A Pawn's Passage

Although they had not achieved complete success, they had at least accomplished their initial objective and bought themselves a year of time.

For Qi Xuansu, this was still an acceptable outcome. As long as he advanced to the Pseudo-Immortal stage, his situation would certainly be better than it was now. Moreover, a year from now, the Daoist Order’s comprehensive personnel reshuffle would already have been settled. What followed would be the true main event—the selection of the seventh-generation Grand Master.

At that time, the entire Daoist Order would be mobilized. Everyone would treat the matter with the utmost seriousness. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire Daoist Order would be on full alert, with stringent security imposed both internally and externally. Not the slightest unexpected incident would be tolerated to ensure everything would conclude smoothly.

During such a sensitive period, the repercussions of assassinating an Omniscient Sage would be magnified a hundredfold. The Daoist Order would never tolerate such a thing.

If Zhou Mengyao wanted to make a move during that period, it would not only be extremely difficult but also carry enormous risk.

All of this would buy Qi Xuansu considerably more time. Even if it were not enough for him to advance directly into immortality, he could still make substantial progress.

Of course, the best possible outcome would be for Sage Donghua to successfully become the Grand Master. As his disciple, Qi Xuansu would effectively become the Junior Grand Master, granting him access to far greater resources. He might not even need to personally confront Zhou Mengyao. He could mobilize others to deal with her instead.

The sixth-generation Grand Master’s situation was an exceptional case. He had never originally been a candidate for Grand Master and had essentially been pushed into the position before he was ready. As such, he had no real foundation of his own. It would be akin to suddenly making Ji Jiaozhen the Grand Master. He would not even have more than a handful of trusted confidants. Under such circumstances, being reduced to a figurehead was hardly surprising.

Sage Donghua was different. He had a genuine power base. If he successfully took office, he might have to honor various promises made to his allies. But with their support, he would unquestionably wield real authority. There would be no situation where his orders could not make it beyond the Zixiao Palace. Moreover, the longer he remained Grand Master, the more firmly that authority would become entrenched.

Even if Sage Donghua could not reach the level of the fifth-generation Grand Master, his power would still be more than that of a Great Sage Lunzhi.

With the Grand Master himself standing behind him, why would Qi Xuansu need to fear Zhou Mengyao?

If any random Immortal could threaten one of the Daoist Order’s core successors, that would be embarrassing for the Daoist Order. The problem at present was that this was an internal struggle. Both sides were deeply entangled with one another, with each faction having people inside the other, rendering many of the Daoist Order’s usual methods unusable.

But once the Daoist Order completed its internal consolidation and clearly determined who was friend and who was foe, transforming an internal contradiction into a conflict between allies and enemies, none of these problems would remain problems at all.

There had been Immortals in the past who tried using assassination tactics against the Daoist Order. They would assassinate one Mansion Master today, kill another Chief Deputy tomorrow, and before long, the Daoist Order’s rule would supposedly collapse.

But the Daoist Order had responded immediately. While intensifying its search, it simultaneously laid a trap. In the end, three Immortals were dispatched to kill the perpetrator. His severed head was sent around to the various Daoist Mansions as a warning to others. That head remained preserved within the Zixiao Palace to this day.

Such tactics were not entirely unworkable, but the prerequisite was that one had to be at least a First-Tribulation Immortal, possessing a cultivation sufficiently superior to those pursuing them. Otherwise, sooner or later, the Daoist Order would corner them.

Besides, becoming an Immortal was no easy feat. Having already attained longevity, why squander something so precious merely to wage a personal feud against the Daoist Order? Would it not be far better to simply join the Daoist Order instead? True Lord Taiyin and True Lord Ziguang had understood this perfectly.

At present, the conflict between Zhou Mengyao and Qi Xuansu was still considered an internal dispute because Zhou Mengyao remained a member of the Daoist Order. The Daoist Order’s public instruments of power could not be used against one of its own, and there was also no single person with enough authority to make the final, decisive ruling.

