Three to Five Mu Less Harvested (Part 2)

Ptooey!

As he stepped out of the Main Hall's gates, Wang Chen spat on the ground.

The set Field Rent was 2,500 jin, yet he had actually paid at least 2,600 jin.

The Spirit Planting Hall had skimmed more than a hundred jin from him!

It might not have sounded like much.

But those hundred-odd jin of Spirit Grain had all been ruthlessly pried straight from his mouth.

Without anything in return!

And with grain prices currently soaring, those hundred-odd jin of Spirit Grain were worth at least twice what they had been last year.

Wang Chen had seen through it all.

To the massive Yunyang Sect, the hundred thousand cultivators of the Outer Sect were all chives growing in a field.

Targets to be harvested at will.

In this world where great power rested in one's own hands, a single Golden Core True Person was enough to suppress tens of thousands of Bottom Layer cultivators.

That was why the sect's upper and middle ranks simply did not care whether those below lived or died.

No matter how many died, there were plenty of Rogue Cultivators in the Outer Region sharpening their heads to squeeze their way in.

Wang Chen knew he was weak and could do nothing at all.

But he no longer had the slightest sense of belonging to the Yunyang Sect.

For now, he would lie low and slowly build up his strength. Once he was capable of protecting himself in the future, he would seek out a new land.

The Mountain Sea Realm was boundless.

Wang Chen refused to believe there was nowhere that truly suited him!

With these thoughts in mind, he walked down the long street.

Suddenly, a burst of loud, heated commotion interrupted his train of thought.

Before a shop at the roadside bearing the sign "Great Hong Rice Shop," a large crowd had gathered.

Most of them were spirit farmers like Wang Chen.

"Yesterday, Chen Rice was only six Shattered Spirit. How did it rise to eight Shattered Spirit today?"

"White Corn is ten Shattered Spirit per jin? Why don't you just rob us?"

"Profiteers!"

"How can people's hearts be this rotten?"

"The grain shop up ahead has the same prices. You've all colluded to fleece us!"

"Where's the shopkeeper? Get the shopkeeper out here!"

Filled with righteous indignation, the crowd surrounded the shop clerk standing before the price board and shouted furiously, every face red with anger.

Their outrage was entirely justified.

In previous years, the city's rice merchants and grain shops had bought Spirit Grain for only two Shattered Spirit per jin.

Buying it back cost only a little more.

Now the price had risen three or fourfold. It was simply outrageous!

The other side was plainly taking advantage of this year's farmers suffering disaster, being unable to pay their Field Rent in full, or needing grain for food.

Hoarding goods and making a fortune from the crisis!

Yet faced with a crowd of cultivators at the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth levels of Qi Refining, the shop clerk, who possessed only Mortal Transformation cultivation, remained utterly unfazed. With his hands on his hips and his neck craned, he fired right back at them.

"Do you idiots understand following the market? Let me tell you, if you don't buy today, it'll go up again tomorrow!"

"If you won't buy it, plenty of people will."

"Buy it if you want. If not, get lost!"

"Profiteers? Say that again. Do you know who our boss is?"

"Ever heard of Venerable Fan of the Hundred Arts Pavilion?"

"Get lost, all of you. Don't interfere with our business."

"If you don't get lost, I'll call the patrol!"

One man taking on dozens of cultivators, the Great Hong Rice Shop's clerk spoke with utter confidence, leaving the spirit farmers so choked they had nothing to say.

His combat power was off the charts!

Though any one of those cultivators could crush that arrogant fellow with a finger.

Who would dare fight in the city?

Not to mention that behind him stood an Inner Sect venerable!

In truth, aside from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion and the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, nobody who opened a shop and did business in Yunyang City was a simple character.

They either belonged directly to a Purple Mansion cultivator's family or were dependent on one.

There were very few exceptions.

Everyone understood this. They had only surrounded the shop in protest because their blood was up in a moment of outrage.

Now that they had been shouted into calming down, reason once again took the high ground in their minds.

They could not help but shrink back.

