Cui Jian had already seen from Ding Yun's previous attitude towards those sect members that she was a person with very firm beliefs, and once she made a decision, it was difficult to change.
Besides, he had no basis to argue.
So he quickly moved past that topic.
He directly handed over the gifts they had prepared days ago to Ding Yun, indicating their friendly intentions.
Then he bid farewell and left.
Their main purpose for coming this time was to gauge what Ding Yun intended to do next. Persuading her to stop causing trouble was just a secondary matter. If they could achieve it, it would be best; if not, it wouldn't matter, they could take their time.
After they left, Ding Yun, with a hint of curiosity, opened the gift box to see what they had sent.
As the box opened, what greeted Ding Yun's eyes was neither jewelry nor elixirs and magical artifacts.
Instead, it was a thick stack of documents.
On the cover of this stack of documents, the words "Qu County No Man's Land Disappearance Case Files" were prominently displayed.
They had likely investigated Ding Yun's background and assumed that her greatest concern was the whereabouts of her fiancé, hence they sent these files as a gift.
Ding Yun was a little surprised by this, but still curiously took out the documents from the gift box and began to read.
An hour later.
Ding Yun finished reading the three-finger thick files.
It turned out that shortly after the disappearance of Xu Jun, his mentor, and his senior disciples, relevant departments had conducted special investigations. They had also inquired among cultivators whether there were any formations or blessed lands, any hidden spaces in the Qu County no man's land.
The result was negative.
Subsequently, based on the related materials left behind by Xu Jun's mentor, they collaborated with the Space Research Institute, which studied spacetime theory, and with professional equipment and personnel, conducted a half-month investigation in the area.
It was then that they confirmed that the missing individuals had likely entered the Demon Realm.
According to the files, in ancient times, specifically 19,673 years ago, this world had experienced an invasion from an outer realm. The exact reason was unknown, but it was recorded that two worlds collided, creating spatial rifts and wormholes that allowed for large-scale passage between them.
Ancient cultivators referred to the invaders as Heavenly Demons from beyond the realm, and the opposing world as the Demon Realm.
A great battle ensued upon their meeting, known as the War Between Immortals and Demons. Based on existing ruins and legacies, it could now be largely determined that the so-called Heavenly Demons from beyond the realm were actually people from other worlds. These invaders did not follow the path of cultivation but rather a path of technology. The demonic artifacts they employed were, in fact, various technological products.
As for the so-called iron giants, they were likely mechas or similar constructs.
In essence, the ancient War Between Immortals and Demons was not only a collision of two worlds but also a collision of two civilizations.
It was a clash between the civilization of cultivation and the civilization of technology.
As for the final outcome...
The demon race suffered heavy losses, but they also seized a large amount of resources and cultivation knowledge from this side. On this side, the entire cultivation world was devastated by the demons, leading to the decline of the Age of Dharma. Ordinary mortals gradually began to rise.
The world transitioned from the Age of Immortals and Gods to the Age of Cultivation.
Then, it slowly regressed to the Age of Dharma Decline.
If they had not preserved and sealed off all major spirit脉 (spiritual veins) within blessed lands, minimizing the leakage of spiritual energy, even the current situation would be difficult to maintain.
The war ended primarily because several reclusive immortals, using immortal artifacts left by the great sects, sacrificed their souls to seal all the spatial rifts and wormholes, severing all contact between the two worlds.
This brought an end to the War Between Immortals and Demons. Otherwise, a small number of cultivators truly could not withstand the sheer volume of technological output.
That sealing was sometimes referred to as "Mending the Heavens."
The current Mending the Heavens Sect was located on that very seal. Every few years, they would bring immortal artifacts from the major sects to reinforce the seal, preventing a repeat of what happened in ancient times.
However, in recent years, with the development of technologies such as spatial physics, many professionals had detected the existence of the Demon Realm. But due to their ignorance of the history of the so-called Demon Realm, they generally referred to it as a parallel world and were even intensely interested and curious about it.
They continuously attempted to explore and find ways to connect the two worlds.
However, they had never succeeded, so the authorities had not paid much attention until the Qu County disappearance case occurred. No matter what means the investigators employed,
they could not find any trace of the missing individuals' bodies.
Ultimately, they could only boldly speculate that the missing individuals might have accidentally touched a critical juncture and truly entered that parallel world, which was the legendary Demon Realm.
It was for this reason that many knowledgeable experts and professors inferred that after the collision between the two worlds over ten thousand years ago, they were not truly separated by the sealed spatial rifts but had continued to deepen their connection.
In areas where the space was thinner, even without new spatial rifts, it was possible for occasional traversal due to the prolonged interaction between the two worlds.
However, considering that the other side already possessed weapons like mechas over ten thousand years ago and had also acquired some cultivation knowledge, no one knew the current level of development in the so-called Demon Realm.
Therefore, the files concluded with a bold annotation: deep research was forbidden, and exploration of parallel worlds must be completely prohibited.
There were not only the seals of the state but also the seals of the sect leaders of several top sects.
"This is not very scientific. If even our current level of technology can explore that parallel world called the Demon Realm, there's no reason why a world with far superior technology over ten thousand years ago couldn't explore our world and open new world channels to invade.
Therefore, eliminating all impossibilities.
It is most likely that something has gone wrong in the Demon Realm.
However, although this is a high probability, there's also a small chance that the other side was simply not interested in invading, or perhaps their technological path took a wrong turn. So, it is reasonable for the authorities to be cautious."
After reading these top-secret documents, Ding Yun quickly formed some speculations about the Demon Realm. However, considering that her mission was not yet complete, there was no need to create unnecessary complications at this time by being overly curious about parallel worlds.
It would be sufficient to explore them after completing her mission.
Therefore, Ding Yun did not, as the Network Security Agency had predicted, become extremely curious and compromise in order to obtain more related information.
Instead, she destroyed the documents after reading them.
She acted as if nothing had happened.
The original host of this body was very curious about the whereabouts of her boyfriend and desperately wanted to find him. But Ding Yun was not that desperate. The Network Security Agency's attempt to test and manipulate Ding Yun by using the original host's past actions and background was a complete miscalculation.
Back at his post, Cui Jian stayed up until the early hours of the next day, waiting for Ding Yun's call, hoping to learn more about the situation and obtain more classified information.