A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu was still puzzled, so he searched the Diviner’s body thoroughly for more clues. The hard work paid off, and Qi Xuansu did find something—a letter in the Diviner’s chest pocket.

It was not a formal letter, so there was no envelope. The paper was simply folded in half, with no title or signature on it, indicating that both parties knew each other’s identities well because they had omitted pleasantries. The content was straight to the point, like a casually written note.

The letter stated that the alchemy furnace was left behind by the Daoist Order’s Huasheng Hall. It was used to refine a Blood Pill. After the Daoist Order used the Phoenix Eye Bomb to wipe out the area, Spirit Guards re-entered the ruins to recover various confidential secrets. However, at the time, the alchemy furnace was still in operation, so the Spirit Guards could not take out the Blood Pill.

The Spirit Guards dared not destroy the alchemy furnace for fear of causing an explosion underground and injuring themselves. The Daoist Order also did not care much about the loss of a mere Blood Pill, so they sealed the furnace and turned it into a dark fire state. It was just like turning an active volcano into a dormant volcano.

The people at The Inn had also discovered this alchemy furnace, but since the alchemy furnace had been in a dark fire state, it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, so they ignored it. Now that it was almost time for the Blood Pill to appear, the alchemy furnace’s dark fire turned into an open fire.

The letter reminded the Diviner that the alchemy furnace would open soon, so he should stand guard closely to ensure that the Blood Pill could be retrieved. This kind of letter should have been destroyed after reading it, but for some reason, the Diviner did not destroy it and kept it on his body.

That was when Qi Xuansu discovered a row of medicine cabinets on the other side of the alchemy furnace. There was a label under each drawer of the medicine cabinet, which stated the names of the precious medicinal ingredients stored. But at this time, these drawers were empty. The various valuable medicinal ingredients originally stored there had already been used or taken away.

Qi Xuansu browsed the labels and saw “Red Fruit” in front of a drawer. There was even a small inscription detailing the medicinal effects and origin of the Red Fruit. Unfortunately, that drawer was also empty.

He recalled that a processed Red Fruit sold for 8,000 Taiping coins in the auction at Shangqing Palace, bought by a Sage from the Quanzhen Sect. From that, he could only imagine how extravagant this underground plant used to be back then.

Qi Xuansu looked at the alchemy furnace again, which flickered on and off. After absorbing the dual flames earlier, its temperature increased.

Qi Xuansu had taken the Blood Dragon Pill before, but he had never heard of a Blood Pill. This might be a generic name and not the official name of the pill. But judging from the letter and the medicine cabinets in this place, Qi Xuansu figured that the Blood Pill must also be extremely valuable.

White Jade Hall had made ample preparations by sending this Diviner to collect the Blood Pill. If it was any other recruits from The Inn, they would have died when fighting against this Diviner. In fact, most people would have retreated when they saw the giant living corpse aboveground, as they would not risk their lives for a mere “weeding” operation.

The elites from the headquarters of The Inn could deal with the giant living corpse and the Diviner, but this area was not on their route. It seemed that White Jade Hall already knew The Inn’s movements well enough to make these arrangements.

Qi Xuansu got as close to the scorching alchemy furnace as possible. Through the holes in the alchemy furnace, he could vaguely see the flames inside, which had not been extinguished after many years.

Through what he had learned at the Wanxiang Daoist Palace about alchemy and the structure of this pit, Qi Xuansu speculated that Huasheng Hall built this alchemy furnace underground with the purpose of using geothermal energy.

In any case, the appearance of this alchemy furnace also proved that the quality of the pill produced would be excellent. Just as how fine dishware was used to serve delicacies, a good alchemy furnace would be used to refine valuable pills.

Qi Xuansu was hesitant about whether to stay and wait for the pill to be released, continue his weeding mission, or take this opportunity to find the White Jade Hall.

After much thought, Qi Xuansu decided to stay here and wait for the pill to be completed. That was because he was a strong believer in using external pills and elixirs to enhance his cultivation, especially after tasting the benefits of the medicinal wine Daoist Ji gifted him.

Although the Daoist Order believed that improving one’s cultivation through external objects would make one’s foundation weak and far inferior to one’s own cultivation gained through rigorous training, Qi Xuansu knew that he would not be able to advance far if he relied solely on hard work. Without relying on external objects, he would never become a Heavenly Being. Thus, he felt it was better to have a weak foundation than to have no foundation at all.

Moreover, he had already defeated the Diviner, who was so close to getting the Blood Pill. So he might as well wait a little longer for it. After all, this Blood Pill could probably be sold at a better price than any compensation Madam Qi would give him. This little interlude also would not impact his mission to look for White Jade Hall.

……

Qi Xuansu’s assigned location was at the periphery of the reclaimed land. The core part of this reclaimed land was taken care of by The Inn’s elites.

