6: Five major families

For most Xuan Practitioners, they still prefer to buy vehicles for transportation. Of course, they travel on the common roads. There's no other way; if they drive on the Xuan Practitioner roads, they could encounter accidents at any time. If they're hit by a Xuan Practitioner beast, or hit a Xuan Practitioner beast, they won't even have time to cry!

So, the vast Xuan Practitioner roads have very few people and Xuan Practitioner beasts, making them empty and clear. Meanwhile, the common roads are incredibly congested, which is frustrating, but it also highlights the esteemed status of Xuan Practitioners in this otherworld.

Fortunately, the bus travels on a dedicated lane, ensuring a good speed. So, Long Yuan smoothly arrived at the bus stop not far from the school gate. As he got off the bus, he looked up and was stunned. Before him was a sea of people, car horns blared incessantly, and in the distance, he could hear the calls of many Xuan Practitioner beasts and Xuan Practitioner birds, clearly brought by wealthy Martial Artists...

Long Yuan could now fully embody the identity of his predecessor, Zhu Deyuan. Using his lean and small Physique, he quickly weaved through the crowd, squeezing through a long stretch of people, and finally arrived at the school gate.

"Long Yuan! Here! Here!!! Here!!!" Duan Hu's voice came, waving his hand continuously.

Long Yuan had already seen their Family, so he waved back and quickly walked over to them.

"Why are you alone?!" Duan Hu's eyes widened as he asked in disbelief.

"Oh, my parents went to work..." Long Yuan replied.

"What?! Don't you know the school requires students to have a parent accompany them for the Awakening ceremony?" Duan Hu asked in surprise. His parents, standing beside him, also shook their heads, feeling that Long Yuan's parents were truly unreliable. To let their son face such an important moment alone—what if he was tested with low Aptitude or no Aptitude at all? They heard that in the past, some people, after not testing positive for Cultivation Aptitude, became so depressed they almost committed suicide...

Long Yuan realized this upon hearing it and laughed, "It's fine. They all know I have poor Physique and weak Qi, so it's impossible for me to Awaken any good talent. They already told me to work in a factory after graduation, and I completely agree with that, so there's no need for them to come."

"Ah, this..." Duan Hu was stunned, not knowing how to respond. It seemed his best friend was truly giving up, and his whole Family was giving up. What should he do?

Duan Hu's parents exchanged glances, both showing helplessness. They knew their own son; Duan Hu was also quite useless, and hoping for him to Awaken any good talent was like a fool's dream. It was just that they, as parents, were still somewhat unwilling to give up.

"Students of Fengyang No. 1 High School, quickly gather! Quickly gather!!! Parents, please go to the waiting area. The Awakening ceremony is about to begin!!!" A broadcast sounded, and the crowd quickly responded, beginning to split and move forward.

Long Yuan and Duan Hu went together to the student area of the school grounds. Today, only teenagers who had reached 16 years of age were gathered here. Students of other age groups were given a holiday to ensure the smooth progress of the Awakening ceremony.

Because everyone's age varied slightly upon enrollment, not all students from the same class would come. Some had already Awakened, while others had not yet reached the age. However, the vast majority were still of the same age, so they were generally grouped by class. Long Yuan and Duan Hu were in Elementary Class Four, and about eighty percent of the class, over forty people, had come.

The arrival of the two insignificant students didn't attract any attention. They only heard classmates discussing who was most likely to Awaken high talent, with the most frequent mentions being Qin Gui, the class heartthrob, and Luo Ying, the class beauty.

Both of them had significant backgrounds. Qin Gui was from the Qin Family of Fengyang County. His Family operated restaurants and nightclubs and held considerable influence in the entertainment and leisure industry. Therefore, Qin Gui could be said to have a natural halo. He was usually generous with money, surrounded by a group of younger followers, and naturally became the class monitor of Class Four.

Luo Ying was no less impressive. She was from the Luo Family, one of the five great Families of Fengyang County. These five great Families were the Ye Family, Luo Family, Qin Family, Wang Family, and Zhang Family. The Luo Family primarily dealt in medicinal herbs. In this Xuanwu World, in terms of wealth, the Luo Family was actually wealthier than the Qin Family. However, the Luo Family had always been low-key, and Luo Ying herself seemed to be the same. Although she was as beautiful as a flower and came from a wealthy background, she was approachable in class, without the haughtiness of a rich Young Miss. This gave her great influence among the girls and also attracted many boys' pursuit. However, she paid no attention to it, instead focusing on her studies, achieving excellent grades, and serving as the class's study committee member.

For those like them, born into wealthy, prominent Families, with guidance from Family powerhouses and incredibly abundant Cultivation resources, their Cultivation would certainly not be too bad. In fact, both of their strengths were among the best in the class, so it was not at all surprising that they could Awaken high talent.

"If you ask me, the class monitor's Awakened talent should be higher, right?"

"Nonsense, don't forget the Luo Family deals in medicinal herbs. Luo Ying grew up soaking in medicinal baths, so her talent must be higher!"

"Medicinal baths are important, but money is also important! The Qin Family controls the entertainment industry in our Fengyang County; many stars rely on them to make a living. Qin Gui must be higher!"

