Chapter 27: Entering the Mountains

Traveling northeast along the main road from Lake Town, one will pass through two territories.

The first is Muma City, ruled by the Tieti Viscount family.

Muma City is famous for horse breeding; at least half of the horses in Wushan Territory, whether common horses or warhorses, come from Muma City.

As an ancient family that existed before the Orland Empire split, the Tieti family holds a very high status in Wushan Territory.

Luoning had prepared to go to Muma City to purchase supplies earlier, but he does not need to now.

The second territory they passed through is Swamp Town, which is ruled by Baron Leisen of the Sain Family.

The predecessor did not know much about this family, only that the current baron of the Sain Family seems to be an Advanced Peak Knight.

As the noble territory closest to Shanlin Town, Sain Territory can be considered Luoning's neighbor, and he is actually planning to find time to pay a visit.

Continuing north past Sain Territory, one can see rolling hills.

The mountains are not high, at most one or two hundred meters, and the slopes are not steep, but their sheer number and continuous, rolling expanse are what cause the current situation of inconvenient transportation and isolation in Shanlin Town.

Luoning took out a map, but it only sketchily recorded the location of Shanlin Town; using it for precise navigation was clearly impossible.

Fortunately, there was a path in the forest that people had walked, which guided their direction.

"It's noon, everyone, let's rest here for a while."

Luoning had Chaha'er notify everyone to rest, while he stood on this small forest path himself.

"My Lord, the road into the mountains doesn't seem easy to travel," Maiken reminded him.

"That is inevitable."

Luoning sighed and walked to the side of the road to squat down, "But there are wheel tracks here, so clearly there are carriages coming out of Shanlin Town. Since they can come out, we can go in."

Shanlin Town has no lord, but there are wheel tracks on the road, which shows that besides people from Wushan Castle coming to collect taxes every year, the people inside also have exchanges with the outside world.

This is a normal phenomenon.

Shanlin Town does not have all the necessities required for human survival, so some things still need to be bought outside.

"When we arrive at Shanlin Town, if everything goes smoothly, I will form a hunting squad to see if we can hunt Magic Beasts."

"If we can obtain Magic Beast hides, then Aierlong and I will learn to make Spell Scrolls."

He currently has three bottles of 'ink' left behind by Pedro for making Spell Scrolls; if it weren't for the lack of Magic Beast hides, he and Aierlong would have started learning to make Spell Scrolls long ago.

Forming a hunting squad was a decision Luoning made after careful thought.

After all, one lives off the mountain if one lives near the mountain, and off the water if one lives near the water; being close to the Magic Beast Mountain Range, one must eat Magic Beasts.

The materials from Magic Beasts can be sold for money, while Spell Scrolls are an industry derived from them.

Of course, this is assuming things go smoothly; he must wait until everything is stable before talking about it.

"Aierlong is willing to serve you, my Lord!" the Magician responded respectfully to Luoning's proposal.

For the past two days, Aierlong has been the most idle.

He is not like Maiken, who can instruct Maiken in sword practice and combat, and at the same time, he does not need to train like the Guards; when he has nothing to do, he can only refine Magic Power, making him the most idle and also the most bored.

With nothing to do, Aierlong can only take the books on the carriage and flip through them to increase his knowledge.

"You don't need to worry about having nothing to do; once we reach the territory, I expect everyone won't be able to stay idle."

Luoning has the air of someone about to do something big; after all, it is his own territory, and those mountains, those waters, and those people are all his—if he doesn't manage them well, it would truly be a waste.

After a simple lunch, Luoning led the team back on the road.

The mountain road was bumpy and full of holes, and in some places, water had washed out gullies, making it very difficult for the carriages to travel.

For the sake of comfort, Luoning did not continue to sit in the carriage but chose to ride a horse.

"To get rich, build roads first!"

This is a golden rule, but looking at these rolling hills that are not high but numerous, he knew that building roads is a massive project.

"It will be very difficult to build a flat road out of Shanlin Town in the short term."

Luoning sighed; he could only take it one step at a time, ensuring the carriages could pass through smoothly for now.

"Aierlong, do you think there is any Magic or Battle Technique that can open up mountains?"

"There certainly is!"

