"Don’t call me Lord. Now that Heart Rot Valley is my fief, we shall address each other as martial brothers."

Qin Xuan clapped him on the shoulder and said.

"Lord..."

Tan Fu looked up in terror, his eyes wary. He didn’t dare to speak.

Fifteen years in Heart Rot Valley had worn away all his trust in the surrounding Demon Cultivators, leaving him unable to believe anyone.

"Never mind. Just tell me about Heart Rot Valley." Qin Xuan waved his hand, thinking Tan Fu was being needlessly complicated.

If Tan Fu hadn’t been an old acquaintance from their time in the Plague Poison Altar, he would have slapped him to death by now.

"As you command."

A look of delight crossed Tan Fu’s face, and he breathed a long sigh of relief.

It seemed that only when Qin Xuan treated him this way could he feel at ease.

"Our Heart Rot Valley has a total of 336 Qi Cultivating Spiritual Farmers, 11 Foundation Establishment Spirit Plant Cultivators, and jurisdiction over 7,210,000 mortals..."

"We are of the same branch as the neighboring Blood Spring Mountain and Withered Marrow Cliff. We mainly cultivate Blood Marrow Rice, Ghost Wood Vine, and Yin Luo Flowers. Every year, we must pay a field tax based on a three-to-seven split..."

Tan Fu was meticulous, clearly knowing every last detail about Heart Rot Valley’s affairs.

"So, as long as I pay a thirty percent tax, I get to keep the other seventy percent?"

Qin Xuan was quite pleased.

’The Holy Sect finally did something decent for once!’

Tan Fu gave an awkward smile. "Lord, the seventy percent is what’s paid in tax. The thirty percent is what you get to keep..."

Qin Xuan: "???"

’Are you kidding me? It’s my land, and I only get a thirty percent cut?’

Tan Fu immediately dropped to his knees, his head hitting the floor with a series of thuds. In a trembling voice, he said, "My lord, there are things you may not know. While this is your fief, there are Altar Masters, Hall Masters, and Squad Leaders above you... Getting thirty percent is actually considered pretty good. If it weren’t for your outstanding Merit, you wouldn’t even get that much..."

Tan Fu pointed a finger toward the sky, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say more but didn’t dare.

"Speak freely," Qin Xuan said, his expression dark.

Bracing himself, Tan Fu continued, "Take the Blood Marrow Rice, for example. It’s a Tier One Top Grade Spiritual Plant that matures in six months, so it can be harvested twice a year. Consuming it replenishes one’s qi and blood and preserves a youthful appearance..."

"Of the annual harvest, thirty percent must go to the Demon Monarch’s Treasury, twenty percent must be supplied to the Golden Core Blood Demons, and ten percent must be offered up to the Purple Mansion Altar Master..."

The more he listened, the angrier Qin Xuan became. "That’s still not right. That only adds up to sixty percent. I should be getting forty. What about the last ten percent? Did you pocket it?"

Tan Fu looked as if he were at a funeral. "There is also a ten percent loss from... ’spoilage.’ The agents from the Contribution Hall who come to collect the tax, with a ’slip of the foot,’ a full measure of Blood Marrow Rice often ends up being ten percent short..."

Qin Xuan was dumbfounded.

’That’s just blatant skimming!’

He’d never imagined it would be this much trouble just to quietly manage a farm.

’A seventy percent tax! What am I supposed to live on with the remaining thirty percent? Air?!’

"So, what’s the annual yield for this Blood Marrow Rice?"

"Without any Blood Marrow pest infestations, one mu of land can yield a hundred pounds a year. One pound of Blood Marrow Rice can be exchanged for 100 Contribution Points."

"Pest infestations?" Qin Xuan’s brow furrowed. "And what’s the yield if there is an infestation?"

"It depends. In the worst-case scenario, you might not harvest a single grain..."

Qin Xuan struggled to suppress his rage. His pupils turned dark, as deep and still as an ancient well.

’One mu yields one hundred pounds of Blood Marrow Rice, which is worth 10,000 Contribution Points. That converts to just one point of Merit.’

’I have 347 mu of Spiritual Fields.’

’After busting my ass for a whole year, and after all the taxes, my take is just a little over one million Contribution Points?’

’What’s the fucking point of farming then?!’

’I’m a dignified Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment Ninth Level Cultivator and a Tier One Top Grade Artifact Refiner. I’d make more money just by robbing and killing a few people.’

’No wonder no one tried to take this from me. It turns out farming is the least profitable profession in the Holy Sect!’

And that’s not even counting the stipends for the Spiritual Farmers.

In the Demon Sect, human lives are cheap, but a skilled and reliable Spiritual Farmer is still less of a headache than constantly finding new ones.

’That makes sense. If you could actually get rich off Spiritual Fields, the Holy Sect would have never let a prize like this fall into my lap.’

’Besides, I’m not the one who will be doing the actual managing of the Spiritual Fields.’

’That’s what the 347 Demon Cultivators of my fief are for.’

’If I feel like going out to rob and kill, I can just do that!’

Once he came to this realization, Qin Xuan’s mood improved considerably.

"Starting today, you are the Steward for the Qi Cultivation Stage members of Heart Rot Valley. Now go and gather all the Spiritual Farmers. I have orders to give."

Upon hearing this, Tan Fu froze. Then, his lips began to tremble with excitement, and his eyes welled up with tears.

"L-Lord... are you serious?"

A sense of disbelief washed over Tan Fu. He felt dizzy, as if a pie had just fallen out of the sky and landed on his head.

"You don’t want the job? Fine, I’ll find someone else." Qin Xuan couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries.

"No, no, my Lord! I am willing! I am willing!"

Tan Fu slammed his head against the ground again and again. THUD! THUD! His forehead was dripping with blood, but his face was flushed with excitement, terrified that Qin Xuan would retract the offer.

"I, Tan Fu, swear an oath! From this day forward, I pledge my life to Valley Master Qin! I will walk through fire and flood for you and never regret it for nine lifetimes!"

BOOM!

It was as if a clap of thunder had resounded through the heavens.

Tan Fu had just made a Heavenly Dao Oath.

A pleasant, tingling current coursed through Qin Xuan’s body, leaving him feeling utterly refreshed. An indescribable sense of satisfaction washed over him.

"Not bad, not bad at all!"

’I never thought I’d reap a benefit from such a casual remark!’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

...

「A quarter of an hour later.」

Two hundred thirty-six Spiritual Farmers and ten Foundation Establishment Spirit Plant Cultivators had assembled.

"Why is one person missing?" Qin Xuan asked nonchalantly, seated on the high platform.

"Reporting to the Valley Master, our martial brother Yu Qi was injured by a Blood Marrow Golden Insect and is unable to leave his bed."

A Foundation Establishment Spirit Plant Cultivator named Wei Dragon knelt below, speaking with a tremor in his voice.

Wei Dragon was a middle-aged Cultivator with a round, plump face. His cultivation was at the Human Dao Foundation Establishment Sixth Level, the highest Realm among all the Spirit Plant Cultivators.

Back in his old home of Youzhou’s Thousand Island Lake, a cultivator of his level could have been a Foundation Establishment Ancestor capable of dominating the entire region.

Unfortunately, in front of Qin Xuan, he didn’t amount to much at all.