Chapter 163: Refugees Fleeing

On the day of tax collection, sunlight shines from the sky, spreading across the chilly autumn day.

At this time, the Nujiang River was filled with fairy boats traveling back and forth from the north and south, roaring and speeding on the sparkling river surface that looked like a golden armor spread out.

On the bow, young men from noble families dressed in gorgeous clothes stood with their hands behind their backs, looking at the river banks on both sides.

On both sides of the river, grain carts were coming and going on the dilapidated and uneven official road in an endless stream, heading to various aristocratic families, immortal manors, and granaries of county governments.

Along with the vehicles came hundreds of ragged old farmers, tied up with hemp ropes, walking unsteadily with fatigue and numbness written all over their faces. They were finally taken by the officials to the high slope on the west side of the river bank.

"What's that doing?"

"They are all criminals who failed to pay their taxes. They were convicted by the local government and brought here to be whipped."

“How much tax is this?”

"Only 60%."

"This place is rich in resources and has a vast territory. If we just reclaim more wasteland and work hard, shouldn't the tax be easily collected? But you are unwilling to hand over even 60%? Aren't you a troublemaker?"

"That's right, how difficult is it to farm? It's not easy for us to practice Taoism. We don't even have a little leisure time every day. Aren't we also diligent and never tired?"

It takes a day and a night for the immortal boat to cross the river within the three states. When it arrived at Jingxi Ferry, the boat stopped and some people got on and some got off.

The immortal disciples waiting to be initiated on the boat felt bored, so they naturally talked a lot about what they saw and heard on both sides of the coast.

At this moment, another convoy passed by on the official road, going in the opposite direction of the grain carts.

This caravan was different from the government grain carts. It was pulled by mules, and the body of the car looked dilapidated, with dense patches on the top. It was obvious that it had been repaired after being broken, and then patched up again after being repaired.

Most of the people traveling with the vehicle were ragged people. The stronger men led the way in front, while women, children and old men followed behind.

They seemed to have been traveling for a long time, and the only noticeable thing on their dark faces was the pale color of their lips.

And what they carried on their carts were not grain bags or valuables, but a variety of items, including pottery pots and jars, farm tools and livestock, and even worn-out quilts.

This convoy had just passed by not long ago when another convoy came in the same direction as them.

This caravan was slightly different from the one that just passed by, because it was more luxurious, the carriages were pulled by horses, and the people riding the carriages were dressed much better.

Especially the people at the back, there were simple embroidery patterns on their clothes.

Some young men from aristocratic families speculated with great interest that the first group should be a migration of an entire rural deserted village, while the second group was obviously a family of mortal landlords who came from a prestigious big city.

However, people had different opinions on where they should go.

Amid the discussions, several older people in white clothes came over and couldn't help but speak softly.

"They are going north, to Fengzhou."

"Toyosu? The one on the far northeast side?"

"Yes, after the tax was collected this year, we can see three or four convoys like this every day, all heading to Fengzhou."

Amid the discussions, both caravans were stopped by government officials near the post station on the official road.

Among them was a fierce man holding a knife, wearing black clothes and with a thick beard, who stopped them all.

Then they saw a middle-aged man with a cloth wrapped on his head coming out of the second convoy and handing over a bundle. Only then did the officers let them pass.

The convoy ahead was also allowed to pass thanks to them.

Seeing this, the nobles on the boat looked at each other and said, "Isn't Fengzhou a place where no one even shits? It's understandable that this deserted village is being relocated, but the caravan just now clearly belonged to an ordinary landlord. Is he giving up his land?"

"Didn't you see it with your own eyes?"

"This is really strange, doesn't Fengzhou pay taxes?"

"Yes, but they are very few. Compared with the other eight states, they are just a drop in the bucket. For thousands of years, the people have migrated for only one purpose, which is to survive. They will go wherever they can survive."

At this moment, a sedan chair appeared on the official road, followed by countless yamen runners.

When the sedan chair was carried to the tea stall of the post station in front, the local county magistrate, who was five feet tall, directly opened the curtain of the sedan chair and rushed out.

A few slaps hit the fierce-looking bearded man's face, and the echoes echoed along the river bank.

Everyone on the boat couldn't help but lean over to look, and saw that the pass from Zhongzhou to Fengzhou was immediately under martial law, and barricades made of spiked wooden pillars were immediately set up on the official road.

