https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-762-The-Reset-of-the-Mystic-Cabin/13042237/
Chapter 761: The Endless Labyrinth Reopens
Chapter 761: The Endless Labyrinth Reopens
September 25, 2017
After entrusting the matter of Gongsun Zan to Yue Ying, Lu Hai Kong had paid little attention to it, honestly speaking, he had never taken Gongsun Zan seriously.
If that fellow hadn't recklessly displayed his strength, Lu Hai Kong wouldn't have even remembered him.
Although Gongsun Zan was a neighbor in Youzhou, compared to him, Lu Hai Kong was more wary of Ye Junru and her companions.
As they gradually expanded, they slowly emerged from the shadows, and their strength was gradually revealed during this process.
As their ally and a frequent business partner, Lu Hai Kong had a deeper understanding of their capabilities than others.
Lu Hai Kong was well aware that Ye Junru and her group possessed formidable strength in both military and army aspects, although they were far inferior to him. However, among the outsiders, they were undoubtedly top-tier, at least far stronger than Gongsun Zan.
Moreover, due to their long-term infiltration, Gongsun Zan was unaware of their existence. In this situation of contrasting strengths and an enemy in the open while they remained hidden, Lu Hai Kong understood that Gongsun Zan was already like a piece of meat on Ye Junru's chopping board, and when they would consume him depended on their mood.
Such an existence naturally wouldn't garner much of Lu Hai Kong's attention, and Yue Ying alone was sufficient to perfectly deal with him.
Currently, Lu Hai Kong's primary concern was still the mine in Yunzhong Province, more specifically, the Dragon Boss within the mine.
Initially, upon discovering the massive mine, Lu Hai Kong was overjoyed, but he hadn't anticipated that within the mine was a cold pool, and deep within it dwelled a powerful Dragon Boss. If not for the scouts who had scouted the area before mining operations began, the soldiers and laborers sent by Lu Hai Kong would have suffered heavy casualties.
It was common knowledge that once a beast with strength exceeding 100 went on a rampage, massacring tens of thousands of people was not an impossible feat.
Although they had narrowly escaped disaster due to early detection, the presence of this Dragon Boss remained a significant challenge for Lu Hai Kong.
Just as he had discovered this vast mine in his territory and was rejoicing at no longer needing to purchase large quantities of ore, this unexpected development dampened his spirits. Therefore, upon discovering the Dragon Boss, Lu Hai Kong immediately began formulating a plan to slay the dragon.
However, while Lu Hai Kong was devising this plan, he didn't act recklessly. After all, he had never encountered a Dragon Boss like this before, and its strength exceeded 100. Lu Hai Kong was slightly concerned about his ability to defeat it.
Lu Hai Kong's caution wasn't without reason. After all, he had previously eliminated several beings with strength exceeding 100, but their strength had been forcibly boosted, not gradually cultivated. As a result, while they were strong, they weren't true masters with strength exceeding 100. There was still a significant gap between them and those who had genuinely cultivated their strength to surpass 100.
Therefore, Lu Hai Kong's success against Zhang Liang and Wu Yanba didn't guarantee his victory over the Dragon Boss.
Additionally, there was another crucial factor: Lu Hai Kong's trusted weapon, the Savage Axe, had been damaged not long ago. Without a new weapon, he could only send it to Gongsun Zan for repairs, which would take some time.
How could Lu Hai Kong fight the Dragon Boss without his weapon?
Given these circumstances, Lu Hai Kong had no choice but to temporarily halt the mining operations. He dispatched people to gather information about the Dragon Boss while simultaneously preparing a dragon-slaying plan.
Of course, Lu Hai Kong couldn't focus solely on this matter. While preparing the dragon-slaying plan, he also had other responsibilities to attend to.
After all, Lu Hai Kong was the Governor of Bingzhou, and his control over the province was still recent. With the year drawing to a close, he had numerous tasks to accomplish.
There were year-end summaries, tax collections, and various issues with the newly established Military Affairs Bureau to address, all of which naturally brought a multitude of concerns and tasks.
This year's harvest wasn't particularly bountiful due to unfavorable weather conditions. Although there were no natural disasters, it couldn't be described as a year of abundant harvests. The autumn harvest in Bingzhou was less than satisfactory.
Wang Jun had initially hoped to collect some taxes from the harvest, but the order to exempt grain taxes nearly forced him to pay for disaster relief.
In reality, the situation in the four prefectures under Lu Hai Kong's control wasn't as dire, as there was still some harvest, albeit not substantial. However, the situation outside the four prefectures was grim. The unfavorable weather, exploitation by the aristocratic families, and additional taxes left the common people with little hope.
