Chapter 1976 - Aggressive Tone

The elderly man peered through the narrow opening, keeping the gate nearly shut.

"I'm Liu Wuxie, a disciple of the Azure Jade Palace. I've come for the outstanding tribute," Liu Wuxie said, holding out his identity token. His name was engraved upon its surface, and no counterfeit could pass for the genuine article.

Pain shadowed the old man's features. More than a decade of decline had left the Chai Clan owing ten years of tribute. Other disciples from the Azure Jade Palace had come demanding payment, only to discover that the clan could offer them nothing.

Those visits had ceased in recent years. Liu Wuxie's sudden appearance made their resumption all the more distressing.

"Of course. Please come inside," the elderly man said, drawing the gate back only far enough for Liu Wuxie to pass.

Beyond the entrance, the neglect felt even more pronounced. The vegetation in the courtyard seemed to have lost its vitality along with the estate.

Roughly three hundred disciples belonged to the Chai Clan, a third-tier clan whose estate covered about five thousand square meters. Its livelihood depended chiefly on cultivating immortal rice.

The elderly man led Liu Wuxie down a long corridor, past several Chai Clan disciples. Each wore a somber expression, and an oppressive silence hung over the estate. Silence weighed upon the estate. Whenever its men and women spoke, they kept their voices low, as though afraid to disturb anyone.

Elder Kong had deliberately left the particulars of the Chai Clan's misfortunes unexplained. He suspected the Palace Master had chosen this assignment as a test for Liu Wuxie.

"Please wait here, Young Master Liu. I'll bring the Patriarch," the elderly man said after escorting him into a side hall. He bowed and left.

Rather than sit, Liu Wuxie examined the paintings adorning the small hall. Spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums decorated the side wall, while summer lotuses and winter plum blossoms hung opposite them. Exquisite details brought all four seasons vividly to life.

About fifteen minutes passed before footsteps broke the quiet behind him. Liu Wuxie turned toward the sound and saw a middle-aged man in his forties approaching.

"Welcome, Young Master Liu. I'm Chai Qian. Please forgive anything lacking in our hospitality," the man said. He lifted his head to study his visitor, and surprise crossed his features. Had the Azure Jade Palace sent a Profound Immortal to recover its tribute?

The steward's announcement had made his heart lurch. With ten years of tribute still unpaid, he had feared that the Azure Jade Palace had finally come to destroy the clan.

"Senior Chai, please accept this Junior's respects," Liu Wuxie replied, returning his bow.

Alone and helpless. Those three words defined the man before Liu Wuxie. Chai Qian might've tried to conceal his plight, but the helplessness in his eyes remained plain to see. Only someone at the Immortal Emperor Realm could have kept it from Liu Wuxie's notice.

"Please, Young Master Liu, sit down," Chai Qian said, gesturing toward a chair. The patriarch took his place beneath the spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums, while Liu Wuxie sat opposite, under the summer lotuses and winter plum blossoms.

Before long, the elderly steward brought in two cups of fragrant tea. He set one before each man, then bowed, and left.

"Have I interrupted anything by coming unannounced, Patriarch Chai?" Liu Wuxie asked. A heaviness had settled over his heart since entering the estate. Despite the helplessness etched across their faces, the clan members had still greeted him with polite nods and welcoming smiles.

Such courtesy spoke of a clan that conducted itself openly and honorably. That was why the Azure Jade Palace had refrained from pressing it too harshly over the debt.

"Not in the least. I'm only sorry you've had to find us like this," Chai Qian said, lifting his cup. Embarrassment lingered in his gaze. He was a Great Golden Immortal, yet something about sitting before Liu Wuxie subjected him to a pressure he could not explain.

Refining the Asura Blade's fragment had left a remnant of the Immortal Emperor's will inside Liu Wuxie. Cultivators of higher realms could perceive it. They might struggle to put the sensation into words, but they could not mistake its weight.

"Then let's speak plainly, Patriarch Chai. You know why I'm here. Your clan owes the Azure Jade Palace ten years of tribute. When will you pay it?" Liu Wuxie asked. He could not afford to begin with concessions. If he softened his position now, the negotiations that followed would lead nowhere.

The disciples who had visited in earlier years had witnessed the clan's plight and withdrawn their demands. None had possessed the heart to push its people deeper into despair.

Chai Qian studied Liu Wuxie more closely. He had misjudged this young man.

"You can see the state we're in, Young Master Liu. We aren't refusing to pay. We have no means to pay. Everything we owned has already been sold, apart from this estate. There's simply nothing left to cover the tribute," Chai Qian said, a bitter smile accompanying the admission.

The answer didn't surprise Liu Wuxie.

"That still doesn't excuse the tribute you owe the Azure Jade Palace. If you won't pay it, you should give up the sect's protection," Liu Wuxie said, driving his words straight into the heart of the matter.

