Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 1853 - 1116: Immortal City Structure

"Inner City? You know things about the Inner City?" Yang Zhenshan looked at the little servant in some surprise.

"Heh heh, I’ve just picked up a few things here and there, don’t know if they’re true or not!" the servant chuckled.

Yang Zhenshan gave a soft laugh and said casually, "Tell me about the Outer City then."

Word of mouth could never compare to what he knew himself.

Although this was his first time coming to Wanbao Immortal City, that didn’t mean he knew nothing about it. In fact, he knew quite a bit about the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect—don’t forget he had two friends from there, Zhongli Yue and Zhongli Xiayi.

Both of them had mentioned the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect to him before, and had revealed a lot of information about it.

So he was quite familiar with the internal situation of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect.

By contrast, he actually knew very little about the Outer City of Wanbao Immortal City; he only knew there were five Immortal Clans in the Outer City, and that all five had deep ties with the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect.

"True Man, have you ever heard this saying?"

"What saying?"

"In East City the Sun family refines Immortal Pills, in South City the Bai family forges Spiritual Artifacts, in West City the Liu family welcomes guests at their doors, in North City the Qin family guards the Eight Passes, and in Central City the Zheng family’s road leads to the heavens."

"What does that mean?"

"Just what it says. The Sun family is skilled in Alchemy, the Bai family is skilled in Artifact Refining, the Liu family widely befriends heroes from all under heaven, and the Qin Family commands the City Guard Army and holds the Eight Passes—that is, the eight city gates of the Immortal City!"

"As for the Zheng Family’s road leading to the heavens, it’s said the Zheng Family’s Ancestor is an honored guest of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect!"

The servant lowered his voice, looking all mysterious.

Yang Zhenshan, however, found it amusing. Five Immortal Clans, five Golden Core Cultivators, all of them honored guests of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect. You couldn’t say their status was extremely lofty, but you could be sure their standing in the Sect was not low, and their ties with the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect were very close.

So this saying that only the Central City Zheng Family’s road leads to the heavens wasn’t quite accurate; perhaps the Zheng family and the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect had some further relationship unknown to others.

As for the rest, there wasn’t anything particularly special about it.

The Sun family being good at Alchemy, the Bai family being good at Artifact Refining—this was perfectly normal. Any Immortal Clan would have a few areas in which it excelled.

The Liu Family widely befriending heroes from all under heaven should be tied to personal temperament; perhaps the Liu Family’s Golden Core Ancestor was simply a bold and forthright type who liked to accumulate Shan Yuan.

The Qin Family, though, was a bit interesting. The Qin Family actually commanded the Outer City’s City Guard Army. When he entered the city just now, he had seen Cultivators patrolling atop the city walls, many of them Foundation Establishment Cultivators, while the common soldiers were all Golden Body Realm Martial Artists.

And the City Guard Army was quite numerous—he estimated there were tens of thousands of them.

Since the Qin Family could command the Outer City’s City Guard Army, it was enough to show how much the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect trusted them.

"Aside from these five Immortal Clans, are there other powers in the Outer City?" Yang Zhenshan asked further.

"Uh, there are lots of forces in the Outer City. You could talk for three days and three nights and still not finish. Take our South City for example—inside the city there are over a hundred Immortal Cultivator clans, and many Sects, merchant guilds, and so on."

"Heh heh, take our Immortal Fate Inn. Our master is one of the clans, the Yuan Family. More than twenty people from the Yuan Family have joined the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect. Some serve in Ten Thousand Treasures Stores in other regions, some hold posts inside the Immortal City, and others hold posts within the Sect itself. That’s why our master can open an inn at such a prime location!"

The servant quite unprincipledly sold out his own master, though this sort of information wasn’t important at all—go out and ask around a bit and you could find it out easily.

He probably felt this didn’t count as important information, so he told Yang Zhenshan without the slightest reservation.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly and didn’t think much of it.

Wanbao Immortal City was the base of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect; the myriad powers within the Immortal City, large and small, would all have some degree of relationship with the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect.

Not only Wanbao Immortal City—throughout the entire Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters, many powers could be linked to the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect.

Don’t underestimate these ties; they were precisely the foundation of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect’s rule over the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters.

One could even say that the vast majority of Immortal Cultivator powers in the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters were vassals of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect. Not only did they have to provide low-level resources to the Sect, they also formed a protective barrier for it, blocking incursions from other powers.

If you regarded the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters as a Dynasty, then the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect would be the imperial court; the five Immortal Clans would be equivalent to the Six Ministries, helping the Sect handle all sorts of mundane affairs. The Immortal Cultivator clans within Wanbao City would be like the individual government offices, jointly clustering around the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect, this imperial court, while the great clans and powerful families of the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters would be like the county government offices of various regions, governing the localities for the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect and providing tax revenue.

Though these great clans and powerful families didn’t have to pay direct tribute, the Ten Thousand Treasures Store’s commercial plundering was far more ruthless than simple taxation.

Put simply, the whole Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters was serving the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect.

After that, Yang Zhenshan asked many more questions, and the servant answered them one by one.

Though this servant’s status was low, he knew quite a lot. Even if most of what he knew was hearsay, he still provided Yang Zhenshan with plenty of information, giving him a much clearer understanding of the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect, Wanbao Immortal City, and the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters.

In the end, when Yang Zhenshan felt he had heard enough, he rewarded the servant with another Spirit Stone and then dismissed him.

Over the next few days, Yang Zhenshan wandered around the city every day—after strolling through South City he went to West City, after West City he toured East City, then North City, and finally he passed through the second ring of city walls and took a turn through Immortal Clan Square.

In truth, Immortal Clan Square housed not only the five Immortal Clans, but also many Immortal Cultivator clans, and these clans were likewise core powers of Wanbao Immortal City.