At these words, Han Qinhu calmed down.

He was, however, rather surprised by Shen Changchuan’s reaction.

When Shen Changchuan had first refused, Han Qinhu had assumed the young man would stubbornly stick to his guns, pressing on even if he knew he was wrong.

He thought he would insist on compensating the family of every person who died in the line of duty with ten catties of Spirit Grain, regardless of whether it was the right call.

’After all, the young are full of hot-headed pride.’

’Few young people recognize when they’re wrong, or even if they do, they’ll just brazen it out. They won’t turn back until they’ve hit a wall, unwilling to change course so easily.’

’Or worse, they’d feel like they’ve been made a fool of, fly into a rage, and take it out on everyone else.’

It was for this very reason that Han Qinhu had kept silent.

Back during the Crocodile Demon ambush, he had noticed something was off about the death toll, but he’d had too many reservations and didn’t speak up in time.

It wasn’t until this ambush of the Gale Falcons, when the people below went too far, causing the cost of death benefits to rise dramatically and the losses to become too great, that Han Qinhu had no choice but to expose this problem to Shen Changchuan.

But the result was completely unexpected.

None of the reactions he had anticipated occurred.

Shen Changchuan didn’t stubbornly press on with his mistake out of pride.

Nor did he fly into a rage because his subordinates had fooled him.

His expression remained completely calm.

It was clear he had taken a moment to reflect seriously on the matter.

And he had truly and earnestly learned his lesson.

’With a disposition like this, my grandson Changchuan truly has the makings of an Immortal!’

A gratified smile emerged on Han Qinhu’s somewhat aged face, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

He recalled when Shen Changchuan had arrived to take up his post half a year ago.

His reforms in Dawan Village had proceeded step by step, unhurried and free of pride.

When faced with Demon Beast attacks, he was always composed, planning his actions before moving, and ultimately succeeded in slaying the attacking Demon Beasts.

Each and every one of these things...

...was handled with extreme steadiness.

’With a disposition like this, how could he possibly fail in the future?’

’The Han Family...’

’...we made the right bet!’

"Alright then, I’ll go and announce this matter to them now."

Han Qinhu reined in his thoughts, bade farewell to Shen Changchuan, and departed.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, news of the Spirit Grain harvest arrived from Zhao Family Village.

Everything had gone very smoothly.

The Spirit Grain from those two acres of Spirit Fields was completely harvested.

Perhaps because there were fewer Spirit Fields over there, the harvest didn’t attract any other Demon Beasts.

However,

because the third member of the He Mountain Four Fierce had previously massacred Zhao Family Village and set fires everywhere, a portion of the Spirit Grain in the fields had been damaged.

As a result, the final harvest of Spirit Grain was only 178 catties.

But this number did not surprise Shen Changchuan.

He was well aware that those two acres of Spirit Fields had been damaged.

He had estimated from the beginning that the two acres of Spirit Fields in Zhao Family Village would have a reduced yield at harvest time.

He had long been mentally prepared for it.

’It doesn’t matter. When spring planting comes next year, I’ll introduce our improved cultivation methods over there. We’ll naturally get a bigger harvest then.’

The news of the harvest from Zhao Family Village helped to lift Shen Changchuan’s spirits.

He was already formulating a plan for the spring planting of Zhao Family Village’s two Spirit Fields next year.

And at this time,

in Dawan Village,

Han Qinhu announced the decision he and Shen Changchuan had reached the previous night: the compensation for those who died in the line of duty would be reduced.

The standard was lowered by a factor of ten all at once.

The reduction was staggering!

However, this did not cause much of a stir among the villagers.

The villagers’ reactions varied.

Some people shot knowing glances at the families of the deceased.

Others turned deathly pale, their thoughts a mystery.

Still others showed extreme regret, as if they had just missed out on a great fortune.

But regardless of their reactions,

deep down, everyone knew the truth:

a death benefit of ten catties of Spirit Grain was, in fact, far too generous.

