Chapter 687
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That night, Eleanor did not sleep . She was not doing anything, she simply laid on the bed, gazing at the magic patterns on the ceiling in a daze . She never expected to impart elvish magic to Saleen and make so many drawings for him . These were secrets which were not allowed to circulate outside the elvish plane .
"Of course I am not in love with Saleen, but Saleen's care for me has caused me not to miss home and I don't want to return to the elvish plane anymore . It's good staying with Saleen . Long ago the marquis had fallen for my beauty, while I was convinced by his novel ideas, that's why I got married to him . " With Saleen, Eleanor had never revealed her original looks . Saleen's concern for her was very meticulous, he never mentioned the topics which hurt her .
As an elf who had lived for a few hundred years, she was more mature than Saleen, so Saleen's actions could not deceive her .
On the surface, Saleen was very calculative with her and demanded that everything be conducted in a fair exchange . In reality, he just did not want Eleanor to feel pitiful .
"Even though I have made so many contributions, I still cannot return to the elvish plane . Even Father will not spare me . Not only did I marry a human, I have also spilled secrets to another human . The four ancient elvish trees have been planted . From now on, Metatrin City will be my home . If the marquis returns alive, what should I do? I have already been disappointed by that man and I have a reason not to follow him anymore . Those other women of his had killed their own children . This is sufficient already, I don't owe him anything . "
At this point in time, Eleanor seemed to have heaved a sigh of relief . All this while, she was thinking of one problem, "If the marquis is not dead and he appeared before me suddenly, he will surely kill Saleen . The marquis will never allow another man to lead his woman, even if there were no romantic feelings between them . If such a day really comes, then I will be totally free . Even though the marquis is powerful, he cannot resist Saleen's badge . I will never be worried anymore and I don't have to leave…"
Metatrin City's construction continued . This time around, the construction was in the details, the foundation work had been completed . The main structures and roads were fully developed, even the underground drainage system and sewage treatment factory were flawless . What this city needed was humans forces which were alive .
Ships from the south occupied the harbor daily, they delivered large amounts of grain and seeds, then they would take away large quantities of magic nuclei, magic materials, and ores .
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There were also additional small towns north of Metatrin City . Whenever ores from the north were transported over the teams delivering them would require resupply along the way . According to Eleanor's design, Saleen had constructed sturdy castles at the danger areas along the river . The white rocks which he extracted were also sent over continuously .
Saleen wanted to transform the area near Metatrin into one which could not be breached . This region was two-hundred miles wide and twelve-hundred miles in length . Beyond twelve-hundred miles there were colossal mines . Agriculture could not take place there .
Eleanor's equipment was crafted in batches . Saleen's ten main camps did not recruit people, but they chose victors from the arena to fill in the vacancies . During this period, Saleen had allowed the mages to create countless level-1 blank scrolls for signing contracts .
Saleen wanted the elites in his own army to sign a contract with Metatrin City . Of course, before signing a contract, a soldier's loyalty had to be tested .
Lex had sent a letter telling Saleen that all the swordsmen in the imperial swordsman's camp would have to sign a contract . There were no exceptions even if their families had been working in the palace for generations .
Lex had even delivered a sample contract to Saleen . In this contract, other than demanding that a soldier maintain their loyalty, there were also many other reciprocal obligations that targeted the writer of the contract .
During wartime a soldier might have to sacrifice their lives . It was necessary to take care of their families . There were also some humanized clauses inside . If it was necessary to assemble a death squad the members of the death squad would have to have descendants .
Lex had told Saleen the experience gathered by the Grukos family while managing the imperial swordsmen . At that point in time, Saleen then realized that taking care of a powerful and loyal army really required an astronomical sum of money . If Saleen did not possess so many magic beast materials he could never afford the scrolls .
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A one-hundred-thousand man army meant that there would be one-hundred-thousand level-1 scrolls . Fortunately, the writing of this scroll would not fail and the materials required were not that superior either . There was a horrifying number of sea magic beasts and most of them did not possess a magic nucleus . The skins of these magic beasts could be used for scrolls, it was also very easy to refine them .
With the ocean acting as his reserves Saleen did not need to worry about these low level materials .
In the blink of an eye it was already August and the winged skeleton had returned with the pan's turtle alchemical boat . This time around less loot was brought back . Without any experts tagging along he could only target magic beasts of a lower grade .
Luckily, there was a large number of red krill caught, Saleen could collect another three hundred over thousand level-4 magic nuclei . He had promised to give one-hundred and sixty-thousand magic nuclei to the nobles . These magic nuclei would be distributed at a maximum price of one-hundred gold coins . Another forty-thousand magic nuclei would remain in Saleen's possession for price regulation .
As for the extra over one-hundred-thousand magic nuclei, Saleen decided to store them in the warehouse .
