Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17: Is This What They Call the Butterfly Effect?
The next day, after another long period of work, Jiang Xu had finally collected all the grain from his Spirit Rice.
He packed them into about twenty sacks, with each sack containing roughly one hundred pounds.
Spirit Rice is harvested twice a year, once in summer and once in winter.
The annual tax to be paid to the Sect’s General Affairs Hall was 2,400 pounds, submitted in two installments corresponding to the harvest seasons.
The summer harvest’s yield is slightly higher than the winter harvest’s, so this time he had to pay a tax of 1,400 pounds.
In previous years, his harvest around this time would be about 1,700 pounds, leaving him with a surplus of 300 pounds.
But this time, thanks to his Skilled Stage Spirit Rain Technique and the Mother-Child Spirit-Devouring Insect having killed all the pests in advance,
Jiang Xu’s Spirit Rice yield had increased by nearly twenty percent.
He harvested a total of roughly 1,950 pounds, leaving a surplus of 550 pounds.
This couldn’t help but make Jiang Xu’s face light up with delight.
Five hundred fifty pounds... That was roughly fifty-five Spirit Stones.
Adding the twenty Spirit Stones he received for his promotion to the Outer Sect, Jiang Xu would have seventy-five Spirit Stones.
’Such a huge sum... I can finally afford the Magic I’ve been wanting to buy. I might even be able to get one or two Magical Artifacts...’
However, now was not the time to daydream.
Jiang Xu moved the six sacks of Spirit Rice—all that remained after setting aside the fourteen sacks for taxes—back into his house.
He left only the fourteen sacks of Spirit Rice outside, waiting for the Outer Disciple from the General Affairs Hall who would come to collect them.
After storing everything away, Jiang Xu seemed to realize something. He turned, went back into his house, and brought out a bag containing fifty pounds of Spirit Rice. He then transferred twenty pounds of it into a separate bag.
’By my calculations, they should be here in another two days.’
For the next two days, Jiang Xu had to stand guard by the Spirit Rice at all times, to prevent any servants from taking this opportunity to cause trouble.
Although the Profound Origin Sect’s punishments for such offenses were extremely severe, there were always those who were willing to take their chances.
True enough.
The Cultivation World did have things similar to the surveillance systems of his past life, and they were even more powerful.
But a mere servant like Jiang Xu had absolutely no access to such things.
Unless the culprit was caught red-handed, you basically had to just accept your misfortune.
Of course, the chances of something like that happening were very slim.
In any case, in the past five years, Jiang Xu had only heard stories of it happening; he had never experienced it himself.
...
"Senior Brother, this is the 1,400 pounds of Spirit Rice I need to turn in. Please inspect it."
Two days later, Jiang Xu, who had long since suppressed his Cultivation to appear as though he were only at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, bowed respectfully to a gaunt young man.
The gaunt young man was dressed in the blue robes of an Outer Disciple. He smiled and nodded.
"Junior Brother, you’re too polite. My name is Xu Hongfeng, an Outer Disciple of the General Affairs Hall. I’m here today on a Sect mission to collect the servants’ tax. Here are my credentials."
With that, he took out a Token and infused it with a trace of Magical Power.
A small, glowing sigil materialized on the Token, emitting a strange ripple of energy.
This was the proof of identity issued by the General Affairs Hall to Outer Disciples dispatched to collect the Spirit Rice tax.
Jiang Xu observed it carefully and saw that it was identical to the ones he remembered from previous years. Confirming the man before him was no imposter, he finally relaxed.
"Zone D Spirit Field, Servant Disciple number twenty-eight, Jiang Xu. You cultivate five acres of Spirit Fields, crop is Spirit Rice, tax due is 1,400 pounds. Does Junior Brother have any objections?"
"I have no objections."
"Good."
Xu Hongfeng then retrieved a palm-sized golden dipper from the Storage Bag at his waist. With a casual toss, it floated in mid-air.
Xu Hongfeng then instructed Jiang Xu to open all fourteen grain sacks.