"You don't know, do you? Don't you see what era it is now? Those Martial Artist adults need a large amount of medicinal herbs every day. When they hunt exotic beasts outside the city, medicine is indispensable. And don't you know how expensive medicine is? Let me tell you, the Luo Family's wealth will definitely not be less than the Qin Family's; on the contrary, it might even be much more! This is what I heard from my father, and it's definitely correct!"

"Oh oh..." The students discussing in Class Four couldn't help but let out soft exclamations, somewhat enlightened.

Long Yuan, standing nearby, also nodded slightly. In this Profound Qi era, the Martial Dao was the mainstream, and the medicinal herb industry, being closely related to the Martial Dao, was definitely a massive industry. Just getting a small share of it could establish a great Family; this point was surely correct.

As for whether the Luo Family or the Qin Family was richer, Long Yuan didn't care at all, because he believed that if he activated the supreme black ring, these Families would be insignificant. And even if he didn't use it, the money Dragon Snow left him was already enough for his expenses, so there was no need to care too much about money.

Furthermore, Long Yuan believed that with the memories and abilities he brought from Earth, could he not make money in this Great Ming Empire? He would make money after integrating into this world, and he believed there would be many opportunities, and it would be best not to use that supreme black ring.

He had just thought of this point: that supreme black ring was actually a potential danger to him in the Great Ming Empire. Because currently, he was actually in an invisible state; the Imperial Family and the Prince Fus Mansion, and even the Long Family, did not know where he was or what he looked like. But if he used the supreme black ring, his information would be exposed. If the Imperial Family or Prince Fu suddenly wanted to find him, they could quickly pinpoint him through this information, and then he would be beyond his control. If a powerhouse from the Imperial Family were to discover his true identity, the consequences would be unimaginable!

According to his predecessor Zhu Deyuan's memory, at the beginning of the world's upheaval, the Great Ming Imperial Family, relying on their abundant resources and power, monopolized many Xuan Practitioner veins and materials, collected numerous martial arts Secret Manuals from various places, and suppressed and restricted civilian Martial Dao. Therefore, the Imperial Family was a step ahead in Martial Dao Cultivation, with powerhouses constantly emerging. It was precisely because of these various measures that the Great Ming Imperial Family was able to continuously suppress the civilian Martial Dao forces, maintain the Imperial Family's authority, and make the Zhu Family's Empire more stable.

According to his memory, the Great Ming Empire had a List of Famous Swords, and more than half of the top ten swordsmen on the list held Imperial Family status, truly powerful beyond compare!

However, with the full advancement of the Profound Qi era, official suppression and restrictions on the civilian population gradually weakened. Civilian Martial Dao forces continuously rose, and powerhouses were constantly born. They gradually formed a powerful force, making the Imperial Family and the government now not dare to underestimate civilian Xuan Practitioners too much. Instead, they adopted methods of drawing them in and forming alliances to divide those powerhouses, bringing them into the official camp. Additionally, they utilized their advantage of controlling official schools to select future powerhouses from students, providing them with focused training, and after graduation, granting them official positions, etc., thereby bringing most of the nation's talents into the official camp, further solidifying the Zhu Family's Empire. This is the basic situation of the Great Ming Martial Dao currently.

Why say 'most' of the talents?

That's because some talents are cultivated independently within certain civilian forces. These individuals did not follow official promotion channels but developed independently within civilian forces. After they grew up, they naturally served civilian forces and did not become official personnel.

In fact, as civilian power continuously strengthened, this trend became increasingly evident. Middle schools and academies founded by some civilian forces also held considerable appeal. To compete with government-run middle schools and academies, they were more willing to invest money in cultivating students. They also used special methods to poach elite students, bringing them to their schools to serve as role models, thus attracting even more people to join their schools.

For example, in Fengyang County, in addition to the three government-run middle schools, there are also two private middle schools, Qianlong Middle School and Fengming Middle School. Their overall rankings are not low, directly placing second and third. This means that students who couldn't get into Fengyang No. 1 High School, but whose quality was still good, were basically recruited by these two schools. The low quality of student enrollment in the other two government-run middle schools can be imagined.

"Hmph, what are Qin Gui and Luo Ying? Can they compare to Ye He and Ye Xuan, the siblings from our class?" A voice came from the side, and everyone was stunned upon hearing it!

"Ye He and Ye Xuan?"

Upon hearing this, two figures immediately appeared in Long Yuan's mind. They were from the Ye Family, the largest Family in Fengyang County. These two siblings were twins; the boy was handsome, and the girl was beautiful. In addition to their high Appearance, their strength was even more outstanding. Even before Awakening their talents, they had records of defeating strong students from higher grades. It was said that both of them had already Cultivated to Martial Apprentice Mid-stage, which was incredibly strong compared to many classmates who couldn't even touch the threshold of the Early Stage.

"Look, look, isn't that Ye He and Ye Xuan, the siblings? And next to them is their homeroom teacher, Cai Xiang!"

"The homeroom teacher personally leading the way for them, I'm so envious..."

"Of course, I could too if I had their Family conditions!"

"Wake up, you're still daydreaming..."

... ...