They had finally come to collect the Blackgold Silkworm silk!
Lin Ke's heart stirred. He gave Fang Tong a meaningful look, then went outside alone with the box of Blackgold Silkworm silk.
Normally, since Green Mulberry Garden was so remote, these stewards would not reach it until the very last day of the month.
After all, the sect had plenty of places like Green Mulberry Garden, and collecting from each of them along the way took time.
But this was just as Lin Ke had expected.
Although Li Le had not appeared in person, arranging behind the scenes for the stewards to come to Green Mulberry Garden early and begin their collections there was easy enough.
Everyone would show Li Le some courtesy. After all, a Nascent Soul elder stood behind him.
"Where is Lin Ke? Why haven't you come out to hand over the Blackgold Silkworm silk?"
A familiar voice rang out outside.
Han Yun and Han Fu, who had visited before, hovered leisurely above Golden Silkworm Peak, their voices contemptuous and arrogant.
The moment Lin Ke stepped out of the house, he saw them. He flew up into the sky, holding a round black stone in his left hand and the box of Blackgold Silkworm silk in his right.
The stone was a Recording Stone!
Like a camera or video recorder, it was specifically used to capture images and record events.
"Lin Ke, can't you hurry up? Dawdling like some woman!" Han Fu snorted when she saw him, her expression thoroughly unpleasant.
"Lin Ke is here. The Blackgold Silkworm silk is ready in the required quantity." Lin Ke flew toward them expressionlessly, ignoring Han Fu's remark.
He knew Han Yun and Han Fu were speaking so loudly because they wanted to humiliate him before everyone on Golden Silkworm Peak, letting the farmers of Green Mulberry Garden see him being ordered about.
If he could not restrain himself from snapping back, he would fall into their trap.
But such childish tricks could not disturb Lin Ke's state of mind at all.
His immediate priority was to use the Recording Stone to record him handing over enough Blackgold Silkworm silk, preventing Li Le from causing trouble behind the scenes.
"Oh? You have enough Blackgold Silkworm silk?" Han Yun raised an eyebrow and turned his hand over, producing a steelyard.
It was a balance with a cord and an iron pan attached to one end of a wooden rod marked with graduations. Items were placed in the pan, then weighed using a counterweight.
"A Mortal Steelyard?" Lin Ke frowned. "I remember the sect uses a Spirit Artifact Steelyard for weighing, doesn't it?"
The accuracy of a steelyard was affected by various factors, including its calibration and the conditions in which it was used.
If its zero mark was calibrated correctly, it could be a good balance.
However, a steelyard was easily manipulated during use, potentially producing inaccurate results.
That was why the sect provided Discipline Hall disciples with spirit artifacts that calibrated themselves and weighed items automatically, ensuring the greatest fairness.
"Yes, but an elder is using that steelyard right now. The elder told us to use a mortal artifact for weighing this month," Han Yun said with a smile.
Han Fu sneered as well. "If you object, you can take it up with the elder."
Take it up with the elder, my ass!
The moment Lin Ke heard that, he knew Han Yun and Han Fu intended to tamper with the weight.
Anyone who had used a mortal artifact steelyard knew how easy it was to manipulate the measurement and shortchange someone.
"I've already weighed it on several steelyards," Lin Ke said mildly. "We'll do as you suggest for now, Senior Brother and Senior Sister. However..."
He glanced at the Recording Stone in his hand, which was emitting faint spiritual energy fluctuations. "All of this is being recorded."
Han Yun and Han Fu had already noticed the Recording Stone in Lin Ke's hand. At his words, both their expressions turned ugly.
As Discipline Hall disciples, they dared not go too far. They could only make a few small manipulations while their immediate superior turned a blind eye.
"Hand it over." Han Yun's expression was sour.
Lin Ke passed him the box.
Han Yun took the sandalwood box and opened it, then used his mental power to lift the Blackgold Silkworm silk inside onto the weighing pan. He slid the stone counterweight along the rod.
"One jin and two liang?! How is that possible?!"
Han Fu cried out beside him, while Han Yun frowned in silence.
A hint of amusement appeared in Lin Ke's eyes.
One jin and two liang?
It was two jin!
This month's total Blackgold Silkworm silk production was only close to three jin and six liang. Lin Ke had brought out two jin of it precisely because he did not want complications sprouting like branches from a stem.
Lin Ke did not even need to think to know Li Le would make a move.
And to preserve the reputation of the elder backing him, Li Le would certainly instruct someone else to act.
From the looks of it, the Discipline Hall was still relatively fair and strict. These two only dared to play crooked games with the weight, not do anything else.
"Shouldn't you two hand over my stipend now?" Lin Ke said mildly. "You're only weighing some Blackgold Silkworm silk. Why dawdle like women?"
He threw Han Fu's words back at her.
"Also, what I brought wasn't one jin and two liang, but two jin." Lin Ke's expression remained unchanged. "If you two are determined to make things difficult for me on Li Le's behalf today, we may have to settle this in a bout at the Sect Grand Tournament."
"From then on, we'll have a feud between us."
Lin Ke made no vicious threats, but the Spirit Power within him began to surge, giving off the sound of tides and crashing waves.
This was merely one application of spiritual pressure.
Yet upon hearing that sound, Han Yun and Han Fu finally blanched.
"A genius?!"
"A sixty-percent Dao Foundation..."
Han Yun and Han Fu were both stunned.
A sixty-percent Dao Foundation made one a genius, seventy percent made one a prodigy, and eighty percent meant possessing the talent of the Ancient Sages. The legendary ninety percent was an immortal foundation.
Anyone whose circulating Spirit Power produced an audible sound possessed at least a genius-level Dao Foundation, unless they were a body cultivator—but that was a different matter.
Naturally, Lin Ke could not reveal his extraordinary hundred-and-thirty-percent Dao Foundation aptitude, but displaying enough to earn the name of a genius had certain benefits.
Remaining utterly obscure and becoming the tallest tree in the forest, exposed to every wind, were both extremes.
Between those extremes, he had to strike a balance.
He needed to avoid attracting suspicion and jealousy without constantly encountering troublesome little imps.
"Well?" Lin Ke asked again. "Do you two intend to make an enemy of me?"
Offend a genius just to curry favor with Li Le?
Han Yun and Han Fu exchanged a glance.
Han Fu looked bewildered, while Han Yun sighed.
"Brother Lin, this steelyard of mine usually reads a few liang short. The weight does indeed match what you said." Han Yun cupped his hands, then used his mental power to roll up some of the Blackgold Silkworm silk in the pan and float it before Lin Ke.
"Please take back the excess, Brother Lin. Your sect mission is now complete."
As he spoke, he turned his hand over and produced a cloth pouch. "Here is your monthly stipend of one hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones as an outer sect disciple, Brother Lin. Please accept it."
Lin Ke smiled at the sight. He put the excess Blackgold Silkworm silk and his spirit stone stipend into his Storage Bag, then released a burst of Spirit Power from his left hand and crushed the Recording Stone.
"Come visit my Green Mulberry Garden sometime, Brother Han. The mulberry fruit we grow is at its sweetest and most refreshing in April."
"You both have busy official duties, so I won't keep you any longer today. Brother Han, until we meet again."
Before you continue