Taxes and Contribution Points

At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Kong Wenxuan had left the pass with his eldest uncle and the others. After spending more than two months in the mountains to the south, he had finally returned.

Even so, his time away had been short by comparison. His fifth uncle, thirteenth aunt, fourteenth uncle, and the others had previously spent over four months guarding the Vermilion Fruit tree in the persimmon grove, waiting for its fruit to ripen. Before that, they had spent more than two months searching for resources in the mountains before finding the tree.

Among the cultivators from the various bloodline families serving at Demon-Suppressing Pass, many were like the members of the Kong Household. Unless the garrison's command office called them up for a mission, such as helping defend the pass, it was common for those assigned to gather intelligence, hunt down Demon Beasts, and search for resources beyond the pass to spend over half a year in the mountains.

Some often went half a year without finding anything, while others were held up by resources or other matters and had to extend their stay in the mountains beyond the pass to a year or two.

After returning to Demon-Suppressing Pass, the group first rested for the night at the Kong Household's residence in the city.

Early the next morning, Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo called Third Aunt Kong Yuyin, Eldest Brother Kong Wenzhang, and Kong Wenxuan to accompany him to the garrison's command office.

"All the cultivators from the various households serving at Demon-Suppressing Pass have a duty to answer the call to battle when hordes of demons attack the pass, or when the Du Household leads an attack on resource sites in the mountains beyond it.

"Normally, when there's no war, we cultivators serving here are also tasked with going into the mountains beyond the pass to scout for enemies, hunt down Demon Beasts, and search for resources.

"Every time we return from an expedition, we have to go to the command office to report the intelligence we gathered beyond the pass and hand over a portion of our gains as tax."

On the way to the command office, Eldest Brother Kong Wenzhang explained to Kong Wenxuan why they were going and what they were going there to do.

When they arrived, Kong Wenxuan and the others did not enter through the command office's main gate. Instead, they went to an administrative office on its eastern side, which handled affairs for the families serving at the pass.

Once they entered the eastern office, a Du Household cultivator was there to receive them.

Eldest Uncle and the others were already thoroughly familiar with the procedure. They had brought Kong Wenxuan along this time merely to familiarize him with it.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Eldest Brother Kong Wenzhang took out a Jade Slip and four Vermilion Fruits and handed them over. The Jade Slip contained the intelligence the Kong Household group had gathered in the mountains beyond the pass over the past half year. The four Vermilion Fruits were the tax the Kong Household members were paying this time.

The Du Household cultivator casually skimmed the contents of the Jade Slip when he received it, then set it down and turned his attention to the four Vermilion Fruits. After inspecting them one by one, he said with a smile:

"Four fully ripe First-Tier Superior-Grade Vermilion Fruits. Fine things! These four fruits can cover four months of your taxes. Do you have any more? If you're willing to hand over more Vermilion Fruits, I can make the decision to credit you with an extra month on top of the taxes they already cover."

Hearing this, Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo shook his head somewhat helplessly. "To tell you the truth, my lord, we only harvested six ripe Vermilion Fruits in that persimmon grove beyond the pass. We even crossed the 'gray wolf' Lang Household that runs rampant out there, and nearly didn't make it back."

"We'd like to keep the remaining two Vermilion Fruits for our own use."

Although the Du Household was currently on the defensive at Demon-Suppressing Pass, it could hardly be completely ignorant of the situation beyond it. Practically all the cultivators from the various households serving at the pass were its eyes and ears, and the Du Household surely had agents of its own as well. Naturally, it could not be unaware of the Kong Household's clashes and fighting with the Lang Household cultivators and the wolf demons this time.

The only thing it probably did not know was exactly how many Vermilion Fruits they had picked from the tree in the persimmon grove. After all, they had long since concealed the place with an illusion formation.

That was why Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo's complaint was half true and half false.

It was unclear whether the Du Household cultivator believed him, but he stopped pressing the matter of the Vermilion Fruits and turned his attention to the tree instead. Smiling, he said, "In that case, never mind. But did you dig up the Vermilion Fruit tree and bring it back?"

Eldest Uncle naturally could not deny it. Afterward, anyone who entered the persimmon grove and checked would know that the tree had been dug up and would naturally realize it was in their hands. He could only nod and say, "We did dig up the Vermilion Fruit tree and bring it back. We plan to send it back to Peacock Ridge, our Lineage's home, to see whether we can keep it alive."

The Du Household cultivator immediately frowned. "Vermilion Fruit trees aren't easy to grow. Can your Kong Household's barren Peacock Ridge keep one alive? Don't let it die on you and end up losing more than you gain."

"Why don't you hand the Vermilion Fruit tree over to our Du Household? We'll plant it in our Cuckoo Secret Realm, where it's sure to survive."

"When the time comes, I can make the decision to let the tree cover three years of your taxes, and your Kong Household can also have twenty percent of the Vermilion Fruits it bears during the first ten years!"

"Or would you prefer Contribution Points? I can also make the decision to give you at least three hundred of our Du Household's Contribution Points in exchange for one Vermilion Fruit tree. If the tree is in good enough condition, the number of Contribution Points can be increased."

The Du Household's Contribution Points could be used to exchange for resources and treasures in its treasury. As a Ninth-Grade True Spirit family, the Du Household naturally had a collection of resources and treasures in its treasury that the Kong Household could not match.

Leaving everything else aside, the Du Household treasury certainly had no shortage of First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit metal materials. If Kong Wenxuan could exchange for enough of them, he would have all the resources he needed to later refine the White Metal Divine Sword and make a bid for the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

A hint of interest seemed to appear on Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo's face. After hesitating for a long while, however, he bowed to the other man and said, "Thank you for your concern, my lord, but I would still like to try cultivating it at our ancestral home on Peacock Ridge first. If we truly cannot keep it alive, we will certainly hand it over to the Du Household for you to cultivate."

Seeing this, the Du Household cultivator's smile immediately vanished. He shook his head and said, "Fine. Since you won't give up, go ahead and try. If you kill it, that's your Kong Household's own bad luck. Do you really think our Du Household is short of your one Vermilion Fruit tree?"

"Hmph!" After a light snort, he added, "But let me warn you: if you can't keep the tree alive and then want to hand it over to our Du Household to plant, the terms won't be what they are now."

"When the time comes, we'll decide the price based on how badly your Kong Household has ruined the tree."

Eldest Uncle immediately put on an ingratiating smile and nodded repeatedly. "Yes! That's right! We really do want to try..."

Seeing this, the Du Household cultivator had no desire to say more to them. He said directly, "Give me your identity token. I'll record your tax payment and Contribution Points."

"Yes, yes, thank you, my lord!" Eldest Uncle Kong Yushuo promptly thanked him repeatedly, then took out and handed over the identity token representing the Kong Household's serving team.

This time, aside from handing over four Vermilion Fruits as tax, the Kong Household had not turned in any additional resources in exchange for the Du Household's Contribution Points. However, the serving teams could earn Contribution Points simply by gathering intelligence and hunting down Demon Beasts in the mountains beyond the pass.

It was just that these routine tasks earned very few Contribution Points, sometimes not even ten for an entire expedition. Even so, little by little they added up, and could be exchanged for needed resources and treasures from the treasury the Du Household had opened to them.

The Du Household cultivator soon finished recording the information on the Kong Household's identity token and returned it to them. Eldest Uncle then led Kong Wenxuan and the others in bowing and thanking him, all smiles, before taking their leave.