A Pawn's Passage

Since Great Sage Gong was already here, he was in no hurry to leave. If the Insect Queen appeared again, he could deal with her.

Qi Xuansu began dealing with the aftermath concerning the humanoid insects. When the Insect Queen had dragged Qi Xuansu into the Yin Moon earlier, the Daoist Order’s forces had nearly descended into chaos, allowing Sun Yong and Chen Yan to seize the opportunity and escape without a trace. However, Huo Ling had still been captured.

Although most of the Heluo God’s gift had gone toward Qi Xuansu’s incarnation, it also came with some additional abilities, namely the ability to control the humanoid insects that the Heluo God had mentioned.

The Heluo God had created the humanoid insects and held supreme authority over them. Although she rarely exercised this authority except when feeding, choosing instead to leave them to their own devices, this resulted in rampant infighting and severe class divisions among the humanoid insects. There were essentially only three levels: minions, fellow cultivators, and elders. Their hierarchy was so rigid that neither the Daoist Order nor the Holy Court could compare.

It was only after the humanoid insects had nearly been wiped out and faced an existential crisis that the survivors finally united to establish the Blue Cloud Sect. Even then, there was still considerable discord among the Five Supreme Elders.

Whether she chose to use it or not, the Heluo God undeniably possessed this authority. When she exercised it, even Huo Ling, a Supreme Elder at the Ascension stage, could not resist her instincts. Only humanoid insects who cultivated the “Demonic Path,” like Sun Yong and Chen Yan could barely remain conscious, and even they could not maintain their resistance for long. Thus, the Heluo God was able to grant Qi Xuansu a lesser version of this authority, allowing him to directly control the humanoid insects.

That was how Qi Xuansu discovered that he could directly control Huo Ling. Whatever command he gave, Huo Ling would obey it from the depths of her heart. However, they still had to maintain appearances. Qi Xuansu offered Huo Ling terms, saying that as long as she realized the error of her ways and turned against her former allies, she could receive lenient treatment. Naturally, Huo Ling agreed and declared that she was willing to serve the Daoist Order.

Although Hun Ahau and Utu had considerable reservations, they could not say much when they saw that Qi Xuansu had already made up his mind.

Great Sage Gong cared even less about such a minor matter. After all, Qi Xuansu was the envoy of the Daoist Order. Surely, he had at least this much authority and did not need to seek approval for every little matter. Great Sage Gong was not that idle either.

However, nearly all the other humanoid insects had already been killed, so there were very few left for Qi Xuansu to actually control.

Qi Xuansu did not particularly care. He was not lacking in subordinates. What he lacked were trusted confidants within the middle and upper ranks of the Daoist Order, people like Chen Jianchou, who was about to take up the position of Deputy Mansion Master. Subordinates like the humanoid insects were only suitable for doing dirty work.

Under Huo Ling’s guidance, Qi Xuansu and the others found the humanoid insects’ treasury. Unfortunately, Sun Yong and Chen Yan had already emptied most of it, leaving behind anything of real value. What remained was just about enough to cover the Western Daoist Order’s military expenses for deploying the fleet this time.

Qi Xuansu then assigned Huo Ling two tasks. The first was to secretly search for Sun Yong and Chen Yan. If she found them, she was not to act rashly but instead report their whereabouts immediately. Although Qi Xuansu might not remain on the Southern Continent in the future, he still wielded considerable influence there. The second task was to assist Zhang Wuyue with matters concerning maritime trade and put Blue Cloud Island to good use.

Although Qi Xuansu did not state his intentions outright and merely hinted at them, Hun Ahau immediately understood. Not only did he stop objecting to Qi Xuansu keeping Huo Ling, but he also assured Sage Qi that he would take care of the matter. Blue Cloud Island could become a maritime transit hub, acting as a distribution center for goods as well as a place for merchant ships to resupply and rest. At the same time, it could also be developed into a sea fortress as a precaution against future contingencies.

