Chapter 238: with translation of chapter title

238. Chapter 238 Tax law loophole, summoning the ancestral Wu.

Qi fell into deep thought, calculating the crux within; a heavenly-earthly catastrophe would inevitably arise, otherwise the accumulated karma of the world would be of no benefit to heaven and earth.

The Heavenly Court is overly powerful, and Qi and Di Jun and the others will not fight and split among themselves; when a great catastrophe is issued, heaven and earth will inevitably produce an opposing protagonist.

Let him drive the transformation of heaven and earth, cleanse all strata, give the mundane beings a path to rise, and while eliminating karma, make the primordial heaven and earth lively.

And whenever this time comes, it is always the most active period for the primordial human Dao, with all kinds of heroes emerging, such as the era of ferocious beasts, the ancestral dragon, the primordial phoenix, and the beginning qilin.

Beneath them also exist the Azure Dragon, the Responding Dragon, and the peers of the primordial phoenix, serving as the midstream pillars of the primordial world at that time.

During the war of the three clans as well, Qi, Di Jun, Fuxi, Nüwa, and Taiyi the five of them, the heavenly serpent and the ancestral serpent also gained fame, as well as Shaohao and the Vermilion Bird, etc.

What Qi is currently hesitating about is that letting the Wu Clan grow unchecked is improper, yet if he intervenes, he worries that heaven and earth might produce an even more troublesome opponent.

Di Jun is considering the same at this moment, while Luo Hu is instead extremely relaxed; after bowing to everyone, he departs cheerfully.

Having received Di Jun's pardon, Hongjun cannot possibly act personally anymore; Yang Mei is far away in chaos, and if one wishes to act against him, first entering the primordial world is already a major problem.

Moreover, the karmic ties between him and Yang Mei are now few; the self-sacrificial repayments beyond the heavens have already cleared most of it.

Given his current situation, even if Yang Mei were to appear before him, at most he would only torment him a bit; at least there would be no threat to his life.

After Luo Hu departed, Fuxi immediately spoke:

"We must guard against the Wu Clan, but the scale thereof still needs to be gauged; for now they have not violated heavenly law, so neither of us should act."

Di Jun is somewhat embarrassed at this moment; heavenly law was established by him, and it is most just; as the Heavenly Court, the maker of heavenly law, ought not to take the initiative to offend.

Otherwise, later generations will surely hold grudges, and acting without cause will invite gossip, which will hinder the future governance of the Heavenly Court.

Unless it reaches the point of being unavoidable, otherwise the Heavenly Court absolutely cannot act in this way.

"Heavenly law must not be violated; this applies not only to the myriad tribes of the primordial world, but as the maker of heavenly law, the Heavenly Court must observe it even more."

Di Jun's voice was full of unquestionable authority; heavenly law must guarantee absolute authority, otherwise it would be himself destroying the foundation of his own rule with his own hands.

Qi's face was solemn, yet he did not refute Di Jun's words; in his view, heavenly law is a shackle placed on this savage beast of all beings, the Heavenly Court may lose, but it must absolutely not let this savage beast run rampant.

"On this point, I share Di Jun's view; heavenly law must not be violated, otherwise it will poison myriad generations."

"Regarding the Wu Clan, we need to pay more attention, but we must not violate heavenly law and its statutes; now every move of the Heavenly Court is watched by the primordial beings, and we absolutely cannot set a bad example for them!"

"Moreover, dealing with the Wu Clan does not necessarily require the Heavenly Court to act; since they have no opponents in the primordial world, we can simply find them a few opponents."

"The act of destroying jade together with stone is not something we can do; if the Wu Clan wishes to dominate the primordial earth, the ones who will be anxious first are not us."

A cold light flashed in Qi's eyes; after thinking it over again, he continued: 'Moreover, the Wu Clan is not a monolith; perhaps the twelve ancestral Wu were once as close as one body, but now, with each tribe's own interests intertwined, conflict is bound to arise.'

"This point can indeed be used by us; know that the Wu Clan's operational rule is to develop each tribe separately."

"If handled properly, the events of the three clans' war are not without the possibility of recurrence, and indeed we need not do anything; they will themselves generate conflict."

Speaking to this point, Fuxi seemed to have thought of something, he opened his mouth slightly, his voice transmitting outside the hall: 'I recall that within the past ten thousand years, some changes seem to have occurred in the primordial Dongxi Valley; this matter has been recorded by the Heavenly Court, and the details are being presented.'

The outside immediately had a response, an attendant replied:

"Revering the Xi Emperor's order."

Not long after, an attendant arrived holding a jade slip into the hall; Fuxi drew it to him, then the attendant slowly withdrew from the hall, leaving space for the several sovereigns.

After Fuxi examined it carefully, he passed the jade slip to Qi; after Qi examined it, he smiled and casually handed it over to Di Jun.

