A Pawn's Passage

Everyone, from Sage Qingwei and Sage Cihang to Great Sage Tang and the Imperial Preceptor himself, remained outwardly friendly to Li Minghuang. The Imperial Preceptor’s words even seemed to suggest that Li Minghuang might still have a chance to make a comeback someday, leaving Li Minghuang unable to voice the bitterness he felt.

But the reality was that Li Minghuang had been abandoned. He had become a discarded pawn.

Nor was the Taiping Sect worried about fortunes reversing with the passage of time. With his reputation so thoroughly ruined, and with no possibility of him ever becoming the Grand Master, what chance did he have of making everyone regret looking down on him today?

Even if he were lucky enough to somehow rise from the ashes, the highest he could ever reach would be Virtuous Great Sage. He would still have to rely on the Taiping Sect.

There was no way he could defect to the Zhengyi Sect because Zhang Jucheng would be the one calling the shots.

The same goes for the Quanzhen Sect. Qi Xuansu was the very person who had brought Li Minghuang down, so he would not tolerate him either.

In the end, the Taiping Sect was still his only option.

The moment Li Minghuang betrayed the Zhengyi Sect and defected to the Taiping Sect, he had already cut off his own path of retreat.

Since that was the case, what did the Taiping Sect have to fear?

If they decided he was a discarded pawn, then that was all he could be.

Li Minghuang had not thought much of being beaten up by Qi Xuansu. That was no big deal. But having his entire future destroyed was another matter altogether. It practically made his heart bleed.

Li Minghuang had now truly experienced Qi Xuansu’s methods. Qi Xuansu might not have killed him, but he had struck straight at his heart. Qi Xuansu really intended to grind him into the mud.

With quite a few people like Li Minghuang and Li Tianlan fallen at Qi Xuansu’s hands, he could be considered the bane of the Taiping Sect.

But upon consideration, it was not just the Taiping Sect. Wang Jiaohe and Sun Heyu of the Quanzhen Sect had likewise fallen because of Qi Xuansu. They had all suffered at the hands of this brat.

Wherever Qi Xuansu went, fallen Daoists piled up in droves.

Even Zhou Mengyao and Pei Shenfu of the Quanzhen Sect had serious grievances against Qi Xuansu.

These two were no ordinary figures. Zhou Mengyao was a genuine Immortal, while Pei Shenfu was Sage Donghua’s younger sister, Yao Yi’s wife, and Yao Pei’s mother. Her influence was immense.

Li Minghuang only knew of Zhou Mengyao’s existence because Li Tianqing had told him. Even Li Tianqing had learned about Zhou Mengyao recently and vaguely knew that she had some sort of grudge against Qi Xuansu, though he was not very clear on the specifics.

At this thought, an idea suddenly occurred to Li Minghuang.

Since things had already come to this, what else did he have to lose? At the very least, he had to make Qi Xuansu pay.

In any case, he had already fallen this far, reduced to serving as the Chief Deputy of the Female Daoist Association of Mutual Aid. Where else could they possibly demote him?

He would even supervise the construction of a cemetery if it meant harming Qi Xuansu.

Li Minghuang was going to resort to a risky move now, and Qi Xuansu had forced him into it.

That said, Li Minghuang still had no idea how to establish contact with people like Zhou Mengyao and Pei Shenfu. He could not get in touch with his adoptive father Li Tianqing either, which left him extremely frustrated.

Worse still, he had run into Li Zhuyu again. That wretched woman mocked him with a barrage of sarcastic remarks, congratulating him on his promotion and on finally getting his wish of becoming a Chief Deputy.

Li Minghuang was so filled with hatred that he secretly swore he would make Li Zhuyu submit to him and kneel beneath him begging for mercy.

But for now, he could only endure it. After all, Li Zhuyu was Sage Qingwei’s adopted daughter. If Li Minghuang dared to do anything to her, Sage Qingwei truly had the power to ruin him.

Thus, Li Minghuang kept his expression perfectly composed and said, “Actually, the Female Daoist Association isn’t bad either. There are so many female colleagues there that I might even find myself a Daoist companion.”

Li Zhuyu flashed a mocking smile. “Good, good! The Golden Tower Council really knows how to make use of talent!”

Li Minghuang finally could not resist firing back. “Dan Jin, you’ll have to work harder. Qing Xiao and Su Yi are already honorary Deputies of the Mutual Aid Association. You should hurry up and get yourself a position too. You can’t afford to fall behind the others.”

Li Zhuyu gave a short laugh. “No need to trouble yourself over me, Chief Deputy Li.”

She even deliberately emphasized the words “Chief Deputy,” driving yet another knife into Li Minghuang’s heart.

Li Minghuang could not reach Li Tianqing because the latter was still trapped in Nanyang. Pei Shenfu, whom Li Minghuang also wanted to contact, was likewise still in Qi Xuansu’s hands.

Qi Xuansu’s principle was simple—payment first before handing over the goods.

The Li and Yao families were not afraid that Qi Xuansu would go back on his word, so they did not quibble over the matter and fulfilled their promises first.

That was how Li Minghuang was “promoted” to Chief Deputy.

The Heavenly Court moved quickly as well.

Ever since the secret societies were normalized, the Heavenly Court had established a company called the South Poluo Company, as most of the Heavenly Court’s operations were conducted at sea, with relatively little involvement in the northern land areas.

The South Poluo Company announced that Wu Guangbi would step down from all his positions. Liu Gui became the majority shareholder, Chairman of the Board, and General Manager, concentrating all three forms of authority in his own hands and giving him absolute control over the company. After taking office, Liu Gui injected capital into the Nanyang United Trading Company at a discounted valuation, with the total amount reaching a staggering 3 million Taiping coins.

