“No time to lose. Let’s set out now!” Madam Qi said as she folded the map with decisive energy.0

Qi Xuansu finally understood why Madam Qi was so invested in this “revenge” operation, even going so far as to personally come to the Imperial Capital. In the end, it was still wealth that moved her.0

He also thought to himself that his name was truly fitting. Xuan meant black, and su meant white. At the highest level, it symbolized the Daoist yin-yang symbol. On a more personal level, it mirrored his own circumstances. Half of him was bathed in light, discussing Daoist ethics by day, while the other half was hidden in the shadow, embroiled in the power struggles of secret societies by night.0

He also came to understand why Madam Qi had never developed her career within the Daoist Order. Setting aside her greed and stinginess, which could easily earn her accusations of moral corruption, her very nature made her the kind of person the fifth-generation Grand Master despised most. Back when Madam Qi was still a young girl, the fifth-generation Grand Master was in power and systematically rooted out all non-conformists. Since then, Madam Qi was fated to be estranged from the Daoist path...0