Chapter 77 Lingwu City
When Long Chen looked up, he saw a vast, endless city.
The city was pure white and surrounded by imposing walls. Behind them were buildings so tall that they touched the clouds, all as white as jade and shining brightly in the sun.
After seeing Yuanling City, Long Chen wasn’t as shocked by the vastness of Lingwu City.
However, this city resembled a gigantic, orderly, white cloud, so Long Chen was still in awe of its magnificent beauty.
The other four had seen Lingwu City before, but they were also very emotional because today was finally the day they could enter.
Gan Ling looked at the young cultivators and gave a small smile. “Alright, follow me inside. Once you’ve settled down, I’ll brief you about the Lingwu family.”
Under Gan Lin’s lead, Long Chen and the rest entered Lingwu City. Yuanling City was extremely rich in Long Chen’s eyes, but Lingwu City was the concentration of luxury. It was no wonder the ruler of Yuanling City resided here. “Lingwu City is divided into the outer and inner cities. The outer city is divided into nine main districts, each as a base to one of the nine main outer families. The Turquoise family is in the Turquoise district, which is where we’re currently at, and the gate you entered from is the gate belonging to the Turquoise district.”
As they walked, Long Chen passed by many cultivators. Some were at the Ninth Draconic Stage like them, but most were at the Human Core Realm or sometimes higher.
Now that Long Chen was in a place where almost everyone was stronger than he was, he completely reined in his temper.
From his previous experiences, the Lingwu family isn’t as harmonious and peaceful as it seemed on the surface. Long Chen was privately shocked by the darkness and killing intent that lurked beneath the calm. This is a scary place. Looks like I’ll have to keep my tail between my legs and start being humble here ... With that thought, Long Chen felt so claustrophobic that he wanted to run away.
But he had put in so much effort to enter Lingwu City, and this was a good opportunity to utilize his talents. It would be a pity to leave now, and Long Chen was not afraid of a challenge, so he decided to stay. Now that I am a member of the Lingwu family, I’ll ask them about the Blood Saints later to see if they can deal with them.
Occasionally, someone would greet Gan Lin along the way. When they saw the group, they’d tut and eye them with a grin. “More newbies? Looks like it’s going to be lively in the Turquoise Sun Hall again. I hope these calves won’t give you too much trouble.”
Long Chen made it a point to remember this.
Very soon, Gan Lin led them into a large courtyard. It was a gigantic place that could fit at least a hundred houses if they wanted to.
Gan Lin turned and said, “This district belongs to the Turquoise Sun Hall. This courtyard is the Turquoise Willow Residence, and it is under Administrator Liu’s jurisdiction. We’re all subordinates of her department. Now, I’ll begin allocating your quarters and then brief you about Lingwu City.”
It was daytime, and there were few people in the courtyard. Gan Lin was extremely familiar with this place, so they quickly arrived at a row of individual houses. He pointed at the sophisticated structures and said, “These will be your quarters; they’re for Level Four disciples. You five will stay here from today onwards until you are promoted to Level Three disciples. You may all choose your rooms now. Afterwards, complete your registration and I will wait for you at the Martial Hall.” All four of them immediately left to choose their room.
Long Chen was fine with any room, so he looked at a random house number and then followed Gan Lin to the Level Four disciples’ Martial Hall.
Gan Lin was fully aware that Long Chen had followed him there and sat down as soon as they entered. He eyed Long Chen for a while, then he said, “Have a seat. Once the rest are here, I’ll tell everyone about the Lingwu family in one shot. You may ask any questions then.”
Long Chen nodded. He had nothing to say, so he took a seat on the side. Very soon, the other four arrived, looking emotional.
Gan Lin shook his head at the excited faces. But he was very satisfied with Long Chen’s mild expression. With everyone present, he nodded and said, “I’ll first explain to you the Lingwu family and our daily tasks. If you have any questions, you may ask them.” Everyone nodded obediently.
Although it wasn’t intentional, the wealth and power of the Lingwu family put a weight on their chests. “The Lingwu family is one of the two main factions of Yuanling County. And because we’ve retained the upper hand in the recent struggle between us and Yuandi City’s Beast Soul Hall, we’ve maintained our position as the ruling faction of Yuanling City for more than a hundred years now.”
Gan Ling smiled before he continued, “The Beast Soul Hall may be specialized, but the Lingwu family is more than ten times their size with more than twenty thousand members. About two thousand are inner Lingwu family members. The outer family is divided into nine families, which are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Indigo, Violet, Silver, and Gold.
“Every family consists of about two thousand outer family members, but you all must know that although the Turquoise family and the inner family have a similar number of members, the inner family is the true Lingwu family. That is the number one thing you must remember. We are merely mercenaries of the Lingwu family, their subordinates. So you must never have conflict with them, or no one will pity you if you die!” Gan Lin’s eyes flashed coldly and their chests tightened.
