A Pawn's Passage-Chapter 1173: Great Sage

With this series of rapid changes, the black-robed elder finally suffered a severe blow and fell into a disadvantageous position.

For some reason, his Six Directions Undying Body failed to take effect for a long time. The countless tiny paper fragments embedded in his wounds were writhing and crackling with strands of purple lightning, roaming restlessly.

The black-robed elder knew that if the fight continued, his chances of victory were slim. It might also draw the attention of other powerful experts.

After all, Lion City was largely filled with people from Qi Xuansu’s faction. If the battle dragged on and attracted figures such as Shangguan Ya, Qin Hengjun, and Xie Jiaofeng, along with large numbers of Spirit Guards and Black Robes, then sheer numbers could overwhelm him. He truly might be trapped here.

With this in mind, the black-robed elder took advantage of his momentum and retreated.

At the same time, a small square seal appeared in his hand, white on top and black below. Engraved upon it was the Torch Dragon with a human face and dragon body, holding a candle in its mouth. Legend had it that the Torch Dragon illuminated the dark nether regions in the northwest. When it opened its eyes, the world was bathed in light, becoming day, and when it closed its eyes, heaven and earth fell into darkness, becoming night. Thus, the Torch Dragon was a divine beast embodying the balance of yin and yang.

Upon seeing this seal, Zhang Yuelu blurted out, “The Yin-Yang Torch Dragon Seal! So it really is you, Sun Heyu!”

This was precisely why the black-robed elder had refrained from using it at the start. This object was simply too famous, and once revealed, there would be no concealing his identity.

The black-robed elder was none other than Great Sage Sun Heyu.

A Great Sage might lack a true immortal object, which was a privilege that belonged to a Virtuous Great Sage. But he would certainly possess a semi-immortal object. Sun Heyu’s semi-immortal object was this Yin-Yang Torch Dragon Seal, which was a token of the Quanzhen Sect’s Yin-Yang lineage.

One should not underestimate Sun Heyu. He had once been an Omniscient Sage. Even Wang Jiaohe addressed him respectfully as Elder Sun. When Qi Xuansu had yet to firmly establish himself, he avoided a direct confrontation with him.

Had this incident not occurred, Sun Heyu’s status within the Quanzhen Sect would be extremely high, enough to address Great Sage Lan as senior brother and enjoy a position of remarkable prestige.

If the Quanzhen Sect were to eliminate figures like Wang Jiaohe, Chen Shuhua, and Sun Heyu in one stroke, would that not be tantamount to cutting off its own arm?

In fact, this was the core problem of the Quanzhen Sect. It was a widely acknowledged fact within the Daoist community that the Quanzhen Sect had the greatest scale, with power far surpassing that of the Taiping Sect.

However, the Taiping Sect overtook the Quanzhen Sect due to the latter’s internal strife. With too many factions vying for power, the Quanzhen Sect could not be unified. Figures like Wang Jiaohe and Sun Heyu were figureheads of this kind of internal infighting.

This was because both the Taiping Sect and the Zhengyi Sect had a central ruling family. While this limited upward mobility, it also allowed them to maintain the greatest possible stability. The Quanzhen Sect had no such core family. The Yao family was powerful, but it had too short a history, and their numbers were small. Moreover, there were too many first-tier clans, such as the Pei, Qi, Xu, Tang, and Ji families.

Most Daoist disciples of common origin were concentrated in the Quanzhen Sect and the Grand Master’s lineage, so they were naturally not aligned with aristocratic families. This made the Quanzhen Sect even harder to integrate.

The Earthly Preceptor’s meaning was perfectly clear. Since the Wang and Sun families were half-hearted to begin with, removing them could hardly be considered severing an arm. It would be better to give those positions to younger people who were more obedient.

The Taiping Sect also engaged in internal struggles, but these were all small, off-the-board maneuvers. By contrast, the infighting within the Quanzhen Sect was far more intense.

Among the Three Daoist Sects, the Quanzhen Sect had the largest overall size, yet the Yao family that represented it ranked only third. This fact alone already spoke volumes.

If the Quanzhen Sect could also have achieved unity from top to bottom and cohesion internally and externally, then it would have been the Zhang and Li families setting aside past grievances and forming an alliance between the Zhengyi Sect and the Taiping Sect.

The reason Sun Heyu was unwilling to reveal his identity was that he did not wish to tear the veil away completely.

At his old age, so close to ascension, he was no longer hot-blooded and even less likely to act on impulse.

What Sun Heyu considered was not venting anger at Qi Xuansu or Zhang Yuelu, but how to preserve himself. He had no desire to fight to the death merely to splatter Qi Xuansu with blood, as that would have been meaningless.

Moreover, there was an unwritten rule within the Daoist Order—if there was no evidence and no one was caught in the act, then it would be as if nothing had happened.

Sun Heyu knew that Chen Jianqiu was a member of the Ziguang Society, yet he had no evidence. He would have to capture Chen Jianqiu first in order to obtain evidence. But without evidence, he could not make an arrest, because Chen Jianqiu was the sovereign of the Yu Kingdom, a recognized figure in both the Golden Tower Council and the Great Xuan Court, not some nameless stray who could be casually bullied.

Thus, Sun Heyu could not seize Chen Jianqiu openly in his capacity as a Great Sage and could only attempt to capture her in secret.

