## Chapter 21: Mu Zhuo’s Goodwill


    On the training ground.


    More than twenty knights formed a circle, their eyes gleaming as they looked at the ckrock Beast in the middle. Their gazes were as if they were seeing a naked beauty.


    Any knight who wasn’t hoping to own a fine warhorse was a rarity.


    Although the ckrock Beast wasn’t strictly a warhorse, it could still serve as a mount. The key was that this mount also possessed thebat strength of a junior knight, making it much stronger than a warhorse!


    How impressive it would be to ride it!


    It would be invincible on the battlefield!


    “Sir, sir, can you give me one of these ckrock Beasts first?”


    Jorton excitedly rushed to Kei and Su Nan, his voice loud enough for the entire training ground to hear. Hearing this, the other knights immediately showed their discontent.


    “Why should you get it first, you drunkard?”


    “I’m a middle-level knight, I should get it first!”


    “Pfft, my riding skills are the best, I should get it first!”


    “You’re talking about riding horses, this is a beast!”


    “It’s all the same!”


    “Bullshit, I’m also good at riding women, shouldn’t the ckrock Beast be given to me first?”


    Seeing that the situation was about to turn into an argument, Kei rubbed his temples in annoyance and waved his hand, “All of you shut up. This ckrock Beast goes to Brade first.”


    Brade, who had been standing quietly to the side, was surprised by this unexpected gift, and his face immediately lit up with joy.


    “Thank you, sir, thank you, sir.”


    Jorton and the others looked at each other, muttered their disapproval but didn’t say anything.


    Brade held considerable respect amongst the knights, and his strength was second to none. Giving him the first ckrock Beast didn’t raise any objections from the others.


    As for Kei, Su Nan had already mentioned that he would refine a stronger ckrock Beast for himter.


    Su Nan tossed a ne to Brade, saying, “This is the key to controlling the ckrock Beast. As long as you wear it, the ckrock Beast will be under yourmand. However, it can only understand rtively simple instructions.”


    “I understand, thank you, sir!”


    Brade excitedly put on the ne, and under the envious gaze of the others, rode the ckrock Beast around the training ground at full speed.


    Kei turned to Su Nan and asked, “How long does it take to refine a ckrock Beast?”


    “Three or four hours should be enough.”


    Seeing the joy on the faces of Kei and the knights, Su Nan poured a bucket of cold water on them.


    “The materials for the ckrock Beast are ckstone Iron and gems. The cost of one is roughly thirty-eight gold coins.”


    Upon hearing this, Kei furrowed his brows, but quickly rxed.


    Compared to the enhancement of military strength, a cost of thirty-eight gold coins was nothing.


    As long as the ckstone Mine Area existed, ck Stone City would have a steady stream of gold coin ie.


    However, ck Stone City was in dire need of military strength. Only with a powerful army could they protect this money-making tree, the ckstone Mine Area.


    “Don’t worry about the money, I’ll take care of it. Now, you just need to focus on refining the ckrock Beasts.”


    Su Nan nodded calmly.


    Apart from meditation and crafting Lower-Grade Revitalization Potions, his days were spent reading, and he mostly reced sleep with meditation, so it wouldn’t be difficult for him to squeeze out a few hours to refine ckrock Beasts.


    Moreover, refining ckrock Beasts could also improve his puppetry refining proficiency. With more practice and higher levels, the refining process would be faster and faster.


    This wouldn’t upy too much of his time.


    Two months passed by in a blink of an eye.


    In the month of Summer Dragon (June), the rising temperature scorched the leaves, and the zing sun relentlessly licked the ground.


    Despite the intense heat, the residents of ck Stone City wore smiles on their faces.


    With the reopening of the ckstone Mine Area, many merchant caravans were drawn to ck Stone City.


    The flourishingmerce raised the standard of living of the people.


    Although the city had recently absorbed arge number of refugees, the ckstone Mine Area, the army, and the remation of wastnd effectively assimted this influx, significantly mitigating the impact of the refugees on ck Stone City.


    Everyone could see the booming development of ck Stone City and felt more hopeful about the future.


