CH 7

Chapter 7 – Grade

The Fiefdom of Patriarch Xu Chaoyang

In the plaza where the seats were arranged by class, the crowd gradually began to quiet down. There was a counted total of 1500 children in the open area under the Dao platform in the very center of the plaza. Among them were the children from the Xu Clan who had just come down from their seats, the children from the branch families, and of course, Jin Yu’er.

Surrounding the four great clans of the Ruyang Region were the small aristocratic families beneath them, and behind those aristocratic families were the local gentry and government officials. The ordinary citizens, who were the greatest in number, were on the outermost edge of the plaza.

Although the venue was packed to the brim, a silence fell over the crowd.

Xu Yan, one of the ministers who was in charge of this Dao Channel Measurement Ceremony, stood on the Dao platform and announced loudly, “The Patriarch has arrived.”

Many people felt a gale of spring wind rush over the tops of their heads, and before they knew it, there was a person standing on the Dao platform. It was none other than the Patriarch of the Xu Clan, Xu Chaoyang, the great expert who was at the pinnacle of the Houtian stage.

When those from the several great clans saw this, their pupils constricted and their expressions turned grave. The representative that the Guo Clan sent this time was a foreign affairs minister named Guo Renhou. He cultivated the same Martial Technique, having also reached the 6th Rank, but he had still not reached the peak of the rank.

When he saw the speed of Xu Chaoyang’s movement technique, his expression changed, and he shared a meaningful look with Bai Fanyu and Jin Qingdi. “Xu Chaoyang has already reached the peak of the Houtian stage! At this rate, I’m afraid that he will become the top expert in the Ruyang Region!”

Bai Fanyu’s expression was still fine. Although the Jin Clan had always expressed their goodwill towards the Xu Clan, and the two clans were very close with many intermarital relations, the Bai Clan still had Bai Xiuyu, who also possessed Fifth-Grade Dao Channels.

Guo Renhou had a heavy expression since the Guo Clan hadn’t produced a Xiantian martial artist in the last several hundred years. But in this one generation, Xu Chaoyang, who had Fifth-Grade Dao Channels, had appeared, followed shortly after by the Bai Clan’s Bai Xiuyu, who was also gifted with Fifth-Grade Dao Channels!

If Xu Chaoyang managed to break through into the Xiantian stage, Guo Renhou feared that the one presiding over the Ruyang Region would no longer be the Guo Clan. The Grand Chu Dynasty had conferred fiefdoms by their own edict, and this tradition was carried on across tens of thousands of years. But even though their millions and millions of li of their realm’s lands had long since been divided into the 11 provinces, there were always new, rising clans that overtook the old, weaker clans. This much was considered to be normal.

“I’d like to ask everyone to please forgive our Xu Clan for our poor hospitality today,” Xu Chaoyang said gently to the people of the great clans. These people all politely responded in turn, not daring to antagonize him.

In front of people like Xu Yan and Xu Chen, they could act normally, but once Xu Chaoyang arrived, they had to pay their utmost respects. After all, strength was the root of every clan. All of the wealth, farmland, territory, and servants that a clan possessed were merely outward appearances. Supporting all of these things from behind the scenes was just one simple truth: strength!

“As the Patriarch, I hereby declare that the Xu Clan’s Dao Channel Measurement Ceremony has officially begun.” Xu Chaoyang circulated his Martial Technique, causing his concise words to resonate throughout the whole plaza.

Once he was finished speaking, he walked to the main seat meant for the Patriarch and took a seat. Xu Xiao was next to him, in a seat whose position was beneath him. Yet when the ordinary citizens and local gentry saw this head of the entire prefecture, they didn’t have that much of a reaction. Xu Chaoyang was always in secluded meditation, and very few of the citizens under their jurisdiction saw him very rarely. On the contrary, they revered the Young Patriarch, Xu Xiao, because he was the one who actively protected the Zhenhai Prefecture with the hundreds of martial artists under his command.

The ones who cared most about this event were naturally the ordinary citizens. Whether or not their children possessed Dao Channels was a matter that could allow them to achieve a meteoric rise in class and join the ranks of the Xu Clan’s personnel.

The children were lined up neatly in a queue, and under the direction of the Zhenhai Army Troops, they began to have their Dao Channels measured. The first one in the line was a child from a peasant family, who had a simple and honest demeanor. He was led to the area below the Dao Channel Measurement Platform by a Zhenhai Army soldier, where he hesitated, at a complete loss for what to do.

