Chapter 142: 142 On the Road

Since the 10th, Huitu Village has ushered in lively days—the first Shanlin Town Knight and Guard Tournament, hosted by Aierlong, has officially begun.

According to the rules set by Aierlong, this competition is divided into preliminary rounds and a final.

Those who defeat their opponents in the preliminary rounds advance to the next stage, until the top eight, top four, and the champion are determined.

To accommodate the territory's daily patrols and defense, the tournament schedule is not tight, so two or three matches are held in the square every evening.

According to Aierlong's arrangements, the final will be held on the morning of the 28th, serving as a performance prepared by the Lord for the annual celebration.

Luoning also sent word to Aierlong through Ruidar, allowing all residents in the territory except for the guards—whether they are Free Citizens, Serfs, or Slaves—to enjoy a day off on the day of the annual celebration to come and watch the matches.

Doing this can build up their anticipation, and at the same time, Luoning can use this collective activity to strengthen the cohesion between the residents and Shanlin Castle.

Besides this, when people watch the matches, there are always those who fantasize about being able to stand on the stage to compete and claim the generous prize money, which can stimulate their fighting spirit.

Having a few more people with fighting spirit is still of some benefit to Luoning.

Not to mention the lively atmosphere in the territory, after everything was properly arranged, Luoning set off for Wushan Castle, taking only Maiken and Tangmu with him.

In fact, with his current strength, he would basically not worry about being threatened by beasts or Magic Beasts in the wilderness even if he were traveling alone.

However, considering the potential danger of this trip to Wushan Castle, Luoning still chose to bring Maiken along and strengthened his combat power.

Thus, Shanlin Town had its first Silver Knight.

From around October 8th to mid-December, Maiken relied on his own training to raise his level progress from 285 to 294/300.

In nearly two months, he only increased by nine points; the speed was not fast, which is also a reflection of his mediocre aptitude.

But it does not matter; after Luoning consumed 806 points of Energy Essence, Maiken went directly from an Advanced Knight to a Silver Knight.

At this time, Maiken's status panel:

【Maiken Salidun】: Silver Knight · Earth (0/1500) +

After his breakthrough this time, in addition to gaining new Battle Techniques and mastering the Battle Qi Secret Tome, he also gained certain memory fragments.

However, these memory fragments were just scenes of daily life and combat, with nothing special about them, so Luoning did not delve into them too much after a brief inquiry.

After using 806 points of Energy Essence, Luoning still had 381 points remaining.

He did not continue to invest these Energy Essences into Maiken, as the 1500-point level progress is simply too long.

He plans to use them on Ruidar or Aierlong next; the former can help him enter the Silver rank sooner, while the latter can be promoted to a Level 4 Great Mage.

Although the combat ability of a Light Attribute Magician is relatively limited, having a Great Mage in the territory is also a form of foundation; when Aierlong really needs to exert effort, the stronger he is, the better.

The three of them galloped all the way, and before long, they arrived at a fork in the road.

Luoning pulled on the reins, gazing toward the road heading east.

Unfortunately, his view was blocked by the rising hillside on the road, so he could not see the situation over there.

However, Luoning had already learned what location was there from the map Huoerhuate gave him.

"Crossing the mountain ahead, we should be able to reach Sain Territory very soon."

Luoning said, "I think we will have time to go over there and sit for a while."

"But Baron Leisen might not be very welcoming," Maiken laughed.

The corners of Luoning's mouth curled up, "Perhaps by then, he won't be the master of Sain Territory?"

Tangmu sat on his horse, listening to the conversation between the Lord and the Guard Officer; although he was not qualified to participate in the discussion of many matters, the purpose of the Lord taking him to Wushan Castle this time was clear and definite.

So he was certain that the Lord also wanted to become the master of Sain Territory.

With other Barons, annexing another Baron's territory might be a very difficult thing, but Tangmu did not know why he particularly believed that whatever Lord Luoning did would always lead to success.

"Let's go!"

Luoning tugged on the reins, and the Tayunjv neighed happily, setting off on the road again.

Traveling light, they would only need four or five days to reach Wushan Castle.

However, before that, Luoning first made a trip to Muma City.