Di Jun looked at the content within the jade slip, pondering for a moment before speaking:

"In the grand plan to regulate the primordial world and bring it to the Heavenly Court, there should also be a place for each major clan; you and I should also have a plan for first relocating the western tribes."

As his words fell, the smiles on Qi's and Fuxi's faces deepened a bit; it seemed the three of them had arrived at the same conclusion, and only then did Di Jun likewise transmit outward: 'Gather the information on the active tribes of the primordial world in recent years, to include population changes, development trends, and the numbers of those who have cultivated to the level of Golden Immortal of the Great Luo, all of which must be marked.'

Yes.

This time, Qi, Di Jun, and Fuxi waited a while longer, and the number of people waiting inside the main hall increased considerably; they all held jade trays, each bearing three jade slips.

Each jade tray contained a general overview of a major clan of the primordial wilderness; though not detailed, it was sufficient for everyone to refer to.

And at the forefront of these was the Wu Clan, for in the current primordial wilderness, their expansion speed was the most staggering.

Moreover, the Wu Clan members hardly ever held positions in the Heavenly Court, whereas the other major clans each had a number of their people serving there.

Their posts might not be high, but this also showed their stance, and their understanding of the Heavenly Court's overall situation far surpassed that of the Wu Clan.

Placing the Wu Clan's information first was both because they are developing too rapidly now and because the various clans wish to have them act as the vanguard.

This way, no matter what, the Wu Clan will always be the first to catch the Heavenly Court's eye; if there is something good, since each clan has members serving in the Heavenly Court, their own kind will certainly not be lacking.

But if it is something bad, having the Wu Clan bear the brunt gives them time to react and respond.

For the major clans of the primordial wilderness, this method is the most basic and introductory measure, already applied since the era of the Three Clans, with remarkable results.

But the Wu Clan is still too young, and in their development they have encountered no setbacks, so they naturally would not think of these.

Precisely for this reason, the Wu Clan is called 'barbarians' by many major clans, which is opposite to their reputation among the minor clans of the primordial wilderness.

Having dismissed the crowd, he let the Hall of Divine Sovereignty become empty once more; Qi looked at the jade slips containing the Wu Clan's information and could not help but exclaim:

In just a few dozen yuanhui, the Wu Clan has developed to this extent, and among them, those comparable to Great Luo Golden Immortals actually number over a hundred!

Moreover, aside from the Twelve Ancestor Witches, those who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Luo Tianzun actually number about ten, no wonder Luo Hou says that in the future they will be a great enemy of the Heavenly Court!

Qi was examining the jade slips of the Wu Clan that were comparable to the Great Luo Dao fruit, and naturally he was shocked.

Di Jun was looking at the Wu Clan's population development; hearing Qi's words, he seemed to have a sudden realization and said:

"No wonder it has taken so long; their numbers are only just reaching a hundred million. With such innate talent, it's no wonder their population growth is slow."

"I still had some doubts back then, wondering if the people below had made a statistical error; but now, seeing that the Wu Clan has so many people, it is truly a heaven‑gifted talent." "Observing how swiftly their cultivation advances, to achieve such growth is already to be called heaven‑favored."

Fuxi's face grew solemn; he was examining the Wu Clan's development history and trend, feeling greatly surprised by their expansion speed, and said: "This clan must not be underestimated; although the time from its birth to now is not long, its power now already occupies one‑tenth of the Eastern Continent."

"If we let their expansion continue unchecked, they will surely become a scourge to my Heavenly Court, and moreover their appetite is enormous; according to the Heavenly Court's tax law, occupying so much land they would basically pay nothing."

"Take a look at this spot: compared to before the Wu Clan occupied this spiritual land and after, the Heavenly Court's gain has been reduced by eighty‑nine percent."

"If this continues long‑term, relying solely on their expansion, the impact on the Heavenly Court's annual revenue would be enormous."

Upon hearing this, Qi and Di Jun's faces immediately darkened; Di Jun further said: "The taxes the Heavenly Court collects are taken from the surplus of each clan after their yearly gains; even if there are changes, they should not become this huge."

"I fear this is not merely because of the Wu Clan's appetite, is it?"

Fuxi gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and said: "According to the Thunder Department's words, they also investigated before, and found it to be true, with no hidden omission of payment."

According to their investigation, the Wu Clan's tax payment is so small; the reason is that most of the Wu Clan does not engage in production, living mainly by fishing and hunting.

The spiritual lands they produce are mostly left fallow in the hands of the Wu Clan, or cannot be reasonably utilized; the naturally produced spiritual objects are also few, basically only enough to meet their natural consumption.

Qi instantly felt a surge of anger, gritted his teeth, and said:

Such behavior is truly a disaster! The Heavenly Court's tax law apparently still needs reform; from now on, it would be better to estimate according to the spiritual energy of a region and pay the corresponding spiritual objects!

