Another Encounter

When he heard that, Han Qinhu's mood also calmed.

It was just that, toward Shen Changchuan's reaction, he felt more or less surprised.

Originally, when Shen Changchuan had refused just now, he had thought Shen Changchuan would stubbornly insist on having his own way, pressing on even if he knew he was wrong.

Right or wrong be damned, he had thought Shen Changchuan would force through compensation of ten catties of Spirit Grain to the family behind every person who died in the line of duty.

After all, youths were full of hot blood and pride.

Very few young people would realize they were wrong, or rather, even if they knew they were wrong, they would grit their teeth and keep going, refusing to turn back until they slammed into the southern wall, not changing course so easily.

Or perhaps they would feel they had been made a fool of, be enraged by it, and ultimately vent that anger on others.

It was precisely because of this

that during the ambush against the Crocodile Demon, Han Qinhu had already noticed that the number of deaths was off, but he had many concerns and had not spoken up in time to remind him.

Only this time, during the ambush against the Gale Falcon, the people below had gone too far, causing the funeral-settlement expenses to rise sharply and the losses to become too great. Han Qinhu had no choice but to lay this problem bare before Shen Changchuan.

It was just that this result was completely beyond his expectations.

None of the reactions he had originally imagined happened.

Shen Changchuan had neither forced himself on because of his own pride, bearing the mistake and continuing down the wrong path, nor had he flown into a rage because the people below had fooled him.

His expression had remained very calm the whole time.

It could be seen that he had seriously reflected for a moment, and had truly, genuinely absorbed this lesson.

"With such a temperament, my grandson Changchuan truly has the bearing of one destined to become an immortal!"

On Han Qinhu's somewhat aged face, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a trace of gratified smile.

Thinking back to when Shen Changchuan had come here half a year ago to take up his post, his reforms of Dawan Village had proceeded step by step, steady and sure, neither arrogant nor impatient.

When facing attacks from Demon Beasts, he had also remained unhurried, acting only after planning, and in the end had successfully slain the attacking Demon Beasts.

Each and every one of these matters

had been handled with great steadiness.

With such a temperament, how could he possibly fail in the future?

His Han Clan

had made the right bet!

"Very well, I'll go over and announce this to them now."

Han Qinhu slightly gathered away the thoughts in his heart, bid farewell to Shen Changchuan, and withdrew.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, news also arrived regarding Zhao Family Village's harvesting of Spirit Grain.

Everything had gone very smoothly.

The Spirit Grain from those two mu of Spirit Field had all been harvested intact.

Perhaps because there were relatively few Spirit Fields over there, during the harvest, no other Demon Beasts had been attracted to attack.

However, because Third Brother of the Four Evils of He Mountain had slaughtered Zhao Family Village back then and set fires everywhere, part of the Spirit Grain in the Spirit Fields had been damaged.

Thus, the final amount of Spirit Grain harvested was only 178 catties.

But this number did not fall outside Shen Changchuan's expectations.

Those two mu of Spirit Field had been damaged, and he knew that very clearly.

Back then, he had already estimated that the yield of Zhao Family Village's two mu of Spirit Field would certainly decrease by harvest time.

He had long since been mentally prepared.

"It doesn't matter. When spring plowing comes next year, we'll promote the improved planting methods from this side over there as well, and naturally we'll be able to obtain a greater harvest."

The news of the harvest from Zhao Family Village also made Shen Changchuan's mood ease somewhat.

In his mind, he had already planned out the arrangements for spring plowing next year for Zhao Family Village's two mu of Spirit Field.

And at that very moment, Inside Dawan Village, Han Qinhu also announced the news he had discussed with Shen Changchuan last night: the compensation standard for those who died in public service would be lowered.

The standard was cut by a full tenfold in one go.

That degree of reduction could only be called exaggerated!

However, it did not stir up much of a reaction among the many villagers.

The villagers' reactions varied.

Some looked meaningfully toward the families of those who had died.

Others went deathly pale, no one knew what they were thinking of.

Still others showed looks of extreme regret, as if they had brushed past a tremendous good fortune.

