You, a druid, go to practice Taoism?.

Chapter 32: Rent increase? Take the alienation potion!

Yunwu Mountains, Area D, at the foot of Peak 007.

There stands an ancient courtyard with an outer wall and an inner courtyard, and the mottled walls are full of traces of time.

The entire courtyard was very clean inside and out, and it was obvious that someone was cleaning it regularly.

There are many different types of flowers planted outside the yard, and hundreds of black bees are busy collecting nectar.

This is naturally the courtyard that Old Man Zhou built himself when he was young, and it has been more than half a hundred years.

At this moment in the courtyard, beside the rosewood table, Old Man Zhou was drinking tea with a slightly plump man wearing a golden robe.

After Qi Ping came in from the courtyard, he found that this person was Manager Zhu, who was in charge of collecting rent in Yunwu Mountain Range.

Manager Zhu is from the Zhu family, one of the three major families in Qingshi County. Part of the D area of the Yunwu Mountains is under the charge of Manager Zhu.

He has been in charge of collecting rent here for decades. Because his status in the clan is not high and he is friendly, he gets along well with independent cultivators like Old Man Zhou.

Every time he came to Old Man Zhou's place, he would chat for a while.

"Manager Zhu! Old man Zhou!"

After Qi Ping came in, he gave a fist towards Manager Zhu.

Qi Ping, a small figure from the three major families, naturally did not dare to neglect them. He had to at least give them the basic face on the surface, otherwise he would make the other party unhappy. A little wilfulness of the power in his hands could bring Qi Ping a lot of trouble.

This is the survival philosophy that the lower-class monks have to follow.

Fortunately, this Manager Zhu is quite kind. He is not as arrogant as many people from other big families who have a natural sense of superiority towards the independent cultivators.

"I was just about to call you, Manager Zhu is here to collect the rent," said Old Man Zhou happily.

"You really grow taller every year!" Manager Zhu felt a little emotional as he saw Qi Ping grow taller.

Time flies!

Young people grow up so fast!
"Well, I have already prepared the rent."

After Qi Ping finished speaking, he handed over the one hundred and ten spirit stones that he had prepared in advance. One hundred of them were for rent, and the remaining ten were for 10% of the tea fee. This was considered an industry practice.

Even if Manager Zhu gets along well with Old Man Zhou, this thing cannot be avoided.

However, when faced with the spirit stone given by Qi Ping, Manager Zhu did not accept it. Instead, he sighed heavily and handed a jade token wrapped in spiritual power to Qi Ping.

Qi Ping couldn't help but feel a little confused. What was going on?

At the same time, there was a vague feeling of uneasiness in my heart.

After Qi Ping took the jade token and used his spiritual sense to probe into it to check the information, his expression suddenly turned a little ugly.

The jade tablet clearly records a message:
[Rents in Yunwu Mountain Range increased by 30% overall]

There is also the seal of Qingyuan Sect’s clan deed inside the jade token, so there is basically no possibility of forgery.

"What's wrong? Let me see!" Old man Zhou looked at Qi Ping's face and was also a little surprised.

After he and Qi Ping looked at the jade token, their smiles froze.

"Manager Zhu, why are you suddenly raising the rent?" Old Man Zhou asked puzzledly.

He has been living here for decades and the rent has not changed. Why has it suddenly increased by 30%? Has something changed?

"Well, you may not believe it, but when I received this order not long ago, the expression on my face was the same as yours."

"I've also told the people above that a 30% rent increase may be something that many people cannot afford and will cause a lot of trouble, but the attitude of those above is very tough. If you can't afford it, you can use your belongings as collateral to pay the previous rent, and then pay half of the rent as a relocation fee and you can move out. If you can't afford it... well." Manager Zhu didn't say anything else, and Qi Ping naturally knew the result.

Manager Zhu himself was also helpless. The rent was not his to begin with, yet he had to go through so much trouble. The tea fee was not much.

"Manager Zhu, do you know what happened to the Qingyuan Sect? It's bad enough that they allowed the robbers to wreak havoc in the past few years, but now they've suddenly raised the rent."

But in the face of Old Man Zhou's question, Manager Zhu still shook his head helplessly and said:
"Don't talk about me. I think our family head may not know it. Because of the rampant robbery and the increase in rent, our family's income has been negatively affected. The family head has always wanted to solve the problem, but the Qingyuan Sect is suppressing him."

"We are friends now. My only advice to you is to think of a way out in the next period of time and try to protect yourself!"

Hearing this, Qi Ping and Old Man Zhou both fell silent.

Old Zhou didn't care about his own life or death, but this incident had a very bad impact on Qi Ping and the beekeeping industry, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. Beekeeping and Qi Ping were the few things he still cared about...

After a moment's silence, Qi Ping pretended to "grit his teeth" and "struggle" to collect 143 spirit stones and handed them to Manager Zhu, and asked the manager to issue a certificate.

After all, taking out so many spirit stones casually would always arouse suspicion.

After doing all this, Qi Ping did not chat with Old Man Zhou and the person in charge anymore, but said goodbye and returned to the forest.

After returning to the forest, Qi Ping frowned tightly.

What exactly happened in Qingyuan Sect?
From a sect that managed regional public security, spiritual medicine and beast industry, and commercial development in an orderly manner, it suddenly became what it is today.

It would be bad enough if the robbery repairs destroyed the industry and business environment, but now even the rent is going to increase.

The key point is that this does not seem to benefit anyone. A 30% short-term rent increase is nothing compared to the direct and indirect losses caused.

"Perhaps if I knew who was the ultimate beneficiary of all things, I would be able to understand the reason. Unfortunately, my strength and status are too low, so I cannot reach that level..."

"Manager Zhu may know something, otherwise he wouldn't have reminded us to think of a way out."

"Also, is it possible that this matter is also related to the mysterious Beast Taming Sect or Insect Taming Sect?"

"Next time we meet, you can also ask Sister Nan where she got the Monster Insect Breeding Manual. It can help you make a judgment."

The matter was too complicated and the information was extremely incomplete. After thinking for a long time, Qi Ping still couldn't sort out the complex cause and effect.

In the end, we can only sum it up in four words: chaos is about to break out...

Being at the bottom of the society, the only thing he can do is to improve his own strength and try to be prepared to deal with the chaos.

"It's better to improve your strength..."

"As long as the Golden Marrow Bees mutate into a powerful bloodline, once the colony is formed, it will at least have the strength to resist the late stage of Qi Refining. It is not impossible to be even stronger."

"Once the Golden Marrow Bee has completed its transformation, I can start to fully enhance my cultivation level."

"It would be even more perfect if the second animal partner in the contract was also strong enough!"

Thinking of this, Qi Ping's inner anxiety and sense of powerlessness in the face of the chaos suddenly decreased a lot.

After closing his eyes and regulating his breathing for a while, Qi Ping also heard from the Golden Marrow Bee that Manager Zhu had left.

So Qi Ping immediately took the five portions of blood mutation medicine to the golden marrow bee's nest.

You can start taking the blood mutation medicine!

The extent to which the Golden Marrow Bee can transform will also be revealed in this one move...

(End of this chapter)