Taxes

Were we just joking around?

Zhu Ge sat up, looking still shaken: "Fisherman in the straw raincoat, please don't play tricks on me again, you scared me to death."

"Haha, what are you afraid of?" the fisherman in the straw raincoat laughed. "You should digest this first. A low-grade spirit-level item is enough for you to digest for an hour."

"Yes!" Zhu Ge replied with great interest.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his blood and qi to digest.

However, deep inside, a spider's thread had gradually formed.

Almost there...

Zhu Ge realized that he had not yet completely gained Zhu Ge's trust.

That's fine too.

A slap followed by a sweet treat.

He endured the slaps, but also ate all the sweet dates.

Just wait patiently for the spider web to form.

Now, just focus on digesting the "sweet dates".

"Whoosh—"

Zhu Ge looked inward and felt that wisp of blood energy sweeping over his entire body like a tide, nourishing his torso and internal organs.

He had just reached the first realm last night and had not yet cultivated the Great Sun Glazed Body, so this wisp of blood energy was extremely weak.

However, after eating the deep blue fruit and deep blue leaves, some wisps of blood energy were generated in his body and gathered into that wisp of blood energy.

It really works!

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Although the nourishment was minimal, Zhu Ge did feel much better, and the redness in her eyes had faded considerably.

He guided that wisp of blood energy, allowing it to flow through his blood vessels, nourishing his entire body, and drawing out even more energy from the deep blue fruit and deep blue leaves from all parts of his body.

Before we knew it, an hour had passed.

I opened my eyes to find myself surrounded by swirling clouds and mist, yet there was not a sound of wind.

"This is..." Zhu Ge seemed startled, jumping up immediately: "So high!"

"Haha, once you reach the third realm, you can also fly with the help of a magical artifact." The fisherman in the straw raincoat looked at him with a hint of contempt and disdain.

"You should know that without me, you would never be able to come here to enjoy the sea of ​​clouds in your entire life."

"Thank you, fisherman!" Zhu Ge knelt and prostrated himself, saying, "I can never repay your kindness, I will never forget it!"

"Haha, your way of kneeling is quite unique, much like a slave from ancient times," the fisherman in the straw raincoat laughed. "In the last hundred years, we've lacked a person as sensible as you."

"Ancient times?" Zhu Ge asked with curiosity. "What was that like?"

"You don't need to know," the fisherman in the straw raincoat glanced at Zhu Ge.

Zhu Ge scratched his head: "Okay."

"Then what does 'spirit-level' mean?" Zhu Ge scratched his head. "Does that mean I can eat lots of spirit-level treasures in the future?"

Spirit level!

His "Great Sun Glazed Body" is a Yuan-level cultivation technique, while the lowest level of the Ling-level should be the lowest grade.

I just don't know which level above the Spirit level the Yuan level belongs to?

"If your performance is commendable in the future, I will naturally reward you." The fisherman in the straw raincoat smiled, but did not answer Zhu Ge's question.

This fisherman in the straw raincoat really doesn't want to reveal any knowledge to him!

Knowledge is valuable.

Previously, Zhu Ge had thought that in chaotic times, knowledge would be harder to obtain than food.

But he forgot that it was because he saw the teacher and Scholar Yu.

If you encounter someone like the fisherman in the straw raincoat, who cherishes his own possessions, then things are different.

They're unwilling to give you any knowledge at all, but they're willing to provide consumables like Deep Blue Fruits and Deep Blue Leaves.

Patience, patience... Zhu Ge lowered his eyes, and in his gaze, it seemed as if spider silk was forming.

"We're almost there! Mengla Slope is just ahead, and there are three villages here," the fisherman in the straw raincoat suddenly said.

Menglapo?

Zhu Ge thought for a moment before realizing that this should be a place similar to Jianshan.

However, they are thousands of miles apart, so the people of Jianshan Village have not been there since the decline of the Dasheng Dynasty.

Unexpectedly, the fisherman in the straw raincoat's small boat was so fast that it arrived in no time.

"Mengla Slope is quite large."

Singing a blessing song while gazing into the distance.

