014, When greed becomes a habit ()

Mayor Dasty's expression was surprised and a little wanted to laugh. He could see that Amon was trying to find Xiao Gu, and he couldn't help but secretly curious that this child was really brave. Amon did have a reason to find fault. Xiao Gu almost cut off one of his fingers last time, and Amon had never offended this priest, but after all, the child actually did this!

Amon claimed that he had found a natural mineral core that did not need to be mined in the stream flowing out of the mountain torrent. This situation was not impossible, but it was very rare. If a townsman really picked up one or two such mineral cores, he would only take them home quietly and it would be impossible to register and report them. Of course, the divine stone mined was left by himself. Who would know if he didn't say it?

Amon did this clearly to ask Xiao Gu to pay taxes for him. Who made this priest make such a promise to apologize?

Xiao Gu's face looked ugly, but he couldn't say anything in public, so he had to ask: "Among, you are such a lucky and honest child. Can you give me a look at the divine stone you mined?"

He thought Amon had at most picked up one or two mine cores. When Amon took out a sheepskin from his arms and opened it, everyone around him exclaimed. He saw that Lord Xiao Gu's eyes turned black and he fainted on the spot. If the servant next to him hadn't been holding him up, the back of his head would have to hit the stairs!

I saw that there were not only twenty colorless and transparent standard divine stones in this dirty sheepskin, but also one special divine stone shining with a dark blue luster, just like strange and mysterious water waves rippling in it.

The onlookers were so surprised that they couldn't speak. At this time, the mayor was the most calm. He was the first to come back to his senses and asked with a breath: "Among, this, this, what did you really pick up?"

A Meng nodded without changing his face and said, "Yes, it should be that a mountain torrent in a certain year happened to break out of an ore vein, and a bunch of ore cores were exposed in the dry stream traces. I was lucky to find it."

Dusty swallowed and felt her lips dry. She looked around and whispered: "Actually you can... do this... for yourself..."

He only said half of each sentence, but the meaning was obvious. In fact, Amon could quietly stay and say no to anyone. Doing so was forcing Lord Xiao Gu to pay taxes, which would not benefit Amon himself, because Lord Xiao Gu would definitely take revenge. How could Lord Xiao Gu’s power and status be offended by the son of a miner?

At this time, someone next to him said, "Mr. Xiao Gu fainted, what should I do?"

Amon also replied: "Master, I want to pay taxes. You won't let me violate the law in public, right?"

Mayor Dasty sighed and said helplessly: "Wake up Lord Xiao Gu, we all know that he will pay the taxes of the Amon family this year!"

Only the mayor here knows why Xiao Gu fainted. If there were only twenty divine stones, Xiao Gu paid the tax on the eighteen divine stones, even if he felt heartbroken like a knife cutting flesh, he would not lose his composure. The key is that the blue divine stone, the miners in the town did not know its value. If calculated based on the tax, it was equivalent to 200 standard divine stones.

In other words, Xiao Gu needs to pay a total of 198 divine stones for Amon. The value of one divine stone is equivalent to twenty zhu gold coins, so the tax that Xiao Gu needs to pay is close to four thousand zhu gold coins! With such a sum of money, you can buy a luxurious manor in the Syrian city-state plus a group of slaves and cattle and sheep.

Xiao Gu was woken up by someone rubbing his chest. With the help of two servants, he barely stood firm and asked in a trembling voice: "Among, do you really want to pay taxes?" His eyes were like blood was about to drip when he spoke. If his eyes could kill people, Among might have been dismembered by the rifle blade.

Ameng actually met this gaze without dodging, and looked at Xiao Gu's eyes as provocatively, and replied in a calm and clear tone: "Yes, does the secretary who is responsible for registering taxes want me to evade taxes in public?"

Forced to this extent, the tax must be paid even if it is not paid. Xiao Gu avoided Amon's gaze and said to Dusty with a begging gaze and a pitiful tone: "Master, I will accept this tax and register it as twenty-one divine stones."

Only Dasty can understand the meaning of this sentence. This is a word game. The blue divine stone is also a divine stone. It seems nothing wrong to register it like this. But this involves a secret between Xiao Gu and Dasty, and it is also the best way for these two nobles in the town to make money. In the past, miners would be ecstatic when they mined special divine stones.

The townspeople do not know how valuable the special divine stone is, because it will be taken away as soon as it is mined. It is impossible to appear on the market as a circulating currency like the standard divine stone. They only know that this thing is rare, and one of them may appear in hundreds of divine stones. If it is mined, the mayor will be very happy to reward the craftsmen with an additional reward.

