Hidden Moth-Chapter 431 - 240: Unmoved by Rumors and Idle Talk
He Kao, who returned to his work in the morning, was still pondering the affairs of the Chang’an Residence. Chang’an Residence is merely a Tier Two Angler, whose cultivation is not very high, merely possessing sharp senses and a physique that reaches the perfect state of an ordinary person.
Such a person can’t be considered a master, and Xingshen Sect sorcerers are not known for their bravery and toughness. Chasing a criminal thousands of miles away outside the borders is filled with unpredictable dangers, which might end up costing one’s life.
But there was a certain persistence in Chang’an Residence that enabled him to grit his teeth and exceed the goal of avenging and eliminating harm, eventually retreating unscathed, earning He Kao’s admiration.
The cultivation experience of this person is also quite interesting. His master taught him for only three months before disappearing without a trace. Back then, he only memorized the techniques of Spirit Awakening Skill from Tier One to Tier Three, as well as a few applied techniques and the skill of making ointments.
Later, Chang’an Residence settled down, becoming less wild, attending school earnestly, and applied to a university specializing in Chinese medicine with a major in orthopedics.
After graduation, he worked in a hospital for six or seven years, then opened his own clinic, specializing in bone setting and massage in Luzhou City, Shanmin Province. He is not only skilled in bone setting and massage but also acupuncture.
Though his master did not teach him more skills back then, Chang’an Residence was deeply influenced by his master, and his final career was related to that ointment.
As for the Flying Fork Skill, Chang’an Residence learned it later deliberately by finding a circus to study.
Chang’an Residence’s current means of living easily misleads people into thinking he is an Observing Body Sect sorcerer; overall, it doesn’t quite resemble that of a Xingshen Sect sorcerer, proving that stereotypes are indeed unwarranted.
Besides techniques, Chang’an Residence has genuinely practiced martial arts over the years. He is much more capable in combat than an ordinary Tier Two Angler. His master, Zhang the Third, clearly was skilled in martial arts, though didn’t have enough time to teach him, which led Chang’an Residence to learn on his own.
Upon learning about the situation of the Magic Sect, Chang’an Residence responded with joy and excitement rather than worry and rejection, indicating that his past actions could withstand scrutiny, with the only concern being the current pursuit of Zhong Jinghui’s group.
First, let him hold the status of an enrolled disciple in the Xingshen Sect. Whether to recruit him into the Hidden Moth Sect in the future, He Kao still needs to observe more. His qualifications are actually quite good, just a bit older—he is already thirty-six this year.
Chang’an Residence is not someone who is thirty-six and hasn’t yet cultivated to entry-level; rather, he has already entered and possesses a Tier Two Cultivation. His difficulties over so many years in cultivation stem from the lack of systematic guidance and a shortage of exchanges with peers.
As for whether Chang’an Residence can pass the Magic Sect’s assessment, He Kao is not worried, especially since he has already notified Elder Li, and a record has been placed with the Sect Leader of the Xingshen Sect.
The Magic Sect’s assessment primarily examines the individual’s character and past actions. In the case of Chang’an Residence, as long as he hasn’t perpetrated any evil deeds, there basically shouldn’t be any issue.
Even Wu Yanjun, who has a history of imprisonment, managed to pass the assessment.
However, those wild sorcerers with genuine bad records are very apprehensive about this situation, entirely aware that they wouldn’t pass the Magic Sect’s assessment... And this is just a minor matter; worse still, they might face punishment from the Magic Sect.
The Magic Sect is not a secular law enforcement body; those they restrain are only sorcerers. The punitive measures they can employ according to sect rules are extremely limited, typically including admonitions, sealing, expulsion, exile, and obliteration.
Minor faults are merely admonished; slightly more severe ones result in a temporary sealing, more grievous ones lead to expulsion, and the most severe case generally results in exile, while the penalty of obliteration is scarcely used.
Even a major scandal such as that of the Huimin Shi Family ultimately saw only five people including the Patriarch being obliterated. Sorcerers like Li Chun from the Shi Family were merely admonished and faced a one-year sealing penalty without being expelled from the sect.
Yet, there are others like Feng Zilong and Gao Chenshu, who will avoid this as far as possible, fearing inevitable death if discovered by the Magic Sect.
So the question is, who are mainly resisting the Magic Sect’s latest measures? He Kao has a rough idea in mind.
What moves He Kao most is the wonder of the Grotto Heaven summon sensation experienced by sorcerers after breaking through to a high tier. It’s truly an unbelievable miraculous mechanism, and it is unknown how the ancestors created it!
It ensures that the most talented batch of sorcerers receive higher-level, more complete cultivation guidance and not end up scattered throughout the world.
Take Chang’an Residence, for instance: even if he hadn’t met He Kao today, if he were to break through to a high-tier cultivation someday, he would still have the opportunity to return to the Magic Sect.
Without the miraculous Grotto Heaven summoning mechanism, it’s unlikely that the Magic Sect would be re-integrated after experiencing fragmentation and internal strife a thousand years ago. Moreover, with all the turmoil throughout history, the Magic Sect’s inheritance would likely have scattered into chaos.
With such a delicate Grotto Heaven summon mechanism, the Magic Sect has gained immeasurable benefits, though others might detest it. For example, those sorcerers who are enemies of the Magic Sect, it’s essentially uprooting their inheritance!
For instance, people like Fabre who stand against the Magic Sect can’t succeed alone; they need to form groups or organizations. Yet it’s not sufficient to merely gather people; a sect-like inheritance system is also necessary. But how can such a system be established?