Of course, Qi Xuansu had no intention of keeping Blue Cloud Island all to himself. With his sights already set on becoming Grand Master, he would hardly care about the gains or losses of a single island. Was he supposed to flee here and hide if he fell from power one day?

He intended to bring Huangfu Ji into the arrangement, turning this place into a point of shared interest between them. That was why it was called an alliance. As the old saying went, there were no eternal friends and no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. For an alliance to remain strong, shared interests were indispensable.

Shared interests were also accumulated bit by bit. As they accumulated over time, supplemented by a suitable measure of personal rapport, an alliance would naturally take shape.

Qi Xuansu specifically instructed Hun Ahau that if he was not on the Southern Continent, Hun Ahau should report to Sage Huangfu more frequently, seek his approval, and follow his instructions.

Hun Ahau was not a reckless fool. Having served as a high-ranking official in the Tawantin Court for many years, he naturally understood Qi Xuansu’s intentions. Sage Qi and Sage Huangfu had formed an offensive and defensive alliance. Even if Sage Li came to the Southern Continent, it would not necessarily mean that the balance of power had shifted. After all, even if Sage Qi was no longer here, Sage Huangfu still was.

Who had spoken on behalf of the Western Daoist Order in the Golden Tower Council? Who had helped Sage Huangfu establish the new port? Who had resolved the problem with the ancient gods? It was Sage Qi, not Sage Li.

Hun Ahau assured Qi Xuansu that he would faithfully carry out Sage Qi’s instructions and complete the task without fail.

As for the Yin Moon, the Heluo God promised that it would not appear again for the foreseeable future.

In the past, the Heluo God had seen no hope of escape, so she kept a “window” to the outside world. Even though this window was sealed and could not be used to enter or leave, it could offer a glimpse of a tiny portion of the outside world, which was still better than nothing. She was like a frog at the bottom of a well, able to see only the narrow patch of sky framed by the well’s opening in hopes that some unexpected opportunity arose.

Sure enough, Qi Xuansu eventually came along.

Now that the Heluo God had hope of escaping her confinement, she could naturally conceal the Yin Moon.

This would also prevent further investigation by those with ulterior motives.

Qi Xuansu had also asked the Heluo God about the Eye of the Sea and Sun Lingxiu.

The Heluo God gave him an answer. The Eye of the Sea did indeed exist, and it was indeed connected to the Netherworld, with vast amounts of yin energy surging out from it. This was also the reason in which the Heluo God managed to attain godhood, so it was not wrong to say that the Yin Moon had come into existence due to the Eye of the Sea.

However, the Eye of the Sea was neither near Blue Cloud Island nor in Nanyang. Instead, it was located even farther south of Sahul, in a region covered with icebergs and almost entirely devoid of human presence. It was essentially a continent formed entirely of ice, making it a land of absolute desolation.

After the Heluo God attained godhood and returned to Nanyang, she was driven toward Sahul and the Southern Continent. The Yin Moon could move, but the Eye of the Sea could not. It remained where it had always been.

This was quite similar to the situation with the Emperor Willow, as both were closely connected to yin energy. The difference was that the Emperor Willow was rooted directly in a rift leading to the Netherworld. Since the Emperor Willow was so powerful, it could not develop an independent consciousness and could only give rise to individual Emperor Willow Spirits. The Heluo Fish, on the other hand, was weak enough that it was able to attain godhood through this opportunity.

As for Sun Lingxiu, he became an Immortal and found the Eye of the Sea, where he obtained the Daogui from within.

Furthermore, judging from the timeline, the Yin Moon had already formed before the Heluo God attained godhood.

Thus, the Eye of the Sea was merely one of the opportunities that led the Heluo God toward attaining godhood, while the Yin Moon was her second opportunity. Back when the Heluo God was still a Heluo Fish, the opportunity presented by the Eye of the Sea awakened her spiritual intelligence, allowing her to begin cultivating gradually like other great demons. By the time she became a Pseudo-Immortal, she discovered the Yin Moon and secretly entered it. Even then, the Yin Moon was already as it appeared today. Its owner was gone, though whether that owner had perished or ascended was unknown.

