A Pawn’s Passage

Li Tiangang was not surprised by this scene. As the Second Deputy of the Fenglin Daoist Mansion, he was deeply familiar with Fenglin's various tactics. Using the Starcrusher cannon against the meteor had been part of his and Spirit Guard Ding Wei's plan all along.

He gazed at the firestorm and continued, "The Tenmon Sect has three major shrines—Ise-jingu, Atsuta-jingu, and Asahi-jingu. Of these, Ise-jingu stands at the forefront as the ancestral shrine of the Tenmon Sect's origin, holding a status similar to our Daoist ancestral mountain, Kunlun. The Saio resides there permanently.

"These three are called major shrines because they each enshrine one of Fenglin's three divine artifacts, what we Daoists would define as immortal objects. Ise-jingu houses the Yata Mirror; Atsuta-jingu houses the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword, and Asahi-jingu houses the Yasakani Magatama. These three divine artifacts are also the heirlooms of the Fenglin royal family, passed down through generations.

"The one most likely to appear here is the Yasakani Magatama. The Magatama is shaped like one half of the yin-yang symbol. Legend says it offers blessings, wards off calamity, and balances yin and yang, though its exact function is a closely guarded secret of the Asahi-jingu. Fortunately, we bribed a gon-negi and learned a bit about it. It has no inherent ability, but it can greatly enhance one's cultivation."

Zhang Yuelu asked in doubt, "Similar to the Qinghuo Pearl?"

Li Tiangang nodded. "The function of the Yasakani Magatama is indeed very similar to the Qinghuo Pearl. Some semi-immortal objects are only suitable for Immortals, like the Haotian Mirror. But the Qinghuo Pearl is the opposite. It has little effect on true Immortals but is extremely effective for Pseudo-Immortals."

Qi Xuansu was a bit confused and glanced at Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu softly explained, "It's a very famous immortal object, tied to both the Zhang and Li families. Before the Daoist sects were unified, a demon calling himself the Master of Qingqiu Mountain emerged. He stirred chaos with his Immortal-level cultivation, killing not only Daoists but also emperors and nobles. The Great Heavenly Preceptor at the time rallied all Daoist sects to eliminate the demon. It was later discovered that the reason he had the power of an Immortal was because he obtained the Qinghuo Pearl, a relic of the Qingqiu fox demon clan. After his death, the Qinghuo Pearl ended up with the Zhang family and was stored in the Xuanwu Hall of the Dazhen Mansion."

Qi Xuansu had recently visited the Dazhen Mansion and remembered Xuanwu Hall. It was a forbidden zone, on par with the Demon-Vanquishing Platform. Even the Heavenly Preceptor had mentioned Xuanwu Hall when bestowing them a semi-immortal object. This indicated that Xuanwu Hall was the Zhang family's vault for rare treasures.

Zhang Yuelu continued, "Later, the Holy Xuan learned of this and reclaimed the Qinghuo Pearl, returning it to its rightful owners. This act helped bring the Qingqiu fox demon clan under the Daoist wing and led to the marriage alliance between the Li and Su families."

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but ask, "At that time, the Daoist sects weren't yet unified, and the Holy Xuan wasn't their leader. The matter with the deposed Heavenly Preceptor was still unresolved. Given it was an immortal object, did the Zhang family really hand it over so easily?"

Li Tiangang replied, "That's because the Qinghuo Pearl was a relic of the fox demon clan, and humans couldn't use it. After acquiring it, the Zhang family just left it collecting dust in Xuanwu Hall. It made more sense to give it to the Holy Xuan, who was a rising star at the time, to gain his favor."

Qi Xuansu asked again, "If the Zhang family can't use it, then can the Li family?"

Li Tiangang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Everyone is different. Some people can use it, while others can't."

Before Qi Xuansu could press further, Li Tiangang had already changed the topic. "We've diverted from the topic, so let's get back to the Yasakani Magatama. Judging by the Qinghuo Pearl, the bad news is that a Pseudo-Immortal holding the Yasakani Magatama might have the power of a true Immortal. The good news is that Asahi-jingu currently has no Pseudo-Immortal.

"As the sacred treasure of the Asahi-jingu, the Yasakani Magatama would never be entrusted to outsiders—not to the Buddhist Sect or the Koga Ninja, not even to the other great shrines. Without the Yasakani Magatama and lacking a resident Pseudo-Immortal, Asahi-jingu wouldn't be able to hold onto its status among the Three Major Shrines.

"The Shikan-dan can perform joint spellcasting, but they can't combine everyone's cultivation into one person. That's something only formations can do. In other words, the guji of Asahi-jingu can use group casting to produce Pseudo-Immortal-level spells, but not elevate their personal cultivation to that level. So there's no need to fear the sudden appearance of an Immortal. What we must watch for is them using the Yasakani Magatama to cast stronger spells."

Though the Daoists had made their decisions hastily, they had prepared sufficiently. The major local powers were no longer mysterious to them. Their methods had long been anticipated. Only Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were new to Fenglin, going into battle unprepared, so Li Tiangang, with his years of experience in the region, had to explain things in more detail.

