Eternal Immortal Dynasty: Starting as a Petty Official

Chapter 103 The Decline of the Yan Family (Seeking First Subscription!)

After ten days of continuous work, the collection of land taxes was finally completed.

As night fell, Zhao Xian and other village officials gathered in the front courtyard office. Before long, Cao Miao, the village assistant, arrived.

"We pay our respects to Lord Cao!"

Zhao Xian and the others immediately bowed to Cao Miao.

"Please rise, gentlemen!"

Cao Miao stepped forward and gently helped the group up, and they immediately stood up.

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days, Bozhang!"

Cao Miao looked at Zhao Xian and said with a smile.

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Cao. It's just my duty; there's no need to complain about the hardship!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian immediately replied.

After saying this, Zhao Xian stepped aside, and the other village officials also stepped aside.

Seven or eight bamboo baskets appeared in front of Cao Miao, and under the candlelight, the baskets emitted a dazzling golden light.

"Lord Cao, that's a total of 105,000 talisman coins!"

Zhao Xian stepped forward at the opportune moment and said respectfully.

"Um!"

Cao Miao nodded slightly. Although it was a bit worse than in previous years, he didn't care much.

After all, not a single coin of the talisman money that belonged to him would be missing.

"Following the usual practice, 28,000 talisman coins will be given to Mr. Chen. I will take 14,000 talisman coins, keep 14,000 talisman coins for the village's public use, and the rest you may divide among yourselves!"

Cao Miao glanced at it and then spoke without hesitation.

"Cao Jun is brilliant!"

Zhao Xian and the others immediately bowed in respect, and then three minor officials stepped forward to count the talisman money.

After counting the talisman money belonging to Chen Yuancheng, Cao Miao, and the village communal, Zhao Xian arranged for people to deliver the three baskets of talisman money to their designated places.

"Lord Zhao, there are still 49,600 talisman coins left."

Another minor official stepped forward and said with a smile.

"Besides Chen Jun and Cao Jun, there are twelve other village officials. Each of us will receive four thousand coins, and the remaining one thousand six hundred coins will be distributed among the village soldiers and laborers." Zhao Xian looked around at the village officials, then smiled faintly. "Since His Majesty is eating meat, we will drink some soup and water, and share some of the oil and grease with these few."

"Lord Zhao is merciful!"

Upon hearing this, the village officials, whether they liked it or not, all offered a flattering remark.

After taking the four thousand talisman coins that were rightfully his, Zhao Xian returned to his room and began to plan how to use them.

There was still one bottle of Essence Pills left, enough for a month of cultivation. However, after taking Essence Pills for six months, Zhao Xian also noticed that the cultivation benefits they provided were somewhat reduced.

"Could it be that, like in my previous life, I've developed drug resistance?"

Zhao Xian pondered this in his heart.

The Essence Pill is considered a fairly good pill among mid-stage Qi Refining pills, suitable for the vast majority of mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

If one stops taking Essence Pills, then one can only buy some elixirs suitable for cultivators with fire-attribute spiritual roots.

These types of elixirs are naturally more expensive than highly adaptable elixirs like the Essence Elixir.

"Perhaps I should go to the market in the county!"

Rongtai County naturally has its own market town, which is located on Daqingshan Mountain outside the county seat. It was built by several cultivation families in the county, such as the Chen family and the Liu family.

Some spiritual items for spiritual practice can only be bought in the market.

The Xu family of Wohu Township also has several shops in the market, but the Yan family doesn't have any shops there. Zhao Xian only found out this when Xu Dekun mentioned it casually.

Ultimately, although the Yan family has been prosperous for a century, it is not a family that practices cultivation.

With this in mind, Zhao Xian quietly took out the hidden box he had concealed under the bed, opened it, and found a layer of low-grade spirit stones that shimmered with a faint spiritual light inside.

