Preliminary Answers

Three days later, at noon.

Yao Qi arrived in Heaven Dou City, travel-worn, and immediately went to the Martial Soul Temple in the city.

When faced with His Holiness the Pope's envoy, the Platinum Bishop of the Martial Soul Temple, Sa Fan Desa, arranged a very high-level welcoming ceremony.

When Qi learned from Salas that Ling Yi had agreed to entrust the Spirit Hall with the distribution of nearly 80% of the Blue Silver Rice from the Douluo Continent, Yao Qi surprised, yet it also felt somewhat reasonable.

Yao Qi, who had dealt with Ling Yi, was deeply impressed by the young man. He was a true wise man, the kind who saw things very clearly, and definitely not a short-sighted person who put profit first.

"That kid is still so smart."

When talking about Ling Yi, Yao Qi couldn't help but show more enthusiasm, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.

Upon seeing this, Salas looked surprised, and the Platinum Bishop Sa Fan Desa also became somewhat interested.

Seeing the two looking at him, Yao Qi smiled and began to recount his experiences in Gengxin City.

Upon hearing that Ling Yi had such a relationship with the His Holiness the Pope envoy in front of him, Salas glanced at him sideways.

Along with that, Salas also thought of the Deputy Hall Master named Lu Yi in the Spirit Hall Main Hall of the capital city of the [Wood Plant City Water Wood Duchy].

So, upon closer examination, it turns out that this Ling Yi actually has quite a few friendly relations with our Spirit Hall. You could say that although he's not a member of the Spirit Hall Spirit Hall, he's practically one.

"Brother Yi, I still don't understand why you entrusted all of the Blue Silver Rice to the Spirit Hall for distribution?"

In a small courtyard in the east of Heaven Dou City, Long Yin looked at Ling Yi with a puzzled expression and asked.

Ling Yi leisurely sipped his tea. When he looked up, he saw that not only Long Yin, but also Qingqiu Xin, Zhang Mufeng, Dugu Xin, and even Ah Yin and Yang Shelly had turned their heads and were silently looking at him.

"Hehe~"

With a light laugh, Ling Yi put down his teacup, looked around, and finally looked at Long Yin, saying:

"It's not entirely handed over to the Spirit Hall. There's still the northern region of the Heaven Dou Empire, which we're relying on the Third Prince (Xue Ye) to help spread the word..."

Long Yin: "..."

Faced with Ling Yi's answer, Long Yin was speechless. Although he wasn't particularly smart, he could tell how insincere Ling Yi's words were.

Qingqiu Xin, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Mufeng, who was sitting next to Qingqiu Xin, immediately asked, "Ah Xin, do you know what Brother Yi means?"

"Hmm~"

Qingqiu Xin responded to Zhang Mufeng, but then looked at Ling Yi and asked in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Brother Yi, did you intend to entrust the spread of Blue Silver Rice to the Spirit Hall from the very beginning?"

Upon hearing this, before Ling Yi could say anything, everyone around him involuntarily widened their eyes. Then, they all turned to look at Ling Yi, waiting for his response.

Ling Yi raised his hand to refill Qingqiu Xin's empty teacup with hot water, and said unhurriedly, "Oh? Tell me, how did you figure that out?"

"Really?" *N

At this moment, many people were surprised by Ling Yi's words. Whether inside or outside the courtyard.

"Oh! I see—!"

Just then, Long Yin shouted, pulling everyone back from their daze.

Qingqiu Xin and Zhang Mufeng rolled their eyes at Long Yin Yinyi, not believing he could figure it out at all.

Dugu Xin, however, was quite obliging. He imitated Ling Yi's actions, pouring hot water into Long Yin's teacup and asking, "Brother Yin, tell me about it—"

It doesn't matter if I'm wrong, the person in question is sitting right next to me and can answer our questions anytime. Dugu Xin thought to himself.

Seeing that his younger brother was being so kind, Long Yin immediately took a sip of tea with a satisfied smile, completely unconcerned about its scalding temperature.

"Alright!" Qingqiu Xin couldn't stand his smug look and interrupted, "If you're going to say something, just say it already, don't delay us from asking Brother Yi for advice—"

"Didn't you already guess? What's the rush?" Long Yin immediately retorted.

Qingqiu Xin shrugged and said, "I just had a slight guess because Brother Yi seemed so calm. Unlike you, who's so 'wise'!"

"Snort!"

Upon hearing this, Long Yin angrily put down his teacup, ignoring Qingqiu Xin. His gaze first swept over his younger brother Dugu Xin, before turning to the leisurely-looking Ling Yi, and he said:

"I was just thinking about what Brother Yi said a few days ago when we went to the Martial Soul Temple in ' Heaven Dou City ' to collect our monthly Gold Soul Coin subsidies..."

