A Worthless Map

Baidi did not answer the Great Warlock’s question immediately, choosing to proceed at his own pace:

“I visited the Gu God, and the Gu God told me that the Daoist Venerable might have already perished.

“I did not think this aligned with the Daoist Venerable’s skill and capabilities, so I paid a visit to the Heaven Sect. After reading Heaven Sect’s heart cultivation methods, I suddenly realised that the Daoist Venerable might really have fallen.

“He, like the ancient gods and demons, fell at the final step.”

The Great Warlock’s expression was calm, remaining silent with a lack of curiosity.

Baidi’s azure, sea-like vertical pupils scrutinised him, then suddenly spoke:

“As expected, you know many secrets.”

After a short pause, Baidi finally answered the previous question:

“The heavens are about to change. Jiuzhou is about to change, this world is about to change. Since time immemorial, this is the second time the heavens have changed.

“The last change ended the age of gods and demons. Except for the Gu God, not a single god or demon born of heaven and earth survived.

“A change in heavens is both a catastrophe and an opportunity, a rare chance even in a thousand years. But to become the final winner in this catastrophe, we must find the Gatekeeper.”

Sarun Agu frowned:

“Gatekeeper?”

He found this term utterly unfamiliar and did not understand what it meant.

Baidi nodded:

“That’s right, the Gatekeeper!

“In ancient times, I followed my father travelling across Jiuzhou, and I once paid respects to a deity, whose form was a fusion of tortoise and serpent. The serpent could see through the soul, while the tortoise could divine Heaven’s secrets. Ha, the divination of your Church of the Warlock God must have largely been inherited from it.”

Of course, this did not mean the Warlock God was a descendant of gods and demons.

In ancient times, human beings were insignificant ants, but through diligent research and tireless effort, they gradually mastered the powers of heaven and earth, founding the systems of martial arts and Daoism.

During this process, the gods and demons, naturally born with terrifying powers, became objects for reference and study.

For example, it was said in legend that, when the human emperor governed the great flood, he saw a divine tortoise rise from the waters, the patterns on its back mysterious beyond comprehension.

Inspired, the human emperor created the art of divination for fortune and misfortune.

Thus, the human race advanced bit by bit, learning step by step, until the present where all kinds of systems coexisted in the world.

The Warlock God established the system of Warlocks, but not all the spells controlled by Warlocks were originally invented by the Warlock God. That is, the Warlock God broke through and developed the Warlock system based on the experience and spells of his predecessors.

Just like the Daoist Venerable, it was said he was the founder of Daoism, but, in truth, the Daoist system existed before him. There simply was never a true founder nor a Beyond-rank.

“At that time, it was already the end of the age of gods and demons, and that deity said, if this change yielded no result, then in the next change in heaven, a ‘Gatekeeper’ would appear.”

Baidi said slowly:

“To become the winner in the catastrophe, we must find the Gatekeeper, and kill the Gatekeeper.”

With this, Baidi stopped speaking and silently looked at Sarun Agu.

The latter pondered for a moment, and sighed:

“I have never heard of the existence of the Gatekeeper, but you are mistaken, the real ‘change in heaven’ actually occurred twelve hundred years ago.”

Baidi’s azure eyes, with pupils contracting like a cat’s in strong light, fixed on him:

“You mean…”

Sarun Agu nodded:

“The Confucian Sage sealed all Beyond-ranks and postponed the ‘change’ by twelve hundred years. The Gatekeeper you speak of can’t possibly be one of those already dead Beyond-rank beings, can it?”

Understanding dawned on Baidi’s face:

“After returning to the mainland, the thing I could not fathom was why the Confucian Sage wanted to seal the Beyond-ranks. Now I understand, and I also understand why the Gu God once thought the Confucian Sage was the Gatekeeper.”

After a brief pause, Baidi continued:

“I have already ruled out the Confucian Sage and the Daoist Venerable. Among the powerful figures left on the continent of Jiuzhou, I already have a suspicion about who is most likely to be the Gatekeeper. But there is no proof, which is why I came to see you and spoke with you at such length.”

Sarun Agu frowned slightly:

“Just say what you have to say.”

Baidi got straight to the point:

“I suspect the Gatekeeper is the first generation Jianzheng, your disciple.”

Sarun Agu shook his head:

“He, like the Confucian Sage, has already passed away.”

