Chapter 301: The Birth of the Fake-Smiling Knight

Long before Luoning arrived at Guiyi Shangu, he had already thought about the matter of building a port.

It was just that this matter had always been a mere idea, and he had no detailed plan on how to specifically realize it.

Although his idea today to cooperate with Jianjiao City was somewhat impulsive, it was nonetheless a reasonably sound plan.

After all, looking across the entire Wushan Territory, only this place possessed experienced craftsmen, captains, sailors, and port personnel.

However, this matter involved a great deal and was not a project that could be completed in a short time; even though Viscount Weituolinuo was tempted by what was said, he still only stated that he would consider it seriously and did not agree immediately.

But he did agree to let Baron Hamete take experienced craftsmen from Dennis Port to go to Wubei Territory first to survey the terrain and find a suitable place to build a port.

As for whether to cooperate and how to cooperate, they could continue to discuss it later once they had thought it through.

Luoning was not in a hurry; the other party had already taken the first step, so would the second step be far behind?

After leaving the study, he wrote a letter overnight, preparing to let Hamete take it to Zhaozebao to give to Aierlong.

In the letter, he requested that Aierlong and Chahaer receive the distinguished guests well, arrange for a team to protect the safety of the surveyors, and at the same time, have Aierlong protect Kaierluosi's house well.

This was phrased quite obscurely; even if this letter were peeked at by someone, they would not know who Kaierluosi was.

On the other hand, Weituolinuo was still sitting quietly in the study, thinking.

After Hamete returned from the battlefield, he had highly praised Luoning's wisdom.

Originally, he had thought that what Hamete said was somewhat exaggerated, but seeing him today was an eye-opener, and he even felt that Hamete's praise was somewhat conservative.

Just now, while chatting with Luoning, although most of the talk was about cooperating to develop the port, Weituolinuo saw from it the clear thinking and considerable ambition of this young Count.

Although it would take quite some time to realize the blueprint the other party had drawn, it was worth a try, and the Dennis Family had enough time to wait.

After all, they had been bullied for more than a year or two; they could afford to wait another ten years.

Knock, knock~

The door was knocked, and Lisi pushed the door and entered.

"Father, you were looking for me."

Weituolinuo gave an 'un' sound, a faint smile appearing on his face.

At over fifty years old, he did not know if he would be able to break through to become a Golden Knight in this lifetime; being able to maintain the glory of the Dennis Family was his greatest goal.

But his son, Lisi, would definitely be able to become the first Golden Knight of the Dennis Family, or even higher.

Therefore, he placed high hopes on his eldest son.

"I have met with Luoning in private, and his performance is even more outstanding than the rumors suggest."

Weituolinuo gave a high evaluation: "The Marquis must have taken a liking to Luoning. In my view, the master of Wushan Territory in the future will likely still be Luoning."

He looked at his son; Lisi was good in every way, except that he was not very good at socializing and lacked the shrewdness a noble should have.

Conversely, his second son, Jiemi, had talent in that area, but his strength was not much to speak of.

"You can take this opportunity while escorting Luoning to Jinyu City to interact well with him and increase mutual understanding; perhaps it will be good for you."

Lisi gave an 'un' sound, seemingly not very interested.

Weituolinuo added: "Additionally, I have already spoken with Luoning; if you want to spar and exchange pointers with him, you can bring it up to him, and he will agree."

Lisi's eyes lit up, "I understand, Father."

Compared to civil interaction and exchange, he clearly preferred the martial kind.

Weituolinuo shook his head with a wry smile: "Lisi, you should learn how to get along with others like a noble."

Lisi, however, did not think so.

"Father, a noble might be able to rely on socializing to maintain stability, but they cannot rely on socializing forever to keep a family prosperous and enduring. But as long as one's strength is sufficiently powerful, one can achieve that."

"An isolated powerhouse has no way to face the siege of a coalition army," Weituolinuo reminded him.

"That is because he is not strong enough yet."

Lisi said very seriously, "If it were a Blazing Sun Knight, I believe that even if ten thousand people besieged him, he could still escape."

"Blazing Sun..."

Weituolinuo revealed a bitter smile; he was a Viscount after all, and Jianjiao City had no shortage of exchanges with the outside world, yet he had never heard any definite news about anyone becoming a Blazing Sun Knight.

Lisi's goal was good, but it was too difficult to achieve.

He waved his hand, ending this conversation: "Alright, go down and get some good rest; we still have to set sail tomorrow."

Lisi bowed and took his leave.

However, he did not go back to rest, but instead came directly to Luoning's courtyard.

Tangmu knocked on the door and reported the news.

