As agreed in their earlier deal, Chen Qingzhi described the major powers of the "other world" and its history to "Demon Lord" Raphael.
The greatest power in that world was called the "Penglai Immortal Sect." It was said to reside on Penglai Mountain in the Eastern Sea, a place universally acknowledged as an immortal mountain. There were elixirs that granted eternal youth, cultivation methods that rapidly advanced one's cultivation, immortals of ethereal bearing, and beautiful, dignified immortal maidens... In short, it matched everyone's vision of an immortal paradise.
Yet that paradise had suddenly vanished into the vast sea several thousand years ago. Had news of cultivators from the "Penglai Immortal Sect" not occasionally surfaced even now, Chen Qingzhi would have thought it nothing more than a legendary sect.
Although the "Penglai Immortal Sect" had long since disappeared, it still wielded considerable influence. In Qing Province, for instance, many mid-sized sects claimed to possess its legacy.
The other powers also acknowledged the "Penglai Immortal Sect" as the greatest sect under heaven.
Below the "Penglai Immortal Sect" stood eight first-rate powers of roughly equal strength, and the "Dark Hut" was one of them.
As far as Chen Qingzhi knew, all eight powers had "true immortals" among their ranks, beings in the "True Immortal Realm," above the "Void Refinement Realm."
He did not know much about the specifics of that realm, but one thing was certain: the leaders of the eight great powers all possessed "True Immortal Realm" cultivation.
One example was the "Master of the Shadow Cottage," the "Dark Hut's" leader in both practice and spirit.
These "true immortals" rarely ventured into the world. The principal high-level forces of the eight powers were, in fact, still mainly Grand Cultivators of the "Void Refinement Realm."
Anything that required someone on the "Master of the Shadow Cottage's" level to intervene was a major event capable of shaking the entire world.
Within the "Dark Hut," there was one Grand Cultivator in the late "Void Refinement Realm" and three in the middle stage, including Chen Qingzhi and his fellows' patriarch, "Demon Lord Xuanyin." There were also several cultivators in the early "Void Refinement Realm."
The late and middle stages of the "Void Refinement Realm" roughly corresponded to Sequence 1 and Sequence 2 as Raphael understood them. The early "Void Refinement Realm" was approximately equivalent to Sequence 3.
It might have seemed that "Demon Lord Xuanyin" was merely one of four Grand Cultivators, but his supernatural abilities were actually the strongest among them. He had also created three cultivation methods, placing him on equal footing with the Grand Cultivator in the late "Void Refinement Realm." That was how he had become the leader of the "Blood Sect" and secured so many resources for it within the "Dark Hut."
The "Dark Hut's" headquarters were in Jing Province. Its Branch Headquarters leaders in the other provinces generally had cultivation in the late "Deification Realm" or early "Void Refinement Realm," making them roughly equivalent to demigods at Sequence 4 or Sequence 3.
Chen Qingzhi, the leader of its Ji Province Branch Headquarters, was a figure with real authority within the "Dark Hut." That was why he knew its high-level forces inside and out.
To ordinary cultivators, even Grand Cultivators in the "Void Refinement Realm" were lofty beings far beyond their reach.
The other powers had roughly comparable high-level forces. Raphael mentally "translated" this: each power had about one true god, three or four angels, five or six Sequence 3s, and a dozen or so Sequence 4s. Of course, there were also guest elders and the like, making each somewhat stronger than a church of an orthodox god on the Northern Continent.
Besides the "Dark Hut," the eight great powers included the Soaring Heaven Hall, the "three great orthodox sects," and the "two great heretical sects."
The Soaring Heaven Hall was universally recognized as the ruler of the world and maintained order in the mortal realm. The leader of the Soaring Heaven Sect was honored as the "Celestial Thearch" and lived in the Thirty-three Heavens above the clouds.
The "Celestial Thearch's" son, meanwhile, lived in the mortal world and handled its practical affairs. He was known as the "Son of Heaven."
