A Pawn's Passage

At dawn, ascend to the Luhe Palace. At dusk, feast within the halls of Pure City, which was the celestial palace where the Heavenly Emperor resided.

Standing still in contemplation while in the company of fellow Daoists, one beheld the magnificent sights of Kunlun and rode the winds over the peak. The Golden Tower overlooked the world below, with sunlit peaks stretching far-reaching distances. Let the wine cups fly as the people rejoice and sing. When all this becomes a cherished tale, it shall be recounted from beginning to end.

......

After Pei Shenfu left Nanyang, Qi Xuansu likewise courteously escorted Li Tianqing out of the territory. The Golden Patriarch personally came to receive him.

Unlike with Pei Shenfu, Qi Xuansu had little to say to Li Tianqing. The conflict between the two of them was actually much simpler. It was purely a confrontation between opposing factions, without all the tangled personal relationships. Naturally, there was no need for them to say much to each other.

With that, the turmoil in Nanyang could finally be brought to a close.

In truth, there had been some benefits as well. Li Tianqing and Wu Guangbi’s maneuvering had indirectly helped to clear the filth in the Poluo Daoist Mansion, eliminating a batch of parasites and even dealing a heavy blow to the old Daoists’ faction. By now, those old Daoists probably hated them even more than they hated Zhang Yuelu. After all, Zhang Yuelu had merely cost them money, while Li Tianqing had gone straight for their lives. Once someone fell into the hands of Fengxian Hall, how could anything good possibly await them?

Zhang Yuelu had not used a sweeping personnel purge to break the deadlock herself because the Heavenly Court, which held a vast amount of incriminating evidence, did not take orders from Zhang Yuelu, let alone help her by damaging themselves.

More importantly, Yao Shu was under tremendous pressure. This was also one of the reasons he had become so much easier to negotiate with.

From this perspective, Qi Xuansu ought to thank Li Tianqing on behalf of the Poluo Daoist Mansion.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu had finally emerged from seclusion.

Just as Qi Xuansu had expected, Zhang Yuelu successfully advanced to the Zaohua stage. Although she had not managed to reach the Pseudo-Immortal stage in a single step, she had nearly caught up with Qi Xuansu’s true body and was far beyond someone who had merely just entered the Zaohua stage.

However, Qi Xuansu’s true body had already finished absorbing the Xuan Jade and could now use a second piece of Xuan Jade to advance into the Pseudo-Immortal stage. Zhang Yuelu did not have another Longevity Elixir, so she would still need some time before she could advance to the Pseudo-Immortal stage.

With this, Zhang Yuelu’s appointment would soon be settled as well. No matter what, cultivation level and age were significant advantages, and the younger one was, the greater the advantage.

After all, there always had to be some respectable justification. They could hardly say that someone had been promoted simply because they were from the Li, Zhang, or Yao family. There still had to be some effort to maintain appearances. Cultivation level provided an excellent justification, one that others would find difficult to openly criticize.

Li Changge had the highest cultivation level, so he also held the highest position. In addition to serving as Chief Deputy of Beichen Hall, he concurrently served as an envoy of the Daoist Order in the New Continent.

As for Qi Xuansu, he had earned his promotion through merit. After all, his trip to the Southern Continent had not been for nothing. Adding up all his various accomplishments, they would have been more than enough to justify his promotion to even a Mansion Master.

Since the formal appointment had not yet been issued, and Zhang Yuelu still had various duties on hand to transfer to others, she could not return to Jade Capital immediately. Naturally, her successor as Chief Deputy had also been decided—Xu Jiaorong.

Barring any unforeseen developments, Xu Jiaorong would remain in the Chief Deputy position for quite a long time before being transferred to one of the Nine Halls as Chief Deputy Hall Master. Only after that would she be posted out to govern a region.

Of course, if something unexpected happened—like Qi Xuansu taking over ahead of schedule—then that would be another matter entirely. He could directly promote Xu Jiaorong as a Mansion Master. By then, anything was possible.

For the moment at the Poluo Daoist Mansion, Xu Jiaorong, Pei Xiaolou, Ji Jiaozhen, and Chen Jianchou would respectively serve as Chief, Second, Third, and Fourth Deputy Mansion Master. The Third Deputy would take charge of Thanglong Prefecture, while the Fourth Deputy would govern Lion City.

