276: Immortal Dynasty Burden

Ji Wuya was rubbing his temples, pushing a Jade Slip shimmering with spiritual light toward Ji Hui. His tone carried a rare sense of helplessness: "Hui'er, it is good that you have returned. Take a look at this… The Immortal Dynasty's accounts are on the verge of collapse."

Ji Hui took the Jade Slip and swept her Divine Sense over it, her brows furrowing slightly—

The Jade Slip contained a detailed record of the Immortal Dynasty's current predicament, which you also clearly "saw"—

The Tianyu Immortal Dynasty spanned over three hundred thousand li, with over seven hundred large cities, countless villages and towns, and a population in the tens of billions. Because it practiced "dual governance of Mortals and Cultivators," its expenditures were composed of two parts: mundane silver and Spirit Stones.

Mortals accounted for over ninety percent of the population, serving as grassroots officials, soldiers, laborers, and the like, numbering in the tens of millions. The standing army at the borders alone reached ten million, with over ninety percent being Mortal soldiers.

Among the Cultivators affiliated with the Immortal Dynasty, Qi Refining Cultivators were the most numerous, spread throughout the grassroots of every agency, numbering over one million.

There were also tens of thousands of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, serving as Intermediate generals, city lords, and heads of various departments.

As for Golden Core Cultivators, there were only a few thousand, all of whom were ministers of various departments, grand generals, city lords, high-ranking members of the Imperial Law Enforcement Agency, or heads and Elders of noble families.

Because of this, the expenses of the entire Immortal Dynasty were extremely massive—

For example, the mundane expenditure portion: military pay and supplies for the ten-million-strong army cost about five hundred million taels of silver annually; hundreds of thousands of Mortal officials at various levels cost about fifty million taels of silver annually; infrastructure, disaster relief, and royal expenses cost about fifty million taels of silver annually.

Total mundane expenditures were about six hundred million taels of silver, which, if converted into Low-Grade Spirit Stones, was about sixty thousand—and this was only the expenditure for the Mortal portion.

The Cultivator expenditure portion was truly terrifying: the average annual salary for a Qi Refining Cultivator was ten to one hundred Spirit Stones, totaling at least over one hundred million; for Foundation Establishment Cultivators, the average annual salary was two hundred to two thousand, requiring at least another ten million; for Golden Core Cultivators, the average annual salary was two thousand to twenty thousand, also requiring at least ten million Spirit Stones.

In addition, there were the salaries, Medicinal Pills, Magical Artifact maintenance, and Formation operations for the tens of thousands of Cultivators in the Imperial Law Enforcement Agency, costing about ten million Spirit Stones annually; other Cultivator institutions such as various departments, academies, and the Heaven Inspection Bureau also required ten million Spirit Stones annually; furthermore, there were strategic reserves, royal offerings, and Guest Elder expenses, requiring another ten million Spirit Stones each year.

Looking at the revenue—in terms of mundane revenue: land taxes, commercial taxes, population taxes, etc., brought in about five hundred million taels of silver annually; mineral resources, monopolies, etc., brought in about two hundred million taels of silver annually.

In terms of Spirit Stone revenue: there were over a hundred Low Grade and Medium Grade mineral veins within the territory, with an annual output of about fifty million Low-Grade Spirit Stones; taxes from various Spirit Medicine and Spirit Material production sites brought in about twenty million; commercial taxes from Cultivator transactions and auction houses brought in about ten million; shares from the exploration of Secret Realms and ruins were unstable, averaging about five million; offerings from affiliated Families and Sects brought in about five million Spirit Stones annually.

Calculating the total, if the Immortal Dynasty's annual expenditures were all calculated in Spirit Stones, it would require one hundred fifty million Spirit Stones; yet currently, the Spirit Stone revenue was less than one hundred million—the annual deficit already exceeded fifty million Spirit Stones.

This sum might not amount to much for a first-rate power like the Liu Clan Immortal Family, but for the Tianyu Immortal Dynasty on this Shattered Star Continent, it was enough to make this Emperor want to abdicate.

