Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Nine-tenths of the Money is Gone on the Fire Wheel Car_1
"Useless elite, my ass..."
Useless elite, my ass... Wang Linchi sat in the firewheel carriage, his expression somewhat gloomy. He looked at his balance and muttered a curse under his breath.
The firewheel carriage was a train. He had been assigned a hard-sleeping berth and faced a half-month-long train ride to reach Yi State.
This was not only because the train was an old-fashioned, slow-moving green-skinned one—not a true marvel of technology but a Soul Train, chugging along at about a hundred kilometers per hour. Adding the delays from stops, refueling, and other necessities, plus the sheer vastness of each state, Wang Linchi was experiencing the true scale of Yingzhou for the first time.
He had never conceived of such immense territories before, so it hadn’t truly registered. Now, seeing it, he found it genuinely terrifying.
Only such a vast territory could sustain the outrageous misdeeds of the Dajing Court.
A train ticket plus half a month’s food and drink wiped out ninety percent of my savings. No wonder they were so enthusiastic about me, Wang Linchi fumed, feeling his anger rise.
Fortunately, the funds Yan Ming King had given him previously weren’t under his name but in an anonymous account at a private bank that only recognized account numbers and passwords, not individuals.
Therefore, the money on this card was all legitimate and traceable, so the amount wasn’t substantial.
After all, his income primarily came from subsidies, with Soul Kind forming the bulk of it. Even a fourth-tier subsidy amounted to a million, and he had only received it once, already spending a good portion.
But even so, he had over 700,000 left. Now, he was down to just 70,000, plus some change. He refused to believe a train ticket could cost hundreds of thousands.
Eventually, however, he calmed down. Corruption was rampant within the Dajing Court; it was an unavoidable reality.
It was just like when the Qinghe Field Officer had brazenly taken his Rainbow Light Series Soul Seed for his son—such things were considered commonplace.
They just bullied you for having no power or status. What could you do? Even if you knew, there was nothing you could do.
The simplest truth was that Wang Linchi didn’t even know who his antagonist was, nor did he have any channels to seek justice, as their influence was much stronger than his.
Only the Royal Family has enough power to truly control this realm. If a major upheaval ever occurs, hmph! Wang Linchi mentally filed away this grievance, vowing to retaliate when the opportunity arose.
Once I have power, will I still fear not finding them?
But having less money has its advantages; I don’t have to worry about people coveting it.
The small amount of money in his own bank account was a drop in the ocean.
In fact, keeping it openly was somewhat conspicuous.
This time, at least, they had shown him some face, allowing him to enter the password himself and leaving him a little. If they hadn’t bothered with appearances, they could have just wiped it all.
Did they really think they didn’t have the authority? Of course they did.
They just didn’t dare on normal days; today, they seized the opportunity to squeeze him.
It was just like the Qinghe Field Officer, who had taken the Soul Kind without following any procedure, while Wang Linchi himself had to navigate a lot of red tape just to get his own things.
"Wang, care for a drink?" A middle-aged man, holding a bottle of strong liquor and carrying some side dishes, walked into their hard-sleeper compartment.
This middle-aged man was named Qi Chang. Like Wang Linchi, he was an Awakener with a common-type Soul Resemblance, also assigned to a post in Yi State.
However, he wasn’t going to the Soul Seed Bureau but to another department. He had just been assigned to the same room.
In this firewheel carriage, a hard-sleeping berth was for two people, while a soft-sleeping berth was a single.
Qi Chang wasn’t an odd character; on the contrary, he was very smooth. Compared to Wang Linchi, who had just started his job, Qi Chang had been at his post for quite some years.
Otherwise, he was fine; he just liked to have a couple of drinks regularly.
"No, thank you. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your pleasure," Wang Linchi naturally declined.
"Alright, you kidder, always so polite." Qi Chang had just been making a polite offer and hadn’t really intended to share with Wang Linchi.
His expression also looked a bit strained. After sitting down and taking a large gulp of liquor, he asked with a hint of complaint, "Hey Bro, how much did this ticket cost you?"
Hearing this, Wang Linchi understood why the other man was upset. He must have been fleeced for a large sum, just like himself.
"I only have a little left," Wang Linchi said, not specifying the amount. He certainly couldn’t say hundreds of thousands; that would attract too much attention.
Even Qi Chang, having saved up until now, probably doesn’t have that much. After all, Awakeners like us with non-battle Soul Resemblances can hardly get lucrative positions.