Together with Chen Shuwen of Nanyang United Trading Company, Liu Gui of the South Poluo Company, Star Lord Yuheng of the Ziguang Society, Shangguan Ya of the Eight Tribes, Genki and Pei Xiaoyun of the Fenglin Trading Company, as well as Chen Jianqiu of the Yu Kingdom, Nanyang still remained firmly within Qi Xuansu’s grasp.

However, Lin Yuanmiao would not remain in Nanyang. He had also received a promotion and would take over Li Minghuang’s former position as Third Deputy Tiangang Hall Master. He would travel to Jade Capital with Zhang Yuelu.

At least he had little that needed handing over. At that very moment, he was busy drinking, attending one farewell banquet after another. Pei Xiaolou and Ji Jiaozhen both lamented that the Nanyang Trio had barely had enough time together before they were already being separated. From now on, they would only be the Nanyang Duo. Originally, Little Yin could have been a substitute member, but she had gone to Jade Capital as well.

Lin Yuanmiao declared that although they would no longer be in the same place, the spirit of the Nanyang Trio would never change, and the years they had spent together would forever remain engraved in their hearts.

For all these reasons, Qi Xuansu returned to Jade Capital alone this time. Before leaving, he left the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords with Zhang Yuelu. That way, she could return them to the Heavenly Preceptor. But whether the Heavenly Preceptor would take them back was entirely up to him.

Qi Xuansu had originally intended to wait a few more days and return to Jade Capital with Zhang Yuelu, but there were simply too many matters awaiting him there.

If his true body wanted to advance to the Pseudo-Immortal stage, his incarnation also had to return so that he could remain a complete whole.

Besides that, Qi Xuansu’s formal appointment was also about to be announced.

This was undoubtedly the main event. After all, he was being promoted to Omniscinet Sage. Although he had not managed to beat any historical records, Qi Xuansu was still the youngest among all the currently living Omniscient Sages.

The sequence was clear. First, Qi Xuansu would be promoted to Omniscient Sage. Then he would be appointed as the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master. After that, Qi Xuansu would depart to take up his new post.

Since Qi Xuansu’s wedding had been planned for a long time, the Golden Tower Council was considerate enough to allow him to get married first before formally appointing him to his post. This would save him the trouble of requesting leave and prevent his appointment from outshining his wedding.

Thus, the main purpose of Qi Xuansu’s return to Jade Capital this time was his promotion to Omniscient Sage.

Looking at the upper echelons of the Daoist Order, and setting aside the first-rank Tianzhen Daoists, an Omniscient Sage was as high as one could go. There was no fixed number of Virtuous Great Sages, with as many as 12 and as few as 7 at any given time. However, the number of Omniscient Sages was fixed at exactly 36.

Qi Xuansu was now about to join the ranks of these 36 Omniscient Sages, truly becoming a member of the Daoist Order’s highest leadership. When the time came to elect the Grand Master, Qi Xuansu would also have a vote.

Naturally, promotion to such an important position required a formal ceremony.

Qi Xuansu’s promotion ceremony would be held with Madam Wu’s. Ordinarily, the Grand Master would personally attend and preside over the ceremony. However, since the Daoist Order currently had no Grand Master, the Great Sage Lunzhi would preside over it. This was also one of the original reasons for establishing the position of Great Sage Lunzhi, as there were simply too many ceremonial duties that required the Grand Master’s presence.

At present, the Heavenly Preceptor was serving as the Great Sage Lunzhi. Had the ceremony taken place a little later, it would have been the Earthly Preceptor’s turn instead.

The ceremony itself would be held at the Golden Tower.

Qi Xuansu and Madam Wu set out for the Golden Tower together, with Little Yin tagging along. Thanks to her connection with the two of them, she had been invited to observe the ceremony and would even be seated in the front row alongside a large group of Sages.

This was not Qi Xuansu’s first visit to the Golden Tower. He had already come once because of the affairs in the Southern Continent, but his feelings and state of mind on these two occasions could not have been more different.

The Golden Tower Council had already sent someone ahead of time to deliver his updated insignia and the corresponding Daoist crown. A Sage’s hechang differed from an ordinary hechang only by the addition of a sword pendant, while the hechangs worn by those above the second rank were all identical. The only difference was their Daoist crowns.

