The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 154 Large-Scale Development of the Emerald Mountains

"This...is it to make us ride on it?"

"Can I really ride it?"

"I don't know the [Feather Fall Technique], why don't you go up and try it?"

One by one, the humans, with a mixture of belief and skepticism, tried to ride the dragon, gripping its neck tightly to avoid falling.

Amidst everyone's trepidation, the two-legged dragons flapped their wings one by one and soared into the sky.

To the delight of anxious humans:
These bipedal dragons, with fawning expressions on their faces, flew smoothly and steadily, trying their best to avoid too much jolting so as to ensure that the "friends of their master" on their backs had the best experience.

"This feels really good."

"Fly a little slower... really slower? Can it understand what I mean?"

"This flight speed is much faster than the third-ring [Flight Technique], and it lasts much longer."

"Hahaha, I never expected that we would enjoy the same treatment as the half-dragon soldiers under the Dragon Lord Emerald, riding two-legged wyverns!"

"Hey, Alene, have you had enough? Let me get off! I want to try riding a dragon too!"

Watching the humans who were just moments ago so tense, now experiencing the benefits of "flying mounts" and becoming completely absorbed in them, Elian smiled without saying a word.

Generally speaking, mid-level flight spells of the third or fourth ring can only provide about 10 minutes of flight time.

Prolonged flight is a privilege reserved for high-level spellcasters.

Moreover, once in combat, the caster must devote most of their energy to the battle, leaving only a small amount of energy to maintain the flight magic, which will significantly slow down the flight speed.

In comparison, flying mounts are undoubtedly more cost-effective.

It has the advantages of "long-term airtime" and "saving flight spell consumption", and can also choose to overdraw physical energy to carry out short-term ultra-high-speed flight, providing amazing maneuverability!
Elian amplified his voice with magic and, with a smile, proposed the next development plan:

“We can establish a breeding base for wyverns in this valley.”

"Select the healthiest bipedal hyenas, feed them well, and breed them to produce more offspring."

"From now on, everyone will have a flying dragon mount!"

On this day, a special scene unfolded against the clear blue sky above the Emerald Mountains.

A giant bone dragon soars through the blue sky, followed by more than 300 bipedal wyverns.

Each dragon had a human riding on its back.

……

After taming this batch of wyverns, Elion led the soldiers of Eldoron to their next destination: the main peak of the Emerald Mountains.

On this main peak lies the lair and treasure vault of Emerald, the Green Dragon Lord.

The bone dragon descended from the sky and landed in front of the cave hidden by the boulder. With a powerful push of its claws, it pushed the boulder aside and generously displayed its treasures from its previous life.

Inside the nest, beautiful treasures were piled up into a small mountain:
Gold and silver coins from the ancient Dragon Empire, exquisite wood carvings, beautiful jade and gemstones, a magnificent seven-stringed lyre, paintings by moon elf artists…

"A typical treasure trove of green dragons. Products mainly consist of wood carvings, jade, musical instruments, and other works of art with cultural value."

"It's been quite rewarding."

Everyone stared in disbelief at the many treasures they had never seen before in the nest.
No wonder everyone loves slaying dragons.

Corpses, territory, treasure trove... this dragon is a treasure trove!
Elion led the group in a quick inventory of the treasure trove's contents, using Appraisal and other spells to roughly estimate their value.

"Yes, the treasures in this vault are enough to repay the expenses for the ritual materials owed to the Elven Royal Court, and there will still be about 30% left over."

Thinking about this, Elian suddenly found it somewhat amusing:
This is equivalent to using Emerald, the Green Dragon Lord's own treasure, to buy materials and turn his own corpse into an undead!
The group carried out the wood carvings, jade gems, artworks, and musical instruments from the treasure vault, packed them into their [dimensional bags], and left the vault.

Elian planned to use the remaining treasures from the treasury as start-up capital for his future magical industry after paying off the debts owed to the Elven Court.

……

Over the next few months, Elion led his people on a tour of the entire Emerald Mountains, using magic such as [Turning Mud into Stone] to build houses and station personnel in specific locations. Simultaneously, he made numerous trips to the valley, implementing a series of development measures for the Emerald Mountains.

