On the bustling street, Jiang Ning suddenly focused his gaze and looked straight ahead.

A procession playing gongs and drums was marching right toward them.

“Brother, what is that?” Jiang Ning asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.

Jiang Li looked over briefly, and upon recognizing a familiar symbol, he explained, “Those are likely the civilian followers of the God Worship Sect. They are heading to the City God Temple to offer sacrifices and pray for blessings.”

Jiang Ning was quite surprised. “The God Worship Sect? Aren’t they the ones targeted and hunted down by the county government? Why are they allowed to go to the temple to pray?”

Jiang Li shook his head. “I am not entirely sure either. Based on the orders from the top, it generally means we do not need to mind the ordinary followers, hunting down the core cult members is our only task.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ning secretly shook his head.

With this approach, how could they ever suppress the cult? Such a lenient attitude would only cause the God Worship Sect to spread like wildfire.

He understood the terrifying power of religious organizations all too well.

In the history of his previous life, the sheer strength of such groups had been proven countless times.

Whether it was the Yellow Turban Rebellion that swept through the late Eastern Han Dynasty or the Taiping Rebellion at the end of the Qing Dynasty, both demonstrated the fearsome power of faith.

Even in that advanced, highly civilized society with modern technology, the far West still had the world’s largest religion with countless fanatical believers.

In this world, where gods might have actually existed and supernatural powers were real, any religious cult would become far more terrifying, and its ability to unite people’s hearts and strength would multiply.

Jiang Ning did not believe for a second that the three great families and the county magistrate of Luoshui County were blind to the dangers of tolerating the God Worship Sect like this.

At this very moment, he grew even more certain of his prior judgment and the hidden implications behind Xu Yunfeng’s words.

The current situation in Luoshui County was clearly a brutal struggle between a powerful outsider and the entrenched local forces.

Meanwhile, his brother’s family and he himself had already been dragged into this conflict.

He dared not place any hope on the county magistrate’s sense of honor or loyalty, so he knew that if he wanted to escape this whirlpool, he had to find a third party.

Captain Wang, who was stationed outside Luoshui County, was that exact third party. Holding military power, he was the ultimate source of security that would allow someone to stay out of the fight safely.

Right now, if he wanted to use his influence to escape this vortex while saving his brother’s family, his only option was to rely on Wang Jin’s connection at the Canglang Martial Arts Academy.

Both shared the surname Wang and had a blood relationship.

As long as he could pass the academy’s test and become a true disciple, he would have the right to leverage that power.

“I just hope the status panel is miraculous enough,” he murmured silently to himself.

Soon, the two of them passed by the procession of cult followers and walked straight along the wide avenue toward the inner city.

Half an hour later, thanks to Jiang Li’s status as a bailiff, they passed through the wall separating the inner and outer cities without a hitch and entered the inner city of Luoshui County.

In Luoshui County, there was a stark division between the inner and outer cities. The outer city was mostly inhabited by common laborers, peddlers, and ordinary folk, where the security was quite chaotic.

The inner city was a completely different story. The fifty foot high inner city wall split the two areas into two entirely separate worlds.

Those who lived in the inner city were either wealthy or influential, meaning the public safety here far surpassed the outer city. The Canglang Martial Arts Academy was located right inside.

The moment he entered the inner city, Jiang Ning felt as if he had stepped into a brand new world.

Both sides of the interconnected roads were lined with towering, sturdy trees and beautifully arranged flower beds.

Even the air carried a faint floral fragrance, and the streets were incredibly clean and wide, enough for five carriages to drive side by side.

“To the Canglang Martial Arts Academy,” Jiang Li said, handing ten copper coins to a driver as they boarded a carriage.

“Right away, sir,” the driver nodded obsequiously.

The next moment, the carriage sped off through the inner city.

It took a full fifteen minutes before the carriage slowly came to a halt in front of a massive compound.

The Canglang Martial Arts Academy.

Looking up at those words on the grand sign and seeing the massive footprint of the property, no one could possibly doubt the strength of this academy.

Land in the inner city was practically worth its weight in gold.

One could tell how ridiculous the prices were just from the fact that Jiang Li had not been able to move his family here despite working hard for so many years.

Yet the Canglang Martial Arts Academy clearly occupied a massive area, its front wall alone spanning some fifty or sixty meters.

“Halt,” two robust men standing on either side of the main gate called out, stretching out their hands to block them as they approached.

“Please inform the master that Jiang Li has brought his younger brother as agreed,” Jiang Li said, clasping his hands in a respectful gesture.

The two men glanced at Jiang Li. Even though they saw his official bailiff uniform, their expressions remained indifferent, showing none of the fear that ordinary citizens usually had when facing the law.

After a moment, one of them turned and walked inside the academy.

A short while later, the man stepped back out with large strides.

“Master Wang says your brother may enter alone.”

Hearing this, Jiang Li nodded. “Understood.”

He then turned to Jiang Ning. “Brother, I have already paid the tuition fee in advance. Once you go in, Master Wang will teach you martial arts, but passing the test to become a true disciple of the academy is entirely up to you.”

Jiang Ning nodded. “Don’t worry, Brother. I will definitely become a true disciple of the academy.”

Their conversation reached the ears of the two gatekeepers clearly.

Hearing these words, both men showed a faint look of disdain.

However, they did not say anything out loud.

After all, they had seen this sort of thing far too many times to care.

During their time guarding the gate, they had lost count of how many ambitious young men had arrived with grand dreams of joining the Canglang Martial Arts Academy.

Before stepping inside, who wasn’t full of confidence?

Most of them were wealthy youths from the inner city, and there was no shortage of direct descendants from the major families.

After all, literature is for the poor, but martial arts are for the rich. Learning martial arts was an incredibly expensive pursuit.

Those wealthy youths had abundant resources behind them, having been nurtured with expensive medicinal herbs since childhood to develop excellent physical potential. In the world of martial arts, they naturally started far ahead of ordinary people.

Yet to this day, those who had successfully become true disciples of the Canglang Martial Arts Academy were still few and far between.

If it was that difficult for wealthy and influential youths to pass the test, it would be even harder for the young man in front of them, who clearly came from an ordinary background.

For an ordinary family, just putting together the entry fee was a massive burden.

After all, it cost one hundred taels of silver, which was enough to feed a wealthy household for three to five years.

And that was merely the registration fee. The expenses for practicing martial arts down the line would be even greater.

If nothing else, a daily intake of meat was an absolute necessity for any martial artist. Without consuming meat, a person would ruin their body sooner or later.

Because of this, they did not expect much at all from this somewhat lean young man.

“Follow me,” one of the heavily built men said to Jiang Ning.

Then, watching Jiang Ning’s figure disappear through the side door of the Canglang Martial Arts Academy, Jiang Li felt at ease and turned to leave.