Chapter 353: Unexpected Harvest

Chapter 353: Unexpected Harvest



Ren waved at the bear beast priest with colorful feathers on its head and said, "You, come here."

"Your Majesty, I am Ursen, in charge of the tribe's sacrificial duties," the bear beast priest said, bowing deeply upon recognizing Ren's call.

Ren surveyed the white bear beast, noting its height of around 1.8 meters, which seemed rather short compared to the average height of 2.3 to 2.4 meters for other bear beasts.

However, among the white bear beasts present, this one seemed to be their leader, and it turned out to be a bear beast priest, which explained its intelligence.

In terms of strength, it was roughly on par with a Tier 2 Liquidation Wizard, making it quite formidable.

Ren, considering he wouldn't be staying in the Ice Plains for long, knew he had to rely on this Ursen to control the Ice Bear Tribe. So, he decided to issue a few commands to test their execution and efficiency.

"Good, Ursen, arrange for someone to bring an ice bucket and help me collect Kolrax's blood," Ren ordered, giving his first command to the newly pledged bear beast priest.

"As you command, my king," Ursen bowed again and retreated.

The white bear beasts began to collect Kolrax's blood under Ursen's command, using the freshly carved ice buckets to catch the blood flowing from the Primordial Dragon's wounds and scraping up the blood that had already dripped onto the ice.

Seeing this, Ren nodded slightly.

Clearly, the intelligence of ordinary bear beasts was equivalent to that of a seven or eight-year-old child, but this bear beast priest's intelligence was far beyond that.

This was a good thing, as it meant they could understand his more complex commands.

As Ren seemed to be starting to deal with the Primordial Dragon's corpse, the Chimera Knight Luthor, standing nearby, couldn't help but say enviously, "Your Excellency Ren, the Primordial Dragon Kolrax's body is particularly large, and its skull would make a fine addition to your collection. Perhaps you could display it on the wall of the banquet hall, a testament to your strength!"

"That's a great suggestion," Ren said with a smile.

At that moment, Lady Velti's face turned slightly red, and she quickly glanced at Ren's lower body, saying, "Your Excellency Ren, do you plan to utilize the Primordial Dragon's corpse? The dragon hide has excellent elasticity, and you could consider making a set of inner armor with it."

"Elasticity? Inner armor?"

Ren naturally noticed the meaning behind Lady Velti's furtive glance at his lower body, and upon hearing her suggestion, he immediately understood and nodded.

After all, the pleated shorts were a bit too niche, and leather shorts would be a bit more suitable.

At that moment, Anna approached and handed Ren a new set of white wizard robes, restoring his appearance to a more presentable state.

"Your Excellency Ren, do you have specific plans for the dragon's corpse?" asked Winter Fortress Academy's Chancellor Bartalof, slowly approaching with a smile.

"To be honest, aside from the dragon's blood, I don't have any other plans. Chancellor Bartalof, do you have any suggestions?" Ren thought for a moment and didn't hide anything.

His current strength, especially after transforming into a Dragonborn General form, was comparable to a Legendary Rank. However, when it came to knowledge and experience, he was far inferior to Bartalof, a Tier 3 Crystal Mage who had lived for over a hundred years.

"Although the Primordial Dragon is not a true dragon, it is still full of treasures. The dragon hide can be used to make top-tier leather armor, and the dragon tendons are perfect for crafting the best magic tools for archers," Bartalof explained with a smile.

"Also, Your Excellency Ren, have you heard of the Dragon Soul Elixir?"

"Chancellor Bartalof, you mean the ancient elixir that greatly enhances psychic energy? Isn't the formula lost?" Luthor exclaimed in surprise.

"Hehe, Chancellor Luthor, you are indeed well-informed. Yes, it's the ancient Dragon Soul Elixir. I dare say that even within the Royal Pharmacist Association, this formula might not exist."

"A few years ago, I also happened to find the formula for the Dragon Soul Elixir during a ruin exploration," Bartalof said, stroking his white beard as he spoke of the ancient elixir's formula.

"It has only one effect, which is to greatly enhance psychic energy, and it has a strong effect even on Tier 3 Crystal Mages," Bartalof began to explain the ancient Dragon Soul Elixir in detail.

After hearing Bartalof's explanation, Ren learned that this Dragon Soul Elixir required not the soul of a true dragon, but its brain, and it might be more appropriate to call it the Dragon Brain Elixir.

Ren was naturally very interested in the ancient elixir that could greatly enhance psychic energy, especially when he heard that it had a strong effect even on Tier 2 Liquidation Wizards and Tier 3 Crystal Mages.

One of the prerequisites for becoming a Drakaline Wizard was psychic energy, and he needed to reach the Tier 3 Crystal Mage level quickly. If he had this so-called ancient Dragon Soul Elixir, it would undoubtedly speed up his progress significantly.

