Why the Ancient Cultivator Response Department Was Established

"Of course you can, Martial Uncle."

Yes, yes, yes. You can do it, you can do it, all right?

"Then, Martial Uncle, my mission here is complete, so I'll head back and report in. That Old Devil is a madman. I plan to ask a Senior Martial Uncle to help locate him."

He couldn't talk him out of it, so he stopped trying. At any rate, his mission was complete.

"..." The Dao Integration expert furrowed his brow slightly. He'd wanted Xiao Ning to help investigate, but for the moment, he had no good reason to make him stay. "Very well. If you want to go back, then go."

Though he was a Dao Integration spell cultivator, he wasn't skilled at divination. Even with half of the Old Devil's arm, he couldn't determine where he was.

"Thank you, Martial Uncle!" True Person Xiaoning cupped his hands, turned around, and walked into the villa.

In fact, the Ancient Cultivator Response Department hadn't existed at first. Each sect had handled the ancient cultivators emerging from seclusion in its own territory.

That changed when an ancient cultivator from the Joyous Union Sect emerged from seclusion.

The ancient cultivator had failed to advance to Dao Integration, and his qi and blood, soul, and magical power were all depleted. With his realm on the verge of collapsing, he directly drained the essence of a city with a population of three million.

All three million people died. But the Dao Integration cultivator responsible for the Joyous Union Sect's affairs was friends with the ancient cultivator who had emerged from seclusion, so he helped cover up what had happened.

He even went to the city himself and slaughtered the wandering ghosts of those who had survived.

In that city, three million people had perished—not only their bodies, but their souls as well. There was no chance of them ever being reborn.

Afterward, the Dao Integration cultivator used a great divine ability to make anyone who came near the city instinctively keep away, and gradually forget everything about it.

He'd done it all rather perfectly. In ancient times, he could probably have gotten away with it.

But as fate would have it, Saint Emperor Abyss had just come up with something called a camera.

In a world with a whole host of ways to record things, such as the Mystic Light Art and image-recording treasures, cameras weren't especially useful, so he'd only made a few.

And because the craftsmanship was immature, most of the components were still made from this world's spiritual materials.

The cost was high, and the results were mediocre. Almost no one bought them, though a few fanatical admirers of Saint Emperor Abyss had collected some.

As luck would have it, someone in the city whose traces the Joyous Union Sect's Dao Integration expert had erased owned one. On that very day, they were using it with their family to capture the happy moments of their lives.

And so, the camera was left behind. One of its storage components was swallowed by a beast wandering through the city.

Later, the beast unexpectedly gained intelligence and became a spirit creature. Affected by the divine ability, it left the city, only to be killed by a few Rogue Cultivators. That component was discovered as a result.

The Rogue Cultivators deciphered the images stored inside and posted them directly to the Spirit Net, drawing Saint Emperor Abyss's attention.

Saint Emperor Abyss had been an unparalleled cultivator at the time. Even the grand elders of the Immortal Sects might not have been his match. With his divine ability to trace causes back through their effects, he broke the Joyous Union Sect Dao Integration expert's spell and learned the truth about the deaths of the three million people.

The evil deeds of the Joyous Union Sect's ancient cultivator had finally been exposed to the world!

The entire Central Continent of the Great Profound Realm erupted in an uproar!

Many people among the Six Great Immortal Sects had already been deeply unhappy about the Joyous Union Sect's attempt to clean up its image. This incident became the spark that set everything off.

The Sect Masters of three great Immortal Sects—the Sword Sect, the Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect, and the Supreme Dao Sect—joined forces and stormed the Joyous Union Sect's mountain gate, forcing even the Joyous Union Ancestor to appear.

But the Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect, the archetypal brawlers, and the Sword Sect, the archetypal brawlers who were comparatively better-looking, weren't afraid in the slightest. They called in their own ancestors, too.

At last, the Joyous Union Sect gave in.

The Joyous Union Ancestor personally killed the Dao Integration cultivator involved and the ancient cultivator who had emerged from seclusion. Everyone else involved was dealt with according to the severity of their actions: some were killed, while others were punished.

The sect also promised to compensate the victims' families and agreed to a series of other conditions. Only then was the matter settled.

They had little choice. The Joyous Union Sect itself wasn't difficult to deal with, but the Joyous Union Ancestor was another matter. He was a true powerhouse standing at the very peak of the Great Profound Realm!

After this incident, the Ancient Cultivator Response Department was established, with branches in the territories governed by every Immortal Sect and the Righteous Alliance. Those stationed in each area couldn't be members of the local Immortal Sect, and they were rotated at regular intervals—all to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

Cameras became widely known after that incident. More and more people joined the field, eventually refining them into what they were today.

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

A thin layer of spiritual light veiled the blade. Her sword moves were graceful and nimble, flowing without pause, but the awkwardness of the wielder was still obvious.

"Phew~"

Zhang Yunlu let out a long breath and stopped moving. The thin layer of spiritual light on her sword had vanished. It was obvious her spiritual power was spent.

Sweat dampened the hair at her forehead, and her right hand ached terribly.

She was practicing the first move of the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique. She'd started as soon as she got back and had practiced all the way until now, but the results were disappointing. At this rate, she wouldn't master it before the day after tomorrow—not even a month might be enough.

She wasn't some hidden sword prodigy. She understood that with absolute clarity.

She felt a little dejected and went to sit nearby, taking a sip of spirit-restoring liquid.

"Xiaolu." Zhang Xiu came out through the door, carrying a jade box.

"Big Brother."

Zhang Xiu came over and handed her the jade box. "You're already at the ninth level of Qi Refining. It's time I gave you this."

"What is it?" She took it and opened the box.

"Something Mom and Dad left behind. They said to give it to you when the time was right."

"Mom and Dad..."

To her, those words belonged to a distant past. She'd been so young then that she remembered little. Whenever she tried to recall them, she found that even her parents' faces had grown blurry.

Her gaze fixed on the object inside the jade box.

It was a piece of red jade, shaped like a drop of water. Bright and vivid, its color rich and full, as if it had been soaked in the blood of immortals and gods.

She took it out and held it in her hand. It felt smooth and warm. A gentle current flowed from her palm into her dantian, and the less-than-one-tenth of her spiritual power remaining there recovered at a visible rate.

"You've been practicing all afternoon. Go back and get some rest. There's no need to rush," Zhang Xiu said. "I have to go out in a bit. Remember to lock the door, and don't answer if a stranger knocks. I brought my key..."

He went on and on, telling her things even a little kid would know.

In that short time, Zhang Yunlu felt her depleted spiritual power had already been fully restored.

"I know, Big Brother." She held the Red Jade in her hand. "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 the ninth level of Qi Refining," Zhang Xiu explained.

He had one too, but even though his cultivation wasn't low, he still had no clues. He only knew that their parents' deaths were connected to the Red Jade, and that those people had come after it.

Zhang Yunlu felt conflicted.

"All right, if I don't leave now, I'll be late. Get some rest too. You have class tomorrow."

An ancient, dark-red sword flew up from downstairs and stopped beside him.

Zhang Xiu stepped onto the blade. As spiritual pressure burst forth, he shot into the sky and disappeared in the blink of an eye.