But no matter what their reactions were, Everyone actually understood very clearly in their hearts.

Ten jin of Spirit Grain as compensation to settle a family was, in truth, far too generous.

There was no way it could last for long.

Therefore, toward the decision from Shen Changchuan that Han Qinhu conveyed, They had already been mentally prepared.

Not only did the others not feel it was harsh; instead, they felt that Shen Changchuan, this newly arrived immortal master, was an extremely decent man.

Because although the compensation had been lowered, Those who had died before this were mostly the old, weak, sick, and disabled who had deliberately thrown their lives away for the compensation to settle their families, yet the immortal master not only did not investigate it, He had instead acknowledged them all, And paid the compensation in full according to ten jin of Spirit Grain.

This kind of handling was already more than acceptable.

If it had been some other, stingier immortal master, they probably would not have given a single bit. They might even, because they had been fooled by mortals, kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, slaughtering every family member and friend behind those fellows who had taken the initiative to seek death for the family settlement fee as punishment!

This was no exaggeration.

Before cultivators, mortals were nothing more than slaves who could be crushed to death at will.

Since Shen Changchuan was this generous, From top to bottom, all of Dawan Village naturally would not, and did not dare to, push their luck and be greedy without end.

However, they did not have much attention to spare for this either, Because as all the Spirit Grain was harvested and brought into storage, Shen Changchuan also had Han Qinhu begin issuing the rewards he had promised at the very start.

Compared to the adjustment in compensation, This drew even more eyes from everyone!

First were Teams Eleven and Twelve.

The increased yields were 36 jin and 48 jin respectively.

According to the original agreement, thirty percent would be taken from each of these two amounts and distributed to the members of these two teams as rewards.

After that were Teams One through Ten.

As a reward for each mu of the ten mu of Spirit Fields they managed increasing its yield by an average of 10 jin, Each team was likewise rewarded with thirty percent of the increased yield, which meant each team received three jin.

However, because splitting three jin of Spirit Grain among nearly two hundred people was truly far too insignificant, They followed what Shen Changchuan had said from the beginning, Mixing the spirit rice into refined rice and boiling it into a great pot of Spirit Rice Porridge, Then distributing it in the form of a grand feast, one bowl per person.

But clearly, No one cared about whether it was a feast or not.

After receiving their Spirit Rice Porridge, they each quickly returned to their own homes, either to eat it themselves or to leave it for their children, giving them a greater chance of awakening, successfully inducing qi, and stepping onto the path of cultivation.

Thus, after the Spirit Rice Porridge had been distributed, The whole of Dawan Village was nearly emptied out.

Everyone stayed inside their own homes and began cultivating with all their might.

They strove for that sliver of possibility of stepping onto the path of cultivation.

Dawan Village subsequently became somewhat quiet.

As for that, Shen Changchuan did not interfere.

Right now, he was sorely lacking cultivators under him.

If anyone could successfully achieve Qi Induction, that would be a good thing as well. With a few more measures of strength added, Shen Changchuan would no longer have to worry about the defenses over at Zhao Family Village.

It was just that, as someone who had been through it himself, he knew very clearly that relying on one or two bowls of Spirit Rice Porridge to awaken one's spirit and successfully induce qi was basically impossible.

But if they succeeded, he would not lose out either.

Shen Changchuan did not pay much attention to this.

With an ample supply of Spirit Rice resources, he also shifted his gaze to the two spells on the panel that had yet to reach perfection.

Of those two unfinished spells, one was the Water Dragon Technique, and the other was Azure Wood Sword Light.

Among them, Azure Wood Sword Light was an incomplete spell art that he had cultivated for a long time, yet it had remained stuck at 1% progress without budging an inch.

This left Shen Changchuan somewhat troubled, and he wanted to find a solution.

However, before Shen Changchuan could find a way, he had no choice but to end his seclusion.

Because, the Shen Clan's Transport Commissioner had sent people to collect the Spirit Grain that was to be handed over.

And what surprised Shen Changchuan was that

he actually knew the person this Shen Clan Transport Commissioner had sent.

It was none other than the guardian who had left Dawan Village not long ago—Shen Shiying!