Chapter 1750: Wu Zhen’s Totem

Over the next few days, Qi Xuansu traveled tirelessly between several major branch palaces, accompanied by the personnel responsible for each branch. He conducted inspections and delivered various speeches, sometimes offering encouragement and sometimes voicing criticism.

Following the predetermined itinerary, he finally returned to the Main Palace on the fourth day, where he inspected Little Yin’s schoolwork. On the fifth day, he personally conducted a class, paying particular attention to Yan Yongyi and Xu Xinghuan.

Yan Yongyi did not do anything particularly noteworthy. Xu Xinghuan, who was nowhere near as assertive as Yan Yongyi, actually possessed a reasonable understanding of social etiquette and interpersonal relationships, so he took the initiative to visit Qi Xuansu.

As soon as the two met, Xu Xinghuan congratulated Qi Xuansu. “Congratulations on reaching new heights, Sage Qi.”

Qi Xuansu responded with the calm, unassuming demeanor of a senior addressing a junior. “Let’s continue making progress together.”

In fact, Xu Xinghuan had long since received instructions from his father, Xu Dacheng, to seek an audience with Qi Xuansu. Unfortunately, Qi Xuansu had departed for Xiangzhou so hastily that Xu Xinghuan had narrowly missed the opportunity.

Qi Xuansu still had to attend a Daoist Palace Council Meeting, so he did not spend much time chatting with Xu Xinghuan. Nevertheless, he made sure to convey a clear sense of goodwill and familiarity. The best way to cultivate trusted confidants was through the secretarial route. Chen Jianchou had preceded Yan Yongzhen, and Yan Yongzhen would eventually be transferred out to take up another post.

By the time Yan Yongzhen was transferred to an external post, Xu Xinghuan should be about ready for promotion to a third-rank Youyi Daoist. If he proved suitable, he could succeed Yan Yongzhen, just as Liu Hu would succeed Ke Qingqing.

Qi Xuansu was not against Yan Yongyi. He simply did not want to get close to her because she was a female Daoist.

Qi Xuansu had no objection to interacting with older female Daoists, since he could position himself as their junior and maintain a relatively relaxed relationship with them. But he was extremely cautious around female Daoists of his own age and generation. Apart from individuals such as Yao Pei and Shi Yu, with whom he had some degree of familial connection, or colleagues like Ning Yuqing, whom he had no choice but to interact with professionally, he generally refused to develop overly close relationships with women of his own generation. He was afraid that malicious rumors might spread and damage his reputation.

After all, morality had become such an effective weapon. Unfortunately, Qi Xuansu occupied an exceptionally important position, and countless people were watching him closely, hoping to find something they could exploit against him. Although he was not particularly afraid, because with his current status and standing, he certainly would not be executed over such matters, there was simply no reason to test just how sharp the sword of morality might be.

The downside of this approach was that Zhang Yuelu ended up being implicated. Many people claimed that Zhang Yuelu was indeed domineering, pointing out that she had even managed to keep someone like Qi Xuansu completely under her thumb. If she were married to an ordinary man, they could not imagine how miserable his life would be.

However, Zhang Yuelu did not particularly care. Her reputation had already been thoroughly ruined anyway. People could say whatever they wanted.

Finally, after dealing with all these miscellaneous Daoist Palace affairs, Qi Xuansu made the necessary arrangements with Yan Yongzhen and formally entered secluded cultivation to visit Lingshan Mountain in his dream.

He once again heard the familiar message left behind by Madam Qi. Following a route he knew by heart, Qi Xuansu made his way to the usual location and met Shi Hengbo.

Behind her stood 11 totem poles, each representing one of the Eleven Witches.

The totems of Wu Di, Wu Zhen, Wu Lu, and Wu Xiang had reached the sixth level. The totems of Wu Ji, Wu Fan, Wu Yang, and Wu Xian had reached the seventh level, while the totems of Wu Luo and Wu Gu had reached the eighth level. Wu Peng’s totem had reached the ninth level, making it the only totem that had been completely filled.

By completely filling Wu Peng’s totem, Qi Xuansu had obtained Wu Peng’s legacy, which primarily consisted of the Five Elements Grand Formation and the ability to manipulate earth qi.

In summary, Qi Xuansu’s Rogue Cultivator, Martial Arts Practitioner, Shaman, Qi Refiner, and Banished Immortal lineages had all reached the Zaohua stage. Only his Diviner lineage remained at the Wuliang stage, making it his sole remaining weakness.

Qi Xuansu directly channeled the divine power contained within the Xuan Jade into the totems.