Ever since he was severely criticized by Luoning at Jushi Castle for privately letting Betty in, now whenever they met someone who wanted to see Luoning, regardless of who the other party was, they would report it first.

"What is he here for?"

Luoning was currently taking a hot bath, "Let him wait in the living room; I will be there soon."

"Yes, My Lord!"

Luoning got up, dried his body, changed into a loose robe, and walked out, just in time to see the other party sitting upright on the sofa in the living room, with his long sword placed to the side.

"Knight Lisi, what is the matter that you have come to see me so late?"

"Count Luoning, I have already arranged the ships; we can set off tomorrow morning after finishing breakfast."

Perhaps it was because Weituolinuo's words had taken effect, or perhaps it was because stating his intention directly was a bit too impolite, Lisi said something irrelevant first, then stood up, looking at Luoning with burning eyes.

"Lord Count, can we have a spar?"

After hearing the other party's first sentence, Luoning was still preparing to express his gratitude. But before the words could be spoken, they were choked back.

"Now?"

Luoning estimated that it was almost midnight; who would come to spar so late?

"Yes, now!"

Lisi said with great anticipation: "During this time, I have been hearing that you killed a Meteor Knight, so I really want to experience your strength. My father just told me that you have already agreed to spar with me, so I came!"

Luoning sighed; he had indeed agreed, but he hadn't said anything about sparring in the middle of the night.

"Dawei, go have a Servant prepare hot water for my bath again."

As Luoning said this, he turned and went into the house, changed his clothes, and walked back out carrying the Yanliu Sword.

"How shall we compete?"

Lisi revealed a smile for the first time: "Let's just compete in swordsmanship, how about that?"

"Fine!"

Luoning walked out, "But if I win, you must promise me that you will keep a smile on your face every time you see me."

The smile on Lisi's face stiffened.

In sparring matches, there were many conditions a winner might propose, but they were nothing more than money, women, or submission; this was the first time he had heard of asking someone to smile.

Lisi did not like to smile, but in order to be able to spar, he bit the bullet and nodded: "Fine, I promise you!"

If they only competed in swordsmanship and not Battle Qi or Battle Technique, he wouldn't necessarily lose.

The two walked one after the other into the courtyard.

"Come on," Luoning said.

"Alright!"

Lisi drew his longsword with great decisiveness, took a step to cover the distance of several meters, and thrust fiercely toward Luoning's face.

His speed was swift, his sword tip precise; one look and it was clear this was no mere show.

But Luoning reacted quickly and dodged this attack. Then, he backhanded his sword and thrust it forward, forcing Lisi to retreat and simultaneously switch from offense to defense.

Upon their first clash, both could sense that the opponent's footwork and swordsmanship level were not low, and a look of seriousness appeared in each other's eyes.

As the exchange progressed, Luoning gained a certain understanding of Lisi's overall level.

Lisi was worthy of being a genuine Knight who had studied at the Royal Academy for several years; his longsword was wielded with seamless precision, switching freely between advance, retreat, and defense, and combined with agile footwork, it made one feel the pressure.

Luoning had only been learning the sword for a little over a year.

Although he had learned from Ruidar and Maiken and had begun to integrate the strengths of both, the time was a bit short; looking purely at swordsmanship level, Lisi seemed to have a slight lead.

However, Luoning excelled in strength, using his power to compensate for his disadvantage in technique, and he held the upper hand.

In the courtyard in the middle of the night, sparks flew as the two swords collided, the sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly, and the battle grew increasingly intense.

Lisi grew more solemn the longer they fought; this Luoning's strength far exceeded his estimations.

Having been suppressed for Along time, his breathing gradually became heavy, and under the repeated impacts, his arm was faintly trembling.

Finally, after who knows how many rounds, Luoning delivered another heavy strike that sent the opponent's longsword flying from his hand.

"You lost."

Luoning took a deep breath, took the towel handed over by Dawei, and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Come on, Knight Lisi, give me a smile."

Lisi panted heavily; even now, he couldn't believe he had lost.

He looked at Luoning with some unwillingness: "My swordsmanship is not inferior to yours; you only held the upper hand by relying on the strength of your power."

"Force is also an aspect of swordsmanship, surely I don't need to remind you of that, Knight Lisi?"

Luoning handed the towel to Dawei, "Regardless of how your swordsmanship is, since you have already lost, as a Knight and the eldest son of the Dennis Family, you wouldn't go back on your word, would you?"

Lisi's chest heaved as he took two deep breaths to calm his emotions, then he tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Very good, you truly are a person who keeps his promises!"

Luoning praised: "Remember to keep a smile on your face every time you see me, until the day you defeat me."

The fake smile on Lisi's face became even uglier. (End of chapter)