Chapter 764: Yangshui

After the king dismissed court, he uploaded the household registers of the Desert South and Cloud Capital Commanderies; he waited idly an entire afternoon with no movement, and when evening came and he was about to set up a stall, the homepage stirred again.

【Obtained new territory – household information of Desert South Commandery and Cloud Capital Commandery.

Mission reward: b-level lottery draw x6;

Note: Already exceeded the mission time limit by 28 days (mission time limit 60 days), must pay overtime penalty of 28,000 ingots. If the mission reward is forgiven, no need to pay.

Forfeit the mission reward? Yes/No】

The king read it word by word twice; he knew all the characters, yet he still couldn't understand it!

Bai Ze glanced at the penalty behind and felt a bit sympathetic toward the poor king.

"… I've told you to read more usually, and you still don't get these two sentences?"

"Damn! I just earned 800,000 taels and Meng Meng found out!"

The king exploded!

He pulled out the previous side quest three times, dragging Bai Ze to judge: "Look, look, it clearly said there's no mission penalty, so why is there a fine just for being one month late?!"

"It's not a mandatory fine; as long as you forfeit the reward you don't have to pay. If it were a mission penalty, you'd have no choice—they'd just deduct it themselves."

That blunt truth left the king speechless; he was furious, feeling he'd been tricked by the steppe nomads.

With six lotteries, how could he bear to give them up? He'd been hoping to draw something from the registers to replenish the garrisons of those two poor commanderies. Lately supplies have relied solely on Northern Frontier Pass support; if this continues, even that reserve will be depleted faster.

"Poor Shi Cheng is still just sucking wind under Gudu Lun's feet, living on the big pie I drew!"

Bai Ze: ……

"Convert that to 280,000 taels of silver……

This guy started gnawing his claws, took a bite and said shrewdly: "If I say, take 280,000 from the Fang family's 800,000 tael fine and move it to Zhang, Minister of Agriculture, would he agree?"

Bai Ze imagined the harried Zhang, Minister of Agriculture, and hesitated: "I can't explain where the money's spent…… would he die for you to see?"

The king wailed: "Waa, waa, am I really someone who squanders money?"

Bai Ze: "In their eyes, Yingtai Continent is exactly that—you waste far more than small change. Speaking of which, you still don't know when you'll get that 800,000 taels."

That's true.

The king went to Phoenix Lodge as if cutting off his own arm, found Bai Yang, and asked him to settle the tavern's bill.

Bai Yang pulled out the recent supply list for the tavern: "Vegetables, staples, and meat have all been reduced; only seafood remains in surplus. To limit supply, we've almost offended those big foodie patrons. Your Majesty, you're short on silver yet you don't actively supply goods?!"

The king wouldn't listen, just kept reaching for money. "No matter, we must settle first! Our Northern Border has entered autumn; some output from the vegetable and grain farm bases is being set aside as seed for next spring's plowing—how could we eat it all?"

At the same time he didn't forget to paint a pie for his older brother Bai. This guy just recalled the b-level rewards he'd drawn before, remembering some things he'd forgotten in the back of his mind: "I previously drew a hundred grade‑four apple trees; they'll bear fruit next year—our tavern's peak hasn't even come yet~ Don't rush."

Grade‑crowned fruit trees—could they be those spiritual fruits from the Qiao Yi Realm? Bai Yang was wildly tempted. Before the tavern's settlement day, upon learning the king had been fined 280,000 taels, his older brother Bai first lent the king 300,000, saying they'd deduct it from future tavern dividends.

The king didn't top up himself, and walked away satisfied.

Going back, this guy washed his hands again and rubbed the horn of the auspicious beast again. "This lottery costs 280,000 taels—it absolutely cannot fail!"

Bai Ze had long given up resisting, letting the king stand on a stool and stroke the horn all over; not lowering his head was its last stubbornness.

The king drew all six at once, betting on Meng Meng's conscience, figuring she'd also come up with two upper‑tier items, so he wouldn't be empty‑handed.

