Chapter Seventy-Five: Di Zong

  The so-called appraisal meeting is a gathering formed by the Jianghu factions in the late Republic of China. In fact, it is an exchange meeting between the Jianghu factions. On the one hand, they show off their wealth and on the other hand, they also communicate with each other, so it is called an appraisal meeting.

  Although nowadays, various schools in the Jianghu have mostly entered a commercial mode, forming their own business system, following the mainstream of society, and economic revenue has become the focus of each school, but the Jianghu door still has differences with pure business groups.

  Especially in the Xuanmen, whether it is practicing Mi Fa or Bu Zhen Kan Yu, it cannot be separated from some rare Fa Qi or Tian Cai Di Bao. These Tian Cai Di Bao are ordinary people's eyes, some of which are just decorations, and some are just medicines for prolonging life, the value is not too great, but in the eyes of Xuanmen people, these things are valuable, some are even worth thousands of dollars.

  Just like the Blood Qilin that Ning Yuan had obtained from Jiang Shihao earlier, this thing was just an antique in Jiang Shihao's hands. Moreover, due to its extremely heavy killing aura, it wasn't something that ordinary people could handle. However, in Ning Yuan's hands, it became a rare and precious artifact. After being nurtured, it even caused Fang Shou Tian, who had reached the realm of introspection, to flee in disarray.

  If it weren't for this treasure, Ningyuan's secret method of cultivation was still inferior to Fang Shoutian. If they were to really fight, he wouldn't be able to withstand Fang Shoutian at all.

  It's precisely because of this that some special things are only suitable for internal transactions within the Jianghu factions to maximize benefits. Fortunately, Ning Yuan got the Blood Qilin from Jiang Shihao's hands; if it were in Fang Donglai's hands, not to mention tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, Fang Donglai wouldn't have sold it to Ning Yuan.

  Apart from the various schools of the Mystic Door, even among the various schools in Jianghu, those who practice martial arts often have some special needs. Many of these things are priceless and cannot be found on the market; they can only be obtained within the internal circles of Jianghu schools.

  The rivers and lakes door, the major gangs in the eyes of ordinary people may have disappeared in modern cities, but within the inner circle, it is absolutely impossible to really disappear. Each door and gang almost has its own territory and specialty.

  For example, the Yunzhou Province's Qilian Mountain, which is occupied by the Sanhe Sect, has a special product called Lingjing crystal. In the eyes of ordinary people, it just looks good and can be carved into various decorative items when circulated in the market. However, this Lingjing crystal is absolutely the first choice for array instruments among Xuanmen practitioners.

  Among these Lingjings, one or two out of a hundred or a thousand will be spiritually awakened, containing spiritual energy within. Some are suitable for cultivation, while others are suitable for array formation.

  For example, the Dongbei Bahetoumen, because of its proximity to Mount Taibai, the people in the school are all skilled at finding ginseng and can always produce wild mountain ginseng that is over a hundred years old. This kind of vintage wild mountain ginseng has almost disappeared from the market, but it will appear at this kind of appraisal meeting.

  Apart from this, whenever any sect in the Jianghu gets hold of some strange object that they cannot identify themselves, or acquires a precious antique or magical artifact that they have no use for, they will bring it to the Appraisal Meeting and let the masters of various sects appraise it, exchanging it for what they need.

  This appraisal meeting is held once every three years, and it is the responsibility of the top-ranked gangs or sects in Jianghu to host it. If the host's sect is located in the southwest, this session of the appraisal meeting will be called the Southwest Appraisal Meeting. If the sect responsible for hosting this conference is located in the southeast, this session of the appraisal meeting will be called the Southeast Appraisal Meeting, and so on.

  This time's appraisal meeting is hosted by Dongdao, the master of Liaohai City, East Sea Province, which is located in the southeast. Therefore, this session of the appraisal meeting is also known as the Southeast Appraisal Meeting.

  This sect is also a part of the Xuanmen school and is one of the more special ones within it, with a big reputation in the Jianghu.

  Dizong also belongs to the Xingshi school, but in the Xingshi school, it is absolutely orthodox. In the past, when Guo Pu, the ancestor of the Xingshi school, passed down the various branches of the Xingshi school, they were divided into eight veins and one branch. The eight veins are: Xingfa, Xiangxiang, Longtou, etc., and the one branch is Dizong.

  This sect is said to have been founded by a legitimate disciple of Guo Pu, and was the last of the eight veins to be established, but it has the highest status, with the function of monitoring the situation of various schools.

  If we consider the Shengshi Pai as a complete school of thought, then this sect belongs to the Zhifa Tang, with extremely great power.

  Of course, as time went on, both the Form School and the Mind School underwent many upheavals, and many sects changed their appearance. The status of the Earth Sect was far from its heyday.

  Even so, the Shengshi faction is still slightly inferior to the Dizong faction in terms of righteousness, which has led to the Dizong faction having a transcendent status within the Xuanmen, with both resources and power being more intimidating.

