A Pawn's Passage

At last, Zhang Yuelu finished handing over the affairs of the Poluo Daoist Mansion and returned to Jade Capital with Ke Qingqing and Lin Yuanmiao.

Xu Jiaorong, Pei Xiaolou, and Chen Jianchou did not come with them. They would arrive on the day of the wedding itself and return immediately after attending the ceremony. Great Sage Lan and Yao Shu would not be coming at all. Officially, they were staying behind to hold the fort. In reality, Great Sage Lan simply could not be bothered to make the trip and had Xu Jiaorong attend as his representative, while Yao Shu had even sent his “wedding gift” in advance.

Little Yin still had not awakened, so Qi Xuansu could only receive his queen by himself. Well, Yan Yongzhen followed along too. As Qi Xuansu’s new secretary, he would inevitably have plenty of dealings with Ke Qingqing in the future.

Speaking of Ke Qingqing, she had been following Qi Xuansu since their days at the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion. She had subsequently moved to the Poluo Daoist Mansion and the Lingnan Daoist Mansion, then followed Zhang Yuelu back to the Poluo Daoist Mansion for a second stint. Now, she would be serving at Tiangang Hall.

There was nothing lacking in her résumé. She had served under two superiors and rotated through five different posts. The only thing holding her back was her cultivation level.

Zhang Yuelu was very satisfied with Ke Qingqing and planned to apply for some resources on her behalf, hoping to help her advance to the Heavenly Being stage as soon as possible. After all, Zhang Yuelu was not rigid when it did not involve principles, so there was no need to be unnecessarily strict about it.

This was simply standard practice and violated no rules. The higher one’s position, the more resources one controlled, and the opportunities provided by one’s platform mattered more than individual effort.

With the Daoist Order’s vast foundation, innate talent was secondary. Ke Qingqing was far from useless and actually possessed quite good aptitude. Even if she simply endured and advanced slowly, she could still reach the Heavenly Being stage within her lifetime, though that would probably be as far as she could go.

There was a reason the debt of being recognized and given an opportunity was considered a great favor on par with having one’s life saved or being raised by one’s parents. It truly could alter the course of a person’s life.

If Ke Qingqing had never met Qi Xuansu, she would still be at the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion today, with promotion to the fourth rank far beyond her reach. But because she had met Qi Xuansu, her career had soared straight into the clouds.

Once Ke Qingqing became a Heavenly Being, Zhang Yuelu planned to send her out to serve as a Branch Hall Manager, allowing her to gain some proper experience.

After all, Ke Qingqing was not like Chen Jianchou, who benefited from Great Sage Lan’s support and his affiliation to the Yu Kingdom’s Chen family, not just from Qi Xuansu alone. That was why Chen Jianchou had been able to rise directly to the position of Deputy Mansion Master.

For Ke Qingqing, becoming a Branch Hall Manager was considered good enough. Mu Jin, who was Ke Qingqing’s senior, had spent years in an external posting, and even now had only just been promoted to the Beichen Hall Branch Manager in the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion.

Then there was another matter Qi Xuansu had already discussed with Zhang Yuelu—transferring Liu Hu over to serve as Zhang Yuelu’s secretary.

Zhang Yuelu had no objection. She had nothing shady to hide, so it did not particularly matter who served as her secretary. What mattered was that the work was done well.

Qi Xuansu’s thinking was simple. He wanted to secure a better future for Liu Hu. Moreover, with Liu Hu serving at Zhang Yuelu’s side, Zhang Yuelu could properly guide her and keep her from straying down the wrong path. Qi Xuansu had long since realized that Zhang Yuelu had considerable potential as a teacher. Perhaps it came from the Cihang lineage’s tradition of taking in many disciples. He himself was no good at that. In this respect, he was rather like his master, Sage Donghua, who had very few disciples.

The flying ship descended with a thunderous roar. Zhang Yuelu and her party disembarked one after another, with Zhang Yuelu leading the way.

Qi Xuansu went forward to greet her. “A warm welcome to Chief Deputy Zhang upon your arrival in Jade Capital!”

If Little Yin had been there as well, he could even have her step forward to present flowers, which would have made the whole thing look even more official.

