Ah, that makes sense... Zhang Yuanqing set down the sealing talisman, and his thoughts erupted at that moment. "When my father drew this talisman, he wasn't yet a Spirit Journeyer. The Xiao Yao Sect is actually an ancient organization descended from the Night-Wanderer tradition. Though during the Latter Age of the Dharma, when people could no longer practice cultivation, the 'lineage' of cultivation has been preserved right up to the modern era, kept within a small temple. "The name 'Xiao Yao Sect' comes directly from this ancient lineage." "Wait—world's end? It sounds so similar to the prophecy of the Light Compass." "Does the world's end refer to the Latter Age of the Dharma? No, that doesn't quite fit. The Latter Age of the Dharma is characterized by the gradual waning of spiritual energy, which is different from a world-ending catastrophe... Hey, is it perhaps an indirect reference to the decline of spiritual energy?" If the cause of spiritual energy depletion is framed as 'the world's end,' then the logic becomes coherent. In ancient times, there once occurred a disaster of such magnitude that it could be considered a true world-ending event, after which spiritual energy began to dwindle And in the myths of nations around the world, there are numerous tales of ancient apocalypses. "That's actually quite plausible. I remember Mr. Bill mentioning that the Third Region has remained closed to this day. Whether or not the Third Region opens isn't crucial—what matters is that Mr. Bill believed its closure was linked to the myth of the 'Dawn of the Gods.' Isn't the 'Dawn of the Gods' precisely a world-ending catastrophe?" Furthermore, does Mr. Bill's reference to a second world-ending event align perfectly with the prophecy of the Compass of Light? Gasp—the Free-Flowing Order seems quite formidable. They predicted a second world-ending event even in ancient times... Zhang Yuanqing found himself growing increasingly uneasy as he pondered this. "Uncle! Where did those Taoist monks go back then?" If he had been eager just a moment ago, now he was truly excited—so excited that his whole body trembled. If he could locate people from the Free-Flowing Order and find the preserved ancient texts, he might uncover even more information and secrets. "Some were captured, others fled," Zhang Zitao said. "At the time, officials organized a group to storm the temple, and everything inside was completely burned to the ground." Everything burned—everything scattered... Zhang Yuqing couldn't help but feel disheartened. This is a pipe named the "Great Detective Pipe." Consistently using it will enhance one's logical reasoning, deductive skills, and observational acuity. It was exactly the item I dreamed of during my teenage years—the very pipe that Detective Zhang Yuanzi should have had. Zhang Yuanqing opened the car window, leaned back against the seat, and took a deep, strong draw from the pipe. The flavor of the burning tobacco was sharp and invigorating; in the past, someone who didn’t smoke would have coughed, flushed, and even wept, but for Zhengguan, even the pesticide endosulfan could be swallowed down in one go. What could tobacco possibly be? Zhang Yuanqing leaned back, closed his eyes, and drew deeply, silently inhaling and exhaling. His mind grew increasingly clear. Information about his father Zhang Zizhen—his family background, personality, living environment, upbringing, and manner of conduct—flooded in, yet flowed in a well-organized, coherent, and uncluttered manner. Gradually, a vivid image emerged before him, and he pieced together a genuine Zhang Zizhen. The hardships of his upbringing made him yearn for something extraordinary; upon stumbling upon ancient texts in a temple, he believed them wholeheartedly and began to claim that he was a savior, a descendant of a once-great, now-fading sect—rather than just an ordinary country boy from a humble background. Yet even a savior must eat, so he used the superficial skills he learned at the temple to feign grandeur, crafting a compelling identity for himself—descendant of the Purple Emperor—to bolster both his credibility and his own conviction. After years of perseverance and steady education, reading and gaining wisdom, he gradually stopped believing in the ancient texts and ceased mentioning the temple's traditions. Until one day, after learning to write incantations and gaining a basic command of night-wandering spiritual techniques, he unexpectedly received a character card and became a spiritual traveler of the realm. He witnessed the existence of supernatural abilities, confirmed that every account in the ancient scrolls was true, and thus reclaimed his childhood dreams, vowing to become a savior. Yet having grown older and no longer carefree, he quietly advanced, forged bonds with three like-minded friends, and established the "Soar" organization. They proclaimed their mission: "To prevent the destruction of the