"What Brother Yi said~" *4

Dugu Xin, Yang Shelly, and others entered a memory mode together.

"I remember you were complaining back then about why the Spirit Hall's subsidies only went up to level 40 and stopped once you reached the Soul Ancestor, right?" Qingqiu Xin recalled.

"Right." Dugu Xin also remembered and added, "Back then, Brother Yin said that we should hone our skills more when we reached level 40, at least take advantage of the Spirit Hall for another two months, and then hunt for spirit Soul Ring to break through to the Soul Ancestor..."

"I'd say he's obsessed with money!" Zhang Mufeng added, "For a mere one or two hundred Gold Soul Coin, he's willing to waste two precious months of our current golden period of cultivation..."

"No," Long Yin said, a little embarrassed, "Why are you bringing this up? I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"The important point, the important point I want to make, is what Brother Yi said back then. Why do I need the three of you to repeat those words?"

At this point, Long Yin glared fiercely at his three friends whose friendship had fallen apart, especially Dugu Xin, the little brother who had just seemed nice, but now he was quite conspicuous.

"Cough!"

With a tactical cough, Long Yin ignored his companions and turned to face Brother Yi and the two "sisters-in-law" who were smiling at them. He flashed his signature goofy grin, revealing two rows of large white teeth, and said:

"Brother Yi, I remember when I complained that the Spirit Hall was stingy, only issuing subsidies up to level 40, you told me that these subsidies from the Spirit Hall were paid for by the two great empires and then distributed by the Spirit Hall on their behalf..."

"That's right." Ling Yi nodded and said, "So, it's not that the Spirit Hall is stingy. Rather, by subsidizing One-Ring Soul Master with one Gold Soul Coin per month, Two-Ring Grand Soul Master with ten Gold Soul Coin per month, Three-Ring Soul Elder with one hundred Gold Soul Coin per month, even though there are currently less than 100,000 Soul Master registered with the Spirit Hall on the entire Douluo Continent, it's enough to bankrupt the finances of the two great empires..."

According to the statistics of the Spirit Hall, the number of registered One-Ring Soul Master or above is over 97,000.

This is the official data released to the public. As for the real data, those in the know understand.

Even if we only consider these registered Soul Master, if we increase their Gold Soul Coin by a zero for each Soul Ring they add, then Soul Ancestor would have 1,000, Soul King 10,000, Soul Emperor 100,000, Soul Saint 1 million, Soul Douluo 10 million, Titled Douluo 100 million. The entire Douluo Continent couldn't support more than a few Titled Douluo- level beings.

After all, these subsidies are paid out monthly.

Therefore, based on practical considerations, the two empires established a rule that subsidies would only be provided up to the Three-Ring Soul Elder level, in order to encourage and assist lower-level Soul Master in their cultivation so as to improve their strength as quickly as possible.

As for those who reach level 40 and above, they possess considerable power and can choose to pledge allegiance to the empire or join the army. In return, the empire will naturally provide corresponding rewards.

Of course, Soul Master also have the freedom to choose, and joining certain families can bring them considerable income.

Whether one accepts an imperial title or joins a certain Soul Master family to receive offerings, having received payment from others, one naturally has corresponding obligations to fulfill.

For example, in wars between nations or disputes between Soul Master Soul Master, the responsibility that falls on one's shoulders inevitably requires risking one's life.

Therefore, in the original work, the Soul Saint of the Shrek Academy, such as Flender, Zhao Wuji, and Shao Xin, all preferred to stay in a small village and run a mediocre academy that had nothing, rather than join any faction, because they did not want to serve anyone casually.

All I want is two words: freedom!

"Brother Yin," Dugu Xin spoke up at the right moment, steer the conversation back on track, "Weren't we discussing why Brother Yi had already decided to hand over the Blue Silver Rice to the Spirit Hall?"

"Yeah, right~" Zhang Mufeng nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry," Long Yin glanced at the two of them sideways: "We're about to talk about it——"

Then, he looked at Ling Yi and said, "Back then, I even complained that the two great empires didn't know how to behave. It was clearly their own money, yet they let the Spirit Hall distribute it. They didn't know how to win people's hearts at all..."

Upon hearing this, not only the children in the courtyard, but even some "people" began to think of something.

Long Yin continued speaking:

"Brother Yi said that the two great empires cannot and should not do this kind of subsidy distribution to all Soul Master across the entire Douluo Continent. Looking across the continent, only the Spirit Hall can do it."

