Chapter 96: The Grand Wedding

Chapter 96: The Grand Wedding

Time flew by, and before anyone knew it, the month of Blazing Fire (July) had arrived.

This was the month when the sun seemed to walk across the earth, and in the Cangjin Empire, it was also the time for the annual Flame Festival.

In the Starlight Principality, despite the Harvest Festival being two months away, the people were already beginning to feel the festive atmosphere.

The Golden Rock Province was no exception, and the festive mood had spread even earlier than in other provinces.

This was all because the Marquis of Golden Rock was about to get married! The news spread like a hurricane from the lord's manor, quickly reaching every corner of the Golden Rock Province.

Su Nan, who was deeply engrossed in his studies and training, was one of the last to hear about it.

"So, the wedding is set for the day of the Harvest Festival," Su Nan said, his eyes widening in surprise in the council hall.

"That's right," Kui smiled brightly. "It will be a celebration for the people. What do you think?"

"Sounds good."

The phrase "celebration for the people" coming from a noble sounded somewhat awkward.

"Who is the bride?"

"The youngest daughter of the White Tower Marquis."

A political marriage, then. It seemed Kui was gradually expanding his network of relationships.

"I'll be there on time for the wedding," Su Nan said.

As he prepared to leave, Kui chuckled and stopped him.

"Wait a moment, I have something else to discuss with you."

Su Nan reluctantly sat back down. "What is it?"

"You're twenty years old now. It's time to think about starting a family, don't you think?"

Su Nan was taken aback for a moment, then he laughed and shook his head.

For a wizard's apprentice with the ambition to become a true wizard, marriage seemed a distant and impractical notion.

"I don't have any plans for that right now."

"Are you sure? Many nobles have approached me, offering their daughters or nieces to marry you. There are quite a few beauties among them."

"No, thank you." Su Nan refused without hesitation.

Compared to a wizard's apprentice, the lifespan of a commoner was incredibly short. Even a legendary knight would live no more than half as long as a third-tier wizard's apprentice.

If he married a commoner, he would eventually have to watch her age and die, which would be a painful experience for both of them.

Besides, he had no desire to start a family at the moment. His days were filled with training, studying, and managing the magic plant garden, leaving him with no time for anything else.

"By the way, I've chosen the site for the new magic plant garden. I'll leave the construction to you."

Su Nan waved his hand and walked out of the hall without looking back.

Kui watched him go, shaking his head with a sigh.

"It looks like the responsibility of expanding the family will fall on me."

Building a new magic plant garden was much simpler than setting up a base. By the time of the Scroll Month (August), the basic construction of the new garden was complete.

Su Nan named it the 2nd Magic Plant Garden, while the one at the base was called the 1st Magic Plant Garden.

In addition to the Dragon Blood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers, Su Nan allocated a third of the garden's area to grow Mandrake Root, Golden Thorn Grass, and Calming Flowers—common ingredients for low-tier potions.

Standing at the entrance of the garden, Su Nan watched the flower fields burst into a riot of colors, the air filled with the sweet fragrance of the blossoms. A satisfied smile spread across his face.

Once the Silver Moon Flowers matured, he would be able to synthesize a high-tier Transcendent Potion, which would further enhance his meditation efficiency.

As for the superior-grade Transcendent Potion, it required a minimum of 34 points in mental strength and 25 points in physical strength to consume. He wouldn't be able to use it until he had constructed his eleventh star ring.

The Dragon Blood Fruit could also help strengthen his physical body, bringing him closer to the level of a Junior Grand Knight.

"Su Nan!"

A soft, warm female voice called out from the sea of flowers. More than a dozen beautiful, diminutive fairies, each about a foot tall, fluttered out of the flower beds, their colorful wings shimmering in the sunlight.

These little fairies, about thirty centimeters tall, wore intricately designed dresses in various colors, with butterfly bows on their chests and colorful wings on their backs. Their slender, delicate legs were clad in long boots, making them look absolutely charming.

"I want rose nectar."

"I want honey. The honey from yesterday was so delicious."

"Hurry up!"

