章 15: Chapter 15: Undercurrents
Goldenrock Province, Flashing City.
As the central city of the barony, Flashing City was actually more prosperous than many of the central cities of viscountcies.
Among the seven baronies in Goldenrock Province, the Ainest family's Flashing Territory was undoubtedly ranked first.
Both its land area and economic strength were not much inferior to those of a viscounty.
Unfortunately, this also attracted the covetous eyes of powerful figures, leading to the barony changing hands.
Inner castle, bedroom.
After being dressed by a young and beautiful maid, Owen Ainest went to the dining hall. Just as he sat down and took a sip of warm milk, he saw the secretary hurrying in.
"Lord Owen," the secretary bowed in greeting.
Owen nodded. "Seeing you in such a hurry, is there some urgent matter?"
"There are a few things to report to you, my lord."
"Speak."
Owen was concise, his hand still elegantly carrying out the motions of eating.
Since 'inheriting' the position of baron, he had paid more attention to his daily aristocratic demeanor, striving to integrate into the circle of noble lords.
And through his efforts, and more importantly, with the support of Marquis Goldenrock, many noble lords had shown him goodwill.
In time, his position in the circle of noble lords would only become more stable.
And when everything settled down, it would be time to free his hands and completely eliminate any worries.
"Lord Zolf sent someone to deliver a letter, explicitly stating that he will attend the harvest festival in Flashing City this year," the secretary reported.
Hearing this, Owen paused slightly, a knowing smile appearing on his slightly chubby face.
"It seems that Zolf has finally recognized the situation. Very good. What about Norwood and Devon?"
"They haven't agreed yet, but they haven't explicitly refused either. They are most likely still watching."
A hint of contempt flashed in Owen's eyes. "Watching... Humph, do they think those two brats can still return to Flashing City? What a ridiculous idea."
The secretary flattered him with a smile. "You are right, my lord. The two lords will eventually realize that you are the true master of Flashing Territory!"
'The true master of Flashing Territory.'
This title softened Owen's expression, and his mood improved considerably.
"Speaking of which, what are my two nephews up to lately?"
The secretary hesitated. "I heard that they plan to reopen the Blackrock Mine."
"Blackrock Mine?" Owen was slightly taken aback.
He had heard about the past events of Blackrock City and naturally knew about the Blackrock Mine, so he couldn't help but look puzzled.
"Do they have a way to deal with the monsters in the mine?"
"I'm not sure about that either." The secretary glanced at Owen and carefully explained, "Blackrock City has sealed off the mine, and my people can't find out the specific situation there."
Seeing Owen frown, he quickly added, "Don't worry, my lord. If they really reopen the Blackrock Mine, my people will definitely get the news."
Owen thought about it and decided not to dwell on this matter. He changed the subject. "Is there anything else?"
The secretary hurriedly said, "There is one more thing. Just yesterday, Earl Storm was attacked by the Spark Church while hunting and was seriously injured. Storm Territory is now in chaos."
Clang!
The crisp sound of cutlery hitting the porcelain plate rang out.
Hearing this news, Owen lost his elegant demeanor. He put down his cutlery, stood up, and asked solemnly, "Seriously injured? How serious?"
The secretary hesitated. "He has been unconscious for a day and a night and still hasn't woken up."
Owen's expression changed slightly.
From the sound of it, Earl Storm's situation was not optimistic.
Owen sat back in his chair, his expression flickering.
He didn't care about Earl Storm's life or death; he was more concerned about the subsequent impact of this incident.
Earl Storm was one of the two most powerful earls in Goldenrock Province, second only to Marquis Goldenrock.
Unlike Earl Winterfrost, who was close to Marquis Goldenrock, Earl Storm had always kept his distance from the marquis, even appearing somewhat indifferent.
To Marquis Goldenrock, who was trying to control the entire Goldenrock Province, Earl Storm's existence was quite an eyesore.
Others might not know, but Owen did, that the relationship between Marquis Goldenrock and the Spark Church was not simple.
He was able to seize the position of Baron Flashing because of the Spark Church's support.
Perhaps Marquis Goldenrock was behind the attack on Earl Storm...
After a long silence, Owen said, "Continue to pay attention to the situation in Storm Territory and report any information to me immediately. Also, have Farid take people to the borders of Norwood and Devon's territories under the guise of suppressing bandits."
Goldenrock Province was becoming increasingly turbulent, and Owen was no longer willing to wait.
He had to completely control Flashing Territory as soon as possible.
If Norwood and Devon were still being difficult, then don't blame him for using other methods!
Time flew by, and the Month of Revival (March) arrived.
More than ten days had passed since the discovery of Anger McLean's laboratory.
Kyi sold the Blackrock Iron in the warehouse through a secret channel and obtained nearly seven thousand gold coins.
Apart from keeping some to purchase equipment for the army and improve the situation in the territory, he invested the rest in the reconstruction of the Blackrock Mine.
Everything was developing smoothly.
Sunan didn't care about these matters.
After returning to Blackrock City, he devoted himself to studying and cultivating as always, paying little attention to the outside world.
After reading the books he brought back from the laboratory, Sunan successfully triggered the [Puppet Creation] learning progress.
Compared to bio-modification and potion making, puppet creation involved a wider range of knowledge and had a higher threshold.
This skill not only included enchantment knowledge but also encompassed part of the fields of bio-modification and magic item creation.
Therefore, the learning progress of the puppet creation skill was slower.
Even with the bonus from the Inferior Activity Potion, after more than ten days, the learning progress had only reached a little over 10%.
Sunan estimated that it wouldn't be until the Month of Blazing Fire (July) that he would completely master the puppet creation skill.
On the other hand, his meditation and cultivation were progressing very smoothly.
After returning from the Blackrock Mine, Sunan used the Synthesis Cube to fuse the three pieces of Spirit-Nourishing Grass that day.
[Star-Patterned Spirit-Nourishing Grass, purity 15.33%. After consumption, greatly increases spiritual power. The specific effect depends on the user's spiritual power; the higher the spiritual power, the weaker the effect. No effect for those with spiritual power of 20 or above.]
As expected, the effect of the Star-Patterned Spirit-Nourishing Grass after being synthesized by the Synthesis Cube was even stronger than that of simply adding the three pieces of Spirit-Nourishing Grass together.
After consuming the Star-Patterned Spirit-Nourishing Grass, Sunan's spiritual power directly surged by 1.87 points.
This was almost equivalent to two months of meditation.
Thanks to this, his spiritual power soared to 5.77.
And the benefit of the surge in spiritual power was that the proficiency of the Star Ring Meditation increased even faster.
Meditation increased spiritual power, and the increase in spiritual power in turn improved meditation efficiency.
The two complemented each other.
Now, Sunan could increase the proficiency of the Star Ring Meditation by about 10 to 12 points per day.
At this rate, it should take him seven or eight months at most to construct the second star ring.
"But it could actually be even faster."
"Blackrock City's financial pressure is no longer that great. We can allocate more gold coins to buy materials to make the Inferior Activity Potion, and then I can use the Cube to synthesize a more effective potion."
"This way, the efficiency of meditation can be further improved."
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