Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 25: The Major Powers and History of the Western Continent

As per the previous deal, Chen Qingzhi described to "Demon Lord" Raphael the major forces in the "other world" and the history and stories of that world.

The largest power in this realm is called the "Penglai Immortal Sect." It is said that the sect is located on Penglai Mountain in the East Sea, which is a recognized immortal mountain. It has elixirs that can make people live forever, cultivation techniques that can rapidly improve one's cultivation level, immortals with a dignified and otherworldly deity, and beautiful and solemn fairies... In short, it meets everyone's imagination of a fairyland.

However, this fairyland suddenly disappeared into the vast ocean thousands of years ago. If it weren't for the occasional news about the "Penglai Immortal Sect" cultivators, Chen Qingzhi would have thought it was just a legendary sect.

Although the "Penglai Immortal Sect" has long since disappeared, it still wields considerable influence. For example, in the Qingzhou region, many mid-level sects claim to have the lineage of the "Penglai Immortal Sect".

Moreover, other forces also acknowledge that the "Penglai Immortal Sect" is the number one sect in the world.

Below the "Penglai Immortal Sect" are eight first-rate forces of roughly equal strength, and "Dark Lodge" is one of them.

According to Chen Qingzhi's understanding, all eight forces have "True Immortals" who are at the "True Immortal Realm" above the "Refining Void Realm".

He wasn't entirely clear on the specifics of this realm, but he was certain that the leaders of the eight major powers must possess the cultivation level of a "True Immortal."

For example, the "Dark Lodge" refers to the actual and spiritual leader, the "Master of the Dark Lodge".

These "True Immortals" rarely roam the mortal world. The important high-end forces of the Eight Clans are actually mainly composed of great cultivators in the "Refining Void Realm".

Matters requiring the intervention of someone at the level of "Master of the Dark Abode" are all major events capable of shaking the world.

In the "Dark Abode", there is one great cultivator in the late stage of the "Refining Void Realm" and three great cultivators in the middle stage, including the ancestor of Chen Qingzhi and others, "Mysterious Sound Demon Lord". As for the cultivators in the early stage of the "Refining Void Realm", there are several.

The later and middle stages of the so-called "Refining Void Realm" are roughly equivalent to Sequence 1 and Sequence 2 in Raphael's concept. The early stage of the "Refining Void Realm" is roughly equivalent to Sequence 3.

It may seem that "Mysterious Sound Demon Lord" is just one of the four great cultivators, but in fact, his supernatural powers are the most powerful among the great cultivators. He also created three cultivation techniques and was on par with that great cultivator in the late stage of "Refining Void Realm". That is why he was able to become the leader of "Blood Sect" and win many resources for "Blood Sect" in "Dark Lodge".

The headquarters of "Dark Lodge" is in Jingzhou. The leaders of the branch headquarters in other states are basically at the late stage of "Transformation God Realm" or the early stage of "Refining Void Realm", which is roughly equivalent to a demigod at the Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 levels.

Chen Qingzhi, the leader of the Jizhou branch, is a powerful figure in the "Dark Lodge," which is why he is so familiar with the high-level forces within the "Dark Lodge."

For ordinary cultivators, even a Grand Master of the "Refining Void Realm" is an existence that is unattainable.

The high-level forces of other factions are roughly the same, Raphael mentally "translated": each faction has about one true god, three or four angels, five or six Sequence 3s, about ten Sequence 4s, and of course, some guest elders and the like, making them stronger than a righteous church in the Northern Continent.

Besides the "Dark Lodge", the eight major forces also include the Lingxiao Palace, the "Three Righteous Sects", and the "Two Evil Sects".

The Lingxiao Palace is the universally recognized ruler of the world, governing the order of the secular world. The leader of the Lingxiao Sect is revered as the "Heavenly Emperor" and resides in the thirty-third heaven above the clouds.

The son of the "Heavenly Emperor" lives in the human world and handles specific affairs; he is known as the "Son of Heaven".

