Dusk Returns to the Ruined Building

Yingzhou.

It is located in the northeast of China, bordering the bay to the east, Manghuang to the north, Yanquan Mountain to the west, and Youzhou across the river to the south. It has beautiful mountains and rivers and pleasant scenery. For thousands of years, there have been countless cultivators, countless Taoists, demons, immortals and Buddhas on this land. Of course, hundreds of generations of ordinary people have also lived on this vast land. There are legends of gods, stories of heroes, and endless folk anecdotes here.

Here, there are inns, restaurants, banks, pawnshops, brothels and everything ordinary people need, as well as alchemy workshops, sword pavilions, auction houses and other places frequented by cultivators. Everyone has their own life and pursuits. You seek ordinariness, I seek immortality, we do not interfere with each other, but we envy each other. You yearn for powerful skills and flying with a sword, while I am nostalgic for the small bridges, flowing water, and the fragrance of wine and tea.

Since ancient times, in the land of Yingzhou, there have been many sects of cultivation, with a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending with each other. There have been struggles, cooperation, inheritance, destruction, strength, weakness, extinction, and rebirth, and they have always been constantly changing in the long river of time.

The great battle between good and evil a thousand years ago did not spare this place. Countless Taoist sects disappeared, and countless lives and common people were not spared. After a thousand years of development and changes, today's Yingzhou is not dominated by one family like Zhongzhou, nor is it like Youzhou which seems to be headed by the Murong family but is in name only. There are still countless sects of cultivation here, including immortals, Buddhas, Taoists, demons, and aristocratic families, which check and balance each other, fight against each other, and jointly maintain the peace of the cultivation world of Yingzhou.

Since the emergence of Xuantian Pavilion, the peaceful sects in Yingzhou have also begun to surge. Some large sects and ancient sects know what the emergence of Xuantian Pavilion means, so they have secretly accumulated strength and waited for an opportunity to act! All sects have sent their disciples out to gain experience, seek treasures and cultivate skills! And some hidden sects and independent cultivators are also ready to seize the opportunity to make a comeback and establish a sect, which is not a dream!

Perhaps the Ji family of Zhongzhou had already seen through the situation in Yingzhou, or they may have deeper intentions. The news of the Sea Crystal Pearl being sent to Yingzhou at this time caused a huge stir. All sects and schools sent disciples to the vast sea desert, and the Ouyang family used the Seven Star Sword as bait to attract countless cultivators. It was said that people from Yanquan and Youzhou came, but it was not known whether it was true or not.

Besides, although there are many sects in Yingzhou, both ancient and modern, they are also divided into large and small, strong and weak. The most powerful among them can be summarized as "one pavilion, two religions, three sects and four families."

The four families are the Ouyang family, the Gongsun family, the Shangguan family, and the Huangfu family. Coincidentally, the four major families are distributed in the northwest, southwest, northeast, and southeast directions of Yingzhou. The four major families are involved in worldly affairs and have their own jurisdiction or protection area. The strength and size of the areas are different. Moreover, if the disciples of the families do not practice Taoism, they can directly participate in the management of local affairs, while those who practice Taoism are concentrated in certain places, such as Jianying City of the Ouyang family.

The four great families each have their own characteristics, and their cultivation also has its own emphasis. Among them, the Ouyang family has been mainly engaged in sword casting for generations, and the cultivation method is also their own sword tactics. The Gongsun family mainly studies swords, mechanical devices, hidden weapons, etc., combining true essence with weapons, which is extremely powerful and has strong lethality; the Shangguan family is a medical family. They have medicines for ordinary people and elixirs for cultivators. Their spells are mostly for self-defense. Why can they thrive? It is not only related to cultivation, but also to the attitude of each faction towards them. Neither good nor evil wants to offend, because everyone needs elixirs, and it is said that the Shangguan family has imperial medicines and cultivators who have become saints with medicines; what about the Huangfu family? It is a family of formations. They have learned formations for generations. There are killing formations, breaking formations, illusion formations, and sealing formations. The major families are different. They should have worked together to build a better tomorrow for Yingzhou. However, the cultivators are also uncertain and often have frictions with each other, either for fame or for profit!

The three sects are relatively pure cultivation sects. The Cangyun Sect where Sima Lifeng is located is one of them, which focuses on practicing swordsmanship. The other two are the Mengmo Sect, which focuses on practicing magic techniques, and the Gufo Sect, which practices Buddhist techniques. The three sects generally do not participate in worldly affairs, and their main focus is to practice martial arts in order to prove the way of heaven!

There are two sects, one is the Daoyuan Sect which claims to be the birthplace of Taoism, and the other is the Penglai Immortal Sect which has lived in Penglai Fairy Mountain for generations and mainly practices immortal arts. These two sects rarely move around in the world of cultivation. For some reason, few sects dare to provoke them!

The first pavilion is the Tianji Pavilion. Strictly speaking, it cannot be said to be a sect of cultivation. It is somewhat similar to the Shadow Hall. The Tianji Pavilion is neither good nor evil. If the Shadow Hall is a killer organization hidden in the shadows, then the Tianji Pavilion is an intelligence agency hidden in the world. No one knows where the Tianji Pavilion is, because they claim that wherever there is light, there is the Tianji Pavilion.

