Strength rankings
"Brother Musheng, although I am six years older than you, I, Tang Tiandong, have indeed benefited greatly from our conversation about cultivation." Tang Tiandong cupped his hands in greeting.
"Brother Tiandong, although you are of mediocre talent, you are only eighteen years old and have only cultivated for five years, yet you have already reached the Meridian Opening Fourth Layer."
If it were anyone else, their cultivation level would only reach the Meridian Opening Second Layer at most. I imagine you would be cultivating day and night without rest.
"I, Yang Musheng, admire your perseverance and diligence." Yang Musheng also cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.
Tang Tiandong chuckled awkwardly, unsure whether Yang Musheng was exaggerating or mocking him. He thought to himself, "I've cultivated faster because my father, Tang Yuan, prepared the Cultivation Method, Spiritual Qi, and Spirit Stone. Even the Free and Carefree Cave was found thanks to my father's suggestion. Without his help, I wouldn't even be qualified to cultivate immortality."
"This year, my Tang Household is not qualified to pay tribute to the Azure Origin Sect, but could Fellow Daoist Yang offer some guidance on this matter?" Tang Tiandong asked humbly.
The elderly Yang Musheng nodded earnestly, "What I said may have some flaws, but it's pretty much accurate."
According to the old system of imperial division, Azure Origin Sect ruled over five prefectures: Pingyang, Danyang, Yaoguang, Jingshan, and Luanshan. Originally, these five prefectures belonged to the Yong Kingdom and Shen Kingdom.
Of the five prefectures, our Pingyang Commandery is the largest.
Pingyang Commandery extends from Western Rong Mountain in the west to the Bitter Moon Sea in the east.
The entire world, the Purple Mother Continent, is simply divided into the Northern Continent, the Central Continent, and the Southern Continent, as well as the Northern Wasteland, the Northern Cold, the Western Regions, and the Southern Frontier.
The northernmost part of Pingyang Commandery is the Bitter Chaos River, also known as the Bitter Chaos Sea, which is the dividing line between the Northern Continent and the Central Continent.
Central Continent and Southern Continent are collectively known as the Jiangnan region.
Pingyang Commandery was the most populous prefecture in the entire country, with a total population of over six million.
Brother Tang, guess how many cultivators there are in Pingyang Commandery?
"Based on the probability that ordinary people are born with [Aperture Opener], it's less than three in a thousand."
"Could it be that Heavenly River Commandery has 18,000 cultivators?" Tang Tiandong was also shocked by this huge number.
The Tang Household currently has fewer than thirty cultivators, including the Tang Household siblings.
The entire Heavenly River Commandery, in principle, has a population of 18,000. The number of cultivators in the world is as numerous as carp crossing a river, which is not small.
Yang Musheng nodded, then waved his hand, "Pingyang Commandery, from west to east, includes Gazing Dragon Lake, Dragon Breath Valley, Dragon Scale Plateau, and Pingyang Plain."
Among the four regions, the Pingyang Plain has the highest concentration of Spiritual Qi and the largest population.
Whether a cultivator is practicing or just beginning to cultivate, what they lack is precisely resources.
In the entire Pingyang Commandery, there are fewer than four thousand cultivators who have truly embarked on the path of cultivation, and one-tenth of them are Rogue Cultivator.
The remaining 3,500 cultivators belonged to more than 300 large and small cultivation Lineage.
To be eligible to join the Azure Origin Sect, Lineage must meet two conditions:
Firstly, within their Lineage, there must be at least one Qi Refining Realm cultivator, either currently or within the past thirty years.
Secondly, there are at least twenty cultivators in their Lineage.
Of course, if there are disciples of the Azure Origin Sect in the Lineage, it can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
Therefore, less than 30% of the more than 300 Lineage, large and small, meet the criteria.
Therefore, over the past few decades, there have been approximately one hundred Lineage that have made offerings to the Azure Origin Sect.
This year, a total of 94 families worship Azure Origin Sect.
Offerings are made every three years, with at least 300 catties of sacred rice offered to the Azure Origin Sect.
As for other spiritual herbs and ores, the more the better.
"My family owns spiritual fields and spiritual mountains, as well as Qi Refinement cultivators. There are more than twenty cultivators under my jurisdiction. Can I refuse to pay tribute and not be subject to the control of the Azure Origin Sect?" Tang Tiandong curled his lips.
Yang Musheng smiled and said, "If there are disciples of the Azure Origin Sect in the Lineage, the more offerings the Lineage makes, the more resources the Lineage members will receive."
If no one in your family is a disciple of the Azure Origin Sect, and you possess spiritual fields and mountains, yet choose not to make offerings and instead want to quietly amass wealth...
