Spring Breeze Tower

"Registering for Ordination is complete. Praise the Immortal Dynasty."

Green Fox High Person completed the final step, and only then relaxed, resuming his air of a lofty master.

With a wave, he put everything away, and Jiang Yan and the others could only open their eyes and rise.

Registering for Ordination was over. Feeling the burning, envious gazes of the crowd behind them, quite a few disciples lifted their heads slightly.

"From this day forth, you are Ninth-Rank Altar-Guarding Daoist Attendants of the East River Dao Academy.

"Though it is only the ninth-rank White Register, it has its own mysteries. Go back and experience them yourselves."

"There is something else I must tell you. The Prefecture Academy requires disciples in the Ninth-Rank Daoist Attendant Realm to reach the Eighth-Rank Fangshi Realm within ten years.

"Only by receiving the eighth-rank Ink Register then can you stay. Otherwise, you will likewise be struck from the Dao Academy's rolls."

The newly registered disciples felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over them. Their burning enthusiasm immediately cooled.

Jiang Yan was not surprised at all. His older cousin had not mentioned this, but he had been mentally prepared.

After all, ever since entering the Prefecture Academy, everything he had seen and heard had reminded him that this place had none of the pavilions, terraces, and splendid immortal vistas he had once imagined.

Instead, it was steeped in hardship, with trials at every turn. Life here was worse even than that of ordinary mortals in the Dao Realm.

Since that was the case, they surely would not restrict only disciples who had yet to enter the ninth rank. What would be the point otherwise?

Green Fox High Person left again, and the newly registered disciples went their separate ways.

By now, those gathered around were no longer just the new disciples who had arrived with them.

More of them were longtime townsfolk, some of whom had been struck from the Prefecture Academy's rolls.

Others had been relocated here directly by the Immortal Dynasty. Of course, the ancestors of such people generally had some crime to their names.

But after so many years, they now had the chance to continue taking the Prefecture Examination.

However, there were no lower-level Dao Academies within the East River Realm, and the requirements for entering the Prefecture Academy were the same as in the Dao Realm.

They had to temper their bodies to near perfection before the age of sixteen to qualify to apply.

Competition here was fiercer than in the Dao Realm. Quite a few people even chose to sell themselves to support their descendants.

Selling themselves did not mean selling themselves to a pleasure house. It meant having their bodies taken apart, chopped into pieces, weighed, and sold at the going price.

Many Daoists liked to use bodies with cultivation when researching Law Techniques. If you happened upon someone in urgent need, you could even fetch a high price!

Those had been Jiang Chi's exact words yesterday.

Of course, few people did this unless they had reached the end of their rope. Working steadily earned more.

There was little they could do, really. It would have been one thing if they had not known how vast the outside world was.

But they knew full well that the Dao Realm outside was boundless, grand, and magnificent, yet they remained trapped here day after day.

An occasional visit to one of the other towns already counted as an outing.

Had Jiang Yan not been confident he could return to the Dao Realm, he too would have been desperately seeking a way out.

Fortunately, the Prefecture Academy had its rules. He was still within his first month, and no one dared approach Jiang Yan for fear of inadvertently harming him.

Leaving the crowd, Jiang Yan searched along the streets for a while but found no sign of Spring Breeze Tower.

Looking around, he chose a passerby with a reasonably gentle face and stopped him.

"Excuse me, do you know where Spring Breeze Tower is?"

The man had been somewhat impatient at being stopped, but the moment he heard Jiang Yan ask about Spring Breeze Tower, his expression turned strange.

"Are you a new Dao Academy disciple?"

He looked Jiang Yan up and down, paying particular attention to his still somewhat youthful face.

"I am."

"You know how to enjoy yourself at such a young age, little brother. Not bad at all."

After that cryptic remark, he still raised his hand to point at a street behind him and said:

"Follow that street to the end, then turn left onto another street. Spring Breeze Tower is halfway down it."

So he had been going the wrong way. No wonder he could not find it. Jiang Yan thanked him again before turning to head that way.

The man remained where he was, muttering to himself. Only half a sentence could be faintly heard.