The Soaring Heaven Hall was somewhat stronger than the other great powers. In addition to its own disciples, it recruited disciples and followers of other sects, as well as outstanding unaffiliated cultivators, to help govern the mortal world. All these disciples, followers, and unaffiliated cultivators were nominally subject to the Soaring Heaven Hall's authority.
The three great orthodox sects were the Celestial Master Monastery, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, and the Five Lakes Sword Sect. The "two great heretical sects" were the Luo Sect and the Joyous Union Sect.
The "Dark Hut" was an organization that straddled the line between orthodox and heretical. Whether it was friendly toward either side depended on the people and circumstances involved. On the whole, however, it leaned toward the orthodox sects and was hostile to the heretical ones.
There was also the Gaoli Netherworld Sect, a secluded organization much like the "Penglai Immortal Sect." It was said that one of its major duties was to escort the souls of the dead to the Netherworld. The basic requirement for its disciples was to maintain a tranquil mind, curb their desires, and remain uninvolved in worldly affairs.
Unless evil ghosts or powerful ghost cultivators appeared, its disciples were almost never seen.
After outlining the major powers of that world, Chen Qingzhi began telling the "Demon Lord" about its history.
An unknown number of years ago, "Immortal Venerable Xuanhuang" had created heaven and earth, whereupon all things came into being.
The "Penglai Immortal Sect" had already been founded at that time. Some said it was the tradition established by "Immortal Venerable Xuanhuang," a being on a higher level than the "True Immortal Realm."
Later, "Immortal Venerable Xuanhuang" vanished without a trace. Some said the Immortal Venerable had "become the Great Dao" and was now omnipresent; others said the Immortal Venerable had ascended to the Immortal Realm and left this world. In short, accounts varied widely.
The three incarnations the "Immortal Venerable" had left in the "Penglai Immortal Sect" all possessed "True Immortal Realm" cultivation.
That was also why all the great powers honored the "Penglai Immortal Sect" as the greatest sect. It was difficult to say whether the other powers had one or two immortals in the "True Immortal Realm," but the "Penglai Immortal Sect" had at least three.
Later, for some unknown reason, the "Penglai Immortal Sect's" strength suddenly waned. The Luo Sect emerged first, followed by the Celestial Master, the Holy Monk, the Celestial Thearch, the Master of the Shadow Cottage, and others. Their struggle over limited resources ushered in an age of profound turmoil and chaos.
At the height of the fighting, even the Celestial Master Monastery had fallen to a joint assault by the Luo Sect and the Dark Hut.
The sect master of the Joyous Union Sect had also been slain by the combined efforts of the Celestial Thearch, the Holy Monk, and others. Even beings in the "True Immortal Realm" could fall, showing just how fierce the fighting had been.
Later still, an alliance gradually formed between the Soaring Heaven Pavilion and the three great orthodox sects, finally bringing a basic degree of order to the world. Over a thousand years ago, the Dark Hut and the Gaoli Netherworld Sect also declared their support for the existing world order. The Soaring Heaven Pavilion divided the world into twelve provinces, along with the Eastern Yi, the Southern Barbarians, the Western Rong, and the Northern Di.
Only then did the world enter a prolonged age of peace, one that had lasted to the present.
After listening to Chen Qingzhi's explanation, Raphael rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before saying, "Isn't this world's history a little too vague...?"
"Quite the opposite." Chen Qingzhi smiled. "Every sect has a tradition of recording historical events. Over several thousand years, they've produced countless histories, and different sects give different accounts of the same event. It's difficult to arrive at a single agreed version.
"So when we discuss history, we prefer to speak in very broad terms to avoid offending the other powers.
"There are three universally recognized dynasties: the 'Heavenly Dynasty,' which began over a thousand years ago and continues to this day; the 'Warring States,' which lasted from over two thousand years ago to over a thousand years ago; and the 'Spring and Autumn,' which was more than two thousand years ago."
Raphael paused in mild surprise. "I can understand using 'Warring States' as the name of a dynasty, but why was the one before it called 'Spring and Autumn'?"
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