It was completely unsustainable.

Therefore, when Han Qinhu conveyed Shen Changchuan’s decision,

they were already mentally prepared.

Not only did they not feel it was harsh, but they actually felt that Shen Changchuan, their new Immortal Master, was a very decent person.

Because although the compensation was reduced,

most of those who had "sacrificed" themselves before were the old, weak, sick, and disabled who had deliberately sought death for the payout. Yet the Immortal Master didn’t pursue the matter.

Instead, he had honored all the claims,

paying out the full compensation of ten catties of Spirit Grain.

This was more than fair.

If it were another, more miserly Immortal Master, they probably wouldn’t have paid a single grain. They might even have made an example of them for being fooled by mortals, slaughtering the families and friends of those who sought death for the payout as a punishment!

This was no exaggeration.

In the eyes of a Cultivator, mortals were no more than slaves who could be crushed at will.

Shen Changchuan had been so magnanimous;

naturally, no one in Dawan Village would dare to get greedy and push their luck.

But they didn’t have much mental energy to spare for this matter anymore.

Because with all the Spirit Grain harvested and stored,

Shen Changchuan had Han Qinhu begin distributing the rewards he had promised at the very beginning.

This drew far more attention than the adjustment to the death benefits!

First were the Eleventh and Twelfth Teams.

Their increased yields were 36 catties and 48 catties, respectively.

According to the original agreement, thirty percent of these amounts would be distributed to the members of these two teams as a reward.

After that came the First through Tenth Teams.

As a reward for the ten acres of Spirit Fields they managed, which had an average increased yield of 10 catties per acre,

each team was also rewarded with thirty percent of the increased yield, which amounted to three catties per team.

However, since three catties of Spirit Grain spread among nearly two hundred people was an insignificant amount,

it was handled just as Shen Changchuan had promised from the beginning.

The Spirit Rice was mixed with regular rice and cooked into a large pot of Spirit Rice Porridge,

which was distributed in the form of a grand feast, one bowl per person.

But obviously,

no one cared whether it was a feast or not.

After receiving their Spirit Rice Porridge, they all quickly returned home, either to consume it themselves or to save it for their children, hoping to give them a greater chance at Spirit Awakening and successfully embarking on the Path of Immortal Cultivation through Qi Introduction.

Thus, after the Spirit Rice Porridge was distributed,

the entirety of Dawan Village became almost deserted.

Everyone stayed in their own homes and began to cultivate diligently,

striving for that slim possibility of stepping onto the Path of Immortal Cultivation.

Dawan Village subsequently became rather quiet.

Shen Changchuan did not interfere with this.

He was currently short on Cultivator subordinates.

If someone could achieve Qi Introduction Success, it would be a good thing. With that extra bit of strength, Shen Changchuan would no longer have to worry about the defenses at Zhao Family Village.

However, as someone who had been through it himself, he knew very well that achieving Spirit Awakening and Qi Introduction Success with just one or two bowls of Spirit Rice Porridge was basically impossible.

But if someone did succeed,

it would be no loss for him.

Shen Changchuan didn’t pay much attention to this.

With a plentiful supply of Spirit Rice,

he turned his attention to the two Magic techniques on his panel that had not yet reached Perfection.

One of the two unperfected techniques was the Water Dragon Technique.

The other was Cyan Wood Sword Light.

He had been cultivating the Fragment of the Cyan Wood Sword Light Magic for a long time, but it remained stuck at 1% progress, not moving an inch.

This troubled Shen Changchuan, and he began to search for a solution.

But before he could find one,

he was forced to come out of his seclusion.

Because,

the Shen Family’s Transportation Envoy had sent someone to collect the Spirit Grain that was to be submitted.

And to Shen Changchuan’s surprise,

he knew the person sent by the Shen Family’s Transportation Envoy.

It was none other than the Garrison who had left Dawan Village not long ago—Shen Shiyin!