The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Time imperceptibly reached February.

Snow was still falling intermittently, and the serfs of Black Horse Island and Fresh Flower Town continued to toil through the heavy snowfall. Liszt, who was researching wood, received a message from a knight at Tulip Castle, inviting him to a banquet. The theme of the banquet was to celebrate the breakthrough of his younger brother, Lidun, to Earth Knight.

"A fourteen-year-old Earth Knight, it seems Lidun's birthday is in November, which means he's actually just thirteen years old and a few months," Liszt had the butler entertain the messenger knight and did not accept the invitation, "This talent is indeed not bad, stronger than Levis at the time."

Liszt was not interested in what Lidun's future would hold.

Rushing the butler to prepare a congratulatory gift, he continued with his research work—his status now meant he didn't need to care about what others thought, and if he didn't want to attend a banquet, not even an Earl could compel him. No one in the Tulip Family would dare to blame him.

Strength was the source of confidence.

"It seems in another month, I'll turn eighteen, and the five power-gathering moves in "Rising Sun Blaze" will almost all be mastered... After I complete them, I'll challenge the Earl to see just how wide the gap between me and a Sword Saint really is."

He was confident, relying on the powerful attributes of Dragon Dou Qi, to duel the Earl.

However, before the fight began, it was difficult to directly predict the outcome of the battle. There were many factors that affected the fights between Sky Knights, not just a contest of Dou Qi.

"Woo-ah!"

"Chirp-chirp!"

Suddenly, Thorn Minor Elf Jela, chasing after the Corn Minor Elf Mickey, flew out from the castle. Mickey flew directly to Liszt for refuge, with Jela in hot pursuit. However, upon seeing Liszt, it turned around and flew out of the castle—to vent its anger in the Thorn Garden.

A conditioned reflex had formed; whenever it got angry, it would run to the Thorn Garden to plant thorns.

The first Thorn Bug might not have much to do with Jela, but the second Thorn Bug still incubating was definitely affected by Jela's continuous use of magic.

Liszt was pleased to see this outcome.

"Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp." After Jela left, Mickey became lively, flying around the glass greenhouse, occasionally touching the recently sprouted Magic Medicine Seeds with its little hands.

Fearing it might harm the young plants, Liszt waved his hand: "Mickey, go play outside."

"Chirp-chirp."

Mickey was obedient and immediately flew outside.

Not long after, Servant Thomas came over: "My lord, Administrative Officer Isaiah wishes to see you."

"Let him come over."

Isaiah was waiting beneath the Apple Tree Cordyceps in the castle, and it took only a few steps to reach the glass greenhouse: "My lord, Isaiah has come to report the fiscal revenue of Fresh Flower Town for January."

"Go ahead."

"The main income in January was glass sales. The nobles of Coral Island showed tremendous enthusiasm for glass. The glassware made by the glass workshop, blown glassware, and pressed window glass were the most popular products, and the sales profit for just half a month exceeded the revenue from Fresh Flower Brew."

"Glass is that popular?" Liszt didn't worry too much about administrative affairs, but he was interested in profitable business. He remembered the production of glass was not very high yet, and was surprised to learn that the profits had already surpassed spirits.

"Glass is extremely popular. However, glass is not a consumable item like spirits. As nobles purchase large amounts of glass products, the Coral Island market will soon become saturated. The Tulip Family's merchant fleet is already prepared to sell to other islands. This is our exclusive product, with no competition, and we can completely monopolize the entire country's market."

"We can also sell to the mainland, and the future development of glass will definitely exceed that of spirits." Liszt was very clear about the potential of glass, "What restricts us now is the production capacity of the glass workshop and the protection of the glass-making technology."

Afterward.

Isaiah introduced other fiscal revenues, and overall, the financials of the territory had turned from deficit to surplus in January, with Fresh Flower Town alone bringing in more than three hundred Gold Coins. And with the revenue from spirits soon to be collected, the territory's income would greatly increase next month, eliminating the need for Liszt to keep subsidizing aggressively.

