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Chapter 118 The Hidden Past
As the day of the sect competition drew closer, Chen Xuan also sensed the change in the atmosphere of Chang'an City.

More and more people walked on the right side of the long street, almost matching the number of commoners on the left. These people were all dressed in fine clothes, speaking Mandarin with a distinct local accent, and jade pendants hung prominently on their waists, reminding the surrounding crowd that they were orthodox cultivators.

It wasn't just cultivators coming to Chang'an; the number of ordinary people was also increasing significantly, as could be seen from the number of carriages traveling on Zhuque Avenue. From morning till night, countless vehicles entered the city through the South Gate, slowly dispersing to various parts of the city along this north-south main road, like nutrients being absorbed into the body of a giant.

This is easy to understand. Cultivators are not alone; they have families and friends. These people usually come with them to Chang'an, where they can cheer each other on up close and enjoy the largest international capital in the Eastern Continent.

Where there are many people, there is business. How could merchants who smell the opportunity miss out on making a fortune? So chambers of commerce from all over the country were attracted to this place.

In fact, even the Immortal Alliance views the sect competition from a festival perspective.

For example, colorful flags were hung in urban areas associated with cultivators, and some peripheral entertainment areas were even opened to ordinary people, giving them the opportunity to witness how cultivators indulged in pleasure on a daily basis.

Their reasoning is quite simple: the Immortal Alliance's finances mainly come from city taxes. With the influx of people, both city fees and taxes from various trades are much higher than usual, undoubtedly related to the public nature of the sect competition. This significantly increased revenue will further encourage the Immortal Alliance to emphasize entertainment-related elements in the competition.

If this trend continues, it will eventually become a new Spring Festival.

Chen Xuan certainly wouldn't let this excellent publicity opportunity slip by. He specially commissioned the making of numerous billboards, planning to set them up from the city gate all the way to the manor when the competition began. This way, cultivators from all over would surely come to the Sovereign Sect after hearing the news. When they returned to their hometowns, they would naturally have spread the news far and wide.

In fact, in the past few days, a few cultivators from other places have come to the manor to inquire about the situation of the Western demons from their fellow cultivators.

With eight days left until the opening of the sect competition, Chen Xuan finally received a reply from the Grand Historian.

"Sect Master Chen, I've found out! There was indeed a traitorous cultivator who met the criteria five years ago!" Hongli said impatiently as he jumped off his horse. "He still hasn't been captured!"

Does such a person really exist?

Chen Xuan's heart sank. "What's this person's name?"

“Zhang Lingqu, a cultivator from the Qingge Sect.” Hongli handed over a piece of paper, clearly copied from a roster. “His age and height match the records!”

He took it and saw that the person's description matched Ajiu's quite well, and the timing also matched. Zhang Lingqu was the Taoist name he was given after joining the sect, and his original name was also recorded on it: Ji An.

Ji An... Ji Yanshu, is the character "An" with "sun" added on top, so it's considered a special "An"?

“Because the Dao name is given by the sect, most cultivators who leave without saying goodbye will abandon their Dao name and revert to their original surname,” Hongli said. “So when I had my men review the records from five or six years ago, I specifically instructed them to pay attention to the original name part, and sure enough, they found something!”

Chen Xuan had heard something about this. For example, Xu Yuanqing, the governor of the Immortal Alliance, was not actually surnamed Xu. Rather, the sect leader of the Ascension Platform was surnamed Xu, and when bestowing Dao names, he would have his disciples add this surname. This was a kind of inheritance without blood ties, representing that all disciples in the sect were members of this big family.

As long as her daughter can sense Qi, she will most likely join the Ascension Platform with her father, so it's not a problem to keep the surname Xu. If she joins another sect outside of the Ascension Platform instead of the Sovereign Sect, it would be normal for her not to be called Xuanling anymore.

At first, Chen Xuan felt a little uncomfortable when he heard A Jiu talk about this. Even if he didn't change his name, the other party would have to be called Chen Jiu, and his sister would have to be called Chen Hua. He found it strange no matter how he thought about it, so he simply used his student ID number instead of his Dao name.