The Inn once found an Asura left behind by the Huasheng Hall. Although the Asura was seriously damaged, The Inn still made a profit of 100,000 Taiping coins after selling it to the Eight Tribes. Not to mention, there were other small items scattered about.

Since many of these buildings were hidden deep underground, the Phoenix Eye Bomb failed to completely destroy them. Instead, they were buried by the rubble. The Daoist Order only destroyed or took away the core secrets. They did not send any resources to excavate the remainder of the items because they were not worth much to the Daoist Order.

However, the other secret societies wanted to reap the benefits of this. Something that meant little to the Daoist Order was valuable to these organizations. To put things into perspective, the strength, size, and financial power of all secret societies combined could not compare to even a fraction of the Daoist Order.

The reason why the secret societies were so difficult to eradicate was due to the corruption within the Daoist Order. Influential figures from the Daoist Order would secretly provide support for these secret societies, allowing them to continue thriving. This entangled relationship between the Daoist Order and the secret societies was what made everything so complicated.

The Daoist Order was like a giant, invincible to external attacks. However, it had an internal sickness that had to be treated by a good doctor before the infection spread. If the sickness worsened, it would collapse on its own one day, even without any external interference.

Originally, the Confucian School sought to dominate the world by suppressing all other schools of thought and elevating Confucianism alone. In response, the Daoist Order opposed and allied with the Buddhist Sect. The Daoist Order had also integrated with other schools of thought, like Mohism, Legalism, the School of Diplomacy, the School of Naturalists, and the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Although the Confucian School suppressed the Hundred Schools of Thought, some Confucian Savants preserved the teachings of Mohism, Legalism, Schools of Military, Agrarianism, Naturalism, Diplomacy, and Philosophy. They had hidden these texts within the Wanxiang Academy.

Normally, students within the academy were not allowed to step inside this secret library. Without the Grand Libationer’s permission, no one was allowed to take away, transcribe, or even look at the books.

When the Confucian School was defeated, the Wanxiang Academy was transformed into the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. Thus, the various collections of books naturally fell into the hands of the Daoist Order and indirectly kickstarted the phase of innovation within the Daoist community.

A flying ship belonging to Tiangang Hall was flying in the sky. It was not a passenger ship, but a warship. A flying warship had four modes. In addition to the Daoist talismans and formations, it also implemented Mohist siege mechanisms.

The prototype of the Daoist Order’s flying ship was modeled after the Grand Master’s White Dragon Flying Ship. It had a total of four modes of operation: static, dynamic, offense, and defense.

The static mode was when the flying ship was on standby and did not have any consumption. It was not much different from ordinary ships.

The dynamic mode was when it was flying in the sky. The flying ship would automatically switch between the static and dynamic modes according to its surroundings, so it would not crash.

When defense mode was activated, the formation on the ship could resist spells and divine power. This mode consumed the most energy from the Dragon Pearl, and it was only suitable for escaping.

Offense mode involved mobilizing the energy in the surrounding atmosphere to bombard the opponent, which was released in the form of a bomb powerful enough to destroy a small island. The power of this bomb was dependent on the flying ship’s geographical location. It would be more powerful if the flying ship was in a place with high humidity, such as above a sea or among thick rain clouds. If it happened to coincide with a storm or typhoon, the power of this bomb would reach its peak. This power was even comparable to that of a Pseudo-Immortal.

Considering the cost, ordinary flying ships only had two modes—static and dynamic. That was why the passenger ship that Qi Xuansu was on during New Year’s Day could not fight back against Wu Luo’s projection.

Shangguan Jing, the Seventh Deputy Tiangang Hall Master, stood on the bow of the flying ship, overlooking the vast lake below. To him, the cold gale at this high altitude was like a gentle breeze blowing on his face.

In Tiangang Hall, aside from the Chief, Second, and Ninth Deputy Hall Master, the rest of the six Deputy Hall Masters had similar cultivation levels and statuses. Having to lead troops against evil cults, all Deputy Hall Masters of Tiangang Hall were required to have higher cultivation levels than their counterparts in the other halls, Daoist mansions, and Daoist palaces.

Although Shangguan Jing was only the Seventh Deputy Hall Master, he was a Heavenly Being and a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master. In other Daoist mansions or halls, he would have been able to serve as the Second Deputy, but in Tiangang Hall, he was only the Seventh Deputy Hall Master. This was why Tiangang Hall and Beichen Hall were considered the Three Great Halls of the Daoist Order.

In terms of actual power, the Deputy Hall Masters of Tiangang Hall were far superior to their counterparts in other halls. Except for Zhang Yuelu’s newly established Yaoguang Division, the other eight divisions of Tiangang Hall had varying numbers of Spirit Guards and part-timers. Those Deputy Hall Masters could also mobilize warships and heavy artillery. This was a privilege that personnel from other halls did not have.