Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Autumn harvest, for any village reliant on farming, is the foremost event of the year.

Datian Village was no exception.

With three hundred seventy-six households and nearly two thousand people, over ninety percent engaged in farming the Spirit Veins, the village had opened up more than six thousand mu of Spirit Fields, with an average yield of about four hundred and fifty catties per mu.

Such a yield was quite a bit higher than what Wang Chen had seen in his years tending the Spirit Fields at Cloud Sun Sect, since the land here was more fertile and nature's spiritual energy was much more abundant.

However, Spirit Wheat ripened only once a year, so the annual yield was actually much less.

According to the rules, of this four hundred and fifty catties of harvest, forty percent was to be offered as tribute to the Agricultural and Pastoral Office of Wan City, twenty percent filled the village's public granary, and farmers kept the remaining forty percent for themselves.

As the village chief, Wang Chen was in charge of overseeing the harvest and grain collection, and it took a busy ten days to get everything settled.

It was his first time acting as a village official, and he lacked an in-depth understanding of the grassroots situation in the West Sea Spirit Domain. If it weren't for the assistance of several elderly villagers, he certainly would have been at his wits' end.

In spite of this, Wang Chen was kept so busy that even the time he usually devoted to his daily cultivation was considerably shortened.

And just when Wang Chen thought he could finally catch his breath, he discovered a new problem.

A big problem!

The autumn grain had been harvested and stored, and the contribution grain had also been fully delivered. However, when Wang Chen went to check the granary, which was built inside the ancestral hall, he was shocked to find it completely empty.

It was enough to starve a rat!

The granary's reserves came entirely from the farmers, taken from the people for the people's use. In years of poor harvest, it could supplement the villagers' food supply.

Additionally, the reserves were also used for the village's public expenditure projects, such as road construction, digging channels, reclaiming wasteland, and fertilizing fields. All of these would require compensating the laboring villagers with food from these reserves.

Normally, the granary would accumulate a certain amount of old grain every year.

Last year had been a good year with no major conscriptions for labor. Logically, there should have been plenty left in the granary.

Yet inside, Wang Chen didn't find a single grain of Spirit Wheat!

Wang Chen was thankful that he'd opened the granary with several of the village's elders. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to clear his name no matter what he said, and he would surely have been suspected of embezzling the public grain!

This was friggin' ridiculous!

Upon witnessing such a scene, the elders of Datian Village exchanged glances, not knowing what to say.

One of the elders coughed and asked cautiously, "Village Chief, what do you suggest we do?"

The others echoed, "Yes, yes, what should we do?"

In fact, everyone was well aware that the grain must have been taken by Huang Deqi.

Because Master Huang had always been in charge of managing the granary, he held the keys and all the accounts.

And since the granary was built very sturdily and equipped with prohibitions, if the grain had been stolen by someone else, these prohibitions would not have remained intact.

The problem was, Huang Deqi had been taken away a long time ago and there was no news of him since, obviously more bad news than good.

No one to be held accountable, it had turned into a muddled debt!

The elders, as if by mutual agreement, shifted the responsibility onto Wang Chen.

Wang Chen certainly wasn't going to take the blame: "I will send a letter to the Patrol Guards explaining the situation. We'll redo the accounts for this year's granary, and from now on, you'll be responsible for managing it."

Wang Chen guessed that this grain was very likely given to the Grey Wolf Bandits by Huang Deqi.

That guy, desperate to extend his life by Breaking Threshold, was capable of anything, not to mention embezzling public grain.

But he was fed up with dealing with such trouble when his own cultivation time was already insufficient!

He might as well let these old fellows deal with it themselves.

The elders, having no choice, had to assume responsibility as, in today's Datian Village, Wang Chen was the sole authority.

After shifting the responsibility, Wang Chen could finally continue cultivating in peace while waiting for news from Luo Zhen.

As he cultivated and waited, each day grew colder than the last, and most villagers of Datian Village had donned thick cotton-padded jackets.

That afternoon, someone suddenly knocked on the door of the Village Head Residence.

Wang Chen happened to be practicing Vajra Fist in the front courtyard and went over to open the gate himself.

At the entrance, stood a thin and dark little girl clad in thin garments, looking weary.

Seeing the door open and Wang Chen, she immediately recoiled in alarm, taking a step back, "Village, Village Chief sir."

"I'm not a Monster Beast, what are you afraid of?"

Wang Chen smiled and said, "Did you come to see me for something?"

"I, I, I..."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The girl stammered for a long time without managing to say anything substantial, appearing very frightened and anxious.

She clearly wanted to run away, but for some reason, she couldn't make her feet move.

"Ya?"

At that moment, He appeared behind Wang Chen and asked in surprise, "How come you're here?"

Tears fell from the girl's eyes as she said, "Sister He, please, save my grandfather!"

With that, she knelt to the ground.

"Oh my!"

He was startled and quickly reached out to help her up.

But Wang Chen was faster and directly used his mana to lift her, "Tell me what exactly happened."

The girl wiped her tears and, encouraged by He's gaze, managed to choke out the story.

It turned out her family were hunters with no land to cultivate, relying solely on hunting and gathering for their livelihood.

This girl called Ya had lost her parents early on and was brought up by her grandfather, with a younger brother to care for as well.

In order to store food for the winter, her grandfather had been hunting in the mountains every day recently but had caught very little.

Then, this morning, disaster struck when he went to the mountains again.

Her grandfather had dragged himself back, severely injured, and had collapsed at the doorstep of their home.

Ya, scared out of her wits, struggled with all her might to drag her grandfather inside, then ran to He for help.

Because in Datian Village, Ya had the best relationship with He.

"Take me to see him."

After understanding what had happened, Wang Chen immediately waved his sleeve, enveloping He and Ya.

He activated his mana, lifting the trio into the air.

Ya's home was located at the northwest corner of Datian Village, close to the foot of the mountain—a solitary wooden house.

As soon as Wang Chen brought them there, they heard loud crying coming from inside the house.

"Grandfather!"

Ya was so frightened that as soon as she landed, she rushed into the room.

Wang Chen followed her in.

They saw an old man with white hair lying on a wooden bed, his face covered in blood, unconscious.

Next to the bed was a little boy crying loudly.

Wang Chen checked the old man's carotid pulse and found that his heartbeat was still there, which relieved him.

Saving a life is like fighting a fire, and without any hesitation, Wang Chen immediately took out a Healing Pill from his Storage Bag, placed it into the old man's mouth, and used his mana to guide it into his stomach.

Then he took out some antiseptic medicine and sprinkled it on the wounds on the man's chest, abdomen, and arms.

After a simple treatment, Ya's grandfather soon regained consciousness.

The Healing Pill that Wang Chen had taken out was no ordinary item, and its effect was indeed very powerful. Explore stories on empire

It was as if he'd snatched back a life.

Ya, overwhelmed with joy, knelt down and kowtowed to Wang Chen, tears streaming down her face.

This was the only way she could express her gratitude.

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Here's the first update.