On the following day.
Bright early in the morning.
A voice sounded and woke up everyone in the Qingyun Dao Sect.
"Oh dear, Master. Something major has happened."
Daoist Tai Hua, who had only slept for four hours immediately leaped out of bed and subconsciously packed all his luggage as soon as he could in a bid to flee at any time.
However, at the next moment, the door of the room was opened.
It was the third-most senior disciple of the sect who was holding a piece of rice paper with a look of dismay.
"Sect Leader, don't run away yet. It's not a debtor but something else," said Wang Zhuoyu.
He frantically stopped Daoist Tai Hua with sweat all over his forehead.
He was Daoist Tai Hua's third disciple and Ye Ping's third Senior Brother.
He was good at talismans array formations.
Daoist Tai Hua chided sternly, "So it's not a debtor? Zhuoyu, I'm not criticizing you but why can't you be steady even though it's just a trivial matter? Learn from your Eldest Senior Brother. Look at him and now look at yourself!"
Hearing that it was not a debtor, Daoist Tai Hua immediately heaved a sigh of relief.
Daoist Tai Hua was a little dizzy. Since he found out that Ye Ping was a genius, he laughed until dawn before going to bed. It was now morning and he felt rather uncomfortable because he had only slept for four hours.
When he heard that something major had happened, Daoist Tai Hua's first thought was that the debtor had come looking for him.
Over the years, he had taken up several loans for the sake of developing the Qingyun Dao Sect. In fact, debtors would often show up to collect debts, leaving Daoist Tai Hua worried and terrified.
"Sect Leader, although it's not a debtor, it's almost as terrible. Look, this is the latest notice issued by the Qingzhou Sect Management Bureau."
Wang Zhuoyu was also a little helpless. He didn't want to react that way too but the matter was just too serious.
"What is the notice about? Is there going to be a demolition?"
Daoist Tai Hua grabbed the rice paper excitedly and read it ten lines at a time.
Soon, Daoist Tai Hua's expression became a little sullen.
It was getting worse.
"Outrageous!"
"Outrageous!"
"This is simply outrageous!"
After calling it outrageous thrice, Daoist Tai Hua's face turned beet red and he was no longer in high spirits as he was yesterday.
There were only a few hundred words on the rice paper.
The content was rather simple too.
In a nutshell, there had been countless new sects in Qingzhou due to the abundance of spiritual energy, fertile land and a large population.
In order to prevent there from being an excessive number of sects and to prevent fraud, they had decided to conduct a purge on the little-known sects.
The method of the purge was very simple.
Within two months from the issue of the notice, the sects would have to pay 10 inferior-grade Spirit Stones each to prove the sect's innocence.
Within the time limit, those who did not pay the Spirit Stones would lose their sect license and face disbandment.
Those who defied the discipline would be subject to forceful suppression.
The resolution had been approved by the three major sects in Qingzhou and the courts of Jin Nation.
"They're asking for Spirit Stones for no reason. This is simply lawless and a form of bullying the weak. I'm going to the capital to sue them to the Imperial Court."
Daoist Tai Hua was so angry that he clenched his fists as hard as he could.
He was infuriated.
The notice added insult to the injury of Qingyun Dao Sect which was poor to begin with.
Ten Spirit Stones.
Perhaps to other sects, it was nothing.
However, to the Qingyun Dao Sect, ten inferior-grade Spirit Stones was a huge sum.
In the mortal world, one copper coin could be exchanged for one pancake.
A hundred copper coins was equivalent to one tael of silver.
A hundred taels of silver was equivalent to a tael of gold.
One lower-grade Spirit Stone was equal to ten taels of gold.
Ten lower-grade Spirit Stones was equivalent to a hundred taels of gold.
It could be said that the Qingyun Dao Sect hadn't seen a Spirit Stone for several years.
The annual revenue of the Qingyun Dao Sect was about ten taels of gold.
That was considered moderate.
Ten inferior-grade Spirit Stones?
Even if everyone in the Qingyun Dao Sect stopped eating, drinking, and spending any money at all, it would take them ten years to save up to ten inferior-grade Spirit Stones.
That news was more terrible than the arrival of a debtor.
