Therefore, he used his lightness skill to fly towards the second floor, which was ten zhang high. Although Li Jing's lightness skill was quite ordinary, he already possessed the strength of a grandmaster. Thus, he reached the second floor by using the pillars as cover.
"Those with jade invitations sit on specially made chairs in front."
Those with gold invitations sat in the regular chairs at the back.
Those with silver invitations sat on the prayer cushions further back.
"Those without invitations, please stand at the back."
Following the waiter's instructions, the many martial arts practitioners quickly found their places. The most prominent were the nine jade chairs at the very front.
The first person to take a seat was Ning Daoqi.
Despite his advanced age, he was, after all, a veteran grandmaster and a current Celestial Realm expert. Therefore, no one was particularly surprised.
Next came Bi Xuan, Fu Cailin, Song Que, and Zhu Yuyan. These four also took their seats in turn. The overwhelming presence of the five of them immediately extinguished the lingering thoughts of the onlookers.
Are you kidding me? It's obvious that anyone sitting on this jade chair is a Celestial Realm expert. Unless they're tired of living, who would dare to cause trouble?
"Hey, tell me, who else is next? These are celestial beings! They were legendary figures before, and now five of them have appeared all at once. It looks like there are at least four more. There are just too many experts!" one person exclaimed in surprise.
"And you don't know this, do you? There weren't originally that many, but the three banished immortals brought knowledge of the immortal realm, which is why they were able to break through," someone explained.
"Then tell me, who will come in next? A Taoist priest or a Buddhist monk?"
"Well, who knows?"
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Chapter 100: My Way Surpasses All Ways, Sweeping Away All Who Disobey.
As many martial arts figures, powerful clansmen, and people from the grasslands arrived at the second floor, Lin Yang and his group waited quietly in a private room.
This quiet room was very large, more than 20 zhang long and more than 10 zhang wide, and at this moment it was densely packed with more than 100 people sitting there.
Leading the group were the three Zhang brothers, Lin Yang, Cai Yan, and Shi A—a total of six people.
On the left is a group of Taoist priests, about half of whom are from the Celestial Masters sect. The other half have joined in the last six months.
In terms of cultivation level, they are all basically grandmasters. At the same time, they are also first-order novice Daoists. Each of them has formally cultivated magical power and knows one or two simple and practical spells.
It is precisely because of these genuine magical arts that so many Taoist priests are attracted to this place. After all, if you have magical arts, how far away can immortality be?
The group on the right is rather strange. Some of them are martial arts practitioners, dressed in tight-fitting clothes, with their personal weapons placed beside them.
Some people were dressed in fine clothes, adorned with jade thumb rings, jade pendants, and sachets, exuding elegance. It was immediately obvious they were either wealthy or of noble birth; either scions of prominent families or heads of such families. Their very demeanor spoke volumes.
Others were dressed in extremely simple clothes, possessing less than two taels of silver in total. They held books in their hands, appearing to have great composure.
Among them, the martial arts practitioners are those who have been subdued in the past six months. Most of them possess extraordinary martial arts skills, and even the least skilled among them are grandmasters. There are probably several dozen of them, and they are all recent achievers.
As for those dressed in fine clothes, they were basically heads of aristocratic families. Some of them were heads of five surnames and seven families, including the Li family of Zhao County, the Cui family of Boling, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Rongyang, and the Wang family of Taiyuan.
It can be said that, apart from the Li family of Longxi, all six other families came. As for the reason why the Li family of Longxi did not come, it is very simple: they have already decided to fully commit to the Li clan.
Besides the five surnames and seven families, there are also four surnames from Shandong, namely the Cui, Lu, Li and Zheng families.
In addition, the heads of many prominent families from the Jiangnan region, such as the Langya Wang family, the Xie family, and the Gao family from the previous dynasty, all came.
Of course, everyone here is a family head, and their martial arts cultivation is at the early stage of Grandmaster level. There are twenty or thirty family heads here alone. The power they wield is even greater than that of an emperor!
As for the remaining poor people—no, I should say the simply dressed scholars—each of them had a remarkable background.
For example, the elderly man with a full head of white hair sitting at the very front looks very wise, and in fact, he really is very wise.
This old man was named Yan Zhitui, a scholar, a very proper scholar. However, his martial arts skills were not high, barely reaching the Innate Realm. Yet, at this moment, no one dared to underestimate him.
Beside him stood the great Confucian scholar Wang Tong. This man was no ordinary person either; in terms of martial arts, he was probably at the early stage of a grandmaster. Yet, he was dressed in a poor and shabby manner, holding a book in his hand, and asking Master Yan for guidance.
All around him was a group of poor people, all dressed in rags, but they were full of energy and their every move exuded boundless confidence!
Seeing this, and noticing the almost palpable scholarly aura emanating from these literati, Lin Yang smiled and said, "Not bad, really not bad. After promoting the path of cultivating scholarly aura, these family heads and scholars are truly not to be underestimated."
Upon hearing this, Cai Yan said proudly, "Indeed, just like this old man named Yan Zhitui. It can be said that he truly integrated reading into his life. That kind of person is the one who comprehends power from books and principles in the most primitive way."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang nodded. In Lin Yang's view, this Mr. Yan Zhitui could barely be considered a true scholar! He was not comparable to those fake scholars who used the guise of scholars to desperately want to become officials.
In the eyes of posterity, he was a great educator. Lin Yang believes this assessment is already quite high; throughout China's five-thousand-year history, how many educators have truly earned their place in history?
“Yes, this old gentleman is a rather pure scholar. Therefore, his current strength is the strongest among everyone. If it weren't for the limitations of this world, he would probably have reached the fourth or even fifth rank by now, right?” Lin Yang glanced at Yan Zhitui and said with some surprise.
Above his head, wisps of azure energy flickered, even more intense than Cai Yan's, which speaks volumes.
"Hehe, among the three immortalities of Confucianism are establishing merit, establishing virtue, and establishing words. But in essence, it is nothing more than understanding one's own way, putting it into practice, and then influencing others. When the three are fully accomplished, one will naturally become a sixth-order sage."
"And this old gentleman has come a very, very far in this process. After transforming into literary energy, he will naturally be able to soar to the sky. Although he cannot compare to those legendary saints who have an epiphany overnight and whose cultivation reaches the peak of the sixth rank, reaching the fourth rank or even the fifth rank after an epiphany is still no problem," Cai Yan said with a smile.
These are all her achievements. Don't think that just because she's a woman, she doesn't need wings. Her father, Cai Yan, would have been happy to have another scholar like Yan Zhitui as his personal disciple.
Besides, even if she marries Lin Yang in the future, the more powerful her family is, the better her situation will be, right?
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang smiled, and then observed more closely. He could only conclude that the heads of powerful families in this world were remarkably fast at cultivating their literary energy.
First of all, whether it was the head of the Five Surnames and Seven Families or the head of the Southern Aristocratic Families, they were basically all scholars!
Secondly, due to their status, they issue orders every day, and their every move affects the daily lives of tens of thousands of people.
From this perspective, the emperor himself was actually the one who had the most convenient way to cultivate literary energy! It's just that the emperor used this method to cultivate dragon energy, which is much more valuable, and he didn't care about literary energy.
Even so, in just six months, the strength of these family heads had all increased to the early stage of the third tier. Converted to the cultivation levels of this world, that's equivalent to the late stage of a Grandmaster. Having experienced it firsthand, the next choice became quite simple.