Saleen gave the spirit pool he had obtained to the winged skeleton . He asked the winged skeleton not to sail, but to refine the pan's turtle alchemical boat first . At this moment, Nailisi had also woken up . She could not help but sleep for around half a month before she finally absorbed the ability of the spirit kings . The fifth ability, belonging to a Luoluokaluo, was thus born; King of Spirits .
This skill enabled Nailisi to learn any death spell below grade-9 and she could transform into a spirit and cause a suppressive pressure against all spirits below grade-9 . Nailisi could also summon spirits .
There was good news from the borders too . A second army from Holy Rock City had arrived at Loulan, executing a two-pronged attack from the north and south with another main army . Both armies attacked at the same time . The army at the northern face had used war puppets to destroy dozens of cities in one go, causing the Holy See's army to retreat one-thousand miles .
The main army at the southern face had advanced eight-hundred miles, causing the entire situation to change .
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A letter was sent saying that the strong offensive by these two armies caused the Holy See's army surrounding her to retreat, and go to reinforce the army at Loulan .
Saleen was a little surprised that the Red Tiger Mercenary Group was not willing to defect to him, but he immediately understood why . Even though the Red Tiger Mercenary Group had lost two grade-9 sorcerers, the two Silver Grand Swordmasters were too egoistic . They could not stomach that incident . It was rumored that there were still some grade-8 mages in the mercenary group . The leader of the Red Tiger Mercenary Group had suffered a huge loss in power, he thus bore hatred towards Saleen .
Saleen was not anxious either as he still needed some time to seize Laiyin Duchy . "The Holy See had been defeated in Loulan . It will surely try to reverse the outcome . Laiyin Duchy will be a good target for the Holy See . If this Red Tiger Mercenary Groups defects to the Holy See, then I will have a reason to deploy my troops already . "
In mid-August, the envoy group from the Holy Rock City arrived . The leader of this envoy group was one of the twelve great dukes from Holy Rock City; Duke Barde . News of this circulated within Metatrin City, rousing the civilians .
Even though Saleen had established his dominance in their hearts, everyone still needed Holy Rock City's acknowledgement . No one wanted to wage war with a colossal empire right after establishing a kingdom .
The nobles had the same sentiments too, they could only expand their territory after strengthening their abilities .
The fact that Holy Rock City sent Barde meant that even Prince Safilos had acknowledged the presence of Metatrin City . Barde was from the House of Commons, the nobles still understood such political connotations .
In order to host the envoy group from Holy Rock City, Saleen had built a miniature castle north of the city, using it as the place for governance . He would not allow the people from Holy Rock City to enter the temple because there were powerful mages in the envoy group . Saleen did not want others to know anything . Not only was there a colossal warehouse beneath the temple, Saleen had also developed a space for making a planar teleportation portal . This portal was the most important thing to Saleen, no mistakes were allowed .
Saleen sent two people out of the city to receive the envoy group, one was Jola while the other was Irene . These two people brought along people from the palace's swordsmen camp and lead the envoy group all the way to western town .
Even though Barde had accepted the orders from the emperor, he still looked down on Metatrin City . When they passed by the broken-edged barrier, the ruins were still being cleaned up, while the city walls were being rebuilt . Along the way the destroyed small towns had not been fully reconstructed and Barde had noticed a large amount of debris . He had also brought along a grade-8 sorcerer this time around . In his heart he felt very proud .
The nobles in the House of Commons kept saying that those in the House of Lords were hypocritical . The nobles in the House of Lords also felt that the nobles in the House of Commons were shallow . This was not without rhyme nor reason . Had a duke from the House of Lords come he would not behave so arrogantly . He would have treated Irene with utmost respect .
When Irene noticed Barde's expression, she finally understood why Saleen had told her not to get angry before she set off . Barde turned his nose up at Irene revealing an ungroomed strand of nose hair .
What Barde did not expect was that sorcerer Tiffany, who was behind him, was looking at him disdainfully .
"Why didn't Saleen come out to receive me?!" Barde hollered at Irene in displeasure .
Irene fumed secretly, then Jola tugged at her sleeves and whispered into her ear . Irene immediately smiled, then urged her horse to trot forward . Unexpectedly, she talked to someone behind Barde, "Master, my king didn't know that an expert like yourself would come, so he didn't come out to welcome you . Please accept my apology . "
After finishing her sentence Irene then bowed slightly at Barde and she did not even disembark from her horse . This formality was too simple .
Tiffany shook her head, but did not say anything . She knew that Saleen was a grand mage . Even though she did not give a hoot about Saleen, it was also unacceptable for a grand mage to receive a noble . This grand mage had established a country . Barde had been living in the Holy Rock City for too long causing his brain to malfunction .