Being directly questioned by Li Hanguang, Elder Zhang coughed and was momentarily speechless. Immediately after, Elder Zhang gave an awkward smile.
In the 749 Bureau, he was a highly respected senior and a leading authority, but in front of this ancestor Li Hanguang, he was merely a junior.
"If Ancestor can help, that would be the best. With you here, I believe those ancient great demons of Changbai Mountain definitely wouldn't dare to leave the mountain easily."
Li Hanguang lightly shook his head. The death of Old Master Hu San was also a great shock to him. But it was not enough to make him decide to intervene. On the contrary, he spoke plainly, "Old Master Hu San died in this era—this era is destined to be restless."
"I, an old Daoist, am merely a traveler passing through. I do not belong to this era. Even if I protect you for a time, I cannot protect you for a lifetime. In the end, you must rely on yourselves. Since you were chosen as the current sect master of Maoshan Sect, I believe you can handle it."
Li Hanguang lightly raised his aged hand. The luggage prepared for him by the Maoshan Sect floated into the air and landed beside him.
He stepped out of the great hall of this Daoist temple. Bathed in sunlight, his shadow stretched long under his feet. The breeze swept by, lifting his white beard into the air.
The old Daoist's distant voice carried over. "My lifespan is nearly exhausted. Even surviving requires me to remain in slumber. Otherwise, in the Song Dynasty era, I wouldn't have merely stood by as Maoshan Sect declined, unable to do anything except rely on my influence to steady people's hearts."
"This… Ancestor…" Just as Elder Zhang was momentarily speechless, the old Daoist, Li Hanguang, walked along the blue stone path, stepping forward as his voice carried over once more.
"If there truly is no other choice, then when the time comes, I will intervene."
Elder Zhang had just prepared to respond.But as he raised his eyes, the old Daoist, Li Hanguang, who had been walking along the blue stone path, had disappeared without a trace.
And when he reappeared, he was already at the foot of Maoshan. Surrounding him were tourists, walking along the mountain path, brushing past him on their way to visit the publicly known Daoist temples of Maoshan.
They didn't notice that a celestial-like old Daoist had just passed them by.
It seemed, the old Daoist carried some mysterious Daoist technique that made ordinary people instinctively overlook him.
"Old Master Hu San's death…" The old Daoist, Li Hanguang, murmured as he walked at a leisurely pace, his right hand pinching his fingers together in calculation.
"The signs in the heavens are in chaos. Perhaps my awakening in this era was not entirely due to him waking me up. Sigh, I had been considering whether or not to seek him out for a chat."
"Now it seems I have no choice. But I wonder, with this era in turmoil, can my Maoshan Sect survive?"
He was a man from a thousand years past. From the Tang Dynasty onward, he had lived through the ages. Not to mention his strength—just his ancient longevity alone made him more experienced than anyone in the 749 Bureau. He knew more than they did.
The death of Old Master Hu San—even without investigating the 749 Bureau's reports—Li Hanguang had already sensed something unusual.
As he spoke, Li Hanguang took another step forward, and his figure appeared a thousand meters away.
The ancients said that immortals could travel a thousand miles in a day, moving with the flick of a finger. This was fully manifested in Li Hanguang.
His power, just as Lind from the 749 Bureau had speculated, was beyond extraordinary—far beyond that of any ordinary grandmaster.
———
On the other side.
A city adjacent to the capital—Tianjin.
At this moment, to investigate the death of the Capital's Earth Deity, Qin Ye had come to the Earth Temple of Tianjin.
He originally planned to gather information from the Earth Deities of Tianjin, but instead of uncovering the mystery of the Capital Earth Deity's death, a new enigma arose…
The Earth Deities of Tianjin were also out of contact.
"…It can't be this much of a coincidence." Qin Ye raised an eyebrow.
Immediately, he visited several Earth Temples in Tianjin. During his inquiries, he couldn't reach any of them.
And as he continued, first, the Capital's Earth Deity. Then, the Earth Deities of Tianjin. The abnormal nature of the situation made Qin Ye abandon his casual, sightseeing approach. He no longer took any form of transportation.
He finally took things seriously. With a single step, he traversed a thousand miles. Within half a day, he visited all the land deities of the Tianjin area, both major and minor.
Along the way, he passed by City God Temples and Mountain God Temples. Given how unusual the situation was, Qin Ye entered without hesitation.
"If I can't get answers from the Earth Deities, I'll ask the City Gods and Mountain Gods. Surely the City Gods and Mountain Gods haven't gone missing too?" Qin Ye muttered.
But then, things took the worst possible turn.
"…Even the Mountain Gods and City Gods are out of contact?" Qin Ye's expression became strange.
Immediately after, he traveled to other neighboring cities. By the time night fell at 9 p.m., from the Capital to Tianjin, to Qinhuangdao, and beyond, he had sought out fourteen Earth Deities, eight City Gods, and six Mountain Gods.
All of them were out of contact.
At this moment, Qin Ye stood at a bus stop in Qinhuangdao. In front of him was an intersection with cars passing by. Tall buildings lined both sides, the city vibrant at night—yet none of it brought Qin Ye any joy. Instead, the contrast only deepened his unease.
"…Has the Celestial Court summoned all the deities of the mortal realm to the heavens?" Qin Ye murmured softly.
Though he hadn't searched every deity in the entire country, the current situation gave him reason to be certain, now, in the mortal world of this land… there were no gods.
Unconsciously, Qin Ye seemed to have realized something and whispered, "…Has the Celestial Court issued summons?"
As the saying goes, when one place is in crisis, all must come to its aid. When a nation is in peril, wartime measures are enacted, and all citizens must fight.
This principle applied not only to humans in the mortal realm—but also to gods.
Qin Ye suddenly recalled something from the Northern Song era.
An old Daoist immortal had once spoken with him about it. According to legend, the Celestial Court had a decree. When the Celestial Court is in grave danger, it will summon all celestial beings of the land to assemble.
These celestial beings included immortals and gods alike—ranging from the Earth Deities, Creation Deities, Mountain Gods, and City Gods of the mortal realm to the gods and Buddhas of the Celestial Court itself.
"…I thought this kind of thing only happened in Greek mythology, like when Zeus led the Twelve Olympians to overthrow the second-generation god-king." Qin Ye chuckled dryly.
"Could it be that my bad luck actually came true? The Celestial Court got attacked by another pantheon? Or is there another reason? But what kind of crisis would require the Celestial Court to call upon all divine beings?"
"…Forget it. Thinking too much won't help." Qin Ye shook his head.
"The priority now is figuring out who to ask about this." Just as he muttered to himself, the next second, Qin Ye turned his head, as if sensing something. He was momentarily surprised, then suddenly grinned.
"Well now, what kind of wind is blowing tonight? A rare guest has arrived." His voice was unrestrained, directed toward a certain direction.
And then, a voice, old yet amused, responded from that place. "You still love to joke, Qin Ye."
A figure emerged—an old Daoist, robed and dust-covered, carrying a travel bag, with an air of immortality. With each step, he seemed to traverse great distances.
Upon seeing him, Qin Ye's previous thoughts vanished. He grinned. "I thought I was seeing things, but I wasn't wrong. It really is you, Old Man Hanguang. So you've awakened?"
Li Hanguang chuckled. With a few light, drifting steps, he crossed the distance and stood before Qin Ye. He flicked his horsetail whisk and laughed.
"How could I not wake up? You made such a commotion when you awoke—I was practically deafened by the shock."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/ZenonTL
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.