After that, all the scattered people who came here were driven back by the yamen runners holding long swords.

During this period, some wealthy families took out the "personnel" they had prepared as before, but were kicked to the ground directly.

At this time, the five-foot-tall county magistrate was watching from the side with a cold face, his eyes trembling slightly, as if he was trying hard to suppress his anger.

The current imperial court has not issued an explicit decree to prohibit the people of Kyushu from moving around, but this kind of thing has never happened in the past because it is the same everywhere in Kyushu.

But after collecting taxes this year, he found that many villages and clans in Jiyang County under his jurisdiction began to migrate.

He didn't know what had happened in Fengzhou in these few days, but he was different from those idiots under his command.

It seems that he is making money by stopping people on the road and demanding their services, but if the people under his rule move away, where can he collect enough taxes?

There are many noble families in their Zhongzhou. If they anger the immortals, it would be a capital crime with their heads chopped off!

So he could not wait for any other court laws, nor cared about any government orders, and hurried over to set up a checkpoint.

At the same time, there was a sudden gust of wind and waves on the river, making the banks hum.

Upon seeing this scene, the Jiyang County Magistrate immediately knelt on the ground with his subordinates to respectfully send the immortal off.

Then a mysterious light rose from the bottom of the fairy ship on the river bank, then closed at the bow, and then quickly began to sail.

After a day and a night, some of the nobles on the ship left, some boarded, and finally the rest arrived in Shengjing, the capital of Daxia...

At this time, the city of Shengjing was already bustling with activity because of the Tianshu Academy's selection of new members.

Carriages from all over the world gathered here, blocking the main city road. The restaurants along the street were brightly lit, filled with the sound of stringed instruments and the dancing of singing girls.

Countless wealthy and noble families in the capital held banquets in the city, inviting the students of Tianshu Academy who were about to enter to the academy, so that the breeze around the city was filled with the aroma of wine.

"How many people in the Heavenly Academy have reached the perfection of the lower three realms this year?"

"Three."

"Three more?"

"Last year, one person from the Yunzhou Lu family was admitted to the hospital. This year, the one who came is Lu Qingqiu's sister, Lu Hanyan. It's strange in their family that the talent for cultivation seems to be in the girls."

"And the other one?"

"The third son of the Fang family of the Zhongzhou Tu clan had already reached the perfection of the lower three realms last year, but the Fang family did not allow him to enter the academy at that time. I heard that they postponed it for a year in order to avoid Chu He's edge."

"Chuhe..."

In the restaurant, when someone mentioned the name again, everyone couldn't help but smack their lips.

This name was indeed extremely dazzling at the beginning, but after the beginning of autumn, few people mentioned it.

"And the third one?"

"The third one is also from Yunzhou, the son of the Puyang family, an ancient family. However, the Puyang family has not been well-known in recent years. However, it is still good to have a person who has reached the perfection of the lower three realms before the age of twenty. This Puyang son's name is Xing, which seems to represent the hope of the Puyang family's revival."

Upon hearing these words, some young men from aristocratic families in the capital couldn't help but raise their wine glasses. When they heard that these three people were from prestigious immortal families, their interest suddenly became less intense.

By noon, the sun was shining brightly, and countless sedan chairs in the capital were heading to Tianshuyuan.

Just like in previous years, both the high officials in the capital and the royal family members never got tired of making friends with such outstanding geniuses.

However, this time, the fallen Wei Li did not come, and King Chong came here alone, but he did not seem to be very interested.

Especially when he came to the white jade platform, it was as if he had thought of something.

Afterwards, the entrance ceremony of Tianshu Academy was held, and the young men from noble families who had changed into the immortal robes of Tianshu Academy flocked into the White Jade Platform to ascend to immortality.

Standing at the front were two men and one woman, Lu Hanyan from Yunzhou, Puyang Xing from Yunzhou, and Fang Jincheng from Zhongzhou, all wearing flowing white robes and swords at their waists.

Behind them were those in the Condensation Realm from other states.

Such a position and such an appearance made everyone feel dazed, as if the first year of Taichu was just a big dream.

Then everyone discovered that some eyes on the platform could not help but gather at the end, which was the southeast side of the White Jade Platform.

Standing there were also a group of young disciples.

There were eight people in total, both men and women. Their clothes and appearance were not as wealthy as those standing on the inside, and their expressions seemed very reserved.

