Chapter 506: Amazing Mutation of Talent

Time had unknowingly arrived in February.

The sky was still intermittently snowing, and the serfs of Black Horse Island and Flower Town were still working in the heavy snow. Liszt, who was researching wood, received a message from the knights of the Tulip family, inviting him to a banquet. The banquet's theme was to celebrate his younger brother Lytton's breakthrough to the Earth Knight level.

"A fourteen-year-old Earth Knight, it seems Lytton's birthday is in November, which means he is actually just thirteen years and a few months old." After having the housekeeper entertain the messenger knight, Liszt did not accept the invitation. "This talent is indeed impressive, surpassing Liszt's achievements at that age."

He had no interest in Lytton's future.

After hastily having the housekeeper prepare a congratulatory gift, he continued with his research. Given his current status, he didn't need to care about others' opinions, and if he didn't want to attend a banquet, even the Count couldn't force him. No one in the Tulip family would or dared to blame him.

Strength is the foundation of confidence.

"It seems that in another month, I will be eighteen years old, and the five accumulation techniques in Crimson Sunflare Surge are almost all mastered... Once I complete them, I will challenge the Count to see how big the gap is between me and the sword saints now."

He was confident that with the powerful attributes of Dragon Aura, he could challenge the Count single-handedly.

But before the fight, it was hard to predict the outcome. There are many factors that affect the battle between Sky Knights, not just the contest of mana.

"Wah!"

"Jiggle!"

Suddenly, the thorn fairy Jie La chased the corn spirit bug Mickey out of the castle. Mickey flew directly to Liszt for protection, while Jie La relentlessly pursued. However, upon seeing Liszt, it turned and flew out of the castle to vent its anger in the Thorn Garden.

A conditioned reflex had formed; whenever it got angry, it would go to the Thorn Garden to plant thorns.

The first Thorn Bug might not have much to do with Jie La, but the second Thorn Bug in gestation was definitely influenced by Jie La's continuous use of magic.

Liszt was happy to see this result.

"Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle." After Jie La left, Mickey became active, flying around the glass greenhouse, occasionally touching the newly sprouted Potion Seeds with its small hands.

Afraid it might harm the tender seedlings, Liszt waved his hand: "Mickey, go play outside."

"Jiggle."

Mickey was very obedient and immediately flew outside.

Soon after, the footman Thomas came over: "Master, Administrator Isaiah requests to see you."

"Let him come."

Isaiah was waiting under the apple tree in the castle, and it didn't take long for him to arrive in the glass greenhouse: "Sir, Isaiah is here to report the financial revenue of Flower Town for January."

"Go ahead."

"Our main income in January was from glass sales. The nobles of Coral Island showed great enthusiasm for glass. The glass cups blown by the glass workshop and the pressed window glass were the most popular products, with sales profits exceeding those of Flower Brew in just half a month."

"Is glass that popular?" Liszt didn't pay much attention to administrative matters, but he inquired about profitable businesses. He remembered that the glass production was still not high, but he didn't expect the profits to surpass those of liquor.

"Glass is very popular, but it is not a consumable like liquor. With the nobles purchasing large quantities of glass products, the Coral Island market will soon be saturated. The Tulip family's merchant team is already preparing to sell to other islands. This is our exclusive product, with no competition, and we can distribute it throughout the country."

"We can also sell to the mainland. The future development of glass will definitely surpass that of liquor." Liszt was well aware of the potential of glass. "What's limiting us now is the production capacity of the glass workshop and the protection of glass-making techniques."

Afterwards.

Isaiah introduced other financial revenues. Overall, the territory's finances had turned profitable in January, with Flower Town alone earning over three hundred gold coins. With the liquor profits coming in, next month's income will see a significant increase, and Liszt won't need to desperately subsidize anymore.

Up to now, the majority of the funds for the territory's construction have come from his own pocket, of course, the territory is his private property.

He hoped to separate his private earnings from the territory's revenue.

However, it was unlikely to be clearly divided, as products like potions, magical creatures, and pearls could be considered either his personal property or the territory's specialty. Only treasures like shipwrecks strictly counted as his private income and could be added to his private treasury.

With his coffers full, Liszt's confidence returned.

If potions were in short supply, he’d buy them; if there was a shortage of magical creature meat, he’d buy it; if the serfs were short on food, he’d buy it; if construction materials were insufficient, he’d buy them. He even wrote to Tulip Castle and Longyu Castle, asking them to keep an eye out for black nightshade bugs and Thorn Bugs, willing to pay a high price if anyone was selling them.

Black nightshade bugs and Thorn Bugs were of little use in others' hands.

But in his hands, they became priceless treasures.

Additionally, he was eager to buy barley bugs, Wheat Bugs, and millet bugs whenever they were available. The territory’s food output was too low, far from self-sufficiency, which made Liszt feel insecure. He hoped the territory could not only rely on various specialties to make a fortune but also achieve food self-sufficiency.

Before he knew it, three more days had passed.

The wood Liszt had been eagerly awaiting finally sprouted, confirming his theory about wood cultivation: "As expected, this batch of wood is indeed seeds. Although I don’t know how to guide them to grow into dragon bone shapes, I can begin experimenting. One day, I’ll figure it out... Let’s name them 'ship-wood.'"

Ship-wood, wood that can grow into ships.

As the secret was revealed, the smoke task was completed.

"Mission completed, reward: Emily's mana sublimation."

"What?" Liszt widened his eyes, "Emily's mana sublimation? What does that mean? I recall receiving a mana sublimation reward once, which helped me break through from a squire to an Earth Knight. Does that mean Emily has also broken through to become an Earth Knight?"

By all measures, Emily had only been training in mana for a year.

Even with Liszt providing her with magical creature meat and dragon milk, it was incredible for her to break through to Earth Knight in just a year.

Liszt took a deep breath and composed himself: "No wonder the smoke task called her a follower of astonishing talent. This talent far surpasses Lytton’s!"

Lytton was currently the earliest in the Tulip family to break through to Earth Knight.

But he had trained for at least five or six years before becoming an Earth Knight at the age of thirteen, not yet fourteen. Emily started practicing at nine and became an Earth Knight at ten. When compared, Emily’s talent is truly terrifying.

So terrifying that it made Liszt doubt: "It shouldn’t be possible. She’s just a commoner... Based on my research of this world, mana cultivation is directly related to nutrition, and it’s a decisive factor. Nobles are naturally not lacking in nutrition. And so-called talent is also more likely to be born in noble bloodlines."

He had once summarized.

In this world, nobles rely on potions to grow stronger, while commoners rely on mutation.

While there are indeed talented commoners who, after generations of effort, rise to the noble ranks, a mutation like Emily’s is unheard of. Her background is clear: in the Kingdom of the Eagle, her parents were ordinary serfs.

Not nobles, without generations of genetic refinement.

"Such a mutation is terrifying. If commoners could mutate like this, the foundation of noble rule should have long been destroyed... But then again, if she hadn’t met me, Emily would probably have spent her life as a farming serf. No matter how great the talent, without the opportunity to discover it, it would be buried."

He chose not to dwell on Emily’s talent and went directly to see her, to see for himself.

To see if she had indeed broken through to become an Earth Knight.