Building a long-lasting family lineage starting with genealogy

Chapter 174 Tax Payment Dispute
The refined young man remained silent and walked straight towards the main seat of the banquet at Qingyue Terrace.

With a flick of her long robe, Yuehua sat down and said with a faint smile, "Fellow Daoists, you are too kind. Please sit down."

The old man in the red robe sat in the passenger seat.

Two men in armor stood expressionless on either side.

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

The next moment, the refined young man said silently, "Which one of you is Fellow Daoist Xu?"

Xu Chuan's body trembled slightly, then he immediately stood up, cupped his hands, nodded, and lowered his eyebrows, saying, "I am the one from the Xu family who has come to pay taxes this time."

Wu Tao naturally bowed as well, not daring to overstep the bounds.

The refined young man sized up Xu Chuan and nodded slightly, saying, "Is the Three Vertical Daoist a member of your Xu family?"

Looking for yourself?
Xu Chuan's eyes showed surprise, but he also felt it made sense.

"It is indeed me, Xu. The Three Vertical Taoist is the name I used when I was traveling in my early years."

The refined young man's eyes lit up, and he smiled, saying, "So you're the one."

"I am currently studying alchemy, but I have many questions. I have heard that you have profound knowledge of alchemy. May I ask if you can answer them for me?"

"May I ask, Your Excellency?"

"When Yu Yangzhi is used to refine pills, how does its medicinal property change, and how should it be combined with other spiritual herbs and liquids to achieve the best effect?"

Jade Yangzhi is no longer considered an ordinary spiritual medicine; it is mostly used in first-grade high-level elixirs.

It is one of the two main ingredients in the formula of the Qi Gathering Pill.

This young man is only in his early twenties, yet he is already able to refine this kind of elixir?
As expected of a family specializing in Golden Core cultivation, they possess profound heritage and numerous geniuses within their clan.

Of course, being able to refine Qi Gathering Pills is one level, being able to refine high-grade Qi Gathering Pills is another level of alchemy skill, and being able to consistently refine high-grade Qi Gathering Pills is yet another level.

His alchemy skills had reached another level, and he was able to barely learn how to refine second-tier pills.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the medicinal properties of Yu Yang Zhi have two variations, depending on the type of elixir being refined. It is mainly related to temperature. When heated over a low flame, it slowly blends, resulting in a milder medicinal property, and is often used in elixir formulas for nourishing vital energy."

When using martial arts techniques, one should act swiftly, like lightning, to condense the essence as quickly as possible. This is often used for burst damage or to enhance magical power.

The refined young man seemed to understand something upon hearing this. He put away his jade fan and smiled faintly, "As expected of a master alchemist, your insights and research on alchemy far surpass those of someone like me who has just embarked on the path of alchemy."

“Your Excellency flatters me. I am merely taking advantage of my age. When I was your age, I was far from reaching your level.”

"Haha, Master San Shu is too kind." The refined young man held his fan flat, and with a flick of his sleeve, two jade pots appeared on the fan.

With a casual wave of his hand, one of the jade pots landed in front of Xu Chuan.

"This is Jade True Brew, ten spirit stones per pot, consider it a gift for answering your questions earlier."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

"It is fate that I have met you all in Yuehu County today. Come, let us drink this cup together to celebrate this occasion."

The refined young man naturally drank Yuzhen Brew.

Xu Chuan also asked Wu Tao to pour drinks for him and himself. Since it was a gift from the imperial envoy, they naturally had to drink it; otherwise, wouldn't that be disrespectful to him?

"This is a genuine spirit brew. At your level, do not drink more than a quarter of it in one gulp, otherwise you will easily get drunk. If you get drunk and something happens, it will be bad," Xu Chuan transmitted his voice.

"Thank you for the reminder, Elder."

Wu Tao paused slightly, replied telepathically, and then took a small sip.