The rest is the trick of the mayor and the clerk. A special divine stone can be worth 200 standard divine stones, and according to the law, you can leave twenty of them by themselves. The miners who mined it only received one reward, and the remaining nineteen were embezzled by Dasty and Xiao Gu. This is not the most profitable situation. If you make a word game with the mayor's acquiescence, and the clerk only registers the divine stones instead of the special divine stones, then they can privately share the benefits of 198 divine stones!

But the situation is different now. The more valuable the blue divine stone is, the more tax Xiao Gu will pay for Amon. Xiao Gu is hinting that Mayor Dusty, as he did before, should not be registered as the Youlan Water Heart. He is even winking the mayor, hoping to cover up the value of the Youlan Water Heart and use the reward of the ordinary divine stone to trick it from Amon, so that he will not only lose money but also make a fortune.

Mayor Dasty hesitated, coughing and was about to speak. Unexpectedly, Amon said loudly: "Sir, I'm sorry, don't forget that I'm literate too! Please register truthfully, twenty standard divine stones and one blue divine stone, I can understand."

This sentence was like an invisible miner's sledgehammer hitting. Xiao Gu's body suddenly shook, and then leaned softly on the servant's shoulder. He didn't dare to look at Amon, but only looked at Dusty. Dusty's face also became very ugly, and he said to Amon in a deep voice: "I will leave the tax matter to the adults to deal with. In short, you will not be allowed to pay taxes. Also, can you hand it over to me, your blue-blue divine stone? This town will give you a special reward."

Amon asked back, "If the tax has been paid in full, then all the divine stones can be kept in my hands, right?"

Das raised his throat and said in a deep thought: "If the special divine stone is handed over, it will give you an extra reward. For you, there is no loss..."

Before he finished speaking, Amon felt a hand pressing on his shoulder, and he heard the old madman's voice slowly say: "Master, I often see something that someone possesses something that should not belong to him. Over time, he has formed a habit, but forgets what is not his. If one day he doesn't get the thing that does not belong to him, he will actually feel that the real master should not own it. Who do you think this is?"

Amon begged the mayor as he looked pitiful. For some reason, an unknown anger rose in his heart, almost unable to suppress it. He wanted to take two steps forward and punch him, making his face bloom. This thought made Amon's body tremble. The old madman happened to appear at this time, pressing Amon's shoulder with his hand, and an invisible force made him unable to move.

Mayor Dasty stopped talking, but the old madman continued to say: "This is the devil! Desire is not necessarily a sin. It can encourage people to create and pursue more beauty... But I want to tell a story. Someone once stole a gold coin every day and no one pursued it. Later, I kindly told him that this was not good, but he was full of hatred and curses, asking me to encourage and praise him to continue this behavior, otherwise it would become my evil deed, but he completely forgot that he had received so much from me... Whose evil deed did you say?"

Mayor Dasty was stared at the eyes of the old madman and broke out in a cold sweat. He unconsciously took a step back and turned to Xiao Gu and said, "Central Officer, Amon's request is normal and legal. Since he knows the words, let him watch you register and write twenty standard divine stones and one blue divine stone, and you will pay the tax on your behalf."

As soon as he said this, Lord Xiao Gu's eyes turned pale, his body thrust, opened his mouth and spit out a mouthful of blood, and then fell into the servant's arms. The servant carried him into the temple for emergency treatment in a panic. Most people still didn't understand what was going on. It seemed that Lord Xiao Gu was sick and very sick.

The old madman looked at Xiao Gu being carried into the temple coldly, and then said to Dasty: "The secretary is not in good health and cannot insist on working. The mayor will register in person."

Dasty wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded, "Okay, I'll register, you can take this child away!"

Amon had an uncontrollable emotion, full of violent impulse, but when he saw Xiao Gu vomiting blood and fainting, it seemed to be more hurt than a punch with his own hands. He calmed down inexplicably, and suddenly felt that the noble priest was like a humble pitiful worm. At this time, the old madman put his hand on his shoulder and exerted a little force. Amon couldn't help but turn half a circle and follow him.

...

"Child, Xiao Gu deserves it, but do you feel your own torment. Do you understand the desires on both sides of your body? Learn how to face it, just like learning how to use your power.... What you do today is very dangerous and not calm enough. If you don't learn how to face it in this test, I won't see your achievements in the future, and I'm afraid you will see your body soon."

This was at the old lunatic's house, Nietzsche was drinking while talking, but did not pour wine for Amon.

Amon asked, "Do you mean Xiao Gu will take revenge on me?"

The old madman smiled: "Nonsense, you know the consequences! Of course he even wants to kill you... Are you clear about the value of Youlan Water Heart?"

Amon: "I don't know, you didn't tell me either. I think it should be valuable, right?"

The old madman: "The people in Duke Town have different concepts about money than outside. A blue water heart is worth 200 divine stones, which is equivalent to 4,000 baht gold coins, and it is not something you can buy. Such a sum of money can cause a bloody conflict no matter where you are, let alone in the hands of a child like you. It is still safe in Duke Town at present. At least I am here, but when you are the only one?"

