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Chapter 85 Immortal Alliance
Chen Xuan was greatly surprised; he never expected to hear such information.

There are no more emperors?
"Then who will rule this place?"

"Who else could it be but those cultivators who practically have their eyes on the sky?" The old man sneered. "You've probably seen those jade-like coins, right? They're the ones who came up with them. They're not much better than copper coins, just to show off their uniqueness."

Cultivators rule... but there's no emperor, doesn't that mean the ruler isn't a single person? "Is the ruler a sect?"

“Oh, so you’re not completely ignorant about us,” the other man said, stroking his beard. “However, the actual situation is much more complicated than you think. To avoid infighting, those cultivators have created an alliance for ‘discussing important matters,’ much like a martial arts gathering, which they call the Immortal Alliance.”

Immortal Alliance—After listening to the two's stories, Chen Xuan finally understood what had become of the land that should have been under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

People who can spontaneously acquire the ability to sense qi have existed since ancient times. They explored and summarized the rules along the way, formed families or teams, and eventually evolved into sects. By the Tang Dynasty, this evolution had become substantial, with more than a hundred active cultivation sects in the Central Plains, and the large sects had tens of thousands of disciples.

This marked a historic turning point. As the Tang Dynasty declined and disintegrated, these sects replaced the former warlords. They ruthlessly eliminated all opposition forces and became the de facto rulers of the dynasty. They no longer referred to kingdoms by their imperial titles, but instead formed immortal alliances to mediate conflicts between different sects, while local governance was left to the local sects. By now, everyone has adapted to this new set of rules and finds life quite comfortable even without an emperor.

Chen Xuan clicked his tongue in amazement, realizing that this was a direct leap from a feudal dynasty to a kingdom resembling a federal system.

No wonder Chang'an was not renamed Xi'an, and there are no signs of desolation caused by war or relocation of the capital.

It remains the center of the entire kingdom, the most magnificent city on the Eastern Continent, and the headquarters of the Immortal Alliance.

This saved the mission some trouble.

"If you three gentlemen encounter cultivators with jade pendants hanging from their waists, please give way and don't get into a conflict with them. They are all cultivators from sects certified by the Immortal Alliance, and you'll definitely suffer if you cause trouble with them." After introducing them, the old man didn't forget to remind them, "People in other places may not be so particular, but in Chang'an City and the surrounding counties, you still have to follow their rules."

"Do you know how many sects there are in Chang'an?" Chen Xuan asked.

"There are seven or eight big ones, and no one has counted the small ones. But there are usually only two in charge: Tianyan Tower and Dengxiantai. Whenever the Immortal Alliance wants to hold any event, these two sects are the initiators."

Liu Shuyue listened with great interest, "Immortals integrating into the mortal world and governing the world together with scholars and officials... that seems pretty good."

“Hey, young lady, you’re right. Those cultivators do think they’re all superior, that they’re not like us, but who isn’t like that?” another tea server said leisurely. “Don’t we people born in Chang’an also laugh at outsiders who come here to beg for food?”

"Hey Lao Li, so you know you're looking down on people, huh?"

"Get lost! The outsider I'm talking about is you!" He glared at the old man and then turned to Liu Shuyue. "Besides, cultivators may think they're extraordinary, but they are indeed skilled at governing a place. For example, they can use magic to promote crop growth and use wooden puppets to transport all kinds of goods. There are countless ingenious uses for them. Without these people, Chang'an City would never have been able to expand to its current size."

Liu Shuyue nodded repeatedly, "That's true. I also think it would be wonderful if everyone could cultivate, but unfortunately, people who can spontaneously sense Qi are extremely rare..."

"This young lady understands the principles of cultivation?" The old man raised an eyebrow. "But what you're saying isn't quite right. There are quite a few people in this world who can sense Qi. Out of a hundred, there are always four or five who can. It's much easier than passing the imperial examination. Back then, I was considered a talented person, but unfortunately, no sect took me seriously..."

"Isn't that obvious?" Old Li said dismissively. "Your Qi sensing level is about the same as a mosquito's buzz. People would be blind to accept you."

The chances of sensing Qi are so high? Chen Xuan was quite surprised.

If there were a million people living in Chang'an, wouldn't there be as many as forty or fifty thousand people with cultivation potential? Even if all the independent cultivators in the Qi Kingdom were added together, they probably wouldn't even reach that number.

With such an astonishing quantity, what about the quality?
Chen Xuan's mind raced. Since Chang'an City was the headquarters of the Immortal Alliance, there must be many cultivators on the streets! He closed his eyes slightly and rapidly expanded the detection ability of the Heavenly Glow Technique from his side to a radius of 100 meters. Thousands of lights flashed by in succession, and there were indeed many people who could sense Qi among them! The old man in front of him also contained spiritual energy, proving that what he said earlier was not boasting.

However, these people do not have high spiritual energy activity, which manifests in their senses as dim brightness and slow operation.

