Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 338: 181. The Changing Winds and Clouds, The Situation of the World (Part III)

The thirteen provinces of The World can be roughly divided into north and south by the Yunlan Ancient River, with eight provinces lying to the north of the river. From west to east, these provinces are Bingzhou, Youzhou, Fenzhou, Yongzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, Zhongzhou, and Jizhou.

South of the river, there are five provinces, namely Xuzhou, Qingzhou, Yangzhou, Yanzhou, and Jiaozhou.

The Ancient River originates in Youzhou, heading downstream through Bingzhou, and then from west to east, passes south of Yongzhou, north of Xuzhou, flows eastward as the boundary between Yangzhou, Jiaozhou, and Jizhou, before finally entering the vast East Sea from the territory of Jiaozhou.

Traversing six provinces and dividing The World into north and south, even without considering its role in irrigating the fields along its banks and benefiting billions of living beings, the Yunlan Ancient River, even if it were just lying there quietly, is destined not to be ordinary.

In the era of the Divine Dynasty, there was unobstructed communication throughout The World, unlike the isolation of today. The trade exchanges between several provinces along the banks, transportation, and even the Great Yu Dynasty's control over the countries beyond the Western Frontier, were all thanks to the existence of this river, and its reputation as the golden waterway was indeed well-deserved.

Even now, with the provinces of The World wary of each other, blocked and isolated, and all the Holy Lands cutting off civilian interactions, officials maintain an embargo attitude towards the Ancient River. But in reality, it still shines brightly.

Besides the ten great Holy Lands of The World, there are twenty-two celestial-level forces. Among them, three are involved in the business of water transportation: the Cao Gang, which controls the upstream and is the largest shipping syndicate on water; the Lu Family, situated at the Qing-Yang boundary that controls the midstream; and the East Sea Alliance, which controls the downstream areas from Yanzhou all the way to the sea.

Just the business of water transportation was enough to nurture the Cao Gang, Lu Family, and East Sea Alliance into three celestial-level forces, indicating its immense profits. Among these, the Cao Gang and East Sea Alliance, boasting more than a hundred warships, rank just below the Leiyin Temple among all celestial-level forces. Even the weakest, the Lu Family, is the undisputed lord over the river in its controlled midstream sections, and even the Holy Lands along the river's banks must show them some respect.

All three are powerhouse families on the water, born of the Yunlan Ancient River, and thus people of The World collectively call them the Three Heroes of Yunlan.

On land, the ten great Holy Lands have the say, but on the river, the Three Heroes of Yunlan are in charge.

This proverb, passed down by word of mouth for over a thousand years, is enough to prove the immense influence these three families wield over the entire stretch of the million-mile Yunlan Ancient River.

......

In the year 1322 of the New Yu Era, on the first day of August, night fell

Downstream within the boundaries of Xuzhou on the Yunlan Ancient River, the river surface was shrouded in darkness, and a bright lantern floated slowly from west to east, like a phantom gliding upon the water.

Only when it drew nearer could one see that the lantern rolling down the river in reality was a large ship about sixty zhang in length, its deck surrounded by hundreds of torches providing light, flickering in the wind, which gave the illusion of a floating lantern.

At the front end of the ship's deck stood a mast about fifty feet high, with a golden flag fluttering in the wind at the top. Observing the occasionally swaying light, one could barely make out that the upper half of the flag bore the large character "Lu," while the lower half depicted the symbol of three water droplets.

Below the flag, there was an old man and five young people, all dressed in white with a Three Water Pattern emblem on their backs. The only difference was in the color of the droplets; the old man's was purple, while the young people's were golden.

The old man gazed toward the east, his brow furrowed, while the five young people had various expressions. Two were following the old man's gaze across the river as if trying to see what he saw; two intermittently glanced back at the cabin, obviously distracted; only the one on the far left, with head lowered, seemed lost in thought like the old man.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the old man's furrowed brow relaxed, and he turned his head to look at the five young people behind him. Noticing the expressions of the four in front, he couldn't help but shake his head helplessly. However, catching sight of the one on the left, his eyes brightened. After musing for a moment, he gave two soft coughs to wake the five and then spoke slowly.

"How much longer until we reach Yangzhou?"

"To answer Fourth Master, there are still two hours left!"

The simultaneous response from the five people was almost in unison.

Seeing them answer so promptly, a hint of a smile appeared on the old man's face.

This was the skill of his Lu Family, far surpassing others in familiarity with the river, able even in the dark to use some special skills to determine their position and calculate the distance to their destination based on the speed of the ship.

The old man first glanced at the cabin, then turned his attention to the five people.

"You spoke with Young Master Tian of Xuzhou today, didn't you? What do you think of him?"

The five exchanged glances, and eventually, the young man on the right stepped forward, pondered for a while, and responded with a bow: "True to being a successor from a Holy Land, Young Master Tian is thoroughly familiar with the customs and cultures of the various provinces in The World. His conversation and insight far surpass ours. It's just that he was in a low mood due to the death of his teacher, otherwise, I truly would have liked to spar with him and gauge the strength of the vast Righteous Qi from Bailu Academy!"

"I feel the same way!"

"My thoughts aren't much different from big brother's."

"Young Master Tian is indeed a good person."

As the right-side young man spoke, the other three also voiced their agreement, overall sharing the leader's sentiment.

The old man's brow furrowed upon hearing their answers and he spoke in a low voice, "Spar with him? Young Master Tian is a True Scholar of the Righteous Heart Third Realm, equivalent to a Grandmaster of the Three Realms of Vital Energy. Among you five, Yuan Dong and Yuanfu, having the highest Cultivation, are but in the Second Realm Grandmaster. Do you think you can defeat him?"