Chapter 100: Mundane Affairs Settled, Offering Grain to Seek the Path

Changping County, the Jia family.

As the County Assistant of Changping County, the Jia family's presence in the county has never been high; let alone compared to the County Lieutenant Wang family, even toward the Changping County Magistrate, an outsider, the Jia family has always been respectful and never contradicted them.

But in reality, many of the fields in Changping County can be traced back to the Jia family through various connections. Although none of them are top-tier fertile fields, the sheer quantity of mixed fields and low-grade fields means they earn quite a lot of money. Furthermore, because they control positions like documentation, archives, granary management, and money and grain, the Jia family's power in the county is far greater than their official position suggests.

Just look at the day before yesterday: the County Magistrate actually wanted to levy grain to help the people and even took out a note from some True Person Chen, only to be quietly blocked by the Jia County Assistant in league with the wealthy families in the county.

A token gesture would have sufficed; besides, isn't making money sweet?

But today, several wealthy families in the county have gathered at the Jia residence, though the expressions on their faces are not very pleasant.

"You received one too?"

"Three thousand shi, exactly! Which heaven-forsaken person sent this note?"

"Disregard for the law, complete disregard for the law!"

When they woke up this morning, the heads of these wealthy families all found a note on their bedside tables with a number written on it, accompanied by a white bone mark; the implication was self-evident.

And so, not long after dawn, several of them ran to the Jia residence to discuss countermeasures. The soaring grain prices in the county have everything to do with their families.

"Alright, stop talking. Aside from that True Person, no one else in this county has this ability."

The Jia County Assistant narrowed his eyes: "The problem now is whether to hand over the grain, and how to do it. Doing things this way breaks the rules."

"Don't hand it over, I'd rather die than hand it over!"

An old man wearing light-colored cotton clothes stiffened his neck: "My An family ancestors once produced a Dao Foundation High Cultivator; I don't believe that person dares to do anything to me!"

The others couldn't help but roll their eyes. It was fine to brag on ordinary days, but that was ancient history from hundreds of years ago. Could your An family ancestor crawl out of the ground? Who knows where their ashes were scattered.

"Although there are immortals in this world, the mundane world has its own imperial system and the rules of Longhu Mountain. If we don't hand it over, then none of us will."

The Jia County Assistant stroked his goat-like beard and said leisurely: "We all have some background or in-laws, right? If we work together, we don't have to fear anyone in Changping County."

"Don't hand it over."

"Right, everyone don't hand it over, it's settled!"

The group arrived in a rush, but when they left, they seemed to have found a backbone; one by one, they looked as if they had made up their minds, their hearts no longer panicked, their breathing no longer labored.

Changping County, County Government Office.

Chen Ci sat in the main seat, glanced at the Changping County Magistrate to the side, then swept his gaze over the wealthy families sitting in the hall with lowered heads, and asked: "Has the grain in the county been collected?"

The Changping County Magistrate took out an account book and chuckled: "To let True Person Chen know, the folk customs of our Changping County are simple and honest; the grain has been collected, and this winter should be without worry."

"An family, three thousand shi of grain."

The wealthy families in the hall twitched their eyelids and looked in unison at an old man in the corner. The old man surnamed An gave a sheepish smile: "Low profile, low profile."

"Jia family, three thousand shi of grain."

"Wang family, three thousand shi of grain."

"Huang family, three thousand shi of grain."

The old man surnamed An: "?"

Good heavens, there wasn't a single family present that hadn't donated; everyone had handed over the grain in full, exactly according to the number on the note.

"Hehe, you're here too."

"Haha, what a coincidence."

Everyone exchanged greetings happily; as for whether they were cursing internally, that was not something others could predict.

"Since the grain has all been handed over, and everyone is here today, come up and affix your marks."

Chen Ci felt a bit of regret. In this Changping County, was there really no stubborn family that would jump out and slap his face?

If you all don't act a bit rebellious, how is this Master Chen supposed to complete his Essence Refining task, and how is he supposed to advance?

"Once the grain enters the official granary, if there are any shortages in the account book, the family on duty will compensate tenfold."

Chen Ci picked up his teacup and smiled: "If anyone dares to start a fire, everyone who affixed their mark today will die. I am not joking; you all had better be diligent in the future."

Once these words were spoken, the people in the hall truly changed color, especially the Jia County Assistant, whose face twitched violently.

Their Jia family was well-versed in the way of officialdom, which was to never contradict a superior to their face.

So what if they handed over the grain? There were plenty of ways to eat it back twofold in the future; the grain had to be stored in the granary, after all.

But Chen Ci's words were truly unreasonable and did not conform to the rules of officialdom.

"True Person Chen, this..."

The Jia County Assistant stroked his goat-like beard, subconsciously wanting to say something, but was interrupted by a wave of Chen Ci's hand: "Do your work well, and naturally there will be no trouble."

Glanced at by Chen Ci's cold eyes, the County Assistant's expression became unnatural, and he could not say anything else. He could only sigh inwardly; this Liang Kingdom was, after all, the immortals' Liang Kingdom.

"Mundane affairs are a distraction, but as an Outer Sect Deacon, these trivial matters are unavoidable, heh."

Chen Ci chuckled, though he had gained some other harvest, or rather, some cultivation experience.

Five Ghosts Transportation Method: Minor Achievement/91/100 (Refining three drops of Essence Refining daily allows for progress; subdue the heart-ghosts, and spiritual ghosts will naturally be born.)

Besides feeding the five ghosts with Essence Refining and practicing the secret method, Chen Ci discovered that if he let the five ghosts perform little tricks at night, such as passing through walls to deliver letters or scaring people in their dreams, it actually made his mind more in tune with the five ghosts, making them even easier to use than when they helped him fight enemies.

