Chapter 1746: The Seal

Zhou Mengyao stopped him. “Tian Yuan, don’t be so quick to put that thing away. Do you even know how to use it?”

Qi Xuansu replied frankly, “I don’t. But even if I don’t know how to use it, I certainly can’t let it fall into their hands.”

Zhou Mengyao gave him a sidelong glance. “Aren’t you always going on about following the rules? In that case, you should hand it over to the Daoist Order. Why do I get the feeling that you’re planning to keep it for yourself?”

At this moment, Qi Xuansu displayed a remarkable resemblance to Little Yin, speaking with absolute righteousness despite having little justification for his position. “The Daoist Order? Who do you think can represent the Daoist Order right now? The Heavenly Preceptor? The Earthly Preceptor? Or the Imperial Preceptor? The Imperial Preceptor is on their side, so wouldn’t handing it over to him be the same as returning it to its original owner? If you say the Golden Tower Council represents the Daoist Order, then I’m a member of the Golden Tower Council myself. That means I can also represent the Daoist Order, so it’s perfectly appropriate for me to keep it. Once the seventh-generation Grand Master takes office, I’ll hand it over to the Grand Master. That wouldn’t count as breaking any rules.”

Zhou Mengyao asked, “Are you really that confident that Sage Donghua will be elected the seventh-generation Grand Master? What if Sage Qingwei takes the position instead?”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Madam San, you’re forgetting something. The whole reason they’re after the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon is to secure the position of Grand Master. Once they’ve achieved that objective, the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon will no longer be particularly important. If our side decides to overturn the table, that means we refuse to recognize the results of the seventh-generation Grand Master election. In that case, it would be perfectly reasonable for me not to hand it over to Sage Qingwei.”

Zhou Mengyao asked, “What if Sage Donghua gets elected, but the Taiping Sect refuses to recognize the result?”

Qi Xuansu smiled. “The same principle applies. That would mean nobody can legitimately represent the Daoist Order, so I’ll simply continue keeping it in my custody for the time being.”

Zhou Mengyao deliberately challenged him. “Have you considered that the Azure Heaven was sealed by the Taiping Sect, while the head has been passed down through successive royal families? No matter how you look at it, these things belong to them.”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Strictly speaking, both the corpse and the head belong to Wang Jujun. However, Wang Jujun was expelled from the Confucian School and stripped of his status as a Confucian Sage. Therefore, they don’t belong to the Confucian School either. They can only be considered ownerless property.”

Zhou Mengyao snorted. “You always manage to come up with some justification.”

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment before taking out the head he had just put away. “Madam San, you’re knowledgeable and experienced. Do you know how to use this thing?”

Zhou Mengyao cast him a sidelong glance. “First of all, there’s one thing we can be certain of—it definitely can’t be used outside. Otherwise, the Great Xuan imperial family wouldn’t have needed to send someone in here. This indicates that the Cloud God’s pocket realm, the Grand Illusion Realm, and this great hall constructed by the Taiping Sect are all still functioning as intended. The Azure Heaven can only exert a limited amount of influence within the Cloud God’s pocket realm.”

Qi Xuansu said thoughtfully, “But the Great Xuan Imperial Court must have some method of allowing the Azure Heaven to exert its power in the mortal world as well. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for them to send the Innkeeper here with Wang Jujun’s head.”

Zhou Mengyao replied, “Unfortunately, the Innkeeper has already been beaten to death. With my current cultivation, I’m not powerful enough to perform a soul summoning on a Zaohua-stage Heavenly Being. By the time I recover my cultivation, his soul will have long since returned to heaven and his spirit to earth.”

Qi Xuansu turned his gaze toward Long Xiaobai.

Long Xiaobai shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know how to do that.”

Something suddenly occurred to Qi Xuansu. “Speaking of recovering our cultivation, why is there an alchemy furnace here, and why are there still elixirs inside it? At first, I thought an Immortal had been gravely injured and attempted to refine elixirs, only to perish before the elixirs were ready. But now it seems that wasn’t the case at all. Since these remains don’t belong to an Immortal who died from severe injuries, but rather to Wang Jujun, the Confucian Sage whose body was used to seal the Azure Heaven, what exactly is the purpose of this alchemy furnace?”

Zhou Mengyao circled the alchemy furnace, carefully examining the patterns and designs engraved upon its surface before reaching a conclusion. “This alchemy furnace wasn’t left behind by the Taiping Sect. It was left by the Cloud God. In fact, even this inner chamber was probably constructed by the Cloud God. The Taiping Sect must have built the two outer Yin Hall and Yang Hall upon the foundations left behind by the Cloud God. In that case, the elixir inside the furnace must also have been left behind by the Cloud God.”

