Chapter 193: The Storm Domain Thrives!

Intelligence Two: One hundred li ahead in the direction of one o'clock from Dragon's Blood Grass Canyon, within the Death Mountains, lies a lush peak.

At the summit of this peak is a naturally eroded rock formation resembling an eagle, aptly named Eagle Peak.

At the summit of Eagle Mountain, a precious Heart of Elements has ripened; consuming it greatly enhances the human body's affinity for elemental combat energy.

It can transform the user into the legendary Elemental Body.

Although it is only the lowest-grade Elemental Body, the benefit is that even unconsciously, one can continuously absorb minute amounts of elemental combat energy at any time and place.

Intelligence Three: This afternoon, a man wearing a tattered mage's robe will wander into Wheatfield Town.

His name is Wood, a junior mage with exceptionally strong magical talent.

Yet, it is rare in the kingdom to find a mage who has sunk so low in status.

The reason for his downfall is an extremely undesirable hobby for a mage of such talent.

That hobby is alchemy.

Alchemy is taboo for mages with exceptional talent.

It consumes too much time and effort.

Only mages who have lost hope of advancement typically turn to it in an attempt to improve their livelihood.

Of course, ordinary alchemical research wouldn't lead to such ruin.

Worse still, Wood's alchemical studies have taken a bizarre turn.

For instance, he sought to develop a magical device capable of continuously summoning hurricanes, so ships could sail freely across the ocean without relying on natural winds.

He eventually succeeded—but the energy consumption of this hurricane device is unimaginable, requiring one fifth-rank wind crystal every minute.

This cost terrifies every noble who hears of it.

Another example: he created a magical device capable of releasing vast quantities of freezing energy.

He intended to sell it to desert nations to cool their cities and bring comfort to desert dwellers.

The invention was ultimately successful.

But the problem remained: the energy consumption was enormous.

Even running it for just one hour consumes one fifth-rank water crystal.

Thus, impoverished desert nations could never afford such a device.

These increasingly strange inventions eventually bankrupted him and left him with massive debts.

To escape his creditors, he fled far from home and arrived at the kingdom's border.

Now lost and uncertain, he is considering whether to truly retreat into the Chaos Wastes to avoid his pursuers.

Intelligence Four: Your iron mine has been excavating for ten days; despite manpower shortages, the scale remains small.

Yet over these past days, over a thousand catties of iron ore have been extracted daily.

Estimated daily profit: two gold coins.

This bustling activity has finally caught the attention of Lord Pat, who has been monitoring the mine's progress.

He originally feared you'd discover the mine was forged—but now, iron ore is flowing continuously.

Shocked and suspicious, he immediately dispatched spies to investigate.

Upon learning the mine likely hasn't been depleted, he regrets his decision and will arrive at the iron mine this afternoon.

Under the pretext of missing personnel, he intends to seize control of the mine!

Intelligence Five: Catherine rejected Duke Hernand's pleas to stay and has returned to the Violet Family's territory under the protection of Hernand family members.

Intelligence Six: Among those escorting Catherine is Duke Hernand's second son… Count Finnel, Catherine's uncle.

After bidding farewell to Catherine, he did not immediately return home.

Instead, he traveled south toward the Stormhold.

His purpose is simple: to warn you, this penniless noble, to stay away from Catherine—you, a minor noble, are unworthy of the Hernand bloodline!

Good heavens! Gaviss exclaimed in astonishment!

Another day of waking up naturally.

Gaviss sat up comfortably on his goose-down bed, but before he could think further, a series of chimes reached his ears.

At first, he thought the early messages were all good news.

But the subsequent reports took a sharp downward turn.

Of course, Gaviss had already anticipated the last two less-than-ideal developments.

For instance, Lord Pat discovering the mine wasn't depleted was inevitable.

He's no fool—transporting massive quantities of iron ore can't be hidden forever.

So exposure was bound to happen.

But now, the situation is better than he'd feared.

After all, he himself is now a viscount, and his strength isn't negligible.

As for Catherine, Gaviss had already wondered: if she truly became a legitimate heir of the Hernand family, would she distance herself from him, a minor noble?

After all, to great nobles, minor nobles are little different from commoners.

Fortunately, Catherine herself has passed the test—she's truly consistent in character.

But the Hernand family, bypassing her entirely, has taken it upon themselves to look down on him.

"When the troops come, deploy soldiers; when the water rises, build earthworks! Nothing matters more than my elemental spirit and the Element Heart!"

Of course, Gaviss didn't dwell on it.

Though still a second-rank noble, as a transmigrator with a golden finger, psychologically, he sees himself as the one who looks down upon all native inhabitants of this world!

Slap! Slap! Slap!

After taming his subordinate maid with waves of energy, Gaviss went to the dining hall to enjoy a lavish breakfast.

While eating, he listened to reports from Old John, Thomas, and others.

First, the harvest of Lightning Silver Fish is finally winding down.

For nearly ten days, the first week yielded around three thousand catties daily.

Then it dropped to a thousand catties, and now it's down to just a few hundred.

Still, Gaviss amassed nearly twenty thousand catties of Lightning Silver Fish.

This quantity fully satisfies his subordinates' annual needs—and leaves a surplus.

Second, the shipyard construction has begun, with over a hundred workers mobilized, aiming to complete it within a week.

Reports also covered seafood sales, farmland expansion, and more.

In short, every report boils down to one phrase: Stormhold is thriving!

……

"Set sail! Depart!"

After breakfast, Gaviss and his retinue hurried to the coast.

The elemental spirit was barely clinging to life; Gaviss dared not delay.

The black dragon's sails billowed in the wind.

Amid the crashing waves, the dark hull cut through the ocean toward the endless sea.

Gaviss first arrived at Sugarcane Island to inspect the slaves' progress in refining sugar.

After confirming the purity of the refined sugar, he departed satisfied.

As a lord, Gaviss couldn't possibly handle every detail himself—even sugar refining.

So he hired several trustworthy families with high salaries to specialize in sugar refinement.

He had already informed them they wouldn't be allowed to return to shore for at least five years.

With five years, Gaviss believed he'd have ample time to develop.

"My lord! A small protruding island has appeared due east—it's likely very small, but could it be your target?"

Suddenly, a lookout on the mast shouted across the blue ocean.

"Is that so? Head over and take a look!"

Gaviss perked up immediately, gazing eagerly toward the east.