Chapter 163: with translation of chapter title

Glory Hall.

Originally it was the noble council hall, now it is the main venue of the Weilan Citizens' Assembly.

The hall's structure is fan-shaped, high at the edges, low at the center, but there is a speaking platform in the middle; on it stands a civilian Arcane Master named Karles, speaking fervently.

"Every human born in Weilan is naturally a Weilan citizen, enjoying all the rights and duties of citizenship."

"Based on that, I want to say, the northern counts are also Weilan citizens; they have greatly enjoyed the rights of citizens, but they seem not to have fulfilled the corresponding duties."

"This is clearly unfair; I think we should abolish the privileges of all Weilan noble lords, retaining only the Duke of Weilan."

As his words fell, the entire hall erupted in enthusiastic applause.

The commoners had long been oppressed by the nobility; finally having a chance to speak out, their long-held resentment burst forth, wishing to overthrow all nobles.

Next to speak was one of the northern noble leaders, Count Robert of Shire County.

To be honest, facing the overwhelming majority of commoners below, he felt somewhat guilty, even fearful.

But compelled by circumstances, to fight for his own interests, he could only grit his teeth and go up.

"The southern nobles are vampires, almost all of them pawns planted by Aaron in Weilan, and should be removed."

"This is something we northern counts have been thinking about and doing."

"You surely remember that, not long ago, to support the duke's landing on Weilan Giant Island, we northern nobles spared no effort to form the Northern Alliance."

"I admit that the soldiers of the North-South Alliance never actually clashed on the battlefield, but for Weilan this is actually a good thing, as it greatly avoided needless losses of brave soldiers."

"But I want to say, the very existence of our Northern Alliance is also a great merit."

"It is we who prevented the duke from fighting alone and falling into the terrible predicament of being surrounded by enemies!"

That's correct; many discerning people in the audience nodded silently.

Count Robert continued: "I, like all of you, deeply hate the southern vampire lords, for these vampires not only suck the blood of southern commoners, but also continually drain the blood of all of us in the north."

"At the same time, I also admit that the times have changed."

"Many of our northern nobles indeed lack the outstanding ability matching their noble rank, but our lands and our titles are the heritage left by our ancestors."

"As descendants, we must surely defend our ancestors' heritage; this may not be the responsibility of a Weilan citizen, but it is a duty every person must bear!"

After saying that, Count Robert turned and stepped down from the stage; the audience responded with scattered applause, but mostly silence.

But there was little anger in that silence, because the vast majority of southern commoners harbor no hatred toward the northern counts.

Of course, there are also those who hate—namely, some commoners in the north.

But not all of them hate.

Although some northern county counts are unreliable, there are also reliable ones, counts of extremely high prestige.

For example, the Wolff family of Highland County has always been the people's choice in Highland County.

The current Wolff count of Highland County is furthermore a mighty warrior at the Four-ring Peak, his character steady, his dealings fair, his life simple, and he has long been respected by all sectors of Highland County.

The issue of northern county nobles has become the last major disagreement; relying solely on everyone's discussion will absolutely not yield a result.

If someone with ill intent fans the flames again, serious internal strife could erupt.

So, seeing that discussions from all sides were nearly done, the newly appointed duke ascended the stage.

He is now both a duke and an Arcane Sage, and he also wields the island's highest military power, so naturally his word is final.

But being able to speak with finality does not mean one can speak nonsense.

Because power is not innate; it is like a bank deposit that needs to be nurtured bit by bit.

Going against the tide spends money; going with the tide saves money.

A qualified great lord should spend less and save more, for this 'money' is hard to accumulate—it is spent quickly and saved slowly.

If one accidentally spends it all, the great lord's head is likely to roll as well.

After a few light coughs, and once the entire hall had quieted, Luosen spoke: "First, I want to announce something I have long concealed."

Saying that, he raised his left hand; pure magical power gradually welled up from his hand, then quickly transformed into the power of a Sage of Order Level 10, forming a crystal-clear, five-colored gem.

This is the power of a Sage at seven-ring strength, and when the pure magical power surges, it reveals an astonishing magical fluctuation.

The attendees could be said to be the smartest group in all of Weilan, more than half of them being cultivators.

At this moment they felt a deep and powerful magical fluctuation, and their faces gradually showed an expression of shock.