"We’re all in the same boat. Alas, it’s truly like they say: bandits comb through, soldiers scrape, and officials shave you clean," Qi Chang sighed.
"Under Great View rule, how can bandits still be so rampant?" Wang Linchi was somewhat curious.
One could understand cults flourishing, as they had the backing of powerful forces from a Gigantic Secret Realm. But what allowed these bandits to survive?
"The government office’s ’white gloves,’ the Great Families’ scapegoats, the Sects’ cornucopia—any reason could suffice."
"You’re still too young; you haven’t seen these things."
"But it’s also true they don’t dare enter the cities. They usually prey on merchant caravans and merchant associations," Qi Chang said helplessly, hearing Wang Linchi’s comment.
Wang Linchi considered this, and it seemed plausible. The territory of Great View was vast, and its societal foundation was still fragmented, reminiscent of ancient times, so the existence of bandits wasn’t impossible.
Furthermore, even black markets, places that directly defied the Court’s laws, could openly exist near cities, let alone bandits.
They didn’t dare to fleece the wealthy, but they certainly dared to extort the poor.
This is really... Wang Linchi pondered. For things to be this bad and it still not be the End of the Dynasty, the Da Jing Royal Family’s power must truly be formidable.
However, it was also clear that the Dajing Court’s control over various regions was gradually weakening.
If a suitable opportunity arose, the entire realm would descend into chaos.
If the Great Families and Sects wished to advance further, Great View would become their obstacle.
"Pah! Why are you worrying about these things with me? Once you’re in Lixi Prefecture in Yi State, you won’t have to worry about any of this."
"Those bandits, with their connections, wouldn’t dare try anything like that."
"They wouldn’t even dare to approach the firewheel carriage, let alone enter Lixi Prefecture." As Qi Chang spoke, he gulped down half a bottle of strong liquor. His face turned red; he had clearly drunk too quickly and was becoming tipsy.
Lixi Prefecture was the capital prefecture of Yi State. The Soul Seed Bureau where Wang Linchi was to take up his post was naturally located there, as lower-level cities did not have such an institution.
Although Yi State was superior to Yingzhou, it wasn’t so prosperous as to establish Soul Seed Bureaus in its lesser cities.
If Yingzhou’s strength was rated as lower-tier within the Jing Room Domain, then Yi State was mid-tier, with even more powerful states existing above it.
Qi Chang muttered a few more words under his breath before finally falling asleep on his bunk.
He must have been truly upset, Wang Linchi muttered softly to himself.
Not everyone was like him, possessing anonymous accounts.
For an Awakener with a common-type Soul Resemblance like Qi Chang, life was only slightly better than that of ordinary people. They fundamentally lacked the qualifications to reach higher levels and still used money as currency.
However, among Awakeners, money wasn’t the true currency; Soul Kind was.
It was precisely because of this monopoly and suppression that Soul Kind was so expensive for ordinary people and Non-Battle-type Awakeners.
Because Soul Kinds were simply not circulated to them.
Even if some were available, they were usually of poorer quality, and the prices were exorbitant.
Even Wang Linchi was close to abandoning money as a currency. If his current status didn’t make it necessary, he would have no need for money.
He then turned his gaze to the receding scenery outside the firewheel carriage, not planning to engage in Cultivation on the Soul Train.
They weren’t alone here; there were many other Awakeners, including Battle-type Awakeners.
This was because ordinary people were fundamentally unable to take long-distance transport like the firewheel carriage—not because they couldn’t afford it, but because they didn’t qualify.
All ordinary people were strictly confined to their city-level areas. To leave, they needed corresponding permits, unless they were part of a merchant caravan, merchant association, or were merchants themselves, and even these required credentials.
The same applied to Non-Battle-type Awakeners, though they had a bit more leeway, being restricted to within their state. One couldn’t leave their assigned state without a special dispatch order or permission from the state government.
Battle-type Awakeners also faced restrictions, though theirs were almost negligible—confined within a domain. However, Wang Linchi could get a sense of how large a single domain was just from his experience with these two states.
Of course, if one became a Morning Star Awakener, most restrictions were lifted.
Besides being wealthier than Yingzhou, Yi State also had five Morning Star Awakeners stationed there. It was precisely this disparity that allowed Yi State to surpass Yingzhou. Otherwise, mere wealth wouldn’t be the Court’s criterion for evaluation. It still came down to the same principle: combat capability was everything.