Chapter 198 The Eve of the Ritual

That's right. In the past few days, Jiang Chen had tried to dream his way back to the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately, without exception, he had failed every time.

Regarding this phenomenon, he had to admit that he was somewhat panicked at the very beginning.

But upon discovering that his System had not disappeared, he became thoughtful.

Therefore, the sudden inability to return was likely not a problem with the System.

But if it wasn't the System, then what could the reason be?

Jiang Chen simply stopped thinking about it; he had already gained a lot during his time in the Tang Dynasty.

...

As the public opinion surrounding the Maoshan Sect's Zhai-Zhan Ritual fermented, Daoist Schools had been sending people to the Maoshan Sect one after another, and some Sect Heads had even arrived in person.

"Old Man Ye, has your Maoshan Sect gone crazy recently? Doing this, aren't you intentionally trying to get on Mount Longhu's bad side? Mount Longhu has a big reputation, but they aren't very broad-minded. If you two end up fighting..."

An old Daoist who was relatively close to Ye Shouzhen came straight to the point.

"Mount Longhu? This old Daoist is fighting Mount Longhu!" Ye Shouzhen's tone was so firm that the old Daoist opposite him was stunned.

"Old Man Ye, I've lived long enough to see everything now. Tell me the truth, did your Sect Head have a Breakthrough? I have to say, the former Maoshan Sect Leader didn't hand the position over to you old stubborn fools, but instead used his Wisdom Eye to recognize talent and gave it to Ye Yunyang. That's why the Maoshan Sect has had such a better atmosphere in recent years."

Ye Shouzhen deeply agreed with this statement; if it weren't for Ye Yunyang, the Maoshan Sect's current situation might be even worse than before.

"Old Man Huang, I won't hide it from you. Our Sect Head has indeed had a Breakthrough to the Life Wheel Realm!"

Old Man Huang, who was that old Daoist, heard this and his eyes lit up. He raised his hands in a salute and said, "Congratulations! That is truly a cause for celebration. Now, your Maoshan Sect has once again ascended to the ranks of top-tier Daoist traditions!"

"But then again," Old Man Huang changed the subject.

"Even if Sect Head Ye has had a Breakthrough to the Life Wheel, I'm afraid he still can't deal with Mount Longhu, right?"

"After all, the Celestial Master Zhang of Mount Longhu was already in the Life Wheel Realm ten years ago, and there is news now that he has probably had a Breakthrough to the Middle Stage."

"Not to mention, I heard that the previous Celestial Master of Mount Longhu only stepped down to enter closed-door cultivation. If he hasn't died yet, he is probably also a Life Wheel Realm expert!"

"Your Maoshan Sect, even with a young Life Wheel expert like Ye Yunyang, is likely no match for Mount Longhu!"

Old Man Huang stared at Ye Shouzhen with curiosity. This Old Man Ye had a sleazy and mysterious smile on his face, which clearly meant he knew some inside information.

"As for this matter, it's not convenient for me to reveal too much, but you will know soon enough..."

Old Man Huang became thoughtful, then suddenly realized something in an instant. It seemed he understood something, and a trace of surprise and seriousness appeared on his face.

"Could it be that the authorities are preparing to step in? Old Man Ye, I must warn you, although your Maoshan Sect has always been close to the authorities, letting the authorities interfere in the affairs of our Daoist Schools changes the nature of things."

Ye Shouzhen naturally understood what he meant.

During the special period back then, the authorities issued a series of bans targeting the Profound School and demons.

For example, the rule that no one is allowed to become a spirit after the founding of the nation was not just a joke. At that time, the authorities launched large-scale campaigns to destroy mountains and temples against demonic entities.

The region that suffered the most was the Northeast. Furthermore, the authorities established a special violent organization for this purpose: Bureau 749.

Bureau 749 spared no effort in the task of clearing out demons, destroying a large number of weasel dens in the Northeast.

After this, Bureau 749 became increasingly bloated and began to set its sights on the Profound School!

Because those causing chaos in the world were not only demons but also a large number of people from the Profound School, so Bureau 749 began to purge the strange people among the populace on a large scale.

Regarding these strange people, Bureau 749 had only one policy: join or die.

Consequently, many people in the Profound School, after initial resistance, began to defect to Bureau 749 in large numbers, and then turned their blades against the Profound School.

And the Zhou Family was one of the organizers of the establishment of Bureau 749 back then.

At first, the Daoist Schools didn't pay much attention to it, focusing only on their own cultivation and occasionally sending Disciples down the mountain to slay demons and eliminate evil, without paying much mind to worldly affairs.

Because the Profound School was not just the Daoist Schools; the three religions and nine Schools of thought, as well as various types of strange Schools, could all be included in the Profound School, and the Daoist Schools were the top-tier Schools of the Profound School.

However, it wasn't long before the Daoist Schools realized something was wrong. Daoist Disciples were constantly being arrested by Bureau 749 under various pretexts.

There were even Bureau 749 members who used this as an excuse to try to search the mountains, which naturally made the Daoist Schools dissatisfied.

As a result, both sides began to break out into some minor and major conflicts.

The bigger problem was yet to come. Back then, a Maoshan Disciple was traveling down the mountain and happened to encounter a playboy bullying a woman from a good family, using his power to intimidate others.

This Disciple hated evil with a passion and could not possibly tolerate it, so he stopped it on the spot. Who would have thought that the playboy would be relentless? Moreover, he had some cultivation himself and continued to call for backup, wanting to kill this Maoshan Disciple.

During that period, technology was not developed enough, and even if someone was killed, it was difficult to find clues, which made some playboys even more unscrupulous.

And this Maoshan Disciple was not the type to be slaughtered without resistance, so he killed the playboy on the spot.

But after this, the Maoshan Disciple had no intention of covering it up. In his view, slaying an evil person was a good deed, and there was no need to hide it.

However, in the eyes of the authorities, this was setting up a private tribunal. It was later revealed that the playboy was none other than a member of the Zhou Family, which was in its prime at that time.

The Huaguo nation had a tradition called "the crime is erased upon death." Even if the playboy was heinous, since he hadn't been convicted, he was innocent.

Consequently, the conflict between the Daoist Schools and the authorities escalated rapidly. The authorities wanted to detain and try the Maoshan Disciple, and the Maoshan Sect naturally refused.

Thus, large-scale conflicts occurred between the two sides, even resulting in casualties.

During that period, the relationship between Daoist traditions was not as rigid as it is now. Facing external enemies, all Daoist Schools shared honor and disgrace together.

The authorities discovered that the situation was uncontrollable, so a vigorous campaign to destroy mountains and temples was launched.

The final outcome was naturally a lose-lose situation. This was a battle between cultivators; the authorities had even considered deploying weapons of mass destruction, but eventually gave up.

Later on, this conflict ended without any clear conclusion.

And in this matter, the Zhou Family also faced a reversal of the case and liquidation. The Zhou Family members who held positions in Bureau 749 were all transferred to other posts.

To this day, the Zhou Family has only just begun to try to integrate back into the System of Bureau 749.

The reason why Zhou Keji was so disgusted with Jiang Chen and the Daoist Schools before was because the Zhou Family playboy who died back then was his own uncle.