A Pawn's Passage

There were a total of 81 archive towers in Gen Garden, arranged in a nested circular pattern. Each set of nine towers formed a ring, with nine concentric rings in total. The farther out the ring, the greater the distance between the adjacent towers. From the front, the circular arrangement was barely noticeable. One could only see the obvious shape from a bird’s-eye view. Conversely, the closer to the center, the smaller the gaps between the towers.

The archive tower Qi Xuansu frequented was in the innermost circle, where the nine towers stood nearly adjacent to one another, separated only by narrow alleys. However, these alleys were visibly sealed by enchantments. It piqued Qi Xuansu’s curiosity about what lay at the very center of these circles. Unfortunately, the interior of the library was an enclosed space of its own, without windows, making it impossible for him to see beyond.

One day, Qi Xuansu finished his routine blade practice as usual and exited the stone chamber, only to run into Sun Hewu, who had also been studying inside the tower. The two of them left the library together.

“Sage Sun.” Qi Xuansu called out to the elderly man, gesturing toward the nearest alleyway.

There was a crystalline, semi-transparent wall at the entrance, composed of intertwining black and white ripples of light. Qi Xuansu had attempted to approach it before, but each time, the wall revealed the Daoist yin-yang symbol and the Eight Trigrams. Besides, all 81 archive towers were embedded with a formation that prohibited any form of teleportation or aerial movement within its confines.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Why is this area sealed off by a formation?”

Sun Hewu looked in the direction Qi Xuansu pointed, hesitated for a moment, and countered, “Are you asking about what lies at the very center of Gen Garden, behind these nine towers?”

Qi Xuansu nodded.

Sun Hewu’s expression turned nostalgic as he explained, “At the very center stands an isolated library called the Tianshui Core Tower, separate from the 81 towers. It was originally built during the Confucian era and housed rare, unique editions of texts.

“Most of these texts belong to the Hundred Schools of Thought, which the Confucian School deemed unfit for public dissemination. Aside from Daoist texts, there were works from the Schools of Military, Agriculturalism, Yang-ism, Diplomacy, Logic, Legalism, and even the Confucians’ sworn enemy—Mohism. These books were secretly collected by Confucian Savants and hidden away there.

“In the past, students of the Wanxiang Academy were strictly forbidden from stepping inside—not even the Libationer could enter without permission. Without approval from the Grand Libationer, books could not be taken out, copied, or even read beyond a set time limit. Moreover, all the texts were sealed with special Confucian spells. Thus, one could not even remove the books from the shelves without permission.

“Later, when the Daoist Order transformed Wanxiang Academy into the Wanxiang Daoist Palace and established the Upper Palace, this tower was relocated from the Lower Palace to Gen Garden. Further modifications were made, secured with new formations, and equipped with a portal connected to the Daoist Canon Division in the distant Jade Capital.

“The 81 archive towers were then constructed around Tianshui Core Tower, forming a protective encirclement.”

At this point, Sun Hewu could not help but sigh, his tone laced with regret. “But later, certain events transpired. Not only was the Tianshui Core Tower completely sealed off, but all pathways leading to it were also blocked. Now, aside from the Wanxiang Daoist Palace Master, no one is allowed to enter. Due to the abrupt nature of the incident, the texts within Tianshui Core Tower were never transferred out in time. It’s truly a pity.”

Qi Xuansu asked the important question. “Why did they seal off the Tianshui Core Tower?”

“It was a decree from Zixiao Palace. The Wanxiang Daoist Palace had no choice but to obey.” Sun Hewu did not hold anything back.

Qi Xuansu was momentarily stunned. He was unfamiliar with Zixiao Palace. Ever since his return to the Daoist Order, every command and decision had come from the Golden Tower Council. Even the courses he studied were about the Golden Tower Council’s biannual resolutions. Only now did Qi Xuansu suddenly realize that another core authority of the Daoist Order had been dormant for a long time.

From the perspective of the Western Continent, the Eastern Continent functioned under a dual-power structure—two core authorities that constrained, cooperated, and, to some extent, opposed each other.