    It’s worth mentioning that Su Nan’s birthday was also in the month of Summer Dragon.


    Although Su Nan had said there was no need, Kei insisted on holding a 17th birthday banquet for him.


    All the knights of ck Stone City and representatives from several merchant guilds who had close ties with ck Stone City attended the banquet.


    Mu Zhuo, the head of the Fire Fox Merchant Guild, even came in person to present Su Nan with a precious gift – twelve rubies!


    Perhaps he had heard that ck Stone City was purchasing gems.


    Whatever the reason, this gift, worth over a hundred gold coins, was a ss apart from all the other gifts presented. Its generous value caused many to be secretly surprised.


    Su Nan was also a little surprised.


    He could sense Mu Zhuo’s intention to build a good rtionship with him, but he couldn’t understand why thetter would do this.


    Could it be that Mu Zhuo had discovered his identity as a Wizard Apprentice?


    And did he also understand what this identity represented?


    Confused in his heart, Su Nan did not refuse Mu Zhuo’s goodwill, and he engaged in pleasant conversation with him during the banquet.


    “I heard that old fox Mu Zhuo likes to invest in promising young people. He probably already knows you’re a Wizard Apprentice, and most likely understands the power that identity represents, that’s why he gave you such a generous gift.”n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    After the banquet, Kei and Su Nan returned to their study. They sat down and started discussing Mu Zhuo’s actions that night.


    “However, the Fire Fox Merchant Guild has branches all over the Kingdom of Thornflower, and they also have cooperative rtionships with many guilds in the Kingdom of Starlight. Building a good rtionship with him will make it easier for you to collect Wizard books and materials.”


    “That’s true.” Su Nan nodded, looking at Kei. “What’s wrong, you seem a little preupied tonight.”


    “You’ve noticed.”


    Kei smiled wryly, then his expression turned serious.


    “My spies in Shining Light City sent back information that in three months, Zolf, Norwood, and Devon will attend the Harvest Festival held in Shining Light City!”


    Zolf, Norwood, and Devon were all former subordinates who had fought alongside Baron Arnest. They were also the ones he had promoted to baron.


    However, when Baron Arnest unexpectedly died on the battlefield and Owen tore off his mask and seized the baron’s title, these three chose to be cautious and avoid involvement out of fear of Duke Jin Yan’s power.


    It was precisely because of their silence that Owen was hesitant and didn’t immediately eliminate them and their brothers.


    However, Kei didn’t appreciate or forgive them for this.


    “If it hadn’t been for father, those three would have never had the chance to be barons! Yet, they showed no gratitude, and now they’ve actually gone over to that bandit’s side. They really deserve to die!”


    Compared to Kei’s anger, Su Nan remained calm andposed, saying calmly, “Apart from ck Stone City, Owen has nowpletely taken control of all the forces in the entire Shining Light Territory. I think he’ll target us soon.”


    Kei restrained his anger and furrowed his brows.


    What Su Nan said was what he was most worried about right now.


    After a moment of contemtion, he quickly made up his mind, mmed his fist on the armrest of his chair, stood up, and said in a resolute tone, “We can’t dy any longer, we’ll attack the ck Scale Lizardfolk’sir in three days, and eliminate this threat closest to us first!”


    After two months of training, the cavalry regiment that Kei had assembled had begun to take shape.


    Although they only numbered sixty-odd people, they had twenty knights, and the rest were Probationary Knights.


    More importantly, the entire cavalry regiment was equipped with ckrock Beasts as mounts.


    While the timing was a little rushed, Kei still had some confidence in eliminating the ck Scale Lizardfolk with this cavalry regiment.


    “Let’s do it, I’ll go with you too.” Su Nan stood up and said.


    If he were to postpone the war until the month of Scroll (August), when he would be promoted to a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice, he would be able to minimize casualties when dealing with the ck Scale Lizardfolk.


    Right now, even if they could win, losses were inevitable.


    But it wasn’t necessarily so, after all, he still had the trump card of magic scrolls.


    With some luck, maybe they could achieve a good oue.