As the spirit wine entered his throat, it instantly transformed into a stream of pure energy, which Wu Tao quickly and secretly refined using his magic technique.

In addition to its pure energy, it also carries a hint of alcohol.

However, because he drank very little, Wu Tao was unharmed.

Many other Qi-cultivating families envied him.

At least in Moon Lake County, there is no truly spiritual brew; these so-called spiritual wines only contain a trace of spiritual energy.

Spirit brewing is also one of the many arts of cultivating immortality.

But it's a relatively niche area.

Among cultivators, those who truly know how to brew spiritual wine are extremely rare.

"We've met, we've chatted, we've drunk wine, so let's get down to business." The refined young man unfolded his jade fan.

Suddenly, a list appeared in the hand of the man in black armor to his left.

He brushed it aside and said calmly, "From now on, the families whose names are called shall hand over the required amount of spirit rice."

“Yu Family, Yuehu County”

"The Yu family is here." The head of the Yu family stood up and came to the center, taking out bags of spirit rice from his storage bag and placing them in front of him.

The man in black armor on the right swept his divine sense across the area and said coldly, "Three hundred catties is not up to standard. If there is no other spirit rice, you will have to pay thirty spirit stones."

Thirty spirit stones?

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed.

Xu Chuan also transmitted his voice to Zhou Shaoyuan, asking, "Brother Zhou, is spirit rice really that expensive?"

"Although there may be fluctuations, one hundred catties is normally worth one spirit stone. This envoy's visit this time is not well-intentioned."

The Yu family is a long-established family, so naturally they would keep plenty of spirit rice in their storage bags.

However, it was replaced three times in a row, and all three were unsatisfactory.

"I will make it clear to you now: any grain that is more than three years old does not need to be brought out. If it is not enough, you can make up the difference of 10 spirit stones for every 100 catties."

Those who cannot make up the difference do not need to return today.

All the noble families felt a chill run down their spines.

"My Cao family has been quite lenient with its subordinates, but don't think you can fool them by keeping all the good stuff for yourselves and handing over the old spirit rice?"

Sweat beaded on the forehead of the Yu family head.

He searched through his storage bag but couldn't find any spirit rice from the last three years, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and pay the remaining thirty spirit stones.

The armored guard on the right put away the spirit stones and spirit rice, and the armored guard on the left continued to chant: "Next, the Shui family."

The Shui family also paid an additional twenty spirit stones.

Those who reported earlier were all from sixth-grade Qi Refining families, and they paid a tax of one thousand catties of spirit rice every year.

Almost every family paid the required amount of spirit stones.

He came from a fifth-rank Qi Refining family.

Including the Xu family, there are only six fifth-rank Qi Refining families in Yuehu County.

The Huang and Yuan families were both well-prepared. Of the other three families, the Shi family suffered the most, having to pay 120 spirit stones. The rest paid less than 50 spirit stones each.

"Moon Lake County, Xu Family."

Xu Jia and Wu Tao got up and walked to the center.

The refined young man suddenly spoke up: "Master San Shu, your Xu family has just been promoted and needs to pay 9,000 catties of spirit rice this time. Considering that you are a newly promoted family, I will grant your Xu family special permission that if the amount of old rice is within 3,000 catties, you will not need to pay the difference."

"Thank you, Your Excellency."

Xu Chuan bowed and thanked him.

This blatant favoritism made many aristocratic families uncomfortable.

The Yuan family sneered inwardly, "Let's see how much new rice your Xu family can produce. Even if you obtained 30% of the Su family's resources, you didn't expect that none of that spirit rice would be usable."

Xu Chuan breathed a sigh of relief; he had made two preparations.

Wu Tao's storage bag contained aged rice obtained from the Su family, while his own storage bag contained spirit rice grown in the last two years.

Xu Chuan released all nine thousand catties of spirit rice.

The armored guard on the right swept his divine sense over the area and said calmly, "The Xu family does not need to pay any additional fees."

