The immortal is beside me

Chapter 121 I Don’t Recognize This Thousand Years of Merit
Liangzhou, confidential meeting room of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.

Lu Zhenhai and several branch leaders sat at a circular table, each holding a document in their hands. Upon closer inspection, they were all about faith revival cases.

Based on existing intelligence, it's been confirmed that this nationwide loss of faith was caused by the remnants of the Eternal Heaven Sect, a situation worthy of national escalation. The meeting had already lasted over two hours, and twenty-three plans had been formulated during the discussion, which would soon be implemented into the social machinery.

Among the many deployments, there is also a special message.

".Now, let's move on to the final item of business."

Lu Zhenhai picked up the last stack of documents: "Information about a monk named 'Zhou Tong' who was found in various ruins."

After the words were spoken, everyone in the room fell inexplicably silent for a moment. Finally, a person sitting on the side took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"A few days ago, the Yingzhou branch sent a message saying that they had discovered a powerful person who was connected to the strategic-level cultivator 'Divine Eagle'. The cultivator's name was Zhou Tong."

"We checked their descriptions and found them to be highly similar to the characteristics of 'Zhou Qing' stored in the library. It is very likely that this is another identity of his, one he adopted after the Tang Dynasty."

In their previous investigations, the information they had come across about Zhou Qing only lasted until the end of the An-Shi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty. After that, most of the records about him disappeared, and there was no clue even in the Jiuli History.

If that powerful person changed his name again, from Zhou Wuqing to Zhou Tong, then the timeline would match and everything would be explained.

However, now, the newly emerged information has made everyone reconsider.

Lu Zhenhai lowered his eyes and looked at the document in his hand. It was a summary of the records from the investigation results of various ruins.

[Investigation Report on the Extraordinary Site at Mount Hua in Liangzhou: This site belonged to the Tuva tribe of the grasslands. Spiritual imprints indicate that it was destroyed by a Central Plains cultivator named Zhou Tong, who unleashed a large-scale fire spell, killing a thousand of the tribe's cultivators and destroying their encampment.]

[Investigation Report on the Extraordinary Ruins in the Lvhe Jiayuan Community in Xuzhou: This site is from the Qingyue Sect, a major sect in the Central Plains during the Tang Dynasty. Spiritual imprints indicate that the sect was once affiliated with the Jiuli Immortal Alliance and defended the Xuzhou area for ten years. In 912 AD, the sect was destroyed by Zhou Tong, leaving no one alive.]

[Investigation Report on the Extraordinary Sites Outside Jizhou Industrial Park]

There are dozens of records like this, covering a period from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the beginning of the Song Dynasty, spanning more than 100 years. Everyone was in awe when they saw it.

During these hundred years, the cultivator named Zhou Tong seemed to have never stopped killing. His targets included cultivators of other races, immortal sects in the Central Plains, former colleagues, and even some mortals.

In the context of the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty, such indiscriminate slaughter was not uncommon, but if Zhou Tong was the powerful Zhou Qing today, then this would be a big problem.

The times are like a melting pot, stained by their colors. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era was a cannibalistic era, and as a witness to that era, it is understandable that Zhou Tong, or rather Zhou Qing, also fell into the mire.

But being reasonable is one thing, and the way it makes people feel is another.

Before this, their understanding of the powerful man came from the Jiuli history and a few contacts, and these understandings portrayed him as a hero who turned the tide and an old senior who was friendly to mortals. It was also because of this that the Environmental Sanitation Bureau took the lead in nominating him as a strategic level.

And now they suddenly learned that after the hero Zhou Wuqing left Jiuli, he was infected with the customs of the Five Dynasties and turned into the cruel and bloodthirsty butcher Zhou Tong - although history cannot be viewed in isolation from the times, this still made them feel a little disappointed.

"With such indiscriminate killing, could that powerful being have also joined the invading wild god faith and practiced those evil cannibalistic arts?"

Someone at the table sighed softly, and before he had finished speaking, a conversation immediately erupted.

"You can't just guess at things like this. If you're not careful, you could end up in trouble."

"According to what's being said in Yingzhou, isn't he related to the Divine Eagle? If he really is that kind of person, why would the Divine Eagle be willing to travel with him?"

"However, several decades passed between the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, and the social atmosphere at that time also changed a lot. Perhaps he was exposed to all this during the Five Dynasties, and it was not until the Song Dynasty that he began to change."

"."

At first, it was just a quiet discussion, but later the discussion became more and more frequent, filling the entire room. In the end, it was Lu Zhenhai, who was in the lead, who ended all the controversy with a single sentence.

".The information is still under review, so please don't jump to conclusions. Please don't respond to Yingzhou for now."