The Chai Clan could not fairly claim the benefits of the Azure Jade Palace's protection while paying nothing in return. The sect might have chosen to overlook that imbalance, but Liu Wuxie needed to establish it clearly. Remove that protection, and other forces would swallow the clan within days.

A series of emotions crossed Chai Qian’s face. He had underestimated not only Liu Wuxie but also his skill in negotiation. The young man had made the consequences perfectly clear. If the Chai Clan refused to pay, it would lose the Azure Jade Palace’s protection, and its survival would be left to fate.

Faced with Liu Wuxie’s uncompromising stance, Chai Qian's expression darkened.

At that moment, a small bird flew into the side hall and perched on a beam. It preened its feathers as it listened to every word below.

Liu Wuxie understood the importance of controlling the conversation. If he let Chai Qian to begin recounting the clan's hardships, he would lose the initiative.

Chai Qian had prepared his arguments, but Liu Wuxie had cut off each one before he could voice it. An uncomfortable silence settled between them.

Whatever frustration stirred within him, however, the Chai Clan could not afford to harm an Azure Jade Palace disciple.

The sect's power made that boundary absolute. Each disciple left a soul imprint within the sect, enabling it to pinpoint where they died. Should Liu Wuxie die there, the Azure Jade Palace would level the Chai Clan within a day.

Until now, the clan had done nothing to justify such an attack, and the sect had held its hand. Murdering one of its disciples would lift that restraint. Such protection numbered among the privileges that drew countless cultivators toward the ranks of a superpower.

"We bear the blame for allowing the tribute to fall into arrears. All I can ask, Young Master Liu, is that you give us more time," Chai Qian said after a short silence.

Liu Wuxie asked with a sneer. "And how many disciples before me have heard that same excuse?" It was not that he lacked sympathy, but he had come as a representative of the Azure Jade Palace and had to protect its interests. If he allowed himself to argue on the Chai Clan’s behalf, he would never recover the overdue tribute.

A flash of anger crossed Chai Qian's face. Liu Wuxie's every word struck where it hurt most. The young man seemed determined to remain until the clan paid what it owed.

"We're not refusing to pay! Come and inspect the granary if you doubt me. You won't find a single grain of immortal rice," Chai Qian said. For all his dignity as a Great Golden Immortal, Liu Wuxie's relentless pressure had left him without an answer. He was prepared to take his visitor to the granary to prove his words.

"I believe you, Patriarch Chai. I was too harsh just now. Please don't take it to heart," Liu Wuxie said. Throughout their exchange, he had remained seated, calmly sipping his tea. He took one final sip, set down the cup, and raised his gaze.

The sudden change in attitude left Chai Qian at a loss. One moment, Liu Wuxie had pressed him without mercy; the next, the edge had vanished from his voice. Unable to read the young man's intentions, he sat back down. His features relaxed, and a long sigh escaped him.

"I entered the Azure Jade Palace yesterday, Patriarch Chai, and they gave me this mission today. There's a great deal I still don't know. Tell me what difficulties your clan is facing," Liu Wuxie said, his tone gentle now. He knew where pressure had to stop. Push these people too far, and desperation would take over.

Surprise returned to Chai Qian's eyes. He knew the Azure Jade Palace exempted new disciples from missions for their first three months. What had made Liu Wuxie an exception?

"Then I'll tell you the truth. For ten years, our spiritual fields haven't given us a single harvest," Chai Qian said, gathering his composure before laying bare the clan's predicament.

Outside the city, the Chai Clan owned roughly 6.7 hectares of spiritual fields. Once, that land had yielded about fifty thousand kilograms of immortal rice a year. In those prosperous days, the clan had commanded considerable standing in Mulberry Sea City, and smaller clans had competed to buy its rice.

Those harvests had built the Chai Clan's fortunes, lifting it from humble origins into the ranks of third-tier forces.

"Ten years without a harvest? What happened to the spiritual fields?" Liu Wuxie asked. The land sustained the entire clan. With nothing to reap, survival itself became a struggle, especially when the clan had poured its whole fortune into buying those fields.

"It's the immortal rice. Something has gone wrong with it. Whenever harvest season draws near, the rice slowly blackens and begins to stink," Chai Qian explained. Another harvest was now approaching. The despair on the clan members' faces needed no further explanation.

For a decade, they had tried every remedy they could devise. They had even brought in Azure Jade Palace elders who specialized in cultivating immortal rice. Those elders, too, had left without an answer. None of them had ever encountered anything like it.

"Would you take me to the spiritual fields?" Liu Wuxie asked.

Another crop turning black would put payment out of reach until the following year. With harvest season nearly upon them, he needed to examine the fields himself and discover what had gone wrong.

"Of course. Come with me," Chai Qian replied. He had planned to visit the fields anyway, and bringing Liu Wuxie would do no harm.

If they found the cause of the blackening, one year's harvest would be enough for the Chai Clan to clear its overdue tribute.

Chai Qian and Liu Wuxie left the estate alone and headed toward the outskirts of the city.