The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

The luncheon was quite sumptuous.

Even though the food at Tulip Castle wasn't exactly to Liszt's taste, he still devoured large amounts of Magical Beast Meat and a variety of dairy products.

"During the Pioneer Mandate Wars, it felt like I was starving every day. Back here, I can finally eat my fill without reserve," he said, rubbing his belly contentedly as he put down his fork.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Lady Penelope cheerily said, "From now on, we can't have a Sky Knight going hungry. The Tulip Family might not be as grand as the great Nobles, but we can certainly provide enough food."

Lady Marie also laughed, "As for the castle's food, as long as it suits your taste, you can eat as much as you want."

All eyes were on Liszt.

The Earl, feeling a bit jealous, said, "Mother, I've never had a proper meal on the battlefield either."

"You're not growing anymore, but Liszt is still growing. Look at him, every time I see him, he seems to have grown taller. Are you one meter ninety now?" Lady Penelope dismissed the Earl offhandedly and turned the conversation back to Liszt.

Liszt shook his head, "About one meter eighty-nine, and I feel like my height has stopped increasing. I think my final height will be around one meter ninety."

Levis enviously said, "A height of one meter ninety is more than enough. Too tall can be oppressive to others." He was only one meter eighty-five and was now shorter than Liszt by a whole head.

Li Vera chuckled and said, "In our family, Liszt has been favored by the knight's glory since his birth. You've inherited all the best attributes of the Tulip and Long Taro Families—height, looks, talent. I was very jealous when I was little, but now, I can hardly even reach your shadow."

"I believe that Levis, Li Vera, and Lidun have all inherited our family's talent. As long as the supply of resources keeps up, they all have the potential to advance to Sky Knight," Liszt replied.

Tossing a few words of praise cost him nothing, so he was happy to encourage his siblings in such an atmosphere.

...

In the afternoon, Goltai arrived from Fresh Flower Town.

"My lord, I was overjoyed to the point of near insanity when I heard you advanced to Sky Knight," he remarked, showering exaggerated flattery upon their first meeting, "When I first followed you to Fresh Flower Town, I knew you were deeply favored by the knight's glory, the Son of Glory!"

Liszt maintained his smile.

Goltai's flattery continued unabated, "In less than two years, you've achieved honors that many Nobles couldn't in a lifetime. A Sky Knight at only seventeen—it's a tremendous joy for all the vassals of Black Horse Island Domain!"

It seemed Goltai might go on for half an hour if he wasn't stopped.

He had to interrupt, "Consultant Goltai, becoming a Sky Knight is indeed a cause for celebration, but right now I'm more interested in the domain's affairs. Has my Corn Minor Elf been born during these two months I've been away? Is everything smooth with the various industries of the domain?"

"The Corn Minor Elf hasn't been born yet, but it has reached the final stage of the Fat Pupa Stage, motionless. We can't guess whether it has evolved successfully, but it has not decayed and vanished, so I believe the time for it to emerge successfully should be soon."

"That's good to hear!"

Relieved, Liszt had been worrying about the Corn Minor Elf for some time now. The Elf Bug's Fat Pupa Stage is a critical point—failure means turning to ash; success means the minor elf breaks out of the cocoon. Though the Corn Minor Elf has yet to break out, it has not turned to ash and is diligently completing its evolution.

"What about the other matters?"

"The new Cordyceps on the Rubber Trees have spawned a large number of seedlings around their roots. Blair has already sent the Serfs to cultivate them within the influence of the cordyceps before the arrival of heavy snow. It seems these seedlings, under the influence of the cordyceps, will be able to safely get through the winter."

Goltai could now be considered a barely qualified domain consultant, mindful of most matters.

Overall, these past two months, the domain had not changed much, and there were no pleasing advancements in any industries—the lack of serfs made it difficult to maintain even the key industries, let alone those that had not yet been developed.

"Between the two batches of serfs, we lost over eight hundred people. The actual number of serfs who arrived safely is sixteen thousand three hundred and sixteen. Currently, eight thousand are settled in Fresh Flower Town, and another eight thousand are settled in the Port Town, yet to be assigned work and housing."

"Do we have enough houses for them to live in?"

"In accordance with your instructions before you left on the Pioneer Mandate, the carpentry workshop rushed to make a batch of 'bunk beds'. This way, eight serfs can live in a wooden house, barely accommodating everyone against the severe cold. However, we still don't have enough clothing, and many serfs are still freezing."

"Have the residents with spare clothes contribute their unused cotton garments first, then emergency purchase more from outside. We paid a high price to transport the serfs here, and even if some were lost during the voyage, I hope that once they are on our domain, not a single one of them will die from hunger or cold."

"My lord, I will try my best to arrange it."

"Not try your best, you must make it happen," Liszt said sternly, shifting the responsibility of solving the problem to Goltai and other officials—the root of the problem lay in his own greed for bringing in too many serfs, resulting in a shortage of warm clothing.

Goltai pondered for a moment and then said, "My lord, if we frantically purchase clothing, there's a fear that the price of all cotton clothes and blankets on Coral Island will sharply increase."

"Even if the price goes up, we have to buy it. Don't be afraid to spend money, Consultant Goltai. I will figure out the finances. What you need to do is to follow my orders and complete the domain's construction. The money we spend now will be repaid many times over in the future. Black Horse Island and Fresh Flower Town have too many profitable industries."

"I understand." Goltai nodded. "This winter, I will get all the officials in our domain to take action and carry out your orders at all costs."

As a superior,

Liszt seldom involved himself in frontline work anymore. All he needed to do was to direct the domain's officials.

After a thorough discussion with Goltai, he stayed at Tulip Castle for the night, holding an all-night conversation with Levis, Li Vera, and Lidun to exchange their cultivation experiences.

He did not conceal his lesser abilities.

He explained any issues he encountered in his practice and shared some scientific methods to aid in cultivation with his siblings. After all, their improvement in strength held no disadvantages for him; they were always bonded by the same blood.

The greater the strength of the family, the more protection everyone enjoyed.

"There must be a method to Dou Qi cultivation, just as there must be a method to 'pill-consumption'. The reason for my rapid progression is nothing special - merely being good at summarizing and reflecting."

Liszt spoke as if he were a teacher, his words flowing smoothly: "What you are most concerned about must surely be 'pill-consumption'. Tonight I'll focus on explaining how to 'consume pills'... My knowledge of 'consuming pills' comes from my father, grandfather, and the multitude of books I've bought... Although everyone has a different way of doing it, careful observation reveals common principles."

He asked the servants to bring paper and a pen.

While speaking, he scribbled notes on the table, "These common principles, you can call them 'Liszt's Pill-Consumption Studies,' dedicated to the science of pill consumption... Always record your sensations post-consumption, understand how to flexibly design tables and draw curves to ultimately find the most suitable dosage."

He spoke earnestly.

Levis and the others listened with equal seriousness, their eyes occasionally shining—perhaps they believed that mastering Liszt's Pill-Consumption Studies would allow them to advance to Sky Knight as rapidly as Liszt had.

They were never to know

Just how many treasures Liszt possessed, and the kind of fortuitous encounters he had—the role that scientific 'pill-consumption' played in advancing to Sky Knight probably didn't even amount to one-tenth of the whole process.