  It is said that the status of Jiuxuanmen is transcendent, and it has nothing to do with any other school. Jiuxuanmen does not belong to Xing Shi Pai or Li Qi Pai, its status is even more transcendent, belonging to the Taoist tradition passed down by Jiutian Xuannü.

  Alas, forty years ago, the contemporary master of the Di Sect, He Fei, was exceptionally talented and entered the spiritual realm at the age of thirty. At forty, he had already set foot in the Yuan Shen realm, becoming one of the top masters on the Jianghu scene.

  Due to He Fei Fan's reasons, the Di Zong sect was even more arrogant and domineering. At a gathering, He Fei Fan openly called out Chu Ning Yuan's master, Qing Ping Dao Ren, saying that the Jiu Xuan Men did not belong to either the Li Qi or Xing Shi factions, nor was it an orthodox Xuan Men faction, and therefore had no right to participate in the Xuan Men faction conference. The Jiu Xuan Men should be expelled from the Jianghu.

  At that time, He Fei Fan's words came out, and the various factions present at the scene were in an uproar, unable to help but admire He Fei Fan's boldness.

  To put it bluntly, if the Jiuyuanmen is said to be the law enforcement hall of the Xiangshi sect, then it is the law enforcement hall of the entire Xuanmen sect, and its status is higher than that of the Dizong by countless times.

  However, the Jiuxuan Gate was often sparse in personnel. Adding to that, He Fei Fan was at the height of his power back then, and it was clear that he wanted to take advantage of the situation to get rid of the Jiuxuan Gate, which had been hanging over the heads of various factions like a sword of Damocles.

  Qingping Daoist was already a 70-year-old man at that time, looking white-haired and venerable. At that time, only Ningyuan's senior brother Tang Zongqiang followed Qingping Daoist, who was only about 30 years old but had an introverted spiritual realm.

  He Fan was proud of his own profound cultivation and looked down on Qingping Daoist with disdain.

  At that time, many people from various Jianghu schools present at the scene felt a chill for Qingping Daoist, thinking that Jiuxuanmen was doomed to escape. Although Qingping Daoist had gone through hundreds of battles and had a great reputation, he hadn't made a move in several years and was already over 60 years old, an old Lian Po indeed.

  But what shocked everyone was that Qingping Dao Ren, with his own strength, fought alone against the nine great masters led by He Fei, and showed the power of the Yuan Shen realm.

  That battle of magic, the master of the Earth Sect He Fei died on the spot, and three of the nine great masters of the Earth Sect who participated in the battle were killed and six were injured. The Earth Sect was severely damaged after that incident, and if it weren't for Qingping Daoist's clear distinction between gratitude and grudges, not holding the rest of the Earth Sect accountable for their crimes, even speaking out to warn other sects not to privately cause trouble for the Earth Sect, today's Earth Sect might have already been eliminated from the Jianghu.

  It was also that battle of magic that made Qingping Daoist, who had already passed his seventieth birthday, once again famous throughout the land. His status became even more transcendent and almost no one dared to underestimate Jiu Xuan Men anymore.

  At the same time, after that time, Qingping Daoist never participated in the appraisal meeting of various schools in Jianghu again. However, every time an appraisal meeting was held, the sect hosting the appraisal meeting would personally send an invitation to Jiuxuanmen. When the appraisal meeting was held, the first seat in the venue was always empty. Although Qingping Daoist no longer participated, there was no sect that dared not to leave a seat for him.

  After that, Jiuxuanmen and Dizong also had a grudge against each other, never to meet again until death.

  This time the appraisal meeting was held in Di Zong, but Qing Ping Dao Ren had already passed away. Ning Yuan, the new leader, faced a very serious problem.

  He Zhengxun looked at Ning Yuan for half a day without speaking, and thought that Ning Yuan still didn't want to attend this appraisal meeting. He patiently advised: "Younger brother, our master has passed away, but the Nine Profound Sect still has the right to supervise the various sects of the Profound Gate. As long as the Nine Profound Sect exists for one day, it will forever be a sharp blade on the heads of the various Jianghu sects, a thorn in their eyes and a stab in their flesh. Escaping is impossible."

  "Second Brother, don't worry, I understand. This time's appraisal meeting, I will attend and won't tarnish Master's reputation or the prestige of our Jiuxuan Gate." Ning Yuan raised his head and took a deep breath as he spoke.

  "Hmm, if Little Master can think so, it's good enough. Don't worry, even if Master has passed away, I, the senior brother, am still a master of spiritual transformation and have already stepped into the Yuan Shen realm with one foot. Others wouldn't dare to bully me at will." He Zhengxun said seriously.

  "I know."

  Ning Yuan nodded and smiled lightly: "Don't worry, Master has handed over the burden to me, I naturally won't slack off."

  As he spoke, Ning Yuan's gaze turned to the window, his eyes sharp and cold, muttering in his heart: "The Southeast Treasure Appraisal Conference! The Earth Sect! Let me, Ning Yuan, take a look!"

  Is the majestic and domineering demeanor of Qingping Dao Ren worth a recommendation vote from book friends?