After the fall of the Confucian-led Wei Dynasty, which had merged political and religious power, governance became divided between the Daoist-aligned Great Xuan Dynasty and the Daoist Order itself. Since the Daoist Order directly represented the faith of the people, it effectively held a second figurehead—the Grand Master of the Daoist Order. Before the reign of the sixth-generation Grand Master, the Daoist Order even held dominance over the Great Xuan Imperial Court.

Within the Daoist Order itself, a similar dual-power structure existed, with two centers of authority—Zixiao Palace and Golden Tower Council.

Nominally, the Golden Tower Council was the highest governing body of the Daoist Order, comprising 36 Omniscient Sages, along with three Deputy Grand Masters and an unspecified number of Great Sages. At the pinnacle of this hierarchy was the Grand Master.

Logically speaking, Zixiao Palace was merely the foremost among many Daoist Palaces and should not have been comparable in status to the Golden Tower Council. However, it was directly governed by the Grand Master. This created an interesting dynamic.

While the Golden Tower Council was also led by the Grand Master, the decision-making still involved other Sages. However, Zixiao Palace was under the Grand Master’s direct control. In a sense, the two were equals—akin to the Grand Master’s left and right hands.

In the earliest days, particularly during the Holy Xuan’s era, Zixiao Palace was merely the residence and study of the Grand Master and his consort. The Deputy Zixiao Palace Masters held no real power.

However, due to the Holy Xuan’s immense prestige and authority, those in Zixiao Palace were privy to his thoughts and decisions because they were his close confidants. As a result, the Deputy Zixiao Palace Masters held an extremely high status during that time, with Omniscient Sages often currying favor with them.

After the Holy Xuan’s ascension, the influence of Zixiao Palace declined, becoming no different from an ordinary Daoist Palace. However, as conflicts between the three major Daoist sects intensified, the Grand Master’s authority became increasingly constrained by the Golden Tower Council.

Major decisions had to be deliberated by the Golden Tower Council, and if the Sages disagreed with the Grand Master, the latter would sometimes be forced to retract his decrees.

In the latter years of the second-generation Grand Master’s reign, efforts were made to centralize power. He began appointing trusted confidants as the Deputy Zixiao Palace Master, entrusting them with drafting edicts and issuing decrees on his behalf.

This move weakened the Golden Tower Council’s authority, transferring some of its functions to Zixiao Palace. Though it never regained its prominence from the Holy Xuan’s era, Zixiao Palace became the de facto leading Daoist Palace.

Subsequent Grand Masters continued to strengthen Zixiao Palace’s authority. By the time the fifth-generation Grand Master came into power, the Daoist Order waged war against the Buddhist Sect.

Finding the Golden Tower Council’s bureaucratic process too cumbersome, the fifth-generation Grand Master appointed 1 Great Sage and 8 Omniscient Sages to serve as the Deputy Zixiao Palace Masters. These 9 individuals also simultaneously held positions as Hall Masters of the Nine Halls.

As a result, major decisions at the time were issued from Zixiao Palace, propelling it to its peak of influence, where it was elevated to overseeing the major affairs of the realm. Thus, 18 Assistant Deputy Zixiao Palace Master positions were created subordinate to the Deputy Zixiao Palace Masters.

Since Zixiao Palace was under the direct control of the Grand Master, it functioned as his personal secretariat. Its esteemed status and immense authority stemmed entirely from the Grand Master. Hence, no one could oppose him, unlike in the Golden Tower Council.

As a result, it was easy for the Grand Master to bypass the Golden Tower Council, which ultimately led to the emergence of a faction only loyal to the Grand Master, regardless of factional ties.

Under normal circumstances, the Golden Tower Council found it difficult to override the orders issued by Zixiao Palace.

According to the rules established by the Holy Xuan, the Golden Tower Council was the highest governing body of the Daoist Order. Not only could it nominate the Grand Master, but after a high-level meeting where all 36 Omniscient Sages were present, they could even forcibly depose the Grand Master as long as 90% of the Golden Tower Council’s members were in agreement.