Naturally, it was publicly declared to be an ordinary commercial transaction with no other factors involved.

At the same time, the South Poluo Company signed a series of cooperation agreements with the Nanyang United Trading Company and the Fenglin Trading Company, seeking comprehensive cooperation and mutual benefit.

During this process, Liu Gui did not forget to thoroughly reorganize and reshuffle the company from top to bottom, unleashing a storm of personnel shuffle within the South Poluo Company. Quite a few people were thrown out, while others simply vanished altogether. No one knew which stretch of seabed they had been sunk to.

Since the company’s core personnel were all members of the Heavenly Court, their underworld habits could not be changed overnight.

Liu Gui also knew that Wu Guangbi’s recent reporting campaign had caused considerable resentment throughout the Daoist Mansion. Some people had fallen because of it, but others had merely received disciplinary demerits and still held power in their hands. If Liu Gui did not repair the damage in time, there would be no shortage of people waiting to make life difficult for them in the future. Though they might not be able to accomplish anything, they were more than capable of ruining things. Once they actually took the initiative to cause trouble, the destructive power they could unleash was quite astonishing.

Thus, on the one hand, Liu Gui drew a clear line between himself and Wu Guangbi, making it known that all those sordid affairs in the past had been Wu Guangbi’s doing and had nothing to do with the rest of them. Wu Guangbi had already been dealt with, so that was their stance.

On the other hand, Liu Gui used every means available to mend the rift between the two sides.

Liu Gui even went so far as to take on several loss-making cooperative ventures that would help bolster the Daoist Mansion’s administrative achievements.

The Daoist Mansion approved of Liu Gui’s actions. In return for his goodwill, it granted him the status of a third-rank Daoist Priest Kindred.

As a result, Liu Gui now had three identities. Officially, he was a respected Daoist Priest Kindred. He was also a powerful tycoon capable of stirring up a storm in Nanyang. But behind the scenes, he was a feared underworld boss. With one foot in the legitimate world and the other in the underworld, he was a formidable figure in the eyes of many.

Although the Golden Patriarch was the highest decision-maker and actual controller of both the Heavenly Court and the South Poluo Company, the Golden Patriarch would eventually ascend, and Liu Gui had a very good chance of succeeding him.

This would also conveniently cover up the Heavenly Court’s dark history. After all, unity was what mattered above all.

The Heavenly Court could be negotiated with, and it could support the Daoist Order too.

This also made many people recognize that Qi Xuansu’s influence and control over Nanyang had deepened even further. Although he no longer held an official post there, many things were still inseparably connected to him, and he remained capable of controlling the overall situation in Nanyang. After all, even the Heavenly Court had now bowed its head, leaving only the Nanyang Buddhist Sect and a few secret societies.

Meanwhile, the personnel turmoil at the Nanyang Branch Headquarters of the Taiping Bank finally came to an end. After undergoing more than ten days of questioning, Manager Hu proved his innocence and returned to his original post.

With Manager Hu’s return, several projects and policies that had previously been suspended were restarted, and new preferential policies were even introduced, opening the door wide for business.

With that, the situation was improving tremendously. Everything was looking excellent.

During a board meeting, Chairman Chen Shuwen could not help but sigh in admiration. “The former Chief Deputy is truly capable. This storm that swept across Nanyang can finally be considered settled.”

In truth, Qi Xuansu was no longer particularly concerned with these matters. After separately meeting the Golden Patriarch and Yao Shu, everything had already been settled, and there would be no further changes.

What Qi Xuansu cared about more now was Zhang Yuelu.

He was not optimistic that Zhang Yuelu could reach the Pseudo-Immortal stage in a single leap. Instead, she would most likely catch up to Yao Pei at the Zaohua stage.

That alone was no easy feat. After all, people like Zhang Yuelu were innate Banished Immortals who advanced one step at a time, building a relatively solid foundation. They were unlike manmade Banished Immortals, such as Qi Xuansu and Li Changge, who were practically strapped to rockets and simply shot upward.

Once Qi Xuansu returned this time, he needed to fuse with the second piece of Xuan Jade given to him by Sage Donghua, striving to enter the Pseudo-Immortal stage as soon as possible.

The stage after that would be considerably more drawn out. It was not something that could be solved with just the two pieces of Xuan Jade given by the Yao family. Qi Xuansu would still need to spend time searching for more Xuan Jades.

Thankfully, he was about to become the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master. With Great Sage Shi and Sun Hewu around, Qi Xuansu would not need to handle too many day-to-day affairs, allowing him to free up time to focus on his cultivation.

There was nothing wrong with doing work removed from practical affairs. What mattered more was the position he occupied.

As for Zhang Yuelu, she was on track to become the Chief Deputy of Tiangang Hall. After all, Li Minghuang was no longer a qualified rival for the position. On top of that, Sage Cihang, as the Tiangang Hall Master, strongly recommended Zhang Yuelu to the position. So at this point, there was essentially no room left for any unexpected changes.

All that remained was for Zhang Yuelu to emerge from seclusion and advance to the Zaohua stage. That would provide the final push needed to settle the appointment once and for all.

Ordinarily, things should not have moved this quickly. But times had changed. During peaceful times, one indeed had to slowly accumulate seniority and experience. However, these were no longer peaceful times. Conflict among the Three Daoist Sects was intensifying, while their tacit understanding and common ground were rapidly diminishing, deepening their division. No one dared say what the future would ultimately bring. Thus, no one could afford to move slowly.