Up until now, the funds for territory construction had largely come out of his own pocket—of course, the territory was his personal property.

He hoped to separate his personal earnings from the territory's revenue.

It was just not very likely to be so clear-cut; after all, things like magic potions, magical beasts, and pearls could be counted as either his personal property or as special produce of the territory. Only things like sunken ship treasures strictly qualified as his personal income and could be added to his private coffers.

With his purse bulging, Li Si Te felt his confidence return.

If there was not enough magic potion, he'd buy it; if there was not enough magical beast meat, he'd buy it; if there was not enough food for the serfs, he'd buy it; if there were not enough construction materials, he'd buy it. He even wrote to Tulip Castle and Long Taro Castle, asking them to keep an eye out for Dragon Kui Bugs and Thorn Bugs; if someone were selling them, he was willing to pay a high price to purchase them.

Dragon Kui Bugs and Thorn Bugs were of little use in others' hands.

Stay tuned to empire

In his hands, they were priceless treasures.

Besides, whether it was Barley Bugs, Little Wheat Bugs, or Millet Bugs, he was interested in buying them if they were available. The territory's grain output was too small, and they were far from being self-sufficient, which made Li Si Te feel insecure. He hoped that the territory would not only rely on various special products to make a fortune but also achieve self-sufficiency in food.

In a flash, another three days passed.

The wooden seeds that Li Si Te had been eagerly awaiting finally sprouted, confirming his conjecture about wood breeding: "Indeed, this batch of wood is the seed, and although I don't know how to guide them into growing into dragon bone shapes, I can start exploring. One day, I'll figure it out...let's call it 'Seedship Wood'."

Seedship Wood could grow into timber for ships.

As the secret was unearthed, the Smoke Mission was also completed.

"Complete the mission, reward the Dou Qi Sublimation of Emily."

"Huh?" Li Si Te's eyes widened, "Emily's Dou Qi Sublimation, what does that mean? I remember I also once received the reward of Dou Qi Sublimation, and at that time, I broke through from Apprentice Knight to Earth Knight. Does it mean that Emily has broken through to Earth Knight as well?"

All in all, Emily had only been practicing Dou Qi for a year.

Even with the aid of magical beast meat and Dragon Breed Milk provided by Li Si Te, it was unbelievable for her to break through to Earth Knight from scratch in a year.

Li Si Te let out a breath and calmed down: "No wonder the Smoke Mission calls her an extraordinarily gifted follower, her talent completely outshines Lidun!"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lidun was currently the earliest genius in the Tulip Family to break through to Earth Knight.

It had taken him at least five to six years to become an Earth Knight at the age of just under fourteen, thirteen years old. Emily started practicing at eleven, and at twelve, she had already become an Earth Knight. Comparing the two, one could see how terrifying Emily's talent was.

So terrifying that it made Li Si Te envious.

He had actually noticed quite some time ago that Emily found the cultivation of Dou Qi effortless, having abundant low-level Dou Qi six months ago, with the potential to break through at any moment.

But to actually see her break through was still hard to accept: "It shouldn't be, she's just a commoner's daughter… Based on my research on this world, the cultivation of Dou Qi is directly related to nutrition and is a decisive factor, with nobles inherently not lacking in nutrition. And so-called talent often means that noble bloodlines are more likely to produce outstanding offspring."

He once summarized this.

The theory of getting stronger in this world—nobles rely on taking drugs, commoners on mutation.

Indeed, among the commoners, there were those with decent talent who, through several generations of effort, entered the ranks of the nobility. But a mutation like Emily's was unheard of. Her background was very clear; in the Eagle Kingdom, both her parents were ordinary serfs.

She was not of noble blood, nor had she gone through several generations of genetic improvements.

"Such a mutation is terrifying. If commoners could all mutate like this, the foundation of noble rule would have been severed long ago… But then again, if she had not met me, Emily would probably be just another peasant, farming for life. Even the best talent, without the chance to be unearthed, will still be buried."

He decided not to dwell on Emily's talent any longer and went straight to find Emily to see for himself.

To see if she had truly broken through to become an Earth Knight.