Sea Cultivation: Giant Ships and Heavy Artillery Knock on the Door to All Races

Chapter 98 The strong bully the weak, there is something wrong with the Li family!
Zou Ji Boat Shop.

The shipyard has good business in winter. When the work is stopped in winter, many boat owners will consider looking for the shipyard to maintain, modify and repair the boats. There are even more orders for building new ships in winter.

"Sir, when will you return to the family?"

"Wait a little longer. I'll leave after this year's tax is settled."

The four eastern islands are only three days' journey from Yanglong Bay, and Lin Qianfan needs to return to his family once a year to report on his work.

Of course, he missed home more because this was the first time he stayed away from home for such a long time.

"Okay, bring some stuff back for me then."

Business is good in winter, and Uncle Zou needs to stay at the shop. He has not been back home in previous years. He usually chooses to go home when business is slowest.

After a few days,

The garrison monks calculated the total tax amount for the four eastern islands and collected all the profits that should have been distributed to the Lin family that year.

This does not include the part that the three major families should "pay tribute" as affiliates of the Lin family. Those things are not the responsibility of the deacons. They are things at the foundation-building level and are only connected once every ten years.

"Okay, let's go!"

Toot~
This kind of tax that is settled once a year does not require the foundation-building cultivator to make a personal trip. The Lin family's own first-level cargo ship and the three major families' respective guard delivery ships can handle it.

Of course, not all taxes are in the form of spirit stones. As a circulating currency, it is not appropriate to keep all spirit stones in the Lin family's warehouse. On the contrary, they should be circulated in the market as much as possible, otherwise there will be deflation.

Therefore, only part of the tax is settled with spirit stones, and the rest is various goods, among which the various rare resources with gold, earth and fire attributes are the most critical.

Fish-Dragon Fairy City.

Toot~
The sound of the flutes continued one after another for a long time.

It seems that the original tones of winter's withering and silence have not been spread here. Instead, the Yulong Fairy City, which is supported by all the forces of all sizes in the Yulong Islands, appears more prosperous and eye-catching.

Looking at the endless stream of spirit boats, large and small, coming and going, Lin Qianfan believed that every member of the Lin family who saw this would feel proud.

Some people may say:

The prosperity of the Immortal City was built with the blood and tears of countless nameless low-level cultivators, and the Lin family is sucking their blood.

This is indeed true, but it is also totally wrong!
A stable world of immortal cultivation strictly follows the pyramid structure from bottom to top, and the superiors should receive labor support from the inferiors.

Otherwise, what is the point of practicing?

What is the point of having such powerful force?

If power is not for redistribution it is meaningless!
Therefore, Lin Qianfan fully admitted that the Lin family was sucking the blood of the Yulong Islands. This was natural! This was only natural!

Would the Ichthyosaur Islands be better off without the Lin family? In other words, what would become of the Ichthyosaur Islands if the Lin family hadn't brought order to them?

By then, everyone will be in danger, monks will have no intention of producing and practicing, mortals will gradually die out, spiritual energy will decline everywhere, and the Yulong Islands will become a hell on earth!

You have to understand that it is the Lin family's order that has brought peace and development to this area, and it is the Lin family's way of maintaining local balance.

If the Lin family were gone, there would only be constant disputes and attacks until the next "Lin family" appeared.

Therefore, as the order-giver, it is natural for the Lin family to accept the positive feedback from the entire Ichthyosaur Islands. This is not called bloodsucking, it is called reaping what you sow.

"Huh? Why is she here?"

As the spirit ship docked, various goods began to be counted and unloaded. Lin Qianfan actually saw Lin Qianxue, who was dressed in plain clothes, following an elder to learn how to manage taxes on the dock.

Female cultivators develop relatively early. In just one year, thirteen-year-old Lin Qianxue has grown taller and the baby fat on her face has disappeared. She looks more like a little adult than Xiaoshi.

"I didn't expect that such a gifted person would come to learn about general affairs. It seems that the core of Yulong Fairy City is still in good condition."

Many monks, especially those with certain talents, look down on the management of mundane affairs, believing that complicated interpersonal relationships and the organization of events will only hinder cultivation and are unorthodox.

In fact, this is not the case. Only a well-developed and overall positive and progressive force can expect an overall leap, otherwise it will always stay in the quagmire!

Therefore, the person in charge of a large force must understand the management of general affairs or hand over the management of general affairs to a very reliable person, otherwise the large force will quickly collapse under the chaos.

beep~~~
Just as Lin Qianfan was waiting for the handover and waiting to continue boarding the cargo ship to Yanglong Bay, a familiar and grand flute sound was heard.

"It's the Sea Hunter! Looks like there's no need to wait any longer."

Lin Qianfan immediately controlled the black iron sword to lift himself up and flew towards the sea hunter who was returning to the port and blowing the horn to report his safety to the Yulong Fairy City.

"It's him!"