Luosen's voice rang out again.

"The Duke of Sisithin of the Radiant Empire, using an improved Lamo solar formula, calculated that above the Six Rings there should still exist miracle rings."

As soon as he said that, everyone's faces showed an expression of disbelief, for they all guessed at an astonishing possibility.

Sure enough, the next moment, Luosen spoke.

"I followed my mentor, Anna Robert Lady Agneth, and devoted myself to cultivation for ten years, using actual cultivation results to confirm the words of Duke Sisithin."

The whole hall burst into astonishment, while Count Robert in the corner, though startled, also let out a sigh of relief; he understood the meaning of Luosen mentioning his mentor's full name, and also realized that even if all the northern county counts met misfortune, his Robert family would be unharmed.

"My sister really picked up a fine disciple!" He felt both fortunate and grateful.

Once again, the duke's voice came from the stage.

"I have discovered that above the Six Rings, at least three miracle rings exist. And I have successfully reached the first miracle ring, that is, the seventh law ring."

Whoosh~~~

As his words fell, the entire audience was shocked!

This is the first time the Arcane Circle of the Natural Alliance has had a high-ring powerhouse publicly declare his arcane achievements.

And this achievement is so astonishing that it instantly overturned the arcane formulas of everyone present.

What is even more shocking is the cultivation speed of this young duke.

Ten years of cultivation to reach the third high-level law ring would already be considered excellent; reaching the fifth sage law ring is an unprecedented arcane genius.

Now this duke actually broke through the limits of arcane cognition, directly reaching the seventh law ring—this is simply, simply indescribable in terms of his terrifying arcane talent! Yet everyone present came to a similar thought.

No wonder this little Xiao Hai Dao that the Duke controls can develop so many powerful magical constructs.

Such a powerful mage ought to become the lord of Weilan.

Count Robert was so shocked that his breathing halted for a long while, and the only thought in his mind was: 'As I suspected, I wasn't mistaken that day—he truly is not a mortal!'

But in the next sentence, Luosen said: 'Everyone calls the level above the Six Rings the Miracle Ring, believing that achieving this accomplishment means transcending the mundane and becoming an immortal deity.'

'But I want to say, it is all false.'

'Reaching the Miracle Ring only signifies a higher level of magical cultivation, but one remains a mortal.'

'I also want to say, this is indeed a great advancement in our mortal understanding of sorcery.'

'And my personal progress alone is merely my own achievement; only the overall advancement of the sorcery world constitutes progress for all humanity.'

'Therefore, after the conference, I will issue a book titled Luosen's Cultivation Record, sharing my cultivation experience with mages across the island and even the entire Natural Alliance.'

'Whoosh~~' The hall, which had just quieted down, once again erupted with a surge like a tsunami.

Everyone felt the same: 'Having such a duke is truly Weilan's fortune, truly humanity's fortune!'

Everyone clapped with all their might.

On stage, Luosen clearly felt that his 'power account balance' had surged.

Sensing the timing was about right, he began to speak on the main topic.

'In my view, whether southern or northern counties, they are all Weilan's counties.'

'Whether northerners or southerners, they are all Weilan people.'

'Because Aaron's blood‑sucking of Weilan, we eliminated the southern nobility. This is only natural, a necessary step for Weilan to achieve independence and self‑governance.'

'But Count Robert's statement is also not wrong.'

'Everything of this generation of northern counts is inherited from the glory of their ancestors; preserving that ancestral glory is also the count's duty.'

'Even an ordinary person has the right to inherit the property left by their parents; this is also natural and needs no further discussion.'

'Disagreements must be resolved.'

'But since we are all Weilan people, every disagreement should be resolved on the foundation of maintaining internal peace.'

'Why peace?'

'Because the southern Aaron eyes us like a predatory beast; if we fall into internal strife, the Lion Fleet will seize the chance to march north and once again enslave Weilan!'

Having said that, Luosen looked over the crowd and asked: 'Do you all agree with this?'

Approximately over 1,000 social elites present nodded in agreement without hesitation.

Then Luosen proposed his solution.

'No one has ever stipulated that a country can have only one system.'

'Nor has anyone ever stipulated that a person cannot be both a Weilan citizen and a Weilan noble.'

