The Reason for the Establishment of the Ancient Cultivator Response Department

"Of course, Martial Uncle can do it."

Fine, fine, you can do it, you can do it, happy now?

"Then, Martial Uncle, my mission for this trip is complete, so I shall return to report. That Old Devil is insane; I intend to request a Martial Uncle to step in and divine his location."

Since he couldn't be persuaded, he wouldn't bother trying anymore; the mission was finished, after all.

"..." The Dao Integration expert frowned slightly. He had wanted to ask True Person Xiaoning to help investigate, but he lacked a sufficient reason to make him stay. "Very well, if you wish to return, then go."

Although he was a Dao Integration cultivator, he was not skilled in divination or calculation. Even with the Old Devil's severed arm, he could not pinpoint his location.

"Many thanks, Martial Uncle!" True Person Xiaoning cupped his hands, turned, and walked into the villa.

In truth, the Ancient Cultivator Response Department did not exist at the beginning. Ancient cultivators emerging in territories governed by various sects were the responsibility of those sects themselves.

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

That ancient cultivator had failed his breakthrough to the Dao Integration realm, suffering damage to his blood, soul, and magic power. On the verge of falling in cultivation rank, he proceeded to harvest the life essence of an entire city of three million people.

All three million people died, but the Dao Integration cultivator in the Joyous Union Sect responsible for the area helped cover it up because the perpetrator was his close friend.

He even personally went to that city to hunt down and exterminate the surviving wandering spirits.

In that city, three million people not only lost their physical bodies, but their souls were also completely dissipated, leaving no possibility of resurrection.

Afterward, that Dao Integration cultivator used a great divine ability to ensure that anyone approaching the city would subconsciously stay away and gradually forget everything related to it.

Everything was done perfectly; had this been the ancient era, it likely would have remained hidden.

However, as luck would have it, Saint Emperor Abyss had tinkered with something back then called a—camera.

In a world with Profound Light Arts, image-recording artifacts, and a series of other recording methods, the camera's effect was not particularly impressive, so he had only made a few.

Moreover, because the craftsmanship was immature, most of the components used the spirit materials of this world.

The cost was high and the results were mediocre, so few people bought them, though some fanatics of Saint Emperor Abyss collected a few.

But as fate would have it, someone in that city—the one whose traces were wiped away by the Joyous Union Sect's Dao Integration expert—happened to own one and was recording the beautiful moments of life with their family that very day.

Just like that, the camera remained, and its storage component was swallowed by a beast wandering through the city.

Later, that beast accidentally gained sentience. As a spirit creature, it was influenced by the divine ability and left the city, only to be killed by a few rogue cultivators, leading to the discovery of the component.

After those rogue cultivators cracked the footage within, they posted it directly to the Spirit Net, catching the attention of Saint Emperor Abyss.

The cultivation of Saint Emperor Abyss at that time was incredibly profound; even the Supreme Elders of the various immortal sects were not necessarily his match. Using his divine ability to trace causes from effects, he shattered the Dao Integration expert's spell and learned the truth of the three million deaths.

The evil deeds committed by the Joyous Union Sect's ancient cultivator were finally revealed to the world!

For a time, the entire Central Continent of the Great Profound Realm was in an uproar!

Many within the six great immortal sects were already dissatisfied with the Joyous Union Sect's attempts to whitewash their reputation, and this incident became the fuse.

The sect masters of the Sword Sect, the Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect, and the Supreme Dao Sect joined forces and marched directly to the gates of the Joyous Union Sect, forcing their ancestor to show himself.

However, the Dragon-Elephant Heaven-Supporting Sect, representing the brutes, and the Sword Sect, representing the handsome brutes, were not afraid in the slightest and summoned their own sect ancestors as well.

At this point, the Joyous Union Sect finally compromised.

The involved Dao Integration expert and the ancient cultivator who emerged from seclusion were beaten to death by the Joyous Union Sect's ancestor, and all others involved were executed or punished according to the severity of their actions.

They promised to compensate the families of the victims, and only after agreeing to a series of other conditions was the matter settled.

There was no other choice; while the Joyous Union Sect was not hard to deal with, the Joyous Union Ancestor was different—he was a figure who truly stood at the pinnacle of the Great Profound Realm!

Following this incident, the Ancient Cultivator Response Department was established, with branches in every territory governed by the immortal sects and the Righteous Alliance. The officials stationed there could not be members of the local sect, and they were rotated periodically to prevent such things from happening again.

The camera also became widely known after that event, and as more people joined the field, it was eventually perfected into what it is today.

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

The blade was covered in a thin layer of spiritual light, and her sword moves were elegant and fluid, continuous and unending, yet the clumsiness of the wielder was still clearly visible.

"Hoo~"

Exhaling a long breath, Zhang Yunlu stopped her movements. The thin layer of spiritual light on the blade vanished; clearly, her spiritual power was exhausted.

Strands of hair on her forehead were dampened by sweat, and her right arm ached intensely.

She was practicing the first form of the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique. She had started practicing the moment she returned and had continued until now, but the results were unsatisfactory. At this rate, let alone mastering it before the day after tomorrow, even a month might not be enough.

She realized with absolute clarity that she was no hidden sword genius.

For a moment, she felt dejected. She walked to the side, sat down, and took a sip of Essence Recovery Liquid.

"Xiao Lu." Zhang Xiu walked out from the doorway, holding a jade box in his hand.

"Brother."

Zhang Xiu came to her side and handed her the jade box: "I see you've reached the ninth level of Qi Refining; it's time to give this to you."

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

"Mom and Dad left it behind, saying I should give it to you when the time was right."

"Mom... and Dad..."

To her, that was a very distant word; she had been too young back then, and could not remember much, to the point that when she tried to recall them, she found the faces of her parents had become blurred.

Her gaze remained fixed on the object inside the jade box.

It was a piece of red jade, shaped like a teardrop, bright and vivid, with a rich luster as if it had been stained by the blood of immortals and gods.

Taking it out and holding it in her hand, it felt warm and delicate, and a gentle, balmy current surged from her palm, flowing toward her dantian, where less than a tenth of her spiritual power recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You've been practicing all afternoon, go back and rest early, there's no need to be in such a rush," Zhang Xiu said. "I have to go out for a while later; remember to lock the door, and don't pay any mind if a stranger knocks. I brought my keys..."

He rambled on, speaking of things even a small child would understand.

In just this short moment, Zhang Yunlu felt her exhausted spiritual power had already fully recovered.

"I know, Brother," she said, clutching 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 the ninth level of Qi Refining," Zhang Xiu explained.

He had one as well, but even though his cultivation realm was no longer low, he still had no clues, knowing only that the fall of their parents was related to this red jade, and that those people had been chasing after it.

Zhang Yunlu felt a complex mix of emotions in her heart.

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

A dark red, ancient-looking longsword flew up from downstairs and hovered beside him.

Zhang Xiu stepped onto the blade, and as his spiritual pressure erupted, he shot into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

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