The Path to Immortality: Starting with an Analysis of Basic Concepts

Chapter 436 The Iris Family Pioneering the Slave Market (Please Subscribe)

"Oh, thank you, Earl of Blackrock Fortress, the Wall of the Empire, the Unbreakable Shield, and His Majesty Thor, the Black Dragon—"

""

Knight Andrei exclaimed in surprise, praising the Earl highly, and said, "Vivian, please tell Lord Orpheus this good news. The loyal Andrei will definitely protect the 'Elf Room'."

""

As if she had just thought of something, she suddenly said, "Lord Orpheus went to Barley Village early this morning to inspect the farms that His Majesty Thor had punished. Vivian, if Lord Orpheus had heard this good news sooner, he certainly wouldn't have had to worry about the barley-growing serfs anymore."

"And you will surely win Lord Orpheus's favor—"

Vivian paused, raising her head even higher. Although she didn't know why the usually taciturn Knight Andrei was being so glib and slick like a sleazy businessman, her attention was quickly drawn to the second half of his sentence.

"Vivian will dispel Lord Orpheus's sorrows like clouds in the sky; no number of serfs can compare to the beautiful fairy insect—"

With that, she hurried away from the corridor.

"Until Lord Orpheus arrives, Andrei will not let anyone in—"

Knight Andrei looked into the depths of the corridor, raised his hand and patted the half of his chest armor, making a clanging sound, and stood motionless in front of the door.

Several dozen breaths later.

Andrei's ears suddenly twitched as he heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from outside. His gray-lead-colored eyes flickered with complex emotions.

A few breaths later.

A buzzing sound, only he could hear, rang out.

"Andrei—"

"Andrei Iris, a very nice name, isn't it? —"

squeak-

The door slowly opened, and the burly knight stepped inside.

Zhu Yu was awakened by a jolt. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark and cramped space.

The only source of light.

It is a flower with pale purple petals and deep purple markings. Each petal is like a beautiful crystal sculpted by nature, and a faint magic surrounds it, making it even more beautiful.

It is the magical crop "iris".

It is also the origin of his being.

"How did it get into the box?"

Zhu Yu listened to the sound of horses' hooves outside and felt a little strange. Even if magical crops were protected by magic, they were still delicate objects. Given their preciousness, why were they placed in a wooden box?

Judging from the mottled color of the wooden box, it is still an old and worn-out wooden box.

However, his divine sense could not break free from his body, so he could only keep his many questions to himself. Fortunately, given the rarity of the "Iris Flower" spirit, he figured no one would be so foolish as to harm him.

Thinking about it that way...

Zhu Yu was too lazy to dwell on it anymore. She climbed to the center of the "iris" petals, sat cross-legged, and, overcome by drowsiness, fell into a deep sleep once again.

I don't know how long it has been.

When Zhu Yu was awakened by a strong feeling of hunger, he sensed a gaze on him, stretched out his body, and looked up.

What came into view was not a pretty freckled girl.

Instead, it was a young man with a scar on his forehead and a dark, rugged face. When he saw him wake up, the young man's leaden gray eyes filled with excitement, and he turned his head and rattled off a string of words.

Soon another large face came closer.

He resembled the young man somewhat, but was more serious and composed. After glancing at him a few times, he suddenly grinned, mumbled a few words, and carefully placed a silver spoon inside.

A magical fragrance wafted over.

Zhu Yu ignored the father and son, who seemed more like serfs than nobles, climbed onto the spoon, and began to gnaw on it. The magical sand quickly dispelled his hunger, replacing it with a feeling of complete satisfaction.

He immediately started showing off even more enthusiastically.

Outside the wooden crate.

After staring intently at Zhu Yu for a while, and seeing that he was no longer listless, the father and son exchanged a glance, looked away, and gently closed the wooden box.

Snapped--

A clearing beneath an ancient forest.

A carriage pulled by a slow horse was parked under the tree.

A burly woman with a dark complexion and a build no smaller than a man was slicing barley bread and spreading butter on it.

A slender young man and a petite little girl were feeding freshly cut hay to the old horse pulling the cart.

At this time.

The father and son stepped out of the carriage, immediately attracting the attention of all three.

The boy and girl's lead-gray eyes were full of curiosity and doubt.

The robust woman showed a hint of worry, but quickly suppressed it. She wiped her hands on her worn-out linen apron, picked up a wooden tray piled high with barley bread and butter, went to the tablecloth spread out under the tree, and called out with her hands on her hips, "Dinner's ready."

Her somewhat strange accent revealed that she was clearly suppressing her usual loud voice.

"Yay!"

The girl threw down the hay and ran over quickly.