“That is exactly what troubles me. I wanted to investigate the first generation Jianzheng, but found that all information about him had been erased by the current Jianzheng. To resolve this doubt, I could only seek out you.”

Baidi said in a deep voice:

“The Arcanist system evolved from Warlocks, and, in some aspects, is even meant to counter Warlocks. The first generation was your disciple, what is your opinion of him?”

Sarun Agu looked off into the distance, his expression a mix of emotion and nostalgia:

“An unrivalled genius, but even so, the fact that he could create the Arcanist system truly exceeded my expectations. It puzzled me for many years.”

Baidi nodded as he listened:

“In your opinion, talent alone is not enough to found an entire school or to create the Arcanist system. Of course, talent does not explain everything, a person’s achievements are also heavily influenced by their experiences.

“Xu Pingfeng said he once led the shamans of the Church of the Warlock God in a contest for the Central Plains with the founding emperor of the Great Feng.”

Sarun Agu nodded:

“Back then, that unfilial disciple befriended that boy in the Central Plains. Later, when that boy sought to conquer the empire and lost, almost unable to recover, he came to us through my disciple, saying that as long as the Church of the Warlock God helped him overthrow the Great Feng and take the Central Plains, he would make the Church of the Warlock God the state religion.

“To let the Church of the Warlock God enjoy the fortune of the Central Plains alone. At that time, Rain Master Nalan and I did have such intentions, and so we helped him.

“Once he seized the world and established the Great Feng dynasty, I wanted him to keep his promise and make the Church of the Warlock God the state religion. He refused firmly, and even wrote three letters scolding me for my shamelessness.

“He said that as a respectable Central Plains man, how could he enter such a disgraceful deal with outsiders and shame his ancestors. I was furious and rebuked him for lacking martial virtue. He replied and told me you’re on your own.”

Baidi asked, “What happened afterwards?”

“Later, I led two hundred thousand elite troops to station at the border, intending to advance directly to the Great Feng capital, but was stopped by my disciple. At that time, he had already stepped into the first rank and established the Arcanist system. Even I was no longer his match in the Central Plains.

“Looking back now, six hundred years later, any sense of resentment is long gone, I find it rather lamentable and amusing:

“The matter was already decided, the Church of the Warlock God suffered a dumb loss, and could only let it be.”

Baidi pondered for a moment, then said,

“Before this, did you have no idea at all that he had created the arcanist system? When he fought alongside the Great Feng Emperor Gaozu to conquer the world, did he display anything out of the ordinary?”

Sarun Agu fell into deep recollection. Six hundred years had flashed by. Without deliberately remembering the details, even a first rank would struggle to recall them immediately.

“In the third year of the campaign, he once wrote to me with some odd questions. One of them left me extremely shocked at the time. He said, all the emperors of the Central Plains throughout history have been blessed with fortune, but has anyone ever gathered the fortune of a nation in one body?”

Sarun Agu said gravely,

“The Church of the Warlock God’s cultivation has nothing to do with fortune. He shouldn’t have raised such a question. I wrote back to ask him why he said this, and he replied that it was after an in-depth discussion with a great scholar of Confucianism that he grew so contemplative. Even now, I do not know whether he was truthful. However, that should have been his first encounter with issues related to fortune.

“Afterwards, I heard he invented the art of refining artefacts, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. With his talent, achieving some ground-breaking results was not difficult.”

Baidi replied,

“And that art of refining artefacts, was what today’s Masters of Alchemy practise. Even at that time, he was already establishing the arcanist system.”

Sarun Agu nodded silently.

“That has puzzled me for many years. His transformation was truly too rapid, almost unreasonably so.”

Baidi became even more certain,

“That’s why I surmised he was the gatekeeper, favoured by heaven, able to establish the arcanist system and be promoted to the first rank within just over a decade. Every territory the Great Feng Emperor Gaozu conquered, his strength grew stronger.

“If he was the gatekeeper, then everything would make sense. Since the Daoist Venerable vanished, heroes have emerged and beyond-mortal experts have succeeded each other, but only the first Jianzheng was truly exceptional.”

A flash of understanding appeared in Sarun Agu’s grey-brown eyes, but he soon shook his head:

“But you cannot explain why he died and his Dao vanished. He most certainly died. That, I can confirm.”

Baidi gazed at him and said,

“I think you already have the answer.”

Sarun Agu let out a sigh.

“You have resolved a question that has troubled me for many years.”