"However, besides the dragon brain as the main ingredient, it also requires other rare ingredients like Purple Lotus, Nightmare Vine, Magma Heart, and more. Currently, the Winter Fortress Academy is still searching for these ingredients."

“

So, Lord Ren, I have an idea. If you agree, perhaps our two families could collaborate and jointly produce the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir. Based on the brain size of the Primordial Dragon, we can at least make five portions of the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir."

Bartalof looked at Ren and expressed his thoughts.

"By the way, the effects of the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir are optimal for the first use. Subsequent uses will have significantly reduced effects." As if remembering something, Bartalof promptly added.

Ren thought for a moment and agreed, nodding, "Of course, the production of the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir will be a bother for Dean Bartalof."

First, he did not have the recipe for the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir, so making it himself was out of the question.

Second, collecting the other ingredients would also be a time-consuming and labor-intensive task.

In fact, if it weren’t for his timely action in killing the Primordial Dragon Kolrax and preventing the massive casualties at Winterfort Academy, Dean Bartalof might not have revealed that he had the recipe for the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir.

"Rest assured, Lord Ren, I will personally oversee this. After all, I also need the Ancient Dragon Soul Elixir to try and see if I can take another step forward." Bartalof smiled and said.

"Dean, you have a chance," Velti, the beautiful woman, instantly understood and exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

"I have some insights, but breaking through is still extremely difficult." Bartalof nodded, smiling.

"Great!" The Winter Fort Academy Leadership all congratulated from the side.

"Congratulations, Dean Bartalof!" Ren also smiled and congratulated.

A Tier 3 Crystal Mage, taking another step forward would be a Tier 4 Wizard.

That would be a force nearly equivalent to the Imperial Dragon Knight, an Epic level of strength, but extremely rare.

He had once heard Admiral Edward mention that among the Guardians of the Draconian Empire, over 70% were Dragon Knights, and the rest were Tier 4 Wizards.

"Lord Ren, compared to you, it's not worth mentioning." Bartalof waved his hand, and smiled bitterly.

"From what Melita told me, you are only about twenty years old. You might not know, but from being a Wizard Apprentice, it took me 159 years to reach this point."

"Even so, this is already considered a very rapid advancement in the history of Winter Fort Academy."

"Dean Bartalof, you are too kind." Ren was momentarily at a loss for words.

Indeed, compared to him, Bartalof's current strength, although slightly behind the peak Legendary, would not be a match after his Transformation to Dragonborn General Form.

Moreover, Ren had a rough idea of the difficulties of advancing as a Wizard, the harder it gets, the more challenging it becomes.

However, 159 years being considered fast was indeed somewhat beyond his expectations.

It showed how difficult it was for a wizard to advance to the point of having a chance to impact the Tier 4 Dawn Wizard level.

Fortunately, he had the System to significantlyAt this moment, Melita stepped forward and pointed at the dragon's abdomen, her expression turned solemn and said, "Lord Ren, you, after your Transformation, please instruct me."

"Hmm, Ren,of is Primordial Dragon's bones in his stomach.

"These...? of them?"

"These is...?" Ren lore said, "Lord, after this Transformation, please instruct me."

"Indeed, this, it seemed Kol was not worth mentioning."

"Great!" Ulora,, "This is indeed."

"Indeed, this is much better than we anticipated," Ren nodded, a smile.

"Indeed, this is much better than we anticipated.

"Indeed, after, thought,159 years, been considered fast, which he is hard,159 years to advance.

"Indeed is much better than we anticipated to.59 years.

"This is much better than we anticipated.

159 is much better than this anticipated.

"Great,159 years to advance,555 years.

.

659 years,159 years to advance other.

".

"

555 Ancient to the59, which he had, giving him the recipe, which he had been unable to produce on his own.

At this moment, Melita suddenly stepped forward, pointed at the dragon being dissected, and solemnly said, "Lord Ren, Master, I think you two should take a look."

"Hmm?" Out of curiosity, Ren immediately followed Melita, Bartalof, and the others, to the Primordial Dragon's abdomen, where they saw that the dragon's stomach had been sliced open, revealing scattered, Undigested massive bones inside.

"These are...?" Ren was momentarily puzzled.

"These are the bones of the Primordial Dragon, as identified by our academy's Mages," Melita said solemnly.

"Hmm?" Ren raised an eyebrow.

He instantly understood what Melita meant.

"Are you suggesting that Kolrax might have devoured another of his kind?" Ren looked at Melita.

"Indeed!"

Ren gestured to a nearby Ice Bear Priest, who was directing other White Bears, and said, "Ursen, has Kolrax previously devoured another Primordial Dragon, this is true."

