Hidden moth

Chapter 296 The Lost One is Asking for Directions

Mei Guyu went to Qiyuan to "find a class to attend", which in a sense is equivalent to practicing in seclusion.

This matter has long been no secret to many people, but the Zongfa Hall still issued a gag order to all disciples of the sect, and the notice did not mention the specific situation.

For example, Elder Mei's name, age, gender, where he was practicing in seclusion, and how he was practicing were not disclosed in the announcement, and most people are still unaware of it.

The clan law hall prohibits the disciples of the magic sect from continuing to inquire about and spread related information.

If someone else does this, there will be no explanation. Not only will it violate the clan's order, but from a personal perspective, it will also deliberately disturb Elder Mei's practice, which will make people doubt their motives and character.

Thanks to the achievements of the Zongfa Hall's information construction, announcements can be sent directly to every enrolled disciple, which has greatly improved efficiency. This was almost unimaginable in the past.

The Zongfa Hall also requires that every disciple of the sect must convey the content of the announcement to the friends they can contact, as well as the independent cultivators in the martial arts world who have contact information.

Many people were hearing about the Xiao Alliance for the first time, and were naturally curious about what kind of organization it was and why it would do such a thing. The Zongfa Hall had anticipated this, and most of the final part of the announcement was devoted to answering related questions.

The content adopts the question-and-answer format, just like the most popular human-computer dialogue nowadays. The main questions and answers are excerpted as follows:

(1) What kind of organization is Xiaomeng?
Xiaomeng calls itself the "Xiaoyaoke Alliance". In ancient times, Xiaoyaoke referred to sorcerers whose heritage was scattered in the world and had lost contact with their sects. It is different from the meaning of Xiaoyaoke in contemporary times.

But Xiaomeng is not a real alliance of Xiaoyaoke. They just call themselves that, just like some gangs call themselves the "League of Justice", which does not mean that they represent justice.

The origin of this organization can be traced back to the internal strife of the Shu sect more than a thousand years ago.

A thousand years ago, an internal conflict within the sect led to a major split. A group of sorcerers left the sect and took advantage of the chaos to rob a large number of magic weapons, elixirs, and secret books, and also destroyed many records in the classics.

To this day, the magic sect still cannot know exactly what they took away. Many of the missing magicians back then are unclear whether they were killed by them or left with them.

The current Xiao League may have nothing to do with that group of people back then, but many of the artifacts and inherited techniques they took away fell into the hands of the Xiao League a thousand years later, such as the Danding Sect's sacred artifact, the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace.

The Xiao Alliance has no consistent purpose in practicing magic. They only seek to master and control more powerful forces for their own use. They use magic to do many things to make the organization grow and develop.

However, there are natural limitations for such an organization to grow and develop, because it cannot simply recruit members. The practice of magic requires talent, understanding, and cultivation of the mind.

It's not like just anyone can get started, and even if you do, it's difficult to cultivate to a higher level. Some people have good aptitude for cultivation, but after coming into contact with and understanding more things, they may not necessarily agree with the Xiaomeng's approach.

On the other hand, the Xiao League was always wary of attacks from the Shu Sect. This was because many of its members' actions violated the sect's rules. The Shu Sect's disciples were required to enforce the sect's rules and the sect's laws, which applied to all sorcerers, including independent cultivators.

More importantly, the top leaders of Xiaomeng have always advocated creating an opportunity to destroy the Shumen and seize the seven great caves.

In their view, the small amount of things that were "brought out" from the Shumen Cave Heaven during the chaos thousands of years ago, as well as the various magical inheritances, are already extremely precious, and even irreplaceable treasures.

After thousands of years of development and accumulation, the magic weapons, elixirs, and various innovative techniques possessed by the sect are unimaginably rich.

What's more, the cave itself is the most suitable place for practicing high-level magic, and it also has an endless supply of resources.

Such a target certainly cannot be easily exposed, especially not to be noticed by the Shumen, so they all try to act in a covert manner and place their main bases overseas.

They use a secretive form, like weaving a complex web with a strict hierarchical relationship. Everyone has access to different information. Through this web, they grab a large amount of resources, focusing on cultivating high-end elites.

They don't look like a magic inheritance organization, but more like a secret business organization.

(2) What exactly happened in the internal strife of the Shu sect a thousand years ago?

Many unexpected events occurred, becoming opportunities to ignite and prolong conflicts. In troubled times, many disciples of the sect were in mutually hostile camps. More and more people violated the sect's rules and were unwilling to accept the sect's constraints.

However, the most fundamental disagreement within the sect lies in the concept of protecting inheritance.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Eastern history, the country was fragmented into many states. Some advocated seizing the opportunity to secretly seize control of these states and divide them into their own spheres of influence.

Everyone relies on their own abilities and naturally forms groups based on the master-disciple relationship. Whoever has stronger means and greater power can occupy a larger and better territory for development.