However, for cultivators in this world, receiving a Dao name is a very important moment, much like the coming-of-age ceremony for men in the past, marking a person's formal ascension from a Qi Sensing Individual to a legitimate cultivator. Its status is equal to, and sometimes even more important than, the name given by one's parents.

"What is the origin of this Qingge Sect?" Chen Xuan asked, frowning.

"A small sect in Chang'an City, with more than twenty cultivators. The sect leader is named Zhang Qingge, and it has been established for less than fifteen years," Hongli answered in one breath, clearly having done his research beforehand. "That's why it's so easy to get things done when you have connections in the government," Chen Xuan thought to himself. "If I had to investigate on my own, it would probably take me ten days to half a month to figure out their background."

He looked at the end of the copy, where even the reason for Ji An's defection was recorded.

—Because he disobeyed his seniors' discipline, he stole five thousand jade coins and a fine steel sword from the sect before fleeing.

Would Master Ajiu really leave in anger because of the conflict between his disciples?

The reason they were captured this time was because their whereabouts were exposed, which led to their interception by the Qingge Sect cultivators.
Even so, there are still many doubts.

The most suspicious thing is why he never went too far from Chang'an? Five years is enough time for him to escape to the ends of the earth.

"Where is this Qingge Sect? I'd like to pay them a visit," Chen Xuan said, putting away the copy.

Finding the answer isn't difficult; just go and ask.

"Regarding this matter, the Governor instructed me to ask you to go to the Moon Gazing Tower to discuss it." The Grand Historian seemed to have expected him to say this. "If you come alone, you may not get any information and will be turned away. But with the permission of the Immortal Alliance, the situation will be very different."

……

An hour later, Chen Xuan followed the Grand Historian into the Governor's top-floor study.

"Sect Leader Chen, I am aware of Ji An's matter," Xu Yuanqing said bluntly. "It is only right for a sect to arrest a traitorous disciple, and even the Immortal Alliance has no right to interfere. However, this does not mean that their indiscriminate slaughter of an entire family of villagers in the mountains is acceptable. I should take the lead in forming a multi-party investigation team to go to Qingge Sect to investigate the truth, but..."

He gave a helpless smile, "As you know, the sect competition is just around the corner, and I simply can't spare the time to deal with this matter. If we wait until after the competition to resolve it, your disciples will definitely be restless. Therefore, I've decided to authorize you to lead this investigation!"

"Me, representing the Immortal Alliance?" Chen Xuan asked in surprise. "Isn't that against the rules?"

“No, it’s not that you represent the Immortal Alliance, but that the multi-party investigation team should include cultivators from at least three sects. According to past practice, Tianyan Tower and Dengxiantai must be involved in matters related to sects in Chang’an City.” Xu Yuanqing explained carefully, “I will contact Tianyan Tower, and Hongli can handle Dengxiantai. Although he is not a cultivator, he is still a member of Dengxiantai.”

The imperial historian smiled and nodded at him.

So that's how it is. Chen Xuan suddenly realized that the officials in charge of specific affairs in Chang'an City would also change with the change of governor.

"As for the third-party sect, it is naturally the Sovereign Sect," Xu Yuanqing concluded. "As long as three sects participate in the investigation, this matter is completely compliant. No matter how many reasons Qingge Sect has, it cannot obstruct the investigation, otherwise it would be making enemies of other sects in the Immortal Alliance. In the past, when such matters occurred, the leader was either the Ascension Platform or the Heavenly Evolution Tower, but you are the head of a sect, so your status is definitely higher than that of ordinary disciples. It is reasonable for you to take the lead."

He put it simply, but Chen Xuan knew that Xu Yuanqing would have to take responsibility. The fact that the other party was willing to hand over the initiative to him was clearly due to the trust built up in the previous rounds of interaction.

"Thank you, Your Excellency," he said, clasping his hands in gratitude.

"It's alright. You're a member of the Immortal Alliance now, so I'll definitely help you as much as I can," Xu Yuanqing said with a smile, stroking his beard. "There's no time to form an investigation team today, so you should go back to the manor and rest. I'll let you know as soon as Tianyan Tower sends out its cultivators."

(End of this chapter)