The various clans of White Jade Capital had always followed two paths in training their younger generations.
Those who showed great aptitude for cultivation from childhood concentrated on cultivation, without needing to entangle themselves in the Lineage's mundane minutiae. They received cultivation arts, treasures, and funds in full supply, and needed only to scale ever greater heights. Leaving aside the finer distinctions, the broad ladder of advancement on this path was: martial master → shop protector → ward protector → hall junior protector → hall Grand Protector → city junior protector.
Those who showed great talent for commerce from childhood concentrated on Lineage affairs, managing shops or operating caravans and overseeing the allocation of resources. Their minds had to be on business, making it bigger and stronger, which naturally left less time for cultivation. Corresponding to the cultivation path, the ladder of advancement on this path was: shopkeeper → shop proprietor → ward proprietor → hall junior proprietor → hall chief proprietor → city junior proprietor.
As for those who fell outside these two categories, they either did odd jobs or ate their fill and waited to die. They needed no further mention.
The two paths, cultivator and merchant, also complemented one another.
There was little to say about martial masters and shopkeepers at the lowest level: they simply followed their elders around, learning. Once they reached the "shop" level, they had to take charge themselves. Whether it was a shop in the city or a caravan traveling abroad, a proprietor was needed to manage business and a protector to keep everyone safe. In business matters, the merchant had the final say; in any urgent danger, the cultivator did.
Merchants also needed to cultivate. After all, shops in the heavens measured their existence in centuries and millennia, and a single