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nConvening the Clan Meeting

n“You… Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?”

nLuo Li felt a little scared by Chen Daoxuan’s gaze and spoke angrily out of embarrassment.

n“Ahem, Miss Luo, you’ve misunderstood me.”

nChen Daoxuan coughed and cleared his throat. “Perhaps in the eyes of senior and Miss Luo, the prices of these spiritual artifacts are low, but we would already make a profit by selling them to you at this price.”

n“Therefore, Miss Luo, don’t worry. I’m not so afraid of you to the point where I would lower the prices of the spiritual artifacts.”

nChen Daoxuan acted in a businesslike manner, which resulted in Luo Li not knowing how to answer him.

n“Alright! Since both of us are satisfied with the prices of the spiritual artifacts, then we can conduct our trades according to these prices.”

nThe middle-aged merman made the decision.

nChen Daoxuan was afraid that the other party would go back on his words, so he quickly nodded and said, “Sure!”

nAfter the initial agreement was reached, the atmosphere between the two sides immediately eased.

nThe middle-aged merman pointed at the mermaid beside him and said with a smile, “This is my daughter, Luo Li. From now on, she will represent our Luo tribe and will be in charge of the spiritual artifact trade between our two parties.”

nWith that said, the middle-aged merman glanced at Luo Li.

nLuo Li nodded in understanding. She pulled hard at her waist, and a bloody scale was pulled off by her.

n“Human cultivator, this is my natal scale. Take it. You can contact me anywhere within a radius of 10,000 kilometers.”

nLuo Li said with a pale face.

nAfter taking the bloody scale, Chen Daoxuan silently put it into his storage bag.

n“After we have settled our tribe’s relocation, we will come and complete the transaction with you.”

nThe middle-aged merman looked at Chen Daoxuan quietly. “Human cultivator, when the time comes… I hope you weren’t lying to us.”

n“I wouldn’t dare!”

nChen Daoxuan bowed and said.

n“That’s good!”

nAfter saying that, the middle-aged merman and the mermaid named Luo Li jumped into the water with a splash and disappeared.

nLooking down from above, Chen Daoxuan watched as the group of merfolk under the sea gradually disappeared into the distance before finally disappearing completely.

nAn hour later, the clansmen on the Canglong woke up one by one.

nAfter Chen Daoxuan calmed down the panicking clansmen, the group continued their journey on the Canglong once more, sailing in the direction of Shuanghu Island.

nMore than twenty days later, the Canglong safely returned to the deepwater port of Shuanghu Island. On the way back, there had been no more incidents.

n…

nShuanghu Island, Changping County, inside the Chen clan ancestral hall…

nThe Chen clan ancestral hall was not only the ancestral hall where members of the Chen clan of Shuanghu Island paid their respects to the ancestors, but also the highest center of power of the clan.

nOver the past three hundred years, the various clan meetings held here had decided the fate of the Chen clan.

nChen Daoxuan sat in Chen Xianhe’s original seat and looked at the two rows of standing members of the Chen clan. He could not help but sigh with emotion.

nThe Chen clan was really lacking.

nHe was the only cultivator present at the clan meeting of a dignified immortal cultivation clan; simply saying it was ridiculous.

nHe shook his head and cast the distracting thoughts to the back of his mind.

nChen Daoxuan, who was sitting in the clan leader’s seat, said, “Since the clan leader needs to oversee the clan shop in Guang’an Prefecture immortal city, I will be temporarily taking over the position of clan leader from this moment on.”

nAfter saying that, Chen Daoxuan took out the black seal that symbolized the identity of the clan leader in front of everyone.

nEveryone was not surprised to hear Chen Daoxuan’s words.

nIn their hearts, as the only younger generation cultivator of the Chen clan, Chen Daoxuan was the best candidate for the future position of clan leader.

nIn addition, the old clan leader was already very old, so they were already mentally prepared for Chen Daoxuan to take over his position as clan leader.

nEveryone looked at each other and whispered to each other. Then, they cupped their hands and saluted at the same time, “Greetings to the young clan leader!”

n“Everyone, there’s no need to salute.”

nChen Daoxuan waved his hand.

n“During the early years, because I was focused on cultivation, I did not participate much in the matters of the clan, so I am not familiar with everyone here. However, in the future, I hope that everyone can work together to assist me and develop the Chen clan of our Shuanghu Island!”