Aierlong was very certain, "Magicians draw upon the elements of heaven and earth to cast spells, and the elements of heaven and earth are vast and boundless; as long as a Magician is powerful enough and mobilizes enough of them, I am certain the power would be enough to open a mountain!"

"What you say makes sense."

Luoning turned to ask Maiken, "You have the Earth Attribute; do you think there are any Battle Techniques that can open up mountains?"

Battle Techniques utilize a Knight's own Battle Qi, and in terms of power, they are generally weaker than spells, but Maiken also gave an affirmative answer.

"It certainly is possible, though compared to Magic, the difficulty should be a bit higher."

Luoning nodded, "In the future, this road from Shanlin Town to the outside world will depend on you to build."

Maiken: "Uh... if the Lord requires it, I will do my best!"

"Ha~"

As the team entered the mountains and forests, the weather became less hot, especially when the mountain breeze blew; the coolness during their rest was very pleasant.

It was just that in the second half of the night, it got a bit cold; if there weren't enough campfires, they would likely catch a cold.

Fortunately, they might lack anything else here, but they certainly don't lack wood.

The road was not easy to travel; Luoning and his group walked for a full day and more before finally, after crossing a small hill, they saw the town ahead from a distance.

Luoning glanced at the huge stone by the side of the road in front, on which the name of the town ahead was clearly written in red characters—Shanlin Town!

"We've finally arrived!" he said happily.

From setting out on the 4th to noon today, the 13th, they had walked for ten days and were finally about to reach their destination.

Hearing Luoning's voice, the guards also began to cheer.

Many of them had doubted at the beginning whether they could safely reach Shanlin Town, but now that Shanlin Town was right before their eyes, they had done it!

For them, having basically never left Wushan City since birth, this was a challenge and an achievement, and it would be a topic of conversation for their descendants in the future.

"Chahar, we'll rest here for lunch!"

Luoning instructed with a smile: "Let everyone eat their fill and rest well; we'll enter the town this afternoon!"

"Very well, my lord." Chahar went off to make the arrangements efficiently.

Luoning vaulted off his horse, and Dawei took the reins handed to him and stood to the side; ever since this lad became a Primary Knight, Luoning had also arranged for him to stay by his side.

"The terrain of Shanlin Town is quite good; it's not the mountain city I imagined."

Luoning stood in the middle of the road, gazing out at the town in the distance.

Looking over from the slope, Shanlin Town was situated in a flat area between the mountains; although there were hills within the town, they were not high, much gentler than the peaks they had passed on their way here, possessing typical hilly characteristics.

"I remember Huoerhuate saying that after crossing the woodlands to the east and north of Shanlin Town, one faces the sea."

The sea is also a type of resource; if the territory could be extended to the seaside, that would be a very rare thing indeed.

Withdrawing his gaze, Luoning walked over to the road sign, which was that large rock; he patted the stone twice—this thing was not light, weighing at least several hundred jin.

"Maiken, I have a task for you."

Maiken stepped forward, "My lord, please speak."

Luoning pointed at the large rock and said: "Once we have settled down and have some free time, move this road sign for me."

"No problem!"

Maiken sized up the stone; if it were to be moved, he would likely need to use a horse-drawn carriage.

"My lord, where would you like me to move it to?"

Luoning pondered slightly, "Just follow this road and move it about fifty li to the south first."

"Oh, right, if it's inconvenient to move, just smash this rock and set up a new road sign fifty li away."

Hearing this, Aierlong, who was nearby, laughed, "Congratulations, my lord, your territory has expanded by another circle!"

"Haha, you are the one who can immediately grasp my meaning!"

Judging from the journey here, there was still a lot of undeveloped land in this area; who knew if Earl Wiggins would send a Pioneer Knight over to compete with him for territory.

By moving the territorial landmark further away first, if anyone else came over, they would have to bicker with Luoning first.

"Maiken, Aierlong, Dawei, you are all Transcendental, and your observation skills are sharper than ordinary people's; keep a close eye on the surroundings during the break and report any situation immediately."

Although he had already arrived at his own territory, having had the experience of being assassinated by a Guard before, Luoning did not lower his guard.

He could not say for sure whether those welcoming him would be his subjects or his enemies.

(End of chapter)