Leveled Up

Soon, Liu Yunan received Village Chief Du in the reception room of Lingxian Academy.

"Grandpa Village Chief, please take a seat. Why didn't you use the sound - transmitting talisman to contact me directly?" Liu Yunan pointed to the seat beside him and asked in surprise.

To prevent any emergencies in the village from going unnoticed, the Chores Hall had always ensured that Village Chief Du had at least five sound - transmitting talismans that could directly contact Liu Yunan.

Village Chief Du sat down and looked at him with a smile.

"Those talismans are precious, and it's not easy for you to make them. I thought I should save some. I'm afraid that after I use them up, you'll have to replenish them for me."

Hearing this and knowing that the old man had their best interests at heart, Liu Yunan just smiled and didn't say anything more. Then he got to the point.

"Grandpa Village Chief, did you ring the bell this time because there's something going on?"

Village Chief Du then explained.

"The thing is like this. In recent years, more and more tourists have been coming to our village, and quite a few of them have built houses and settled here. Now, the population and the number of households in our village far exceed those of other villages in the surrounding area. So I was thinking, can we expand our village?"

Actually, the government also had this idea.

In the past two years, the population figures submitted by Xiushui Village had been increasing rapidly. The number of registered permanent residents was even larger than that of many towns.

Under normal circumstances, it was far from enough to manage a community of this scale with just one village chief. The administrative unit had to be upgraded.

Thanks to the fact that Xiushui Village was backed by Lingxian Sect, few people dared to cause trouble here. Village Chief Du himself had always done his best, and the people in Xiushui Village were united. That's why there hadn't been any major problems in the past few years.

But obviously, this was not a long - term solution.

The government had also contacted Village Chief Du recently to discuss upgrading Xiushui Village to a town.

However, both the government and Village Chief Du were well aware that the upgrade of Xiushui Village must be approved by Lingxian Sect. So the task of contacting Lingxian Sect fell on Village Chief Du.

After Du Liushui explained the government's intention, Liu Yunan was stunned for a moment. Then he showed a happy expression and said,

"So, our Xiushui Village is going to become Xiushui Town soon?"

Du Liushui nodded with a smile.

"If your Lingxian Sect agrees, this matter should be settled."

"That's great! This is a great thing! Brother Xiao and the others will definitely agree!" Liu Yunan was extremely delighted and nodded repeatedly. Immediately, he used his lock ring to contact Lin Xiao and the others and told them about this matter.

As he expected, everyone from Xiushui Village was overjoyed when they heard the news.

Although they were mostly practicing on the mountain and didn't often go back to the village, Xiushui Village was the place where they grew up. How could they not be happy to hear that their village could be upgraded to a town?

Du Liushui watched as Liu Yunan used the small white jade ring on his finger to communicate smoothly with others. It was even more convenient than the sound - transmitting talisman. He couldn't help but feel envious and sighed with emotion.

For a moment, he even regretted that he hadn't participated in the recruitment of Lingxian Sect disciples before.

But this was just a passing emotion.

Compared with cultivating immortality, he still preferred to live in the village, playing with his grandchildren every day and enjoying his twilight years.

If something happened in the future... he would think about it then.

Remembering the purpose of his visit, Du Liushui then said,

"If the village is upgraded to a town, the government has promised a construction grant. But the government also said that the amount of this grant is limited. If we want to build it better, our village has to find a way on its own."

"I thought that with everyone in our village working together and with the support of Lingxian Sect, our village will surely get better and better in the future. It's a town now, and who knows, it might be upgraded further later. Since we're taking this step in construction, if we can lay a good foundation, things will be much easier in the future."

"So I've discussed it with the clan leaders of several families in the village. I'm here to ask if Lingxian Sect can lend our village some money for construction. We'll draw up the terms and pay back a portion of the money from the village's annual income in the future."

"This..." Liu Yunan was about to agree immediately, but as someone who had been in charge of affairs for several years, he still had a sense of propriety and immediately stopped himself. Then he said,

"Grandpa Village Chief, please wait a moment. In our sect, Qin Jianghe is in charge of money. I have to ask him."

With that, he opened the lock ring and chose to contact Qin Jianghe.

For the convenience of the discussion, he simply kept the lock ring open so that Qin Jianghe could talk directly to Village Chief Du.

As soon as Qin Jianghe heard that Village Chief Du wanted to borrow money to build the village, he immediately said that there was no need to borrow. Their Lingxian Sect would directly support the village with a construction fund.

Actually, their sect didn't need or consume much gold and silver. Besides, there was always gold and silver in the gifts from the imperial court. So the sect's income from money was far greater than its expenditure.

Now that the village was in need, there was no need to borrow.

Brother Xiao had said before that they should help the village as much as they could when needed.

However, Village Chief Du refused.

"Why is that?"

Facing the confusion of Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe on the other end of the lock ring, Du Liushui shook his head with a smile and explained,

"I understand your good intentions, but children, as the saying goes, giving a little kindness will be appreciated, but excessive charity may breed hatred. Now that our Xiushui Village is going to be upgraded to a town, if you give us money directly, what if the village wants to be upgraded to a county or even a city in the future? Will we have to ask you for money every time?"

Qin Jianghe on the other end of the lock ring flipped through the money ledger in front of him and thought that it was not impossible.

After all, there was really no major consumption for the sect's money. If they accumulated more in the future, he even thought it would take up too much space.

This kind of thing was not a big deal for Lingxian Sect at present. They didn't even need to hold a small meeting within the sect, and Qin Jianghe himself could make the decision directly.

However, he also understood what Grandpa Village Chief meant.

"Well, how about this? Our sect will lend a part and also provide some financial support. And during the construction, if there are any difficulties that the village can't handle alone, you can come to us for manpower assistance at any time. How about that?"

Knowing the good intentions of these children, Du Liushui didn't refuse anymore and agreed with a smile.

So, the three of them discussed some more details. First, Village Chief Du explained in detail the specific construction content, such as which buildings would be the major part of the construction, the approximate materials needed, which administrative institutions would be set up, and the initial operating funds. All these had been mentioned when the government came to discuss and had been planned by Village Chief Du and several clan elders.

The reason why they didn't come to Lingxian Sect immediately after the government's discussion was that Du Liushui sent someone to find out all the details.