Chapter 69

"Because the Xiong family is the strongest clan in Mengyu County, they are just one step away from becoming a new prominent family in Yu Prefecture!"

Yang Tiangang said calmly, "As long as the Xiong family can become a prominent family in Yu Prefecture, they will be one of the top forces in the entire Yu Prefecture, second only to the Heaven-Shaking Sect! What does the life and death of Mengyu County have to do with them!"

The powerful Xiong family was like a mountain pressing down on the four martial cultivators in the hall, making it hard for them to breathe. After a moment of silence, Zhang the Blacksmith asked, "What about the other two major clans in the county, the Ning and Yu families? What did they say?"

This time, Yang Tiangang didn't need to answer; Xu Sanlang speculated, "The Ning and Yu families probably won't dare to oppose the Xiong family at this time!"

Zhang the Blacksmith was puzzled, "Why? Aren't they afraid that the Xiong family will become a prominent family in Yu Prefecture and then suppress them? Besides, with the entire county's spirit grains reduced in yield, the Xiong family's actions must have caused losses to the Ning and Yu families as well, right?"

Xu Sanlang smiled bitterly, "It's precisely because the Xiong family is on the verge of becoming a prominent family that anyone who opposes them now will face their full wrath. Therefore, the other two families are hesitant to act. Moreover, both the Ning and Yu families are powerful clans with True Human Realm cultivators, so the locust disaster has only reduced their yields by about thirty to forty percent. The Xiong family reducing the grain tax to one-third is probably also to consider the feelings of these two families!"

Yang Junshan listened to the words of the martial cultivators in the hall. Unlike them, he wondered why the Heaven-Shaking Sect would so easily agree to the Xiong family's actions.

The Heaven-Shaking Sect couldn't fail to see the short-sightedness of this approach, yet they still tacitly allowed the Xiong family to proceed, at most letting the Xiong family take the lead and bear the blame. This showed that the fundamental reason wasn't a greedy desire for the spirit grains of Mengyu County, but rather that the Heaven-Shaking Sect was in dire need of these grains!

From the Red Rust Stone incident to the current grain tax issue, Yang Junshan felt as if a massive creature was standing on the edge of a cliff, desperately trying to grab every straw to save itself, without considering whether the thin straws could bear its enormous weight.

With Yang Tiangang's involvement, the grain tax collection in Tuqiu Village was completed very quickly, which was expected. However, in other villages, the situation was different. The grain tax quota announced by the Heaven-Shaking Sect caused widespread resentment in Mengyu County, where the yield had already been reduced by two-thirds due to the locust disaster.

However, the Heaven-Shaking Sect's authority in Yu Prefecture was deeply entrenched. Although the spirit farmers were unwilling, they lacked the courage to challenge the Heaven-Shaking Sect. In the end, they gritted their teeth and paid the grain tax. Moreover, during the tax collection process, senior cultivators from the Heaven-Shaking Sect frequently came down to urge and inspect, especially the Xiong family, who, due to the importance of this matter to their clan's fate, patrolled the large and small towns of Mengyu County under the banner of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. Any spirit farmers who showed resistance were met with scolding, insults, threats, and even beatings!

In Huangtu Town, the next village to fully pay the grain tax after Tuqiu Village was Tuyuan Village. The former village head of Tuyuan Village was Qian Chunlai, and after he took up a position at the town guard post, his clan brother Qian Yinglai became the new village head.

This time, although Qian Chunlai had eliminated his biggest competitor, Yang Tiangang, he still needed to impress Liu, the town guard, to get a recommendation to become an outer disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. The grain tax collection was undoubtedly his best opportunity to show his worth.

It was said that Qian Chunlai's actions in Tuyuan Village had caused widespread anger and resentment. There were rumors that an elderly spirit farmer in Tuyuan Village was forced to death by Qian Chunlai and his brother for refusing to pay the grain tax. Even within the Qian family, there was considerable criticism of Qian Chunlai's actions.

However, with the possibility of becoming an outer disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect, Qian Chunlai clearly didn't care about the negative impact of the grain tax collection. Under the suppression of the Qian brothers, the internal criticism within the Qian family was eventually silenced. Just one day after Tuqiu Village completed its grain tax payment, Tuyuan Village also paid in full.

This made Qian Chunlai a strong candidate for an outer disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect in Huangtu Town. It was said that he even received support from a direct descendant of the Xiong family, who was also an outer disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect.

In the cultivation world, there is generally a shortage of cultivation resources, yet cultivation itself is a process where one must advance or fall behind. Therefore, crops like spirit grains, spirit wheat, and spirit rice, which can be produced on a large scale with short cycles, are the most commonly used items for low-rank cultivators to assist in their cultivation and improve their cultivation levels.

After spirit farmers reach a certain level, planting spirit grains is not for sustenance but to maintain their cultivation levels in the face of a resource shortage. This is why almost all spirit farmers are so determined to have their own spirit fields.

For example, a stone of spirit grains is worth only a few jade coins, but using a few jade coins for cultivation would deplete the stored spiritual energy in just a few days. During these few days, a cultivator's cultivation level might even improve. However, after the jade coins are used up, the cultivator's cultivation level will start to decline due to the lack of sufficient spiritual energy, and may even fall below the original level.

