Chapter 282 - 143: 63 Daoist Schools, 63 Grandmasters, Qi Rushing to the Heavens, Behold the Style of This Young Man

Chapter 282: Chapter 143: 63 Daoist Schools, 63 Grandmasters, Qi Rushing to the Heavens, Behold the Style of This Young Man

’So this is Jiangyin Prefecture...’

Stepping past the docks, he gazed at the wide thoroughfare before him, broad enough for six horse-drawn carriages to travel abreast. Both sides were lined with the branch shops of the Thirty-Six Professions.

Jade shops, wine shops, embroidery shops, apothecaries... A dazzling array of businesses stood one after another, their storefronts simple yet grand, stately and immaculate. Even the bricks, tiles, and flagstones were made of high-quality bluestone.

It was a world apart from the packed, earthen roads seen everywhere in Anning County.

Among the group from Anning County, Lu Yu, who had just disembarked from a merchant ship, watched the endless stream of pedestrians: vendors, Martial Artists, laborers, shop assistants...

He couldn’t help but marvel at the vibrant, bustling life of the Prefecture City, which unfolded before him like a magnificent scroll.

Even though he was the Young Master of one of the Three Major Professions and a young man of the highest standing in Anning County, looking at this scene upon his arrival made him feel like a complete country bumpkin.

’No wonder Father and the other two Bosses tried every method possible to secure an opportunity for us to enter the Prefecture City.’

’In a place like this, even a minor leader from a Grand Lineage could go to Anning County and become the respected master of their own Boxing Hall!’

Lu Yu clicked his tongue in awe.

Beside him.

Were Lu Hongyu, Wei Zhi, and Xuu Heng—the other young masters and ladies from the families of the Three Major Professions.

The leaders of the Fire Kiln, the Chai Market, and the Cattle and Sheep Market had all joined the Wind and Cloud Association, paying their dues to the Grandmaster of the newly established Wind and Cloud Daoist School on Jiangyin Prefecture’s Daoist School Street.

Thus, the youngsters had been sent on this journey, bearing the high hopes of their families that they might gain a firm foothold in Jiangyin Prefecture and make a name for themselves.

Otherwise, if they returned to Anning County, they would be stuck in that backwater their whole lives, learning only rudimentary Martial Arts with no chance for a greater future.

They were their parents’ own flesh and blood, after all. When a great opportunity arose, it was natural to favor the children who shared their bloodline.

As for their chosen disciples...

In the end, those disciples would only inherit their masters’ positions within the County. The greater opportunities, the business heads had all unanimously reserved for their own children.

"All of you, stick close."

"The Prefecture City isn’t like your home county. The shallows there only breed minnows."

"Here, anyone you casually offend could have connections to a Grand Lineage."

"Even though our Master has become a Grandmaster and opened a Daoist School, it’s located at the very end of Daoist School Street. There are more capable and well-connected people here than you can count on both hands!"

"If you get into trouble, even he might not be able to protect you!"

The Great Robe Inheritor of the Wind and Cloud Association, Feng Zhengming, had been to Anning County twice.

He was now speaking sternly, explaining things to the curious youngsters.

Grand Lineage!

The youths exchanged glances, a chill running through them as they understood the weight those two words carried in Jiangyin Prefecture.

If they could claim even a distant connection...

They would likely enjoy inexhaustible glory and wealth for the rest of their lives.

"Xuu Heng, your family in the Chai Market is named Xuu, and the Wood Element of the Jiangyin Thirty-Six Professions is also named Xuu. I heard your ancestors originally came from this ’Wood Element.’ Why don’t you go acknowledge your ancestors and rejoin the clan?"

Lu Yu looked at the young master from the county’s Chai Market standing beside him, who now had a constrained expression, and couldn’t help but nudge his elbow.

"Er... that was countless generations ago. The connection is so distant it might as well not exist."

Xuu Heng said with a wry smile.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to leverage the connection.

But it wasn’t so easy. His family was so insignificant that the main branch wouldn’t even deign to notice them.

’Perhaps only after I become a Grandmaster myself will I have a chance to be noticed by the Grand Lineage. Only then could I open a branch of the lineage back in Anning County.’

"I wonder where Boss Ji is now, since he came to the Prefecture City before us."

Wei Zhi’s sudden question, uttered as she took in the city sights, made Lu Hongyu fall silent.

Time had passed. In the half-year since Ji Xiu had struck out on his own, the things he had accomplished...

...had long made it clear to the two young ladies that he was no longer in the same world as them.

Anning County was too small.

A talent like him, a dragon among men, belonged here in the vast Prefecture City, standing alongside the sons and daughters of the Grand Lineages, not mired in the muck of a small country county.

"First, I’ll take you to Daoist School Street to get you acquainted with the Master’s Sect and meet the Master. Once you’re settled, you can wander around and see the Prefecture City for yourselves."

"Although the powers in the city are complex and deeply entrenched, and you must walk on eggshells, still..."

"...even the ordinary servants and laborers here receive instruction in their respective trades, learning a few Bone Marrow and Bone Forging techniques."

"You, on the other hand, have the good fortune to enter a Daoist School. I can’t say you’ll inherit the Grandmaster’s legacy, but if you apply yourselves, you could reach Skin Refining. That would already be enough to surpass your fathers."

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming led them toward Daoist School Street.

It was a long, ancient street that seemed to stretch on endlessly, paved with massive, dark flagstones.

Dozens of gray-eaved courtyard compounds were scattered along both sides, each with a ’Daoist School’ plaque hanging before its gate.

They had just entered the street when Feng Zhengming stopped at the very last compound on the left, a sprawling complex with a plaque that read ’Wind and Cloud Daoist School’.

"On this street, every plaque represents the lineage of a Grandmaster," he explained. "Each school has a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster presiding over it."

"There are sixty-three such Daoist Schools here."

Sixty-three!

’Does that mean there are sixty-three Qi Cultivation Grandmasters who have founded their own sects here!?’

Such a thing was completely unheard of back in Anning County!