Amon lowered his head and said, "You seem to know what I will do, but you didn't stop it."

The old madman shook his head: "It's useless to persuade you. I can stop you, but it cannot replace you with the rising desires. After this, you should understand how to master it, face it clearly and even enjoy it, but you cannot let it influence your thoughts and words and deeds... Besides, I am willing to see you deal with Xiao Gu. He deserves it, but you have to pay attention to yourself."

Amon nodded and said, "I think I understand."

The old madman stood up: "It's good to understand. Now you can learn the most basic first-level divine art. There are many types of divine art, including elemental divine art, spiritual divine art, blessing divine art, space divine art, information divine art, etc. It is difficult for a magician to master all types of divine art, and they are often good at it. I don't know what you are good at. Since you have the Nine Blue Water Heart, then start with the Water Elemental Divine Art."

The magic technique was so mysterious and profound in Amon's mind, but the old madman told him that it was very simple to reach the standard of a first-level magician, it was just a piece of ice!

The water contained in the summoning environment condenses into ice and quietly lays a layer of ice on a piece of ground around it, even if it is successful. Amon didn't know that these already mean three water element magic techniques. Although they are all first-level magic techniques, the techniques used in this combination are quite not simple and must be completed silently and silently.

The old madman did not tell him how difficult this was for a new magician, and only said that this was the easiest beginning.

It was easy to condense water into ice. According to the method taught by the old madman, Amon did it for the first time. The water elements in the summoning environment formed countless tiny ice crystals and gradually covered the ground. It was a bit difficult to do, but it was successful a few days later. The old madman smiled and said to Amon: "You can practice repeatedly, but when you practice by yourself, don't use the Nine Blue Water Heart anymore."

When Amon did not use the Blue Water Heart as the intermediary for casting divine arts, he found that using the same divine arts was more than ten times more difficult. It was said that the old madman should give him a staff, but the old man seemed to have forgotten it intentionally or unintentionally, and he actually wanted Amon to use his own divine arts power to cast it.

Amon couldn't do it. In fact, many low-level magicians couldn't do it, including a third-level magician. At least, they had to have a staff inlaid with ordinary divine stones! But Amon was already very clear about how to do it and had mastered all the skills. He had succeeded through the Youlan Water Heart many times, so he didn't suspect that his method was wrong, but his power had not been achieved, and he had no doubts or depression. Just practice well!

At this time, the old madman explained to Amon the special features of the Gou Lan Water Heart and how to use it. The Gou Lan Water Heart is not only helpful for awakening power, but also can greatly assist in the use of the water element magic. If Amon was asked to use his own power to perform such magic skills from the beginning, he would not be able to succeed. Using the Gou Lan Water Heart is a way to take advantage of it.

However, there is a principle of taking tricks, which can only be used in two occasions: the first is to better master a certain magic technique and understand its methods and techniques in the most thorough way; the second is that when fighting with people's life and death, it is impossible to retain any power. However, after mastering a certain magic technique, try not to use it in daily practice, otherwise it will be of no benefit to your own strength.

The old madman said this, Amon did this. He could never do it without the help of the Youlan Water Heart, but he was not in a hurry. Amon was still careful. Every time he had a period of time, he would quietly try it with the Youlan Water Heart to see how much his power had increased. The result made him very satisfied. The ice layer condensed faster and faster, and the range was getting bigger and bigger.

Of course, the old madman knew that it was too difficult for Amon to use his own strength to condense water and pave ice and complete it quietly in one go. If he did it simply, he would be surprised. There was a limit to what kind of genius! Apart from that, the old madman did not teach anything else, and even did not teach Amon's body technique.

Until one day, Amon spent an afternoon quietly condensed a layer of ice that was almost impossible to detect on the threshold of the old madman's house, trying to see the old madman fall, but he hid beside him to help him. As a result, when the old madman came home, the layer of ice disappeared for no reason, but Amon behind the door slipped and fell and leaned backwards.

At this time, the old madman said to him: "Child, you are already a first-level magician. Such a short time is of course a great achievement for others, but for you, I just hope that time can be too late... Because disaster is coming soon, at that time you must be able to protect yourself and learn how to protect yourself."

Amon asked curiously: "What disaster?"

The old madman was unwilling to say more, so he just asked back: "Do you go to Hanquan to practice magic every night?"

Amon nodded: "Yes, I'm used to it."

That cold spring is no longer bit cold, it is just a cool pool. But Amon is used to calling it a cold spring, and is also used to going there every day to bathe and practice magic. The place is very hidden, the environment is very peaceful, and Amon has a familiar and intimate feeling.

The old madman didn't say anything else, just nodded and said, "Okay, you can just keep going."
Chapter completed!