The resurgence of cannibalism has now spread across the country, with supernatural entities everywhere working to address it. If it were revealed at this point that Zhou Qing had also been involved in the faith, it's hard to imagine the impact it would have.

Considering that he had previously been nominated for a strategic level, this incident might directly ignite a crisis of trust between the monks and the government.

Under this premise, the only measure he could take was to remain silent. As long as he did not publicly equate Zhou Qing with Zhou Tong, his image would not be tarnished by this matter.

The meeting ended here, and everyone from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau walked out of the meeting room one by one. Lu Zhenhai, who was sitting in the front, also put away his documents and left. As he walked through the corridor, he bumped into a familiar figure.

Jiang Ruifeng, senior deacon of the Jiuli Sect.

The revival of the Wild God has a great impact. All places are mobilizing elite personnel to prepare for the response, including allied sects that cooperate with the government, and the Jiuli Sect is no exception.

Thanks to the intervention of a certain senior, they hadn't suffered much of a blow in the previous discussion between immortals and Buddhas, and even because they won the discussion, their reputation in the cultivation world had been further enhanced. Now that chaos had resurfaced, they naturally sent people in as soon as possible.

"Manager Lu, what a coincidence! I was just about to head to your office to look for you."

Seeing him arrive, Jiang Ruifeng bowed naturally. "Regarding the recent situation regarding the revival of faith on the grasslands, Jiuli is willing to lend a hand. Could you please tell us more about it, Director Lu?"

"Since Deacon Jiang is here in person, there's no problem. Please follow me."

Lu Zhenhai also returned the greeting, walked in front to lead the way, and took him to the conversation room.

"It is currently believed that this resurgence of the wild gods is led by Changshengtian. A similar situation occurred in the Central Plains approximately a thousand years ago during the Five Dynasties and early Song Dynasty."

On the way to the conversation room, he briefly recounted the information that had just been discussed. Jiang Ruifeng on the other side frowned slightly, obviously thinking about it.

"A thousand years ago. It had been just over a hundred years since the Immortal Alliance collapsed, and the Jiuli were in seclusion, recuperating, and were indeed unaware of the outside world. However, the remnants of the Changshengtian Grassland, who had been entangled with the Central Plains for a thousand years, have suddenly reappeared. There may be other reasons behind this that require further investigation."

Jiang Ruifeng spoke thoughtfully, "But speaking of which, Senior Wuqing should have been in the Central Plains at the time. Director Lu could perhaps send someone to inquire with him about the situation."

Lu Zhenhai's eyebrows twitched slightly, his throat twitched twice, and he swallowed back the words that were about to come out. If Zhou Tongzhi's facts were to trigger many impacts, then the biggest impact would undoubtedly be on the Jiuli Sect.

In their eyes, Zhou Wuqing was a towering figure who propped up a crumbling edifice, a saint whose legacy would be recorded in history. Younger generations like Jiang Ruifeng held him in high esteem. If they knew what that senior had done after leaving Jiuli, it would be like dragging him into the mud.

As an ally, the Environmental Sanitation Bureau really shouldn't pour cold water on this, even if it is true.

Lu Zhenhai controlled his expression, knowing full well that showing any abnormality in front of a Jindan cultivator would reveal his true intentions. But just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He picked it up, and the screen displayed a number from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau.

"Is there new intelligence?" Jiang Ruifeng naturally recognized the number and waved his hand, saying, "No problem, Director Lu will answer it here. I'll be fine waiting for a while."

These polite and ordinary words made Lu Zhenhai's mouth twitch slightly, but it was not easy to refuse Jiang Ruifeng's intention. He had no choice but to nervously press the answer button and listen to the report coming from the other end of the phone.

"Captain Lu, there are new results from the Tianji Academy regarding the investigation into Zhou Tong."

Just the first sentence made his blood pressure soar. He secretly watched Jiang Ruifeng's expression beside him and tried his best to speak calmly: "What is it?"

"The massacre of the major factions is true, but according to the latest intelligence we just received, the details are different from what appears on the surface."

"According to intelligence, all the forces Zhou Tong slaughtered were involved in human sacrifice. Relying on the strength gained from these sacrifices, these forces overwhelmed the remaining Central Plains immortal sects. The person who ultimately reversed this was Zhou Tong."

"He has never been involved in the evil art of cannibalism. On the contrary, he single-handedly eliminated most of the beliefs prevalent in the Central Plains. It can be said that he was the one who extinguished the cannibalism trend in the cultivation world. I will send you the details shortly."

With every sentence, Lu Zhenhai's expression changed a little bit. After he finished the last sentence, he hung up the phone and saw a file displayed on his phone. He clicked it and saw a report with dense small characters inside.