Apart from the three Deputy Grand Masters, everyone wore lotus crowns of exactly the same design, differing only in material. Ordinary Sages wore gold lotus crowns, Omniscient Sages wore white-jade lotus crowns, and Virtuous Great Sages wore golden-purple lotus crowns.

There were no rules for the Grand Master, so in theory, the Grand Master could wear whatever they pleased.

The second-generation Grand Master liked to dress as a ninth-rank Daoist, the third-generation Grand Master preferred ordinary clothes, while the fourth-generation Grand Master favored the attire of an ordinary Sage. No one could say anything about it.

The fifth-generation Grand Master was the strictest of them all. He specifically designed formal robes and headwear for the Grand Master, having an almost obsessive concern for the proper appearance and bearing of Daoists.

When Qi Xuansu received his white-jade lotus crown, he held it in his hands and examined it for a while. “This white-jade lotus crown really does look better than the golden lotus crown.”

Madam Wu retorted without the slightest modesty, “How could it possibly look better than my golden-purple lotus crown? The Daoist Order holds purple in the highest esteem. When the Primordial Daoist Ancestor came from the east, purple qi stretched as far as the eye could see!”

Qi Xuansu suggested, “Why don’t we let Little Yin be the judge?”

Little Yin looked at the lotus crowns in their hands but did not answer right away, her eyes darting about.

Madam Wu secretly slipped her a large-denomination cash note, using her Immortal cultivation so discreetly that Qi Xuansu did not notice a thing.

Little Yin immediately declared, “The golden-purple one looks better!”

Madam Wu scooped Little Yin into her arms and said smugly, “See? Little Yin has a keen eye.”

Little Yin deliberately blinked hard at Qi Xuansu. “A very keen eye!”

By the time they arrived at the Golden Tower, the ceremonial Spirit Guards were already in formation. The Sages attending the ceremony arrived one after another. All the Omniscient Sages and Virtuous Great Sages currently in the Golden Tower Council were present, including the top three Omniscient Sages—Sage Donghua, Sage Qingwei, and Sage Cihang.

Today, Little Yin was dressed in a miniature hechang specially tailored for her and mingled among them. In a place filled with Sages, a third-rank Youyi Daoist really stood out. The fact that she was such a tiny girl made her even more noticeable. Fortunately, the Sages were all widely experienced and thought little of it.

People continually came forward to congratulate Madam Wu and Qi Xuansu. On such a formal occasion, Western-style etiquette would not do, so Qi Xuansu returned each greeting with a cupped-fist salute.

Qi Xuansu also finally saw the Heavenly Preceptor, whom he had not met for a long time. However, there was no opportunity for a lengthy conversation. But perhaps they could find time to speak afterward.

When the ceremony began, the Heavenly Preceptor first delivered the customary formal remarks in his capacity as the Great Sage Lunzhi. He spoke about how the Golden Tower Council was welcoming new members and how everyone present extended their welcome. He then formally introduced the two of them to the assembled guests, making it somewhat akin to an inauguration ceremony.

Madam Wu stepped forward first and stood before the Grand Master’s throne.

The Heavenly Preceptor took out the prepared Taishang Merit License and bestowed it upon Fellow Daoist Qi Wu on behalf of the Daoist Order.

Compared with the Daoist crown and insignia, this was the more crucial proof of status.

Madam Wu received the license with both hands.

Next came Qi Xuansu, so the Heavenly Preceptor took out the Taixuan License corresponding to the rank of Omniscient Sage.

The Heavenly Preceptor was actually Madam Wu’s junior in age, so it would have been inappropriate for him to offer her words of encouragement. As such, he could only bestow the license without much ceremony.

However, Qi Xuansu was the Heavenly Preceptor’s junior in every sense of the word, so he said, “From today onward, you are one of the Daoist Order’s 36 Omniscient Sages. Given your age, I doubt you will stop here. The Daoist Order belongs to us old folks, but in the end, it will belong to you youngsters. You are like the morning sun, with a long way before you reach the zenith. Our hopes rest upon your generation, and I look forward to the day when you stand at the height of your brilliance, like the sun at its zenith. Congratulations.”

Qi Xuansu received his new license with both hands and bowed solemnly.