Qi Xuansu couldn’t help glancing at Long Xiaobai again. “Xiaobai, don’t tell me you actually carry the Cloud God’s bloodline? You were basically spoon fed these elixirs!”

Long Xiaobai replied innocently, “I don’t know either.”

Zhou Mengyao remarked, “That reminds me of something. If this young dragon lady really does have some connection to the Cloud God, then once she becomes an Immortal, she might be able to take possession of the Cloud God’s pocket realm and become its master.”

Qi Xuansu considered this carefully and realized that it was indeed a possibility.

This was the advantage of being knowledgeable and experienced. There were always precedents to draw upon. Qi Xuansu had once visited the Yin Moon, where the Toad Palace had not been constructed by the Heluo God but had instead been left behind by a rather unusual Moon God. The Heluo God had merely inherited everything the Moon God had left behind, including the methods for cultivating humanoid insects.

The Cloud God’s pocket realm had originally been the Cloud God’s divine kingdom. Long Xiaobai did not know who her parents were, and she had been born in Yunmeng Marsh. The very first time she entered the Cloud God’s pocket realm, she had been teleported directly into its core area. Judging by all these signs, it almost seemed as though the Cloud God’s pocket realm had been prepared specifically for her.

Qi Xuansu gazed at Long Xiaobai and fell into deep thought.

If Long Xiaobai became an Immortal and took possession of the Cloud God’s pocket realm, she would be able to control it. Combined with Wang Jujun’s head, this would allow them to exercise the greatest possible degree of control over the Azure Heaven.

With that, all they would need to do was undo the restrictions imposed by the Taiping Sect through the two Yin and Yang Halls to summon the Azure Heaven into the mortal world.

Long Xiaobai felt uncomfortable under Qi Xuansu’s intense gaze.

Qi Xuansu was not looking at her the way a man looked at a woman. He was looking at her the way someone looked at a priceless treasure.

Unfortunately, Sage Qi had little interest in women. Rather than taking concubines, he was far more interested in acquiring additional family members—the more, the merrier. It just went to show how the emotional voids left by one’s childhood could influence an entire lifetime.

Zhou Mengyao reminded Qi Xuansu, “That is indeed a possibility, but only if you can put the Azure Heaven back under control afterward. If you can unleash it but cannot contain it, allowing it to wreak havoc upon the mortal world, then you’ll become a sinner condemned for all eternity. Your name will go down in the history books for all the wrong reasons.”

In truth, once someone reached a certain level of prominence, personal gains and losses were no longer the overriding concern. What was most important was one’s reputation during one’s lifetime and after one’s death, especially the latter. Who wouldn’t want their name to be celebrated for eternity? Who would willingly leave behind a legacy of infamy that endured for countless generations?

Qi Xuansu’s expression turned solemn. “I know. But King Xiao managed to accomplish it back then, and now, the Great Xuan Imperial Court has sent someone here for the same purpose. That makes me believe there must be a way. If they can do it, there’s no reason why we can’t.”

Zhou Mengyao sighed and chose not to argue further. Instead, she pointed toward the headless mortal shell. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Our immediate priority is to reseal the Azure Heaven and prevent it from continuing to wreak havoc within the Cloud God’s pocket realm.”

Qi Xuansu raised the human head in his hands and examined it from different angles. Needless to say, the secret to sealing the Azure Heaven undoubtedly lay within this head.

He then noticed that the head’s eyes were open. However, there were no eyeballs in their sockets, only two dark, hollow cavities.

Qi Xuansu looked at the head in his hands, then at the headless corpse not far away. He walked over to the corpse, placed the head upon its neck, and gently swept his hand across the head’s eyes.

To his surprise, the eyes of this former Confucian Sage actually closed.

In an instant, the strange, unsettling sensation that had been weighing faintly upon his heart vanished.

Zhou Mengyao immediately left the inner hall and headed toward the Yang Hall above.

Soon after, Zhou Mengyao returned to the inner chamber and remarked approvingly, “The entrance leading to and from the Inverted Tower up above has already disappeared. I must say, you really do have a knack for figuring things out. You’ve been clever ever since you were little.”

Qi Xuansu removed the head from the corpse once more and stored it inside his magical receptacle.

