Chapter 205: The Situation in the Central Domain

Chapter 205: Chapter 205: The Situation in the Central Domain

During a break in the meal, Chu Fan took the opportunity to ask Han Chuanguang about the Central Domain and the Hua Xu Empire.

Han Chuanguang was originally from the Central Domain. Liu Yicai had poached him from another auction house two years ago when he came to the Central Domain to open a branch.

So, while Han Chuanguang didn’t know everything about the Central Domain, he could still speak at length about the general distribution of power and other broad topics.

For example, the top three sects in the Central Domain were the Celestial Dao Palace, Bodhi Hall, and the Extreme Dao Sect. It was rumored that the Sect Leaders of these three sects were all at the Half-Saint level of cultivation, and most of their Elders were in the Void Realm and Mahayana Realm.

What did it mean to be a Half-Saint?

After the Void Realm was the Mahayana Realm, and after Mahayana was the Tribulation Crossing Realm. The Tribulation Crossing Realm was also known as the Saint Realm. A Half-Saint was an existence at Mahayana Perfection who was just one step away from breaking through their bottleneck to become a Saint.

But this alone wasn’t enough to earn them the title of top sects. The reason they were called top sects was that each of them had at least two or three Saints presiding over them.

The Central Domain had an organization dedicated to recording the affairs of the Jianghu. They compiled various lists, ranking all the sects and cultivators in the world by their Combat Power.

Moreover, these lists were widely trusted by the people of the world, and many would fight tooth and nail just to get their names on one.

For instance, there were sixteen first-class sects in the Central Domain. How was the line between first-tier and second-tier drawn? This organization was the one that provided the precise definition.

The Combat Power of these sixteen sects was also ranked.

It wasn’t just sects. There were also lists like the Celestial List, the Earth List, the Human List, the Talent List, and the Hundred Flowers List.

According to Han Chuanguang’s explanation, the Celestial List recorded ten people, and the list hadn’t changed in two thousand years. These ten individuals were all as elusive as Divine Dragons, appearing and disappearing without a trace, because they were all Earth Immortals.

What was an Earth Immortal?

An Earth Immortal was someone whose cultivation had reached Tribulation Crossing Realm Perfection but had neither passed their Celestial Tribulation nor been annihilated by it. They were thus relegated to being Earth Immortals.

The Earth List, on the other hand, recorded all the Saints in the current world, and it wasn’t limited to just the Central Domain.

The Human List recorded everyone in the Mahayana Realm. Of course, this list was limited to people from the Central Domain or those who had made a name for themselves through battle in the Central Domain.

The Talent List comprised the one hundred strongest cultivators under the age of sixty.

Of all these lists, the ones that changed most frequently were the Talent List and the Hundred Flowers List. The Hundred Flowers List, in particular, recorded the top thirty peerless beauties of the Central Domain.

It is said that beauty fades easily, and new talents always rise to replace the old. How many years could a peerless mortal beauty remain on such a list?

"Where can one see these lists?"

Han Chuanguang said, "Unless the names on them change, in which case the updated list will be posted on the Jianye City Bell Tower for three days, you have to pay to see them."

"Oh? Where can I buy them? And for how much?"

"The Celestial List is the cheapest, at only five taels of Patterned Silver. The Earth List is next, at one hundred taels of Patterned Silver, while the Human List costs a thousand taels of Patterned Silver. The most expensive is the Hundred Flowers List, which costs a thousand taels of Gold."

Chu Fan was not foolish enough to ask why these lists sold for such high prices. A list like this allowed one to quickly understand the power structure of the Central Domain and, when traveling the Jianghu, avoid provoking people who shouldn’t be provoked.

As for those whose names were on the lists, or those who wanted to get their names on them, they were naturally doing it for fame and fortune.

The organization that spent so much manpower and resources compiling these lists was naturally doing it to make money.

Otherwise, who would be idle enough to do such a thankless job?

Thus, Chu Fan’s curiosity was piqued by this organization called Heroic Journey.

Moreover, this organization didn’t just create these lists; they also periodically published a gazette that recorded rumors and anecdotes from the Cultivation Realm. For instance, who challenged whom? Or who fulfilled a years-old pact to fight someone else for days on end in some location?

In short, if it was something in the Cultivation Realm that people were interested in, they dared to publish it in the gazette.

"This Heroic Journey organization must have some connection to the Royal Family, right?" Chu Fan asked.

Han Chuanguang just smiled and didn’t respond.

