Seven years.
Seven years had already passed since the Kongshan Sect was destroyed.
From that day on, the so-called Five Great Sects of Chenping Continent were reduced to just four.
As for the spirit farms, mineral deposits, and the thousands of outer sect disciples responsible for managing these industries that the Kongshan Sect left scattered across Chenping Continent, most were absorbed by the other four great sects.
When the Kongshan Sect fell, there were also over a dozen Kongshan Sect Offering Elders and about a hundred of its inner sect disciples who, for various reasons, were stranded outside the sect and thus luckily survived the catastrophe.
However, life was not easy for these former Kongshan Sect inner disciples who once held such high status. Their best option was to join one of the other four great sects to seek protection.
Because a behemoth like the Kongshan Sect had far more enemies than friends in this world.
And now, at this very moment, the elephant had fallen.
There were plenty of people who would come seeking revenge.
Despite being destroyed, the immense scale of the Kongshan Sect meant its influence on this world still lingered. It was likely this influence would not diminish in the slightest for a considerable length of time.
And driven by this inertia, a new landscape was quietly taking shape across Chenping Continent.
Qingque Kingdom, Jiangdao Prefecture.
In a dilapidated inn beside the official road on the southern outskirts of the city.
A handsome young man sat at a table in the corner of the establishment. On the table sat a pot of warmed wine and a few small dishes.
A moment later, the inn's door was suddenly and roughly pushed open from the outside. A man wearing coarse cloth clothes, with stubble on his face and carrying a terrifyingly large, dark black greatsword on his back, swaggered into the shop and walked towards the young man's direction.
The man poured himself a bowl of wine, spat out a blade of grass he'd been chewing, and downed the wine in one gulp.
The liquor trickled down through his stubble. He then slammed the now-empty bowl onto the table with a dull thud.
"Tch!"
He clicked his tongue, then picked up the pot of warmed wine from the table and examined it for a moment.
"This tastes like absolute shit. And they charge twenty copper coins for this stuff?"
The waiter behind the counter clearly heard the commotion. He looked over towards the man, glanced twice at the greatsword the man in coarse clothes had casually leaned against the table beside him, shrank his neck back, and said nothing.
At worst, he'd just write off the cost of that pot of wine.
That's what the waiter thought to himself.
"So, how did it go, Brother Ding?"
The handsome young man sitting at the same table as the man asked calmly.
"Found him."
The man in coarse clothes replied.
"That bastard is hiding in the Lü Family here in Jiangdao Prefecture, working as an instructor for their family's disciples. He's using the alias Zhan Xiangming now."
The Lü Family was one of the three major cultivation families in Jiangdao Prefecture. Their current family head, Lü Zhengbo, was a peak Energy Channeling Realm cultivator. The Lü Family's foundation in Jiangdao Prefecture was their training ground.
A dignified Qi Sea Realm cultivator, the Transmitter of the Mingxiao Peak ferry dock, was now holed up in such a small Lü Family, working as a mere training ground instructor?
No wonder. Simply managing to survive the catastrophe seven years ago was already quite a feat.
If one didn't pledge allegiance to the other four great sects, then hiding one's identity and lying low in a small cultivation family like this could indeed be considered the safest haven for a surviving Kongshan Sect cultivator.
"This world..."
The young man shook his head.
"You're truly persistent, Brother Chen. Searching for this one guy for a full seven years."
The man in coarse clothes said.
"Didn't you, Brother Ding, also accompany me in searching for five years?"
"Hahahahaha!"
The man in coarse clothes laughed out loud.
"Anyway, I was just idling around. I've left all the affairs of the hall to Xiao Wu to manage. That kid is sharp as a tack!"
The two men chatting in the corner were none other than the former Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain of Kongshan Sect, Chen Yan, and the former manager of the Taiyun City Immortal Gambling Den, Ding Qiu.
As for the 'Xiao Wu' Ding Qiu just mentioned, he was the little attendant from the management office that Ding Qiu brought with him when he left Taiyun City.
Ding Wu was the name Ding Qiu had given to that young page.
Chen Yan smiled.
Only he himself knew that the time he had spent searching for Qiguan Jin was far more than just seven years.
After the Kongshan Sect was destroyed, Chen Yan had entered the Cycle of Reincarnation a total of nine times.
The start of each cycle was the point in time when he was tied to that wooden stake in the forest and beaten up by the old man.
Countless times, he tried to leave that forest, but no matter what, he couldn't. So, he started pestering that skinny old man, wanting him to send him out of the woods.
The result was that the old man simply wouldn't listen to him. Whenever Chen Yan opened his mouth to speak, the old man would tie him to the stake and give him a beating.
It was the very definition of unreasonable.
Chen Yan, trapped in the forest, was just a mortal. Against an Energy Channeling Realm old man, he had no means to fight back at all.
Realizing that he truly could not leave the forest before the Kongshan Sect's destruction, Chen Yan chose to temporarily accept this fact. He decided to wait until after the sect's fall, then go out to gather information, investigate what exactly had happened to the Kongshan Sect during the time he was trapped in the woods, and then make long-term plans.
It was during these repeated cycles that Chen Yan accidentally learned that the Transmitter of the Mingxiao Peak ferry dock, Qiguan Jin, had left the sect on the eve of its destruction.
Chen Yan believed this was no coincidence.
Thus, he began trying every possible method to trace Qiguan Jin's whereabouts. It was only now, with Ding Qiu's help, that he had finally found news of Qiguan Jin.
"Let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart, Brother Chen."
Ding Qiu said.
"Seven years ago, when I heard the Kongshan Sect was suddenly attacked and destroyed by a Great Demon of Dao Union Realm, I actually breathed a sigh of relief."
"Perfectly understandable."
Chen Yan replied.
Back then, Ding Qiu had killed the Kongshan Sect's stationed envoy disciple Nian Yun and was being watched by people under Fu Qian. He was a genuine fugitive, living a life where he didn't know if he'd have his next meal.
After the Kongshan Sect was destroyed, Ding Qiu, as a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, leveraged his connections within the Qingque Kingdom and consolidated resources. In just two years, he established his own hall, becoming a rather formidable cultivation force within the Qingque Kingdom.
"Let me tell you, Brother Chen, you should stop being so obsessed with the things of the past. After all, everyone has to look forward. How about this? You come to my hall and be the deputy hall master. If you're not willing, then I, your old brother, will support you to take the top position. I'll be your deputy. From now on, in the territory of Qingque Kingdom, unless we run into a Spirit Connection Realm great master, who wouldn't have to bow their head and walk away when they see the two of us?"
Ding Qiu patted his chest, boasting boldly.
Chen Yan just smiled and said nothing.
Anyone else could look forward. He alone could not.