The refined young man smiled. "Master San Shu, these millet grains must have been grown in the last two years, right? I've heard that many alchemy masters are also skilled at cultivating spiritual plants. Did you plant them all yourself?"

"My Xu family has only recently become a Qi Refining family, with a shallow foundation and no capable people in the clan. Therefore, I, Xu, can only handle this matter personally."

"But I've heard that your Xu family uses remote county towns as their ancestral home. Unless it's in some mountain valleys, the concentration of spiritual energy around county towns is still very thin, far less than that around prefectural cities."

Not to mention comparing it to a place of spiritual energy nodes.

The concentration of spiritual energy also indicates the size of the spiritual fields that can be cultivated and the amount of spiritual rice that can be planted.

I wonder how you did it?
Or was this rice obtained through trade?

Many prominent families turned to look at the Zhou family.

If we're talking about which family present could produce a large quantity of new rice, it would probably be the Zhou family.

After all, the two spiritual energy nodes with the highest concentration of spiritual energy in Yuehu County are both under their control.

"I dare not hide it from Your Excellency, one-third of the crops were planted by me, and the rest were obtained through trade."

The refined young man's eyes flickered, but he didn't press further. Instead, he smiled faintly and said, "Your Xu family is quite good. A newly established cultivation family should have a fresh outlook. Don't be like those old-timers who only know how to cheat and sly."

The members of the Qi Refining families who were penalized with spirit stones all bowed their heads in silence.

Finally, there's the Zhou family.

The Zhou family will naturally not have any problems; they will not lack spirit rice at all.

"Young master, the grain collection by all the noble families in Yuehu County has been completed."

The refined young man nodded slightly.

"That's enough for today. I have to go to the next prefecture, so I won't disturb your gathering any longer."

Having said that, he stepped onto the jade fan and headed towards the flying boat.

The old man in the red robe and two armored guards followed closely behind.

Both guards were at the peak of Qi Refining.

"This is what a true cultivation family, a Golden Core family, looks like! My Xu family will be one day too!"

A fiery glint flashed in Xu Chuan's eyes, which quickly turned calm.

One must walk the path step by step, and cultivate one's realm layer by layer.

Therefore, Xu Chuan is not in a hurry.

At this time, many prominent families sighed in despair.

The Yuan family patriarch said sarcastically, "By the way, Elder Xu, I wonder where your Xu family obtained so much spirit rice from the last two years? Could you please tell us?"

The heads of the other prominent families all looked over.

"The head of the Yuan family is curious about the Xu family's spirit rice, and I am also curious about the Yuan family's medicinal herbs. I wonder where they all come from. Could they all be grown by the Yuan family themselves? Where are these medicinal herbs planted?"

The Yuan family was aggressive, and Xu Chuan naturally couldn't stand it.

"Hmph, if Elder Xu doesn't want to talk about it, then so be it. Why bother arguing with me?"

"I'd like to ask Patriarch Yuan, is your Yuan family also a newly established cultivation family? Why are you trying to pry into the secrets of my Xu family? Are you perhaps thinking of when to annex my Xu family?"

Upon hearing this, the Yuan family head immediately fell silent.

He couldn't just admit to something like this openly. He snorted coldly, turned around, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhou Shaoyuan, and said, "Brother Zhou, it seems someone doesn't welcome me. I won't stay any longer. Farewell."

"Brother Yuan, what are you doing?"

Before Zhou Shaoyuan could finish speaking, the Yuan family head flicked his sleeves and strode away on his sword.

Several more people then left.

Several heads of sixth-rank aristocratic families walked up to Xu Chuan and chatted with him with smiles.

"Elder Xu, if the Xu family has any surplus new rice in the future, I wonder if it would be possible to sell some to us?"

Xu Chuan was unaware of the situation of other families cultivating spirit rice, so he naturally wouldn't agree immediately. Instead, he said, "Currently, my Xu family barely has enough. Why don't we ask the Zhou family?"