"Pah!"

Watching the spirit plant farmers disperse dejectedly with their heads bowed, the shop clerk smugly spat on the ground.

A woman cultivator came over, leading a child by the hand.

She stopped in front of the rice shop and frowned at the price list on the wall.

"White Corn has gone up in price again."

The woman cultivator sighed, then lowered her head and said to her child, "Little Tiger, White Corn is too expensive now. How about we buy some Tribute Rice and go home so I can make you rice balls?"

"No!"

The spoiled brat of four or five shook his head like a rattle drum. "Mom, I want White Corn! Tribute Rice doesn't taste good!"

White Corn was Spirit Rice.

Tribute Rice, on the other hand, was pearl rice from the mortal world.

In truth, pearl rice did not taste bad, and it could certainly fill one's stomach.

But it contained not the slightest trace of spiritual energy, so it was very cheap.

Many Rogue Cultivators relied on Tribute Rice just to avoid starving to death in the Outer Region.

Yet if cultivators ate Tribute Rice regularly, not only would it affect their daily cultivation, it also brought the inconvenience of the cycle of the five grains.

Even children knew the benefits of Spirit Rice!

To make his case more persuasive, the spoiled brat shook free of his mother's hand and began rolling around on the ground.

"Spirit Rice! I want Spirit Rice, that's all I want! Aaaah!"

His wailing shook the heavens.

The woman cultivator was utterly embarrassed, yet she could not prevail against her own spoiled child.

So she gritted her teeth, took out Spirit Stones from her Storage Bag, and bought the overpriced White Corn.

No sooner had she left with her child than another group of spirit plant farmers came running over to check the rice prices.

Every one of them was left agape as well!

"Good news!"

Just then, a cultivator rushed over, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The Outer Sect Main Hall has just posted an announcement! They're forming ten Reclamation Camps, and all eligible disciples can join!"

"Anyone who joins will immediately be exempted from this year's tax on ten mu of farmland, or receive an equivalent allotment of Spirit Grain!"

"Places are limited—this is a rare opportunity!"

He shouted as he ran, and everyone on the long street heard him loud and clear.

The crowd erupted in an uproar!

The Main Hall had previously sent out Message Cranes to recruit reserve disciples for the three halls, and now it was actually forming ten Reclamation Camps.

A Reclamation Camp was a cultivator force tasked with expanding territory outward.

The main purposes of reclamation were to seize new hunting grounds, search for new mineral veins, and plunder resources such as spirit herbs and spiritual materials.

Because they had to face the countless demons, monsters, and Evil Spirits of the Outer Region, reclamation was extremely dangerous work.

The last time the Yunyang Sect carried out a large-scale outward reclamation was thirty years ago!

Under normal circumstances, the sect encouraged disciples to venture out, explore, and gather resources through missions.

Forming Reclamation Camps meant they were going to make a major move.

Each Reclamation Camp had three hundred cultivators. Ten camps meant three thousand cultivators.

Moreover, according to past practice, each Reclamation Camp would be led by two or three Purple Mansion cultivators.

This was madness!

Quite a few cultivators felt their hearts stir.

Rice prices were soaring now.

An exemption from the tax on ten mu of farmland, or an equivalent allotment of Spirit Grain, was already exceedingly tempting.

And the benefits offered by the Reclamation Camps were quite good as well—cultivation techniques, Pills, Talismans, Magic Tools, and more would all be supplied.

Should the reclamation succeed, the Merit Points rewards would be even more generous!

Some cultivators could no longer hold themselves back and immediately rushed to the Main Hall to find out the truth.

But Wang Chen was not among them.

He wasn't excited.

Instead, a chill rose in his heart!

After thinking it over, Wang Chen decisively turned tail and headed home.

No matter what others thought, he would join neither the Three Halls' preparatory program nor the Reclamation Camp.

The second update is here.

PS: Certain people should give it a rest. If you want to trash the book or insult people, please head out and turn left. This little shop does not serve you—one gets banned for every one I see.