient gods, who belonged to different pantheons across three empires. Even within the same pantheon, they fought among themselves, so they were ultimately defeated, and many of them perished.

Qi Xuansu merely scanned these temple ruins before departing and continuing his journey.

The rainforest climate here was vastly different from the Central Plains. It bore some resemblance to Nanyang, yet it was not entirely the same.

For instance, while rice was the staple crop in Nanyang, maize was the primary crop of the Southern Continent.

In terms of institutions, it was even less comparable to the Central Plains.

As early as the founding of the Great Xuan Empire, the debased class was completely abolished. Even prostitutes were no longer considered lowly. Although servants still existed outside the Daoist Order, and even within it, they were all contractual employees. By law, they could not be harmed or killed at will.

But in the Southern Continent, there were slaves, and human sacrifices were widespread customs.

In this regard, the Southern and Northern Continents were hardly in a position to criticize each other.

The Western Daoist Order could not abolish slavery because it was an ancient tradition among the natives of the Southern Continent. Moreover, abolishing such traditions required a certain level of development. Ideological change also lagged behind material progress.

Just as at the founding of the Great Xuan Empire, the Holy Xuan and Emperor Gaozu had seriously considered abolishing the monarchy entirely to dismantle the Confucian system. But in the end, they deemed it unfeasible because there would be too great a resistance. The people could not accept it because the concept of an emperor was deeply ingrained in everyone’s bones. A nation could not go a day without a ruler. Perhaps only after centuries, when public awareness had broadened, could the imperial system truly be abolished.

Since the Western Daoist Order was still at war and could not even resolve material issues, ideological reform was out of the question.

This was why the Daoist Order often criticized the Holy Court for slave trading, while the Western Daoist Order remained silent. While the Western Daoist Order did not engage directly in slavery, the Tawantin Empire did. The key difference was that the Holy Court did not enslave its own people but captured the natives from other lands, whom they deemed were “barbarians.” The Tawantin Empire enslaved its own people as well as a small number of Westerners who were war captives.

If one insisted on comparing the two, it could only be said that each had its own flaws. Judgment would vary by perspective.

The Western Daoist Order typically condemned the Holy Court’s aggression and slaughter of indigenous peoples. In this regard, the Tawantin Empire, which was the victim, held the absolute moral high ground.

Thus, the social system was quite complex. It was divided into seven classes: Daoists, priests, nobles, officials, warriors, commoners, and slaves.

In theory, both Daoists and priests wielded divine authority. In practice, however, Daoists had inherited the Confucian model, controlling both religious and political power. They directly intervened in military and governmental affairs while also dominating the ideological and spiritual sphere. As a result, priests, nobles, officials, and warriors all became subordinates of the Daoists, each aligning themselves with different Daoist factions.

Before long, New Paititi came into view. Qi Xuansu could see the dense divine radiance emanating within the city from afar.

According to records from both the Daoist Order and the Western Daoist Order, New Paititi contained a dedicated temple district with nine pyramids of varying sizes, representing the nine deities recognized by the Western Daoist Order.

However, by Daoist standards, some of these deities were not true Immortals but were merely Pseudo-Immortals. Yet they were still divine entities, much like the incarnations of Ancient Immortals, having only the cultivation level of Pseudo-Immortals but the insight and understanding of true Immortals.

This thought led Qi Xuansu to consider a special possibility—regression of cultivation. If this were possible, it meant that the ancient gods had been weakened.

Although the ancient gods, led by Kukulkan, had repelled the Holy Court’s apostles, they had suffered severe damage. When divine power ran low, their golden bodies would begin to decay slowly, and the borders of their divine kingdoms would collapse, shrinking their domains. To avoid entering the first stage of death, they had only two options: to increase resources or to cut expenditures.

Increasing resources meant finding new sources of divine power, which was no easy task. If such sources existed, they wouldn’t be lacking power in the first place. The alternative was cutting expenditures, which included deliberately maintaining a smaller divine kingdom, abandoning unnecessary divine authority, and reducing power consumption. However, this would cause them to lose certain abilities and authority, even dropping in cultivation level.

This was a form of regression unique to Godly Immortals.

Conversely, stealing or seizing others’ divine authority increased one’s power. Kukulkan and True Lord Siming had both done such things. However, this also increased divine power expenditure and could only be sustained with sufficient resources.

From this perspective, most ancient gods could not compare to the Ancient Immortals that ravaged the Central Plains. Those Ancient Immortals were well-provided for and sought even greater divine power to transcend their limits, seeking refinement and longevity. Meanwhile, the ancient gods of the Southern Continent sought only survival.

There was a vast difference between the two.

As Qi Xuansu entered the city, he saw many warriors wearing feathered headdresses and masks. These individuals were not part of the formal warrior class. The warrior class had already been reformed by the Western Daoist Order and had become the most thoroughly Sinicized group, adopting entirely Central Plains-style attire.

These feathered, masked warriors likely belonged to the noble and priestly classes. Those with dark-gold masks and black feathers were royal warriors, who were the lowest tier of nobility, akin to the Western knights. Those with emerald-green masks and white feathers were priestly warriors, who were essentially apprentice priests, similar to the Holy Court’s war clergy. Beyond conducting rituals, they could fight on the front lines.

Others, with differently colored feathered headdresses and masks, were either warriors serving various noble houses or traditional warriors who refused to accept the reforms.

Qi Xuansu was dressed like an ordinary man from the Central Plains, with a sword at his waist. At a glance, others could tell that he was a Daoist warrior.

Compared to the royal and priestly warriors, the defining trait of Daoist warriors was their arrogance. Their combat strength was the greatest, as they were capable of facing the Holy Court’s steam legions head-on.

The Holy Court had crushed the three great empires of the New Continent and conducted massacres. While this sowed deep hatred in the natives, it also terrified many, instilling a deep-rooted fear of the Holy Court’s armies. Under such circumstances, the courage to confront them directly and even defeat them became a source of immense pride.

Moreover, the Daoists truly held supreme authority in the Tawantin Empire. Without them, there would be no unified Tawantin Empire or support from the distant East, and hence, no way to resist the Holy Court’s armies.

After all, the Western Daoist Order had not supported them out of pure altruism. The Daoists had spent over a century and paid a tremendous price, so they expected returns, making it inevitable that Daoists would hold the highest power.

Backed by the Daoists, these warriors naturally acted boldly. They saw themselves as one of three equal pillars alongside the royal family and the priesthood.

Thus, Qi Xuansu entered New Paititi without difficulty.