Zhao Xian took them out one by one, counted them, and found that there were exactly one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

One hundred low-grade spirit stones may seem like a lot, but they can only buy two bottles of Essence Pills.

In addition, Zhao Xian bought several bushels of spirit rice for his family in the past few months, which really cost a lot of spirit stones.

"I need to exchange these talisman coins for low-grade spirit stones. With these hundred low-grade spirit stones, I should be able to buy two bottles of cultivation pills."

"With these two bottles of cultivation elixirs, plus the Essence Pill, I should be able to advance to the sixth level of Qi Refining by March of next year!"

Suppressing his thoughts, Zhao Xian also sat cross-legged on the bed and continued practicing meditation.

"Bo Zhang, it's been a month since I last saw you, and your cultivation has become even more profound!"

Summoned by Chen Yuancheng, Zhao Xian went to the backyard. As soon as he stepped into the hall, he heard a familiar voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian looked up and saw a familiar figure.

"Bo Zhang greets Lord Qi!"

Zhao Xian immediately bowed to the scholar in the green robe seat on the right.

"Haha, Bozhang's politeness makes me even more envious of Mr. Chen!"

Upon seeing this, Qi Lian immediately smiled and teased Zhao Xian.

Zhao Xian smiled smugly, bowed to Chen Yuancheng in the main seat, and then walked towards the left-hand seat.

After Zhao Xian sat down, Wang Cong immediately closed the door and then withdrew, standing guard outside the door with Zhao Cheng and the other two.

Seeing this, Zhao Xian's smile vanished, and he sat upright in his seat, waiting for Chen Yuancheng to speak.

Unexpectedly, Qi Lian glanced at Chen Yuancheng, then looked at Zhao Xian and said first, "A month ago, the Yunling demon clan launched a surprise attack on Zhenyao Pass, and Zhenyao Pass almost fell!"

"What!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian exclaimed in shock, half-rising to his feet with an expression of disbelief on his face. He then turned to Chen Yuancheng, "Mr. Chen, is this true?"

"Brother Qi has just returned from Zhenyao Pass!"

Chen Yuancheng immediately replied in a solemn voice.

"Lord Qi, what is the current situation at Zhenyao Pass?" Zhao Xianfu turned to Qi Lian and asked in a solemn voice.

"The Yunlan Sect has dispatched a Golden Core cultivator, along with several true disciples and dozens of inner disciples, to Zhenyao Pass to support the garrison. They have already repelled the demon offensive!" Qi Lian continued. "In this battle, the Zhenyao Pass garrison suffered heavy losses, and most of us rogue cultivators hunting demons in Yunling were also killed or wounded!"

"If it weren't for the spiritual talisman bestowed upon me by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I would never have escaped the pursuit of the demon race!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian fell into deep thought. Seeing Zhao Xian pondering, Chen Yuancheng and the other two also remained silent.

"Mr. Chen, are that tiger demon and that bird demon related to this matter?"

After pondering for a while, Zhao Xian raised his head to look at Chen Yuancheng and asked in a low voice.

"They must be demons from Yunling!"

Chen Yuancheng replied without hesitation.

"Rongtai County is adjacent to Yunling. If the demons of Yunling break through the Demon-Suppressing Pass and advance eastward to Qingzhou, Rongtai County will likely be destroyed by them in an instant!"

"At that time~"

At this point, Zhao Xian paused, a hint of fear showing in his eyes.

Demons love to eat people!

At that time, the entire Rongtai County will be a living hell!

"Zhenyao Pass has stood for a thousand years and is not so easy to break through. Bozhang, do not lose your composure."

Seeing that Zhao Xian was very frightened, Qi Lian couldn't help but say a word of comfort.

"However, Rongtai County is adjacent to Yunling, and there may be scattered monsters appearing in Rongtai County, just like that tiger demon, causing evil."

Changing the subject, Qi Lian spoke again in a deep voice.