"Indeed, this is truly a brutal creature. If other dragons knew, Kolrax would certainly be hunted to death," Velti commented from the side.

"Yes, both brutal and cunning, it’s hard to believe how such a cunning one could emerge among Primordial dragons," Bartalof could not help but Shook his head, lamenting.

You see, most Primordial Dragons, though brutal, have low intelligence.

In this aspect, Primordial Dragons are far inferior to the Empire's Five Elemental Dragons, the gap being quite significant.

Because of this, Primordial Dragons can barely cast spells, relying solely on melee and Dragon Breath for combat.

This makes the Five Elemental Dragons look down on such evolutionarily incomplete Primordial dragons, to the point of almost classifying them as Dragon Beasts."

Due to Ren's first time entering a dragon's lair, after giving instructions to properly dispose of the bodies, he led Anna, Lagrelle, and others to explore the lair.

"Wow, Ren, look, this large area should be Snow Moss, right? It's quite rare in the outside world." As a Druid, Anna had a natural advantage in identifying herbs. She pointed to a corner of the Glacier Wall and exclaimed in surprise.

"Hmm, this seems a bit different." As Anna hurried over and crouched to pick a herb, she frowned slightly.

"Miss Anna, if I'm not mistaken, this isn't ordinary Snow Moss, but the extremely rare and precious Dragon Saliva Moss." Winter Fortress Academy's Principal Bartalov approached, carefully examined it, and said with a smile.

As a master alchemist, he was even more skilled in herb identification than the young Druid Anna.

"Oh, Dragon Saliva Moss, that's so precious!" Anna looked at the white herb resembling a flat mushroom in her hand, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.

Soon, the group discovered several herbs within the lair that had mutated under the influence of dragon energy, each one being extraordinarily precious.

This made Ren's smile even more apparent.

Now, these things naturally belonged to him.

Perhaps because Kolrax had only recently awakened, the lair did not contain the legendary sparkling dragon treasures. Instead, there were some shiny knight armor, weapons, and a pitiful few hundred gold coins.

Judging by the outdated design of the armor, it seemed to be recent equipment.

Ren, of course, wasn't interested in these items.

"Hmm? Ren, what's that?" The Barbarian girl Lagrelle pointed to the ground at the deepest part of the lair.

Ren followed Lagrelle's gaze and saw that the ground on the northern side of the lair seemed to glow with a faint golden light.

"This is such a large chunk of Dog Head Gold!" Luther seemed to recognize its origin at a glance and exclaimed in surprise.

But then, he suddenly thought of something and quickly started digging up the ground to inspect it.

"Indeed, there's a Rich Gold Mine here!" Luther exclaimed excitedly.

A rich gold mine? Ren's eyebrows rose, and he quickly stepped forward to examine it.

Upon hearing about the gold mine, including Bartalov, Velti, Anna, and others gathered around.

"It's indeed a rich gold mine. This gold mine has a gold content of over forty percent. Judging by the quality, it's about sixty percent gold content," Bartalov, a Tier 3 Crystal Mage, affirmed after a careful inspection.

Everyone chimed in, and soon they had analyzed the situation thoroughly.

The word 'rich' before 'gold mine' indicated that this mine had a much higher gold content than ordinary gold mines.

Furthermore, most of this rich gold mine was exposed on the shallow surface, making mining relatively easy. Additionally, rich mines often contained rare and precious minerals that were more valuable than gold.

Hearing the certainty in Luther's and Bartalov's voices, Ren's eyes lit up. He waved again at Bear Beast Priest Ursen, who was behind Luther, and asked, "Ursen, did you know there was a rich gold mine here?"

"Oh, my King, I didn't know that. For us, gold mines are less useful than food." Ursen looked at the freshly unearthed Dog Head Gold on the ground with a bewildered expression.

"Okay, never mind. You go back to your duties." Ren fell into deep thought.

Whether on the Knight's Path or the Wizard's Path, both required a significant amount of resources for advancement.

In other words, a vast amount of resources were needed for their growth.

It seemed that Ren had thought of something, as he shook his head and sighed, "Lord Ren, what a pity! This place is deep within the Ice Plains, so it's unlikely to bring miners here for mining. However, such a large chunk of Dog Head Gold can be easily carried away."

If this rich gold mine were in the Frostwind Tundra, he would have spent a fortune to mine it. But this rich gold mine was located in a rather remote area.

Not to mention the hidden dangers on the Ice Plains along the way, even providing basic supplies for the miners would be a challenge.

A chunk of Dog Head Gold, even as large as a face basin, held little significance for someone of Luther's status.

"Yes, what a pity! Lord Ren, not only is mining impossible, but refining it here is also impractical." Bartalov, looking at the Glacier Wall, also shook his head and added, "The Glacier Nest has an extremely low internal temperature, making direct refining inefficient and risky due to potential collapses.

