Stone road.
"Independent cultivators, aristocratic families, and sects."
Pang Jian pondered as he looked at the practitioners appearing from all directions.
Through Luo Hongyan's narration a while ago and his recent conversation with Gao Yuan, he had a general understanding of the cultivation situation in the third realm.
In the third realm, the most powerful forces are naturally the five major sects: Lieyang Sect, Blood Moon, Red Mountain, Galaxy Alliance, and Yinling Temple.
Then, there are the so-called aristocratic families.
Most of the noble families in the third realm are rooted in the two continents of Qiantian and Xuanyou, building cities and controlling the mortal people.
Aristocratic families are attached to sects!
In all the major families, any children with talent for cultivation will be sent to the major sects.
In addition to recruiting disciples from aristocratic families, the elders of the sect also select suitable talents from the cities controlled by the aristocratic families.
After the disaster broke out in the lower realm, the various sects and forces in the third realm simply made arrangements in advance in many fragmented areas.
If nothing unexpected happens, the practitioners from the seven major families in the lower realm should all be arranged in the Broken Land.
—Rather than the two rich continents of Qiantian and Xuanyou.
The reason for this is that the aristocratic families in the third realm do not allow the seven major families in the fourth realm to go to the Qiantian and Xuanyou continents to compete with them for resources.
Below the sects and aristocratic families are the independent practitioners.
Practitioners who have not been recognized by the major sects and are not from aristocratic families are collectively referred to as casual practitioners.
The status of independent cultivators in the third realm is not only lower than that of the major sects, but also lower than that of cultivators from aristocratic families.
Of course, high-level masters like Cao Mang and Lei Kun, who are famous throughout the world, are a different matter.
"No wonder Yuan Fei ended up so miserably. Gao Yuan didn't feel safe at all..."
Pang Jian was lost in thought as he looked at the endless stream of participants climbing the mountain from different locations.
He soon discovered that the powerful figures occupying other peaks, such as the Lieyang Sect, the Xinghe Alliance, and the Blood Moon Sect, were not in a hurry to come to the First Peak.
He immediately guessed that the rally a few days ago would not attract those people.
After observing for a while, Pang Jian, who was about to climb the mountain, suddenly realized that Han Ting, who had greeted him, had not said a word.
Turning his head in confusion, he noticed Han Ting's eyes filled with indignation, fixed on the group of five people.
That's four men and one woman.
They seemed to be independent cultivators, who were climbing the mountain from the first level, starting from the valley beside the first peak, holding tokens.
It seems that the five people are also going to participate in the rally.
The leader had a short beard, wore a green robe, had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looked to be in his early thirties.
This man had a storage bag hanging around his waist and was talking and laughing with a petite woman beside him as he walked.
The petite woman was quite pretty, but her figure was a little skinny, far from being as hot as Han Ting.
She looked weak and frail, and when she spoke to the man in blue, she covered her mouth and chuckled softly from time to time.
The other three followed behind, talking to each other and looking around at the wandering cultivators nearby.
When I meet someone I know, I will nod and smile and say hello from a distance.
Han Ting followed the five people with a look full of indignation. Her attention was all on this group, so she was in no hurry to climb the mountain.
Pang Jian seemed to be thinking about something.
"Pang Jian, can I borrow your cave?"
Han Ting gritted her teeth.
Without waiting for Pang Jian's consent, she pushed open the stone door and entered, then locked it from the inside.
After a moment.
Han Ting, wearing a light blue dress and light makeup, stepped out of the cave. She tied her narrow waist with a belt, which made her upper body curves more exaggerated.
Her naturally long black hair was also fixed with an exquisite hairpin, fully revealing her seductive and beautiful face.
"Walk!"
She took the initiative to pull Pang Jian and went to one of the nineteen floors, a row of stone steps extending from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain.
However, this stone staircase is not the one closest to Pang Jian’s cave.
"Give me a moment."
Han Ting said in a pleading tone.
Pang Jian nodded grimly.
"Hey, Han Ting!"
"Isn't this Han Ting?"
"I heard that you embezzled Zhang Bin and his men's gains and fled to the First Peak with injuries. Didn't you know that Zhang Bin was here too?"
"… "
Han Ting, who was standing motionless on the stone steps, was seen by some familiar cultivators who were climbing the mountain on the way. People kept greeting her.
Pang Jian, who was standing by, noticed that most of the male cultivators were staring at Han Ting's hot body with lustful eyes.
Some female cultivators, behind their seemingly polite greetings, are often filled with malice.
Han Ting was calm and composed.
She was obviously used to this and didn't even bother to explain, just letting others criticize her.
until…
The five people she had been keeping a close eye on climbed the mountain along the stone steps and saw Han Ting from afar below.
Han Ting's breathing became a little unstable at this moment, and her calm state of mind was obviously disturbed.
"Sister Ting..."
The petite girl, from the bottom of the stone steps, greeted timidly and softly.
She was originally walking in front, but she couldn't help but shrink back and let the man in green with a short beard come forward.