Seven or eight of the little fairies circled around Su Nan, their giggles filling the air. One of them, a leader with a floral crown on her head, stood out even among the beautiful fairies.

These fairies were recent arrivals, summoned by Su Nan from another world. They were known as Flower Fairies, a type of fairy creature. While they had little combat ability, they were exceptionally skilled at tending to magic plants—most fairy creatures were.

Some fairy creatures, like the Flower Fairies, possess abilities similar to plant spirits, making them the dream assistants for many wizards and apprentices in managing magic plant gardens.

Notably, Flower Fairies, unlike flower spirits, do not enjoy playing pranks on people. Instead, they can become quite affectionate with those they take a liking to.

The one wearing the crown is the Flower Fairy Queen, named Tia.

Initially, Su Nan summoned Tia, and after tasting the flower nectar and honey he synthesized, she immediately agreed to manage his magic plant garden. Later, she even summoned more Flower Fairies to help.

In exchange for their services, Su Nan only needs to provide them with enough flower nectar and honey each month, making them both affordable and efficient helpers.

"Hey, Tia, how was your day?"

Su Nan took out the flower nectar and honey and handed them to the Flower Fairies, then held out his palm for Tia to land on.

"Everything's good," Tia smiled sweetly. "The Mandrake Roots were a bit noisy, always screaming, but I gave them a good scolding, and they quieted down."

"By the way, two apprentices came by this morning, and we played hide-and-seek. Hehe, they couldn't find me at all."

Nature has endowed Flower Fairies with remarkable self-preservation abilities. When hidden in the flower fields, even a full-fledged wizard would have a hard time finding them.

Tia chattered on, telling Su Nan about the day's events, her laughter like a series of clear, tinkling bells.

Su Nan listened patiently, occasionally interjecting with a comment.

In the future, Flower Fairies would be the primary managers of the magic plant gardens. Tia has the ability to summon more of her kin, so whenever needed, Su Nan could ask her to bring in new helpers.

From now on, Su Nan wouldn't have to worry about a shortage of personnel in the magic plant gardens. However, while most tasks could be handled by the Flower Fairies, some still required the apprentices to complete.

The third round of aptitude tests in the Golden Rock Province had concluded last month. Compared to the first and second rounds, the third round was on a much larger scale, resulting in eighteen more young men and women passing the tests.

Now, the total number of students in the base had reached thirty-three, with nearly half of them having mastered the Star Ring Meditation Technique.

Xie Man, Cole, and Arther had already constructed their second star ring and successfully mastered three to four zero-level spells. Additionally, Xie Man and Arther had successfully created zero-level potions, bringing their Potion Making skill to level 1. Cole, on the other hand, had mastered the Puppet Crafting skill.

Thanks to their skills, Su Nan no longer had to waste time making low-level potions or crafting Black Rock Leopards. He handed these tasks over to the three students.

Now, Xie Man, Cole, and Arther primarily took on potion-making and puppet-crafting tasks. Other tasks, such as tending to the magic plants, cleaning the laboratory, and maintaining the golems, were left to the newer students.

"Once more students learn potion-making, we can expand our potion sales."

Making money was still a priority, and the business needed to grow. As Su Nan's strength increased, the expenses also rose. For instance, his recent research on alternative materials for magic runes had cost over three thousand gold coins.

Fortunately, the money wasn't wasted, and he successfully synthesized three alternatives. Now, he only needed twenty-one more rare metals to complete the materials required for crafting the magic rune core.

The night forest was unusually quiet.

A group of men in leather armor moved through the forest, guided by the dim starlight. The sound of insects buzzing filled the air, like a symphony of the night.

They moved silently, their footsteps rustling through the underbrush. The cold night air and the eerie silence made everyone's nerves taut.

After walking for some time, one of them couldn't hold back and whispered to the man leading the group, "Fredry, how much farther?"

"Almost there," Fredry replied without turning around.

"You said that half an hour ago. How much longer do we have to go?" The man's voice carried a note of barely contained frustration. "You're not leading us astray, are you?"

Fredry glanced back at him, his tone icy. "If you don't trust me, you can turn back now."

