“The Witch Clan?” Zuan suddenly remembered someone. Back in the capital, he was assassinated. One of the assassins was a woman named Jia Sili. She came from the Southern Frontier and seemed to be skilled in mental attacks. She also seemed to have given him a special token back then.
I checked the Embroidered Robe Envoy database afterward, and it seems she was from the Witch Clan.
However, the Witch Clan has always acted mysteriously, and few of its members have ever appeared in the martial arts world, so he didn't immediately think in that direction.
In order to avoid involving Xie Daoyun in these matters, Zu An found some other topics to talk about with her. Xie Daoyun felt that she could prove her worth in front of him, and she was in high spirits, telling him everything she knew.
Zu An asked curiously, "I heard you went to Purple Mountain to check the formation? I remember the Imperial Advisor was there too."
Since we were going to Zishan to carry out a mission, we had naturally conducted a preliminary investigation of the situation there.
Xie Daoyun hesitated for a moment, but remembering that Zu'an was different from others, she replied, "My teacher might be a little worried about the Imperial Preceptor..."
Upon hearing her words, Zu An was immediately shocked. He had never really thought of this before. After all, the position of Imperial Advisor had already reached its peak. Even if the dynasty changed, he would at most be an Imperial Advisor, and he could never become the emperor.
"This is just to be on the safe side; the possibility that the Imperial Preceptor has a problem is still very low," Xie Daoyun explained.
Zu An hummed in agreement: "By the way, I heard that the Imperial Preceptor is also a member of the Taoist sect. Do you know anything about the Nine Schools of Taoism?"
After the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, apart from the Zhengyang School of the Imperial Preceptor, the other nine sects of Taoism went into seclusion, and ordinary people knew very little about them.
In the past, Zu'an felt that these things had nothing to do with him and had not paid much attention to them, but now that they were involved in the matter of Zishan, he felt that it was better to find out the relevant information in advance.
Xie Daoyun, having studied at the National Academy, knew more of these secrets than the average person: "The Nine Sects of Taoism were indeed very powerful hundreds of years ago, but after the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, most of the Nine Sects of Taoism retreated to the mountains and forests, and never regained their former glory."
"In fact, it's not just the Taoist sect. The same applies to the Demonic Sect, the Buddhist sect, the Witchcraft sect, and other major sects. The imperial court only appoints people based on their talents, and talented people all go to the court to serve as officials. Few people are willing to endure hardship in the sects. So, after hundreds of years, these major sects are also facing a shortage of successors, and their prestige naturally declines. Many have even disappeared into the long river of history."
“I only heard about the Nine Schools of Taoism by chance before, otherwise I probably wouldn’t know them all,” Xie Daoyun recalled as she explained. “The Zhengyang School, where the Imperial Preceptor is located, was said to have been only in the middle ranks among the Nine Schools of Taoism before. However, it had the merit of supporting the emperor and rose to prominence after becoming the Imperial Preceptor. Now it has become the most influential, and most ordinary people in the world even think that it is the only Taoist school.”
"Aside from the Zhengyang Sect, the most famous Taoist sect is Bai Yujing. The fairies of Bai Yujing throughout the ages are renowned throughout the world. With these beautiful and kind-hearted people as their brand, they have always had a very good reputation, both in official circles and among the common people."
Zuan pictured the stunning beauty of Xuehen and Chuyan, thinking that if their sect were to launch a girl group, it would surely be very popular.
"Besides these two sects, other branches of Taoism are not well known to ordinary people, but their strength may not be inferior to Baiyujing. For example, Biluo Palace is actually on par with Baiyujing in Taoism," Xie Daoyun continued.
Upon hearing this, Zu'an's eyes lit up. It seemed that the sect Da Manman had mentioned before was Biluo Palace. He hadn't expected that it was one of the nine sects of Taoism.
"In addition, there is Lihentian, which is said to have thirty-three levels. Lihentian is the highest. Hundreds of years ago, Lihentian was the undisputed leader of the Daoist sect. However, it is said that a great upheaval occurred hundreds of years ago, which severely damaged Lihentian's vitality and caused its strength to decline significantly, thus relinquishing its position as the leader. However, even a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it still has the strength of a middle-level sect among the nine sects of Daoism."
"Similar to this is Kunlun Xu, which also seems to have suffered a calamity several hundred years ago that caused its strength to plummet, and like Lihentian, it has fallen to the middle level."
Zuan asked curiously, "What kind of disaster happened hundreds of years ago?"
Xie Daoyun shook her head and frowned, saying, "I don't know. It's a secret of their sect, and there don't seem to be any records of it in the academy. I'm afraid only some of their elders know what really happened back then."
Zu An nodded in understanding, and Xie Daoyun continued to explain: "The five I just mentioned are the top five of the nine sects of Taoism. They are quite powerful in terms of both foundation and strength. There are four other sects that are much weaker: Luofu Mountain, Qingxu Mansion, Kongming Island, and Taixuan Cave. Few of their successors have appeared in the world. There are private discussions in the academy, and people even suspect that they may have disappeared into the river of history."
Zu An secretly noted these things down and couldn't help but sigh, "This time, I really owe it to Sister Dao Yun, otherwise I would not have known so many secrets."
"I'm glad I could help Brother Zu." Hearing his thanks, Xie Daoyun blushed slightly, clearly very happy.
At that moment, Zhang Zijiang's respectful voice rang out from outside the door: "Lord Zu, shall we rest here for another day or..."
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He was worried that Zuan needed to sleep or cultivate, so he dared not mention setting off on a military campaign.
They seemed afraid of disturbing each other, so they didn't dare to speak too loudly.
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