Inquiries

Spirit farmers could not harvest their spirit fields whenever they pleased.

They had to notify the Spirit Plant Hall.

After all, the Spirit Plant Hall held the power over the sale of Spirit Rice.

Of course, beyond that, the main reason was that the spirit fields here belonged to the Spirit Plant Hall, and most of these spirit farmers had signed lease contracts with it.

For those flush with wealth, it was another matter. Once they paid enough Spirit Stones, they could naturally dispose of the Spirit Rice in their fields however they wished.

But for spirit farmers like Zhou Changwang, who had lacked Spirit Stones at the outset and only paid part of the amount, they had to settle accounts with the Spirit Plant Hall and make up the remaining rent.

When Zhou Qiankun had helped Zhou Changwang lease three mu of spirit fields, they had lacked Spirit Stones, so they chose to pay a fixed sum of ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones per mu, plus half of the spirit field's yield as tenant rent.

The agreement also contained a supplementary clause to prevent spirit farmers from slacking off: if the value of a mu's yield fell below forty Low-Grade Spirit Stones—in other words, if the Spirit Rice allotted to the Spirit Plant Hall was worth less than twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones—the missing amount would have to be made up by the spirit farmer himself.

Thus, after deciding to harvest today, Zhou Changwang had specifically made a trip to the Spirit Plant Hall.

Naturally, because many people were harvesting their spirit fields that day, the Spirit Plant Hall had also sent a steward to handle the collection of tenant rent and the purchase of Spirit Rice.

After piling the harvested Spirit Rice to one side and leaving his father to watch over it, Zhou Changwang quickly found the Spirit Plant Hall steward.

The man looked to be in his forties. He was thin, with a beard on his lips—not especially neat, but somewhat long. It swayed in the wind, lending him a touch of carefree elegance.

Zhou Changwang knew this man as well. His surname was Chen, his given name Qingfeng, and he was at the Fifth Layer of the Qi Refining Realm. He could not be called fair, but he did have some sense of reason.

"Steward Chen, my few mu of spirit fields have already been harvested."

Zhou Changwang stepped forward, cupped his hands, and spoke.

"Zhou Changwang, right? I see that you leased three mu of spirit fields back then and only paid thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones in rent. Later, you must make up the remaining rent—at least sixty Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Steward Chen glanced at Zhou Changwang, then looked over the account book in his hand. "Is this year's yield enough?"

"There was a demon disturbance in the spirit fields, so one mu suffered a somewhat poor harvest. I hope Steward Chen will be understanding."

Zhou Changwang lowered his posture and discreetly passed over a Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

"Let's take a look first."

Steward Chen flicked his sleeve, and the Spirit Stone swiftly vanished. Then he followed Zhou Changwang to his family's spirit fields.

"Weigh it!"

Two attendants immediately came forward carrying a large steelyard.

But just as the two were about to step forward, Steward Chen raised a hand to stop them. "Use this scale. The ones in your hands are getting a little old."

As he spoke, a new large steelyard appeared in his hand. Apart from its newer material, it looked no different from the scales in the two attendants' hands.

However, Zhou Changwang knew that the difference between them was enormous.

The large scales in the attendants' hands were commonly called Little Ghost Scales. A hundred jin of Spirit Rice weighed on them would amount to, at most, ninety jin.

The King of Hell was easy to deal with, but the little ghosts were hard to handle.

Once his Spirit Rice passed through those Little Ghost Scales, Zhou Changwang's fifteen hundred jin of Spirit Rice would lose a hundred and fifty jin out of thin air.

And that was the use of his Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

As for resisting? Refusing to sell to the Spirit Plant Hall?

No spirit farmer had ever considered such a question.

Though the Spirit Plant Hall was located in Phoenix-Cry Cove Market, and though Phoenix-Cry Cove Market was nominally managed by the Bai Lineage, the Spirit Plant Hall was actually an enterprise of the immortal sect, the Clear Spring Sect.

And the Clear Spring Sect was the greatest immortal sect within a thousand li of the surrounding region. It had countless disciples, over a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, and even Golden Core Realm experts whose might shook an entire region.

Unless one stopped being a spirit farmer and no longer planted Spirit Rice or spiritual materials...

Otherwise, no one dared resist.

Zhou Changwang had quite a few Spirit Stones on him, but his cultivation was still far too low. If things truly turned ugly... He glanced at Chen Qingfeng, who was at the Fifth Layer of the Qi Refining Realm, and immediately became calm and composed, without another thought.

"Yes!"

The two attendants answered.

They began weighing the rice with Steward Chen's new scale.

Sack after sack of Spirit Rice was placed on the scale.

After it was all totaled and the husks deducted, there were exactly fifteen hundred jin.

Zhou Changwang knew that this amount was actually a little low, thirty or forty jin less than he had estimated. But this was already an excellent result—far better than encountering the Little Ghost Scale.

"Fifteen hundred jin. According to the lease contract, half belongs to our Spirit Plant Hall, which is seven hundred and fifty jin.

At the current listed price of fourteen jin of Spirit Grain Rice for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, seven hundred and fifty jin of Spirit Rice is not enough to offset the tenant rent of thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones per mu.

Therefore, you still need to make up ninety jin of Spirit Rice.

Do you have any objections?"

After making a quick calculation, Steward Chen looked at Zhou Changwang and asked.

"No."

Zhou Changwang shook his head.

That was indeed what the lease contract stipulated at the time, so he could not argue.

It was just that, although the Spirit Plant Hall was now only taking back twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones per mu, seemingly waiving the interest for him, one must not forget that the price of Spirit Rice was set by the Spirit Plant Hall.

At the current rate of fourteen jin of Spirit Grain Rice for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, the price was truly far too cheap.

Compared to the normal rate of ten jin for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, the Spirit Plant Hall was earning far, far more.

Zhou Changwang inwardly lamented the Spirit Plant Hall's black heart. Naturally, he had no favorable impression of the Clear Spring Sect behind it either.

"Then are you selling this Spirit Rice?

If you are, I can convert it all into Spirit Stones for you here."

Steward Chen immediately asked again.

"Selling!"

Zhou Changwang gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and handed over another Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

"However, Steward Chen, I heard that there are also spirit fields for lease within the market. Is that true?

This place is too remote, too far from the market, and too dangerous. So next year, I plan to lease and farm spirit fields within the market. Could Steward Chen tell me a little about it?"

"That is indeed the case.

However, the spirit fields within the market are all closely tied to residences.

If you want to farm the spirit fields there, you must lease the corresponding residence in its entirety as well.

All told, the rent becomes quite expensive.

Even a residence within the market that comes with one mu of spirit field, in the most remote area, costs at least fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones a month."

Steward Chen swiftly pocketed that Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Then he said, "I heard that someone killed an Ironclad Boar at the foot of Long Ridge Mountain recently. That wouldn't have been you, would it?

Looks like you made a killing. No wonder you are thinking of moving into the market's inner city.

But since you have brought this up, and seeing that you are fairly sensible, I will give you another piece of information.

The outskirts of the market have not been peaceful lately. If you can avoid going out, do not go out no matter what. If you can move into the market's inner city, that would be best..."

"You mean..."

Zhou Changwang's heart stirred.