Chapter 666: Words Apart

This chapter is an extra update sponsored by sect leader "Ink Horizon." For now, just one update, with the remaining four to be completed later.

Liszt grew increasingly suspicious of Alonso's delay, while Garcia and Fox, the two sky knights, were deeply uncomfortable. For a lord to ignore his followers was indeed embarrassing and disheartening.

Moreover, the investigations from the Kingdom of Steel Ridge had already reached Tulip Castle. When Liszt led his men to capture Dragon-Trapping Mountain, Alonso Cyclamen was stationed at the northern border of the Kingdom of the Eagle, facing off against the dragon knights of the Kingdom of Steel Ridge—though no direct battle had occurred.

About a week after Dragon-Trapping Mountain was seized, Alonso was still seen in combat, roughly a month ago.

"So, it's possible Alonso hasn't returned to the Impact River Basin?"

"Father agrees," replied Levis, who had personally delivered the message and also came to seek Liszt's advice on some training techniques.

Levis was six years older than Liszt, now twenty-four, and on the cusp of becoming a sky knight.

With *Liszt's Earth Manuscript* as his guide, his progress toward sky knighthood was relatively smooth. He was expected to achieve it by next year.

The vision of three sky knights in one family was about to become reality.

"Forget about whether Alonso pays the ransom or not... Brother, when will the family's fleet return?"

"It should be soon. Once the iron ore is unloaded, they'll be dispatched immediately to purchase serfs and grain for you. We’ve also chartered nearly half of our grandfather’s fleet and a third of my father-in-law’s fleet. With a total of eight hundred merchant ships devoted to transporting serfs, one trip should be enough to meet your needs."

Liszt’s rewards from the recent campaign were so substantial that he could afford such a large-scale operation, directly purchasing ten thousand tons of grain and forty thousand serfs.

As long as the food supply was secured, his demand for serfs was limitless.

After establishing his own nation, acquiring large numbers of serfs would be difficult. The serfs of the Sapphire Duchy were obtained through repeated trade. Many of them originally hailed from either the Kingdom of the Eagle or the Kingdom of Steel Ridge, and only after generations overseas did they fully adopt the Sapphire identity.

He had to secure enough subjects for his future kingdom.

Not just him—the Tulip family also needed to accumulate serfs. The Earl was about to be promoted to Marquis Niuwei, with his fief expanding more than tenfold. Without serfs, how could the land be tilled? Fortunately, Marquis Niuwei’s territory still had many serfs working the fields. By paying the Grand Duke in gold, they could acquire them.

Taking a sip of tea, Liszt sighed, "I hope the fleet arrives soon. There are more and more spirit bugs in the territory, but not enough serfs to farm!"

"Cough—"

Levis, who had been making a show of drinking tea—a trend recently adopted by many nobles on Coral Island—almost coughed his lungs out upon hearing Liszt’s words before finally suppressing his cough.

Liszt raised an eyebrow. "What’s wrong?"

Levis waved his hand quickly. "Nothing, I just can't stand the bitterness. I prefer sweets—desserts and anything sugary."

"I thought you’d gotten used to tea. Had I known, I’d have had the servants bring you milk tea."

"Now that everyone’s started drinking tea, not joining in makes me seem out of place," Levis said, quick to steer the conversation away. "By the way, before I left, Father asked me to ask you—when will *Liszt’s Sky Manuscript* be ready? He’s about to depart for Blue Dragon Island for his marquisate promotion ceremony and hopes to take the manuscript with him."

Previously, Liszt had written *Liszt’s Earth Manuscript*, which became a treasured heirloom of the Tulip family.

Later, during a conversation with the Earl, he mentioned that his mana had reached perfection and that he planned to write *Liszt’s Sky Manuscript* to document the scientific cultivation methods of a sky knight—even though his own breakthrough had been anything but scientific, relying entirely on his draconic advantages.

That didn’t stop him from outlining the method.

He had promised to share *Liszt’s Sky Manuscript* with the Earl as soon as possible to aid his advancement to the peak sky knight realm.

"Unfortunately," Liszt shook his head, "My schedule’s been packed lately, so I haven’t continued working on the manuscript. Tell Father not to worry—once he’s back, I should have it finished." With so many books to write, he just hasn’t gotten around to it.

I feel somewhat guilty for disappointing the Earl's high expectations.

He added, "However, I noticed that Father's horse doesn't have the best bloodline, so I've decided to gift him one of the fine black-blood horses from my stables. Take it with you when you return." By now, the black-blood horses no longer need to be strictly guarded as a secret.

As long as their bloodline isn’t leaked, just like how the Sapphire family strictly keeps their blue-blood horses from spreading—the Earl is well aware of Liszt's identity and won’t use this black-blood horse for breeding. It’s more for prestige, given how shabby his current magical beast mount, the spotted leopard-steed, looks.

"Black-blood horses—those magnificent black steeds?" Levi's eyes shone. "Liszt, my dear brother, might you gift me one as well?"

Liszt gave a faint smile.

Levi immediately beamed with joy.

The next moment, however, Liszt said, "No."

"Huh?"

"The black-blood horses are for breeding the herd. Don’t think about it for now. Once the herd grows, I’ll give you as many as you want."

"Fine." Levi reluctantly accepted.

Nowadays, once Liszt made a decision, it was like an unyielding law—no one could oppose it.

Ignoring his brother’s feigned disappointment, Liszt changed the subject, "By the way, how’s the Thermostatic Pearl I gave you as a belated birthday gift?" After returning from the Expansion Decree, he had gifted three Thermostatic Pearls—one to the Earl, one to Levi, and one to their grandmother.

"Excellent! It keeps perfect temperature day and night. We no longer have to worry about Richard catching a chill at night."

"Good. It’s getting late—are you planning to stay the night?"

"I should head back right away."

"Then hurry and take the black-blood horse with you, or you won’t make it to Tulip Castle before dark." Having little in common with Levi, Liszt simply urged him to leave. "I also have urgent estate matters to attend to, so I won’t keep you chatting any longer."

Just moments ago, the butler Carter had reported that the carefully tended cows at the Half-slope Ranch had begun calving.

The birth wasn't an ordinary calf—it was the true dragon-blood cattle!

While the hybrid piglets from the Estuary pigs were already ready for the table, the Half-slope cattle would take another year or two before producing genuine dragon milk.

Black-blood horses, Estuary pigs, Half-slope cattle—these were the key livestock ventures that required his full attention, embodying much of his hard work.