Long Chen raised his head and gazed at the vast city without borders before him.
This city was like white jade, with tall city walls. Within these city walls, there were buildings that seemed to pierce the clouds. The buildings were also flawlessly white like jade. Under the radiance of the sun, these buildings shone with a dazzling radiance.
Fortunately, he had already seen Yuanling City so Long Chen was not too surprised when he saw the enormity of Lingwu City.
However, this city before him was like a huge white cloud, so Long Chen was amazed by its sheer size and splendor.
The four others had already seen Lingwu City before. However, today, they could finally enter and live there, so they were filled with excitement.
Looking at the age of these 5 youngsters, Gan Lin smiled faintly, and said, “Well, now follow me inside. After settling down, I will introduce you to our Lingwu Family members.”
Under Gan Lin’s guidance, Long Chen and the others entered Lingwu City. In Long Chen’s eyes, Yuanling City was already a synonym for wealth, while Lingwu City was its heart. It was no wonder that it was the embodiment of Yuanling City.
“Lingwu City is also subdivided into the city outskirts and the inner region.The city outskirts are further divided into 9 large regions. These 9 regions are governed separately by the 9 outer factions. We, the Green Faction, are in the Green region. All of you will now be situated in the Green region. The city gate through which we now entered is the city gate used exclusively by our Green Faction.”
While he was walking down the road, Long Chen would, from time to time, see the warriors that walked past him. Some of them were also in the ninth level of the Dragon Pulse Realm while most were usually at the Human Dan Realm, or an even higher level.
Seeing that the people in this place were much stronger than him, Long Chen completely threw away his previous disposition.
From his previous point of view, the Lingwu Family was not harmonious and tranquil as it seemed on the surface. Underneath this serenity, it was full of sinister secrets and killing intent, making Long Chen a little apprehensive.
“In this frightening place, it seems that I must just keep my tail between my legs and act like a grandson….”
[TL Note: (装孙子) To pretend to be a grandson who listens attentively and does things as a senior’s wishes]
As he thought about that, Long Chen immediately became depressed and wanted to escape.
However, he had tried so hard to enter the Lingwu Family, and he could now fight to his heart’s content. It would be a pity if he wanted to leave. Moreover, Long Chen was not afraid of others challenging him, so he decided to stay on.
“Now, I too am considered to have become a member of the Lingwu Family. I am a person of the Lingwu Family. Later, I will ask about the matter regarding the Crimson Blood Sacred Sect to see if there’re any ways to deal with them.”
Along the road, people would frequently greet Gan Lin. After seeing Long Chen and the four others, they would click their tongue and say smiling, “Have the new rookies come again? Your Qinyang Branch will be busy for a long time. I hope that these new calves aren’t too much trouble.”
Long Chen secretly committed these words to memory.
Shortly, Gan Lin brought them into a courtyard. The courtyard was very spacious, and after counting the rooms, there appeared to be hundreds of them.
This time, Gan Lin turned back and said, “This area is our Green Sun Branch’s territory. This compound is under the jurisdiction of Enforcer Liu and is known as the Green Willow Residence. We are all Enforcer Liu’s disciples. Now, I will arrange residences for all of you, and then I will explain to you the matters concerning Lingwu City. ”
Currently, during the day, one could see that within the courtyard, there were very few signs of human inhabitation. Gan Lin was very familiar with this place. Very quickly, he moved over to a row of small rooms, and pointing at those small rooms, he said, “Here is the area for Fourth Grade Disciples to live in. From now on, you five will live here. Only after you get promoted and become Third Grade Disciples, can you leave from here. You all can select a room, and register it properly. I will be waiting for you at the Martial Techniques Training Hall.”
Listening to what Gan Lin said, the four others promptly went to pick out a room.
Long Chen thought that since all of those rooms were not bad, he could simply pick the number of a door plate at random and immediately follow Gan Lin to the Martial Techniques Training Hall for the Fourth Grade Disciples.