This includes:
Establish a dedicated forestry management department and a Ministry of Natural Resources to oversee related development and conservation matters;
Teams were dispatched to survey the biological resources of various regions, demarcate restricted hunting and gathering areas, open up the collection of rare fungi and medicinal plants, and issue collection and hunting permits nationwide;
Establish designated logging zones, construct logging bases, and adopt a rotation system where a portion of the area is harvested every 50 years;
In addition to the existing magic production bases within the country, resin and sap processing industries will be added; charcoal kilns will be built on the edge of the forest to produce charcoal and tar using fallen branches, leaves, and sparse forest materials;
The breeding of extraordinary creatures and economically important animals, with wyverns as the leading species, involves establishing breeding bases for some species in the Emerald Mountains, such as raising wyverns in the valleys to hunt for themselves; others are introduced into the existing pastures on the surface of Eldoron...

All of these cover every aspect of the development of the Emerald Mountains.

Many of these measures draw on the strategic thinking of Elion's previous incarnation and even the previous incarnation of Earth.

The goal is sustainable development, so that the lush forests of the country's south can remain an inexhaustible treasure trove for many centuries to come.

……

"Great! The Imperial Ministry of Natural Resources has approved our application. We have successfully obtained the qualification to travel to the Emerald Mountains."

"Next week we can go to the Emerald Mountains and hunt and gather freely."

"Of course, the adventure is limited to the Green River District, and you cannot hunt these rare and extraordinary creatures on the list."

On this day, in a small tavern in Peace Town, south of Eldoron, a group of adventurers looked at the approval documents in their hands and celebrated with each other.

This adventurer team consists of five people: three mages specializing in different schools of magic, a warrior, and a barbarian.

In Eldoron today, full-time free adventurers are relatively rare.

However, in border towns, some part-time adventurers have spontaneously emerged, taking on jobs outside of their regular work—escorting caravans through dangerous areas, exploring uninhabited wilderness areas, destroying monster lairs in the wilderness, and so on.

The Imperial government maintained a tacit approval attitude towards these adventurers, but always kept them under close surveillance and encouraged them to explore the vast wilderness beyond the borders as a supplement to the official expansion plans.

"Okay. Let's get ready and set off together!"

The adventurer who appeared to be the captain raised his glass and clinked it with the others:

"I've heard that there's a magical plant called the Tentacle Vine in the Emerald Mountains. Our main purpose for this trip is to hunt a Tentacle Vine and deliver the stomach acid of this man-eating plant to the alchemist."

"After we finish this job, this money will be enough for us to live a carefree life for a year or two!"

Not long after, this team of adventurers, carrying their dreams, left Peace Town and set off for the Emerald Mountains in the south.

On the bridge spanning the Xiyu River, the warriors in the adventure team suddenly stopped and turned to look at the huge stone tablet in front of the river.

"Doka, what are you looking at?"

The warrior called Doka stared intently at the lines of text on the stone tablet.

The stone tablet at this time not only recorded the battle in the first year of the empire to drive out the three orc clans, but also the epic battle in the eleventh year of the empire, in which Eldoron fought against the half-dragon legion and the mind flayer slave legion.

This silent stone tablet has never spoken, yet it has witnessed history twice. Only the murmuring of flowing water accompanies it.

"It's been a year since that great battle? Time really flies."

The soldier smiled:

"Last year, as a professional, I was conscripted to fight against the half-dragon legion."

"At the time, facing those overwhelming two-legged wyverns, we thought we were all going to die and the entire Peace Town would be razed to the ground."

"I never expected that in the end, the defense line would hold and I would survive."

The soldier shook his head again and turned away:

"It's nothing, I just suddenly got caught up in some memories."

"Never mind all that, let's keep moving forward and head towards the Emerald Mountains!"

In the 12th year of the Empire's reign, with a series of parallel initiatives, the Emerald Mountains were completely brought under the Empire's control.

From then on, the territory of Eldoron expanded by 50% on the map.

(End of this chapter)