This is a slightly sloping plain, which the locals call a slope. Three villages have lived and thrived on this Mengla Slope.

The terraced fields extend down the slope in layers, appearing to be much more numerous than those in Jianshan.

Zhuge estimates that these terraced fields alone could support four or five hundred people.

These three villages can be described as prosperous.

Moreover, Zhu Ge is now a first-level martial artist, and he can vaguely sense that there are two second-level auras and five first-level auras in these three villages.

A total of seven cultivators!

This is what prevented these three villages from being swallowed up by the surrounding foreign tribes.

As they drew nearer, the fisherman in his straw raincoat suddenly sank, and at the same time, a loud song rang out from his mouth:

"The rain is so heavy, it's barely falling, and the water is so thin!"

The sound carried far and wide, causing a commotion in the village.

Before long, two people from the second realm and five people from the first realm appeared on Mengla Slope. The leader bowed to the fisherman in the straw raincoat.

"This humble subject greets the Awakening of Insects. Ten thousand bushels of red rice from Menglapo are ready and await your receipt!"

Ten thousand shi?!

What a huge output!

Zhu Ge was slightly surprised; the taxes in these three villages in Menglapo were incredibly high!

"Okay." The fisherman in the straw raincoat smiled and moored his small boat at the edge of Mengla Slope: "Zhu Ge, go and take stock."

The seven people remained standing and bowed respectfully.

What appears to be a welcome is actually an attempt to prevent the fisherman in the straw raincoat and the congratulatory song from entering.

"Okay." Zhu Ge nodded and immediately got off the boat.

One of the seven immediately stepped forward; he was a strong young man with bulging muscles, who also seemed to practice martial arts.

"Mr. Zhu, please come with me."

The man led the way, carrying Zhu Ge towards the village. He seemed quite experienced, probably doing this every year when delivering grain.

Zhu Ge followed the man to a very spacious cellar, and then the man looked at Zhu Ge from the cellar entrance.

"Please check, Mr. Zhu." The man clasped his hands in a gesture of respect.

Zhu Ge didn't say much. He opened each bag, weighed them, and estimated their contents. In half an hour, he finished counting everything.

"The weight and quantity are fine." Zhu Ge nodded to the man.

The next moment, bags of red rice in the cellar floated up and drifted towards the cellar entrance.

"Such powerful spiritual sense!" the man exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ge didn't say anything and quickly went out of the cellar.

"Zhuge, get on the boat, we're going to our next destination!"

The fisherman in his straw raincoat called out.

Zhu Ge rushed to the side of the small boat and saw that bags of red rice were flying into a fish basket.

The fisherman in the straw raincoat held a fish basket woven from bamboo strips, which shimmered with spiritual light, suggesting it was another magical artifact.

Ten thousand bushels of red rice were put into it, but the fish basket remained unchanged.

Zhu Ge boarded the boat without saying a word more than necessary, acting as if he were truly a follower of the fisherman in his straw raincoat.

The fisherman in his straw raincoat placed his fish basket on the small boat and immediately began rowing, preparing to leave again.

Zhu Ge clearly noticed that the expressions of the several young first-realm cultivators who had stopped on Mengla Slope had relaxed slightly, obviously because they had been somewhat tense before.

But at that moment, the fisherman in the straw raincoat withdrew his hands from the oars.

"I see that your place is blessed with abundant natural resources and outstanding people..."

The fisherman in the straw raincoat suddenly spoke with a smile: "Have you ever heard of Spirit-grade Red Rice?"

Spirit level? Zhu Ge was taken aback.

Of the seven people before them, the middle-aged man with a black beard, who was in the lead, cupped his hands and spoke in a deep voice:

"Reporting back to Lord Jingzhe, I swear on my life that Menglapo has never produced any Spirit-grade red rice. If it had, we would certainly have paid the taxes!"

"Oh? You're betting your life on it?" The fisherman in the straw raincoat's expression changed, and he sneered, "In that case, die."

The next moment, a black shadow the size of a palm flashed by, and the head of the middle-aged man with a black beard suddenly split open like a watermelon falling from the sky.

"Bang!!!!"

In an instant, the atmosphere became tense and hostile.