Long Chen’s brows furrowed when he heard the word “subordinate.” He asked, “Does that mean we have to do everything they say? Even if they’re sending us to our deaths?”
Gan Lin said mildly, “Don’t be too pessimistic. The fact that the outer families have expanded to their current size without rebellion proves that the inner families treat us well. Of course, that is assuming you don’t cause any conflict with them. Think about it. Even in a regular family, a subordinate wouldn’t incite conflict with the masters, right?”
In Long Chen’s understanding, the inner families were the masters and the outer families were merely subordinates.
He was very frustrated about this, but when he thought of how the Lingwu family would be a platform for him to grow his talents and the fact that his cultivation level was at the absolute bottom ...
A gigantic superpower like the Lingwu family has allowed me to become a subordinate of theirs. I guess they’re already giving me face. Then again, based on Gan Lin’s words, as long as I listen to their instructions and contribute more, I’ll probably benefit a lot. A true man must know when to bow. So why should I be afraid of them?
Gan Ling’s gaze swept across the group with reverence in his eyes. “What I said just now wasn’t to instill enmity in you towards the inner families. To be honest, although they are similar in numbers to us, they are much more powerful than all nine outer families combined!
“In some ways, they are the guardians of the outer families. We help them execute tasks while they give us sufficient resources and powerful support. We’re the vines and they are the tree trunk. Without the tree trunk’s support, the vines would only be crawling on the ground.
“Of course, if any of you guys prove to be extraordinarily talented, perhaps you might even be directly recruited into an inner family. There have been cases like that in history!”
When he said that last point, Gan Lin was mostly looking at Long Chen.
Out of the five, he felt that Long Chen had the most potential, though he smiled exasperatedly when he thought of the extremely strict conditions.
Long Chen was very interested in entering the inner families, so he asked hurriedly, “Senior Gan, may I ask what is considered ‘extraordinarily talented?’”
Gan Lin smiled bitterly. “I’m not sure either, but ... there are about ten thousand young people in the outer families, and only a handful get recruited into the inner families every year. I can imagine that at your age, you’ll need to be at the Earthly Core Realm at least.”
Long Chen was speechless. Earthly Core Realm, at my age ... How many nonhuman talents are in this Lingwu family? I was called the ultimate prodigy in Baiyang Town, but I’m literally weaker than shit here! This immense pressure didn’t suffocate him but turned into motivation and passion. When he thought about how he might have a chance to climb up the ranks in the Lingwu family, he was filled with fighting spirit!
Looking at Long Chen’s burning eyes, Gan Lin was about to quash his dreams, but he then thought, Whatever. I don’t need to bash him now. Once he spends some time here, he’ll naturally learn that some things are just impossible ...
He was once like this too, a young person who didn’t know his limits and thought he could enter the inner family. In the end, he kept hitting walls and even sustained severe injuries before he finally curbed his ambitions and focused on cultivation. How nice it is to be young ...
Long Chen got the hint from the emotion in Gan Lin’s eyes, but he wasn’t the kind to give up when he was being underestimated.
Gan Lin continued, “I won’t explain the inner family’s structure for now, but each of the nine outer families has one leader. We call them the Grand Elders. Beneath the Turquoise family’s Grand Elder are the eight Sect Elders that control the eight halls. The Turquoise Sun Hall belongs to a Sect Elder named Liu Yuan, and under him are five Administrators. Each Administrator controls about fifty members. We’re under Administrator Liu. Do you guys understand the hierarchy?”
With such a clean explanation, how could they not understand?
But Long Chen was a little uncomfortable with the strict hierarchical system. He felt like there were countless people sitting on top of him!
He wasn’t happy with this at all, but he had no power to fight against it!
Before they could completely digest the information, Gan Lin continued, “We’re all disciples now. Cultivators at the Draconic Realm are Level Four disciples, while Initial Human Core Realm cultivators are Level Three. Reaching the Mid Human Core Realm will put you at Level Two and the Late Human Core Realm at Level One. I am now a Level One disciple. If you reach the Earthly Core Realm, you’ll be considered management level. Anyone who is particularly strong will be appointed as an administrator in the outer families!
“The Turquoise Sun Hall is considered weak compared to the other outer families. There are fewer than ten Level One disciples working under Administrator Liu. Including her, there are only four Earthly Core Realm masters.”
Long Chen asked, “Senior Gan, may I ask what the purpose of dividing disciples into levels is?”
Gan Lin looked at him approvingly and said, “This is related to the next matter that I’ll be talking about—what the Lingwu family actually does!”
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