Lingxiao Palace is stronger than the other major forces because, in addition to its own disciples, it also hires disciples and followers from other sects, as well as outstanding independent cultivators, to jointly manage the mortal world. These disciples, followers, and independent cultivators are nominally under the control of Lingxiao Palace.

The three righteous sects are the Celestial Master Temple, the Ten Thousand Buddha Temple, and the Five Lakes Sword Sect, while the "two evil sects" are the Luo Sect and the Hehuan Sect.

"Dark Lodge" is an organization that is neither entirely good nor evil. Whether it is friendly to the righteous or the evil depends on the person and the situation. But generally speaking, it leans towards the righteous and is hostile to cults.

There is another faction called Gaoli Mingjiao, which is similar to the "Penglai Immortal Sect". It is a reclusive organization. It is said that one of the major responsibilities of Gaoli Mingjiao is to escort the souls of the dead to the underworld. The basic requirement for the disciples of this sect is to be pure of heart and have few desires, and not to concern themselves with worldly affairs.

Unless evil spirits or powerful ghost cultivators appear, it is almost impossible to find any trace of this sect's disciples.

After discussing the general forces in this realm, Chen Qingzhi then talked to the "Demon Lord" about the history and stories of this realm.

Countless years ago, the "Immortal Venerable Xuanhuang" created heaven and earth, and all things came into being.

At that time, the "Penglai Immortal Sect" had already been established. Some people say that it was the lineage founded by the "Xuanhuang Immortal Venerable," who was a higher level of existence than the "True Immortal Realm."

Later, the whereabouts of "Xuanhuang Immortal Venerable" became unknown. Some say that he "transformed into the Great Dao" and became omnipresent, while others say that he ascended to the Immortal Realm and left this world. In short, there are many different opinions.

The three incarnations of the "Immortal Venerable" left in the "Penglai Immortal Sect" all possessed the cultivation level of the "True Immortal Realm".

This is why all the major powers regard the "Penglai Immortal Sect" as the number one sect. It is hard to say whether other forces have one or two immortals in the "True Immortal Realm," but the "Penglai Immortal Sect" has at least three.

Later, for reasons unknown, the power of the "Penglai Immortal Sect" suddenly weakened, and the Luo Sect appeared first. Then, the Celestial Master, the Holy Monk, the Heavenly Emperor, the Master of the Dark Lodge, and others appeared one after another. In order to compete for limited resources, they ushered in a very turbulent and chaotic era.

At the height of the battle, Tianshi Temple was captured by the combined forces of Luo Sect and Anlu.

The sect leader of the Hehuan Sect was once killed by the Heavenly Emperor, the Holy Monk, and others. Even beings at the "True Immortal Realm" perished, which shows how fierce the battle was at that time.

Later, an alliance between Lingxiao Pavilion and the three major righteous sects was gradually formed, and the world finally had a basic order. More than a thousand years ago, Anlu and Gaoli Mingjiao also expressed their support for the current world order. Lingxiao Pavilion divided the world into twelve provinces, as well as Dongyi, Nanman, Xirong, and Beidi.

The world then entered a long period of peace, which continues to this day.

After listening to Chen Qingzhi's explanation, Raphael stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "The history of this realm is far too general..."

"On the contrary," Chen Qingzhi smiled. "Each school has the habit of recording historical events. Over thousands of years, there are countless historical books, and different schools have different records of the same event, making it difficult to reach a unified conclusion."

"Therefore, when we talk about history, we like to speak in a very general way to avoid offending other forces."

"There are three generally recognized dynasties: the 'Celestial Empire' which has existed for over a thousand years and is still in existence today, the 'Warring States Period' which lasted from over a thousand to over two thousand years ago, and the 'Spring and Autumn Period' which lasted for over two thousand years ago."

Raphael paused slightly, "Using 'Warring States' as the name of a dynasty is understandable, but why was it called 'Spring and Autumn' before that?"