Gu Qingfeng had also heard some rumors about the Dark Age of the Ancient Times.
It was said that in the early Ancient Times, the Great Nature was also vibrant with life. Then, one day, Yin and Yang reversed, the sun and moon both fell, the laws of the Great Nature became chaotic, triggering catastrophic storms of natural disasters. Many powerful cultivators perished in them, and many sects suffered annihilation, plunging the world into darkness for a full century.
By the time the sun and moon were restored, a hundred years had passed. However, the Great Nature had vanished, and from that point on, the Ancient Times became deficient in spiritual energy and impoverished in resources...
No one knew what had truly happened back then.
Even fewer knew why the Great Nature had suddenly collapsed and never reappeared.
The history of that dark period was completely blank, something many had been exploring ever since.
The Yan Yue Ruins were the remains of a sect that suffered annihilation during that dark period of the Ancient Times, and it was none other than the once-famous Yan Yue Sect.
As for what terrifying disaster had occurred back then and what had caused it, Gu Qingfeng wasn't clear. His intrusion into the Yan Yue Ruins back in the day had been entirely accidental. Once inside, he had been too busy scooping up treasures to investigate the cause much. Hearing now that the Yan Yue Ruins had emerged into the world again, Gu Qingfeng felt nothing in particular. He had had no interest in the blank history of the Ancient Times' Dark Age back then, and he still had none now. The only thing that gave him a slight pang of sentiment was that woman inside the Yan Yue Ruins who had called herself the Palace Lord.
That woman had nearly cost him his life, and Gu Qingfeng had later repaid her in kind, thoroughly and harshly. He still remembered clearly her saying that once she broke her seal and awoke, she would definitely come for revenge.
Now, almost three or four hundred years had passed. He didn't know if that woman had awakened or not.
Revenge?
Back then, Gu Qingfeng might have been a little concerned. But now? Even if that woman stood right in front of him, he couldn't be bothered to give her a second glance.
Entering the cemetery, it was quite lively inside. Gu Qingfeng looked around. There weren't many people there to pay respects; more were gathered around various tombstones, seemingly setting up some kind of formation. According to Fei Kui, these people were from the Yanluo Royal Family. Besides them, there were also people from the Four Great Families and the Seven Great Sects, all making early preparations for the upcoming temple fair.
"Young Master, your tombstone is over there."
Gu Qingfeng followed Fei Kui's pointing finger and looked over, suddenly spotting a massive tombstone standing tall within the cemetery. The tombstone was entirely crimson-black, emitting a faint, dark glow. It stood nine meters high and about five meters wide, looking like a solitary peak, quite majestic.
He glanced at the inscription on the tombstone. Just as Fei Kui had said, it was his own tombstone.
*A generation's prodigy, Gu Tianlang, astounded all beneath Chiyan Ridge;*
*On the path of madness, he buried immortals;*
*Laughing proudly, Chixiao shook the eight wastelands;*
*A single song of judgment brought sorrow to the world;*
*From then on, there was no monarch upon this earth.*
This was the epitaph on the tombstone.
It was said these lines came from the 'Old Master' of the Chixiao Sect back in the day.
The Old Master was a Grand Elder of the Chixiao Sect, a senior respected by all Chixiao members, including the Chixiao Monarch himself.
No one knew how many years the Old Master had lived, nor where he came from or where he went. They only knew of his existence, that he understood the heavens above and the earth below, was versed in past and present, and that there was nothing in the heavens, the earth, or the mortal world he did not know.
It was said that after the Monarch was judged by the Immortal Dao and reduced to ashes, the Old Master, moved by emotion, carved these words onto the buried stele of the Chixiao Sect to commemorate the Chixiao Monarch. This phrase encapsulated the Monarch's heaven-defying life. Hence, almost all of the Monarch's tombstones in the world were engraved with this epitaph.
Gu Qingfeng did not go up for a closer look. There wasn't much to see about such a thing, and it felt somewhat strange for a living person to look at his own tombstone. What puzzled him was that many people were also gathered around his tombstone, seemingly setting up some formation as well.
"Who are all those people?"
"Young Master, they are people from the Meishan Branch Hall."
Gu Qingfeng didn't have a concrete concept of the various Branch Halls of the Crimson-Letter Sect, so he asked, "Is it Dong Laohu's Branch Hall or Zhou Taihe's?"
"It's the Buddha Lord's Branch Hall, and a relatively close one at that. The old Hall Master of this Branch Hall was formerly the Buddha Lord's Right Envoy, Meishan—that is, Miss Liu Yue's biological grandfather. However, after Right Envoy Meishan passed away, the one currently in charge of the Meishan Branch Hall is his son, Hall Master Benlei. He is Liu Yue's father and also a direct disciple of the Buddha Lord."
"Is that so."
Gu Qingfeng looked over and asked, "Which one is Benlei?"
"Hall Master Benlei isn't here. However, Elder Qinghua of the Meishan Branch Hall is present. He's probably in charge of this matter."
Fei Kui stood obediently to the side, squinting as he watched, explaining the situation over there to Gu Qingfeng. "The one speaking with Elder Qinghua right now is an Elder from the Taiji Sect."
The Taiji Sect was hailed as the number one great sect of Yanluo Kingdom, and always had been. It was said its heritage was even older than the Yanluo Kingdom itself.
Gu Qingfeng was quite familiar with the Taiji Sect. Not only familiar, but he also knew quite a few people within it.
He had spent some time in Yanluo Kingdom in the past and often stayed with Tang Hengshu, so he knew a fair bit about the situation there. He also knew that the Taiji Sect was not only the number one great sect of Yanluo Kingdom but also, among the so-called Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects of Yanluo, the only sect that had supported the Yanluo Royal Family from the founding of the nation to the present. In the Ancient Times, during the several crises the Yanluo Royal Family faced, only the Taiji Sect stood with them.
The relationship between the Yanluo Royal Family and the Taiji Sect was like that between two families joined by marriage.
The princes and princesses of the Yanluo Royal Family would enter the Taiji Sect to cultivate for a period during their youth, and the two sides had intermarried for generations.
Take Tang Manqing, for example. Her father was Prince Yunhao, and her mother was an Inner Court Elder of the Taiji Sect.
Not only that, but the current Empress of Yanluo Kingdom was also an Elder of the Taiji Sect.
There had been many such marriages throughout history. If one traced the bloodlines of many Taiji Sect Elders, they were also descendants of the Yanluo Royal Family.
"Are the Yanluo Royal Family and the Taiji Sect still on such good terms?"
Fei Kui hesitated for a moment, first nodding, then shaking his head. "It's hard to say."
"What's going on? Could something have happened?"
In Gu Qingfeng's impression, the relationship between the Yanluo Royal Family and the Taiji Sect had a foundation of tens of thousands of years. Even if something happened, they couldn't possibly have a falling out, could they? Moreover, the two had advanced and retreated together, shared life and death for so many years, and the Taiji Sect had so many royal relatives. It seemed unlikely they would split.
"This..." Fei Kui hemmed and hawed, looked up at Gu Qingfeng, then seemed to think better of speaking.
"What's with you? What's that look in your eyes? Could it have something to do with me?"
"Young Master, please don't be angry when I say it."
"Speak."
"This matter does indeed have to do with you, and... it even started because of you."
"It really does have to do with me? What is it?"
Gu Qingfeng thought about it. He hadn't offended the Taiji Sect, had he? Not only had he not offended them, but if he calculated carefully, he had actually done them a favor.