Qi Xuansu asked, "If joint spellcasting is already at the Pseudo-Immortal level, wouldn't anything stronger than that be considered an Immortal-level spell?"

Li Tiangang replied, "You could say that, but even so, it still falls short of what a true Immortal can do. Take Wu Luo, True Lord Siming, and True Lord Ziguang, for example. When they descend to the mortal realm, their incarnations can at most exert the strength of a Pseudo-Immortal. However, since their true forms are indeed at the Immortal level, their incarnations can still wield Immortal abilities, just with diminished power compared to their true selves."

Qi Xuansu recalled the calamity at Jinling Prefecture. True Lord Siming nearly drained the entire city dry. Even with the Blessings seeded beforehand by the Cult of Fates, the event had clearly gone beyond what a normal Pseudo-Immortal was capable of. This was what it meant to have an incarnation wielding Immortal abilities. The diminished power was evident, too, as he could not devour Jinling Prefecture in an instant. Had it been his true body, the city would likely have become a graveyard, or at least half of it would have been destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Also, True Lord Ziguang's incarnation had easily overpowered the eunuch ancestor of the Xuanhui Court, who had left the Imperial Capital. Wu Luo's feat of snapping the flying ship in half and attacking the Yinglong Warship showed power far beyond ordinary Pseudo-Immortals.

Li Tiangang said, "According to our calculations, when the Asahi-jingu Shinkan-dan use the Yasakani Magatama, the resulting spells are roughly equal to an Ancient Immortal's magic, slightly inferior to true Immortals, yet significantly stronger than Pseudo-Immortals."

In the very next moment, as if to affirm Li Tiangang's words, a strange change swept over the area surrounding the Yinglong Warship. The clear skies and crimson clouds were gone, replaced by an eerie darkness. It was as if the warship had left the mortal realm and wandered into the shadowy realm of the dead.

There was no telling the direction they had come from or where they were going. Whether above or below, east or west, everything was shrouded in pitch black.

Li Tiangang was not surprised and remained calm. "We are likely in the seam between the yin and yang realms, that is, between two Yin-Yang Gates. It seems they've created a hidden entrance that allowed us to unknowingly sail into it and then temporarily closed the exit gate, trapping us here. This is somewhat reminiscent of the techniques used by the ancient Gezao Sect. But since that sect was destroyed, such spells have rarely been seen."

Zhang Yuelu said, "That's not surprising. When the Gezao Sect was destroyed by the combined efforts of the Zhengyi Sect, the Taiping Sect, and the Quanzhen Sect, three of its major branches fled the Central Plains. One branch fled to the Shakya Kingdom and later merged with the local Buddhist Sect, eventually returning to the Central Plains under the Quanzhen Sect. Another went to the Golden Horde and integrated into the Shamanistic Sect. Only the one that went to Fenglin disappeared without a trace, so it makes sense that it might have merged with the local Tenmon Sect or Onmyodo."

Li Tiangang nodded. "That does make sense."

Qi Xuansu asked a more practical question, "So what do we do now?"

Li Tiangang explained, "Spells have a time limit. They can't keep the exit sealed forever. Right now, we're like a metal rod stuck in a hinge. Unless they crush us completely, they can't close the door. The Shinkan-dan from the Asahi-jingu cast this spell to keep us from escaping and to block any potential reinforcements. Their goal is simply to kill Toyotomi Hidemochi before the spell expires.

"We anticipated they might try something like this, which is why the Sage Commander personally dispatched a Yinglong Warship. The Sonno-joi faction has seen the warship's power before, but they don't know our crew is understaffed. So they've chosen to use this powerful spell to trap us. As it turns out, our prediction was accurate. Trading a partially staffed Yinglong Warship for the exposure of the Yasakani Magatama is still a worthwhile exchange."

Qi Xuansu felt much more at ease.

What he feared most was having no preparation, only to be hit by one surprise after another, while their enemies had layers of contingency. It would be far too passive if they could only respond with reactive measures.

But now it was clear that Li Tiangang, the Second Deputy Fenglin Daoist Mansion Master, was no fool. No wonder he outranked Spirit Guard Ding Wei and secured the fourth-highest authority in the Fenglin Daoist Mansion.

Looking at the bigger picture from these details, the members of the Li family that Qi Xuansu had met and those he had only heard of were nothing but ordinary. This spoke not only to the Li family's vast influence but also to its wealth of talent. Without question, the Li family was the foremost family in the Daoist world, and its dominance was not merely due to ancestral blessings.

On the other hand, the Li family's old rival, the Zhang family, had grown quite feeble. TheWu-generation could still hold their own against the elder Lis, though not in offense; they could at least defend securely. But theJu-generation andYue-generation were routinely crushed by the Lis. Once the oldWu-generation passed on, the decline of the Zhang family would be inevitable.

Qi Xuansu thought to himself that the Zhang family ought to emulate the Li family and adopt the more progressive son-in-law succession system. Even Zhang Yuelu, no matter how capable, could not do everything alone. Some outside support was definitely needed.