He arranged for Tangmu to go to the castle of the Tieti Viscount to deliver a Visit Letter, while he himself took Tangmu to two other places.

The Duxie Exchange.

As soon as Manager Andongni heard that the Baron of Shanlin Town was visiting, he immediately trotted out.

"Long time no see, Lord Baron, your arrival truly makes our Duxie Exchange shine!"

Andongni had a sharp eye and spotted Luoning's mount at a glance; he was secretly shocked in his heart, not expecting Luoning to possess such a Tayunjv worth a thousand gold.

"Long time no see, Mr. Andongni; you are still the same as last time, looking very energetic and very shrewd."

Luoning handed the horse to Maiken and entered the Slave exchange under the guidance of the manager.

Andongni raised an eyebrow; last time this Baron entered the Duxie Exchange, he brought many guards with him, but today was different—not only was there only one guard, but he did not even have that guard accompany him by his side.

Is this trust in the Duxie Exchange?

Filling in the blanks with this thought, Andongni beamed, "Is Baron Luoning here to purchase another batch of Slaves?"

Luoning nodded.

Andongni became even more enthusiastic, "Haha, to tell you the truth, I have recently finished training a batch of Slaves that all meet your requirements from last time. Would you like me to take you to inspect the goods?"

Merchants are just like that; no matter when a customer visits, they always like to say they have a new batch of goods.

Luoning, however, shook his head, "There is no need to look. I just want to ask you, how many Slaves do you have here now?"

Andongni's heart skipped a beat; asking this question, was he afraid he was going to buy a lot?

"To tell you the truth, my Lord, I have over three hundred Slaves here in total. If you need more, I can gather five or six hundred for you within a month!"

Luoning had money in his hands now, and he needed to convert a portion of this money into labor.

"Five or six hundred is still too few; I need at least one thousand Slaves!"

He stated his expectations directly, "For these Slaves, I require two to three craftsmen for every hundred people, and at the same time, the overall male-to-female ratio cannot be too disparate. Can this be done?"

Andongni was stunned; he was shocked by the demand number Luoning reported.

One thousand Slaves—this was a rare, massive order for the Duxie Exchange; many branches did not have the opportunity to receive one in a year, so he did not expect this stroke of luck to fall on him.

If he could secure this order, Andongni's position at the Duxie Exchange would be a bit more secure, and with the annual celebration coming up, he could completely rely on this order to ask his superiors for a bonus.

Luoning looked at the slightly stunned Andongni; it seemed such a large demand was not easy to handle.

"What, is there a difficulty?"

Andongni shuddered and immediately returned to his normal state; he could not let the customer think he was unable to handle this order.

"No, no!"

He firmly denied it: "My lord, you must believe in the strength of my Duxie Exchange. Never mind one thousand people, even if you wanted ten thousand, I could gather them for you!"

Sales, after all, required the ability to brag; Luoning was not surprised.

"When can you have these one thousand people ready?"

Luoning said with a smile: "This time I won't be taking the Slaves back myself; have your exchange escort them to Shanlin Town. I require that they must arrive alive."

"Understood, no problem!"

Andongni pondered and said: "My lord, transporting Slaves in winter leads to easy deaths. I suggest delivering them to you before next April."

"You can escort them in batches to ensure you can gather these one thousand people before April."

Luoning offered a suggestion; sending them in batches would make it easier for him to make arrangements, as stuffing one thousand people in at once would be a bit too demanding for Wilson, Chahaer, and the others.

"Your method is very clever!"

Andongni agreed immediately. After confirming the possibility of the transaction, the next topic of discussion was the price.

Luoning prepared to have a good chat with the other party about long-term cooperation at the Duxie Exchange.

Sorry, the update is late. There is one more chapter today, but it will be later (mainly because of family matters. My stepmother, that is, my uncle's wife, has been insulting my parents for years. I am usually very gentle, and I generally don't get involved in matters concerning elders. My parents also thought that after my grandmother was buried, we would cut ties with their family. No one expected that at my grandmother's funeral, in front of so many guests, she would still come out to stir up trouble. Cursing was one thing, but she even came up and started getting physical with me. I really couldn't hold back, so I struck back... Now my neck, waist, and legs are a bit sore; I suspect I'm a bit injured).

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(End of this chapter)