Five Days Later, The Rapidly Developing Territory

The night deepened.

After the bonfire party, the manor fell silent.

Loren soaked in the hot bath and let out a comfortable sigh.

Tired from a day's work, the sensation of the hot water greatly helped him relax.

But he wasn't idle. Closing his eyes, he began his second immersive cultivation session.

His body hadn't fully recovered from overexerting himself, and cultivating the Demon Breathing Technique required high-intensity training.

Loren didn't want to leave any hidden injuries, so he focused on the Bauhinia Breathing Technique these past few days.

In his sea of consciousness, blue spiritual power slowly swirled.

This was the most fundamental power, and also the most difficult to improve.

Without a breathing technique, the body could become stronger through high-intensity training, but the improvement of spiritual power had to be cultivated separately.

Legend had it that Spellcasters had even more exaggerated requirements for spiritual power. The breathing techniques they cultivated completely followed an extreme path of purely increasing spiritual power.

Loren's previous path was quite similar to that of a Spellcaster, pursuing extreme spiritual power to unleash damage far beyond his level.

However, the Archdemon Bloodline changed this situation. Extreme spiritual power now had a strong body to anchor it, so he was no longer a "five-second man."

Body and spirit complemented each other, possessing faster, stronger, and more sustained combat power.

Calming his mind, Loren activated the phantom image of the Archdemon Bloodline within his bloodline and began to visualize his spiritual power again.

But this time, Loren didn't rush to construct an Archdemon with his spiritual power. Instead, he simply experienced the might of the Archdemon Bloodline phantom.

He observed every detail of this terrifying lifeform's body, wanting to fully comprehend it before constructing it.

Eyes of Blood, Wings of Slaughter, Body of a Demon...

He discovered that every part of the Archdemon's physical structure was perfect, with almost nothing superfluous, born for slaughter.

Gradually, Loren became immersed, savoring the extraordinary nature of this epic lifeform.

After a long while, his body suddenly sent a warning, as if he had been completely drained.

He jolted awake.

He then realized that the spiritual power he hadn't even used had been consumed to a greater extent than when he had constructed the Archdemon's body last night.

Just investigating the Archdemon caused this?

After carefully sensing for a moment, Loren's eyes gradually lit up.

His mental resilience had surprisingly increased after visualizing the Archdemon phantom.

Loren's heart stirred, and his eyes burst with brilliant light.

"Could this be the correct way to practice the Bauhinia Breathing Technique?!"

Visualize, observe, conceive.

Loren mused thoughtfully.

Today's accident made him feel as if he was getting closer to the essence of the Bauhinia Breathing Technique.

But after a moment, he shook his head helplessly.

Although his spiritual power was already exaggerated for his level, visualizing a legendary lifeform like the Archdemon couldn't be sustained for long.

He had many thoughts, but for now, he had to suppress them.

Visualizing the Archdemon without sufficient spiritual power was asking for trouble. The backlash from mental collapse could tear his soul apart.

After regaining some energy, Loren got up, dried himself, and put on a soft robe.

He casually picked up the wine poured by the maid on the round table and walked to the window, gazing into the distance through the half-open pane.

Two bright moons hung high in the sky.

Outside, apart from the moonlight, everything was pitch black.

This scene had nothing to do with the name "City of Brilliant Moon" at this moment.

He took a sip of wine from the crystal goblet, watching the red liquid swirl in the cup, his gaze gradually sharpening.

This territory, which was almost non-existent, would surely become the true City of Brilliant Moon in his hands.

Bright moonlight, magnificent and vast.

On the Endless Wasteland, there should be such a city, admired and longed for by all.

As dawn broke the next day, the City of Brilliant Moon began to gradually awaken.

Heads of departments in City Hall started shouting at their subordinates to begin the day's work, while the troops preparing to go out enjoyed a hot breakfast and organized their equipment.

Residents not employed by City Hall participated in labor under the direction of City Hall staff.

Even the weak elderly and young were assigned tasks; no one was idle.

The entire territory operated like a machine.

Loren's arrangements for implementing tasks one by one were central to the City of Brilliant Moon.

Currently, the City of Brilliant Moon had three main construction tasks.

First, building Arrow Towers; second, making paper; and third, tidying up the territory's sanitation.

The Arrow Towers were the responsibility of the Construction Department, with 50 people working on them.

Papermaking was handled by the only elder who knew the Papermaking Technology, Tommy. Loren allocated 20 people to him.