Moreover, silver was difficult to exchange for Spirit Stones, and one could only exchange Spirit Stones for silver—

Due to the barren resources of the Shattered Star Continent, the Tianyu Immortal Dynasty even had to frequently utilize its precious Spirit Stone reserves to travel to the resource-rich Tianyang Star to exchange for silver and various mundane supplies, only then being able to maintain the grassroots operations of its vast territory.

Cultivators themselves were rare, and they often needed to go into long-term secluded cultivation, making it impossible for them to personally handle the countless tedious administrative affairs under the Immortal Dynasty. Therefore, they often chose or cultivated shrewd and reliable Mortals to act as spokespersons and administrators, exercising the duties of governance on their behalf while they remained hidden behind the scenes to control the overall situation.

Over time, this unique political system of "dual governance of Mortals and Cultivators, with Cultivators as masters and Mortals as subordinates" was formed—

In fact, this was the common form for almost all Immortal Dynasties and large Cultivator forces in the Zixiao Immortal Domain.

Even for a first-rate force like the Liu Clan Immortal Family, there were a large number of Mortals within the clan; however, the Liu Clan had a deep Foundation and abundant resources, capable of mass-producing spirit awakening pills to help people with Awakening their Spiritual Roots, so the proportion of low-level Cultivators, especially those in the Qi Refinement Stage, within their clan was very high.

Of course, there were exceptions: for instance, top-tier forces like the Kunlun Dao Academy were almost entirely composed of Cultivators, with absolutely no Mortals—

But such purely Cultivator forces often faced another fundamental problem: they were not Families based on Bloodline Legacy, and all their Disciples were recruited from the outside.

Over time, the factions within the academy inevitably became intricate and complex, with the tentacles of various large Families and forces intertwined in secret, their interests deeply rooted and tangled.

In a sense, the Kunlun Dao Academy was no longer just a Sect, but more like a massive platform and nexus for the various top Families and forces across the Immortal Domain to send their Prodigies for exchange, competition, and alliance.

You had not expected that managing a vast Immortal Dynasty, while appearing infinitely glorious, was in reality entangled with Karma—it seemed that the Power of All Living Beings was not easy to obtain.

Although Ji Wuya could rely on the Human Emperor's Seal to remain invincible among those of the same realm, the resulting burden of Karma was extremely heavy.

Ji Wuya sighed: "In recent years, the annual deficit has reached tens of millions of Spirit Stones, and even our previous reserves have been exhausted. We have been unable to pay monthly salaries for several months, and the voices of dissatisfaction below are growing louder."

"And for some reason, the grade and output of those mineral veins have been declining year by year, even showing signs of depletion. Coupled with the fact that those reaching out for resources from all sides only increase… Over these years, my life as Emperor has been utterly miserable."

Ji Hui closed the Jade Slip, a flash of sharpness and realization in her eyes; she looked at her father, her brows furrowed tightly: "Logically speaking… Spirit Stone mineral veins should increase in grade and output as time passes. Why would they weaken year by year?"

Ji Wuya shook his head: "I do not know either. I have personally investigated it, but I did not find any problems."

Ji Hui nodded, her expression serious: "Father, set your mind at ease. Leave this matter to your daughter to handle."

Seeing his daughter agree, Ji Wuya was immediately overjoyed—over these years, he had been entangled by these trivial matters, worrying himself to the bone, and his cultivation had made no progress because of it.

Soon, the two left the side hall and headed toward the Chengyun Hall.

From the final conversation between Ji Wuya and Ji Hui, you sensed a deeper layer of unease—

Because you had once been suspicious of the Langgan Pavilion and had secretly observed them, you knew they were actually secretly setting up a mysterious Formation to steal the world origin of this shattered continent.

The world origin was the Foundation of a realm. If the Origin declined, all things attached to it would wither along with it—

For instance, the spiritual essence of Spirit Stone mineral veins would dissipate, the fertility of Spirit Fields would dry up, and the production capacity and quality of all Spirit Plants and Spirit Materials would decline year by year.

In the long run, the Spiritual Qi of the Shattered Star Continent would become increasingly thin, resources would accelerate toward depletion, and it would eventually completely degenerate into a wasteland unable to support Cultivators.

Realizing this, a sense of hesitation could not help but arise in your heart—should you meddle in this business?