However, once Sage Donghua became the Grand Master, he would have the authority to expel Zhou Mengyao from the Daoist Order when the proper opportunity arose. He could then designate her as an enemy of the Daoist Order.

The nature of the conflict would then change completely. She would no longer be one of their own.

Once she became an enemy, the dispute would become a conflict between friend and foe. The Daoist Order could then legitimately deploy its full institutional power against her, mobilizing the Yinglong Warship, first-rank Spirit Guards, the Three Yin Beings, and even the Sakka.

Thus, Qi Xuansu quickly accepted the outcome. Not that he had much choice.

Qi Xuansu then briefly explained the overall situation before asking, “Elder Jiang, how should we dispose of the flood dragon?”

Great Sage Jiang had noticed the dragon corpse lying on the deck of the Horned Dragon flying ship. He said, “This can be considered the result of cooperation between the Daoist Order and the Western Daoist Order. Although the two Orders belong to the same family, each still eats from its own pot. Even between brothers, accounts must be settled clearly.”

He paused and considered the matter for a moment. “The Western Daoist Order is in great need of warships, so the dragon’s corpse should go to them. The various treasures within the Dragon Palace should also be theirs. Mobilizing an entire fleet is no small expense, so it is only appropriate that the Western Daoist Order receive them.”

Tantai Ying raised no objection.

Great Sage Jiang continued, “As for the Dragon Pearl, since it has already shattered, it should be handed over to the Daoist Order. We should have some way of repairing it. The dragon blood should likewise be handed over to the Daoist Order for processing.”

Once again, Tantai Ying raised no objection. After all, the Western Daoist Order certainly had no means of repairing the Dragon Pearl. Likewise, the dragon blood required specialized processing before it could be used, and such work was precisely the Daoist Order’s specialty.

Even if the Western Daoist Order took possession of these things, they would ultimately have to ask the Daoist Order for assistance anyway. It was simpler to allocate them directly to the Daoist Order and save everyone the trouble.

With only a few words, Great Sage Jiang settled the entire distribution of the flood dragon’s remains.

At first glance, it seemed as though Qi Xuansu had received nothing. In reality, that was far from the case.

First, he had earned a significant achievement to his name. The reasons why Qi Xuansu had taken the initiative in the first place were varied and complicated. His decisions were rarely driven by a single factor. More often, several different considerations worked together to push him toward a particular course of action.

Part of it came from a simple sense of justice and his desire to eradicate the humanoid insects. Part of it was because Zhou Mengyao had been pressing him harder at every turn. More importantly, the Taiping Sect had dug an enormous pit for him—the task of rebuilding the intelligence network in the Northern Continent, which had been placed under Shen Yubing’s responsibility. By now, it was obvious that the task could not be completed, and there was little Qi Xuansu could do to salvage the situation. That meant he needed other achievements to compensate for the failure. At the very least, he would have an explanation to offer, that he devoted his efforts elsewhere.

Second, some matters were simply unsuitable for open discussion. The Western Daoist Order placed great importance on personal allegiance and patronage. Naturally, they placed equal importance on personal relationships, favors, and reciprocity. Tantai Ying would certainly make sure Qi Xuansu received something in return.

Qi Xuansu could refuse, or he could accept.

But it would be better not to refuse. Declining a gift was almost equivalent to shutting the giver out. If he would not even accept a gift from a friend, then what was the point of talking about an alliance? Alliances were inevitably bound by shared interests, not merely by personal affection.

One had to understand that being a saint was not easy. In fact, every step along that path was fraught with difficulty.

One only had to look at Zhang Yuelu. She had never intended to become some kind of saint. She had merely insisted on adhering to her principles, yet all she encountered were impossible choices.

After holding firm to those principles all this time, her reputation had suffered, her family had grown distant, and her friends had drifted away. Even Zhang Wuyue and Zhang Yuyue, the cousins closest to her, were gradually becoming estranged from her. Her own mother did not understand her.