It's more likely that the gold ore would need to be mined and transported out before refining.

"If it's refined gold ingots for transport, the Winter Fortress Academy's Iceplain Griffins could help." Bartalov added.

"No, perhaps the Ice Bears can do it." Ren smiled.

Ren pointed behind Ursen, and soon, an Ice Bear guard handed over a rough iron stick.

Ren took it, and in the blink of an eye, the iron stick transformed into a mining pick.

And Ren was very thoughtful, covering the tip of the miner's hoe with a thin layer of hardened fine gold to prevent it from wearing out too quickly during the excavation process.

"Ursen, let your people give it a try."

"Yes, my King."

Soon, a strong bear began to dig with a 'ding-ding-dang-dang' sound.

In just a matter of minutes, the bear had mined a considerable amount of gold ore.

"This..." Luther's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

How could this be? Sending a ferocious Ice Bear to mine!

Bartalov and Velty exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes. They had heard of Iceplain Gnolls mining, but never of Ice Bears mining.

At the same time, the others instantly reacted.

This represented an endless source of gold production.

"Your Excellency Ren, there's just one more issue to resolve—the smelting process," Luther said with a smile.

"Perhaps this matter..."

But Ren waved his hand and said, "Smelting isn't a problem!"

"Lagrelle, regarding the smelting process, can we leave it to the Norton Clan? Of course, it won't be for free. The Norton Clan will receive their share of the profits." Ren turned to the barbarian girl Lagrelle beside him and said with a smile.

"Huh? Of course!" Lagrelle was taken aback, obviously feeling like she had been hit by a pie from the sky.

She never expected Ren to entrust such a profitable task to her Norton Clan. As she looked at Ren, her gaze became increasingly affectionate.

Whether it was Chimera Knight Luther or the others from Winterfort Academy, they were all sharp individuals. Seeing Ren's attitude towards the barbarian girl Lagrelle, they immediately understood his intentions.

They didn't say anything further.

Meanwhile, Melita stared at Ren, her beautiful eyes almost tearing up.

Oh my! Ren is not only powerful and handsome but also so considerate.

It's over! It's over! She felt like she had completely fallen for him.

"Everyone, it seems we can discuss the issue of utilizing the gold mine," Ren said with a slight smile.

"Of course!" Everyone praised unanimously.

With Ren, the lifesaver, taking the lead, the framework was quickly agreed upon.

Initially, they decided that Ren's side, including the Ice Bear, would be responsible for mining, the Norton Clan would construct blast furnaces and smelt the ore outside the nest, Winterfort Academy would send people for transportation and escort, and the final sales would be handled by Luther's Snyder Family.

Duke Snyder is the governor of the Imperial Maen Province, and Luther is the second son of Duke Snyder.

In terms of profit distribution, Ren would take 40%, while the other three parties would each get 20%.

After the main framework was set, Ren sent a message to Lady Jennifer, asking her to dispatch specialists to handle the specific operations.

After all, he couldn't afford to waste his precious time on business matters.

"What! This is great news! I never expected that the High Priest of the Black Flame Cult in Maen Province, Erickson, would have died at your hands, Your Excellency Ren. I am truly grateful." Luther couldn't help but exclaim with joy.

He had just learned this news.

It was common knowledge that Erickson's strength was even higher than his, which was why Maen Province had fallen, but the Snyder Family had been unable to take action.

The main reason was that before the Imperial Guardians arrived, the Snyder Family didn't have the capability to deal with the Black Flame Cult entrenched in Maen Province on their own.

"I will immediately communicate with my father and organize an elite force to pacify these three counties," Luther said, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Ren.

"Your Excellency Luther, this is what I should do as a Swordbearer," Ren smiled.

"What! Your Excellency Ren, are you a Swordbearer?!" Lady Velty, standing beside them, exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes!" Ren nodded.

The others didn't ask further questions, but they assumed that Ren must be a powerful individual affiliated with the Imperial Capital Swordbearer Headquarters.

As if! How could a provincial Swordbearer branch have someone as formidable as Your Excellency Ren?

Upon hearing Ren's words, including Bartalov and Luther, everyone looked at Ren with astonishment.

If the initial cooperation proposal relied mainly on Ren's strength, now there was something more.

Unknowingly, the level of cooperation among the parties had greatly increased.

"Ren, this news is very important to the tribe. I want to return to Gikar Valley first and report this to the High Priest and the Clan Chief," Lagrelle said, unable to hide her excitement, speaking softly to Ren.

"Although smelting gold ore doesn't require many people, we still need to prepare smelting agents, charcoal, and build a furnace. I'm a little worried that you might not agree," Lagrelle said, her voice slightly rushed.

"That's fine. After I return from Howling Bay, I'll come to Gikar Valley to meet you," Ren nodded.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end