Haha, you're overthinking it.
If you make offerings to the Azure Origin Sect Azure Origin Sect, the cultivation Lineage under its rule will be less likely to go too far, and generally, harmony will bring wealth.
If you don't make offerings to the Azure Origin Sect, the Lineage around you will devour your family in an instant, leaving not even scraps...
Whether one cultivates immortality or is a mortal, it doesn't matter.
The whole world belongs to the king.
"As long as people are alive, they must pay taxes."
"Hmph, to put it bluntly, the offerings given to the Azure Origin Sect are just a way of demanding protection money," Tang Tiandong sighed.
"Everyone knows the truth, and other Lineage are indeed bullying us. Those who collect protection money don't really care; we have to rely on ourselves for everything." Yang Musheng also curled her lip. "However, your Tang Household now has a Qi Refinement cultivator, which puts you in the top 100 out of the more than 300 cultivation families in Heavenly River Commandery..."
As expected, being young, eighteen-year-old Tang Tiandong offered a few more words of flattery and praise, while twelve-year-old Yang Musheng answered Tang Tiandong's questions incessantly.
Through Yang Musheng's words and the information the Tang Household had received over the years, Tang Tiandong gained a better understanding of the cultivation forces.
There are five major sects and nine branches of cultivation sects in the world.
The Five Sects are, of course, the strongest cultivation sects, namely:
The Azure Origin Sect in Jiangnan
The Star Constellation Sect on the East Coast of Jiangnan
Golden Martial Sect of the Western Desert,
The Void Breaking Sect of the Northern Cold
The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect of the Northern Wasteland.
The Azure Origin Sect, Star Constellation Sect, and Golden Martial Sect each have two to four True Person with the cultivation level of [Heavenly Gate] Realm, but none of them have a Great Power with the cultivation level of Golden Core.
Besides the True Person the [Heavenly Gate] Realm, the Void Breaking Sect and the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect also have powerful cultivators of the [Golden Core] True Lord.
In the entire Pingyang Commandery, there are more than 300 families of cultivators, the most powerful of which is naturally the Wu Household. It is rumored that the Wu Household has at least three Foundation Establishment cultivators.
In Pingyang Commandery, there is a cultivator in the Lineage who is at the Qi Refinement Realm, and whose strength ranks among the top one hundred.
If there are five or more cultivators at the Qi Refinement stage, they can be ranked in the top fifty.
If Lineage has Foundation Establishment cultivator, they can definitely rank in the top ten.
Leaving aside the Wu Household of Pingyang Plain, all the Lineage in Pingyang Commandery with Foundation Establishment cultivators are well-known and prestigious.
Three families on the southern slope of Gazing Dragon Lake: the Tong Household, with one Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator and one Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator;
The Shen Household had two Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators.
The Chu Household consists of a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator and an ancestor at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection.
The three families of Dragon Breath Valley: the Fang Household, with one Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator.
Hua Household, a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
The Yun Household, two Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators.
Two families from Dragon Scale Plateau: the Wei Household, with two Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators.
Xu Household, a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator,
Excluding the Wu Household, the entire Pingyang Commandery, with a population of over six million, has only a mere thirteen Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Of course, in the Purple Moon Marketplace at the center of Prosperous Dragon Lake, there is also a cultivator surnamed Zhong, who Foundation Establishment Early Stage and rarely shows his face.
Rumors circulate among cultivators that in the western Gazing Dragon Lake and the southern half of the eastern Gazing Dragon Lake, further south of the Liu Household's residence, two cultivators at the Foundation Establishment live in seclusion...
"Give me thirty years, and I will definitely make my Yang Household rank among the top ten cultivation Lineage in the entire Heavenly River Commandery," Yang Musheng said confidently.
Being ranked in the top ten means Yang Musheng is confident he can break through to the Foundation Establishment within thirty years?!
Could this Yang Musheng be some kind of monstrous cultivation genius?
"Absolutely, absolutely! Fellow Daoist Yang will definitely become Foundation Establishment cultivator before the age of forty." Tang Tiandong bowed respectfully, trying his best to make his expression sincere...
"Oh, what a coincidence, we've run into you again."
"I never expected to find you here today collecting your engagement gift money." A familiar, melodious female voice rang out.
Tang Tiandong felt weak all over and looked up to see a young female cultivator wearing a mask and dressed in white, accompanied by an old female cultivator.
Tang Tiandong recognized the young female cultivator wearing the mask; he'd seen her last year when he bought those three substandard dragon egg fossils at Purple Moon Market: Tong Lingling from Gazing Dragon Lake Tong Household on the southern slope of Wanglongbo...