As for the Shumen, they can also take advantage of the situation to make changes and become the coordinator and ultimate controller behind the scenes. They can continue to live in seclusion in the mountains, but still dominate the world.

As long as the world remains fragmented and in a state of conflict, the Shu sect can use checks and balances to maintain its dominance. Some even proposed that the seven major Shu sects each occupy seven kingdoms, dividing them into their own spheres of influence to develop their own sects...

Such a crazy idea was of course rejected by the top leaders of the sect.

The art of magic does not prohibit its disciples from entering the secular world. Since ancient times, magicians have been scattered all over the world. They can rely on what they have learned to seek social status, economic income, security, and a training environment. They can also make achievements and realize various personal accomplishments.

The premise of all this is just not to violate the rules of the sect.

In fact, once one has cultivated a certain skill, one can make a living. Secular power and wealth no longer need to be so important, and may even be of little significance... (When He Kao saw this, he remembered that he didn't care about getting promoted.)
Even the desire to ascend the throne and rule the world can be realized in the realm of delusion for a master, and this is precisely the delusion that needs to be broken.

The pursuit of masters of the art is to break through to higher levels of cultivation, gain greater freedom of body and mind, until the ultimate secret of this world is unlocked.

On the other hand, since they have inherited the Dharma, they have a natural responsibility to protect the inheritance.

That being said, the chaos in the world cannot help but affect the magic sect. Warlocks all have their own origins. They may come from different hostile camps in the world, and members of different factions may even have feuds.

Given the objective situation at that time, the warlocks scattered around the country were more like independent cultivators than today's independent cultivators, especially those low-level warlocks, who might never be contacted in their lifetime.

However, as long as someone practices magic and breaks through the fourth level, he can sense the call of the cave heaven. If he finds the cave heaven, he can inherit the high-level magic left by the ancestors and naturally restore his status as a disciple of the magic sect.

In addition, even if one is not a high-level sorcerer, as long as a clear and verifiable inheritance relationship is provided, he or she can be re-included in the genealogy.

At that time, some high-ranking members of the sect suggested that the sect's traditions should be changed, and those sorcerers with questionable origins should not be allowed to return to the sect, at least not directly.

In troubled times, it is difficult or even impossible to make a comprehensive assessment of a stranger's past behavior.

So what should be done? Someone proposed dividing the sect into inner and outer sects, or any other name would do, but the idea was the same. The so-called inner sect refers to the existing disciples of the sect, as well as their personally trained successors, with clear origins and lineages, possessing caves and objects passed down through generations, including various cultivation resources.

The so-called outer sect is composed of people other than the above members. They are also sorcerers who wish to join the sect, but they need to obey the sect's management and make sufficient contributions in order to obtain various resources.

Outer disciples are also eligible to be promoted to the inner sect after meeting the corresponding conditions and passing the assessment...

(He Kao couldn't help but sigh when he saw this. Could it be that the person who made this suggestion was a time traveler who had read contemporary cultivation novels? Because there are similar settings in many online novels.)
Another group of people expressed strong opposition to this, and the reason was very simple.

They pointed out that the responsibility of the sect is to protect the inheritance, not to turn the techniques, skills, blessed places and caves, and ancestral artifacts into the private property of the current small group of people.

No matter how nice those suggestions sounded, their essence was not only to seize the power privately, but also to establish hereditary rule. The existing core members of the sect had already enjoyed all the benefits, but some still wanted more.

According to their thinking, magic techniques, blessed places and caves, and ancestral artifacts are no longer the fate left by the ancestors to the world, but have become resources monopolized by a closed small circle and its descendants.

Those with the necessary qualifications and character cannot be found only in a closed circle; this will eventually lead to the extinction of the lineage. More importantly, this goes against the ancestral principle of "teaching all without distinction" that was established by the founders.

Sorcerers from all over the world return to the sect, especially when they accept the call from the cave. This is their fate. We only need to examine whether their behavior violates the sect rules.

The so-called difficulty in examining past behavior cannot be a reason for rejection. If no problems are found, no action can be taken. If violations are found in the future, then they will be dealt with according to the rules of the sect.

Many of the senior masters of the martial arts sect who made the suggestion had the same origins in the past. Why are they now blocking the way for their descendants?
A violent conflict broke out within the sect due to differences in ideas. The sorcerers who agreed with the proposal launched a sneak attack, attempting to seize the cave and create a fait accompli, but were eventually exiled by the sect.

(3) How did Geng Yanxin, a spy from the Xiao League, become the deacon of the Danding Sect?

The man claimed to be a casual cultivator in the martial arts world. He broke through the fourth level of cultivation and was summoned by the cave to return to the martial arts sect. He had no bad deeds in the past, but had done many good deeds.

He did not truthfully confess his origins from the Xiao League, but only said that he had met a strange man who taught him magic when he was young. He did not know the man's name or whereabouts, as this could not be verified.