Baidi’s voice grew low. “So have I.”

Baidi nodded lightly towards Sarun Agu, transformed into whiteness and soared into the sky, disappearing into the sea of clouds.

…

A few hours later, in Qingzhou, inside the rebel army’s camp.

Xu Pingfeng, who was reviewing a map of the Central Plains with Qi Guangbo, seemed to sense something. He pulled a white scale from his sleeve.

The scale was shield-shaped, glimmering with a metallic sheen, firm and indestructible. It was now emitting a faint white glow, which waxed and waned.

Xu Pingfeng placed the scale in his palm and said,

“What is it?”

The white glow of the scale pulsed, and Baidi’s low voice rang out:

“I agree to your request.”

When he had finished, the scale’s glow faded, returning to its unremarkable appearance.

Xu Pingfeng carefully stored away the scale, obtained years ago in the Baidi Temple of Yunzhou, turned to Qi Guangbo and smiled,

“The time has come!”

Qi Guangbo smiled as well, neither surprised nor delighted, as if everything was within his grasp.

…

Xu Qi’an piloted a small boat over the endless waves, with Mu Nanzhi seated at the prow, her skirt blooming like a flower.

Resting her face in her hands, she frowned.

“I’m bored.”

Even fishing could not always remain interesting, eventually, one grew tired of it.

“Then play Go with Baiji.”

Xu Qi’an was holding an Earth Book fragment, flirting with Li Miaozhen on the one hand, and soothing Mu Nanzhi on the other.

Mu Nanzhi grumbled,

“What I mean is, can you hurry up? You clearly can fly, so why not just fly?”

Xu Qi’an glanced at the sprouts growing from the side of the wooden boat.

“So bored you’re starting to sprout?”

The Flower God rolled her eyes grumpily, her coquettish air surpassing any scene of worldly beauty.

“With all the chaos in the world, we finally have some peace. I just want to think about our future, whether we’ll live in the capital, or find a secluded paradise where we can live simply.”

Mu Nanzhi’s cheeks turned slightly red. She quickly spat to mask her embarrassment.

“Who wants to live simply with you?”

At that moment, Xu Qi’an suddenly sat up, his expression somewhat grim.

Mu Nanzhi was startled. “Wh- what are you doing~”

Xu Qi’an waved his hand.

“Don’t talk for now.”

He began to write, face serious.

【Miaozhen, can you really not make sense of those patterns I told you about?】

He was referring to the maps from the Chai family.

【TWO: Why should I be able to? It’s strange. Li Lingsu Number Two, where are you? Why haven’t you returned to the capital to marry Princess Lin’an?】

Xu Qi’an ignored her and hung up the private chat.

He immediately initiated a private chat with Li Lingsu. Li Lingsu hesitated at first, reluctant, but probably had his head knocked silly, so he had no choice but to accept.

【SEVEN: What is it!】

The Holy Son sounded like a bullied daughter-in-law, unhappy to chat in private.

【THREE: Do you know anything about ley lines?】

【SEVEN: A little. The Heaven Sect has related books, but when it comes to ley lines, the Earth Sect knows best.】

Li Lingsu was slightly more knowledgeable than Li Miaozhen. When Xu Qi’an collected dragon leys before, the Holy Son had been very surprising to him, because he understood what dragon leys were.

【THREE: Jinlian, that wretched cat, has been in closed cultivation for ages with no sign of emerging, so I can only ask you…】

He then described the Chai family’s maps to Li Lingsu in detail, even sketching a few diagrams in the Earth Book.

【SEVEN: Those are mountain and river ley lines, aren’t they? Erm… If you hadn’t explained, even I wouldn’t recognise them.】

Xu Qi’an quietly ended the chat.

Neither of the hidden talents in Heaven Sect can identify them, how can the former chief of the Corpse Gu Tribe have deduced that these lines symbolised mountains and river ley lines… Xu Qi’an kneaded his brow.

Xu Pingfeng had visited the shaman clans and seen the half-map held by the Corpse Gu Tribe.

Xu Qi’an instantly inferred, judging from the relationship between the Heaven Gu Grandma and Xu Pingfeng.

With their friendship, would the Corpse Gu Tribe’s former leader refuse his request to see the map?

According to the timeline, Xu Pingfeng must have studied the Corpse Gu Tribe’s map first, then gone to the Chai family to find that scroll.

Shit! So this half map is worthlessn now.

A Worthless Map

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