world." Indeed, the Soar organization's slogan is not mere whimsy or playful wordplay—it has substance, rooted in reality. With the emergence of the Light Compass, the Soar quartet verified the ancient records and resolved to locate the three celestial entities—the "Sun, Moon, and Stars"—predicted in the prophecy. Their disappearance was not due to rivalry or routine quests; rather, they were a dedicated group with a noble vision and clear objectives. They succeeded, or nearly succeeded, yet ultimately encountered a devastating upheaval. On their journey to unravel the truth behind the world's end, they faced obstacles and adversaries. Forced to retreat, the quartet chose to vanish, to remain hidden. Among the Twin Flames, Chu Shang, due to his illustrious lineage, could no longer hide his origins and faced an unexpected turn first, followed by Zhang Zizhen, the founder of the Xiao Yao Organization. The Twin Shadows remain unknown in terms of their fate, though they likely also encountered unforeseen events. Unwilling to see years of dedication and dreams vanish, Zhang Zizhen concealed his aspirations within the soul of his son. He passed on his dreams to his son and then calmly accepted death. As the profile concluded, Zhang Yuanqing took his pipe and opened his eyes. Many details had to be briefly mentioned, as the current information only allowed for an approximate reconstruction of the overall sequence. "Next, we must determine two key points: first, whether the elimination of the Chu family by the Night Rose and the Commander of the Army was driven solely by the objective of seizing rule-based artifacts to revive the Night Rose's leader, or if there are deeper motivations, or whether this event was orchestrated to accelerate the downfall of the Chu family. Second, the identities and backgrounds of the Twin Shadows." "Once I find these two and confirm whether they're alive or deceased, my profile will be validated. As my father's close friends, even if my mother doesn't personally know them, she'd surely have a memory of them. I'll ask her to check. Zhang Yuanqing glanced at his phone. It was 11 a.m. He calculated the time difference, and the time in his mother's region should be in the morning. He opened his contacts and dialed Chen Shu's number. "Sorry, the line you're trying to reach is currently off the hook..." Hmm? Still off the hook? Zhang Yuanqing raised an eyebrow, sensing something was off. His mother runs a business—she wouldn't be a homebound type who suddenly passes away unnoticed. She'd maintain constant communication with clients and employees, handling numerous responsibilities. How could her phone remain off for so long? "Let me try her office phone instead..." Zhang Yuanqing remembered that his mother had two phones—one personal, one for work." Perhaps her personal phone had been damaged, and she had been too lazy to repair or replace it, but her office phone couldn't have been off, could it? His mother was someone who clearly separated work from personal matters. As a son, Zhang Yuanqing didn't even know her office number—yet that didn't matter. He sent a text message to Mr. Bill: "Mr. Bill, could you kindly do me a favor? Could you tell me my mother's office number?" A few seconds later, Mr. Bill replied with a string of digits (country code plus phone number). Zhang Yuanqing dialed the number, only to hear the familiar voice announcing that the line was off. "What??" Zhang Yuanqing was startled, then a wave of panic and fear surged through him, his face instantly pale, his adrenaline reaching a critical level. He kept his face stern, his fingers slightly trembling as he dialed Mr. Bill’s phone number. Once the call connected, he spoke rapidly: “Mr. Bill, do you have any way to reach my mother right now—personally, not just by phone? Both of her phones are off. She might have been in trouble…” His voice remained steady, a testament to the unyielding resolve of the Primordial Celestial Sovereign who had weathered life and death. “I’ll have it sorted—just wait a moment,” Mr. Bill’s tone immediately grew serious. I'm absolutely terrified here—she blocked me? Zhang Yuanqing's temples bulged with veins, and the muscles on either side of his cheeks tightened fiercely. For a few seconds, he grabbed his phone and composed a text message for Bill. "Mr. Bill, please convey to her that I'm cursing her mother..." Zhang Yuanqing quickly deleted it and rewrote: "Tell her I'm cursing her father..." He deleted it again, his fingers trembling as they danced erratically across the screen, unsure how to express himself eloquently, because he realized that with some people, when you yell at them, it's you who gets hurt. After a moment of silence, he slammed the phone against the passenger seat, exploding in fury at the steering wheel: "Curses! Curses! Curses! Curses! Curses!" A few minutes later... "Hey, Queen, call a tow truck over—I'll send you my location. I haven't even