Chapter 49 The Forgotten Secret Technique of Fighting Qi

Beasts could be tamed, let alone a few monkeys. To knights endowed with Aura, wild creatures were no different from kittens or puppies.

However, at present, only five people in Flower Town possessed Aura—Liszt, Marcus, Gort, Isaiah, and Blair. Each had their own responsibilities, making it impossible for them to take on the role of beast trainers.

"It seems it's time to select a few strong young men from the townsfolk and teach them Aura to become my squire knights."

Squire knights—assuming he could afford to maintain them—Liszt could even establish a full knightly order.

However, due to the castle's financial and material constraints, he could only afford to maintain a dozen or so Squire Knights, enough to form a small knight squad. This had been part of his plan from the beginning. The primary purpose of this knight squad would be to eradicate the magical beasts on Thorns Ridge and incorporate the area into Flower Town, making it part of his territory.

"Once Oyster Village establishes a steady food supply and the castle's revenues become stable, we shall commence the training of our retainer knights immediately."

Carl Hammer, along with his four retainer knights, lack the skill of Aura and their potential is exhausted; they are not worth investing in. To foster new retainer knights, one must start grooming young lads, training them in Aura to become true knights.

I was leisurely enjoying the shade and contemplatively pondering grand strategies for expansion.

Gort was already wiping his sweat with a handkerchief beside him. Dressed in his impeccable three-piece suit, he was sweltering in the heat. "Liszt, the fishermen have finished their coastal patrol, and everything is proceeding smoothly. Should we head back?"

Liszt was also feeling the heat.

This weather wasn't suitable for going out. He nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's head back." He wasn't someone who needed to be coddled, but there was no reason for him to suffer unnecessarily. As a lord, he held the power of life and death over his territory; there was no need for him to put on a show of being "close to the people" or "dedicated."

Bloodline and Aura were the foundation of nobility.

On their way back, Liszt took the opportunity to inspect the road construction in various settlements. There was a lot of sea sand, but transporting it was difficult; commoners could only use buckets and basins, resulting in low efficiency.

Nonetheless, the roads were gradually taking shape.

As they passed by the Flower Farm, a sudden stench wafted over from afar, piercing Liszt's nostrils and almost making him vomit.

His Fire Dragon Horse also kept sneezing, clearly unable to tolerate the smell.

"Aah, it's so disgusting! What is that smell?"

"Who's responsible for this awful odor?"

The accompanying knights also covered their noses, wishing they could spit it out right then and there.

"Whose privy is being cleaned out?" Liszt recalled the pungent aroma from his childhood in the countryside when human waste was collected. This smell seemed even more intense, but he quickly realized, "There are no toilets in Flower Town, nor are there any cesspools. The dung they collect shouldn't have such an odor."

Pinching his nose, he instructed his squire knights, "Carl, investigate where this smell is coming from. The four of you go and find out."

Moments later, Carl returned with a blade of grass clutched in his hand. "My lord, we've found the source."

He raised the grass high. "It's this kind of grass. A few farm kids were playing around and pulled up quite a bit of it from an abandoned plot of land. Little did they know that this grass emits such an unbearable stench."

As he spoke, an even stronger smell wafted into Liszt's nostrils, emanating from the grass in Carl's hand.

Enduring the smell, Liszt's eyes sparkled. "Is there a large patch of this grass?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Excellent! Very good! Carl, immediately inform Gort to protect this area. No one is to come near, and under no circumstances are they to damage this grass!"

Though puzzled, the squire knight dutifully obeyed.

Feeling pleased with his order, Liszt's mood improved significantly.

The personal servant, Thomas, couldn't help but ask, "My lord, why do you seem happy about this stinky grass?"

"You don't understand. This grass is very useful."

Upon returning to the castle, Liszt took a cold shower while examining the Smoky Serpent Script, hoping to see if the mission had been updated. He initially thought that he needed to equip all the fishermen before completing the task, but now, with the "large patch of smoked grass" as a reward, it was clear that the mission was finished. Indeed, after the smoke appeared, the serpent script updated: "Mission completed. Reward: Large patch of smoked grass."

Moments later, the script transformed into: "Mission: The newly cultivated millet field has been sown. The millet worm can't wait to breathe fresh air. It's a brave little creature. Please provide a habitat for the millet worm. Reward: Forgotten Battle Aura Secret Technique."

"A forgotten Battle Aura Secret Technique? It's not a secret manual, but a technique. That means the reward is just a powerful move," Liszt speculated.

A manual contained methods for refining and utilizing battle aura, as well as various battle aura techniques.

A Battle Aura Secret Technique, on the other hand, referred to a more potent move, somewhat akin to the ultimate secret arts within a battle aura manual. It could be understood as a powerful move.

However, due to its obscure and hidden inheritance, along with the high difficulty of learning, it was challenging for young nobles to pass down such techniques from generation to generation.

The Tulip Family didn't possess any secret techniques, and the same went for the recently risen Marquis family of Red Crab Island.

Only the oldest and most established Marquis families might possess a secret technique or two.

However, it was undeniable that the value of a secret technique was immense. Ultimate Secrets were the strongest moves in every Aura Secret Technique, but their power was naturally limited by whether they belonged to an intermediate or advanced technique. Secret techniques, on the other hand, grew stronger as one's Aura did.

Liszt was quite pleased. "Not bad, not bad. Although I don't enjoy fighting, having a secret technique at my disposal will greatly enhance my combat prowess and reduce the likelihood of encountering danger."

"I just wonder what kind of Aura Secret Technique it'll be, but I'll find out soon enough."

So far, the Smoking Task hadn't presented any extremely challenging content. It had mostly consisted of tasks that Liszt would have done anyway as part of his daily routine, and this time was no different—the cornfields had been cultivated precisely to accommodate the corn bugs. Regardless of whether there was a task or not, Liszt would have started the work.

Then, he pondered another question. "Could this quest still be part of the Invisibility Dragon's chain quests?"

...

Three days later, the fishermen of Oyster Village had already established a stable fishing routine, each trip yielding a large haul of seafood.

A portion of the seafood quickly made its way to the common folk's tables, substituting the fishermen's need for bread and thus reducing the consumption of grains in the village.

However, there was simply nowhere to store the abundance of seafood.

"Liszt, we must come up with a solution. There's an abundance of seafood on the eastern coast, and the fishermen can't consume it all before it spoils," Gort approached Liszt with a worried expression.

In response, Liszt was speechless. "If we can't finish it, we should try preserving the seafood as dried goods... It's not the ideal season for that right now, but summer and autumn would be more suitable... Until then, we should halt fishing, as the seafood won't vanish in the sea."

Without cold storage or sufficient salt for preservation, drying was the best method to keep the catch.

Given the current heat, the production of dried seafood was prone to spoilage. Therefore, they should fish only as much as they needed, preventing overfishing.

With a slightly stern tone, Liszt expressed his dissatisfaction, "Teacher Gort, I'm the lord, and you're the official. I need you to govern Flower Town, not to seek me out every time there's a problem. Do you understand?"

Gort chuckled awkwardly. "Of course, Liszt. Please trust me, I won't make such mistakes lightly again."