Chapter 2: Seven Islands of Star Lake Everyone looked up and saw a flag hanging above the boat with a word written on it - Lin. "Xinghu Lin Clan." Ye Linyuan's eyes moved slightly, and he quickly remembered the situation in the Xinghu Islands. In the nearby sea area, there are seven connected islands, which are called the Seven Star Lake Islands. The seven islands of this star lake gathered the spiritual energy of the mountains and rivers, giving birth to a first-grade superior spiritual vein. The spiritual energy of the spiritual veins gathered to form seven spiritual eyes on the seven islands, which were therefore occupied by various major immortal cultivation families. Ye Family Island, where the Ye family is located, is one of the seven islands of Xinghu Lake and occupies one of the spiritual eyes. Of course, the Ye family's immortal clan has a shallow foundation and only occupies the smallest inferior spiritual eye. It is not enough to use this spiritual energy to impact the middle stage of Qi training. It can only ensure that the clan members can break through the Qi training stage. On the other hand, the Lin family occupies the largest of the seven islands in Star Lake, the 'Red Star Island'. They have a top-grade spiritual eye that continuously produces and breeds spiritual energy. It is said that the spiritual energy produced is more than ten times that of the Ye family. According to Ye Linyuan's memory, there are more than thirty cultivators in the Lin family, including three cultivators in the middle stage of Qi training, and even an ancestor in the late stage of Qi training.
Moreover, there are several people in the Lin family who are good at cultivating various arts, and they even have a first-class mid-quality sea vessel that can go into the sea to hunt monsters and obtain resources. It can be said that the comprehensive strength and foundation of the Lin family's immortal clan are many times greater than that of their Ye family. At this time, Ye Linyuan was a little confused and couldn't help asking: "People from the Lin family, why are they here?" "Calculating the time, they should be here to collect taxes again." Old Man Ye said this with an embarrassed look on his face, and then he sighed and said, "Forget it, let's meet them." Upon hearing this, Ye Linyuan felt a little depressed. In the world of immortal cultivation, strength is respected, and it is natural for powerful forces to collect taxes from weak forces. As long as they remain on Yejia Island, the Ye clan will eventually have to pay taxes. In fact, the one who truly rules this territory is the Qinghe Immortal Sect, a foundation-building force outside the Seven Islands of Xinghu, and the Lin family is just a pawn collecting taxes on their behalf. Of course, after the Ye family paid the taxes, they were at least nominally affiliated with the Qinghe Immortal Sect, so low-level cultivators and local cultivators were not allowed to attack them without reason. After all, for the Qinghe Immortal Sect, the forces under its command can have a relatively stable environment for cultivation, and these low-level cultivators under it can also generate a steady stream of tax revenue. "Foundation Building Immortal Gate." Ye Linyuan whispered in his heart, his brows slightly frowned. In his previous life, he was also the ancestor of the foundation-building and even golden elixir forces, and every year he received tributes and taxes from a large number of forces under his command. The fact that he was able to break through to the Jindan stage in his previous life was largely due to the tax revenue accumulated by his family over the years. But in this life, Ye still has to pay taxes, which is not good news for him. After all, the Ye family's immortal clan is weak. If they encounter a foundation-building force that exploits them ruthlessly, they probably don't have enough financial resources to support his practice. “I hope it’s not too harsh.” Ye Linyuan frowned slightly, then followed the others and walked down the mountain.
We arrived at the pier, where a small boat had just docked and several figures walked out of it. There were five people in total, four of them were in the early stage of Qi training, and the leader was a tall middle-aged man whose cultivation had reached the middle stage of Qi training. "This man's name is Lin Shengyang, his cultivation level is at the fifth level of Qi training, and he is the second elder of the Lin family." Second uncle Ye Qinyang quietly transmitted the message to introduce the origins of several people to Ye Linyuan. Ye Linyuan's eyes moved slightly, and he nodded slightly, remembering all the identity information of these people in his heart. At this time, Lin Shengyang came over and said with a smile: "Brother Ye, long time no see." "It's Brother Lin. What brings you here today?" The old man Ye spoke calmly, his face maintaining a friendly expression. When Ye Linyuan heard this, his eyes moved slightly. In the path of cultivation, strength is the most important thing. Old Man Ye is already over eighty years old, and Lin Shengyang is only in his forties. However, as they are both in the middle stage of Qi Refining, Old Man Ye does not dare to be arrogant at all. "Well, it's all about taxation." Lin Shengyang opened his mouth, handed a bill to Old Man Ye and said, "Your tax this year is ten Broken Spirit Stones, plus three hundred kilograms of Spiritual Rice. I wonder how the preparations are going?" "Ten broken spirit stones, and three hundred kilograms of spirit rice?" When the Ye family members heard this, their expressions suddenly changed. Third uncle Ye Qinchu couldn't help but look slightly gloomy, and immediately asked: "Last year it was only 300 kilograms of Lingsui rice, why do you have to add ten pieces of broken spirit stones now?" Ye Linyuan, who was standing by, felt a slight dent in his heart when he heard this. Ten pieces of broken spirit stones, plus three hundred kilograms of spirit rice, this is not a small amount for the Ye family. Generally speaking, the spiritual energy of one hundred broken spirit stones added together is roughly equivalent to that of a complete spirit stone. The value of spirit stones in this world is extremely high. The market price of a first-grade low-quality magic tool is only about one spirit stone. The value of a first-grade high-quality magic tool mastered by those in the late stage of Qi training is only about ten spirit stones. Putting aside the inferior spirit eyes, the total annual income of the Ye family’s immortal clan is actually only more than thirty broken spirit stones. No matter how frugal you are, after deducting daily expenses and the purchase of various materials, you can only save a dozen broken spirit stones every year at most. Lingsui rice is also a kind of miscellaneous spiritual rice of extremely low value. The spiritual energy contained in this rice is extremely thin, and its quality is not even that of low-grade spiritual rice, so it is called miscellaneous spiritual rice. Fortunately, Lingsui rice is easy to grow. It can absorb the thin spiritual energy between heaven and earth to grow. It does not require spiritual fields to be planted. Eating it can slightly increase the cultivation level of Qi-training monks. Because of its low price, Lingsui rice is a favorite of menial disciples in the foundation-building sects, and is also the cultivation nourishment for many low-level cultivators and small Qi-cultivating clans. After all, for most of the small Qi-cultivating tribes, cheap spiritual rice like Lingsui Rice may be the only spiritual nourishment they can afford. But even so, these three hundred kilograms of Lingsui rice are not a small amount, and the market price will not be lower than ten broken spirit stones. "Ten broken spirit stones, and three hundred kilograms of spirit rice." "According to this calculation, Lin Shengyang has doubled the tax revenue of the Ye family just by opening his mouth."
Ye Linyuan pondered in his heart, a trace of solemnity appeared on his face. At this time, Lin Shengyang suddenly sneered and said, "This is not a tax set, but an order from Qinghe Immortal Sect." "This year, there is another demon tribe causing chaos in the Beichang area. The Qinghe Immortal Sect is protecting your safety, so it is reasonable for them to increase their taxes a little." "Of course, if you don't want to hand it over, then wait for the seniors from Qinghe Immortal Sect to come and explain it to them in person." (End of this chapter)