The boy put down the hay, patted the old horse's head, and turned to walk towards the tablecloth under the tree.

The middle-aged man with a muscular build and the young man with a burly build each sat casually on the tablecloth, each holding a water bag.

When the girl and boy arrived, perhaps because their father and older brother were too serious, the two stopped smiling and sat down obediently.

The burly woman remained silent, distributing the barley bread, smeared with butter, one by one.

What followed was a quiet, even oppressive, lunch.

We had a simple meal.

The young man nodded to his father and mother, walked to the carriage, took out a bow and arrows, and stepped lightly into the jungle.

The girl and boy picked up sickles and water bottles and went in the opposite direction.

The middle-aged man, Xiong Zhuang, seemed to be resting in the cool air, but it was clear that his eyes were constantly scanning his surroundings, and the carriage remained within his sight.

The strong woman tidied up the dishes and returned to the tree. Perhaps because there were no children around, she looked at her husband worriedly, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Andrei, perhaps we should—"

Andrei frowned immediately and interrupted impatiently, "Andrei. Iris."

Perhaps realizing his emotions were amiss, he took a deep breath, murmuring, whether to his wife or himself, "Iris, our Iris family are descendants of the second son of the nineteenth Earl of Blackrock Fortress. Due to the fall of our ancestors, only a knightly territory and a single 'Iris' sprite remain."

"This journey across the Green Forest to the Wild Frontier is because the Knights' Territory was destroyed by the enraged Lord Thor. Fearing the wrath of the Earl of Blackrock Fortress, we had no choice but to move away from Blackrock Fortress—"

The more he spoke, the brighter his eyes became. He looked at his wife and declared firmly, "I am the Knight Lord of the Kingdom of 'Harburg,' and I will lead the 'Iris' family to expand the kingdom's territory to new heights."

He paused, then said with a fervent expression, "Andre will restore the glory of the 'Iris' family and become—the Kingdom-granted Baron of the 'Iris', and you, Arya, will be the Baroness, Monte will be the next Baron, and Pope will be Monte's knight in the future—"

"Mina will marry a 'Baron' and become a Baroness—"

The husband's words, one by one.

Lady Arya was still worried about the future, but her worries were also mixed with her hopes for the future described by her husband.

She only said one word.

This brought the family conversation to a close.

"Andrei, I hope our child can grow up healthy and strong, and become a knight like you—"

"Yes."

Andrei, no, the knight Andrei, head of the "Iris" family, nodded solemnly, "Definitely."

Just then.

Monte, who was heading towards the jungle border, quickly returned. Andrei's gaze sharpened, and he immediately stood up, placing his hand on the "Carbonstone Steel Sword" at his waist, which came from "Black Stone Castle" and had not left his side for a month.

Monte approached and, without further ado, said directly, "Father, there is a caravan on the mainland, consisting of about twenty people and five carriages. They have no noble insignia, and judging from the wheel tracks, the cargo they are carrying is quite heavy; it should be something like barley or salt."

Seeing a change in his father's expression, he added, "No one is riding horses, no one is wearing armor—"

Andrei didn't speak, but turned and walked towards the carriage. After a short while, he was wearing "charcoal steel half-armor". He walked up to the old horse, patted its head, sat on it, and looked at his eldest son.

Without wasting any words, Monte strode toward the caravan. Although he had not yet been born with "life energy" like his father and become a true knight, he had been training as a knight since childhood, and his physique had reached the peak of "apprentice knight". He was only one step away from consuming "magical crops", condensing "life energy", and advancing to the rank of knight.

Although he despised his father's act of betrayal, he wholeheartedly approved of it and felt immense admiration for his father's decision, as well as high expectations for the future.

The Iris Flower Fairy—

Such a sacred creation could only be created by an idiot like Orpheus, who would abandon the "little elves" about to be born out of concern that the farm would die out and the barley would fail.

"Hmph, not becoming a knight during your precious golden years, what a waste—"

Without a knight in charge, the "Barley" knightly territory will certainly be reclaimed, and Orpheus might become an accountant, or perhaps a "wandering knight"—

But none of this matters to him anymore.

The "Iris" family will replace him, expanding the territory of the "Happen" Kingdom and becoming a prestigious border noble family.

A jumble of thoughts flashed through his mind, but Monte put them aside and walked along the path, soon arriving at the shady grove beside the continent.

The heavy sound of horses' hooves came from behind him. Andrei rolled off the ground and looked in the direction from which they had come from the mainland. Under the blazing sun, a caravan was slowly making its way towards them.

He only glanced at it briefly, but with his knowledge and insight, he quickly came to a conclusion.

This was a caravan that did not receive the protection of nobles.

Without the protection of nobles, caravans would inevitably be unable to hire "knights".

read this.

