Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan Chapter 1872 - 1405: Worth It

Yet, prior to anything else, rescuing these ordinary folks remains essential.

Soaring toward the county's grain depot, Li Zhirui acquired a massive stock of inexpensive regular grain, sufficient to feed those destitute mortals for two or three months.

By that point, the harvest from this year's crops would also be ready.

Besides, he figured that the troubles in Guan Province ought to be settled by then.

"How much regular grain do you have in stock? I'll take every bit of it!" Stepping into the biggest grain merchant's place, Li Zhirui got straight to the point without any chit-chat.

Astonishment filled the shopkeeper's face as he replied, "This customer wishes to purchase such a huge amount? It won't come cheap."

"Just tell me the total amount."

"We've got five hundred thousand jin stored in the back, and in a few days, another two hundred thousand jin will come in. If the customer isn't pressed for time..."

"Forget it, I'll just take four hundred thousand jin." Li Zhirui cut off the shopkeeper mid-sentence, making sure to leave some behind for the city's residents.

"Regular grain goes for three wen per jin. For a bulk buyer like you, it's two wen and six fen each, totaling one thousand and forty taels of silver."

"Fine."

A mere flicker of his mind brought a silver note and four taels of gold into Li Zhirui's grasp.

The Daqian empire issues silver notes, and they've circulated for years now, with a solid system in place.

"This way, please." Once the shopkeeper verified the silver note was genuine, he guided Li Zhirui to the nearby storage area.

All the regular grain sat piled in a single warehouse, and with a sweep of his Divine Sense, Li Zhirui grasped the exact inventory at once.

A casual flick of his hand toward the towering heaps, and in an instant, four hundred thousand jin of grain stacked orderly inside his storage space.

"What an amazing technique, sir!"

The shopkeeper's eyes suddenly gleamed, though he still praised while meticulously checking the count.

Before long, the shopkeeper nodded with a grin, confirming, "Yes, exactly one hundred thousand jin remains. Is there anything more the customer requires?"

"Nothing else." Li Zhirui shook his head and departed without another glance.

Heading back after securing the grain, he spotted a rear entrance to an opulent estate, where scores of attendants hustled about, hauling loads.

Drawing nearer, he realized their barrels brimmed with meals! All prepared from pricey delicacies!

This wasted bounty could nourish plenty of folks for an entire day, keeping starvation at bay.

"It's just like the saying, 'in the grand homes, wine and meat spoil away, while out on the paths, frozen corpses pile up'..." Li Zhirui let out a deep sigh, filled with regret.

"Huh? Who's spouting such rubbish!"

Drifting on the wind, those words reached a finely attired youth. His mild expression shattered as he snapped, "Why should we care about the fate of those wretched peasants? It's their laziness, their forebears' stupidity and sloth! Who can they fault for that?"

Li Zhirui shot the man a frosty look, a shadowy glint in his gaze, and remarked coolly, "Darkness clouds your forehead, and you've never built any virtue through cultivation; calamity looms close!"

"You filthy rogue! Who are you hexing!? Guards, seize him! Beat him senseless, but don't end his life—I'll handle the fallout!" The man erupted in fury, his features twisting savagely.

But before the servants could move, Li Zhirui blinked out of sight right before their eyes, leaving them utterly stunned.

If the sky weren't so clear and the Daoist magic network not humming along, they might have sworn it was a spectral encounter.

Shaken by this abrupt vanishing, the silk-clad youth fell silent and slunk back into the grounds uneasily.

Li Zhirui spared the fool no further thought; why bother with someone already marked for ruin? He quickened his steps instead, rushing beyond the city walls.

Traveling at his pace, he reached that prior village in no time at all.

He stayed hidden, mostly to dodge complications, opting to quietly drop off sacks of grain for the needy households.

These days, Li Zhirui follows his whims, embodying that free and unburdened state of mind, not chasing thanks from mere mortals.

Besides, it brings him no real gain regardless.

When he wrapped up handing out the full forty thousand jin of grain, the sun had already risen on the following day.

Task done, Li Zhirui didn't rush off from Guan Province. Having chosen to confront the Confucians and shift the province's plight, he needed to dive in personally and expose the hidden woes.

That way, his moves would hit the mark, allowing him to topple the Confucians more effectively!

In merely a handful of days, he uncovered not just the famine afflicting the masses, but also rigid social divides, officials and nobles concealing huge numbers of folks, grabbing endless tracts of land, misleading the populace, and worse.

What's more, these woes weren't mere outliers—they plagued the whole of Guan Province!

Li Zhirui jotted down each detail carefully, ready to wield them as proof down the line.

As he toiled away at probing and gathering hints, numerous villagers discovered sacks of grain materializing inexplicably in their homes.

"Grain! We have grain!" A woman, her features etched with despair, caught sight of the sacks and clapped a hand over her mouth, crumpling to the floor in heaving sobs.

Without this timely windfall, she nearly ended it all for her children too, sparing them this cruel existence.

"Bless you, Immortal, bless you, divine one..." The grateful cries rang out haphazardly.

With the benefactor unknown, they kept it hushed, wary of greedy neighbors coming to beg or snatch the supply.