A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1386: Stopping at the Right Moment

Qi Xuansu would occasionally correspond with Mo Qingdi, discussing topics unrelated to the Daoist Order’s power struggles.

Mo Qingdi still made a living through writing and had not benefited much from Qi Xuansu because he could not bring himself to accept such help.

Thus, Qi Xuansu let him be and did not insist.

When they chatted, Mo Qingdi often asked questions that Qi Xuansu found rather amusing. For instance, what aristocratic figures like Zhang Yuelu were like, and whether they were aloof and looked down on ordinary people.

Clearly, Mo Qingdi held certain stereotypes. It was as if great families must always be rife with scandal, scions must despise commoners and indulge in excess, powerful figures must be fond of speaking in riddles, and so on.

This was somewhat like imagining the Crown Princess baking flatbread, a pure fantasy.

Such situations and such people certainly existed, but they were by no means the majority. They could even be considered a minority.

Most people were normal and approachable. While different social classes might have differing perspectives and limited interaction, they were not so different as an entirely separate species.

Human nature ensured that most people were fundamentally similar. Saints and monsters were both rare, as they both went against human nature. The difference being that one opposed human nature in a righteous way and the other in a perverse way.

Take Huangfu Ji as an example. He was talented and came from a prestigious background, so he had a bright future. Yet he did not look down on others and conducted himself much like an ordinary person.

This esteemed Sage Huangfu was now doing things not fundamentally different from what ordinary people did when receiving distinguished guests.

Mo Qingdi often believed in the existence of a civil official faction that deliberately opposed the emperor. In reality, no such stable and purposeful organization existed. What did exist was a group that unconsciously expanded and multiplied, like a disease within the human body. It did not intentionally oppose the body’s will, yet could still lead to its demise.

At the end of the Qi Dynasty, the military class expanded uncontrollably, ultimately leading to its fall. At the end of the Wei Dynasty, it was the civil officials who expanded in the same way, resulting in its collapse as well.

Excess was as harmful as deficiency, so any overexpansion of a particular group must be restrained. If the military were too weak and the civil officials too strong, territories would be lost until the state fell to external enemies. If civil officials were too weak and the military too strong, regional warlords emerged, and the state would ultimately collapse from internal strife.

The emergence of such groups depended on specific systems, which were often shaped by lessons from the past. After the rise of warlords, the inevitable response was the rise of civil officials.

Setting aside these stereotypes, there were not that many anomalies or extraordinary cases. Most things followed certain patterns.

Qi Xuansu himself was an ordinary person. He was neither ruthless nor exceptionally gifted, yet when placed in a certain position by external circumstances, he adapted fast. This showed that the hardest part was not execution but rising to the position in the first place.

The Daoist Order’s attitude toward the Western Daoist Order was quite complex. While the former provided support and aid, they also feared that the latter would grow too powerful and turn the tables. Before Qi Xuansu departed for the New Continent, Sage Qingwei had made this point explicitly.

Thus, when dealing with the Western Daoist Order, Qi Xuansu’s own stance was equally delicate. He could neither be too distant nor too close.

Now that Huangfu Ji was offering gifts, refusing them would be inappropriate. Yet accepting them blindly would also be problematic. The key lay in maintaining the proper balance.

The Western Daoist Order handled this perfectly. If they had offered a semi-immortal object, Qi Xuansu would not have dared accept it. But a cultivation technique was another matter entirely.

Whether as spoils of war or a rightful reward, Qi Xuansu accepted it.

Qi Xuansu already had the foundation of the Tantai Fist Intention, so learning the Three Sacred Fist was not difficult. In truth, the greatest challenge of this technique lay in its emphasis on the Martial Arts Practitioner lineage, with the Qi Refiner lineage as a supplement. Most people were either Martial Arts Practitioners or Qi Refiners, rarely both, so they were hindered here. But for Qi Xuansu, this was no issue, since he had all the lineages. Such was the unreasonable advantage of a manmade Banished Immortal.

Huangfu Ji did not leave immediately, choosing instead to see things through. “Brother Qi, since you are also a Martial Arts Practitioner, why don’t we spar a bit? It will help you better grasp the fist intention.”

This was not a show of dominance nor an attempt to trouble Qi Xuansu. It was just feeding him moves, which was a very common teaching method.

Qi Xuansu naturally did not refuse. “That would be perfect.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Qi Xuansu sensed a massive surge of blood qi rushing into Huangfu Ji’s arm. In just a brief moment, an amount of blood sufficient to drain an ordinary Heavenly-Being Martial Arts Practitioner was fully absorbed by the acupoints and body spirits in that arm, which was shining brilliantly.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was not aided by Madam Wu, so he was merely at the Zaohua stage.

However, Huangfu Ji’s cultivation was damaged, and he was using only one arm, which effectively evened out the difference in their levels. Neither held an advantage.

Qi Xuansu raised his left fist and called out, “Brother Huangfu, let’s begin.”