Only the most exceptional successors might break through to a high tier, then mysteriously feel the call of the Grotto Heaven. How can such phenomena be explained, and how can these successors be prevented from returning to the Magic Sect?
Concealment is certainly impossible; forcibly preventing it is also unworkable.
Even if the successor listens to their master’s words for the time being and does not seek the legendary Sect Grotto Heaven, in the future, when their cultivation reaches a certain realm and it’s hard to break through again, who can stop them from seeking further opportunities?
Even if the elder generation was at odds with the Magic Sect, it does not necessarily mean the younger disciples inherently have a grudge against the Magic Sect. When these younger disciples become seniors themselves, they might choose to accept the Grotto Heaven Summon, which would mean voluntarily returning to the Magic Sect.
To eliminate this influence, either do not teach them Techniques that allow a breakthrough to Tier Four, or take other measures. As for what measures? He Kao thought of a few methods—
First, when the successors are still ignorant, deliberately let them do things forbidden by the Magic Sect, effectively a reverse pledge, leaving a blemish, making it impossible for them to pass the Magic Sect’s assessment in the future, instead they’ll be punished by the Magic Sect.
In this way, it severs their possibility of returning to the Magic Sect; instead, they have to hide well not to be discovered by the Magic Sect and have to seek the organization’s protection, standing against the Magic Sect.
The cleaner organization cultivated by Bitter Tea actually used this method too. He Kao even suspected if Yuan Huimin’s Family had been infiltrated secretly by people like Fabre, but it’s hard to make a hasty judgment.
But this method is not universally applicable, not everyone in an organization can do dirty work.
Secondly, there’s another way, spreading rumors unfavorable to the Magic Sect, trying to smear the Magic Sect and shape the disciples’ perceptions. For example, what Fabre said to Zou Tianjin during the Chong Guang Period was a rumor from the internal chaos of the Magic Sect a thousand years ago.
The rumors were continuously packaged with misleading and twisted ways and instilled in many people.
Careful analysis shows the main purpose of creating those rumors was actually to target the Grotto Heaven Summon. They said as long as one accepts the Grotto Heaven Summon, they will be marked and thus be controlled by the Magic Sect.
But such rumors are too low in credibility because the Magic Sect has been passing down for a thousand years, and no one has been heard to be under control because of it, and everyone is living well.
If the Magic Sect truly had this method, wouldn’t Yuan Huimin’s Family’s matter have been exposed a long time ago? If someone violates the ban and rebels, the Magic Sect can only use the most primitive method—sending people to hunt them down, and sometimes they couldn’t even catch them.
Besides, those qualified to accept the Secondary Inheritance are High-tier Sorcerers; the high-level members of various Magic Sect including Supreme Elders, Sect Leaders, Stewards all have this experience, are they in conflict with themselves?
So someone added a patch to the rumor, saying this is the ability of the Hidden Moth and hinted at the reason for the Magic Sect’s internal chaos a thousand years ago. As long as one goes to the Magic Sect Grotto Heaven to accept the Secondary Inheritance, they will be marked with an invisible mark and can be tracked by the Hidden Moth at any time.
This patch is really vicious, turning the Hidden Moth into the target of all, even vaguely guessing a certain truth.
He Kao is the Hidden Moth, and he has a feeling that this rumor might become reality in a certain sense. As long as his cultivation is higher and the range of his Divine Sense is further, he can track specific people within a certain range.
This time, after obtaining detailed information from Chang’an Residence, he helped Chang’an Residence successfully find the five accomplices of Zhong Jinghui in that city in the south of Sawa Country.
In the long past until a few decades ago, the Magic Sect couldn’t possibly have the information of all successors, at least not enough specific information to let the Hidden Moth track them, many people took disciples without even having the time to report to the Sect.
But those who go to the Sect Grotto Heaven to accept the Secondary Inheritance will definitely leave detailed information, and the Sect Seniors can, with a Divine Thought, tell the Hidden Moth this person’s description and features of Divine Qi.
Nowadays, it’s even more convenient. The Ancestral Hall’s large-scale disciple census and the promotion of comprehensive information management seem to be providing traceable detailed information to the Hidden Moth.
The purpose of the Ancestral Hall is not this, but it can’t stop someone from thinking and promoting it this way.
Originally, such rumors were insignificant to the Magic Sect, because the Insect Concealment Skill has long been extinct, and the Hidden Moth, appearing sporadically over millennia, was beyond the Magic Sect’s control... it was nonexistent, what use is talking about it?
But since last year, the situation suddenly changed, a little moth flapped its wings.
The Hidden Moth reappeared in Jianghu, causing no small commotion in Qi Yuan. The Ancestral Hall issued an announcement, introducing a lot about the Hidden Moth and extended an invitation to return to the Magic Sect and rebuild the Dharma Successor.
At the same time, the Ancestral Hall also started a major survey of the Magic Sect, promoting the informatization management of sorcerer status. People like Fabre couldn’t hold back anymore, not only jumping out to create trouble but even taking action against the Sect Stewards.
The latest measures of the Sect are things that should and can be done with the changing times, without needing anyone’s approval or opposition, but some people just became anxious!
He Kao once asked Elder Gu, what is Fabre’s background? Elder Gu had neither seen nor heard of this person before, but what happened during the Chong Guang Period indicated that this group is organized, and their power might not be small.
Gu Chun mentioned an organization called the Xiao Alliance and guessed that Fabre is likely one of its current leaders.
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