Because they all come from Fengzhou.

Among these eight people, only three have sufficient cultivation, such as Xiang Fu, the daughter of the prefect of Danshui County, Liu Jianan, the son of the governor of Fengzhou, and Cong Yi, the daughter of the prefect of Guiyun County.

As for the rest, most of them had family members who joined the army and got a quota with the help of Daxia. The better ones were only at the Wei Zhao realm, and the worst ones had not even awakened their spirits.

After all, Tianshuyuan is under the name of the Great Xia Holy Sect, so it has to accept students like this.

However, in previous years, such disciples did not receive much attention.

Because everyone knows that the lower three realms and the upper five realms are completely different realms. If you want to break through, you need a large amount of elixirs and spirit stones.

In other words, cultivating immortals is a game exclusive to prominent families.

But what was surprising was that these Fengzhou disciples suddenly found that the eyes on the podium were focused on them, even the five hall masters with extraordinary momentum.

"Why are they looking at us?"

“They are not looking at us…”

Xiang Fu couldn't help but speak and murmured.

After the admission ceremony, the outer courtyard in autumn quickly became lively.

Lu Hanyan came from Yunzhou wearing a long gauze snow-covered skirt. As soon as she left the Baiyu Terrace, she saw Lu Qingqiu coming with a group of sisters.

"Han Yan."

"Sister."

Lu Qingqiu glanced at her and asked, "Have you reached the lower three realms of perfection?"

Lu Hanyan nodded: "I thought I couldn't catch up, but father finally took a spiritual core from a mineral vein to help me condense it to perfection."

Hearing this, Lu Qingqiu couldn't help but pursed his lips, then reached out and patted his sister's shoulder.

Although their Lu family has established themselves in Yunzhou with their spiritual mine business, the family's talent for cultivation is actually only in the upper-middle level among the major families in Jiuzhou.

In the past few years, she and her sister were the only ones with good talents in the family and were placed with high hopes.

Because if someone in the family can enter the inner courtyard of one of the seven major immortal sects, or find a good husband, it will be a great help to the family.

But she failed to do so, and now the responsibility falls on her younger sister.

At this moment, Puyang Xing, who was standing on the stage before, stepped forward and bowed to Lu Qingqiu: "Puyang Xing, meet you, Senior Sister."

"Junior brother Puyang, welcome to the hospital."

"Thank you, Senior Sister. I came here just to say hello. I will take my leave now."

Puyang Xing bowed and said goodbye, then turned and walked towards the enlightenment field, where he met Fang Jincheng.

The two looked at each other with cold eyes. The atmosphere was not as harmonious as when they met Lu Qingqiu just now. Instead, there was a hint of tension.

It seems that the struggle within the inner courtyard this year was foreshadowed from the moment one entered the academy.

At this time, there were four disciples from the academy who were cleaning the field.

After all, it was autumn now, and there were many fallen leaves. In addition, new disciples had already entered the hospital, so they needed to come and clean up from time to time.

"It will be fine in a few days."

"When we first entered the hospital, everyone was like this. At first, they all went to bed early and got up early to understand the Dao field, and then they studied hard and practiced diligently. Everyone felt that they were the chosen ones of heaven and would not be inferior to others."

"Then someone rode away in a flash, and everyone's Tao hearts were broken, and everything quieted down."

While the disciples of the Office of Administration were muttering, Puyang Xing and Fang Jincheng had already sat down and suddenly entered into a state of meditation.

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Lu Qingqiu looked at the Enlightenment Field and could not help but whispered, "The Puyang family has been quiet for a while. It is said that the cultivation talent of the family bloodline is getting thinner and thinner. I never thought that a person who has reached the perfection of the lower three realms before he is twenty years old would appear."

Lou Siyi looked at him and couldn't help but whispered, "This person seems to want to make friends with your Lu family."

"That's normal. The Puyang family is now in decline. It is said that even several of the family's branches are being ostracized by various parties. They need to make alliances everywhere."

"Sister, Puyang Xing and Fang Jincheng seem to be my strong rivals." Lu Hanyan couldn't help but speak softly.

Lu Qingqiu turned and looked at her: "What's wrong?"

