Unexpected Interception

When the Magical White Horse returned, the wild horse herd automatically made way for it.

Then Luan was given something straight that was definitely not a tail hair.

After placing the long, spike-like object in Luan's hands, the white horse shook its head and let out a neigh.

"You mean this is the horn from your father's head?"

Luan held the spike in both hands and looked at it helplessly.

The white horse nodded, then used the long golden horn on its head to point at the willow wood in Luan's pocket.

"You mean this can replace tail hair?"

Only then did Luan understand what it meant.

When he saw the white horse nod in response, Luan became puzzled.

Could it know how to make wands?

Brushing aside the absurd thought that had flashed through his mind, Luan focused on examining the item in his hands.

It was a spike that had been stored away for a long time, covered in a mottled layer of dark golden ash.

After he gently tapped it, the ash layer began to slowly fall away, gradually revealing a silver filament slightly thicker than a unicorn tail hair.

Pfft~

He lightly blew away the remaining dark golden powder from the filament, and a dazzling silver gleam flashed across it.

When the white horse saw this, two crystalline tears fell from its eyes.

This was undoubtedly an extremely rare magical material.

Having finished reading Wandmaking and Maintenance, Luan knew very well that items capable of displaying magical properties while still in the material stage were exceedingly rare.

Unicorn tail hair, Dragon heartstring, and Veela Hair showed no magical properties at all when they were merely materials.

Only after being set into a wand could their magical properties be awakened.

The only material recorded in Wandmaking and Maintenance as possessing extraordinary magical properties before being made into a wand was Phoenix feather.

The feathers of that sacred bird could not only be used to make wands; they were also protective talismans in their own right.

The silver filament now floated quietly above Luan's hands, surrounded by specks of light.

Luan understood the value of this gift very clearly, and he gave a slight nod in thanks.

The wild horse herd nearby also lowered their heads, as if mourning their former guardian.

"I'll use it well. Please rest assured!"

"I told you long ago that this map couldn't possibly be wrong."

The sun had already risen high as the two boys left the grassland where the wild horse herd was staying.

Brad proudly patted his chest, showing off his family's former glory.

"We should've brought a couple of mares. I spotted several fine stallions in that herd."

Luan now fully believed in the Foster Family's skill at raising horses, even that abstract map that looked like a doodle.

But horses were not on his mind right now. He had all the wand materials strapped to his back.

As long as he returned to the farmhouse cabin tomorrow, Luan would have plenty of time to make a wand.

And it would be a completely different wand.

"That thing... the unicorn, right? Could it maybe give me one too—"

Luan's astonished look stopped Brad from finishing the sentence.

"If you don't mind having an extra hole in your body, I fully support you giving it a try."

"Don't say that. I noticed you seem able to communicate with it. How about next time I bring the prettiest mare?"

"No, I refuse!" Luan urged his horse into a faster pace.

"Don't be like that, Luan. It must need one, right? Otherwise, how was it born?"

On the way back, the two boys had both obtained what they wanted, and their journey was filled with more cheer.

However, that good mood did not last long.

That evening, just after they crossed a stream, they saw from afar that the herdsmen's rest cabin had been burned down.

This had originally been where they planned to spend the night.

After discovering this, Luan handed the horses over to Brad and climbed the slope on the other side.

From there, he could see the main road not far away.

Many patrolling soldiers had suddenly appeared on the road. Quite a few travelers were stopped and taken into the nearby Barracks.

After telling Brad what he had seen, the two decided to take a detour and spend the night in the herdsmen's spare cave.

Only after the sky outside gradually darkened did Brad light a campfire inside the cave.

The sudden turn of events left neither of them in the mood to talk.

The army that should have been stationed at the foot of Snow Eagle Mountain had somehow arrived near Xilin, and it had happened to block their way home.

Neither of them had considered this before setting out.

"This is already the interior of Liuyun City. The army shouldn't be here, should it?"

Brad tossed a piece of firewood into the flames and muttered.

The border where the Gracia Federation and the Melani Empire confronted one another was Black Earth City, north of Black Iron Mountain.

It would take at least twenty days to cross Snow Eagle Mountain from there.

The wild horse herd Luan and Brad had sought this time was at the southernmost edge of Snow Eagle Mountain, at least a month away from the front lines.

Moreover, the war was still in its preparation stage, and neither country's army had completed its assembly.

That was why Luan and Brad had dared to come looking for the wild horse herd.

Yet now the army was blocking roads and intercepting people within Liuyun City. This was already a state of military control.

"They don't look like they're fighting a war. They look like they're searching for someone." Luan removed the pack from his back and answered casually.

"Searching for someone? This is practically Xilin already. Besides, shouldn't searching for someone be the job of the army!"

Xilin was located at the southernmost edge of Liuyun City's jurisdiction and was also a prosperous port.

Even during the Federation Sovereignty War ten years ago, Xilin had never been placed under military control.

Luan did not know how to answer that question. His understanding of war was probably not even as good as Brad's, who had grown up as a horse herder.

But not knowing war did not mean he lacked sensitivity to danger.

Sudden incidents often meant the unknown and risk.

To deal with any possible changes, Luan could only choose to make his wand now.

He took out his toolbox and began working in the firelight.

Brad, seeing this, also fell silent.

To him, it did not matter whom the army was searching for.

He had traveled all around the area while herding horses anyway. If the army was still blocking the road tomorrow, he would simply lead Luan on a longer route back to Xilin.

Luan's wandmaking had also reached its final step: setting the Wand Core.

However, the Wand Core he had received was somewhat thicker, so he had to adjust the size of the core groove.

For Luan, who had experimented hundreds of times, this was not difficult.

By the time Brad leaned against the wall and prepared to sleep, Luan had already completed the final step.

The Wand Core fit seamlessly into the groove of the willow branch.

Just as Luan was about to glue the wand together, something strange happened.

The green fluorescence that had already seeped into the wood began to slowly emerge, and a line of green fluorescence gradually appeared along the place where it had been cut apart.

Then, miraculously, the wand healed. There was no trace at all of the place where it had once been separated.

Fortunately, ordinary people could not see magical fluorescence, and Brad beside him was already close to falling asleep.

Just as Luan was about to head outside the cave to test the wand, a stranger's hoarse voice suddenly came from beyond the entrance.

"What a relief. So there really is someone here~"

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