The Heluo God refined the Toad Palace and merged with the Yin Moon, thereby becoming a deity. This was why the Heluo God never transformed into a Ghost Bird and instead retained the form of a Heluo Fish. Had the Heluo God followed a path other than the Godly Immortal lineage, she would have transformed into a Ghost Bird.

In terms of the timeline, Sun Lingxiu was a Daoist who lived before the Qi Dynasty, and his entry into the Toad Palace within the Yin Moon occurred before the Heluo God attained godhood. In other words, when Sun Lingxiu went to the Toad Palace to steal the secrets of Heaven, the Heluo God was still merely a Heluo Fish who had not resided in the Toad Palace.

Therefore, even the Heluo God did not know exactly what the one-meter spirit talisman that Sun Lingxiu stole from the Toad Palace actually was. However, she could roughly guess that it might have been connected to the Toad Palace’s previous owner.

Qi Xuansu’s speculation had been correct in one respect. The Heluo God was not a fallen Moon Deity. She had simply been born this way. The Toad Palace’s previous owner was very likely a special kind of Moon Deity, one born from yin energy, much like the Yin Moon.

However, there was no longer any way to verify the traces of this former owner. In truth, there were quite a few Immortals who had quietly ascended or vanished without leaving much of a trace.

Take Sun Lingxiu himself, for example. According to the records of the Central Plains, he became a Water Immortal, which meant that he became a Corpse Liberation Immortal. The story seemingly ended there. In reality, after leaving the Central Plains, Sun Lingxiu remained in the mortal world for a very long time. He even traveled through the heavens and beneath the seas to refine the Longevity Elixir. Almost no one knew about this part of his past.

Likewise, no one knew anything about the Toad Palace’s previous owner.

Perhaps Sun Lingxiu knew. That might have been why Sun Lingxiu left the inscription saying that he had entered the Toad Palace and stolen the one-meter spirit talisman rather than having simply taken it away. However, Sun Lingxiu never elaborated on the matter, so no one knew the truth now.

The reason Qi Xuansu had asked about all this was because he still wanted to know exactly what the Longevity Elixir was used for.

The Heluo God had acquired the method of creating humanoid insects from the Toad Palace, so perhaps the Toad Palace’s previous owner had been the true Insect Queen. The Heluo God was merely the one who unleashed these humanoid insects upon the world.

However, the Toad Palace’s previous owner invented the humanoid insects yet did not make use of them, suggesting that the humanoid insects were most likely just a byproduct. In other words, the Toad Palace’s previous owner had not originally intended to create humanoid insects but had been pursuing some other purpose, with the birth of the humanoid insects merely being an accident.

Following this line of reasoning, the one-meter spirit talisman stolen by Sun Lingxiu was very likely related to the Toad Palace owner’s true intention.

As for the Eye of the Sea, the Heluo God knew considerably more about it. There were indeed many rare and precious treasures within the Eye of the Sea, most of which were associated with yin energy.

The mortal world was filled with yang energy, while yin energy was relatively scarce. Many species depended upon yin energy to survive, such as the Emperor Willow. Since yin energy was rare, such species were naturally rare, and scarcity made them precious. Thus, calling them rare and precious treasures was reasonable.

Among them was a special type of seaweed called Huangpo. It was exceedingly rare and grew extremely slowly. Although its growth cycle could not compare with the 3,000 years required for a Spiritual Root of Heaven and Earth to mature, it still took several centuries. Consuming it could strengthen the soul and awaken spiritual intelligence.

It was only after consuming the Huangpo Seaweed that the Heluo God awakened her spiritual intelligence and embarked on the path of cultivation, eventually attaining godhood. As such, the Daogui mentioned by Sun Lingxiu most likely referred to Huangpo Seaweed.