Andrei placed his hand on the "Carbon Steel Greatsword" at his waist.

The "Iris" family wants to establish themselves on the border, wants to obtain the king's decree for land reclamation, and wants to become nobles—

The core element is having a "little sprite".

Sufficient funds were also needed to purchase equipment, recruit serfs, and appease the greedy officials.

As expected, the facts unfolded as predicted.

Against a knight who has cultivated "life energy," ordinary people who have only received basic training with ordinary equipment are no match at all.

It took less than 15 minutes.

Sir Andrei then slaughtered the entire caravan, leaving only two drivers. Even then, he did so only because he was afraid of hurting the precious dwarf horse and donkey; otherwise, he would have gone even faster.

The father and son quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

They received two strong, sturdy steeds, three donkeys, four cartloads of barley, one cartload of ore, several ordinary longswords and spears, and a set of leather armor.

And ten shiny "gold nars", twenty-seven "silver nars", and more than three hundred "bronze nars".

This unexpected windfall brought a smile to the usually stern face of Andrei, made Lady Arya's barley bread sweet and delicious with honey, and allowed the three Monte siblings to ride in a carriage.

"Lock City".

One of the key western cities directly under the rule of the "Halbert" dynasty.

It was also a bridgehead for the "Haburg" dynasty to expand its territory.

Countless knights, dreaming of restoring their ancestors' glory, came to "Lock City." Some carved out their own territories and became knights or barons, but many more perished due to monsters, diseases, and various accidents in the wilderness.

Even though countless people die every year.

But knights continued to come here in droves.

"Lock City" Market.

After selling three cartloads of barley to merchants for fifty silver dollars per cart, Andrei settled his family in and, with all his belongings, entered the Lord's Mansion of Locke City.

Contrary to his expectations, he was not subjected to various difficulties.

After paying another ten "golden nars".

He successfully obtained the "Reclamation Order" and a family token with a majestic fortress engraved on the back and an "iris" pattern engraved on the front.

There is also a book about "reclaiming wasteland".

This "no gold" was a generous gift from His Majesty William III, the King of Haburg, to every knight willing to strengthen the Kingdom of Haburg.

To study the ways of knighthood.

Not only must one hone their physique, but also learn to read and write. One doesn't need to be an expert in all literature, but at least one must be able to understand the principles of chivalry.

Therefore, Sir Andrei was literate, and upon returning to his temporary residence, he quickly became familiar with the "reclamation" rules.

The book is very thick, with a lot of text.

But there is only one actual message.

If you transform uncultivable and uninhabitable wilderness into cultivable and inhabitable land, then you become the master of that land.

A knightly territory was established.

Then you would be the lowest-ranking noble, a "knight".

A manor was built.

Then you would be the lowest rank of nobleman, a "knight".

They opened up a territory of about three manors, and the territory had "sprites" that could produce "magical crops", as well as "knights" who had embarked on the path of knighthood to govern it.

They swore allegiance to the kingdom and to the king.

Then you are a border "Baron", truly entering the inner circle, becoming a superior person, and having the qualification to participate in the world game.

After a short rest, I finally got some rest for a day.

Knight Andrei and his eldest son Monte arrived at the "slave market".

Although it was called a "slave market," it actually sold not only slaves, but also various land reclamation equipment, cattle, horses, medicine, and so on.

Everything that can help with land reclamation can be bought here.

Upon entering.

Not only was Monte dazzled by the prosperity of the "slave market," but even Knight Andrei was stunned by the magnificent houses and dazzling array of things.

And the cloth bag in his arms.

A charcoal-black insect with distinctive horns cautiously peeked out, its tiny black-gray eyes watching the crowds coming and going on the street. The noise and commotion were incessant, along with the chaotic smells of livestock dung and all sorts of filth.

He looked around and silently thought, "Build a model, collect language information, and analyze it."

next moment.

A stream of information suddenly flooded his mind and transformed it into a meaning he could understand.

After understanding the situation, Zhu Yu came to his senses and was immediately able to understand the noisy conversation outside.

"The newly arrived Ermen are tough and strong, each one as powerful as an ox. One hundred of them can open up a knight's territory for you, and three hundred can open up a manor for you—"

"The best barley produced in 'Fire Rock Territory' costs only one 'silver nar' for three hundred catties."

"Various insect repellent and detoxifying powders—"

"The women from the Land of Women are all radiant and beautiful—"

"————"

Voices came one after another.

Zhu Yu looked around with great interest. Just then, he suddenly sensed a slight fluctuation of "magic". Following the direction of the fluctuation, a simple "livestock pen" came into view.

His gaze swept across the area and quickly landed on a thin, bald old steed.

"An elf? —"