Gan Lin already knew that Long Chen had followed him. He walked to the chair at the very front and sat down on it. He sized Long Chen up before he said, “You can sit down first. After everyone else comes, I’ll brief all of you on the matters of the Lingwu Family. If you have any questions, you can ask them.”
Long Chen nodded as there was nothing for him to say. Soon, after he was seated, the other four arrived with excited looks on their faces.
Seeing that these people all had expressions of longing, Gan Lin shook his head. But looking at Long Chen’s indifference made him feel very satisfied. Seeing that everyone was present, he simply nodded and said, “First, I’ll tell you about the characteristics of the Lingwu Family’s Outer Clans, and also about the daily needs. If you have any questions, you can ask me.”
Everyone nodded their heads earnestly.
Even though it was not deliberate, the rich and powerful Lingwu Family had subconsciously put pressure on them.
“Lingwu Family is one among the two powers within Yuanling County. The reason for that was due to an advantage over Yuandi City’s Beast Spirit Palace. As a result, Lingwu City became Yuanling City’s Castle. It has already been a hundred years since then.”
Gan Lin laughed and then continued, “To enter Beast Spirit Palace is to walk an elite route. Our Lingwu Family’s people are at least 10 times more than their numbers. I recall that we all together have more than 20 thousand. Among them, approximately 2000 people are the inner members of the Lingwu Family. We are members of the Outer Faction, a factional division that is split into as red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, purple, silver and gold. ”
“Every clan has approximately 2000 Outer Faction members. However, the first thing you all should know is that even though the number of people within the Green Faction and the Inner Factions is about the same, only the Inner Clans are truly the members of the Lingwu Family. You are Lingwu Family’s Outer Factions’ members. You must first understand that the most important thing is that we are just like the Lingwu Family’s hired thug, their subordinates. Therefore, we must not get into a conflict with them, or else, even if you die, no one will pity you!”
After saying this, Gan Lin’s gaze became gloomy and cold. Long Chen and the rest shuddered. Hearing the word “subordinate”, Long Chen’s brows furrowed. He then inquired, “In other words, whatever they say, we have to do that, even if they want us to directly court our death?”
Gan Lin indifferently said, “You must not be too pessimistic. The Lingwu Family’s Outer Faction is capable of growing to this extent while we haven’t rebelled. This can only explain that the Inner Factions treats the Outer Factions well. Of course, you’re still not allowed to get into conflict with the Inner Factions’ members. Think about this, even in an ordinary family, a subordinate would not dare to go against his master, would he?”
Long Chen came to understand that the Inner Factions are all masters and that the Outer Factions, however, are just their subordinates. Originally, Long Chen was not very convinced in his heart. But, once he thought that the Lingwu family was the only platform for him to rapidly improve himself and that his current strength was the lowest…
“The Lingwu Family, having this kind of massive strength, makes me their subordinate. It still will give me some face. Besides, from what Gan Lin has said, so long as I am obedient and make many contributions, the benefits would not be lacking. I’m ready to give and take so why would I fear this Inner Faction?”
At this time, Gan Lin swept his eyes all over them; within his eyes was a look of veneration. He said, “What I said just now was not to out of any desire to arouse any hostility between you and the Inner Faction. To tell you the truth, although the number of Inner Faction members and the Green Faction members are more or less equal, their total strength is much greater when compared with the overall strength of the 9 Outer Factions! ”
“In one way, the Inner Faction can be considered as the Outer Factions’ protector. We handle the Inner Factions’ work on their behalf and the Inner Faction gives us sufficient resources and a strong back-up. We are like the vines and they are like a tree trunk; vines without the support of a tree trunk can only collapse weakly onto the ground.”
“Of course, if someone displays extraordinary talent, perhaps you will have an opportunity to be directly recruited to the Inner Faction. It has happened in the past.”