Additionally, the Holy Xuan established that the three Deputy Grand Masters would assist the Grand Master, with the four of them jointly ruling the Daoist Order. If disagreements arose among them, the Grand Master’s decision would stand unless all three Deputy Grand Masters opposed it.

In other words, if the three Deputy Grand Masters were united in opposition, they could overrule the Grand Master’s orders. The Grand Master needed the support of at least one Deputy Grand Master to fully implement his will.

However, considering that the Grand Master would almost certainly have the support of the Deputy Grand Master from his own sect, the Holy Xuan added another rule—any major decree issued by the Grand Master had to pass through the Golden Tower Council.

If more than 24 members of the Golden Tower Council opposed the decree, it could be vetoed.

Realizing that he had missed the best opportunity to unify the three major Sects, the Holy Xuan knew he could only prevent any single sect from upsetting the balance of power within the Daoist Order by limiting the Grand Master’s authority.

After the Holy Xuan’s reign, whenever a new Grand Master took office, the other two sects would quickly form an alliance, using their numbers to counterbalance the influence of the Grand Master.

Of course, unless fundamental interests were at stake, the two sects would not oppose the Grand Master for the sake of opposition. More often than not, they still followed the Grand Master’s directives.

The key issue was that the two sects did not always share the same interests. They could often agree on vetoing a proposal but struggled to form a unified policy of their own, putting them in a largely defensive position.

While the Grand Master could not directly dismiss an Omniscient Sage because such decisions required the Golden Tower Council’s approval, the Grand Master still retained authority over appointments and dismissals within the Nine Halls and regional Daoist mansions.

Even with all these additional rules, the Holy Xuan still underestimated the ingenuity of future generations in exploiting loopholes. Over the years, successive Grand Masters leveraged their authority over personnel appointments to install Hall Masters of the Nine Halls as the Deputy Zixiao Palace Masters. Then, instead of issuing orders as the Grand Master, they did so under the title of the Zixiao Palace Master, cleverly circumventing the Golden Tower Council.

Unless the Golden Tower Council initiated the process to depose the Grand Master, there was no effective way to constrain Zixiao Palace.

With the backing of Zixiao Palace, the fifth-generation Grand Master had the confidence to replace the three Deputy Grand Masters who opposed him and fully consolidated power in his own hands.

It was not until the sixth-generation Grand Master assumed this position that he “rectified the chaos” and voluntarily relinquished Zixiao Palace’s special status. Of course, this rectification was under the push of the three Deputy Grand Masters.

He reassigned those who held dual roles as the Deputy Zixiao Palace Master and Hall Master back to their original positions and appointed only ordinary second-rank Taiyi Daoist masters to replace them. This redirected the power back to the Golden Tower Council.

As a result, the sixth-generation Grand Master was sidelined by the three Deputy Grand Masters, who used their numerical advantage to render him powerless, leading to the decline of Zixiao Palace’s influence.

Conversely, the three Deputy Grand Masters, in their bid to control the Daoist Order, had to rely on the Golden Tower Council, expediting various resolutions while they held the title of Great Sage Lunzhi, which was the Acting Grand Master.

Whether through the Dazhen Mansion, Chongyang Palace of Immortality, or Zhenjing Courtyard, the three Deputy Grand Masters could only replicate Zixiao Palace’s function within their own sects. However, across the entire Daoist Order, none of them could truly replace Zixiao Palace.

When the sixth-generation Grand Master ascended and departed from the mortal world, leaving the position vacant, Zixiao Palace was left in utter disarray, fragmented, and leaderless. Its status plummeted to an all-time low, allowing the Golden Tower Council to finally achieve absolute dominance over the Daoist Order.

As a result, to the younger generations like Qi Xuansu, Zixiao Palace had become a legend of sorts.

Qi Xuansu immediately caught on and instinctively murmured, “Which Grand Master was it?”