Outsiders might say that she was right, but they would never want to be friends with someone like her.

She suffered grievances at every turn, yet had nowhere to voice them.

In truth, most people knew what was right. Yet they were still unwilling to walk the path of absolute righteousness because it was simply too difficult.

In a world governed by human nature, morality was more often a matter of aiming high in the hope of achieving something moderately good.

Many people longed for one particular thing, for self-interest and conventional morality to align perfectly. They wanted to do something that served their own interests while also conforming to society’s moral standards. If both sides of the dilemma could be satisfied at once, then it would be the best of both worlds.

They wanted to reap the benefits without being morally condemned by the self-proclaimed righteous.

This was an even greater form of greed, as they wanted both reputation and profit.

Some people, at least, were willing to bear the infamy. But those who wanted everything and were unwilling to bear even the infamy that came with pursuing their own interests were contradictory. It was an awkward struggle within themselves.

They could not become true villains who openly declared that everything they did was for their own desires and interests. Nor could they become true gentlemen who only walked the righteous path, regardless of success or failure or even their own reputation. Even if they were slandered, they would continue because all they sought was to walk the righteous path.

Thus, the greedy people could only become sanctimonious hypocrites, forever hiding their true motives while yearning for the impossible union of self-interest and morality.

But where in the world could one find such a perfect arrangement? Morality and self-interest could not always align. When the two truly came into conflict, one had to choose between them.

Insisting on having both would ultimately lead to nothing but double standards. One set of principles in words, another in deeds. One standard for others, and another for oneself.

Zhang Yuelu pursued morality, and as a result, her interests suffered. She had battered herself bloody against reality and was now on the verge of dropping out of the competition to become the eighth-generation Grand Master. This was, in fact, the far more common outcome.

However, Zhang Yuelu still refused to abandon her principles. That was why Qi Xuansu admired her.

The reason Qi Xuansu had made that wager with Zhang Yuelu over who would become Grand Master was his attempt to help her. He wanted to keep her from becoming trapped in her own thinking and stubbornly driving herself into a dead end.

Qi Xuansu was neither the Holy Xuan nor Zhang Yuelu. He was far more willing to be flexible. As long as his bottom line was not crossed, he did not mind occasionally bending the rules or doing something unconventional.

In other words, Qi Xuansu placed greater emphasis on practical interests. On the smaller scale, that meant his own interests. On the larger scale, it meant the interests of the Daoist Order. For those interests, he was willing to adjust his position to a certain extent. If those interests could first be secured, then he would also take moral considerations into account where appropriate, seeking a balanced middle path.

If both sides of a dilemma could be accommodated and the conflict resolved naturally, that would be ideal. But if that proved impossible, then one had to decide which side mattered more.

Ultimately, there was no such thing as having the best of both worlds in everything. Life was about trade-offs and choices.

Qi Xuansu was no saint, nor was he some paragon of virtue. He was simply Qi Xuansu. and he simply made his choices.

After Great Sage Jiang finished arranging these matters, he returned to Jade Capital through the Moon Mirror.

Master Yin did not linger either and soon returned to the Ghost Kingdom.

With no outsiders present, Tantai Ying finally let loose. “The Dragon Palace has quite a rich collection. Sage Qi, shall we go and take a look?”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Certainly.”

Tantai Ying added, “By the way, dragon meat that has been drained of blood is an exceptionally potent tonic. I’ll have some prepared for you, Sage Qi.”

At this, Qi Xuansu immediately thought of Little Yin. It was only after eating dragon meat that the little rascal had gained the ability to move around freely. He wondered whether feeding her more dragon meat might produce some other special effect. Perhaps she might finally remember something about that treasure.

Qi Xuansu said, “Then I must thank you, Sage Tantai.”

Tantai Ying smiled. “It’s nothing. I’ve already heard what happened from the others. If you hadn’t risked your life and charged straight into the old flood dragon’s belly, we wouldn’t have been able to kill it in the first place. You’ve earned this much, so there’s no need to be so polite.”

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