After Geng Yanxin returned to the sect, he not only had outstanding cultivation, but also performed well and made great achievements, so he was appointed as a deacon.

In fact, for thousands of years, Xiaomeng has been sending people to infiltrate the Shumen in this way. Geng Yanxin is just one of them, and now there are still undercover personnel from Xiaomeng in various major sects.

Geng Yanxin was eventually killed by the Master of Earth, not because of his origin from the Xiao Alliance, but because of what he did.

(4) How does the Zongfa Hall plan to deal with the undercover members of the Xiaomeng?

First of all, I want to announce to the world that being born into the Xiao Alliance does not violate the rules of the Shu Sect.

However, when returning to or joining a sect, the sect's rules required sorcerers to truthfully explain their heritage. If someone came from the Xiao Alliance but didn't truthfully introduce their origins to the sect, it would be a violation of the sect's rules.

The clan law hall will give these people a chance to take the initiative to explain to the clan from the date of the announcement. As long as they have no bad records before joining the sect and have not violated the sect rules after joining, they will not be punished.

But if you conceal the truth and are discovered by the clan hall, you will be severely punished!
All the sorcerers in the world feel the call from the cave heaven and come to the sect. No matter what their origin is, they can enter the cave heaven to receive the inheritance of advanced magic and return to the sect.

As long as he tells the truth about his background and has no bad record in the past, it doesn't matter even if he is a sorcerer from the Xiaomeng.

……

After reading it word for word, He Kao couldn't help but put down his phone and sighed. The Zongfa Hall actually issued such an announcement, showing a strong confidence and tolerance beyond many people's imagination.

The Ancestral Hall wasn't specifically targeting the Xiaomeng sorcerers; it was simply fulfilling its responsibility to protect the legacy of their techniques. Anyone who inherited a technique would be recognized by the Ancestral Hall as having inherited the techniques of their ancestors, regardless of their origins, judging only by their conduct.

In fact, within the sect, some people's behavior gradually became "Xiaomeng-like", such as the former Huiming Shi family, which eventually led to its own destruction. The appearance of He Kao, the hidden moth, was only the trigger.

It is conceivable what kind of shock this announcement caused. Almost overnight, the information office of the clan hall received more than a thousand reports.

Most of the disciples came forward to confess, telling when and from whom they had heard the news about Elder Mei choosing a place to cultivate. Many of them also admitted to relaying the news to others.

No matter if it is heard or relayed without knowing the inside story, as long as the person confesses voluntarily, the clan law hall will not impose any other punishment except for reprimand.

Once information from all sides was gathered, the Information Office even used AI to assist in the analysis, and many people with ulterior motives could no longer hide... because unintentional hearing and retelling are two different things from deliberate large-scale dissemination.

There were also undercover members of the Xiao Alliance who thought they had not done anything bad, or had not had time to do anything bad. They expected that they could not escape the investigation of the Zongfa Hall, so they simply confessed it on their own initiative.

This situation is rare after all, with only three cases in one day, and more people are still waiting and watching.

Some people thought that the things they had done could not be forgiven by the clan law hall, and that they might not be able to escape this time, so they made a quick decision to escape overnight...

But it is not so easy to escape. The Zongfa Hall has already obtained a large amount of intelligence clues, and this time it is not just the dozens of people that Li Xiuyuan brought with him, but all the disciples of the Shumen have been mobilized.

With the exception of a few individuals, most of the fugitives were apprehended immediately, more than a dozen of them within a single day.

The greater impact extended beyond the Shu Sect, such as to the members of the Xiao Alliance. The announcement from the Zongfa Hall was primarily intended for them, detailing what had happened, many of which were "secrets" that had been unknown for millennia.

Moreover, much of the content in the announcement can be verified.

These people are just sorcerers who practice magic. They may not agree with the views of the Xiaomeng leaders. They have even been kept in the dark and are unaware of many things. Now that they know the truth, they may make another choice if given the chance.

It can be said that this incident dealt a heavier blow to Xiaomeng than the loss of a group of masters. And are there other organizations in the world similar to Xiaomeng? They are all affected in the same way.

In fact, for thousands of years, the Shu sect has promoted the purpose of the announcement, but due to various reasons and objective conditions, the effect of this publicity is very limited.

Practitioners of magic hide among the world, so it is difficult to get information directly to them. In addition, some people deliberately block and distort the information, so many people dare not believe it even if they hear it vaguely.

But this time it was different. The information release and organizational mobilization efficiency of the clan hall had been greatly improved unprecedentedly. With the help of the major event that had just happened, the announcement and the things mentioned in the announcement could no longer be covered up.

The large-scale census of disciples and the information construction that the Zongfa Hall started to implement two years ago should also be a preparation for this moment, right?
**
ps: Happy holidays!

(End of this chapter)