A Pawn's Passage

Though Qi Xuansu suffered severe damage to his cultivation from the backlash of the Scripture of Zuriel, there was a silver lining—his processing of the Xuan Jade accelerated. The power that had previously accumulated within him was now being used to fill the void left behind.

Qi Xuansu estimated that once his injuries healed, he would be able to absorb new Xuan Jades. As he advanced further, his demand for Xuan Jades would only increase. With his current cultivation, he would likely need two more high-grade pieces to reach the Zaohua stage. Moreover, it would be ideal if they were varieties other than the Xuan Jade of Life so that his development could be more balanced.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu was not lacking in divine power. Last time, he had drawn 10,000 marks of divine power from the Daoist Mansion to deal with True Lord Siming’s divine descent. After the various expenditures, about half remained. The Golden Tower Council did not punish him for using it without authorization. Rather, they allowed him to keep the remainder for emergencies as an indirect form of reward.

Thus, although Qi Xuansu had little personal wealth, he hardly needed to spend on anything. The Daoist Order covered most necessities.

But Qi Xuansu’s easy days did not last. Soon, the Golden Tower Council summoned him back to Thanglong Prefecture’s Sheji Palace to prepare for the arrival of a pursuit team dispatched from the Jade Capital.

This team, led by a Virtuous Great Sage, consisted of several high-profile individuals, including first-rank Spirit Guards and Zaohua-stage Heavenly Beings.

The leading Virtuous Great Sage was Jiang Hedao, who did not belong to any of the three major sects. Rather, he was part of the Grand Master lineage and served as the Zixiao Palace Master.

Though the sixth-generation Grand Master’s legacy and the current vacancy of the position had weakened the Zixiao Palace’s influence so that it was no longer able to rival the Golden Tower Council, it remained the foremost among the Daoist Palaces. It outranked the Wanxiang Daoist Palace, the Chongyang Palace of Immortality, the Shangqing Palace, and the Qingling Palace.

Without a Grand Master, the current Zixiao Palace Master was no longer the Grand Master’s chief secretary. Instead, he functioned more like a crisis troubleshooter, sent wherever trouble appeared. If the world were peaceful, he would be idle.

Now that trouble had erupted in Poluo, and Chen Shuhua was still at large, Great Sage Jiang had to intervene.

Thus, Qi Xuansu had to hurry back to receive him.

This was not Qi Xuansu’s first time meeting Great Sage Jiang. Last time, it was at the Penglai Pool in the Imperial Capital. But back then, Qi Xuansu was as good as a Daoist attendant. At least now, he stood in a position similar to Shi Bingyun.