Naturally, Lu Hai Kong was displeased with this situation, but he lacked the manpower and energy to deal with the aristocratic families for the time being.
In addition to the issue of grain tax, Lu Hai Kong also had to transport the annual tax revenue from Bingzhou to Luoyang, which was a significant expense that couldn't be avoided.
The most troublesome issue for Lu Hai Kong was still the matter of food supply.
Currently, Bingzhou under Lu Hai Kong's control couldn't achieve self-sufficiency in terms of food production, so he needed to purchase a large amount of grain for various purposes.
This year, not only was the harvest poor in Lu Hai Kong's territory, but the main source of grain procurement, Jizhou, also had a poor harvest, causing grain prices to skyrocket, and Lu Hai Kong had to spend a significant amount of money.
In reality, these problems could be categorized under one main issue—the food supply.
This was the most critical headache for Lu Hai Kong, but fortunately, good news kept coming from the Divine Farmer Bureau. Through the Herbal Garden, they were successfully cultivating potato and sweet potato seedlings using special methods. Following this trend, by next March, even if Lu Hai Kong couldn't get the entire Bingzhou to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes, he could at least plant them in several counties, effectively solving the food supply problem.
After the food supply issue was resolved, Lu Hai Kong received several more pieces of good news.
First and foremost was the matter that Lu Hai Kong had been eagerly awaiting—news from Luoyang. Emperor Ling finally recovered from his illness again with the help of secret medicine and convened a meeting of his ministers, where he lavishly praised Lu Hai Kong for his conquest of the Grassland. During the meeting, the emperor also finalized Lu Hai Kong's marriage. He announced that after Princess San reached the age of marriage, she would be wed to Lu Hai Kong on an auspicious day.
With the marriage settled, it meant that the person Lu Hai Kong had been longing for was finally secure, and his status as a prince consort was firmly established.
In the 1619th chapter of the novel, there's a mistake-free version!
Don't underestimate the significance of Lu Hai Kong's status as a prince consort. For Lu Hai Kong, who had a background as a mountain bandit, this status was incredibly important. It symbolized his transformation from a commoner to a dragon among the grass.
As soon as his status was confirmed, within three months, several civil officials came to offer their services voluntarily. Previously, scholars rarely showed any respect for Lu Hai Kong, and even if he sent invitations, the results were often unsatisfactory. This shows the immense impact of his new status as a prince consort.
Although the scholars who came were not exceptional, there was one notable figure among them—Xin Pi, the younger brother of Xin Ping. This talented individual was assigned to work under Tian Feng upon his arrival.
While Lu Hai Kong was somewhat disappointed that no top-tier civil officials came, his established status as a prince consort would make it much easier to recruit top-tier historical civil officials in the future.
Apart from the confirmation of his status as a prince consort, another piece of good news came from Gongsun Zan's foolish actions. Lu Hai Kong seized the opportunity to acquire a large amount of minerals from Gongsun Zan. With Lu Hai Kong's giant mineral vein not yet ready for mining, Gongsun Zan's iron ore deposit came just in time to relieve his urgent need, making it a pleasant surprise.
In addition to these, the remaining two pieces of good news came from within Lu Hai Kong's own mountain fort.
First, a special talent emerged from the Blaze Yellow Mountain Fort. This talent was a high-level blacksmith with unique skills. As soon as he started working, he displayed exceptional talent in bow and crossbow crafting.
Within a month, this talent not only upgraded Lu Hai Kong's ordinary Light Cloud Crossbows to elite-level, but also simplified the production process of the Cloudsplitter Crossbows, reducing both the production cycle and material consumption.
The emergence of such a talent directly increased Lu Hai Kong's revenue by tens of millions, and it was indeed a pleasant surprise.
Moreover, this talent not only boosted Lu Hai Kong's income but also provided him with an additional means to deal with the dragon.
The final and most significant surprise was Lu Hai Kong's territory dungeon. There was a dungeon within Lu Hai Kong's territory that was supposed to have a six-month cooldown period, but Lu Hai Kong had waited for one or two years to access it again. This dungeon was the same one that helped Gao Shun break through to a strength of 80—the Endless Labyrinth!
As soon as the dungeon opened, Lu Hai Kong wasted no time and sent a group of his chosen warriors into it.
Among those sent in were Dian Wei and Gao Shun, who had returned to the palace, and Wang Ti, along with most of Lu Hai Kong's young elite warriors. These included Chen Yi, upon whom Lu Hai Kong had high hopes, and Zhang Liao, a top-tier historical warrior. Lu Hai Kong eagerly anticipated the gains this group would make within the Endless Labyrinth...
(End of Chapter)
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