By the same logic, Sun Heyu also could not prove that Star Lord Yuheng was a member of the Ziguang Society because they were a covert group, unlike the Heavenly Court, which numbered in the tens of thousands. The Heavenly Court was much like an independent kingdom, so as the ruler of a domain, its leaders—Golden Patriarch, Wu Guangbi, and Liu Gui—would be universally known and could not hide away.

The Ziguang Society specialized in concealment and never revealed true identities. Its numbers were smaller, and there was no need to appear publicly. Star Lord Yuheng’s public identity was Madam Yu, a beautiful noblewoman of Western descent. Moreover, she had Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu’s backing in Lion City, so Sun Heyu could not simply march in and arrest her without evidence.

There was yet another consideration. Sun Heyu also did not wish to offend Star Lord Yuheng’s superior, True Lord Ziguang. He merely wanted to get through this hurdle, not to fight to the bitter end. If he failed to get through this and lost the protection of the Daoist Order, he would have to face the retaliation of an Ancient Immortal, which would be truly terrifying.

So at the very beginning, Sun Heyu was extremely restrained. He tried to negotiate first before making a move. He did not even intend to do anything to Star Lord Yuheng. He merely wanted to seize the person.

Since this was a covert capture, many methods were unsuitable. The sword slaves he had secretly refined behind the Daoist Order’s back could be used, but the Yin-Yang Torch Dragon Seal was an object of the Daoist Order and extremely well known. Unless absolutely necessary, it could not be used.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang Yuelu was not at all afraid of Sun Heyu discovering the relationship between her and Star Lord Yuheng.

Back when someone reported Zheng Jiaohe, Qi Xuansu specifically asked whether the report was made under a real name. Within the Daoist Order, such reports were common, but there was a basic principle—real-name reports carried far greater weight than anonymous ones. If a report was made under a real name, it had to receive a clear and explicit response.

If Sun Heyu were to make only an anonymous report, it would be suppressed outright.

If Sun Heyu were to lodge a real-name report and open the can of worms, then the nature of the matter would change entirely.

No one would believe that Sun Heyu’s actions were merely aimed at Zhang Yuelu, a junior. Instead, they would assume he was acting under someone else’s instructions, targeting the Heavenly Preceptor or even the entire Zhengyi Sect.

That would amount to igniting a war.

If it provoked a full-scale counterattack from the Zhengyi Sect, the consequences would not be something Sun Heyu could bear alone. This would likely hasten his own destruction.

For all these reasons, Sun Heyu dared not reveal his true face and acted with great caution. But at this point, having suffered severe injuries, he had no choice but to use the Yin-Yang Torch Dragon Seal.

Twelve thin black threads shot out from the Yin-Yang Torch Dragon Seal, each one connecting to one of the twelve sword-slaves.

Sun Heyu then reached out and yanked, forcibly pulling the twelve sword-slaves out of Star Lord Yuheng’s small world by relying on the power of the seal.

Had he known it would come to this, he might as well have used the Torch Dragon Seal from the very beginning, sparing himself from falling into such a predicament.

But it was too late to say any of that. Gravely wounded, Sun Heyu swept his sleeve, drawing the twelve sword-slaves into it. He then transformed into a streak of rainbow as he fled the scene.

Zhang Yuelu did not pursue him. Instead, she immediately went to look for Little Yin.

When Zhang Yuelu found Little Yin, she was lying stiffly on a patch of grass, eyes tightly shut, mouth gaping wide. Blood poured out from her mouth, gushing nonstop with occasional surges, like a fountain.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuelu panicked slightly. She tossed aside Purple Afterglow and joined the index and middle fingers of her right hand into a sword finger, tapping Little Yin repeatedly. However, Little Yin showed no reaction at all, as if she were already dead.

Zhang Yuelu took a deep breath, straightened both arms, and stacked her palms upward, with her left hand on top. Her right middle finger hooked around the base of her left middle finger, forming the Nine-Color Lotus Seal. Between her ten fingers, multicolored lotus light blossomed, its starlike radiance flickering, and the faint shadow of a nine-petaled lotus slowly unfolded.

This was the Lotus Mantra, one of the foundations for cultivating the Xiaoyao Six Void Tribulations.

Zhang Yuelu struck Little Yin once each on the chest, lower abdomen, and forehead, leaving behind three lotus-shaped marks. The tiny lotus at the center of her brow was vivid, like a decorative flower women liked to wear on their forehead.

After finishing this, Zhang Yuelu let out a long breath of turbid air. Her face turned slightly pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, revealing a trace of exhaustion. Clearly, the Lotus Mantra consumed her greatly.

The effect was equally evident. Little Yin stopped bleeding and was no longer spewing blood from her mouth.

After a short while, Little Yin let out a groan and slowly woke up, seeing Zhang Yuelu sitting right beside her.

Zhang Yuelu, who rarely showed any tenderness, reached out and pulled Little Yin into her arms.

Little Yin was dazed and weak as she struggled to say, “It hurts...so much...I—I’m going to die...”

“Don’t worry. You won’t die,” Zhang Yuelu murmured.

Little Yin said faintly, “Y-You’re lying...I—I’m really going to die...”

Zhang Yuelu promised, “Don’t think nonsense. When you get better, I’ll take you around Lion City, and you’ll get to do whatever you want.”

Little Yin instantly perked up, sitting upright despite being on the brink of death. “You promised! Write it down!”