Early morning, the sky had not yet fully brightened.

When Louis opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a rough wooden ceiling, the wood uncarved, simply peeled and polished, with beams having a slight slant.

He stared at the slanting beam for a few seconds, then sighed softly.

This was his residence in Mai Lang Territory.

Not exactly crude, but certainly far from comfortable.

The house was built by the artisan team using wood, with walls that block wind and sound, and old wool and geothermal pipes laid beneath the floor.

Compared to his black ebony carved bed that could accommodate four people back at the Red Tide Territory Earth Tower Castle, it felt like a different era.

But he didn't mind; it was a special period, how could one possibly build walls and towers here?

And though this bedroom was rather rough, it was already the best room in Mai Lang Territory at the moment.

He turned his head and found one arm draped over his chest, the other boldly stretched toward the edge of the blanket.

It was Sif, her hair had grown longer, and her eyelashes were still long and curled, casting light shadows like little fans on her face.

She slept deeply, her whole body forming a large character, breathing so steadily it was almost inaudible.

Louis helplessly glanced at her, then slowly got up, moving so gently that the bedboard didn't creak.

He had already been in Mai Lang Territory for almost two months.

In these two months, he had barely stepped out of the valley.

From spring planning and field demarcation to hut construction and initial canal opening, he was practically involved in everything.

Meanwhile, Sif and Emily took turns coming from Red Tide Territory to accompany him.

Of course, it was more reasonable to leave Emily in charge at Red Tide Territory, given its urgent spring farming season.

But now... it's about time to return.

The spring farming system in Mai Lang Territory was already on track; the tasks to do and mistakes to avoid had been considered beforehand.

What remained was just execution, which could be left to the Agricultural Official and various administrative officers.

The core of the entire territory map was still Red Tide Territory.

Thinking about this, he put on his coat and went to the crude wooden table in the corner, casually brushing away a thin layer of dust.

Then, with a wave of his right hand: "Swoosh—"

Accompanied by the scattering of light blue dots, a translucent system interface slowly unfolded before him.

[Daily Intelligence Update Complete]

[1: Titus Frost Fierce leads the Frost Moon Barbarian Race in attacking the Axe Fragment Barbarian Race and Red Rock Barbarian Race, the two tribes which originally intended to ally together against the southern Empire. Now they've turned against each other due to territorial disputes. Despite continuous warfare, major barbarian tribes have sent scouts to secretly explore the south.]

[2: In the deep cavern in the northern part of Mai Lang Territory, an area of Shadow Moss was discovered, but depths of the cavern harbor suspicions of the presence of Soul-devouring Lizard Beast.]

[3: Deep within the northern mineral vein of Snow Peak County lies a special mineral "Burning Ember Iron," extremely valuable, with a complex guarding terrain accompanied by high heat fissures.]

Having read the first point, Louis' mouth curled into a subtle smile, but his expression didn't relax whatsoever.

These barbarians fighting among themselves is indeed good news.

If the major barbarian tribes could truly form an alliance, the consequences would be extremely dire.

Another massive barbarian southern invasion would be hard to defend against in the now weakened Northern Territory, but now they're fighting among themselves, making it easier for the Empire.

"However..." Louis lightly tapped the wooden table with his fingers, creating a muffled thump, thump sound: "These barbarians aren't mindless wild dogs."

That was the troublesome part, the battle aside, these barbarians were quite clear-minded.

A wolf not biting doesn't mean it isn't watching.

Every barbarian tribe was sending scouts to quietly infiltrate, probing the Empire's borders, even considering migration and settlement.

Their advance troops had quietly bypassed main battle zones, nearing several northern territories, trying to find breaches, probing realities.

And now, he's already a visible large elephant, Red Tide Territory likely being a prime target on their reconnaissance list.

"My territory... really growing larger and larger."

Red Tide, Mai Lang... territories gradually forming, while the former border wildlands now a hotspot for troops and provisions.

"The bigger, the harder to manage."

Louis knew very well that although the Red Tide Territory was still not very powerful, places with "grain, resources, and population" would attract "wild dogs with no grain, no land, no brain."

He noted privately to quickly update border post defenses and, if necessary, deploy more knights to monitor those barbarian scouts' movements.

The Red Tide's sphere of influence was expanding, but the pressure to defend the land was beginning to rise sharply.

But no need for too much worry; he estimated no decisive victory for invasion could occur within the next two to three years.

He waved his hand and proceeded to read the second intelligence.

At this glance, his pupils slightly contracted, a genuine hint of excitement rising in his eyes.

"Shadow Moss..."

He had certainly heard of this extremely rare magical plant.

It only grows in deep caverns, shady decay layers of ancient forests, or "deadlands" cursed by vengeful spirits during ancient wars.

Nourished by geothermal heat, magical particles, and trace metal elements, appearing deep purple or inky black, its surface glimmers with faint phosphorescence, which most would find chilling and uneasy, but in the eyes of true Fighting Spirit Knights, that light was as blazing as mythril.

For it possessed an extremely rare trait: directly stimulating the knight's core of will, accelerating the purification and transformation of fighting energy during cultivation.

It is not a simple fortifying substance, but an "will catalyst" capable of amplifying the sensitivity of fighting energy operation, enhancing concentration, raising perception thresholds, and even breaking catalysts at crucial bottlenecks.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.