Otherwise, if we let them leave it fallow, it will only waste the predecessors' efforts! Let the predecessors' struggles turn into flowing water; it only takes a few yuanhui, and unmanaged spiritual lands will only come to nothing!

Di Jun also furrowed his brows, pondering Qi's words, but ultimately still refused, saying:

This cannot be done; it would give too much room for manipulation by the great clans. After all, what spiritual objects are to be paid? How to judge the standard of spiritual lands? It is still too subjective.

Qi also knew his earlier words were full of loopholes, but regarding those Wu who do not engage in production, if not this way, he had no alternative, at least for the short term.

Fuxi thought it over, but also had no better solution; after all, it would be impossible to set up a special law just for the Wu Clan, which would be unfair.

You and I should still arrange a meeting with the Twelve Ancestor Witches; this matter must be settled, otherwise don't blame the Heavenly Court for intervening.

When Fuxi first spoke, his tone carried a hint of helplessness, but as the content shifted, it became filled with iron-blooded and absolute resolve.

This opening of the Wu Clan must absolutely not be opened; otherwise, if a trend of imitation arises in the primordial wilderness, producing only enough spiritual objects for use, the Heavenly Court's tax law would become nothing but a scrap of paper.

Qi thought it over, then spoke up to add:

A meeting with the Twelve Ancestor Witches is acceptable, but the tax law must also be supplemented and revised; the current tax law's loopholes are still too great.

This concerns the Heavenly Court's future development revenue; we must nip this in the bud at its source!

Di Jun also quite agreed, and issued the order outwardly:

Summon the Eight Department Senior Gods to come to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall to discuss matters; at the same time, issue orders to the Primeval Wu Clan, commanding the Twelve Ancestor Witches to come for an audience.

Received the order.

Kunpeng and Bai Ze, upon receiving Di Jun's summons, were still somewhat surprised, not knowing what had happened.

But they still first summoned their trusted aides, informing them to halt their minor maneuvers; all matters would be decided after they return, depending on the situation.

After arranging the general matters, they then crossed the interval of the Ninefold Heavens, passing through the formation to reach the Gods' Heaven.

At that moment on Mount Buzhou, a streak of escaping light also departed from the Heavenly Realm, heading toward the Wu Clan tribe below.

In the Pangu Hall, twelve bell tones lightly resonated, interrupting the Twelve Ancestor Witches who were discussing, causing their brows to slightly furrow.

They all speculated what it could be, actually letting the clan members transmit messages via witchcraft, and all twelve tribes did so.

Zhu Jiuyin's face alternated between overcast and clear as he said:

Elder brother, do you think the Pangu Hall has been exposed? Otherwise, why would every tribe send news at this crucial moment?

Moreover, looking at this situation, it is probably not a minor matter; contacting us all twelve at once likely is the first time since the Wu Clan's inception.

Di Jiang gazed at the blood pool before him, his eyes full of solemnity; although he wanted to create another batch of the Wu Clan, now is indeed not a good time.

Although helpless, he could only say: "Everyone, brothers and sisters, now that everyone has matters to attend to, the matter of recreating the clan needs to be set aside for now."

However, everyone had previously discussed this at length; whether another batch of clan members is needed, everyone should already have considered it, so let's vote now.

After each tribe's affairs are settled, we will then decide whether to use the blood pool again, and when to use it.

Saying this, Di Jiang looked at everyone and said: "I agree."

Oppose.

……

The final result was seven in favor, five against; the minority followed the majority, deciding that after this matter, they would recreate the clan.

The Twelve Ancestor Witches had just stepped out of the hall when they saw, above the Mount Buzhou Wu Clan tribe's sky, a white-armored divine general seated upon the clouds.

The one who came to deliver the message was none other than the Thunder Department General Shezhe; seeing the Twelve Ancestor Witches appear together, he felt a bit strange but paid no mind, merely saying:

The Heavenly Emperor has issued an order: command the Twelve Ancestor Witches to swiftly go to the Gods' Heaven, to meet the Heavenly Emperor in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall to discuss major matters.

He then turned to Di Jiang and said: "Everyone, the Heavenly Court's order has already been conveyed; please do not delay, hurry forward, His Majesty is still waiting."

Di Jiang and the remaining eleven Ancestor Witches were somewhat dissatisfied with Shezhe's attitude, but given the Heavenly Court's overwhelming power, they could only endure.

Di Jiang even forced out a faint smile and said:

Since the Heavenly Emperor summons us, we naturally ought to comply; we just don't know what it is that actually attracted the attention of several Majesties.

The divine general is an elite of the Heavenly Court; could you perhaps inform us of one or two things? That way we can prepare, lest we offend the Heavenly Emperor when the time comes. (End of chapter)