Chapter 24: Year-End

"Tell the master, did you really not sneak a bite?"

"Look into your conscience and tell the master, is the Essence Refining extracted really only this little?"

Chen Ci and the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag stared at each other, silent for a long time.

Two fat pigs and one old ox had only yielded a little over two drops, not even three drops, of Essence Refining.

Calculated this way, a full one hundred drops of Essence Refining would require about one hundred and twenty large livestock to extract; this was no small sum, as the silver alone would likely cost over a thousand taels, not to mention the labor for extraction and the monthly transport costs to Xishan Prefecture.

It was even significantly more than the tribute paid to the main altar, Red Dragon Temple.

No wonder Fuhu Altar said that one hundred drops of Essence Refining could count as one merit, which could be exchanged for all sorts of alchemy methods and talisman books; it seemed this was to compensate for the effort expended by Outer Sect Disciples throughout Xishan Prefecture.

But living flesh and blood were not weeds that grew back endlessly; he also needed quite a bit of flesh and blood to refine the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag every day. Looking at it this way, it was fine in the short term, but as time went on, the livestock purchased would simply not be enough.

"I hope the time for this Essence Refining tribute to Fuhu Altar is not long."

Chen Ci sighed: "One can suffer anything, but one cannot suffer oneself. If flesh and blood really run out, I can only let the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag suffer."

Five Yin Evil Qi Bag:???

"Reporting to the master, because many livestock were sold before the new year, the farms below bought a large batch, so the price of meat in the county has risen sharply. A live pig has risen from eight taels to eleven, and along with it, donkeys, mules, dogs, and poultry have also risen quite a bit."

"As for the business of the Frost Sugar workshop, because the Huang Family specifically reserved the share for Changping County, there is still an income of five or six hundred taels every month."

"The day before yesterday, the Changping County magistrate sent a holiday gift of two thousand taels of silver. Currently, there are six thousand one hundred taels of surplus money in the temple's accounts. Additionally, seeds, farm tools, and livestock for the spring plowing all need to be provided by the temple."

Chen Ci waved his hand: "Very well, I trust you all to handle things. Each of you three shall take an extra two hundred taels of silver as a new year bonus. Also, distribute some rice, grain, and cloth to the tenant farmers in the farms below; they still need to work hard to manage the crops in the coming year."

"By the way, you three don't need to wait around the temple these few days; go out and have some fun."

After dismissing the three cheap Apprentices, Chen Ci wandered leisurely around Sanyin Temple. The temple, which was already somewhat desolate, was now even quieter.

It's the new year.

Chen Ci touched the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag, never expecting that the first new year after arriving in this other world would be spent with this thing.

The path of cultivation is indeed lonely.

In this body's memories, he seemed to have suffered a disaster in his youth and, after drifting through several hands, ended up with an Outer Transmission of the He Mountain Sect. Because he had two parts of aptitude for cultivation and was truly pleasing to the eye, he was lucky enough not to become material for refining a Dharma Artifact, and after joining the He Mountain Sect, he could be considered to have a foundation.

But to say there was any deep sect affection would be an exaggeration.

"Spending the new year alone is quite good, except for no one asking me how much I earn in a year, and no need to watch the 'dumpling-making'~"

Chen Ci slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and turned to go to the backyard.

He might be able to do some wanton things after he achieves success in his cultivation later, but for now, he didn't have much time to be sentimental; he had his own things to do every day.

He had to finish extracting the Essence Refining, and in ten days, he would have to start preparing to go to Xishan Prefecture to see what the situation was like at Fuhu Altar.

However, on the second day of the new year, two groups of guests came to Sanyin Temple.

First was the family of Master Liu from the county; the whole family came to the temple to burn incense and pray for blessings. Chen Ci simply received them himself for a while. The Liu family was also very tactful; after burning incense, they offered two hundred taels of incense money and then all took their leave.

"True Person Chen, is there something wrong with my hat?"

Liu Chongjing nervously adjusted his scholar's cap, thinking that this True Person Chen with great supernatural powers had seen something from this hat.

"Uh, no, it's just that I don't like green. You should change to a more elegant color next time."

Chen Ci coughed lightly and withdrew his gaze: "Remember that."

Next was the Huang Family from the county. Huang Defa not only visited in person but also offered a full fourteen catties of Abyssal Sinking Sand. It seemed he had taken advantage of the holiday to add a little more to the goods, rounding it up to a whole number to seek good fortune.