"Zhou Tong?" Jiang Ruifeng, who was standing nearby, had obviously heard what had just been said on the phone. This kind of noise couldn't be hidden from the ears of a Jindan cultivator. "Who is that person?"

This was met with a moment of silence. Lu Zhenhai stared at the lines of text on his phone, his pupils slightly dilated. After a moment, he turned around and slowly handed the phone to Jiang Ruifeng next to him.

"It seems he is most likely Senior Zhou Wuqing of your clan," Lü Zhenhai said. "During the late Tang and early Song dynasties, his name was Zhou Tong."

Jiang Ruifeng's expression changed. He took the phone from his hand and took a closer look. The first line of words made him stunned.

[In 912 AD, the Qingyue Sect, a sect under the former Jiuli Immortal Alliance, was destroyed by Zhou Tong]

It was rainy and cloudy in Xuzhou.

A flash of fire appeared under the thin curtain, and a figure in a red Taoist robe broke through the rain curtain and flew forward.

This is the jurisdiction of Qingyue Sect and was once the sphere of influence of the Immortal Alliance. In the autumn fifty years ago, he had come here to inspect the sect's situation. At that time, the place was full of golden wheat waves, a scene of a good harvest.

But now all he could see was desolation. There was clearly no drought or flood, but there was no sign of crops in the fields. Even the farmers who were sowing seeds were nowhere to be seen, as if the fields had become a dead land.

The current situation is in chaos. On the way here, he saw many refugees begging for food, but they would rather starve to death outside than return to this fertile land.

He flew to the green hills at the end of the fields and easily passed the looming mountain protection formation. As soon as he landed, he saw clouds rolling in front of him, and dozens of figures from the Qingyue Sect flew out from them and saluted him together.

"Greetings, Your Excellency Wuqing."

Zhou Tong looked at them, his expression unchanged: "The Immortal Alliance is dead, you shouldn't call me that."

"No, Your Majesty, the Immortal Alliance is not dead." The leader of the Qingyue Sect, standing at the forefront, said, "Xuzhou is now guarded by us, and no outside enemy can set foot inside. In the future, when the chaos is over, we can use this place as a base to recruit new forces. With time, we will be able to restore the glory of the past."

"You resorted to cannibalistic sacrifice."

The scene suddenly became quiet, and the aura of everyone in Qingyue Sect suddenly changed. After a moment, the sect leader who was still in the front spoke.

"Now that faith is resurrected everywhere, there is no place in the world that does not eat people. Those grassland barbarians wanted to invade the Central Plains. If we did not use human sacrifices to enhance our strength, we would have been destroyed by them long ago. How could we have defended Xuzhou until now?"

He spoke aloud, his tone rising, "Things are different now. If you don't eat people, you'll be eaten. If we hadn't been stationed here, this place would have been occupied by foreigners long ago. Cannibalism is a fault, but defending this place is a merit. We believe our merits outweigh our faults."

There was a hint of intensity in the voice, but Zhou Tong in front of him seemed to ignore it and just stared at the sect leader in front of him quietly with a cold gaze.

"You guys acknowledge it, but I don't."

With clanging sounds, the monks behind him all drew their weapons, and rays of spiritual light flowed, reflecting the stern expression of the Qingyue Sect Master in the halo.

"Your Majesty, you should know that the world of cultivation is in such chaos now. To resolve this chaos in the human world, there is no other way but to have another existence like the Nine Li Immortal Alliance in the past. Your Majesty, don't you wish to see the Immortal Alliance revive?"

The Qingyue Sect Master asked in a deep voice, "If we can't protect the Central Plains, the people will die too. So, if we sacrifice people now to restore the glory of the Immortal Alliance and bring peace, the sin will be in the present, but the merit will be long-lasting. Why not? How can we not do this?"

Zhou Tong shook his head: "If the crime is committed now, there will be no merit in the future. What I see is the crime will be executed."

The spiritual light illuminated the entire mountain range, and countless figures appeared in the air, forming a huge magic circle that covered the entire sky. The astonishing brilliance seemed like the grand scene of the past.

In the center of the formation, Sect Master Qingyue also drew out his sword, and the aura on his body suddenly rose like a hurricane.

"Then let me see how Your Majesty judges our merits and demerits."

The huge formation pressed down, pressing down on the figure on the ground with the force of a mountain. He slowly raised his head, and a light seemed to flash in his eyes.

Flames suddenly rose up, and the flames shot up into the sky. The large formation in the sky was shattered, and flesh and blood with the remaining fire fell from the sky.

Under the horrified gaze of the crowd, the one in the center stepped over the flames, the spear in his hand pointing straight ahead.

“That’s how I judge it.”

(End of this chapter)