But if a few jade coins are used to buy a stone of spirit grains, a cultivator's cultivation level might not improve significantly from eating the spirit grains, but at least for the next two to three months, the cultivator can maintain their cultivation level without decline!

This is why ordinary cultivators often value spirit grains more than jade coins!

For the elderly spirit farmer in Tuyuan Village who was forced to death, after passing his prime, his cultivation level had already lost the potential for further advancement. Moreover, with his physical body declining, he needed even more spirit grains to maintain his cultivation level. When Qian Chunlai and his brother forcibly took away the spirit grains he had, it accelerated the aging of his physical body, causing his cultivation level to decline faster and shortening his lifespan, leading to his suicide.

Several days after the grain tax was paid, Yang Tiangang's mood did not improve. He remained gloomy, scaring his children, Yang Junping and Yang Junxin, who would avoid him whenever they saw him.

Yang Junshan found Han Xiumei and asked, "Mother, is Father still upset about not becoming an outer disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect?"

In Yang Junshan's view, not becoming an outer disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect was actually a good thing. Although the Heaven-Shaking Sect was powerful, it was like a giant ship about to sink in the sea. Not becoming an outer disciple now meant severing ties with the Heaven-Shaking Sect, which might help them avoid a disaster in the future.

Han Xiumei sighed, "Some things are just said for outsiders to hear. With Father's original contributions, he didn't need to be evaluated by the grain tax collection. The real reason he couldn't become an inner disciple is because of your Uncle!"

"Your Uncle was accepted as an inner disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect for reporting the Red Rust Stone. Since the Yang family already has one inner disciple, neither the Heaven-Shaking Sect nor the various forces in Yu Prefecture who are vying to become disciples of the Heaven-Shaking Sect want the Yang family to occupy another outer disciple slot. Moreover, there is probably opposition within the Yang family as well!"

When Yang Junshan saw his father, Yang Tiangang was half-lying in a rattan chair, smoking and reading a book. Yang Junshan walked over and saw that Yang Tiangang was reading a book about low-rank spirit herbs, with detailed illustrations and explanations.

Yang Junshan thought for a moment and said, "Father, we haven't decided what to plant in our medium-grade spirit field yet?"

Yang Tiangang grunted, "We've already obtained seeds for the Golden Red Flower, enough to plant one-tenth of a spirit field. Your Uncle also promised to help get seeds for the Crimson Flame Grass, which should also be enough for one-tenth of a spirit field. Now we just need to decide what to plant in the last one-tenth of the spirit field. The low-grade immortal spirit elm heart you brought back from Baique Mountain and the three low-grade immortal spirits we got from killing the locust queen have been exchanged for a sum of jade coins. I'm thinking about using the jade coins to buy a batch of spirit herb seeds, but I haven't decided which seeds to buy yet."

Yang Junshan flipped through the spirit herb book on the table and found a page, saying, "What about planting this?"

Yang Tiangang looked down and asked curiously, "Strange Flavor Fruit? These seeds aren't hard to find, but what's the use of planting them? Although it's a low-rank spirit herb, the fruits are rarely used, only in some obscure elixirs. Even if we grow them, we won't get a good price!"

Yang Junshan chuckled, "Who knows, maybe they'll be useful in the future!"

Seeing Yang Tiangang's skeptical look, Yang Junshan lied, "I saw cultivators from the Heavenly Wolf Sect collecting this spirit herb in Quwu Mountain. They seem to need a lot of Strange Flavor Fruits for a new elixir, and I heard they are buying them at a high price in Zhang Prefecture!"

Yang Tiangang waved his hand, "That's not good enough. The Heavenly Wolf Sect is buying them, not the Heaven-Shaking Sect. Who would I sell them to?"

"There's a secret passage to Quwu Mountain, Father. You could go to Zhang Prefecture. It's not too far, and with your Martial Human Realm cultivation, it shouldn't be difficult to enter and leave Zhang Prefecture!"

Yang Tiangang waved his hand impatiently, "We'll see later. It's not urgent now!"

At this moment, Yang Junshan seemed to remember something, "Right, Father, speaking of Quwu Mountain, I remember the valley where I encountered the locust swarm. There seems to be a source of malevolent energy there!"

"What?" Yang Tiangang jumped up from the rattan chair, which immediately broke under his strength. Ignoring it, he stared at Yang Junshan, "What did you say? A source of malevolent energy? What do you know about malevolent energy sources!"

Yang Junshan chuckled and described the scene in the valley where the locusts fought over the malevolent energy, speculating that the source of malevolent energy was intermittent and wondering if the Heavenly Wolf Sect had already discovered it when they were monitoring the locusts.

Yang Tiangang was already overjoyed and couldn't sit still, saying, "I'm going to Quwu Mountain. If it's true, I'll reward you heavily!"

Yang Junshan quickly followed, "Father, there's actually something else I haven't told you!"

Seven days after Yang Tiangang left for Quwu Mountain, the sky over Huangtu Town turned dark, and a torrential rain began, lasting for five or six days. The small streams in the Western Mountains turned into raging torrents, and the Qingshui River swelled, almost reaching the brink of flooding.

Yang Junshan watched the rain outside the house with worry. If this continues, the locust disaster will be followed by a flood!

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This chapter is to make up for the three updates that were supposed to be on Monday.

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