Why is the Tianji Pavilion not considered a sect of cultivation? Because many of the people in the Tianji Pavilion are ordinary people, maybe street vendors, maybe prostitutes, or maybe sect elders, children of aristocratic families, so the news of the Tianji Pavilion is very fast and accurate. People in the world say that the headquarters of the Tianji Pavilion is in Yingzhou, but no one knows where it is exactly!

There are three things that Tianji Pavilion does not know, and three things it will not answer.

Three I don't know.

First, I don’t know anything about Xuantian Pavilion;

Second, nothing is known about the Ji Family Ancestral Hall;

Third, nothing is known about the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s Bone Tomb.

Three no answers,

First, do not respond to any news related to the Ji family;

Second, do not respond to any news from southern Xinjiang;

Third, do not answer questions that are related to yourself or may bring danger to Tianji Pavilion.

Of course, it is not absolute. Tianji Pavilion does not know everything. It also means that it will not answer nothing. It depends on whether you have enough chips!

Some people say that the Tianji Pavilion is an organization of the Ji family, some say it belongs to the Wanmo Sect, and some say that the Tianji Pavilion does not exist at all, it is just a false image with no substance. There are even rumors that the Tianji Pavilion and the Shadow Hall are one and the light and shadow are together. No one knows whether it is true or false! However, one thing is that the Tianji Pavilion definitely exists. The Hundred Flowers List will be released as scheduled every ten years, perhaps to prove the existence of the Tianji Pavilion! People love beauty, and so do the cultivators!

Xuanming Mountain was still sunny after the rain, with light clouds and breeze, but today the morning glow was just beginning to appear.

On the top of Xuanming Mountain, there was still the girl in the white flowery snow-white skirt and purple hair. She looked a little tired and was obviously in a low mood. She said softly:

"Uncle Sun, is there no news from Zhongzhou?"

An old man in black behind her looked at the young lady with some distress and replied:

"Miss, it's impossible for our people to go to Zhongzhou to get any results. I think you should just forget it!"

"No! I must find him. I want to enter the North Abyss!"

The lady seems very stubborn!

"No, Miss, the Nether Sky Mirror has been taken back. If you enter the North Abyss without it, you will probably never come back!"

"Then what do you say we should do? It's been over three years and there's been no news. I'm really anxious!"

The lady was about to cry as she spoke!

"Miss, there may be another way, but the price may be a bit high!"

Sun Bo didn't want to say it, but he was worried that if this continued, the young lady might really rush into the North Abyss regardless of the consequences!

"What price?"

The young lady turned and looked at Uncle Sun.

"do not know!"

The lady was startled when she heard this and asked:

"Uncle Sun, what do you mean? Explain yourself!"

"We can ask the Tianji Pavilion, but there are three things that the Tianji Pavilion won't answer. The first one is anything related to the Ji family! But I remember that the Sect Master once asked the Tianji Pavilion to verify a past event of the Ji family, and I think he got the answer!"

Sun Bo said a little uncertainly.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Come with me to Tianji Pavilion!"

The lady is getting a little impatient.

"Miss, I don't know where the Tianji Pavilion is!"

The young lady was stunned. What’s the difference between a place that even Sun Bo doesn’t know and the North Ming Abyss?

"Miss, it is said that the headquarters of Tianji Pavilion is in Yingzhou. Why don't you send a message to your uncle and ask him to help find out?"

Uncle Sun still pointed the young lady in a direction!

"Yes, Uncle is in Manghuang now, we can stop by Yingzhou!"

The lady seemed to see hope.

"Let's go, Uncle Sun, let's go back to the sect, activate the Nether Sky Sound Transmission, and have Uncle ask the Tianji Pavilion to check on Ji Yichen!"

"Miss, is Xuanming Mountain still being defended?"

"No need. It's been three years. It seems there is no hope. If there is no news from Tianji Pavilion, I will go to the Ji family in Zhongzhou myself!"

After the young lady finished speaking, the two of them disappeared in Xuanming Mountain.

Stargazing Mountain, a pavilion, a table, and a cup of tea!

The old Taoist priest looked into the starry sky, motionless!

Xiao Ling'er ran all the way up from the foot of the mountain and came to the old Taoist priest, scratching his ears and cheeks, not knowing what he meant!

"Did the brat finally get out of this troubled place? It's faster than I thought. I wonder if he got what belongs to him?"

The old Taoist priest should have said this to Xiao Ling'er.

Because Xiao Ling'er kept nodding.

"The world is changing, and our Guanxing Mountain is also going to be affected by the dust! Now think about it, when I saved Chen'er, was it to leave a glimmer of hope for the Ji family or for Guanxing Mountain? Ji Xuanfeng, should I thank you? Or should you thank me?"

There was no response for a long time!

After a long time, the old Taoist said to Xiao Ling'er:

"Ling'er, it's time for you to go down the mountain!"