Chapter 19: Reasons for the Establishment of the Ancient Cultivator Response Department

"Uncle, of course you can do it."

Yes yes yes, you can do it, fine, you can do it.

"Then, Uncle, my mission is complete—I'll return to report. That old demon has lost his mind; I plan to ask an Elder to trace his location."

If he won't listen, he won't bother—he'd already completed this mission.

"..." The Dao-Union cultivator frowned slightly; he still wanted Xiao Ning to help investigate, but he had no solid reason to keep him, "Fine, go if you wish."

Though he was a Dao-Union magic power cultivator, he was poor at divination and calculation—even with half the old demon's arm, he could not determine its location.

"Thank you, Uncle!" Xiao Ning True Person bowed, then turned and walked into the villa.

Originally, there was no Ancient Cultivator Response Department; ancient cultivators emerging from seclusion in each sect's territory were handled directly by their own sects.

Until a Hehuan Sect ancient cultivator emerged.

That ancient cultivator failed to ascend to Dao-Union, his vital essence, spirit, and magic power all depleted—he was about to fall from his realm, so he directly absorbed a city of three million people.

All three million perished; the Dao-Union cultivator assigned by Hehuan Sect, because the emerging ancient cultivator was his friend, concealed the incident.

He even went to the city himself and exterminated the surviving wandering souls.

An entire city—three million people—lost not only their bodies but also their souls, with no possibility of revival.

Afterward, that Dao-Union cultivator used great divine power to make everyone near the city instinctively avoid it and gradually forget everything about it.

Everything was done perfectly; in ancient times, it likely would have gone unnoticed.

But unfortunately, at that time, Shenghuang Yuan had invented something called—a camera.

In a world with Xuan Light techniques and recording treasures, the camera's effect wasn't very good, so he only made a few casually.

Moreover, due to immature craftsmanship, most components were still made from this world's spiritual materials.

The cost was exorbitant, the effect mediocre, so few bought it; only a few fanatical admirers of Shenghuang Yuan collected some.

But fate was cruel—the city erased by the Hehuan Sect Dao-Union cultivator had someone who owned one, and that day he was recording happy family moments with it.

Thus, the camera remained, and one of its internal components was swallowed by a beast wandering through the city.

Later, that beast accidentally gained spiritual awareness, transformed into a spirit creature, was influenced by the divine power and left the city, only to be killed by several cultivators, and the component was discovered.

Those cultivators deciphered the images within and posted them directly to the Spirit Net, catching Shenghuang Yuan's attention.

At that time, Shenghuang Yuan's cultivation was extraordinarily high—even the Supreme Elders of the Immortal Sects weren't necessarily his match; he used his divine ability of tracing cause from effect to directly break the Hehuan Sect Dao-Union cultivator's spell and learned the truth of the three million deaths.

The evil deeds of the Hehuan Sect ancient cultivator were finally exposed before the world! Instantly, the entire Central Continent of the Xuan Realm erupted in uproar! Many among the Liudaxian Sects had long resented Hehuan Sect's whitewashing; this incident became the spark.

The leaders of the Xiang Jianzong, Longxiang Qingtianzong, and Taishang Dao Sect joined forces and stormed Hehuan Sect's mountain gate, forcing Hehuan Laozu to appear.

Yet Longxiang Qingtianzong, as the representative of brutes, and the Xiang Jianzong, as the more stylish representative of brutes, were utterly fearless and summoned their own sect's Laozu.

At this point, Hehuan Sect finally surrendered.

The involved Dao-Union cultivator and the emerging ancient cultivator were immediately killed by Hehuan Laozu; all others involved were punished or executed according to the severity of their actions.

They promised compensation to the victims' families and agreed to a series of conditions before the matter was settled.

There was no other choice; though Hehuan Sect wasn't hard to deal with, Hehuan Laozu was different—he was a true pinnacle figure of the Xuan Realm! After this incident, the Ancient Cultivator Response Department was established, with branches in every Xian Sect and the Righteous Alliance's territories; those stationed could not be local sect members, and they rotated periodically to prevent such incidents from recurring.

The camera became widely known after that incident; more and more people joined its development, eventually refining it to its current state. …………

At night, Zhang Yunlu stood alone on the rooftop, holding a three-foot-long sword.

The blade was coated in a thin layer of spiritual light; her sword movements were ethereal and fluid, continuous and unbroken, yet her inexperience was unmistakable.

"Huh~"

She exhaled deeply, stopped her movements—the thin spiritual light on the blade had vanished; clearly, her spiritual power was exhausted.

Her forehead hair was damp with sweat, her right hand aching painfully.

She practiced only the first form of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art; since returning, she had trained nonstop until now, yet the results were unsatisfactory—by this pace, she wouldn't master it before the Afterlife stage, and even a month might not be enough.

She was no hidden sword prodigy; she understood this with absolute clarity.

For a moment, she felt discouraged, sat down beside her, and drank a sip of Soul-Replenishing Spirit Liquid.

"Xiao Lu." Zhang Xiu stepped out the door, holding a jade box.

"Brother."

Zhang Xiu came to her side and handed her the jade box: "I see you've reached Qi Condensation Ninth Layer—it's time I gave you this."

"What is it?" She opened the jade box immediately.

"It was left by Mom and Dad—they said to give it to you when the time was right."

"Mom and Dad..."

To her, these were distant words; she was too young then, remembered little, and when she tried to recall, their faces had grown blurry.

Her gaze fixed on the object inside the jade box.

It was a red jade, shaped like a teardrop, bright and vivid, rich in hue, as if soaked in the blood of immortals.

As she took it and held it, it felt warm and smooth; a gentle warmth flowed from her palm into her dantian, and less than one-tenth of her depleted spiritual power recovered visibly before her eyes.

"You've trained all afternoon—go rest early, no need to rush," Zhang Xiu said. "I'm going out again soon; lock the door, don't answer if strangers knock—I've got the key..."

He chattered on, saying things even a child would know.

In just this short while, Zhang Yunlu felt her depleted spiritual power fully restored.

"I know, Brother," she held the red jade, "but what exactly is this?"

"... I don't know either. Mom and Dad only said it was a treasure and told me to give it to you when you reached Qi Condensation Ninth Layer," Zhang Xiu explained.

He had one too, but even though his realm was no longer low, he still had no clues—only that his parents' demise was tied to this red jade, and those people had pursued it.

Zhang Yunlu's heart felt complicated.

"Alright, if I don't go now, I'll be late. You rest early too—you have class tomorrow."

A dark red, ancient longsword flew up from below, hovering beside him.

Zhang Xiu stepped onto the blade; as spiritual pressure erupted, he shot into the sky and vanished in an instant.

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