To Qi Xuansu’s surprise, this piece of Xuan Jade was exceptionally pure. Its power acted almost exclusively upon Wu Zhen’s totem, raising it directly from the sixth level to the ninth level. Thus, Wu Zhen’s totem became the second totem to be completely filled, following Wu Peng’s.

Qi Xuansu remembered very clearly that Wu Zhen was one of the four Great Witches who had perished in the Lingshan Paradise. The Lingshan Paradise was also the principal stronghold controlled by the Yao family.

Qi Xuansu even suspected that this particular piece of Xuan Jade provided by the Yao family had been refined directly from Wu Zhen’s remains and that the blood-red threads within the jade were the genuine blood of the Great Witches.

The difference was that the blood-red threads found in most ordinary pieces of Xuan Jade were artificial imitations produced through the creation project, much like the Imitation Torch Dragon Blood and other substances. The Daoist Order certainly possessed the technological capabilities to accomplish such feats. However, imitations were ultimately imitations and could never be completely identical to the genuine counterparts. They contained impurities and a mixture of different characteristics, making these artificially reproduced bloods more akin to mixed blood. That was why absorbing a single piece of Xuan Jade could raise the levels of several Great Witch totems simultaneously. Even someone like Li Changge, a manmade Banished Immortal with no connection to the Great Witches, could make use of the Xuan Jade.

However, the Xuan Jade provided by the Yao family was excessively pure. Not the slightest trace of its power spilled over into the other totems. Instead, it precisely enhanced Wu Zhen’s totem alone. Considering that Qi Xuansu had previously seen Wu Zhen’s remains, it was hardly surprising that he would arrive at such a suspicion.

Qi Xuansu then recalled the three murals he had seen in the Lingshan Paradise.

In the first mural, Wu Zhen sat upon an enormous throne, appearing like a giant. She wore a long robe decorated with strange patterns and a bronze mask that concealed her face. Numerous figures gathered around her feet, none of them reaching the height of the throne’s armrests. Some knelt with their heads bowed in prayer, others prostrated themselves in reverence, while still others stood with both hands raised as though presenting an offering. Their eyes gazed devoutly upon Wu Zhen, seemingly awaiting her blessings.

In the second mural, Wu Zhen remained seated upon her throne, but she was poised to remove the bronze mask covering her face. The surrounding figures reacted in different ways. Some were utterly terrified and fled in all directions, while others were overcome with joy and excitement, seemingly having eagerly anticipated this very moment.

In the third mural, Wu Zhen had removed the bronze mask from her face. Her entire face was pitch-black, completely shrouded in shadow. Meanwhile, the outlines of all the people surrounding her had become dotted lines, which signified that they had transformed into shadows.

At the time, Madam Qi explained that Wu Zhen was the master of the Shadow Realm, and all those people had been drawn into the Shadow Realm.

Wu Zhen had been dead for many years. Even if her remains still possessed certain supernatural properties, they were, at most, comparable in power to Wu Luo’s incarnation. Moreover, most of the power contained within Wu Zhen’s remains had already been absorbed by the Bone-Illuminating Mirror, leaving behind only a portion of her remains. They were hardly worth mentioning.

However, there was one unpredictable factor in all this—the Shadow Realm.

It was due to the Shadow Realm’s existence that Wu Zhen retained the possibility of resurrection. This had forced the Second Heavenly Preceptor to divide her into two parts and seal them separately. Her soul had been trapped within an illusory recreation of her final battle, unable to extricate itself, while her remains had been placed upon the throne and suppressed by the Bone-Illuminating Mirror.

This was also one of the reasons why the Earthly Preceptor had not taken away the Bone-Illuminating Mirror. In the end, Madam Qi had been the one to benefit from it.

Even with Qi Xuansu and Madam Qi joining forces, they had been unable to completely destroy Wu Zhen. Instead, they had employed both demonic fire and Shebishi Venom simultaneously to accelerate her disintegration. With the Bone-Illuminating Mirror removed, Wu Zhen had ultimately returned to the Shadow Realm.

Now that Qi Xuansu had obtained Wu Zhen’s legacy, the first benefit was a tremendous increase in his cultivation, allowing his Diviner lineage to advance into the Zaohua stage, thus eliminating his last remaining weakness.

A yin spirit could leave its physical body and travel freely, remaining invisible to ordinary human eyes. However, it was formless and insubstantial, existing merely as a mass of spiritual essence, and possessed numerous weaknesses. By contrast, a yang spirit was virtually indistinguishable from a living person. It did not fear sunlight, heavenly winds, or heavenly thunder. It could soar through the heavens, travel beneath the earth, and enjoy longevity. It was a perfect example of yang emerging from the extreme of yin. Most importantly, upon reaching the Yangshen Realm, the Diviner lineage would finally cease to be suppressed by the powerful blood qi of Martial Arts Practitioners.