"Five Ghosts Transportation Method, transportation..."

Chen Ci rubbed his chin, as if he had gained some insight.

Although his Gold Finger panel had some annotations on Daoist cultivation and Dharma Artifact refining, these annotations were not as detailed as he had imagined. Sometimes, he still had to rely on himself to think and comprehend.

Just like the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag and the White Bone Heart-Lock Hammer; the text only stated the amount of flesh and bone needed for refining, but Chen Ci could clearly feel during the refining process that both the Evil Qi Bag and the Heart-Lock Hammer had a clear preference for refining materials.

The Five Yin Evil Qi Bag preferred the flesh and blood of fierce beasts.

The White Bone Heart-Lock Hammer preferred human bones. While beast bones were not impossible to use, using aged human bones made the refining speed more than a notch faster. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to refine the first layer of the Bone Great Strength Restriction in less than a hundred days. The Cripple Old Daoist from Baihua Lin had helped quite a bit with this; it was just a pity he didn't know how much longer the corpses in that mass grave would last him.

"Refining methods and refining artifacts also require going with the flow. If you don't put your heart into it, even if you put the Dao Tome in front of you and copy it mechanically, you won't be able to refine a handy Dharma Artifact."

Chen Ci understood; no one would write these things into the Dao Tome. Even the Dao Tomes for the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag and the White Bone Heart-Lock Hammer only mentioned using large amounts of flesh and bone for refining, with absolutely no mention of specific quantities or the time required.

"Someone come."

Chen Ci summoned his Apprentice, thought for a moment, and instructed: "Take five thousand jin of grain every day, set the price at fifteen wen per jin, and sell it with priority to our own tenant farmers or the poor families in the county. Each household is only allowed one jin per day. If anyone dares to resell it, break their legs and drive them out. Go."

"Wait."

Suddenly, Chen Ci called back Niu Ji, who was about to leave, and after pondering for a moment, said: "If they truly cannot scrape together the money and are going to starve, allow them to buy on credit at half price. Go on."

Sigh, Master Chen is truly kind-hearted; the He Mountain Light is well-deserved.

However, with these mundane matters settled, he also had to consider other things.

A Spirit Pill formula that is easy to get started with.

The background of that so-called Waterway Superintendent, as well as the changes in this Xishan Prefecture—what exactly is the situation?

It is one thing for the common folk at the bottom to suffer in silence, but if a minor official of an immortal sect like him, who is at the middle-to-lower level, understands nothing and sees nothing clearly, he cannot blame anyone else if he falls into a trap one day.

"On the path of cultivation, there is truly no shortage of conflicts over interests. Asking around more will make it easier to 'cross the river by feeling for Hutou Daoren' in the future."

Chen Ci thought to himself.

Xishan Prefecture, Xishan Market.

Baibao Pavilion.

"Yo, a rare guest. You haven't been here for half a year, have you?"

The hundred-flower mask on the shopkeeper's face rarely revealed a hint of enthusiasm, and his eyes scanned Chen Ci's hands and chest: "Are you here to sell something this time? I... cough, I have a friend who thinks your Health-Preserving Pill is indeed quite good and wants to purchase some more."

"I understand, 'a friend', right."

Chen Ci also smiled: "However, prices in Xishan Prefecture have risen quite sharply these days. Shopkeeper, you understand how it is with the price of these pills."

The consumption power of the miscellaneous rogue cultivators in the mountains was still a bit weak; over the past three months, Chen Ci had accumulated twenty-three bottles of Health-Preserving Pills, which should earn him a tidy sum.

"Can't afford it, it seems these pills are becoming unaffordable."

The shopkeeper's eyes rolled, his tone sighing: "In this world, alas, you should just see what you need to buy."

Chen Ci: "..." Heh, this old codger!

"Don't be in such a rush. I do have some things to buy, and there are some matters I'd like to ask you about, Shopkeeper."

Chen Ci took out a bottle of Health-Preserving Pills and placed it on the table: "Shopkeeper, if you think it's acceptable, give me an honest price. We can trade pills for goods, with the difference returned or made up. How about that?"

The shopkeeper scanned Chen Ci a few times; since it was business, they had to talk business. After pondering for a moment, he nodded and replied: "Very well."

Chen Ci toyed with the pill bottle, thought for a while, and then asked: "Shopkeeper, I saw a line of Daoist scripture in a fragmented book that read, 'Refine the apertures and exchange the blood, the essence and Qi shall not decay.' Do you know what this means?"

"One pill."

The shopkeeper held up a finger and said indifferently.

So cheap?

Chen Ci was a bit suspicious, but he still agreed: "Fine."

One Health-Preserving Pill won't lead to being swindled or suffering a loss; as long as he gets some information, it's worth it.

"Hmm, I also do not know what this line of Daoist scripture means."

The shopkeeper leisurely poured a Health-Preserving Pill from the bottle, sniffed it a few times, and only after confirming there were no issues did he satisfy himself by tucking it into his sleeve: "Also, in the future, do not casually ask others about scripture verses. If they aren't your fellow sect members or mentors, would you dare believe them if they explained it to you?"

Chen Ci: "..." You don't know, yet you still take my money!

Seeming to see Chen Ci's confusion, the shopkeeper gave a dry laugh: "In business, we talk business. The two words 'I don't know' are also worth money. At least I didn't lie to you, right?"

You really are a piece of work, old man.

Chen Ci was angry, trembling, and cold. In this world, he, an honest man, had been taught another lesson; it really couldn't get any worse.

"However..."

The shopkeeper paused, then said leisurely: "The Scripture Pavilion over at Fuyun Market can interpret scriptures for people. If that fragmented Daoist book of yours has value, you might even be able to sell it for a good sum."

(End of this chapter)