As for what to do with it, Zhou Mengyao was right to say that they could wait to figure it out later. At the very least, they should wait until Long Xiaobai became an Immortal and proved herself capable of taking possession of the Cloud God’s pocket realm. Otherwise, they might spend considerable effort devising all sorts of plans, only to discover that Long Xiaobai could not become the master of the pocket realm after all. If so, all that planning would have been for nothing.

As things stood, Long Xiaobai still had a long way to go before becoming an Immortal.

After putting away the head, Qi Xuansu asked Long Xiaobai, “Xiaobai, how did you get out last time? Were you teleported directly outside?”

“Mhmm,” Long Xiaobai replied as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “But last time, I fell asleep after taking the elixir, so I don’t know exactly how much time passed.”

Qi Xuansu said, “It seems we’ll just have to wait, then. But without the interference of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, we should be able to pass directly through the Grand Illusion Realm the next time we come here. That would also give us an opportunity to examine the Yin Hall and the Yang Hall from the outside and see what they actually look like.”

Just then, Zhou Mengyao walked over to the alchemy furnace and examined it carefully for a moment. She then manipulated some unknown mechanism, and to their surprise, the furnace door actually opened.

There were no more elixirs inside, since Long Xiaobai had already eaten them all. That was how she had advanced to the Pseudo-Immortal stage in a single leap.

However, the internal structure of this alchemy furnace was rather complicated. It was divided into several chambers, each serving a different purpose. Long Xiaobai had known nothing about these things at the time.

But Zhou Mengyao was different. She was a polymath who had at least a basic understanding of virtually everything.

This time, Zhou Mengyao opened another alchemical chamber, and to their surprise, some red liquid began flowing out.

A look of delight appeared on Zhou Mengyao’s face. She took out the jade bottle that had originally contained the Jade Liquor and filled it with the red liquid.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu asked, “What’s that?”

Zhou Mengyao replied, “This is Elixir Liquid. Pop quiz—do you know the two meanings of Elixir Liquid?”

Qi Xuansu retorted, “You’re seriously underestimating me. I even know four different ways to write the characters for Elixir Liquid.”

Zhou Mengyao laughed. “It’s not that I’m underestimating you. It’s just that Su Yi once mentioned to me that someone didn’t even know the four different ways to write the character for ‘person’ and even called it ‘grain person.’”

Qi Xuansu silently turned his face away. “Who would have thought that Su Yi would be such a gossip queen despite appearing so quiet and composed? How despicable!”

Zhou Mengyao stopped teasing Qi Xuansu and explained, “Su Yi wasn’t actually mocking you. She was mocking me for not teaching you well. Your inadequate education naturally reflects poorly on me as your teacher.”

Qi Xuansu remarked pointedly, “So Su Yi has known about these inside matters for quite some time?”

Zhou Mengyao changed the subject. “Let me educate you, then. The first meaning of Elixir Liquid refers to the Undying Elixir. But there certainly wouldn’t be an actual Undying Elixir here, so we’re dealing with its second meaning—a byproduct produced during the alchemical refinement process. Although it cannot compare to the actual elixirs, it still contains concentrated medicinal essence and offers considerable benefits. With this Elixir Liquid, I can at least say this trip hasn’t been a waste. It will help me recover from my injuries.”

Qi Xuansu made no attempt to stop Zhou Mengyao from taking the Elixir Liquid. Instead, he said, “Madam San, let’s make a gentleman’s agreement. You can take this Elixir Liquid with you. In exchange, you must not reveal anything that happened here to anyone, including the Earthly Preceptor.”

Zhou Mengyao considered his proposal briefly before replying, “I can agree to that. However, the Great Xuan Imperial Court will still know that something happened. After all, the Innkeeper is dead, and there’s no way to conceal that. There’s also Su Yuanzai. He encountered the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon and lost two semi-immortal objects in the process. So you’ll need to give him an explanation as well.”

Qi Xuansu replied, “I’ll speak to Su Yuanzai personally. As for the Great Xuan Imperial Court, they wouldn’t dare let the Daoist Order find out about this, so they certainly won’t make a public fuss. Even if they know what really happened, there’s nothing much to worry about.”

Zhou Mengyao snickered. “I’d advise you not to be so optimistic. The Great Xuan Imperial Court may be inferior to the Daoist Order as a whole, but in terms of its overall power and resources, it is no weaker than any of the Three Daoist Sects or the Western Daoist Order. In fact, it may even surpass us. If the Emperor truly decides to make trouble for you, you won’t be able to withstand the pressure.”