Qi Xuansu extended his hand, pretending that he was about to shake hands with Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu unceremoniously slapped his hand away. “Oh, get lost.”

Qi Xuansu had only been joking around, so he did not mind. He laughed heartily, greeted Lin Yuanmiao and Ke Qingqing in turn, then introduced Yan Yongzhen to them.

Zhang Yuelu had long since heard of Yan Yongzhen and exchanged a few pleasantries with him.

They were all old acquaintances. This was what it truly meant when they said that one family need not speak as though they were two.

Qi Xuansu waved his hand. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Naturally, he was referring to the Princess Mansion in Taishang Place.

Zhang Yuelu raised an objection. “We haven’t even held the wedding ceremony yet. What would it look like if I just moved in openly like this?”

Although there was no shortage of attendants working at Qi Xuansu’s residence, Zhang Yuelu was a different matter altogether.

Qi Xuansu had clearly forgotten about this. After Zhang Yuelu reminded him, he also realized that it would indeed be inappropriate. He asked, “You’re right. So where do you plan to stay?”

Zhang Yuelu had already made her plans. “I’ll return to Xuan City. It’ll also give me a chance to visit Master.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “That works. Your master has been off duty these past couple of days and is busy planting rice seedlings. You can lend her a hand and plant some together.”

Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes at him and said sarcastically, “I love planting rice seedlings. When Sage Donghua paints, don’t you grind ink for him at his side too?”

Qi Xuansu corrected her. “You can’t call him Sage Donghua anymore. You have to start calling him Master as well.”

Zhang Yuelu cleared her throat, feeling somewhat awkward. Although she had long been mentally prepared for this, the idea of changing how she addressed him still felt rather strange and embarrassing.

She then changed the subject. “Old Lin can go back with you. That way, he can keep an eye on Little Yin.”

Qi Xuansu said, “Of course.”

Qi Xuansu then said to Lin Yuanmiao, “Old Lin, if you ever manage to advance to the Immortal stage, you should at the very least be made a Great Sage. You’ve earned it. Over the years, whether on the Fenglin battlefield, fighting Chen Shuhua in Poluo, or dealing with Wu Guangbi, you’ve contributed your share every time.”

Lin Yuanmiao remained as reserved as ever. “I would not dare entertain such thoughts.”

In truth, the strength gathered around Qi Xuansu was already quite formidable. Qi Xuansu himself was a Pseudo-Immortal with a Pseudo-Immortal Corpse Liberation Incarnation. Madam Qi was a Pseudo-Immortal, Lin Yuanmiao was a Pseudo-Immortal, Zhang Yuelu and Little Yin were both at the Zaohua stage, while Madam Wu was an Immortal. Even without counting external backing such as the Zhang family, Sage Donghua, Great Sage Jiang, or Great Sage Lan, Qi Xuansu already possessed more than enough strength to protect himself with just these people of his own. At the very least, an ordinary Immortal would have no chance of doing anything to Qi Xuansu’s faction and might even end up being killed instead.

If one also counted “peripheral members” such as the Three Yin Beings, then his strength became even more extraordinary. That was without even counting their immortal objects.

If immortal objects were included, Qi Xuansu’s faction possessed no fewer than four of them. Much of this was thanks to the Heavenly Preceptor’s generous support, as he alone had supplied half of their arsenal.

Qi Xuansu had the Guizang Lantern, Zhang Yuelu held the Heavenly Preceptor’s Twin Swords, Madam Qi had the Bone-Illuminating Mirror, and Madam Wu had her Seven Feather Five Fires Fan. This did not even include the Longevity Stone Heart. If that were counted as well, the total would be five immortal objects.

They had even more semi-immortal objects and items comparable to them. These included Qi Xuansu’s Buddha sarira, pages from the Scripture of Zuriel, Pure Bodhi, Zhang Yuelu’s Amorphous Paper and Six Mantra Sword, Little Yin’s Unbound Thought, Madam Qi’s Face Wrecker, and so on.

By any measure, their strength was substantial.

Although Qi Xuansu was still far from reaching the very summit of the Daoist Order, he was now one of its senior figures and could finally be considered someone of real importance, with enough weight to make his presence felt.