"When my father came, he told me that I must enter the inner courtyard. Naturally, I have to know something about Puyang Xing and Fang Jincheng. Fang Jincheng has been extremely talented since he was a child. He should have entered the courtyard with my elder sister. Now it is said that he has already condensed three rays of profound light in advance. And Puyang Xing is also a genius."

"Genius, what can a genius do..."

Lu Qingqiu and the other two murmured something, then turned to look towards the depths of Mount Ni, where the leaves of the trees had already turned golden and covered the vast forest.

When Chu He was admitted to the hospital with great fanfare, he was known as the second son of the Chu family and was called a genius among geniuses.

But in the end, everyone realized that the so-called genius is just the threshold to meet that person.

"Sister?"

Lu Qingqiu turned and looked at her: "I'll try to invite you tonight and let you meet a real genius."

Lou Siyi glanced at Lu Qingqiu and asked, "Will he come?"

"I won't refuse a free meal..."

"That's true..."

Lu Hanyan couldn't help but say, "But, the princess of Chongwang Mansion invited me to a banquet tonight..."

Lu Qingqiu turned his head and glanced at his sister, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Zhao Yunyue? No problem, let's go to Hongding Tower to eat together, I'll be the host."

After she finished speaking, Miss Lu took her sister back to the courtyard, wrote a letter, and sent it to the head office.

Disciples from the outer courtyard cannot enter the inner courtyard, and they rely on the chief courtyard to communicate with each other.

The disciple in charge of delivering letters in the Office of Administration happened to have a letter to give to Ji You, so he took his badge and went into the mountain, passing through the vast forest.

At the same time, to the west of the intersection of the six peaks in the inner courtyard, in a purple bamboo forest full of spiritual energy, a man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes was sitting on the ground, having been in meditation for a long time.

Some disciples from the five major halls who were resting could not help but turn their heads to look at him. Seeing the surging aura and spiritual light flowing around him, they could not help but whisper to each other.

Judging from his appearance, they felt that he was as handsome as a scholar. He did not look sharp at all, but rather elegant.

But no one will forget that he was the ruthless man who killed eighteen Tongxuan, defeated the Rongdao realm with a low level, and killed people in Yecheng Mountain.

The most important thing is that he is now the youngest head of a noble family in Qingyun World, although he is still alone.

"It is said that because of him, Fengzhou's tax revenue this year has only been 10%?"

"Yes, now that the Ji family has been registered, there are no other immortal sects or noble families in Fengzhou, so the tax issue will be entirely decided by him."

"Those who went to Fengzhou to build a fairy manor may not have thought that Fengzhou would suddenly have a rural private cultivator like this, who would be admitted to the academy by exception despite the quota and establish a family by cutting off Chuhe..."

"Let alone those immortal villages, even if we were both in the Heavenly Academy, who could have imagined this?"

"He is really fearless in doing this, with a 10% tax."

"It's not true that I'm fearless."

"oh?"

"He didn't put all the 10% tax into his own pocket, but distributed it to those foreign villas. I think he was still afraid. However, the tax was distributed in different amounts and it was not evenly distributed. I don't know what basis he used. There is a disciple from my family's side sect in Fengzhou, but he won't tell me when asked..."

"Let's not talk about Fengzhou, taxes, and other matters. Ji You's aura is becoming more and more mysterious..."

Amid the discussions, Ji You slowly opened his eyes, the golden light in his eyes faded, and the aura around him calmed down.

Then he let out a sigh of relief, looked around, and found that the whispers were gradually disappearing.

He had been back from Fengzhou for five days, and Ban Yangshu, Wen Zhengxin and Bai Rulong also returned with them.

Kuang Cheng also returned to Beijing at the same time.

Senior Sister Pei stayed in Fengxian Villa to awaken Qiu Ru's spirit. During this period, Old Qiu lived in He Zhang's mansion and was in charge of the tax collection.

Apart from the share from the imperial court, they will only collect 10% from the immortal sect's share this year.

Half is used to pay compensation, and the other half is left for land reclamation and sowing next year.

During this period of time, he was mainly doing three things. First, he was reading the General Outline of Taoism in the library to familiarize himself with the understanding of the laws of heaven left by the predecessors of Tianshu Academy.

Another thing is to go to the lecture hall and listen to the inner courtyard teachers explain some of the insights about the way of heaven, as well as the application and theoretical analysis of the laws.

Compared with the free-range model of self-cultivation in the outer courtyard, this is the essence of the inner courtyard of the seven major immortal sects.