'Therefore, my proposal is that the fifteen southern counties of Weilan implement full citizen participation in governance.'

'As for the ten northern counties, I have two approaches.'

'First, the nobility retains most of its rights and obligations unchanged, but the operation of their territories is self‑responsible; the only change is that northern commoners must also become Weilan citizens.'

'Second, they may voluntarily relinquish part or all of their noble titles and donate part or all of their lands to the Weilan Citizen Bank.'

'Depending on the size and resources of the territory, they would receive stable annual returns from the Weilan Citizen Bank; as long as the bank does not collapse, the returns continue.'

Having said that, Luosen gazed at the assembled crowd.

'Please feel free to discuss, move around and talk with one another; if you have a better solution, you may raise it at any time.'

The hall instantly buzzed with whispered conversations, and even groups gathered together to discuss.

Southern commoners had nothing to say, since the northern counties' situation hardly affected them.

Their sole concern was how much annual return the Weilan Citizen Bank would give to the northern nobles.

Donating land for returns is reasonable, but it must not be excessive.

Moreover, the lord said he would keep giving it forever, which is overly generous; it would be better to decrease it gradually year by year.

Northern commoners held differing opinions: some wanted to keep the noble lords, others wished to emulate the south.

Northern nobles also had varied views.

The poorest count of the Ice Plains County spread his hands, looking utterly destitute.

'My broken territory is worthless, the land is barren and freezing cold. If the duke offers a fair price, I'll donate it all and take the money to live well in the south.'

Count Robert of Shire County also had his own idea.

'I don't want any other parts of Shire County; the area is large and hard to manage, with little profit. I'll just keep Shialin City.'

Count Robert's view represented that of most northern county counts, after all much of the land truly yields no profit.

Those desolate wildlands are a hassle to manage and provoke envy; it would be better to exchange them for steady income.

Therefore, retaining only the essential zones is best.

They also trusted the duke Luosen's reputation; in fact, even if they didn't believe, they'd have to believe.

Because the announcement of the Seven Rings, Luosen's standing in Weilan has almost reached that of a god among men.

After discussion, everyone unanimously agreed to Luosen's proposal, with only one change: the returns should be reduced in a stepwise manner.

Initially set as a step every forty years, until it reaches zero two hundred years later.

The northern nobles also agreed to this, after all it concerns events two hundred years from now—who knows what the world will be like then?

After another ten days of discussing various details, they then released the new edition of the Weilan Citizen Governance System, in separate southern and northern versions.

The publicity teams trained on the islands immediately spread the relevant information throughout Weilan.

Even the mountain folk living deep in the mountains received it.

Of course, that is a story for later.

When the news reached the ears of the various nations' envoys, it also instantly caused a great uproar.

For the envoys of the Natural Alliance, the biggest shock point was Luosen's announcement of the Seven Rings achievement and the sharing of cultivation experience.

With this, Luosen became the embodiment of the perfect mage of the New Era.

Because the spiritual core of the New Era's magical arts is "sharing new knowledge".

But most mages hoard and withhold good things; Luosen, however, caused a massive explosion! Not only ordinary mages— even the mages of the diplomatic delegation, many of them felt a strong urge to join Weilan directly and take Duke Weilan as their cultivation mentor! Ms. Ai Lin of the Radiant Empire was also quite shocked.

She was not shocked by Luosen's magical achievements, after all she thought she knew Luosen's level. And within the empire, especially the Radiant Royal Family, there are many High Ring mages.

This has already become a public secret.

She was first shocked by Luosen's sharing of cultivation experience and aura, and second by his political skill.

Looking at the documents at hand, she let out a light sigh.

"Fortunately he's only at the early Eight Ring level; otherwise this fellow would truly be a formidable rival to my Radiant lineage."

In her musings, she suddenly recalled the crazy night before, and for some reason felt a slight heat on her body.

As the envoys of various nations digested the new information, the coronation ceremony of Duke Dawn, which Luosen had deliberately postponed, finally made it onto the schedule.

Both the Grand Temple of Saint Weilan and the Adrian family were very concerned about this.

Luosen, on the other hand, felt indifferent, but he vaguely sensed that someone was spying on him.

He couldn't help but think, "Which nature deity is spying on me?"

After all, he is in the Natural Alliance, and the nature deities are still present.

(End of Chapter)