Once they were open, the golden dipper floating in the air suddenly began to whirl rapidly. A suction force emanated from within, and all the Spirit Rice from the sacks on the ground flowed in a continuous stream into the golden dipper, drawn in by the pull.
Watching the palm-sized golden dipper absorb the Spirit Rice, Jiang Xu couldn’t help but marvel at how truly wondrous the artifacts of Cultivation were.
’What kind of power can fit Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed?’
’Could it be... the fourth dimension?’
’Is the Cultivation World actually a higher-dimensional one?’
Jiang Xu couldn’t figure it out.
After all, he was only in the Qi Cultivation Realm.
The golden dipper absorbed the Spirit Rice with incredible speed. In just two or three minutes, Jiang Xu’s fourteen sacks of Spirit Rice had vanished without a trace.
And yet, the rice barely covered the bottom of the golden dipper.
"One thousand four hundred pounds of Spirit Rice. The amount is correct. All collected."
Xu Hongfeng retrieved the small golden dipper, returned it to his Storage Bag, and then took out a ledger. He made a couple of marks in the book with a brush, completing the record.
After finishing, Xu Hongfeng didn’t leave. Instead, he cleared his throat with a soft cough.
Jiang Xu took the hint immediately, hastily presenting the bag with twenty pounds of Spirit Rice he had prepared.
"Senior Brother, this is the customary fee for this season. Please, take a look."
Xu Hongfeng took the bag of Spirit Rice, hefted it in his hand, and said:
"It’s not enough."
"Not enough?" Jiang Xu cried out in surprise. "Hasn’t it always been twenty pounds before?"
Xu Hongfeng’s expression instantly darkened.
"Hmph. This time, the fee is an extra ten pounds of Spirit Rice. No exceptions!"
Seeing the look on his face, Jiang Xu quickly fetched another ten pounds of Spirit Rice, bagged it, and handed it over.
"This Junior Brother was merely surprised, not unwilling to pay. It’s just that, logically, since the recent insect plague caused disaster and reduced the yield of the Spirit Fields, the fee should have been lowered. Instead, it has been raised. This is truly difficult for me to understand. I was hoping Senior Brother might be able to enlighten me?"
"Fine. Since you didn’t dawdle, I’ll give you the short version."
Seeing Jiang Xu hand over the extra ten pounds of Spirit Rice so readily, Xu Hongfeng’s expression softened once more:
"This recent insect plague caused a talented Inner Sect Disciple’s Qi Sea to rupture, completely destroying their Cultivation. Without a Miracle Elixir, they’ll never be able to practice Cultivation again—they’ll be reduced to a common mortal.
Normally, something like this is quite common. Plenty of geniuses fall every year, and the Sect wouldn’t usually make a big fuss over one person.
The problem was, this disciple was only out there exterminating the plague because they had accepted a Sect mission.
And that Sect mission was issued by the General Affairs Hall."
Jiang Xu blinked, a sudden suspicion forming in his mind.
’Could it be...?’
At this, Xu Hongfeng sighed.
"Because of that, the Inner Sect Disciple’s master came looking for the General Affairs Hall. He claimed the intelligence provided for the mission was inaccurate and accused the Hall of colluding with other sects to secretly harm a genius of our own Sect.
Anyone with eyes could see it was baseless nonsense, but what could we do? The other party is an Elder from Celestial Sword Peak—immensely powerful, utterly unreasonable, and notoriously protective of his own.
The General Affairs Hall had no choice but to pay him a huge sum of Spirit Stones just to get him to back down."
Hearing this, Jiang Xu couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat on Shen Ji’s behalf.
’For her to have returned safely, her luck must be truly profound...’ frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Xu Hongfeng’s eyes grew red around the rims:
"Where do you think the General Affairs Hall got the Spirit Stones to pay that Elder? They took it from us, the disciples under the Hall’s authority! Because of this, all of our monthly stipends have been slashed!"