nAfter hearing this, the county magistrate of Changping County, Chen Zhi, who was first person standing on the right, stepped forward and cupped his hands first to express his stance, “Our Changping County county office will definitely cooperate with young clan leader to organize the affairs of the clan and develop the clan!”

n“Great.”

nChen Daoxuan nodded with satisfaction.

nSeeing this, the former person-in-charge of the red copper mine, Chen Liangyu, who was standing first in line on the left, was secretly angry.

nSuch a good opportunity to display his loyalty had actually been snatched away by Chen Zhi.

nThinking of this, Chen Liangyu was unwilling to accept it. He quickly said, “Our red copper mine is also willing to listen to the orders of the young clan leader!”

n“Very good! I can see everyone’s intentions.”

nChen Daoxuan smiled and said, “Right now, there are indeed a few important things for you all to do.”

nSeeing that everyone was listening attentively, Chen Daoxuan looked at the Changping County magistrate and said, “Chen Zhi!”

n“Your subordinate is listening.”

nChen Zhi bowed and replied.

n“Our Shuanghu Island’s Chen clan has a total of 774 registered households, correct?”

n“Reporting to the young clan leader, Shuanghu Island’s Chen clan has a total of 774 households, with a total of 3,873 people. Among them, Changping County has 597 households with a population of 2,987 people. The village has 177 households with a population of 886 people.”

n“The population of the clan is so small.”

nChen Daoxuan frowned and asked, “How did the clan solve the issue of food?”

n“Young patriarch, regarding the food issue… In the past, the old patriarch purchased food from Guang’an Prefecture to cover what was lacking.”

nSeeing Chen Daoxuan’s unhappy expression, Chen Zhi replied carefully.

n“Then… What about the specific demographics of the clan’s population?”

nHearing this question, Chen Zhi was momentarily stunned, and he was somewhat confused, “May I ask the young clan leader, what does ‘demographics’ mean?”

nChen Daoxuan knew that, in a rush, he had actually uttered a word from his previous life.

nThus, he explained without changing his expression, “It details the clan’s population categorized according to gender and age.”

n“This…”

nChen Zhi’s forehead was covered in sweat, and he did not know what to do. He really did not know what to do with this request.

nHowever, waiting for death was clearly not the style of this county magistrate, as he cupped his hands and said, “Reporting to the young clan leader, the clan’s specific demographics have not been surveyed by the county office, but… as far as I know, our Chen clan’s population has always had enough young and able men.”

nChen Zhi thought that Chen Daoxuan was worried about the Chen clan’s lack of men, so he emphasized that the Chen clan’s population consisted of more men.

nHowever, when Chen Daoxuan heard this answer, not only was he not happy, but his mood turned even heavier.

nThe abundance of men meant that the number of women was insufficient, and that the gender ratio was unbalanced.

nThis meant that the Chen clan could not expand its population within a short period of time.

nThe clan’s population was directly correlated to the increase in the number of clan cultivators; it could be said that it was the lifeblood of the clan.

nRubbing his aching head, Chen Daoxuan finally knew how much pressure Chen Xianhe had to bear single-handedly over the years in order to allow him to fully focus on cultivating and learning how to refine artifacts.

nPutting the matter aside, Chen Daoxuan continued to ask, “How much land does the clan possess?”

nHearing this question, Chen Zhi heaved a sigh of relief. “Reporting to the young clan leader, our Chen Clan has a total of 4,657 mu of fertile land.”

n“With so much land, and there being only 177 households in the village, can the farmers even farm all of it?”

n“This…”

nChen Zhi wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead, not knowing how to answer.

nHe could not say that most of the land here belonged to the rich families, right?

nEven in the cultivation world, the problem of land annexation within the cultivation clans had always existed; even the small Chen clan had this problem.

nHowever, cultivators were usually high and mighty, so they did not care about these problems at all.

nIf the mortals caused a serious disturbance, the cultivators would use their extraordinary power to forcibly break up the class difference and redistribute the wealth.

nSeeing that the other party could not answer, Chen Daoxuan continued to ask, “Then the county magistrate should know how large Shuanghu Island is, right?”

n“I… I don’t know.”

nSensing the growing sense of oppression from Chen Daoxuan, the county magistrate, Chen Zhi, did not even dare to raise his head.

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