Lin Qianxue had not noticed Lin Qianfan standing silently in the distance before, but it was because Lin Qianfan's flying speed on the sword was obviously different from that of ordinary people that she noticed it.

"It seems that no one has slacked off in their practice."

Lin Qianxue had already assumed the perspective and identity of the future helmsman of the Lin family, so naturally she would not have the prejudice against Yanglong Bay that other people in the Immortal City had. Any member of the Lin family was her people.

huh~
Lin Qianfan landed steadily on the deck of the Sea Hunter, as easily as returning home.

"Brother Qianfan!"

Lin Qianshan recognized Lin Qianfan the first time.

"How was the harvest?"

"Not bad! This year I went to the outskirts of the Blazing Caverns and saw all sorts of fire-attributed monsters. It was a good year."

The Blazing Molten Cave is located deeper in the Fire Iguana Islands. The fire-attribute resources there are considered hot commodities, and their prices are slightly higher than the excessively abundant water-attribute resources.

"Qianfan, you're back too."

"Uncle, you're tanned."

Work and lifestyle will change a person. Only one year has passed, but Lin Qianfan feels that his second uncle has become more cheerful from his expression and actions.

Toot~
When the boat arrived at the carp dragon fishing ground, the boatmen threw down large baskets of prey, and some relatively active carp dragon fish and even a small number of carp dragon fish monsters jumped out of the sea.

"You go too."

Lin Qianfan threw Yin Lin, who had been protesting in the spirit beast bag for three days, off the boat.

"Gudu~"

Yinlin was a little confused. This unfamiliar sea gave it a warm and friendly feeling. The monsters around it that looked very similar to it but different gave it an even more strange sense of familiarity. Is this the original hometown that the master talked about?

The source of all the carp dragon fish monsters in the entire Ichthyosaur Islands is the Carp Dragon Fishing Ground. If Silver Scale traces the origin, it will be the carp dragon fish monsters or their descendants that escaped from here.

Gudu~

The sudden appearance of Yin Lin also stunned the surrounding carp dragon fish monsters. This huge body, this streamlined and agile figure, this powerful momentum, and these unique scales, are simply the peerless genius among the carp dragon fish monsters!

Soon other carp, dragon and fish monsters came up, wanting to have an in-depth discussion about how to obtain the seeds of Silver Scale's positive mutation.

However, Yin Lin rejected all of them vehemently.

It still has lofty ambitions and cannot fall!
"Hey, where did you get such a rare item?"

The appearance of Silver Scale naturally attracted the attention of the boatmen on the boat. This kind of mutated carp dragon fish monster is quite rare.

"Your mutated carp dragon fish monster can be considered a foundation-building seed among fish monsters, right? I think it's not far from the second stage, just one opportunity away."

"lucky!"

Variation is actually not a positive word, but a neutral word.

Many mutations are for the worse, making the organism less suitable for survival.

Only a few mutations develop in a positive direction, but these mutations may not necessarily be successfully continued.

Silver Scale's mutation is mainly reflected in its oversized body size and super perception ability. Obviously, these two abilities can make it more adaptable to survival and are standard positive mutations.

Toot~
Compared to the bustling Yulong Fairy City, Yanglong Bay is quieter and has more of a lively atmosphere.

"Fan'er!"

Lin's father and mother didn't know when Lin Qianfan would come back. They just heard the sound of the flute today and came out to pick up their second uncle. They didn't expect Lin Qianfan to come back with them, which was a surprise for them.

"Dad, Mom, Second Uncle, you guys go back first. I have to go to the Fourth Elder first and will be home later." "Okay, go ahead. Dinner will be waiting for you."

Family General Affairs Hall.

As soon as Lin Qianfan saw the Fourth Elder, he began to describe in detail his work as a supervisory deacon for the past year.

Although Lin Qianfan didn't work very much, he had a clear idea of what work he was supposed to do and he spoke in a coherent and logical manner.

“…After my verification…there is no problem!”

"It's truly remarkable that despite the sudden typhoon and demonic disasters this year, you were able to collect tax revenue on time and in full. Your subsequent handling of the situation has also been commendable."

"It's all because of the support given by the family."

"Have you seen the final tax list?"

"I've checked. Due to the typhoon, the spiritual objects turned in were unevenly distributed. The insufficient quantities of some categories were compensated with other spiritual objects. I've checked, and the total value is correct."

"Well, let's take some time to look at the lists from previous years."

"Lists from previous years? Is there something wrong with them?"

Lin Qianfan keenly discovered that there was something else behind the Fourth Elder's words.

"There is a problem and there is no problem. It depends on how you understand it."

Lin Qianfan was confused. The Fourth Elder's words implied that there was a problem with the taxation, but he did not specify what the problem was. It was obvious that he was testing Lin Qianfan.

Lin Qianfan quickly found all the settlement lists for the past fifteen years and conducted a comprehensive analysis of the data.

Wind disasters do not occur every year. Wind disasters that can affect the production and operation of an area are rare in a century, so some subtle problems can be discovered by analyzing long-term data.

