The second year of Tiande, Yaozhou.
When Xu Qing led the members of the Da Luo Sect to Yaozhou for the first time, nearly nine out of ten households in the towns and villages outside the county were empty. A sweeping view revealed nothing but ravaged ruins and desolate burial mounds.
Xin Yuan lowered his eyes and recited Buddhist mantras without pause along the way. Zhang Pingsheng and Xie Qiongke from Zhongzhou had only heard of the disaster in Yaozhou, never expecting it to be so unbearably tragic!
"This humble Daoist has been in seclusion in Zhongzhou for over a hundred years, and even when leaving, Zhongzhou was not like this infernal scene before us..."
Beside him, Ascendant Fuluan interrupted, "Fellow Daoist Xie, don't forget that our Sect Leader eradicated the root of the corpse demon's chaos in Zhongzhou decades ago and harnessed the Yin River Spiritual Power to revitalize it. Without the Sect Leader, the scene before you would be today's reality in Zhongzhou!"
Xie Qiongke felt both startled and grateful.
Can there be intact eggs under an overturned nest?
If Zhongzhou were destroyed by calamity, he, as an Immortal, would find it hard to protect himself.
In comparison, the Sect Leader who dared to go against the tide during the great tribulation is truly like a deity descending to the mortal world!
Little did Xie Qiongke know that the reason Xu Qing did all this was merely for self-preservation.
At the end of stability is the initiative to strike first, reducing potential threats to dust and continually amassing one's own assets until becoming the ruler of the chessboard, only then is it truly stable!
If Xu Qing always remained content in a corner, surrounded by enemies, that would not be the right choice, nor would there be a favorable outcome awaiting him.
After all, as Sect Leader, he couldn't possibly sit in the Immortal Hall and temples at all times. Under such circumstances, he had to plan ahead and eliminate any potential hidden dangers to ensure his own stability.
And how could Xie Qiongke, who was focused on solitary cultivation, comprehend Xu Qing's painstaking intentions?
"Fellow Daoist Xie, you've been reclusive in Zhongzhou and never gone out, so you couldn't possibly know the changes outside. In today's world, aside from the capital and Jin Sect, as well as Zhongzhou, how many other regions have not been affected by the evil world?"
Jin Sect is the hub of water and land, where countless official transport ships and private merchant vessels come and go daily.
Although Xu Qing spent most of his time in Jin Sect, being in the trade hub, he could see all kinds of people from all corners of the land.
Likewise, he could also witness the revolving lantern of corpses from all over without leaving his home.
Their revolving lanterns jointly wove a tapestry of a demon-chaotic world, an apocalypse crushed by great tribulations, a horrifying scene perhaps seen by no one other than Xu Qing.
Xie Qiongke had no words to respond. Someone as secluded as him found it indeed difficult to grasp the mindset of the moment.
In the territories of Yaozhou, Xu Qing collected remains along the way, and the small group walked over three hundred miles, with most of the villages and towns broken and abandoned, with not even chickens or dogs heard.
Near the provincial town, before Xu Qing even entered the city gate, he saw vast desolate graves outside the city, with many gloomy-faced mourners visiting new and old graves for worship.
Zhang Pingsheng stepped forward to inquire and learned that today was the local day for Yaozhou residents to sweep ancestral graves.
At the cemetery, they happened to run into a Wandering Daoist passing by. Seeing Zhang Pingsheng and Xie Qiongke's Daoist robes, helping others, he mistook them for fellow practitioners and approached to greet them.
"Looking at you, you seem not to be locals. Are you also here to Yaozhou to earn some offerings?"
Before the two could answer, the Daoist shook his head and said, "I advise you to return early. Yaozhou is plagued by geographic pestilence, with destitute ghosts everywhere. This humble Daoist is heading to Jin Sect to find another way of living!"
Xie Qiongke asked in surprise, "What is the geographical pestilence, and why would you choose to head to Jin Sect in this vast world?"
The goat-bearded Daoist sighed and said, "Yaozhou governs six counties and forty-three districts, yet since the previous cycle, heaven has forsaken this province. First came the torrential rains that ravaged for three months nonstop. Under the muddy tides, all big and small dykes and dams burst."
"During this period, no farmer's field or granary of the Imperial Court survived! After the disaster, drownings were everywhere, with cries of misery heard throughout the province. When this humble Daoist first arrived, the Earth Qi turned malevolent, giving rise to epidemics more severe than the flood. Survivors were already a tenth of the population, and faced with the epidemic, how could such devastation be described as anything but a severing of human kinship!"
The goat-bearded Daoist recalled the past, fear still visible in his eyes.
"The calamity of geographic pestilence eats away at the flesh and bones. Anyone caught in the illness, be it living or dead, develops black spots, and within days, the body disintegrates into a foul-smelling skeleton."
"Such a disease is beyond the solutions of doctors and eludes witches; even us exorcists lack effective talismans to counter it."
Unable to conceal his defeat, the Daoist finally sighed, "People are ignorant, seeing only natural disasters and man-made calamities, unaware of the demons wreaking havoc beyond the world!"
At last, the Skinny Daoist shook his head, "This humble Daoist, with low path attainment, intended to heal and aid the world in Yaozhou, earning cultivation resources but almost got myself trapped! Now that this humble Daoist has witnessed the ailments of Yaozhou over the past thirty years, I've seen through the prevailing issues."
"The calamity in Yaozhou is not a natural disaster but rather hidden demonic influences unseen by the naked eye. Without this, the pestilence wouldn't have been so severe, nor lingered for decades."
"This humble Daoist wandered in youth, now over sixty, and feels that his path no longer progresses, seemingly destined."
The Skinny Daoist sighed profoundly and continued, "Fortunately, I've heard that demons have retreated in the capital and Jin Sect, where apparently pure Qi arises. It's a perfect place for me to establish an observatory, recruiting a few disciples to pass down my skills."