Chapter 142 Giving Spiritual Stones

When Liu Xiaozhi learned that the new leader of the Jinmen Immortal Palace had arrived in Zhongzhou Prefecture, he hurriedly took his subordinates to greet him.

Watching the monks on the cloud boat slowly disembarking, the person leading them had a calm and solemn demeanor, and he must be the sect leader.

Liu Xiaozhi waved his hand gently, signaling his subordinates to stop. He then walked to the front of the cloud boat and bowed his hand in greeting, "Zhongzhou Governor Liu Xiaozhi, greetings to the Sect Master."

The leader smiled brightly. "Master Liuzhou, there's no need to be so formal. I'm Elder Xujun of the Spirit Sword Sect. Your master arrived in the city last night and must have already mingled with the people of Zhongzhou. We've been ordered to escort one hundred female cultivators to Dongzhou. We'll remain here for a day. Master Liuzhou, please take the trouble to arrange everything you need."

Liu Xiaozhi was stunned. The sect leader had already arrived in the city?

Although he had heard about what had happened in the Jinmen Immortal Palace recently, he didn't know much about the real situation.

I originally thought that the new leader would be easy to fool, and I had already prepared a large gift to offer as a tribute so that I could continue to sit firmly on the throne of the state leader and enjoy power.

However, he didn't expect that the sect leader would take the initiative and quietly enter the city for a private visit. If she knew about the loss of the batch of spirit stones or the news of Muchen's escape, it would be disastrous.

But now that things have come to this, there is no other way. He can only pray that his subordinates can quickly retrieve the batch of spirit stones that were robbed by Yongye and catch the escaped Liu Muchen.

Thinking of this, Liu Xiaozhi smiled and said, "Spiritual tea has been prepared in the mansion. Elders and immortal masters, please come in and rest for a while." As he said that, he welcomed Elder Xujun and others into the mansion.

The crowds of onlookers on the nearby streets saw the cultivator collect his cloud boat and enter Zhongzhou Prefecture, and they all began to discuss the matter excitedly.

"These immortals are truly extraordinary. What's strange is why they are all female cultivators."

"You don't know this, these fairies are all sent to the Demon Realm!"

"I see. That's really pitiful."

"I said it's useless to send girls to practice. Girls are not as smart as boys. Nine out of ten will fail the test, and those who pass will only receive this treatment."

"Speaking of which, my boy is also training in the academy right now. If he can successfully pass the next assessment and be admitted to the sect, it will be a great honor for our family!"

"Who says it's not? It's just that being admitted to a sect is a one in a million opportunity, it's not that easy. I didn't even expect my son to have such good fortune. I would be satisfied if he could find a job in Zhongzhou Prefecture."

"What level has he reached in his cultivation now?"

"I have already reached the first level of Qi training!" The person who spoke looked proud.

"That's really great! He's on the path to becoming an immortal. My family has been practicing for half a year and still hasn't been able to draw Qi into his body!"

The two men were talking so excitedly that they didn't notice that there were two ordinary-dressed women sitting under the eaves of the teahouse behind them. One of them raised her hand to push up the straw hat on her head, revealing a plain and indifferent face. It was Qiu Qianling, and the one sitting next to her, drinking tea quietly, was Chi Luo.

Qiu Qianling listened to the discussions around him, a trace of anger in his eyes, "Idiot!"

She did not lower her voice, and her words naturally fell into the ears of the two middle-aged women.

The two turned around and saw Qiu Qianling looking at them coldly, with undisguised contempt in his eyes. They immediately became angry, "You little girl, who are you calling stupid?"

Qiu Qianling sneered, "You're just following men's lead, saying women are ignorant. You think you're degrading others, but you don't realize you're actually humiliating yourselves. If you don't even understand this, what are you but an idiot?"

"You—!" The middle-aged woman's face flushed red. For a moment, she couldn't think of any rebuttal, so she stiffened her neck and said, "Yes, I just like to call myself stupid. What's it to you? What? Don't women even have the freedom to call themselves stupid? Even the Lord of the State is not as domineering as you!"

Her companion pulled her aside and said, "Forget it, let's go. This little girl is so young and already has so much resentment. Who knows how miserable her life must be. Let's not bother with her."

The two turned and left. Qiu Qianling slammed the table in anger, "How can there be such ignorant people?"

She originally thought that apart from revenge for her mother, nothing else in the world could touch her heart.

But this morning, when she followed Chi Lan to visit Zhongzhou City, she was repeatedly angered by the people in the city and her forehead veins bulged several times.

