A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 231: Zero Effort

Before Qi Xuansu joined Tiangang Hall last year, he had gone to Fengtai County after inquiring about some information at The Inn. Back then, he defeated two assistant majors and a group of Green Phoenix Guards to barge into the county magistrate’s office so that he could claim the Xuan Jade that Madam Qi wanted.

In the end, he found the Xuan Jade in a piece of paperweight placed in plain sight on the desk in the county magistrate’s study.

Qi Xuansu looked down at the paperweight in his hand and doubtfully muttered, “It can’t be so coincidental, right? Or is it intentional?”

All this while, the special compass in his bag did not vibrate, indicating that it did not detect a Xuan Jade.

Qi Xuansu placed the paperweight on the desk and took out the compass from his bag.

Still, the compass did not respond.

Qi Xuansu pondered for a moment before moving the compass closer, almost touching the paperweight.

That was when the compass vibrated ever so slightly.

Mountain Ghost actually hid the Xuan Jade in the paperweight and placed it openly on the desk, having the same idea as the Fengtai County Magistrate, Li Hongwen.

Qi Xuansu exclaimed, “No way! I almost missed it!”

He quickly put away the compass, picked up the paperweight, and slowly exerted some force in his palm. However, there were no changes to the paperweight.

“Eh?” Qi Xuansu was puzzled.

He continued to exert more force. Combining a Martial Arts Practitioner’s brute force and a Rogue Cultivator’s innate qi, Qi Xuansu could easily crush a rock. But only some minute cracks appeared on the paperweight.

After a while, Qi Xuansu released his palm as his fingers felt a little stiff from exerting too much force.

It was evident that the craftsmanship of professionals was much better than that of the county magistrate. The Xuan Jade was concealed so well inside the paperweight that the special compass barely detected it at such proximity. This paperweight’s toughness was also far superior to the county magistrate’s.

Left with no choice, Qi Xuansu took out his short sword, Qing Yuan, to slowly cut the paperweight along the cracks.

A touch of green was gradually revealed as the fragments on the surface continued to peel off.

This was the third piece of Xuan Jade that Qi Xuansu had seen.

Qi Xuansu peeled off all the outer fragments, revealing the true appearance of the Xuan Jade hidden inside. It was somewhat similar to the knife currency in ancient times, as it was shaped like the crescent moon.

Comparing the three Xuan Jades, the one from Fengtai County was emerald green with fewer blood-red veins, while the one from Yulan Temple had more blood-red streaks inside, so it was somewhat reddish overall. This third piece of Xuan Jade from White Jade Hall had some veins, but they were not blood red. The veins were an ominous grayish-black color.

Qi Xuansu had personally experienced the benefits of a Xuan Jade. As long as he had enough divine power, he could activate the Xuan Jade and obtain some magical properties from it. Unfortunately, this Xuan Jade did not belong to him. It was Madam Qi’s.

He only had a brief battle with the angel and devil on his shoulders before he finally decided to contact Madam Qi using the mother-child talisman.

Soon, Madam Qi’s upper-body projection appeared in front of Qi Xuansu.

“I got the stuff. It’s this thing, right?” Qi Xuansu waved the Xuan Jade in his hand.

Madam Qi nodded. “Yup, that’s it. I heard that something big is happening in Cuowenbu right now, so I thought you wouldn’t be able to make it there. How are you? Are you injured?”

“No, I didn’t get injured. I even had a small gain. But I did almost give up on finding White Jade Hall’s hideout. By the time I found it, Mountain Ghost had already disappeared. But he left a letter and this thing, saying it was repayment for his debt.” Qi Xuansu reported.

Madam Qi’s eyes swept over the Xuan Jade before sizing up Qi Xuansu. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Where should I meet you now?”

Madam Qi shook her head. “I’m very busy now and don’t have time to meet up with you.”

Qi Xuansu was startled. “How can I give you the Xuan Jade if I don’t see you? Should I get someone to send it to you?”

Madam Qi said casually, “I told you a long time ago that besides collecting the payment, I left some things for you in White Jade Hall that you could just take as you please.”

Qi Xuansu was stunned.

Madam Qi continued, “The thing I left behind is the payment that I asked you to collect. If you can collect it, it’s yours. But if you give up, or if someone else gets to it first, or if Mountain Ghost reneged on his debt, then it’s your loss. It has nothing to do with me.”

Qi Xuansu lowered his head to stare at the Xuan Jade in his hand before looking up at Madam Qi in disbelief. After a long time, he stuttered, “B-But...it’s a Xuan Jade...”

