The book 'Power Structure of Green River Town'.
Xi Chen flipped the cover and read.
It read.
'The top of the power of Green River Town are occupied by 3 Great families. Namely Li family, Lin family, and Meng family.
The 3 Great families' patriarchs are all at Acquired Qi Realm. More specifically at Grade 5 Acquired Qi Realm.
They also have ancestors at Grade 7 or 8 Acquired Qi Realm. But they are top power house that can only be used as a last resort.'
"Acquired Qi Realm!?" Xi Chen murmurs to himself. "This must be a Realm beyond Mortal Realm."
Then he continued reading the book.
'The mid level power of the town are occupied by small or middle level martial Cultivation families.
There are about 7 of these kind of families in Green River Town.
Most of their patriarchs are all Grade 1 Acquired Qi Realm. And some of them have ancestors and some of them do not.
If they have ancestors, they are at most Grade 3 or 4 Acquired Qi Realm. But there are some exceptions.
Some which are close to being top of the power are Shi family and An family.
Both the patriarchs of this two families are at Grade 3 Acquired Qi Realm. And their ancestors are close to Grade 6 Acquired Qi Realm.
And lastly, the bottom of the power structure of the town is complicated.
Many of them are Various gangs. Some others are hunters Guild and escort agencies.
The leaders of these kind of organizations are mostly at Peak of Mortal Realm. That is at the Organ Strengthening Realm. Only about 10 percent members of the whole organization excluding the leader are martial artist. The other 90 percent are just some ordinary thugs.
The ordinary people who does not know martial arts are the lowest of the power structure.'
'So the two people I killed are likely valuable members of Iron Blade Gang.' He thought as he continued reading.
'About 30 gangs are there in Green River Town. All big and small included.
The small gangs are not that great. Only their leaders or two are martial artist. That being only at Skin Tempering Realm or Muscle Tempering Realm at most.
Some active big gangs are about 4 of them. The strongest of them is Black Axe Gang. And the weakest is Iron Blade Gang. The other two are Whale Gang and Eagle Gang.
Rumors are there that martial Cultivation Clans are supporting the gangs behind their back. The shaddy deals and dirty works of these clans are done by the gangs. So that their big names are not dragged through the muds.'
After reading through all the content, Xi Chen sighed. 'What a complicated world. The strongs stays strong, the weaks gets weaker. Fortunately I have a panel otherwise I will be just another ordinary blacksmith who knows how I will die.'
He handed back the book to the owner. Then started searching for other things on the stall.
But he could see anything that worth spending other than the power structure book.
"Do you have any books or manual that explains the realms or grades?" Xi Chen looked at the owner with a question.
Hearing the question, the owner went silent for a moment then reached his hand under the table.
Then he pulled out a scroll made of snake skin. "5 silver coins. Take it or leave it." The owner said.
The price made by the owner surprised Xi Chen. He thought the prices of such informations will be a lot higher than that. He thought such informations will be kept secret by the noble clans.
The owner seeing the expression on Xi Chen, said I a flat tone. "You might be thinking why they shared this secrets. You are wrong, the clans will never care if this thing reach other people. Because if you do not have any resources or background, you will be just another fist in the vast ocean. And if you ever try to earn resources as an ordinary person, you will be stomped to dead before you can do anything."
He also reminded Xi Chen once again. "But I am not selling this scroll to you. I am only letting you read this thing."
The owner's words brought back Xi Chen from his distraction. He handed 3 silver coins again and rolled out the scroll.
On the very above of the page, it read 'some realms and their explanations.'
'The realms of Martial Cultivation are dived in many ways and levels.
The first one is the Mortal Realm or Body Tempering Realm. Then come Acquired Qi Realm, Innate Qi Realm, and True Qi Realm.
These realms are complicated as it goes higher.'
Suddenly, the tone of writing changes.
It went. 'I, Old Gui, have reached the Innate Qi Realm in my life. Sadly, the True Qi Realm was out of my reach. I was a beggar from Green River Town, who got a chance to walked on the path of martial cultivation. I am leaving this scroll for future lucky ones from my hometown. Now I will explain the ways and I will also add my advices.
If people got the chance to become a Martial artist, without resources most of them will be only at Skin Tempering Realm. Some lucky ones will go beyond that. But, eventually they will all stop at Bone Tempering Realm.
The first reason is that without enough resources nobody can climb to a higher Realm. The human body simply can not support the energy needed for breakthrough to higher realms without any external help. Without resources, it will be just like a man trying to change the shape of the glass without softening it on fire. It will only make the glass break.
If you soften the glass using heat, you can change the shape.
The second reason is skills and techniques. Without proper skills or techniques a person can not reach a higher Realm. You need compatible skills for it. Two person of same bloodline can practice the same technique if one of them is found to be compatible with the technique.
That is why those clans passed down their techniques to future generations.
Even if you soften the glass using heat, you can not change the shape to a beautiful one without proper skills.'
Seeing the words, Xi Chen nodded with a thoughtful look.