"I’ll give you three days. Can you help me buy a copy of each list and all the gazettes from the last three years?" Chu Fan asked.

"Since you require them, my lord, I will have someone purchase them immediately. We can probably get the lists by tomorrow evening at the earliest. As for the gazettes from the last three years, it might take some time to search for them all," Han Chuanguang said.

Han Chuanguang left, leaving Chu Fan lost in thought.

’Not venturing out truly is like being a frog in a well. Sects like the Lingyun Sect and the Profound Celestial Sect called themselves first-class sects in the Eastern Domain, but if they were brought to the Central Domain for comparison, they would probably rank as second-tier, or even third-tier at best.’

According to Han Chuanguang, a first-class sect in the Central Domain that made it onto the lists had at least one Half-Saint.

Yet the Six Sects and Eight Gates of the Eastern Domain had, at most, a single Void Realm expert presiding over them. And if it weren’t for the Drunken Immortal Brew Chu Fan had given them, those Void Realm experts would all be on their last legs, only able to hole up by a Spirit Vein to eke out a miserable existence.

How could they even compare?

Besides the Cultivation Sects, Chu Fan also asked a lot about the Hua Xu Empire’s Royal Family.

The current Emperor was named Long Aofeng. At the advanced age of one hundred and eighty-nine, he had fathered nine sons and thirty-six daughters. Of the nine sons, only the current Crown Prince, Long Jingyao, was the legitimate son born of the Empress. The other eight sons were all born to concubines.

According to the ancestral laws of the Hua Xu Empire, a son not born of the Empress, no matter how capable, could not inherit the throne.

What’s more, the current Crown Prince had a good reputation both at court and among the common people. His position was unshakeable.

The youngest of the other eight Princes was enfeoffed and sent to his fiefdom thirty years ago, drawing a clear line between himself and power long ago.

King Chen, the father of the Prince Fuling he had killed in the Secret Realm, was one of the Emperor’s eight enfeoffed sons. The Heir of Liao he had encountered two days ago—the Liao King was, like King Chen, the Crown Prince’s younger brother.

What Chu Fan hadn’t expected was that the Crown Prince he had seen two days ago, who he thought was only in his forties or fifties, was actually over ninety years old.

Among the many Princes, only King Qi and King Wei were older than him.

Although the Hua Xu Empire was powerful, its lands were not truly at peace. The Mu’er Khanate in the Northern Domain frequently harassed the Border Region.

Besides the Grasslands of the Northern Domain, the Western Domain was also not very peaceful. Over a hundred years ago, an unprecedented war had broken out on the western frontier. Since that battle, the Empire had been forced to dispatch heavy troops to guard the western passes.

Compared to the Western Domain, the Northern Domain was more like a minor affliction. However, the far north was bitterly cold and desolate. Even if they sent people to wipe out the Mu’er Khanate, they would be unable to govern it. It wouldn’t take many years for a new regime to form in the Northern Domain.

The Southern Domain, like the Eastern Domain before it, was a fragmented mess—in fact, it was even more fragmented than the Eastern Domain. The Southern Domain didn’t even have Vassal States; it was a collection of tribal clusters, with at least tens of thousands of small factions, large and small.

If one were to speak of chaos, it would be the Southern Domain.

Therefore, the Southern Domain could hardly sort out its own internal affairs, let alone think of invading the Central Domain. On the contrary, some families in the Southern Domain near the Central Domain even had commercial dealings and paid annual tribute to the Hua Xu Empire.

But regardless of the external situation, the Hua Xu Empire’s Court had an absolutely ironclad rule over the Central Domain. A rebellion where someone raised a banner in revolt was simply impossible.

With the Hua Xu Empire’s control over the Cultivation Realm and its extensive network of official roads, if a rebellion broke out somewhere in the morning, it would likely be annihilated by the afternoon.

After learning all this information, Chu Fan only grew more confused about Crown Prince Long Jingyao’s purpose in meeting him that day.

’Even if this Crown Prince does nothing, when the Emperor abdicates, the imperial power will be passed down to him and him alone.’

’Even though I am young, having reached the Divine Separation Realm before the age of thirty, that’s hardly enough to warrant a second look from the Crown Prince, is it?’

Seeing Chu Fan’s furrowed brow, Yun Xi walked up behind him and gently smoothed the wrinkles on his forehead with her hand.

"Don’t keep furrowing your brow like that, you’ll get old faster," Yun Xi said softly.

"Let me get old, then. What? Did you fall for my looks and not my talent?" Chu Fan joked.

"You’re talking nonsense."