127 Chapter 127 (1/2)

The junior members of the clan looked out of their ship, they were standing on the deck of the boat. There were other flying vessels slowly descending into the water below. The last part of the descent made the waves splash to the side which made their own ship shake. There were quite a bit of them anchored here, many unfamiliar clan insignias could be seen ones belonging to small and one to the middle-sized clans.

The Zhang Clan was still considered a middle-sized clan, Clan's like the Xing family from Moonlight city would be considered a small-sized one. Still, some of them had enough spirit stones to buy themselves a sky fairing flying vessel, this was a good occasion to show of their clan members and make some connections with the other families in the Dark Palm sect area of influence.

The country this was taking place was called the Azure Dragon Empire, the Long Clan and the Azure Emperor were the ruling factions, but there were various other powerhouses scattered around it. In this world, the density of spiritual energy determined where people would set up their settlements.

The more you traveled towards the Long Clan occupied area the denser the Qi condensation got and the easier the cultivators could progress. The Empire was divided into smaller state like areas where various powerful clans and sects ruled. Due to this, sects and clans wanted to set up their bases as near to the Long Clan area as it was possible, so those cities were always built close to the state borders. The further away from the border you got, you'd find weaker and weaker sects and clans residing there.

The so-called states didn't really have any particular names, they were just areas ruled by a powerful clan or sect. The area that the Dark Palm sect was occupying was about in the middle of the map, the land further in was the spot that was occupied by the truly strong forces, ones that even this sect wouldn't be dumb enough to offend.

But in response, the space that they occupied was deemed inferior for them, letting this sect grow in power while the powerhouses further into the empire fought with themselves, leaving sects like the Dark Palm one alone to do whatever they pleased. They wouldn't care one way or the other what happened to them, they would only react if someone tried moving onto their territory.

Thanks to this, these kinds of sects could flourish. They were deemed strong enough to not be worth the hassle of losing any troops if it came to blows, the nascent soul cultivators being a strong enough deterrent. Yet, the probability of them getting stronger was quite low as the better resources were all further into the empire, things like secret grounds were far more common there.

There was also a thin balancing act that the more powerful sects had to go through. If they suddenly ordered a large chunk of their nascent soul cultivators to attack a sect like the Dark Palm sect, another powerhouse could use this and move in on their turf. So, unless something drastic happened they wouldn't keep to themselves.

Jade Grass City was one of the spots affiliated with the sect, they had a small force stationed here and even a direct line to the main sect. Though it would be used for emergencies, for moments of a revolt or if a particular strong beast attack.

The bustling of the crowd could be heard everywhere, some people on flying swords were also buzzing about. They were all people in high places and with connections, normal cultivators were forbidden from flying on their swords above the city.

Zhang Jin was still on the ship, one of his retainers was outside handling all that paperwork and showing them the proof that they were truly from the Zhang Clan. There was a small fee you had to pay to participate, this small payment was already too much to stomach for some smaller clans.

There were about fifty junior clan members from the Zhang Clan, mostly everyone was twenty or twenty-one, and in the early stage of foundation establishment. There was no reason to take Qi condensation cultivators as they would never make it through the preliminary round of the test, failing at the first one where the all-around strength was measured.

This was actually a high number, all things considered, thanks to increasing the ranks of their cultivation techniques the Zhang Clan was seeing a new renaissance. Their younger generation was profiting the most as it was easier to change things up before you reached the foundation establishment level. Creating superior pillars was far easier than reinforcing cracked or flawed ones.

Zhang Jin knew well how things stood and that his clan would be sticking out with how much they had progressed. But he was betting on that, he wanted to show that his family was getting stronger this would make people think twice about offending them. He was well aware of the looming threat of the sect but he knew that they would do a thing unless it was related to a nascent soul level threat.

At the foundation level, they had nothing to fear, their still had only three core formation cultivators which was nothing in the eyes of their overlord. Though, if they showed up with fifty core formation experts, the Dark Palm sect would probably start playing a different tune and engage them in combat.

The accommodations were ready as the Zhang clan retainer moved back to the ship and gave the news to the grand elder, he in response clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

”Okay you rascals, stay close together, and don't get separated from the group at least till we get to our hotel, then you'll be free to explore the city.”

The youths beamed with excitement, it was very rare for them to leave the main clan city and they were mostly cultivating diligently at their homes or cultivation caves. This would be a nice chance to see the world and have some fun, they all were snapped back to reality after their grand elder spoke once more.

”But be cautious, I'm sure you are all excited but remember where we are, be courteous to the other clans and the sect, don't cause trouble for me or the clan. If you offend someone from the Dark Palm sect or a strong clan, I won't be able to do anything for you.”