He then struck forward with a punch, using the Tantai Fist Intention, his most practiced technique. For Qi Xuansu, the Tantai Fist Intention was like the Wanhua Divine Sword Palm to the Holy Xuan.

Huangfu Ji had also practiced the Tantai Fist Intention since childhood and was even more proficient than Qi Xuansu. He parried with one hand, only to find Qi Xuansu’s punch force elusive, seemingly embodying yin and yang and the harmony of dragon and tiger. It resembled the Dragon Tiger Fist, yet not entirely. If he met it with solid force, it would be wrong. If he responded with emptiness, it was equally dangerous.

Startled, Huangfu Ji immediately employed the Sea Fist, his fist intention surging like an endless ocean.

For a time, explosions rang out continuously. At first, Huangfu Ji worried that without Madam Wu’s aid, Qi Xuansu might not withstand his overwhelming fist intention, so he struck and withdrew quickly. But after several exchanges, he realized Qi Xuansu’s cultivation was astonishingly deep, far beyond that of a mere Zaohua-stage Martial Arts Practitioner. It felt more like it was bolstered by other inheritances. With his own damaged cultivation, even a slight mistake could lead to defeat, so he stopped holding back.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged nearly a hundred moves. Qi Xuansu now fought with both hands, attacking more than defending, yet he could not break through Huangfu Ji’s single arm. Even with two hands against one, he was already at a disadvantage in technique.

Qi Xuansu inwardly admired Huangfu Ji. At the same time, his techniques shifted, incorporating hand-blade movements that he had fused using Song Zheng’s Demonic Blade and the Tantai Fist Intention.

Coincidentally, Tantai Yun and Song Zheng had once been married in their youth. Before parting ways, they had worked in harmony, even fighting side by side like Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu. Both the Tantai Fist Intention and the Demonic Blade were self-created techniques, born from their experiences rather than learned from others. When husband and wife worked together, these two techniques complemented each other in many aspects. Thus, when Qi Xuansu combined them, their power surged instantly.

Huangfu Ji was already at a disadvantage facing two hands against one, so now, he felt the strain even more. Though his arm had not been physically severed, its acupoints were destroyed. Despite retaining immense strength, it was practically unusable, as if he had truly lost an arm.

At the same time, Huangfu Ji recognized Song Zheng’s Demonic Blade and exclaimed, “I never imagined that Patriarch Tantai and Patriarch Song had such a dual-sword combination method.”

As he spoke, Huangfu Ji stopped holding back and used the Future Infinity from the Three Sacred Fist with a single hand.

The essence of this move lay in striking later yet arriving first, creating a displacement in time, as if the punch came from the future.

It was this very move that had once defeated Milton.

Although Huangfu Ji’s cultivation was greatly diminished at this moment, this move was still not to be underestimated.

Logically, Qi Xuansu should not have been able to defend against it. Yet at that very moment, the Guizang Lantern activated on its own, allowing him to perceive the trajectory of the punch.

So at the critical instant, Qi Xuansu blocked Huangfu Ji’s strike.

This greatly shocked Huangfu Ji. When sparring with Tantai Zhenxiao, the old man usually relied on his enormous physique to endure attacks. But he still managed to hit the Great Sage.

How had Qi Xuansu done it? Was it just blind luck or a fluke guess? Refusing to believe it, Huangfu Ji used Future Infinity once more.

The Guizang Lantern seemed highly sensitive to techniques involving time, so it activated again.

Once again, Qi Xuansu intercepted Huangfu Ji’s Future Infinity.

This time, Huangfu Ji was truly shocked. Could Qi Xuansu be a genius among geniuses to have fully grasped Future Infinity in such a short time?

Huangfu Ji did not consider the possibility of an immortal object because Qi Xuansu already carried one, which matched his status as a Daoist envoy. Carrying a second immortal object was unthinkable. Not even Virtuous Great Sages enjoyed such treatment.

In the moment Huangfu Ji was distracted by shock, Qi Xuansu used his fists as swords, unleashing the Dragon-Tiger Sword Technique, combined with the Dragon Tiger Fist from the Tantai Fist Intention.

His left hand struck like a tiger, while his right traced a dragon. United, their roar could tear apart everything.

Huangfu Ji was already at a disadvantage. With Future Infinity failing and his focus shaken, he could no longer hold out and was defeated.

The two were merely sparring, not fighting to the death, so Qi Xuansu naturally withdrew his hand, stopping at the appropriate moment.

Still astonished, Huangfu Ji couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Qi, how were you able to see through my Future Infinity?”

Qi Xuansu did not pretend to be mysterious. He took out the Guizang Lantern and answered frankly, “It’s because of this immortal object, the Guizang Lantern.”

Huangfu Ji was completely stunned. Though he said nothing, he couldn’t help but wonder if the Daoist Order had secretly decided on the eighth-generation Grand Master.