Xu Yan, who was sitting beneath the platform, glanced at Xu Cheng, the vice commander of the Zhenhai Army who was currently in charge of keeping record for the ceremony, and said, “Help out those who can’t get up themselves.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Xu Cheng’s command, two armored Zhenhai Army troops lifted up that child, who was still standing there somewhat at a loss, and helped him up onto the platform.

The whole plaza waited in a hushed silence, quietly watching the stone platform. The Dao Channel Measurement Platform detected that someone had come up, triggering the power of the Martial Treasure. A faint, circular halo of white light was gradually emitted from the center. This halo was extremely eye-catching, and its blazing white light was distinctly visible even under the radiance of the bright daytime sun.

The parents of this simple and honest-looking child watched suspensefully from the back, holding onto each other’s hands tightly. All of a sudden, that halo shuddered, and it spread outwards, coalescing into two resplendent white halos!

It then ceased its shaking and stabilized.

“Liu Shicong, Ninth-Grade Dao Channels!” the armored troop in charge of the measurement declared in a loud voice.

“Dao Channels! Our Cong’er has Dao Channels!” Liu Shicong’s parents cried tears of joy. From this day on, their child would be fostered by the Xu Clan, and the child’s parents would be bestowed with generous rewards. Once they grew up, they would be able to join the staffing structure of the Xu Clan and earn a salary! They could even own servants and slaves. To them, it was truly reaching heaven with a single bound!

That simple and honest-looking child, Liu Shicong, stood there in a daze. It was only when he was carried off the platform by the soldiers that he got a hold of himself, and he ran towards his parents, brimming with emotion. He wailed, “Mom, Dad, I have Dao Channels!”

The other civilians in the area who saw this kept straight faces, but envy was hidden deep within their gazes. The people of the clans in the center of the plaza had no change in expression whatsoever, as they were completely unmoved by this scene. To the ordinary civilians, discovering your child had Ninth-Grade Dao Channels was an event that altered the family’s entire fate, but to these people from the clans, it was nothing at all.

“Xu Lu, no Dao Channels!”

One circle of white light signified no Dao Channels, while two circles of white light signified Ninth-Grade Dao Channels.

The measuring of Dao Channels continued on.

“Zhang Jingcong, no Dao Channels!”

“……”

In reality, it wasn’t that easy to find someone with Dao Channels, and the first person who went, Liu Shicong, just happened to be an exception. The next 100 children all had no Dao Channels!

Even having the most inferior Ninth-Grade Dao Channels was enough for that person, once they joined the personnel, to never have to worry about eating or drinking for the rest of their lives. It was far better than being a part of an ordinary social class.

For the parents whose children didn’t have Dao Channels, disappointed, lackluster looks were apparent in their eyes, forming a harsh juxtaposition with their expressions that were so full of hope before.

Several hours later, around 1000 children already had their Dao Channels measured. So far, there were 19 children with Ninth-Grade Dao Channels, and 1 child with Eighth-Grade Dao Channels. Those children were separated, each of them standing apart from the rest. Each of their parents could hardly conceal the glee in their eyes. This was especially the case for the parents of that one child who had Eighth-Grade Dao Channels. Their heads were raised high, backs proud and straight, and they looked extremely moved. After all, if one with Eighth-Grade Dao Channels was diligent in their cultivation, they could potentially enter the Zhenhai Army!

In the Zhenhai Army, each soldier’s strength could equate to 10 martial artists or 100 ordinary people! Not only were their salaries incredibly high, but they also received bountiful material benefits. They were bestowed a house with a courtyard, farmland, and servants!

There were about 300 people in the Zhenhai Army, and they acted as the Xu Clan’s direct bodyguards and subordinates. But on the outside, each and every one of them was viewed as a great figure that ordinary people couldn’t even hope to aspire to.

When it finally came time for the children of the branch family of the Xu Clan to begin measuring their Dao Channels, a complete silence stretched over the entire plaza. Everyone knew that at every Dao Channel Measurement Ceremony, this part was the main highlight. The probability of the commoners having Dao Channels was simply too low, since none of their parents had Dao Channels. But in the main family and branch families of the Xu Clan, almost every single parent had Dao Channels. There were exceedingly few Ninth-Grade Dao Channels, and most of them had Eighth-Grade Dao Channels. Some even had Seventh-Grade or even Sixth-Grade Dao Channels.

As a result, there were surprises almost every time, and even the children with the worst aptitudes in the Xu Clan would end up having Ninth-Grade Dao Channels at the very least.

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