The group boarded the carriage and headed toward Jade Capital.

Qi Xuansu would have liked to say a few private things to Zhang Yuelu between Daoist companions, but with other people present, that was hardly possible. So instead, he simply asked about her cultivation.

Zhang Yuelu gave him a rough explanation. With the aid of the Longevity Elixir, she had not only crossed the threshold into the Zaohua stage, advancing to the Three Corpses Severance Realm, but had also surged well into the latter half of the Zaohua stage in one go. At the very least, she was already past the halfway point and approaching the Pseudo-Immortal stage.

However, cultivation gained through external assistance was ultimately not the same as progressing one step at a time through one’s own efforts. It was not that her foundation was unstable, nor was her cultivation somehow flimsy or hollow. The problem was that Zhang Yuelu was still extremely unaccustomed to her newfound strength and needed time to adapt to it. She had been too busy with the handover of her duties to properly consolidate her cultivation.

Therefore, Zhang Yuelu was still in the process of feeling out and familiarizing herself with her new cultivation level.

The 36 Thunder Gods of the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method had grown increasingly solid and lifelike. This was Zhang Yuelu’s fundamental cultivation method. Since she practiced the original version of the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method, progress was slow and it still caused some damage to her body, slowing her overall progress.

Under ordinary circumstances, there was no particularly good solution. One could only wait until one’s cultivation became sufficiently advanced, then go back and repair these hidden injuries. One might even be able to make up for other deficiencies in the process. This could be considered enduring bitterness first and enjoying sweetness later.

The Longevity Elixir had swept away all these negative impediments, indirectly accelerating Zhang Yuelu’s cultivation of the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method. She benefited tremendously from this, and her mastery of thunder techniques became even stronger.

If the Heavenly Preceptor could unleash 12 thunderbolts in succession without sacrificing the quality of his thunder techniques, then Zhang Yuelu could now manage 5 thunderbolts. This was a clear sign of her progress. Her next step would likely be 7 thunderbolts at the Pseudo-Immortal stage, 9 as an Immortal, and 12 as a Quasi-First-Tribulation Immortal.

The Ancestral Heavenly Preceptor had been capable of reaching the full count of 36 thunderbolts.

Besides this, Zhang Yuelu had also begun to grasp the fundamentals of the Nought Series. She could now freely transform her sword qi, making it obscure or radiant, large or small, with all the subtleties of its manipulation governed entirely by her will. More importantly, it was of tremendous help when learning other sword techniques.

Zhang Yuelu had decided that she would next begin cultivating the Nandou 28 Swords Technique.

This was a sword art personally created by the Holy Xuan, who had also established the Banished Immortal lineage. Thus, there was a strong connection between the two.

Qi Xuansu now understood the mysteries of the Sixth Tai and had witnessed Sage Qingwei wield the Nandou 28 Swords. In his view, the Star Sword Formation within the Nandou 28 Swords already bore the rudimentary form of the Grand Illusion Realm. Thus, there could hardly be a more suitable sword art for Zhang Yuelu to learn.

When it came to mastery of the sword, Qi Xuansu was probably no longer capable of catching up with Zhang Yuelu.

Speaking of swords, the Heavenly Preceptor had not taken the swords back and had instead left them with Zhang Yuelu. This was a good thing, but for Zhang Yuelu, they were still too “heavy.” It was like a child trying to swing a massive hammer. One careless swing, and she might send herself flying instead.

Even Qi Xuansu had only barely managed to wield both swords simultaneously after advancing to the Pseudo-Immortal stage. Zhang Yuelu was not yet a Pseudo-Immortal, so naturally, she could not do the same. However, she had come up with a solution. She could sever a Three Corpse Incarnation, then have her true body and incarnation each wield one sword, allowing the two swords to unite as one to channel their full power.

The only problem was that the incarnation would be somewhat weaker than her true body. Either her true body would have to accommodate the incarnation and wield its sword at a lower level, or she would have to find some way to strengthen the incarnation.

When it came to matters like these, Qi Xuansu could not offer much help. Zhang Yuelu could find time to seek guidance from the Heavenly Preceptor or Sage Cihang. After all, either of them was far more reliable than Qi Xuansu.