"To come to greet me with such grandeur, Commander, you are too kind!"
"Not at all, not at all! National Preceptor, the Government Post House in the city has been prepared, please enter the city to talk!"
"Very well!"
The Commander went ahead to mount his horse and lead the way, with the caravan following behind, slowly entering Xuancheng City. Inside the carriage, a gaunt elderly man in a Taoist robe, with a long beard hanging from his chin, sat beside a young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. The young man spoke softly to the elder,
"Master, is Ninth Great Uncle-Master truly in the vicinity of Xuancheng?"
The elder nodded,
"Not long ago, your teacher sensed that the Tongxuan Bright Mirror was nearby, and coincidentally, the place where your sister went missing is also near Xuancheng, two birds with one stone... we can take the opportunity to search the area thoroughly!"
Speaking of his long-missing sister, the young man's face showed concern,
"My sister disappeared on her way back to Du City to visit our relatives; the maids and guards accompanying her also vanished. Our family only received an alarm message through a Jade Slip. If it weren't for my sister's Life-bound Jade Tablet being merely dimmed and not completely shattered, the elders at home would have feared she was no longer of this world!"
Stroking his beard, the elder nodded,
"If she is not dead, then she must be findable. This time, you have brought the Three-eyed Falcon raised by our family, which should indeed be able to find her!"
"Then I shall rely on Master's auspicious words..."
The young man quickly added,
"However, the sect's affairs are the priority. Let's take care of the major issues for the sect first!"
The elder smiled and said,
"No worries, the reason why I made such a grand journey this time is to get the aid of the Yue Country Official Residence. Once we're in the city and have explained everything to the Xuancheng City Guard, we'll have him deploy people to help us search. Combined with the help of the Three-eyed Falcon, we will surely accomplish both tasks!"
Frowning, the young man asked,
"Master, these people are merely mortals; how long will it take for them to find someone?"
Laughing, the elder replied,
"Mortals have their uses. You will understand in due course..."
"Master is right..."
The young man nodded and then asked again,
"Master, there is something I don't understand; I ask for your guidance!"
The elder said,
"Just ask..."
The young man spoke,
"Master, you said that the Tongxuan Bright Mirror is a treasured artifact of the Immortal Sects, so how has it been in the possession of our sect for so many years? Our sect... our sect is not a Great Cultivation Sect, so why haven't the Great Cultivation Sects come to seize it earlier?"
Upon hearing this, the elder smiled slightly and after thinking, he said,
"The story begins with the founding of our sect. In this realm, many magical treasures have been left over from the grand battles of the primeval times, such as the Taiyi Divine Sword of the Heavenly Unity Sect or the Chaos Bowl of the Zhengyuan Sect, or the Immortal Skirt of the Immortal Gates. These are all artifacts scattered and lost in this realm by the Immortals after the war, and were either unwittingly or intentionally found by other cultivators. Our Tongxuan Bright Mirror, however, is a bit different. It originally belonged to a fairy. After it was lost during the war, the fairy's descendant became the founder of our Tongxuan Sect. He searched for many years in this realm before he found his ancestor's lost artifact. However, the Grand Master did not inherit the fairy's constitution, he lacked a Spirit Root and could not practice Immortal cultivation techniques. Later, he joined the secular Taoist Sect, hoping to comprehend the profound truths of the universe with Taoist mystic arts, not requiring a Spirit Root, but unfortunately, even after living for more than two hundred years, he did not achieve his goal. Nevertheless, the Grand Master was a man of great wisdom and understanding. Even though he did not enter the realm of Great Cultivation, he found a way to activate the Spirit Mirror without a Spirit Root, and before his death, he entrusted all his Essential Blood to the Treasure Mirror, and also issued a curse before dying that only disciples of our sect could handle the mirror. Should anyone attempt to forcefully activate the Treasure Mirror, the mirror would self-destruct..."
The young man raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, moved his lips but said nothing. The elder continued,
"The curse laid down by the Grand Master with his entire cultivation is naturally no trivial matter. The explosive power of an Immortal's magical treasure could destroy hundreds of miles around. Over the years, sects like the Heavenly Unity Sect and Zhengyuan Sect, who knew the details, although they sent people to inquire about the whereabouts of the mirror, not one dared to act rashly. And those sects unaware of the particulars have been sending out members to search all over..."
Hearing this, the young man was puzzled,
"Then why doesn't Master explain this matter to all the sects?"