The last thing he did was to go to Mount Void to practice and observe the evolution of the Way of Heaven.

However, after visiting five times in a row, he still didn't see Yan Shuyi.

He knew that this girl was trying to break through the barrier, and she said that she would not leave until she entered the Boundless Realm.

Her mentality is actually the same as Ji You's now, both of them are pursuing to become stronger in order to resist those invisible undercurrents.

However, even though he knew that she was in seclusion, Ji You still felt worried after not seeing her for many days.

At this moment, a disciple from the academy entered the Zizhu Zen Temple.

"Junior Brother Ji, your letter."

"?"

Ji You reached out and took it, and found that there were two letters.

One came from the outer courtyard, and the other came from Nanhua City at the foot of Lingjian Mountain, signed by Ding Wanqiu.

The high and mighty Little Master Jian of Lingjian Mountain could not allow anyone to find out that he often wrote letters to a disciple of Tianshu Academy, so the letters were always sent by Ding Yao or Zhuo Wanqiu after they went down the mountain to Nanhua City.

The spiritual sword that Qiu Dou had received before was also sent in the same way.

Those signed by Ding Wanqiu are basically those sent by Ding Yao when she went down the mountain, and those signed by Zhuo Yao are basically those sent by Zhuo Wanqiu.

Ji You reached out and opened the letter, and saw the opening remarks: a bold stranger and so on.

The young master of Lingjian Mountain is really a tsundere.

"You bold stranger, I have been trying to break through the barrier these days. You cannot leave at will. I hope you will behave yourself."

"Breaking through the barriers is different from realizing the truth. I need to get rid of all distracting thoughts and make my mind clear. I also cannot let my spirit thoughts see through me. So before breaking through the barriers, I will not go to the Void Mountain."

"After I break through, I will go down the mountain and travel. If I happen to visit Shengjing, I will meet you and chat with you for a while before leaving."

When Ji You saw this, he thought to himself, I understand.

This sentence translates to [I will come to play with you when I break through].

He held the letter in his hand, continued reading with a slight smile on his face, but as he read on, he slowly held his breath.

"If I happen to travel to Shengjing, I want to see what that woman Yuan Caiwei has seen."

Xiao Jianzhu's letter ended abruptly just like her personality. To sum it up in one sentence, please stay in seclusion and don't disturb me. Get ready for what I want to see.

Ji You's mouth trembled slightly, and he wondered why she was still thinking about him.

Read what Yuan Caiwei had read? It seemed that the subsequent practice should focus on tempering the body.

Then he opened Lu Qingqiu's letter. The content was brief, saying that a banquet would be held at Hongding Tower at 10:00 p.m. tonight, and he had invited a few good friends and new disciples who had entered the academy this year, and invited him to join the gathering.

The content of the letter caught his eye and consisted of six words: I'm treating you to a meal, come quickly.

Ji You put the letter away, then turned around and looked towards Zizhu Zen Temple.

Most of the disciples in the forest were sitting cross-legged in meditation, with spiritual light surging around them and their expressions peaceful and contented.

But when he saw this scene, Ji You's brows furrowed.

Most of the disciples who entered the inner courtyard of the Heavenly Book Academy in recent years were people like him who had sensed the Heavenly Book. In the Zizhu Zen Forest, one could see disciples practicing with the help of the Heavenly Book every day.

But……

From the beginning to the end, the only person he saw in Xuwu Mountain was Yan Shuyi, and no other fellow disciples.

This doubt had actually been in his mind for a long time, but because he was in the outer courtyard before, he didn't think about it often, so he didn't delve into it too deeply.

But at this time he was able to confirm that the heavenly book he comprehended was different from that of most people.

However, what comforted Ji You was that he had asked Ban Yangshu about this.

Ban Yangshu said that the heavenly book contained a vast expanse of emptiness, boundless and boundless, hiding the laws of heaven and earth, and nothing else.

About the same...

Ji You couldn't help but mutter.

I thought it was just an extra mountain, some more chaotic laws of nature, and an extra proud fairy with pink and tender feet.

I have already reached the Tongxuan realm, what else can I do? I can't admit now that I have gone astray.

It’s okay. His spiritual energy is broken anyway. He can just fix it as it is. What else can he do?

Ji You stood up and walked down the mountain, passing through the vast forest alone.

(End of this chapter)