"You—"

"Enough, both of you!" An older, more authoritative man interrupted. "Keep your voices down. We don't want to attract any predators. Black wolves often roam these woods at night."

The older man's words carried weight, and the complainer immediately fell silent.

Fredry shot the older man a look and whispered, "I've already seen the markers we left earlier. It's just another seven to eight hundred meters to the cave I discovered."

The group's spirits lifted at Fredry's words, and they quickened their pace.

Before long, their surroundings opened up, revealing a clearing with a steep cliff face at the end. At the base of the cliff, a dark, ominous cave entrance loomed.

In the darkness, the cave mouth seemed like a gaping maw, ready to devour any unwelcome visitors. It was a chilling sight.

However, the group was undeterred. Their eyes gleamed with excitement, and their faces were alight with anticipation.

"Fredry, those silver ingots you mentioned—were they found in this cave?" the large man asked in a grave voice.

Fredry nodded emphatically. "Yes, I saw a vein of silver deep inside the cave with my own eyes."

The group's excitement grew.

Even a small, shallow silver vein could make them rich overnight. If the vein was larger, they might never have to worry about food or drink again.

"Let's go in!"

The large man suppressed his own excitement and led the group into the cave. Torchbearers at the front and back of the group lit their torches, casting a bright glow that illuminated the cave's interior.

The large man examined the cave walls, his brow furrowing in confusion.

The cave showed clear signs of recent human excavation. Combined with the presence of a silver vein, it suggested that this was a newly opened mine.

But if that was the case, why was there no one around? And he had asked around in the city—no one had ever mined in this forest.

The large man felt an unease creeping over him. He began to consider whether they should retreat and investigate further before proceeding.

Just then, a low cry cut through the air.

"It's a silver vein!"

The large man instinctively looked up, and a dull, silver-gray patch on the cave wall caught his eye. His heart raced.

The desire for silver quickly overshadowed his unease.

Without hesitation, he took the iron pickaxe from his belt and declared excitedly, "Let's start mining!"

The group had been waiting for this moment. They eagerly set to work.

"Ha, we're rich!"

"After this, I can rest for years!"

"This cave seems quite deep. There might be other veins deeper inside."

"You're right. Let's check it out later."

The group was buzzing with excitement.

Suddenly, strange sounds echoed from the depths of the cave.

Despite their excitement, the large man's years of adventure experience made him immediately sense something was wrong.

"Quiet!"

"There's something in the cave. Everyone, be on your guard!"

The group quickly put down their pickaxes and drew their weapons, their eyes fixed on the dark, ominous depths of the cave.

"Squeak!"

To their horror, a group of rats, each as large as a cat, burst out of the darkness.

"What is this?"

"Rats?"

"Where did these huge rats come from? Damn, they're fast, and one just bit me!"

The rats, with their red, crazed eyes, attacked the group with sharp fangs and claws, moving with terrifying speed and in overwhelming numbers.

In the confined space of the cave, the group found it difficult to evade, and they were soon injured.

"Stay calm, form a defensive circle!"

The large man swung his sword, slicing a giant rat in half, and shouted loudly.

The next second, a dull roar sounded from behind him.

Before he could turn around, a massive shadow pounced from behind, knocking him to the ground.

"Captain!" someone cried out in shock.

By the flickering torchlight, the group saw that the large man had been pinned by a fat, muscular creature. It had a toad-like head, dark red skin, no eyes, and incredibly thick limbs.

"Rumble!"

The toad creature opened its massive mouth and bit the large man's head off, chewing a few times before swallowing it whole. It then lunged at the others.

"Ah!!"

The large man's death sent the group into a panic. They lost their fighting spirit and fled toward the cave entrance in a frantic rush.

Unfortunately, they didn't get far. The toad creature and the horde of rats caught up, one by one, and brought them down.

Fredry, who had been the fastest, was the first to reach the cave entrance. Just as he was about to escape, a slimy tongue shot out from behind, wrapped around his waist, and yanked him back.

"Ah!!"

His short, terrified scream was cut short, followed by the chilling sound of chewing.

"Crunch, crunch!"

Soon, the sounds faded, and the dark cave returned to a deathly silence.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end