Someone Is Stealing the Mine

Ling Yunzi sized Zhang Yang up for a few moments and asked, "You've already looked through the account books. Don't tell me you don't know how much money the Azure Cloud Sect has? Once those villagers bring over medicinal herbs, what are you going to use to buy them?"

"Martial Uncle, don't worry. There'll definitely be a way to solve it," Zhang Yang replied with a smile.

He had brought Ling Yunzi, an expert, down from the mountain for one reason: protection. The other was to visit Qingyun Market.

Qingyun Market had collected taxes for so many years, yet it had not given the Azure Cloud Sect a single coin. Zhang Yang did not know who managed Qingyun Market, but they had better give him an explanation.

Would they still have to worry about money then?

From then on, whenever they came across a village, Zhang Yang would go down and "offer condolences."

While learning about each village's situation, he also informed the villagers that if they found spirit herbs or anything else on the mountain, they could bring them to the Azure Cloud Sect for trade.

Ling Yunzi's expression grew increasingly grave. He had seen everything, and they had already passed through seven or eight villages. Did the Azure Cloud Sect really have that much money?

With a stern expression, he warned Zhang Yang, "Kid, I have to remind you: no matter how you reform things, you cannot harm ordinary people. Life is already hard enough for them. If you dare steal their belongings, I'm afraid none of us will agree."

He was now firmly convinced that Zhang Yang intended to rob the many nearby villagers. The Azure Cloud Sect simply could not produce that much money.

Zhang Yang looked at Ling Yunzi and said earnestly, "Martial Uncle, I've never intended to make money off the poor!"

Ling Yunzi was stunned. "Then who are you making money from?"

"Whoever has money, that's who I'll make it from!" Zhang Yang said casually. "What's the point of bullying the poor?

We've known each other for ten years, after all. Have you ever seen me bully ordinary people?"

"That, you haven't," Ling Yunzi said with a nod.

Sometimes, he even felt that Zhang Yang treated ordinary living beings better than he treated cultivators.

Zhang Yang said solemnly, "Over the years, all you elders have overlooked a major issue. If the Azure Cloud Sect wants to prosper, powerful cultivation alone is useless. Many affairs within the sect need people to handle them. That is why the first step of my reform is to recruit large numbers of sect members and disciples.

Where will the Azure Cloud Sect's members and disciples come from?

First, from the villages within the Azure Cloud Sect's territory. Quite a few people among them can cultivate.

Those with good talent, we will focus on nurturing into the sect's backbone. Those without much talent can grow medicinal herbs or handle miscellaneous tasks for the sect. That is still better than letting them grow old and die in their villages, isn't it?

Therefore, not only must we not bully the people of these villages, we must protect them well.

The Dao is never far from people. Leave people behind, and it will not be easy to cultivate any Great Dao."

Hearing Zhang Yang speak so logically, Ling Yunzi felt much more at ease.

Suddenly, something stirred in his heart. The Dao is never far from people?

All these years, because the Azure Cloud Sect was poor, they had put on an aloof, otherworldly attitude and focused solely on closed-door cultivation in the mountains.

In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred years had passed. Ling Yunzi had clearly felt his cultivation slowing more and more.

Had they strayed too far from "people," and thus too far from the Great Dao?

"The Dao is never far from people!" Ling Yunzi asked curiously. "Where did you learn so many principles?"

Zhang Yang cried out as though it were only natural, "Martial Uncle, I'm probably the only one in the Azure Cloud Sect who often goes to Qingyun Market, aren't I? Naturally, I realized these principles myself!"

He thought, If you had lived through that age of exploding information, where all kinds of alchemy scriptures and Daoist tomes could be read at will, you'd probably know these things too.

Ling Yunzi nodded. "In any case, we cannot bully ordinary people."

"Rest assured!" Zhang Yang promised. Then he suddenly pointed in a direction and asked in surprise, "Martial Uncle, this area should also belong to the Azure Cloud Sect's territory, right?"

"This is a little over two hundred li from Azure Cloud Peak. Of course it is within the Azure Cloud Sect's territory," Ling Yunzi replied.

Zhang Yang cried out strangely, "Then why is someone mining within Azure Cloud Sect territory?"

Wasn't this stealing the Azure Cloud Sect's mineral resources? Who had such nerve?

Ling Yunzi asked in confusion, "What is the problem? The nearby villagers probably discovered mineral deposits and are excavating them!"

Zhang Yang rolled his eyes. These sect elders had truly cultivated their brains into ruin.

Villagers would mine in the wilderness?

When they went up the mountain to gather herbs, they already had to worry about savage beasts. If they encountered even one demonic beast, an entire village could face destruction.

Moreover, mining required specialized tools and financial backing. It was simply not something villagers could manage.

"Let's go take a look."

Zhang Yang called out, descended to the ground, and approached the mine.

As they drew closer, they found many raggedly dressed ordinary people carrying baskets of ore on their backs. Around them stood several burly men, whips in hand, driving the miners onward. "You useless trash, move faster! Keep dawdling and I'll beat you to death! If you don't get back to work, there'll be no dinner tonight. Every one of you must dig another three hundred jin today. Anyone who fails will be thrown into the wild to feed the wolves!"

Seeing the state of the mine, Ling Yunzi's brows furrowed tightly.

Zhang Yang, however, examined the area around the mine. After looking for quite a while, he asked, "Martial Uncle, have you spotted any experts?"

He feared that a powerful expert might be stationed at the mine. Otherwise, they might end up getting wiped out.

Ling Yunzi said impatiently, "The strongest is that man in brocade robes. He has only just stepped onto the path of cultivation. Even you can deal with him."

Zhang Yang understood. Revealing himself, he strode toward the mine and shouted, "Everyone, stop! What audacity—how dare you steal ore?"

The many watchful burly men froze, their gazes instinctively turning toward the man in brocade robes.

The man in brocade robes was also taken aback. "These are untamed mountains and wilderness. I have never heard that they have an owner, so how can this be called stealing ore? Could it be that you are also coveting this copper mine and have come to deliberately cause trouble? Then you have picked the wrong target. My Xiao Family of Anqing City fears no one else."

"The Xiao Family of Anqing City?" Zhang Yang paused. He knew of Anqing City. It lay more than three hundred li from the Azure Cloud Sect and was the largest city in the vicinity.

"Then do you know who I am?" Zhang Yang asked.

The man in brocade robes sneered. "Why should I care who you are? If you dare cause trouble for my Xiao Family, then prepare to die. Everyone, move! Take him down and throw his corpse into the wilderness!"

The burly guards surrounding them immediately rushed to encircle Zhang Yang.

"Courting death!" Zhang Yang raised a hand, and a Heavenly Thunder descended from the sky, crashing onto the ground with a thunderous boom.

He was, after all, a cultivator who could fly and had truly stepped onto the path of cultivation. He was not someone these ordinary people could compare to.

When the man in brocade robes saw Zhang Yang wield Heavenly Thunder, he jumped in fright and shouted, "Don't attack! There must be some misunderstanding! I am Xiao Jian of the Xiao Family. Our family head is good friends with Daoist Qingfeng of the Qingfeng Sect."

He knew very well that anyone capable of using Heavenly Thunder techniques was definitely an immortal cultivator.

That was why he immediately named the person backing him.

"The Qingfeng Sect? No matter what sect it is, you cannot steal my family's mine!" Zhang Yang's expression turned stern. "This is Azure Cloud Sect territory, and everything here belongs to the Azure Cloud Sect. Go back and report to your family head. Within one month, he must come to the Azure Cloud Sect to give us an explanation and offer compensation. Otherwise, we will take measures. Do not say that you were not warned!"