When it came to the last point, Gan Lin’s focused on Long Chen.
In his view, Long Chen is the person with most promising talent among these 5 people. But, the thought of the extremely harsh requirements, Gan Lin could only smile helplessly.
Long Chen was still very interested in entering the Inner Faction. Promptly, he asked, “Senior Gan, I wonder, what kind of talent can then be considered as an overpowering one?”
With a wry smile, Gan Lin said, “I too, am unclear about this, but…there are countless youngsters within the Outer Faction. Every year the number of people who undertake the tests to enter the Inner Faction can be counted on your fingers. Can you imagine, at your age, being on the border of the Earth Dan realm?”
Long Chen was momentarily speechless after hearing it.
“At my age, Earth Dan Realm….Within the Lingwu Family, how many such monsters exist? Within the Poplar Town, I was known as an exceptional talent, however, over here, I’m worse than a fart!”
With this immense pressure, he did not feel disheartened by it but rather, it became his motivation and passion. Thinking about himself, being within the Lingwu Family and skyrocketing through the levels, Long Chen was filled with fighting spirit.
Seeing a slight burning expression on Long Chen, Gan Lin was just about to pour cold water on his dreams, but then he thought, “Let it be, I will not strike him down at this time. In the future, after he has been with the Lingwu Family for a long time, automatically he will come to know that some things simply cannot be accomplished only with willpower…”
He remembered that, in those days in the past, he too was the same; he did not know how high the heavens were and how deep the earth was. He thought that he could enter the Inner Faction, in the end he repeatedly encountered with setbacks unceasingly. After getting seriously injured, he gathered his focus and concentrated on cultivation.
“Ah, it really is wonderful being a youth…”
Gan Lin’s expression turned rueful. It was not that Long Chen didn’t understand what he meant, but he was not underestimated, people come knock him down quickly.
Gan Lin continued, “For the time being, I will not tell you about the Inner Factions’ power. Among the 9 Great Outer Factions, each faction has a leader, and we address them as Grand Elder. Below the Green Faction’s Grand Elder are the 8 Great Elders, they respectively administer the Green Faction’s 8 branches. Our Green Sun Branch is administered by one such Great Elder and his name is Liu Yuan. Under Great Elder Liu, we have 5 enforcers in our Green Sun Branch. These 5 Enforcers are responsible for approximately 50 people each. We are under the jurisdiction of Enforcer Liu. Do you understand the system I just told you?”
Gan Lin spoke very systematically. How could Long Chen and the rest not understand?
With such a regimented hierarchy, it made Long Chen’s scalp feel numb. In this intricate system, he had the constant feeling that there were countless people who could oppress him!
This kind of feeling put him in a bad mood. But, the fact of the matter was that he simply did not have the strength to rebel.
Before Long Chen and the rest could digest the information completely, Gan Lin continued. “Our current identity is known as disciple grades. The warriors in the Dragon Pulse Realm are known as Fourth Grade Disciples. When you enter the Human Dan Realm, you become a Third Grade Disciple. If you achieve the Human Dan Realm’s Initial Mastery Stage, then you will become a Second Grade Disciple. And finally, when you reach the Human Dan Realm Perfect Mastery Stage, you will become a First Grade Disciple, which is my current rank. Once you enter the Earth Dan Realm you are considered to be a formal supervisor with a profound cultivation within the Lingwu Family, which will give you the qualifications to become an Enforcer within the Outer Faction! ”
“Our Green Sun Branch’s strength is much weaker compared to other branches in the Outer Faction. Among Enforcer Liu’s people, there are less than 10 First-Grade Disciples and experts at the Earth Dan Realm. Including Enforcer Liu, there are only four.”
Long Chen asked, “Senior Gan, I would like to know, why is there a differentiation among ranks for disciples?”
Gan Lin sent Long Chen an approving look, and said, “What I am about to tell you is related to that and is what you are ultimately going to do in the Lingwu Family!”