The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Liszt had observed the simply tamed Earth Matron.

For some reason, he thought of the unruly Juan Fu, feeling a vague regret. Perhaps if he had not been softhearted and had persisted a little longer, Juan Fu would have submitted. After all, Juan Fu and the Earth Matron were nothing but Magical Beasts, and as Magical Beasts, there was no dignity to speak of.

In a trance,

Wisps of smoke appeared before his eyes, coalescing into a sequence of Serpent Script.

“Mission: Autumn has come, can Winter be far behind? Fresh Flower Town, soon to be blanketed in Ice Snow, will fall into isolation. Wheat, as an indispensable staple, cannot be lacking. Please stockpile a hundred tons of wheat to steady the hearts of the serfs through the winter. Reward: The goodwill of the serfs.”

Stockpiling a hundred tons of wheat wasn’t difficult.

With the help of Little Wheat Bugs, this year’s harvest in Little Wheat Village was bountiful, reaching a yield of nearly two hundred and forty catties per mu, totaling five hundred mu of wheat with a harvest of a hundred and twenty thousand catties, which translated to sixty tons.

“Just purchasing an additional forty tons will complete the mission. The Thorn Caravan and the Fresh Flower Caravan are already buying up newly harvested wheat from everywhere.” Liszt came back to his senses and looked at the simple mission but couldn’t guess why there was such a reward as “the goodwill of the serfs.”

He even disdainfully thought, “Do I need the goodwill of serfs? As long as they work diligently to build my territory and indulge my luxurious lifestyle, that’s enough.”

Compared to other Landlords, his treatment of serfs was already quite merciful.

Other Landlords could beat serfs, or even kill them without seeing any rebellion. Therefore, in Fresh Flower Town, his position as Lord was very secure. Under the Knight system, Nobles didn’t need popular sentiment, just matching strength to gain everything.

The mission reward, however useless it seemed.

But to get to the next mission, Liszt still had to complete it—even if it were an easy task, he would have stockpiled winter supplies even without the mission.

Thinking this, he waved his hand lightly, erasing the Smoke Mission.

His gaze returned to the Earth Matron. Since the Retainer Knights were outside the Dog Prison, he directly took out a piece of jerky from the Space Gem on his chest and fed it to the Earth Matron.

Douson, seeing the jerky, wanted to snatch it without any regard for its relation to the Earth Matron.

“Back off,” Liszt ordered Douson away, watching as the Earth Matron wolfed down the jerky. After enjoying the jerky several times, the Earth Matron surprisingly wagged its tail at him.

It seemed that it was becoming domesticated.

“Dogs really are the friendliest to humans. Compared to the undomesticated and pointlessly kept Juan Fu, Douson and the Earth Matron are much better. Adding a litter of Little Fierce Earth Dogs in the future will be perfect… When I go to battle, I’ll unleash the dogs. With Douson leading the charge, it will be a sight most splendid to behold!” He could already envision rows of Rock Spikes and their violent output.

After walking the dogs.

On his return to the Castle, Butler Carter had already led the servants in tidying everything up, and the gifts from the guests had been accounted for and stored away in the Castle’s vault.

Nobles usually gave food or iron as gifts, as these resources were scarce, making them ideal for gift-giving.

However, the bits and pieces acquired from gift exchanges wouldn’t make one rich—after all, Liszt would have to give gifts in return when other Nobles held events in the future.

“My Lord, do you need to check the accounts?”

“No need,” he replied.

Liszt was not a miser who counted his wealth and possessions every day. After chatting briefly with Carter, he returned to his upstairs study to calm his mind, preparing for today’s potion consumption.

He opened the Flame Mushroom Magic Potion and downed it in one gulp.

Suddenly, magical power spread like fire.

Taking advantage of this force crashing everywhere, he kept circulating his Dou Qi, allowing his body to expand and accommodate the magical power, then nurturing his own Dou Qi.

He likened this process to filling a cup with rocks.

A common Earth Knight cultivates by filling the cup with small stones, but no matter how full it gets, there are always gaps. An Elite Earth Knight relies on constantly shaking, rubbing the rocks together to make the gaps tighter. An Elite Earth Knight using the drug regimen fills the cup with Magic Potion instead of sand.

He was now repeating such a process.

The difficulty wasn’t great, but it required a continuous supply and persistent patience.

“Once you start taking a Magic Potion, don’t stop, at least not intermittently. Otherwise, the Dou Qi created by the Magic Potion will continuously recede, eventually falling back to the level of a common Earth Knight. But you can’t take it too frequently either. You have to find the right balance for your body, a push-and-pull.”

This was the wisdom the Earl had imparted to his sons, how to take drugs properly to make the most of them.

The Earl himself had taken drugs for a full ten years to break through the shackles of his body, transforming his Intermediate Dou Qi into Advanced Dou Qi. This precious experience would be the Tulip Family’s most core secret, not to be disclosed to anyone but direct descendants.

He quietly refined the magical power of the Magic Potion, assaulting his own Dou Qi.

Liszt simultaneously compared his own experience with the secret teachings of the Earl to authenticate each other. He needed to find the right balance for his body.

The Earl had said, “Everyone has a different way of taking Magic Potions. You need to judge according to your own body and grasp the balance.”

If you exceed that balance, you not only waste the Magic Potion but also damage your body.

If you don’t reach that balance, you waste time and increase the body’s resistance to the potion, a loss-making deal.

“Not every wealthy Elite Earth Knight can become a Sky Knight by relying on Magic Potions… otherwise the Nobles would never see a day of decline… A clever mind, sharp senses, and a fearless heart are all qualities a Sky Knight must have.”

The predecessor had etched these words deeply in his heart, hinting at a fierce tiger lurking within.

But what the predecessor lacked most was probably insight, so everything turned out to be a boon for the current Liszt.

The festive days passed, and life in Fresh Flower Town continued.

The carts that transported wheat were filled with the new harvest and brought to the granary not far from the Castle. To fulfill the task he called “securing the serfs,” he had Karl Ironhammer lead the Patrol Team to extensively proclaim — this year’s harvest is bountiful, the Lord Landlord loves his people, stocking up on wheat, no worries for winter.

In previous years, winter was an indelible grey memory for the residents of Fresh Flower Town.

This year, the residents of Fresh Flower Town enjoyed the most comfortable living they ever had, already full of hope for the winter, not to mention Liszt’s proclamation, leaving no single serf fearful of the upcoming cold season.

“This year will be easy to get through, Maggie, don’t worry,” Mrs. Harriet, a farmwife from Barley Hamlet, said to the frail little girl at the table.

The little girl Maggie was a serf purchased from the Eagle Kingdom.

Having studied Serpent Script with Old Geronte, she was still not very proficient, so she was somewhat confused: “Mrs. Harriet, what?”

“Full, tummy,” Harriet kindly patted Maggie’s little head, pointed at the bread, then at her stomach, and said with a smile, “Lord Landlord is kind, this winter, everyone can have a full tummy, we will have a very happy winter without hunger or Magical Beasts.”

She spoke while using gestures and successfully made Maggie understand.

The little girl nodded incessantly and replied in still-imperfect Serpent Script, “Lord Landlord, kind, great, Maggie praises Lord Landlord!”