Chapter 124: 124 Heading to the Negotiation

Chapter 124: Departure for Negotiation

After assigning the craftsmen their tasks, Luo Ning immediately summoned the potter Jim to arrange the firing of porcelain.

Fortunately, refining kaolin was not abstract, and its steps bore many similarities to pottery-making; Jim clearly understood Luo Ning’s ultimate goal.

Setting aside the issue of kilns for now, at least Jim could complete the process from clay preparation to drying the greenware.

As for glazing, Luo Ning desired white porcelain, which required clear glaze—its ingredients, feldspar and quartz, were common. A deposit of both lay just outside the town of Mountain Grove.

Once these arrangements were settled, night had already fallen, another day swallowed by busyness.

Back at the castle, Elin was already diligently preparing her “teaching materials.”

Luo Ning walked over, scooping up the black tiger—whose eyes had just opened—and cradling it in his arms, gently pinching its soft ears.

The creature had opened its eyes only yesterday at noon, and its first sight had been Luo Ning and Elin. He wondered whether Browning’s claim still held any weight.

Yet, as Luo Ning playfully teased it, the black tiger made no resistance; instead, it hummed contentedly, clearly enjoying itself.

Luo Ning planned to let it grow a bit more before introducing it to live among the dogs, then begin its specialized training.

“Brother, what do you think of what I’ve prepared?” Elin held up a sheet of paper before him, bearing simple words: you, I, he, eat, drink, and so on.

“Good,” Luo Ning smiled. “Our first students are David, Warton, Dandy, and Bella. Suggest you include their names.”

People always learn their own names faster.

Elin’s eyes lit up. “I understand!”

“Have Garen make us a few smooth wooden boards. Without pens, use charcoal for now.”

Though parchment was cheap to him, using it for learning to write felt wasteful. Yet teaching with charcoal was undeniably arduous.

In the end, there was still no paper.

“It seems I’ll need to speak with Darn sometime soon—get him to reconstruct papermaking.”

Luo Ning thought of Darn’s current preoccupation with looms and shook his head silently. “No, I’ll handle it myself. It’s simpler than building looms.”

At that moment, a knock came at the door. “My lord, Tom has returned.”

Tom?

Luo Ning paused, startled. “Why has he come back? Has something happened in Ash Soil Village?”

“I’m not sure,” Garen replied, “but Tom looks anxious.”

That meant trouble in Ash Soil Village.

Luo Ning swiftly set the black tiger down and strode out.

He found Tom in the ground-floor parlor—the eighteen-year-old knight looked weary, clearly worn from travel.

“What’s happened, Tom?”

“Long time no see, my lord!” Tom rose and bowed. “My lord, the Black Collar tribe has encroached upon our territory…”

He recounted the events outside Ash Soil Village, concluding: “The commander sent me back to seek your orders—what should we do next?”

Luo Ning frowned. He had assumed that, now both Mountain Grove and the Sain Domain held rights to the wild tribes’ lands, a period of peace would follow. Yet Reisen had moved so swiftly to provoke.

Disputes over territory among nobles were commonplace everywhere; even high lords often ignored conflicts among lesser ones, for such squabbles could serve as tools of suppression.

Reisen’s boldness signaled he saw nothing special in Luo Ning—not even the blood of Wu Mountain.

“Rydar did well. If we don’t stop this provocation, they’ll only escalate.”

Territory is like that: yield an inch, and they take another. To reclaim it later would demand bloodshed.

Luo Ning approved Rydar’s actions. Besides, the northern kaolin veins were vital—he would not let outsiders lay claim.

“Tom, you’ve been in Ash Soil Village over a month. Go see your mother. Rest early tonight. We depart for Ash Soil Village after breakfast tomorrow.”

“Yes, my lord!”

After Tom left, Luo Ning ordered Garen to summon Macken, instructing him to bring all the professional knights.

Originally, with no expected conflict from the Black Collar tribe and Mountain Grove needing defense, Luo Ning had brought so many transcenders back here.

But now, after securing the wild tribes’ territorial rights at Wu Mountain Castle and returning with so many craftsmen, he had effectively proven his firm foothold in Mountain Grove.

Reisen, Baron of Sain, would hardly dare launch a direct assault on Mountain Grove. The flashpoint would be Ash Soil Village.

Thus, Luo Ning no longer needed to station so many transcenders in Mountain Grove.

After deliberation, he decided to transfer George, Tomas, and Gisley—the three junior knights native to Ash Soil Village—along with Elron and the mage Jennie from Purple Berry Village, to Ash Soil Village.

This brought the permanent transcender presence in Ash Soil Village to ten: two third-tier, two second-tier—sufficient for any emergency.

Mountain Grove would retain only Luo Ning, Macken, David, Warton, and Dandy for defense.

In truth, Luo Ning had considered sending Macken away too.

After all, he was now a dual-class high-tier transcender; even if a beast attacked, he could handle it.

As for Elron, bringing spell ink and beast hides would allow him to craft spell scrolls and heal wounded guards.

…

Meanwhile, in the Sain Domain, the fortress hall.

Chief Jofry of the Black Collar tribe was reporting to Baron Reisen about the capture of Fenris.

The wild tribe chief stood towering, his muscular frame like a sculpted monument beneath his armor, radiating an aura of weight and gravity.

Especially his eyes—deep, piercing, utterly unlike the gazes of Srein or Horn.

“My lord, what do we do now?”

CRASH—Reisen slammed his fist onto the black iron armrest, his body trembling like an enraged lion.

“Fenris has disappointed me!”

He was furious. The plan to harass Ash Soil Village and seize land had been his idea. And now, on the very first day, the executor had been captured.

Reisen had not anticipated that beside Macken, Luo Ning possessed another formidable knight.

“This commander who so easily defeated and captured Fenris… he must be at least a High-Tier Knight. Possibly even a Bronze Knight.”

Philiton analyzed: “If he’s Bronze-tier, we’re in trouble.”

Reisen suppressed his rage. “Bronze-tier knights of Wu Mountain all have powerful backers. I’ve never heard of anyone named Rydar.”

Jofry fell silent, then offered: “Could he be a secret guard dispatched by Wu Mountain Castle?”

“Impossible!” Reisen was certain. “If Wu Mountain Castle had truly sent protectors, the world would know. This man is almost certainly recruited by Luo Ning, like Macken.”

Philiton sneered: “So Luo Ning is lucky—landed two powerful bodyguards.”

“Hah,” came a dry chuckle. “They say he’s got a mid-tier Light Mage too.”

Raisen spun the jade ring on his finger incessantly; tallying it up, he realized how many extraordinary individuals lay under Luo Ning’s command.

He couldn’t fathom how a man stripped of his inheritance had suddenly become so formidable.

“Feriton, organize a party—we depart for the Black Collar Tribe at dawn.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Feriton rose to obey, then hesitated slightly. “My lord… will you be coming as well?”

“I will. Of course I will!”

Raisen let out a dry, mocking chuckle. “Come to think of it, since Luo Ning became Baron of Woodland Town, I’ve never so much as laid eyes on him!”

(End of Chapter)