"In the dead of winter, wild animals are scarce in the mountains. If a monster were to escape into Wohu Township, the wild animals in the mountains would not be able to satisfy its hunger, and it would surely wreak havoc on the village." Upon hearing this, Chen Yuancheng nodded slightly and looked at Zhao Xian, "Bozhang, you will have to work harder from now on and lead a few people to patrol the mountains."

"Bo Zhang respectfully obeys Lord Chen's command!"

Zhao Xian immediately stood up and agreed to the matter.

"Bo Zhang, although the Yunling demon clan's surprise attack on Zhenyao Pass caused heavy losses to the garrison, there is one thing that is very advantageous to us!"

With his expression softening somewhat, Qi Lianfu looked at Zhao Xian again, keeping him in suspense.

"Lord Qi, what is it?"

"The true disciple of the Yunlan Sect behind the Yan family is among the reinforcements sent by the Yunlan Sect this time!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian's expression changed slightly, and he fell into deep thought.

"Bozhang, don't let this get to anyone else. Just wait patiently!"

Seeing the uncertain expression on Zhao Xian's face, Chen Yuancheng had no choice but to offer a word of advice.

"Bo Zhang will certainly remember Chen Jun's instructions!"

Zhao Xian rose again and bowed.

After chatting with Qi Lian and Chen Yuancheng for a while, Zhao Xian finally got up and left.

After Zhao Xian left, the hall immediately fell silent.

"The Yunling demon clan's surprise attack on Zhenyao Pass, is it related to you?"

After a long silence, Chen Yuancheng looked at Qi Lian and asked calmly.

"Yuan Cheng, we are also human cultivators, how could we do such a thing!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Lian immediately chuckled and shook his head repeatedly in denial.

"For us, the best outcome would be for both the Yunlan Sect and the Yunling Demon Clan to suffer heavy losses!"

A few days later, Cao Miao, the village official, led Zhao Xian and others to escort the collected money and grain towards the county seat.

The same applies to the other villages.

As a result, the official road was filled with the noise of people and the neighing of horses, with carriages lined up in long queues.

Wohu Township is quite far from Rongtai County. The group set off early in the morning and did not arrive in the county until sunset.

Outside the city gate, numerous carriages were lined up in a long queue.

Cao Miao had served as a village official for more than ten years and was very experienced in escorting money and grain. Seeing this situation, he knew that they would not be able to enter the city tonight.

He then ordered Zhao Xian and others to lead the carriage to a sheltered spot outside the city to set up camp.

As night fell, Zhao Xian and his men lit a campfire, set up earthenware pots, and cooked rice porridge, while the caravans from the other villages began to find places to set up camp.

The next morning, the group finally lined up in their horse-drawn carriages to enter the city.

The official granary was located to the east of the county government office and was under the jurisdiction of the granary clerk. There were also twenty county soldiers responsible for guarding the granary.

Cao Miao and the granary official were quite familiar with each other. The two chatted idly, while Zhao Xian counted the money and grain with the granary official and directed the cart drivers to move the money and grain into the granary.

After a busy half-day, I finally finished paying this year's land tax.

As noon approached, it was no longer possible for the convoy to return to Wohu Township that day.

Cao Miao took out a handful of talisman coins and handed them to the coachmen leader, preparing some food for them. Then, the village officials and the granary officials went to the county tavern.

After a hearty drinking and eating session, Cao Miao and other village officials rested in a side courtyard of the granary.

Zhao Xian asked Cao Miao for half a day of free time to prepare to go to the Daqingshan market outside the city.

The Daqingshan Market was established by the three major clans of Chen, Liu and Zhu in the county, together with other smaller clans. It has been in existence for hundreds of years and is the only market in Rongtai County.

The market town is always staffed by Foundation Establishment cultivators, and it also has a law enforcement team, so the public security in the market town is quite good.

In addition, there is a miniature spiritual vein on Daqing Mountain, and the market built on this foundation is naturally quite attractive to independent cultivators.