As for the rebels who could not bear the heavy tax on spirit stones and asked the Eternal Night Organization for help in escaping, they said that they were a group of degenerate women who only wanted to enjoy themselves without giving anything in return.

Regarding the governor's daughter who escaped late at night, they insisted that the young lady had either eloped with a man or been seduced by Yongye's people.

They believed that the demons they had never seen before were man-eating monsters, and they even made up nursery rhymes to scare little girls, making them afraid to go out for fear of being captured and eaten by the demons.

As for the state lord Liu Xiaozhi, who levied spirit stone taxes every year, they admired him immensely, thinking that he was a young, promising, handsome, elegant man who loved his people like his own children!

Even though this wonderful man had just asked them to cut open his flesh and blood and offer him the spirit pearl, their faces were still filled with sincere and warm smiles when they talked about him, as if the pain of taking the pearl was not worth mentioning at all.

After all, which woman doesn't want to offer spiritual beads as an offering? What's there to be pretentious about?

When Qiu Qianling longed for the love of Shi Zhenlin and Shi Zhuoyue in the past, she had never belittled herself to this extent. She really couldn't understand it.

Before going to the Jinmen Immortal Palace, she had been living with Qiu Min in a remote mountain forest, so she was not sensitive to the malice that the world inflicted on women.

However, ever since she realized the hypocrisy of the immortals, she has been able to see through their despicable tactics at a glance.

She believed that even if she killed all the immortals now, no one would be wronged!

Qiu Qianling was filled with resentment, but she was powerless to do anything. She turned around and saw Chi Lan still leisurely drinking her tea, which made her even more angry. She really didn't know what was so good about the taste of this crude tea.

She angrily asked, "Why aren't you angry? As a woman, and as the leader of the Golden Gate Immortal Mansion, don't you feel sad for having such ignorant subjects?"

Chi Li paused in her toast, looked up at Qiu Qianling, and let out a low laugh, "Qianling...are you questioning me?"

"I..." Qiu Qianling caught the teasing in her indifferent eyes and was slightly startled. What happened to her just now?

This man is her enemy and the leader of the immortal clan. How can she expect a butcher to seek justice for the prey under her knife?

Seeing her confused expression, Chi Qi raised the corners of her mouth even more. As expected, even if Qiu Qianling tried his best to pretend to be calm in front of her, he would still inadvertently reveal his innocent side.

However, wasting your energy on people who are not worthy is not a good thing.

She chuckled softly and said, "They themselves are not angry, so why should Qian Ling bother herself? You know, where there is oppression, there is resistance. If there is no resistance, it is either not oppression, or the oppression is not enough."

After saying that, she put down the teacup in her hand, stood up, and walked out of the teahouse. "Let's go, it's time to meet Lord Liuzhou."

Qiu Qianling frowned fiercely, a flicker of resentment in his eyes. Wasn't the oppression enough? Even the spiritual beads that gave him his life force and lifespan had been completely stripped away. Wasn't that enough? What would be enough?

She looked up at Chi Qi's back as she walked into the sunlight. Her tall and straight figure was like a bamboo, extremely cold and aloof, with a faint sense of alienation.

No wonder they say you can't judge a book by its cover. Just by looking at her appearance, how can you guess how cold-blooded and despicable she is inside?

Qiu Qianling gritted her teeth. Sooner or later, she would reveal her hypocritical face in front of the whole world!

She followed Chi Luan, and the two of them entered the governor's mansion.

Liu Xiaozhi was drinking spiritual tea with Elder Xujun, hoping that he would say something good about him in front of the sect. When he heard the servant announce that the sect master had arrived, he panicked and dropped the teacup in his hand and hurried out to greet him.

The current sect leader and a monk in green walked in slowly. They were not arrogant at all and their expressions were friendly and amiable. They did not look like they knew about the robbery of the spirit stones.

He immediately felt relaxed and welcomed Chi Li and Qiu Qianling into the hall. He then took out the prepared gift - a whole box of high-level spirit stones.

"Please accept it, Sect Master." Liu Xiaozhi's face was full of smiles. He was still very confident about his appearance.

Moreover, he believed that no monk in the world could refuse such a great gift.

As he expected, the new sect leader's eyes lit up when he saw the spirit stone. He immediately smiled and put the spirit stone into his storage bag.

Now, the heavy stone in Liu Xiaozhi's heart has completely fallen to the ground. It seems that he can sit firmly on the position of the governor again.

Just as he was feeling proud of himself, he suddenly heard the sect leader ask him, "Master Liuzhou, how is the collection of spirit stones going this year? Can it be handed in by the end of this month?"

Liu Xiaozhi's body suddenly stiffened, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. "Sect Master, this...isn't it usually paid at the end of the year?"