【Congratulations, Lord, you've drawn a b‑level lower‑tier reward: Precious Spirit Pearl x1, stored in the warehouse—please check.】

【Congratulations, Lord, you've drawn a b‑level middle‑tier reward: Infrastructure Bridge x1, stored in the warehouse—please check.】

【Congratulations, Lord, you've drawn a b‑level middle‑tier reward: Third‑Grade Demon Pill x1, stored in the warehouse—please check.】

【Congratulations, Lord, you've drawn a b‑level lower‑tier reward: City Construction Fire Prevention Greening 3000 meters x1, stored in the warehouse—please check.】

【Congratulations, Lord, you've drawn a b‑level middle‑tier reward: Dragon Sparrow Blade x1, stored in the warehouse—please check.】

【Confetti~! Congratulations, Lord, you've drawn a b‑level rare reward: Penetrating the Capital's Water System (Yangshui) x1, stored in the warehouse—please check.】

The two items first unfolded were ones the king had seen before—old friends from earlier draws—so he skimmed them quickly. Next, the Third‑Grade Demon Pill?

"The pill I gave Wei Ni before was a lower‑tier low‑grade demon pill; this one is middle‑tier, and since it has a grade it's definitely good! After Wei Ni eats this third‑grade one, I'll never need a white‑haired person to send a black‑haired bear~"

The king was delighted·JPG

Bai Ze: ……

"What is fire‑prevention greening?"

【City Construction Fire Prevention Greening 3000 meters: choose streets totaling 3000 meters in length, plant roadside trees such as locust and elm along them, to beautify the environment and provide firebreaks.】

The king clapped his hands: "This is great! Do we need to find someone to plant it? This is good, hahaha~"

【Dragon Sparrow Blade

Manufacturer: Kunlun Realm

Additional function: Strength buff +100%; can be poisoned.

Matching toxin: neurotoxin carried by Black‑headed Finch x200 (lethal deadly poison); Detox Pill x20】

After reading, the king had something to say: "Give 200 doses of poison but only 20 detox pills? That's not equal—what if innocents get hurt?"

Bai Ze: "……The mall will have them for sale soon."

The king: ……

The king's memory is good; he remembers that this Dragon Sparrow Blade and his Sun‑Shooting Bow come from the same manufacturer, Kunlun Realm—only the bow is one tier higher, a top‑tier item.

So this blade surely isn't far off either.

It's just that the Kunlun Realm likes to slap random buffs on weapons—for example, the Sun‑Shooting Bow's aiming error, and likewise the Dragon Sparrow Blade's poison attachment.

The king projected his own thoughts: "……Are they just trying to sell arrow feathers and detox pills?! If I guess the truth, I'll say there's no way there are that many good things!"

Bai Ze:......

He took the blade out to examine it; the hilt has a sparrow shape, the back is dark black, the edge is snow‑bright, and its looks are more than enough to impress.

Hmm, there's also a recess—must be for applying poison.

The scabbard is also dark black; the material is indiscernible, inlaid with blue‑green little gems forming a feather shape. The whole blade is handsomer than the straight sword he had custom‑made by John Pu~

The key is the strength boost doubles—swinging with half‑force becomes full force; when exhausted it's not just a massive killer. If he puts everything into one strike…… it would be too beautiful.

Great King has the Great Exalted and the Sun-shooting Bow; worldly weapons find it hard to surpass these two. This knife is a treasure, but to him it's still not enough. This guy suddenly had an idea: "I'll give this knife to my cousin; he's always used the same knife as the soldiers, give him a precious sword to make him happy." The Great King still cares about his cousin.

White Marsh looked surprised, deliberately widening his eyes. "Give it? I thought, in this impoverished autumn, you ought to sell it to him."

The Great King was furious one second, then the next second he just went along with it.

What you say makes sense. Him having no money is no problem; he can sign an IOU like Lao Si.

White Marsh: ……

I was joking.

I am speaking seriously.

White Marsh: ……