"...Someone that lustful can get into the Prefecture Academy, so why does my son fail year after year?"

Following the directions, Jiang Yan walked all the way to the end of the street.

As soon as he rounded the corner and stepped onto the next street, he paused briefly, then continued inside.

Pleasure houses lined the street before him. This had to be the town's "flower street."

Women of every sort stood along both sides, some draped in thin gauze, others wearing veils.

Quite a few held pipas and other instruments, playing as they leaned against the buildings.

Sultry and gentle, slender as a swallow or voluptuous as a beauty of old-there were all sorts, too many to list.

It did not look vulgar, but rather had a certain elegance. Only the patrons occasionally coming and going spoiled the atmosphere.

As Jiang Yan walked down the street, understanding dawned.

When my cousin mentioned Spring Breeze Tower yesterday, I didn't notice anything odd.

Looking at it today, this so-called Spring Breeze Tower must take its name from spending a night of spring passion.

It really is a pleasure house. But how could Cousin Yunyao be making her living this way?

Alas, he had thought having clansmen at the Prefecture Academy might make things easier. Now, that seemed unlikely.

His older male cousin had to change his surname and marry into another family. He had probably even taken Jiang Yan to rent a room in secret yesterday.

His older female cousin had fallen to earning a living in a pleasure house. Who knew how miserable the remaining clansmen from the branch families were?

But since he was already here, he would meet her before considering anything else. At the very least, he had to deliver the letters.

With that thought, Jiang Yan walked a little farther and spotted Spring Breeze Tower from some distance away.

The building stood at the very center of the flower street, one story taller than the other pleasure houses, displaying its distinctive status.

It looks like Spring Breeze Tower is the leading establishment on this flower street.

Having come this far, Jiang Yan naturally did not hesitate. He stepped inside.

Though it was broad daylight, lights still burned inside Spring Breeze Tower.

Crimson candles stood pierced on holders suspended high in the air. There were no unpleasant odors; instead, a faint fragrance filled the air.

Jiang Yan's nostrils twitched, and he recognized it at once. They were actually burning Whale Candles here?

Sure enough, places of gilded paper and intoxicating luxury were the best at winning people over with extravagance.

These whale-oil candles came from North Sea Province in the Dao Realm and were a local specialty.

They gave off a delicate fragrance as they burned. Inhaling it made a Daoist's Qi and Blood circulate much more vigorously, but beyond that, they had no special properties.

Jiang Yan had used them while tempering his body before. Why would Spring Breeze Tower use them for lighting?

Jiang Yan felt the Qi and Blood in a certain part of his body and soon noticed the clue.

Something else must have been added to these candles, giving them another effect that suited this place perfectly.

At that moment, seeing him standing alone in the hall, apparently a new patron, a young attendant approached him with a broad smile.

"I haven't seen you before, Daoist sir. Is there a girl you'd like to request?

"If not, I can recommend a few."

Jiang Yan shook his head.

"I'm not here for amusement. Is there someone named Jiang Yunyao at Spring Breeze Tower? I'm his younger clansman."

The attendant in his brightly colored clothes froze and instinctively asked:

"You're looking for Sister Yunyao? Have you just come from home?"

This attendant was actually a member of the Jiang Household too, though probably from a branch family. Jiang Yan had never seen him before.

Just a moment ago, Jiang Yan had been wondering where the other clansmen were, apart from his two older cousins from the main line.

He had not expected to meet one before even seeing his older female cousin.

"That's right. I arrived at the Prefecture Academy yesterday. Cousin Jiang Chi said Cousin Yunyao was here."

As he spoke, Jiang Yan took out the token he had used for verification yesterday.

"Brother Jiang Chi?"

The attendant's expression grew somewhat complicated when he mentioned Jiang Chi, then he looked at the token in Jiang Yan's hand.

"Come on. Sister Yunyao happens to have no... happens to be resting right now. I'll take you to see her."

Leading Jiang Yan upstairs, he brought him to a corner on the second floor. Compared with the bustle above and below, it was much quieter here.

It seemed Jiang Yunyao was not doing particularly well at Spring Breeze Tower either.