“It’s true that the number of items in some categories is too small, and the number of items in some categories is slightly exceeded, but the total value and amount are correct.”

For a system with multiple people involved and a layered structure, this deviation is not a big deal. The problem is why it happens every year?

Lin Qianfan used the privileges of the supervisory deacon to retrieve data from fifteen years ago for comparative analysis.

"Huh? Why is it wrong every year?"

Lin Qianfan continued to check and found that deviations had appeared hundreds of years ago, and even deviations had become the norm.

"Purple copper, black iron, silver essence... have been missing one after another..."

"They are all worthless spiritual gold deposits..."

"The only thing they have in common is..."

"The rank can be upgraded?!"

Lin Qianfan, whose knowledge far exceeds that of ordinary Qi-refining cultivators, analyzed the problem based solely on the data on the document.

"Why did the Li family secretly intercept this spiritual gold? Smuggle it out? That doesn't make sense. These things are not valuable. Could it be?"

"Hi~"

First-level spiritual golds like black iron and purple copper are very basic materials. Their deposits are widely distributed, their value is average, and their applications are extremely large. They involve all aspects of the world of immortal cultivation, and no one often cares whether there is more or less of them.

But they actually have a hidden feature, which is that they can be tempered, compressed and fused into higher-level materials.

For example, a large amount of first-grade copper can be upgraded to a small amount of second-grade copper, becoming the material for refining spiritual weapons.

However, this process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the results are not worth it. Unless one has extremely high skills and it is necessary, one can directly use second-level materials, which is convenient and worry-free, so it is often overlooked.

but,

What if the other party's goal is to upgrade to a third-level material at any cost? This is a terrifying thought!

"A year ago, the Fourth Elder arranged for me to go to the Four Eastern Islands as a supervisory deacon. I'm afraid it was to investigate this matter."

"But the sudden onset of the typhoon disrupted this year's data, so I didn't notice this anomaly."

Lin Qianfan found the fourth elder again with this idea.

"You came back sooner than I expected."

The fourth elder had obviously guessed that Lin Qianfan would return, and it seemed that he was very optimistic about Lin Qianfan's abilities.

"Tell me what you think."

"The three major families, or more precisely, the Li family, have a secret. They are secretly collecting these insignificant basic spiritual golds, and their ambitions are great."

"I've researched the past five hundred years, and this incident started over four hundred years ago. The deviation has always been small, and it was done very secretly. Over time, the deviations have overwhelmed the normal data and become the norm."

"Although one year is short, the accumulated deviation over hundreds of years is already terrifying. And that period was when the independent cultivator Mi family suddenly rose to power and occupied Fengling Island."

"From this, we can surmise that there might be some kind of connection between the Mi and Li families. We can even speculate that the Mi family might be under the control of the Li family. If we were to make a further bold guess, we could even say that the Mi family might be a branch of the Li family."

"And the Le family..."

Lin Qianfan spoke freely to the four elders and told them all the possible guesses, which was also a demonstration of his reasoning ability.

"Yes, I think the same thing. I've noticed this problem since I became the general affairs elder, but the Li family has managed the four eastern islands very well. They have always been very stable and have never revealed any intentions from the beginning to the end."

"Elder, is there a problem with the tribute payment that is settled once every ten years?"

“There were no problems, everything was on time and in the right quantity without any deviation.”

"That's strange."

"This is what I've been wondering about for years. They can't use it themselves, and there's no evidence of smuggling it abroad. So where did all this spiritual gold go?"

"Elder, do you want me to investigate this matter in detail?"

"It's just a casual move."

"As ordered!"

"No need to be so formal. Your main task right now is to practice hard and strive to establish your foundation as soon as possible."

It was already dark when he left the General Affairs Hall, but Lin Qianfan did not go home immediately. Instead, he came to Uncle Gui's house.

"When did you come back?"

"In the afternoon, I went to the Fourth Elder first."

"You have a heart."

Uncle Gui only has him and his wife at home. Although the charcoal in the stove is burning warmly, it lacks some vitality and energy.

"It's Qianfan~"

"Come on, don't bring so many things next time. Now is the time for you to save money."

"Aunt, it's okay. They're just specialties from the four eastern islands. They're not worth much."

Lin Qianfan knew that they would not want anything too expensive, so he took practical and affordable things so that they would find it difficult to refuse.

"Have a heart."

On the way out of Uncle Gui's house, Lin Qianfan suddenly thought of the Xiaoshi siblings who depended on each other for some reason.

"Let's go and see them some other day. I don't know if they can adapt."

It was already very late when Lin Qianfan returned home.

But the food was still hot because Lin's father, mother and second uncle were still waiting for Lin Qianfan to start eating.

This is home!

　The editor came to me in the evening and told me not to post 3-word chapters, as it would be easy to get stuck later, so I combined five chapters into three, totaling 3 words, just over 4.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)