Han Ting pursed her lips and said in a sarcastic tone, "I am seriously injured because of you, and I was the one who found the Fire Poison Palm spell for you. But I would never have thought that you would mix so many poisonous substances and use the Fire Poison Palm on me when I was unprepared!"
"Sister Ting, please stop slandering me. It's obviously you who want to monopolize all the gains, so..."
Fang Xin shook her head and explained softly.
"You know what you have done!"
Han Ting said sternly.
Climbers were climbing the stone steps, and many of them stopped because of their dispute and looked over curiously.
The many children of the noble families above were not in a hurry to climb up, and were watching the small commotion among the casual cultivators with great interest.
"That woman... has such an attractive figure!"
"Well, although her appearance is not outstanding, her figure is enough to make people drool."
"It's a pity that he is just an independent cultivator, without any sect foundation, and his background is a bit poor."
Many disciples from aristocratic families commented on it.
"Do you recognize the young man in black next to Han Ting?"
Zhang Bin stopped and said to Fang Xin behind him calmly, "I've never heard you say that she has such a casual cultivator friend."
Fang Xin sighed secretly.
She knew that Zhang Bin was still not giving up on Han Ting. Seeing that there was suddenly a man next to Han Ting, Zhang Bin didn't ask anything but asked about the man's identity first.
"I don't know him. I've never seen him before."
Fang Xin glanced at the young man in black who was a bit taller than Han Ting and also taller than most of the casual cultivators on the 19th floor.
The tall and well-built physique, the cold and tough face, and the pair of calm eyes made Fang Xin subconsciously compare him with Zhang Bin when he looked at the black-clothed young man who was only sixteen or seventeen years old.
As soon as they compared, she felt that Zhang Bin's appearance and temperament seemed inferior to the other party. Fortunately... Zhang Bin was in the late Xiantian realm and was about to break through to the Dongxuan realm.
"Nothing else is useful. Only the exquisite realm cultivation is real."
Fang Xin, who had been secretly competing with Han Ting, snorted in her heart, still acting weak and timid: "I'm a little afraid that she will climb up the ladder and seek revenge on us with the help of others."
Zhang Bin frowned.
After thinking for a moment, he continued to climb the stone steps.
Soon, he arrived in front of Han Ting. His deep eyes first wandered over Pang Jian, and then he said to Han Ting: "As for the things you took, as long as you hand over the part that belongs to us according to the agreed share, we will not embarrass you."
"I almost died, how can you say that I'm not embarrassed?"
Han Ting pulled the corner of her mouth and sneered, "Don't give me that! Zhang Bin, what are you thinking? Do you think I can't see it? You plan to take both the things and my people, right?"
Zhang Bin shook his head and said, "I'm too lazy to talk to you more."
He took the lead and walked up the stone steps.
"Haha, you want both the things and... the person. That's no problem. The fights between independent cultivators have always been so cruel and without any bottom line."
"If it were me, I would probably just ask for the person, and the things wouldn't matter."
"Let's go, there's nothing good to watch."
The young men from the noble families above didn't care about the feelings of Han Ting, Zhang Bin and others at all. After making some loud comments, they felt that there was no point and went up the mountain one after another.
Han Ting didn't move. She just stood there, looking at Fang Xin silently.
She watched Fang Xin change a stone staircase halfway, and gradually go to the top of the first peak together with three other wandering cultivators who also coveted her body.
"call!"
After taking a deep breath, Han Ting said to Pang Jian, "I'm sorry for wasting your time and making you laugh."
Pang Jian shook his head but said nothing.
"Self-cultivator..."
Through the conversations between the children of the aristocratic families, and the words and expressions of Zhang Bin and Fang Xin, he roughly knew what had happened, and also had some understanding of the situation of the independent cultivators in the third realm.
The two of them immediately climbed up the mountain along the stone steps.
On the way, Han Ting, who was not sure what she was thinking about, did not speak again, and Pang Jian, who was worried, also remained silent all the way.
When they reached the 35th floor, the two showed their tokens and arrived at the first peak of Yuanmang.
As soon as he reached the top of the mountain, Pang Jian heard a commotion and saw hundreds of people who had arrived earlier, scattered in various areas and talking.
Before he could take a closer look...
"You two understand the rules, right?"
"Remember to keep the token with you at all times so that our people can listen to your conversation. For every transaction, whether you are the buyer or the seller, you must pay one tenth of the transaction amount."
"Also, during the first three days, the internal trading floor will not be open, you can only trade outside."
"… "
A woman in white with a sweet voice was sitting in the wooden tower at the end of the stone steps, introducing herself to Pang Jian and Han Ting.
"I know the rules. This isn't my first time attending a meeting."
Han Ting said quickly.
"That's good."
The woman in white smiled and nodded.
Pang Jian then noticed that there were many wooden towers nearby, on which sat women dressed in white, explaining the rules to the participants who climbed up from below.
Many participants nodded frequently and listened very carefully, fearing that they would miss anything.
It was obvious that these people were participating in such a grand event for the first time.
On the stone steps leading to the foot of the mountain, there are more practitioners in different clothes, moving towards the top of the mountain like a colony of ants.
…
(End of this chapter)