had an accident—the steering wheel's been shattered! Why has it been shattered?" Because I want to smash my mom's head with a dog, don't you know? You talk a lot, don't you? Just do your job—don't you dare add another word, or I'll come back and hang you up by your ears. "Right away, right away, Captain, please don't be so stern..." ... After waiting for half an hour in place, Zhang Yuanqing inside the carriage heard a deep, powerful engine roar. He turned to look and saw a sleek, sapphire-blue sports car speeding toward them. As it approached and began to slow down near the roadside, the sports car executed a flawless 180-degree drift, its tires screeching sharply against the asphalt. When the drift was complete, the blue car matched pace with the smaller sedan. The car windows slowly descended, revealing a mixed-race woman wearing sunglasses. She smiled warmly and said, "Hop in, handsome—let me take you to a hotel room." The wind gently lifted her wavy hair, her white shirt stylish and elegant, and a sweet, charming smile played at her lips. Zhang Yuanqing felt instantly at ease. He opened the door and smiled, "Let's go to the three-bedroom presidential suite." "Why?" "Because a clever rabbit has three burrows—each one I'll inspect thoroughly." Guan Ya rolled her eyes, waiting for Zhang Yuanqing to enter the car, then said, "Leave the car and the keys here. The tow truck is about to arrive. According to the queen, you've been feeling down, haven't you?" She had come specially because she heard I was feeling low... Zhang Yuanqing sighed, "Not really. I had a disagreement with my mother." Guan Ya started the car and drove for a while, then cautiously asked, "Is your mother difficult to get along with?" "It's not a matter of personality. A person with a difficult personality may lack emotional intelligence—how can one run a business with that?" Zhang Yuanqing said calmly, "My issue with her is that she never pays attention to me—she only handles the money. In fact, she's quite indifferent. When I fight, she doesn't care. When I skip classes, she doesn't care. When I get sick, she doesn't care. All day long, she's focused on her work and earning money. In her eyes, as long as she provides the money, she's fulfilling her role as a mother. Beyond that, I can't expect anything. If I ask for more, I feel like I'm being unreasonable—greedy, even. Well, I'll just drop it. I won't mention her anymore." Guan Ya chuckled lightly, "Oh, we both have such wonderful mothers, don't we?" "Actually," Zhang Yuanqing replied, "you have a mother who wants to sell you off." "Get out of the way!" Guan Ya said, looking straight ahead, one hand gripping the steering wheel and the other waving her hand in a sharp gesture, exasperated, "I'm not in the mood for your constant soothing right now." "Before Zhang Yuanqing could speak, she suddenly smiled thinly and said, 'Let me tell you about Fu Qingyang's miserable childhood. That way, we'll all feel balanced. Oh, by the way, Ling Jun's childhood wasn't any better—didn't you notice? Though he belongs to the Taiyuan Sect, he's closer to his maternal relatives. When he first came to the Fu family, he came with the Grand Elder of the Hundred Flowers Assembly. He only considers Teng'er his sister, and doesn't even recognize his paternal half-brothers and half-sisters...' "Between 1999 and 2004, within a span of five years, our lawful-good organizations unexpectedly deepened their cooperation, reaching numerous surprising agreements. Each organization willingly gave up certain interests, forming a coalition that appeared loosely structured yet in fact highly cohesive—operating across a wide range of industries and even opening up shared permissions. At the time, these were truly remarkable reforms. Many of the regulations I am now familiar with were established during those five years. Moreover, prior to 1999, lawful-good organizations had, both openly and privately, collaborated with evil-aligned professions. Today, such collaboration is considered taboo, and even senior leaders within the major organizations hesitate to engage openly with evil-aligned professions." The Light Compass appeared in 1998. Overseas organizations underwent a sudden reform in 1999, deepening cooperation among the lawful factions, while domestically, the five leading organizations merged to form the Five Elements Alliance at the same time. Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brow. The Light Compass's prophecy foretold a great disaster—while the records of the Xiao Yao Sect spoke of the end of the world. After the Light Compass's emergence, the lawful organizations suddenly strengthened their collaboration, growing increasingly at odds with the evil professions. Moreover, the spiritual realm further solidified the divide between opposing factions. A troubling hypothesis emerged in Zhang Yuanqing's mind—was the end of the world somehow linked to the evil professions?