Zhou You recognized the scent of the smoke—rather, he was extremely familiar with it. The incense candles in the Black Book temple smelled just like this; generally speaking, it was used to offer worship to gods or ancestors.
But this place was clearly not some sort of shrine...
Did this guy bring me to the sect's ancestral hall?
Strangely enough, after entering the inner sect, that urgent, restless agitation had instead vanished, leaving Zhou You unable to tell whether this was his destination. He merely craned his head inside, and only after finding nothing wrong did he stroll in at his leisure.
Pale smoke curled through the interior.
Like outside, the place had been kept spotlessly clean. Numerous memorial tablets were enshrined within, making it seem like a Patriarch Hall.
This time, however, the old man began explaining from behind him.
"This old man is from the Shangqing Sect... Ah, not the Shangqing School that originated at Mount Mao. This Shangqing Sect was later founded independently by a True Person... But since both cultivate the inner elixir, and both regard texts such as the Yellow Court Scripture and Shangqing Scripture as their primary classics, our relationship has always been quite good..."
Yet at this point, the old man suddenly sighed.
"Unfortunately, the ancestral grounds of the Shangqing Sect and Mount Mao were both sealed away. But Mount Mao at least left behind some of its lineage. As for Shangqing... we were basically left with only a few worthless fellows. And over the years, some fell ill, some died. Looking around now, only this old man remains..."
Hearing this, Zhou You could not help recalling the Shangqing Sect Daoist he had met in the late Qing era.
Though his status had not been high, he had been a rare talent... Yet