Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 533 - 250, Danger!

Baiming Ferry, rather than a ferry port, could be better described as a city!

The port could accommodate giant ships with the capacity for over eight thousand people; its impressive scale was evident in the bulk freighters that stretched along the river for three to four Li from east to west. In addition to the Rakshasa Holy Sect’s ship, there were seven or eight other giant ships.

Looking beyond the channel of the bulk freighters, one could see pavilions, towers, a variety of buildings, everything that one might expect; restaurants and inns, all kinds of shops fully stocked. There was a constant flow of pedestrians, and the cries of vendors were never ending, presenting the scene of a bustling harbor.

With Hou Yuxiao’s keen vision, he recognized that the overall scale of Baiming Ferry’s architecture surely matched that of Tongling Prefectural City, and the density of its population was two to three times that of Tongling before it had faced any disasters, likely numbering three to four million people.

This was not just any ferry port; it was clearly a small city.

"To the north of the Yunlan Ancient River lay vast expanses of land, comprising eight provinces from west to east, roughly Fen, You, Fen, Yong, Yu, Liang, Zhong, Ji, and the Cangyuan Mountain of the Shenzhou, the prime mountain of the Divine Dynasty, which is situated between Yuzhou and Zhongzhou. It acted as a natural barrier between the six provinces of the Demon Path and the two provinces of the Righteous Path. It’s a pity that this natural barrier is now nonexistent under the iron hooves of Great Jin."

Hou Yuxiao was still immersed in the prosperity of the ferry port when Lu Yuanfu, who had arrived beside him at some point, spoke up and interrupted his thoughts. Thinking of the current situation in Zhongzhou, he nodded and fell silent for a short moment.

"The north truly is vast and boundless. To go from Baiming Ferry to Zhongzhou, it’s still a journey of forty thousand Li. The entire territory of Yongzhou from east to west is just over fifty thousand Li. So such a large area isn’t under Zhongzhou’s control?"

Lu Yuanfu chuckled lightly and replied, "It seems Brother Hou is not very familiar with the situation of the various provinces under The World. During the era of the Divine Dynasty, Zhongzhou was the largest continent, both in strength and territory, the greatest under The World. Great Yu originally had nine roads; other provinces had at most five, and Yongzhou, where Brother Hou is from, only had three territorial roads.

The forty thousand Li that you are traveling through were also originally part of three of Great Yu’s domains. It’s just that Great Yu, having fallen into the status of a Holy Land, no longer had the power to control such a vast territory. Hence, these three domains spanning over forty thousand Li were completely divided up by various forces."

Hou Yuxiao finally understood and asked, "So, which are the major powers currently in control of these three domains?"

"There are four forces in total. Three Earth Level powers control the three domains. They are the Divine Sword Villa of Jiuhua Dao, the Saint Heavenly Fist Sect of Wangchuan Road, and the Giant Abyss Gang of Linjiang Path. Above these three, there is one Heaven Level great family, the Chu Family, which together with the other three, formed the Jiangbei Alliance. They collectively defend the entirety of the three domains, with Chu Kuangren, the Chu Family Head, serving as the Jiangbei Alliance Hierarch."

The Jiangbei Alliance, with one Heaven Level and three Earth Level forces working together, was probably not far behind a Holy Land in terms of power. As Hou Yuxiao gazed north, he thought of the distribution of forces across the northern lands and a flicker of understanding crossed his mind.

The area and population of these three domains were not much different from Yongzhou. Such a large area, if they didn’t band together, would have likely been divided up by Ji Province and Zhongzhou long ago. Not to mention distant forces, the Lu Family alone must have had their eyes on this region for some time.

"That being so, does Baiming Ferry also belong to the Jiangbei Alliance?"

Lu Yuanfu shook his head and said with a light laugh, "That’s not the case. My Lu Family controls the middle reaches of the Gujiang, and there are seven major ferry ports like Baiming Ferry. If they all belonged to the forces on the shores, it would be bad for our business. The Chu Alliance Leader gave us some face and had already handed over Baiming Ferry and two other ports to us early on.

Of course, my Lu Family did not treat them unjustly either. Two tenths of the profits generated by the ferry ports every year are given to the Jiangbei Alliance as a gift. Over the years, both parties have had dealings with each other and the relationship has always been quite good."

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Hou Yuxiao nodded, yet he was very aware that this was not just a matter of giving a little face. Baiming Ferry was nothing like the Tongtian River bank he had known before. Those who dared to travel across the river, north to south, were either martial artists from major powers or daring wandering martial artists with superb skills. Except for the service personnel on the shore, almost all of them were martial artists with cultivation, each of them wealthy and generous spenders. The revenue they brought to the ferry port each year was certainly an astoundingly high figure.

Furthermore, this was just one ferry port. There were three ferry ports within the jurisdiction of the Jiangbei Alliance, all handed over to the Lu Family. This only indicated that the strength of the Lu Family was considerable, and even a force like the Jiangbei Alliance, not far behind a Holy Land, dared not offend them...

"Although these three roads of Jiangbei have broken away from Zhongzhou and established what is called the Jiangbei Alliance, it has not reached a state of lawlessness. Every year, the Jiangbei Alliance has to pay tribute of one tenth to Great Jin, Great Yu, and Qinjian Villa, each. The cost of breaking away from Zhongzhou is not small at all!"

Suddenly, a cold voice came through, interrupting Hou Yuxiao’s train of thought. It was Zhan Taiqing, who had just disembarked from the ship, leading more than a dozen experts from the Holy Church, now standing in front of him and Lu Yuanfu.

Upon hearing her words, Hou Yuxiao, although shocked, first bowed slightly toward her as a salute, then asked, "So, paying tribute of three tenths a year, isn’t that the levy regulation for second-rate forces? Is the Jiangbei Alliance so obedient?"

The rules for tribute payment by the powers of the various provinces in The World followed those established by the Great Yu Dynasty: third-rate powers paid four tenths, second-rate powers three tenths, first-class one tenth, and Earth Level and Heaven Level powers only half a tenth. This means that the four powers under the Jiangbei Alliance originally only had to pay half a tenth; but now, paying one tenth to each of the three, that’s a full three tenths, which was a sixfold increase.