"Daoist Huang, there is no need for this; you have gone to great expense."

Chen Ci poured him a cup of hot tea and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Not to mention anything else, the wool he had sheared from the Huang Family in these three months was worth nearly two hundred taels of gold. Regardless of the Head of the Family's status as a cultivator, just for the sake of the money, it was worth him pouring a cup of tea himself.

"True Person Chen is truly a man of pure cultivation, but how can you have no one to serve you? This old man has a pair of granddaughters who have just turned eighteen. If the True Person doesn't mind taking them by your side as maids to pour tea and water, that would be excellent."

Huang Defa took a small sip of tea and happily flattered Chen Ci, but suddenly changed the subject, wanting to build a closer relationship with Chen Ci.

"This is a place of pure cultivation outside the secular world; how can I keep women here? Daoist Huang is joking."

Chen Ci had no smile on his face, took a sip of his tea, and said leisurely.

"It was this old man who was presumptuous; I have let True Person Chen laugh at me."

Huang Defa apologized with a smile and soon rose to leave.

After leaving Sanyin Temple and walking several dozen feet, Huang Defa sat in a light gray carriage, his face somewhat gloomy: "Which loose-lipped person said that He Mountain Sect disciples are uninhibited and love luxury? Drag him out and beat him to death!"

"Master, it was the Fifth Young Master."

Huang Defa: "..." Unfilial son!

His personal attendant hurriedly offered a cup of hot tea: "Master, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that I seemed to have displeased True Person Chen just now, but it shouldn't be a big problem."

Huang Defa was an old fox; he had long seen that Chen Ci was the kind of guest that businessmen loved to encounter. Although the consumption might not be huge, he was stable, caused little trouble, and could maintain a connection. Otherwise, he wouldn't have frequently shown favor to Chen Ci after latching onto the Wenxiang Sect.

"In the future, look more at what Sanyin Temple needs. It doesn't have to be too expensive; the main thing is to be attentive. The family's funds have been tight lately."

Huang Defa gave a few instructions and looked back at Sanyin Temple behind him, his gaze complex.

This is what a person of the Immortal Dao is like.

When he was young, he hadn't lacked fantasies about the longevity of the Immortal Dao, but after achieving success in martial arts, he thought about building up the family business first. By the time he came to his senses, he couldn't even break through to the Innate realm. If it weren't for his third son having some affinity for immortality and bringing him along, he probably wouldn't have been able to enter the Dao now.

But that was as far as it went; it was just being able to live another twenty or thirty years.

"The relationship with this True Person Chen must be maintained. The Huang Family's foundation is still too thin; perhaps this person can become a help to Sheng'er in the future."

Thoughts swirled in Huang Defa's mind. He had reached this age, and it was all for the sake of his children and grandchildren.

Inside Sanyin Temple, Chen Ci held a bag of Abyssal Sinking Sand and gave a disdainful smile.

Only two girls, and they want to use them to test a cadre? Who are you looking down on!

But this Huang Family was indeed extraordinary. To be able to start from a medicine-peddling doctor and establish such a large foundation in just three generations, with business influence reaching the prefecture city, was truly quite impressive.

Anyway, in his previous life, the Chen family's inheritance reached him, and he almost couldn't even find a wife. Can't compare, can't compare.

But that's all it was. Even if the Huang Family had considerable strength in the secular world, they were just dodder grass, which could only grow by attaching itself to a cultivator.

"The Head of the Family of the Huang Family is a hero in his own right within Changping County; in his youth, he must have been a magnificent figure who commanded the winds and clouds, yet at his age, he has only barely entered the Dao, his curtain falling early."

Chen Ci did a quick calculation; if it were merely about forging a Dao Foundation, he should have it in the bag, as easy as picking up a snail with three fingers.

But if he does not want to sigh over today like a dried-up bone in a grave two hundred years from now, he must smelt the Hundred Apertures before the age of fifty, and then find a way to build a Middle Grade, or Upper Grade Dao Foundation, to have any hope of reaching the Golden Core.

In other words, he must have the Qi Refining cultivation to smelt two hundred, or three hundred apertures before the age of one hundred.

"The burden is heavy and the road is long; never mind that, before I go to the Fuhu Altar in Xishan Prefecture, I will strive to open one more aperture."

Chen Ci carried the Abyssal Sinking Sand and walked into the backyard.

On the road to Longevity, no matter how much one thinks, it is not as good as taking a step forward each day.

(End of this chapter)