Not to mention comparing her to Liu Shuyue, she is far inferior even to herself.

Perhaps they are similar to the residents of Mala Village who have bathed in dragon's blood?
Fortunately, this isn't a world where Nascent Soul cultivators are everywhere and Golden Core cultivators are as worthless as dogs.

Liu Shuyue then enthusiastically discussed the topic of cultivators governing a country with the two tea masters, seemingly wanting to bring the experience gained in this world back to her own homeland to try it out. The two tea masters were also quite talkative; it had probably been a long time since anyone had seriously sought their advice. They chatted for more than two hours, and didn't mind even though it exceeded the charged time.

Having gathered enough information, Chen Xuan led the still-entertaining Liu Shuyue away from the teahouse.

As for Lin Qing, she had long since fallen asleep listening to the audio – the world without internet access was extremely boring to her.

The three left the city without any hindrance.

The city managed by the Immortal Alliance seems to emphasize freedom. No matter who you are or where you come from, as long as you pay the entrance fee, you can come to Chang'an as a guest.

Along the way, Chen Xuan did indeed see many blue-eyed, blond-haired people of other races.

The grandeur and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, with its envoys from all nations paying tribute, continues to this day.

After returning to the shop and making some preparations, the delegation was finally reassembled in this foreign land. Liu Shuyue borrowed about ten horses and two cargo wagons from the Liu family, transforming the infantry back into cavalry. The fleur-de-lis flag, a symbol of France, was raised high, immediately distinguishing the group from other caravans. Milton and the others also donned formal official attire: blue robes, white tunics, and tall boots, topped with tricorn hats, instantly transforming them from their usual decadent image of lounging in restaurants chewing potato chips.

In the afternoon, the moment they emerged from the woods and merged into the main road, they instantly attracted the attention of onlookers.

"Is this the city of the East? It's incredible..." Malena stared at the magnificent city walls of Chang'an.

The other witches chattered away the whole way, like spirited young women just arriving in the city.

When Chen Xuan thought about the fact that their average age was only in their early teens, he felt relieved.

The most composed member of the group was actually Baron Milton, who had been vomiting the whole way.

“Great cities represent great civilizations,” he remarked elegantly. “If we can befriend the Immortal Alliance, perhaps we can find a way to completely defeat the British and those hellish monsters.”

When they got to within ten meters of the city gate, the guards had already noticed their movements.

One of the men, who looked like an officer, led several of his subordinates forward and demanded, "Halt! Where did you come from, and what is your purpose in coming to Chang'an?"

The other person repeated the sentence twice.

However, Chen Xuan quickly realized that this person's lip movements were different each time—meaning that he was repeating his superior's questions in different languages.
As expected, the diplomats also showed expressions of surprise.

"They can actually speak a common language?"

But Baron Milton could not reply in the same foreign language. As the head of the diplomatic corps, he had to emphasize the identity of the delegation. So he nodded to an official in the group and replied directly in French, “We are envoys from the Western world, carrying the warm greetings of His Majesty King Charles of France, to the Eastern dynasty to seek friendship!”

The official immediately translated it into Chinese—although the intonation sounded very awkward, as long as he spoke slowly enough, everyone could still make out what he was saying word by word.

Chen Xuan was of course aware that there was a translator in the group. The commercial influence of the Eastern Dynasty had been continuously radiating throughout the Mediterranean region, and Europe also had a lot of trade with the Middle East. It would not be difficult for France to find a nobleman who could act as a Chinese translator.

"So it's a delegation from the Western Regions." The officer showed no surprise whatsoever, as if he were used to such things. "Are you the leader of this group?"

“No, this Lord Xuan is the leader of the delegation.” Milton pointed to Chen Xuan.

Seeing that Chen Xuan looked like a fellow local, the other party was taken aback.

"No need for a translator, I'll do it myself." Chen Xuan raised his hands in a fist salute to the officer. "This is a long story, so I won't waste your time by going on about my background. The delegation has traveled thousands of miles to meet the leader of the Immortal Alliance, and I hope you can convey this message to them."

The members of the delegation couldn't help but hold the divine envoy in even higher regard.

Because he had never spoken a language other than French before.

In everyone's eyes, Chen Xuan had just seamlessly switched between the two languages, and his fluency far surpassed that of a translator.

However, only Chen Xuan himself knew that he used only one language from beginning to end—authentic Mandarin.

Unless he deliberately speaks a foreign language, his words always seem to adapt automatically.

Chen Xuan used to think this was a perk only available to those working at the store, but he later discovered that it worked no matter where he went. Considering that the "???th Store Manager" badge couldn't be removed and had to be carried around, he suspected that this was the most direct effect of the store manager's abilities.

The officer returned the salute with clasped hands, saying, "This is our duty. There is a barbarian residence in Chang'an City to accommodate guests from various regions. You can go there to rest temporarily. If the Immortal Alliance wishes to summon you, someone will go to the residence to inform you."

(End of this chapter)