"So, I was wondering if Brother Yi's Blue Silver Rice, like the Soul Master subsidies, is also being distributed through the Spirit Hall for the same reason?"

"What's the reason?" Dugu Xin blurted out.

To this, Long Yin rolled his eyes. "How would I know? I have no idea why the two great empires, even though they're paying out of their own pockets, would let the Spirit Hall do the good deed—"

After speaking, Long Yin turned his gaze to Ling Yi, looking at him expectantly, wanting to get an answer.

Not only Long Yin, but at this moment, more than ten pairs of eyes all turned to Ling Yi, waiting for him to speak.

Seeing this, Ling Yi did not disappoint them. He calmly raised his hand and held up three fingers.

"Three reasons," Ling Yi said calmly.

"First, there are the two great empires, Heaven Dou and Star Luo, as well as kingdoms like Barak, Silvers, and Haagen-Dazs, and two duchies. There are more than ten countries in the entire Douluo Continent. If these Soul Master subsidies are all distributed independently, how can we integrate the data for empires, kingdoms, and duchies with different national strengths and different distributions of Soul Master numbers?"

"Although the King of the Barak Kingdom is a brother of Emperor Xue Rong of the Heaven Dou Empire, would he really allow the people of the Heaven Dou Empire to so easily win over Soul Master within his kingdom's borders?"

"Don't forget, since the Barak Kingdom and the Silves Kingdom each occupied a province that was once part of the empire and separated from it, they naturally no longer want to return to the rule of the empire."

Indeed, as the suzerain state, you can conscript my troops to die for you, but you cannot directly run into my country to win over the hearts and minds of the people; that would be undermining the very foundation of a nation.

Having experienced the information explosion era in his previous life, Ling Yi knew very well that public opinion sometimes meant the will of the people, and the will of the people, to a certain extent, meant social stability, which could be called the foundation of the country.

Therefore, the reason why literary inquisitions exist is because of the occurrence of "turmoil".

Regardless of whether the source of this 'turmoil' is 'internal' or 'external'.

Stability is paramount. The difference lies in the approach: some wise individuals choose to address both the symptoms and the root cause, while others, the self-proclaimed "experts," choose to whitewash the situation...

Ling Yi's first point was only mentioned briefly and not explored in depth. The listeners seemed to understand something, but upon deeper reflection, it felt like looking at flowers through a fog.

"Secondly," Ling Yi continued, "the Spirit Hall, as a pure Soul Master organization, is not a political group like the two great empires, nor is it a family force bound by blood ties. In terms of purity alone, the Spirit Hall is 'cleaner' than them..."

"Leaving aside the higher-ups, let's just talk about the lower-level deacons of the Spirit Hall, like Uncle Lu Yi and Uncle Yan Bin. They might be arrogant when facing people like us from common backgrounds, but they're not haughty..."

Long Yin, Dugu Xin, and the others nodded silently. They were familiar with these two, having dealt with them quite a bit back in the Water Wood Duchy.

"In addition, the adjudicators in the Spirit Hall are renowned, and no one dares to have any crooked thoughts about the subsidies distributed to Soul Master, whether they are members of the Spirit Hall itself or other people from the outside."

"But if it were any other country or power, from top to bottom, there would always be those who reach out, and then..."

Ling Yi shook his head and didn't continue. But Long Yin, Zhang Mufeng, and the others couldn't help but think of someone.

Huang Liang, Master Huang, is a retired veteran from North Mouth River Town, known as the "Blue Silver Territory".

At the same time, he was also Ling Yi's teacher when he was a child, teaching him combat skills such as swords, spears, and clubs.

Because he was attacked by a pack of "Gray Shadow Wolf" while patrolling the outskirts of the "Frost Forest," he lost a leg and had to retire due to injury. In the end, he only received 30% of the disability compensation he received when he returned to his hometown.

"And the third one?"

In the study of the Third Prince's residence, Xue Ye sat behind her desk, looking at the personal guards who were bowing and standing before her. Her expression was inscrutable, a mixture of surprise, admiration, and anticipation.

"Your Highness," the guard bowed, his voice tinged with regret, "Just as Mr. Ling was about to continue speaking, that Soul Emperor of the Control System named Dugu Bo suddenly returned. Without a word, he dragged Mr. Ling out of the city. Fei Bai secretly followed, and I rushed back to report to Your Highness..."

Xue Ye: "..."

The Xue Ye gave me a strange, unsettling feeling, like reading a book and then suddenly it cut off at the most exciting part, leaving me hanging and frustrated—it was infuriating!

To be continued tomorrow, goodnight everyone~