Chi Li glanced over coldly, "The past years are the past years. Now that I am in charge of the sect, the rules are naturally mine."

"Also, the amount of spirit stones collected must be increased. Last year's battle in Dongzhou resulted in heavy losses for our Immortal Clan. To avoid a repeat of the same mistake, we naturally need more spirit stones to help the cultivators cultivate. Furthermore, since Grandmaster Gongsun is at a critical juncture in his cultivation, the amount of spirit stones he needs will double. Therefore, we must collect at least double the amount of spirit stones this year!"

Liu Xiaozhi's face turned pale immediately. Most of the spiritual mines in the state had been mined out. If he wanted to double the amount, where would he get so many spiritual stones?

He spoke with great embarrassment, "Sect Master, suddenly levying so many spirit stones would be too much of a burden on the people. I'm afraid it would be difficult..."

Chi Li snorted coldly, "If you can't even meet this requirement, how can you even talk about serving the Immortal Clan? I think the position of the State Lord should be replaced by someone else."

Liu Xiaozhi didn't dare to argue, and hurriedly said, "I can do it, absolutely. I'll collect all the spirit stones and hand them over next month!"

Chi Li then turned her anger into joy and nodded with satisfaction, "I believe Lord Liuzhou will not let me down."

After saying that, she stood up and left the hall, and Qiu Qianling followed her out.

Liu Xiaozhi watched the two figures disappear at the door, then raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

A subordinate standing by worriedly said, "Sir, raising taxes like this will only cause unrest!"

"Unrest? You mean those women will resist?" Liu Xiaozhi laughed as if he had heard something funny. "You're overthinking it. They're like docile sheep. Even if you ask them to die, they'll just jump into the river obediently, let alone just asking them to give up a few more spirit beads."

The subordinate shook his head. "No, sir, I mean the men. We take more, so they get less from the women. And they've all trained in physical skills, so some are very strong. If they really start to make trouble, it's no joke."

Liu Xiaozhi's expression turned serious. "Well, that's true. We need to be more cautious and make more military preparations."

Led by the servants of the governor's mansion, Chi Li and Qiu Qianling came to the luxurious room prepared for them by Liu Xiaozhi.

Chi Li sat on the soft brocade-covered bed, leaning against the bed rails, and said to Qiu Qianling, "I need to rest for a while. You can also leave. You don't have to stay with me."

Qiu Qianling stood still, his hands hanging at his sides clenched, his nails digging into his palms.

She tried to hold it back in her heart, but couldn't help herself. Suppressing her anger, she asked, "Why are you levying an additional spiritual stone? This will make their lives even more difficult."

Chi Li propped her cheek with her palm and squinted her eyes at Qiu Qianling, "Oh? Then what do you think I should do?"

Qiu Qianling gritted his teeth. Is there any need to ask?

"Of course, we should reduce the spiritual stone tax and alleviate the burden and suffering of women. This is what the immortals should do!"

Chi Li smiled slightly and said, "But weren't you very angry just now? Why are you concerned about them now? I'm venting my anger for you."

What? Qiu Qianling couldn't believe she would say such shameless words. She really underestimated the meanness of this woman.

She turned her head away angrily, "I appreciate your kindness, mother, but I don't need you to vent my anger in this way."

So, don't act like you care about me!

The immortals are so hypocritical!

"Then just think of it as my own wishful thinking. My good daughter is going to the Demon Realm. I am really worried about her fate." Chi Li sighed softly.

Qiu Qianling got goosebumps all over her body and could no longer stay in this room with Chi Li. Otherwise, she was afraid that she would not be able to control herself and would fight with her.

What's even more hateful is that she is not her opponent.

"Mom, have a good rest. I won't disturb you!" Qiu Qianling said quickly, turned around and left.

Chi Qi watched her fleeing from the room and couldn't help laughing.

It's getting more and more interesting.

I hope this child will always be wary of her. After all, she is really cold-blooded and despicable.

Otherwise, how could she take the initiative to levy additional spirit stones?

I really want to know to what extent the cowardly human race will be oppressed before they rise up in resistance.

Or is it that their limit of tolerance is so bottomless that when the cruel butcher's knife falls, they will embrace death with a smile.

Chi Li looked at the bright sunshine outside the window, and the smile on her lips gradually turned cold.

She stretched out her hand and watched with indifference as the sunlight passed through her fingers. The golden light made her fingertips almost transparent.

The seemingly peaceful and tranquil life is actually a stagnant pool, and hidden underneath is the dark and cruel law of the world.

What a disappointing world this is.

In that case, just destroy it and rebuild it.