Zhou Shaoyuan smiled faintly. After this battle, the price of new spirit rice will definitely rise. "I sincerely offer two spirit stones for one hundred catties. If any of you family heads are interested, you can send someone to my Zhou family's shop in the market to purchase it."

The family heads smiled awkwardly and then took their leave.

Xu Chuan asked in surprise, "It shouldn't be like this when imperial envoys come in the past, right?"

"They're all very casual, not caring at all whether it's new or old rice," Zhou Shaoyuan said casually. "I don't know what's wrong this year, suddenly they've become so strict."

Xu Chuan smiled upon hearing this and said to him, "Brother Zhou, what is your Zhou family worried about? It is my newly established Qi Refining family that should be worried."

"You have the nerve to say that you can bring out nine thousand catties of new rice in one go? However, when I heard that the envoy only wanted spirit rice that was less than three years old, I was worried for your Xu family and even thought of borrowing some spirit rice from your Xu family to get through the crisis."

"Hey, shouldn't it be a gift? Our two families are in-laws."

"Hehe, my Zhou family has many in-laws. Most of the Qi Refining families in Yuehu County have been related to my Zhou family through marriage."

Zhou Shaoyuan waved his hand and said again, "I'm not going to argue with you anymore. You should stay and have some more drinks."

"If you want to drink my Jade True Brew, just say so," Xu Chuan laughed. "But I don't intend to give it to you so easily; I'll take it back to my Xu family's descendants."

Though small, it can still help one or two people improve their cultivation.

Say it.

Xu Chuan and Wu Tao also departed on their swords.

Zhou Shaoyuan watched the two figures leave, his eyes slightly twitching. "Was it really a transaction?"

"If not, how did the Xu family manage to grow so much spiritual rice in a place with scarce spiritual energy?"

"No, during the Xu family's ascension celebration last time, the concentration of spiritual energy around Dongxi seemed to be not much different from that of the county city."

The spirit-gathering array that covers the entire area around the cave is generally not visible unless specially set up by an array master.

Zhou Shaoyuan thought of something and murmured, "Could it be that Xu Chuan knows a master of formations?"

He simply did not believe that the Xu family had trained a master of formations.

The art of array formation is even more difficult than the art of alchemy. At present, the Zhou family has not been able to cultivate any capable array masters who can set up such a large-scale spirit-gathering array.

"If there is a spirit-gathering array to seal the spiritual energy and continuously gather it, it is indeed possible to cultivate many acres of spirit fields."

Zhou Shaoyuan believed that this was most likely the case.

"Xu Chuan really has a wide network of connections. It would be great if he could introduce me to someone."

The Zhou family has recently been searching for highly skilled array masters, but unfortunately they are extremely rare. They can only keep an eye out for other counties and try to invite one.

If Zhou Shaoyuan were to tell Zhou Sen about this, he might remember that Xu Mingxian was a practitioner of formations.

Looking at the clues that the Xu family has revealed so far, it is possible to deduce that Xu Mingxian's formation has been successfully completed.

Unfortunately, Zhou Sen only cared about alchemy.

Moreover, as he gets older, he now devotes a lot of time to teaching the Zhou family's disciples alchemy, hoping to cultivate the next alchemy master in the Zhou family.

In this way, the Zhou family's potential for advancement will not diminish.

After all, refining pills at home and purchasing them from pill shops in the market can reduce consumption by more than ten times, leaving more resources to be spent on cultivating outstanding disciples.

The Zhou family is large, and everyone has their own responsibilities, while the Xu family is small and has not had this problem yet.

Furthermore, the Xu family holds a monthly meeting of elders, and a large gathering is held before the annual ancestral rites.

Xu Chuan often held private meetings with Xu Mingwei and the others.

Communicate what is needed.

Therefore, nothing is missed.

　Waaah, it's so hard to even get a recommendation vote!
　　

(End of this chapter)