“So what if it’s a Xuan Jade? I’m not Li Changge. I have no interest in this!” Madam Qi scoffed.

Qi Xuansu heard a familiar name and could not help but ask, “Madam Qi, did you just mention Li Changge?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Li Changge, as in THE Li Changge from the Taiping Sect who ranked first on the Ruyi Leaderboard?” Qi Xuansu clarified.

Madam Qi was getting a little annoyed. “Yes, that one. Didn’t you already know that the Taiping Sect was looking for Xuan Jades? Then didn’t you wonder why the Taiping Sect wanted to gather Xuan Jades or who they planned to give them to? It can’t be for that old geezer Li Changgeng himself, right?”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Who’s Li Changgeng?”

Madam Qi completely lost her patience. “You fool! Who else could it be?! Li Changgeng is the Great Sage of the Taiping Sect and the Imperial Preceptor, who is also the current Great Sage Lunzhi!”

Qi Xuansu was used to being scolded by Madam Qi, so it did not bother him one bit. “Oh, the Imperial Preceptor. So he’s named after the constellations too, like Zhang Yuelu. I wonder what his courtesy name is.”

Madam Qi said sarcastically, “Go ahead and ask him yourself.”

Qi Xuansu laughed dryly and did not respond. He finally understood that not everyone from the Taiping Sect was looking for the Xuan Jade. They were just under the orders of the dominant Li family to gather Xuan Jades for Li Changge, not the Imperial Preceptor himself.

This made sense. Perhaps that “genius” from the Li family was transformed by the Xuan Jade, not natural born. Before Qi Xuansu came across the Xuan Jade at Yulan Temple, he was only at the Kunlun stage. But after the Xuan Jade’s transformation, his cultivation had advanced a level to the Yuxu stage. He even made it on the Ruyi Leaderboard. That was just the effect of one Xuan Jade.

Being the groomed successor of the Taiping Sect, Li Changge would certainly get more than one piece of Xuan Jade. Thus, it made sense that Li Changge could surpass Zhang Yuelu to rank first on the Ruyi Leaderboard.

Qi Xuansu pretended to hesitate as he said, “Madam Qi...”

Madam Qi rolled her eyes at him. “Just spit it out and stop beating around the bush.”

Hearing this, Qi Xuansu quickly seized the opportunity. “Madam Qi, you mentioned that all Xuan Jades were different. Besides the Xuan Jade of Life, there are other Xuan Jades with different magical powers. The same type of Xuan Jade can even have superimposed effects.

“So if I can get another piece of the Xuan Jade of Life, my blood qi will become stronger, and my body regenerative abilities can be further strengthened to the point that I can be almost immortal. But the Xuan Jade I’m holding now is clearly not the Xuan Jade of Life. What type of Xuan Jade is this, then?”

Madam Qi answered directly, “This is the Xuan Jade of Death.”

Qi Xuansu pondered for a while before saying, “Does it mean this piece of Xuan Jade can cause sudden death?!”

“You idiot!” Madam Qi berated him again. “Did your Xuan Jade of Life resurrect dead people? Since the Xuan Jade of Life can’t bring people back from the dead, then why do you assume that the Xuan Jade of Death will cause sudden death?”

Madam Qi paused for a moment before continuing, “The function of this piece of Xuan Jade is to control the underworld. In other words, you will be able to control corpses, ghosts, zombies, and even some Daoist creations. However, this piece of Xuan Jade is not whole. Just as your incomplete Xuan Jade of Life can’t allow you to have an immortal body, this incomplete Xuan Jade of Death can’t allow you to control too many of these creatures. Anyway, you can explore its functions slowly.”

Qi Xuansu pouted. “But activating the Xuan Jade requires divine power. Last time, I was lucky enough to get some of that free divine power from Wu Luo. Where can I find divine power this time? Madam Qi, you’re so resourceful and omnipotent. Can you lend me—”

“No!” Madam Qi cut him off. “I’m not your mother.”

“Madam Qi, that’s not right. You definitely regarded me as a son when you accused me of forgetting about you after getting to know Zhang Yuelu. Why is it that you instantly disown me when I want to borrow money?” Qi Xuansu protested.

Madam Qi was unmoved. “Don’t push it. Even if you were my biological son, I still wouldn’t give you a coin. I have something to do, so I’ll contact you again when necessary.”

After that, Madam Qi cut off the communication of the mother-child talisman.

All Qi Xuansu could do was sigh in resignation as he stared at the ashes of the mother-child talisman in his hand.