However, many of the abilities possessed by Ghostly Immortals were poorly suited for direct combat against others. Most were primarily auxiliary techniques.

After Martial Arts Practitioners reached the Shattered Void Realm, its greatest divine ability was the power to shake and disrupt the void, making it exceptionally well suited for combat. Other lineages had more versatile abilities that could be used both in battle and for other purposes, depending entirely on how they were applied. Only the Diviner lineage had developed toward the opposite extreme from the Martial Arts Practitioner lineage. Diviners’ abilities were primarily intended for purposes other than combat and were generally unsuitable for direct confrontation.

The defining characteristic of Martial Arts Practitioners was their extreme emphasis on the physical body, treating it as the foundation of everything. They would even go so far as to unite their flesh and spirit, making the soul an inseparable part of the physical body.

As the polar opposite of Martial Arts Practitioners, Diviners placed very little importance on the physical body, regarding it as nothing more than a garment.

Upon reaching the Yangshen Realm, a Diviner could discard their physical body entirely and allow their yang spirit to exist independently. Combined with their ability to disperse their consciousness into multiple separate thoughts, this gave Diviners an extraordinary number of life-preserving techniques. Among cultivators of the same level, defeating a Diviner was not particularly difficult, but killing one completely was exceedingly difficult.

A yang spirit could also undergo reincarnation and begin life anew. This involved occupying a fetus in the womb before its own soul had fully formed, thereby achieving a form of reincarnation. However, this process came with its drawbacks, which caused the reincarnated individual to forget their previous life and former identity. If they were lucky, they might eventually recover their past memories. If they were unlucky, they could spend their entire lives in a state of confusion and ignorance, never remembering who they had once been.

Many child prodigies who appeared to possess extraordinary knowledge from birth but died at a young age were actually the result of a Diviner possessing them. The reason they died prematurely was that their physical body was merely an outer shell. Within them, the Three Corpses continued to attack and erode their vitality and lifespan.

Once a Diviner reached the Yangshen Realm at the Pseudo-Immortal stage, they could overcome this Mystery of the Womb and recover their memories after reincarnation. This was different from the Heavenly Immortal’s incarnations, which were separated from their true selves by an entire world. A Diviner remained within the same world, making it comparatively easier to overcome the Mystery of the Womb. If they did not wish to start life over as an infant, they could resort to parasitic possession. By pretending to be a benevolent senior who enjoyed helping others, they could cultivate a suitable vessel, gradually erode the host’s consciousness from within, and ultimately seize another person’s body.

After becoming an Immortal, a Diviner would no longer be restricted to reincarnating as a fetus or gradual possession. Instead, a Diviner could forcibly seize another person’s body outright, truly achieving a state where physical bodies were like garments to be changed. Even in the midst of combat, a Diviner could perform such a possession. To ordinary observers, there would merely be a flash of light and shadow as one figure passed through another, and the body would already have a new owner.

From this perspective, Diviners were the most adept at clinging to life and surviving at all costs.

However, to Qi Xuansu, this ability was of limited practical value. He certainly could not bear to abandon his own physical body. Without his body, what would he have left?

Apart from this, his other lineages had also benefited, each making some progress, but they were still a considerable distance from reaching the Pseudo-Immortal stage.

The most important gain was still the divine ability bestowed by Wu Zhen’s totem.

Wu Peng was the Great Witch of Earth, while Wu Zhen was the Great Witch of Shadows. She was the master of the Shadow Realm and specialized in Shadow Art.

Shadow Art involved making an imprint of the shadow of a physical object and then using that shadow as a means of attacking enemies. In a way, it could be considered a technique for turning falsehood into reality.

Back then, the Elder Yao had once collected the shadow of Tianshou Mountain and stored it within her sleeve. When fighting an opponent, she could release the mountain’s shadow, making it seem as though an actual mountain were descending from the heavens. Naturally, the effectiveness of this technique also depended on one’s cultivation level. If a Third-Tribulation Immortal were to summon the shadow of the Kunlun Mountain or make imprints of the shadows of the Yangtze River, there would probably be no one in the world capable of withstanding the overwhelming might of such mountains and rivers.

Unlike the immensely powerful Five Elements Grand Formation, which he was temporarily unable to use, the Shadow Art was something Qi Xuansu could already employ with his current cultivation level. Even if he could not create an imprint of the Kunlun Mountain, he could simply imprint a small mountain. This made the technique considerably more flexible and practical.