At the very least, a debtor wouldn't ask for ten Spirit Stones when they showed up.
Besides, even if he paid ten Spirit Stones, he would be repaying his debts.
If he repaid what he owed, it wouldn't be hard to borrow money again in the future.
However, who would be able to accept giving away ten inferior-grade Spirit Stones for nothing?
The most infuriating thing was that it was mandatory for them to pay the ten Spirit Stones.
If he chose not to pay, the sect would be suppressed.
Low-tier sects were the last thing that Qingzhou lacked.
'This is such a headache.'
'This is such a headache.'
'It's really a huge headache.'
Daoist Tai Hua was very upset too. He had thought about it yesterday and planned to save some money to buy a new sword manual for Ye Ping. Yet, something like this cropped up, causing him to be perturbed.
He felt like taking his own life.
"Master, what should we do?"
Wang Zhuoyu stood by the side, at a loss for words.
'What should we do?'
'What can we do?'
'That.'
'Do I really have to sue them to the Imperial Courts in the capital?'
'Don't you know that officials will defend each other?'
Daoist Tai Hua's emotions were complicated.
He wanted to cry but he couldn't.
After a moment, Daoist Tai Hua took a deep breath, and said, "Tell everyone to gather in the main hall. I'm going to hold a sect meeting."
Daoist Tai Hua seemed powerless.
It was indeed very troublesome this time.
The notice was obviously real.
The three major sects within Qingzhou had jointly agreed to it with the courts of Jin Nation. It was definitely not a laughing matter.
"Okay, Sect Leader, don't be too upset. There are always going to be more solutions than difficulties. We have faith in you."
Wang Zhuoyu said with a solemn expression.
"Get lost."
Daoist Tai Hua cursed in frustration.
'What do you mean you have faith in me?'
'Aren't you just pushing the trouble to me and making me shoulder the burden alone?'
"Sure."
Wang Zhuoyu left.
He left resolutely. Although he was very upset, he could not think of a better solution.
He might as well flee since there'd be someone else to shoulder the burden if the sky came crashing down.
However, Daoist Tai Hua spoke again.
"By the way, don't let your new Junior Brother know about this."
Daoist Tai Hua instructed.
Dirty linen should not be washed in public.
It was better to keep such things within the sect.
Just like that, an hour later, in Qingyun Dao Sect, four figures arrived early in the main hall.
Three others had gone down the mountain, so they were not in the sect.
At this moment, Daoist Tai Hua was stunned.
However, he looked a little tired and his eyes were a little red, as if he had just cried.
"Sect Leader."
"Sect Leader."
"Greetings, Sect Leader."
The crowd immediately greeted Daoist Tai Hua when they saw him.
During formal occasions, they would all have to address him as the Sect Leader, regardless of whether there were outsiders or not. They could not call him 'Master'.
Daoist Tai Hua was a little anxious.
He did not answer them and instead returned to the main seat, looking at everyone sternly.
"Long story short, the biggest crisis of our Qingyun Dao Sect has appeared."
Daoist Tai Hua's expression was serious.
After hearing that, everyone in the Sect began to look troubled.
Daoist Tai Hua did not say much and instead showed them the notice.
Soon, there was silence in the main hall.
They understood what that notice meant.
However, a voice sounded quickly.
"Ten inferior-grade Spirit Stones? Is the Sect Management Bureau insane? Why must they come at us? I'm going to sue them to the Imperial Court in the capital!"
It was Xu Luochen's voice.
He seemed unusually abnormal and his words and behavior were very similar to Daoist Tai Hua.
However, he was not the only one. Although the others were not talking, their expressions were extremely sullen too.
Ten inferior-grade Spirit Stones.
That was making things worse for the Qingyun Dao Sect which was poor to begin with.
However, Su Changyu was the calmest of all in the main hall.
He looked at Daoist Tai Hua calmly.
"Sect Leader, how many Spirit Stones do we have left in the sect?"
Su Changyu asked sternly.
He didn't pursue the root of the problem and instead thought of a solution to solve the issue quickly, fully showing his bearing as the Eldest Senior Brother.
"70."
Daoist Tai Hua answered slowly.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief after hearing that.