The Sanitation Department, originally assigned 20 staff for tidying the territory's sanitation, had its numbers boosted by Loren's order to speed things up, bringing the total to 50.

The Sanitation Department was not only responsible for clearing excrement but also for planning areas to build latrines and septic tanks.

This left less than 60 people out of nearly 180.

These remaining residents were also put to work, with Loren assigning them all to construct a new building – barracks.

For the past couple of days, the Barbarians and Kobolds had been living in rudimentary structures behind the manor. He didn't mind the Kobolds, but the Barbarians, as elite troops, needed proper housing and a convenient place for future training.

While building the barracks wasn't urgent, it was a major undertaking.

Loren simply ordered all the Barbarians and Kobolds remaining in the territory to participate in chopping trees on the vast plains behind the Gray Eagle Territory.

The barracks were to be located 500 meters to the left of the Lord's Manor, which was 1000 meters from the lake, effectively cutting off direct access between the lake and the Lord's Manor.

The Frogmen in the lake had been quiet, but they posed a threat that couldn't be ignored.

He certainly didn't want to be ambushed by a group of wet Frogmen in the middle of the night.

April 13th was spent entirely in busyness.

Repairing Arrow Towers, improving sanitation, researching papermaking.

Everyone was assigned a job, and a grand construction effort officially began.

On April 14th, the territory's sanitation situation had basically improved. Large amounts of excrement and household waste were cleared away, and the construction of latrines began.

The trait Loren activated when establishing the City of Brilliant Moon, "Eternal Brilliant Moon," shone brightly during these days.

After the moon rose, all residents within the City of Brilliant Moon experienced a 30% increase in Stamina Recovery speed.

This non-combat trait was extremely practical.

No matter how arduous the work, after a night's rest, everyone could return to the construction site the next day full of vigor.

It greatly increased the work efficiency of the City of Brilliant Moon's residents, a truly divine skill.

On April 15th, the raw materials needed for rebuilding the Arrow Towers were mostly prepared, and the Arrow Tower repair entered its second phase, with actual repairs commencing.

On the same day, the first latrine with a septic tank and manual flushing was completed.

Fortunately, the area for this latrine had a somewhat murky spring, so there was no need to worry about the water source.

The clean and tidy latrine amazed many residents, who had never imagined a toilet could be so comfortable.

Moreover, Loren had found a family of three – physician apprentices – during the population census. They had also prepared a spice that repelled mosquitoes and placed it inside, giving the latrine a subtle fragrance and an air of luxury.

Large crowds began lining up to use the toilet, with some even going in just to look around even if they didn't need to go. The sight of a crowd marveling at a single toilet was quite spectacular.

On April 16th, to accelerate the advent of Papermaking Technology, the papermaking factory was established.

Loren personally appointed Tommy as the first factory director and allocated an area for him to build facilities and research papermaking.

On April 17th, the Arrow Tower repair progress was astonishing, with the main framework completed and only final finishing touches remaining.

On the same day, the sanitation improvement project was completed. 20 latrines were distributed downwind of the residential areas, greatly improving the situation of widespread excrement.

Furthermore, the Sanitation Department widened the sewers and implemented regulations requiring garbage to be centrally processed and water from wells to be boiled before drinking. The residents' sense of happiness visibly increased.

Time flew by, and it was the 18th.

The weather was clear, with blue skies and clear waters.

Today, several pieces of news made Loren quite excited.

Among the City of Brilliant Moon's initial three major projects, the sanitation improvement was completely finished.

The Sanitation Department had also specifically established a supervision team. Anyone caught defecating or urinating in public would have their "tools" confiscated, which served as a significant deterrent to the male population.

The Arrow Tower repair task would also be completed today.

Only the paper was still under intense research, with no signs of completion in the next three to five days.

Walking on the clean, fresh streets, free of any lingering odors, Loren smiled.

Although the scale of the City of Brilliant Moon was still pitifully small, it already showed signs of a burgeoning metropolis, with everything flourishing.

"Lord Loren, the Arrow Towers will be repaired today. Would you like to inspect them?"

After several days of work, Ariel, the timid and shy genius administrator, had become much more capable, her potential as the Deputy Speaker of the City Hall beginning to show.

However, regardless of her status within the territory, when facing Loren, the shy girl still blushed as usual.

Loren looked at the administrative genius and nodded with satisfaction.

Ariel had worked harder than him these past few days. Many subordinate officials, afraid to report problems directly to him, often sought out Ariel first.

The girl had to handle almost every aspect of the City Hall's operations.

Ariel also lived up to his trust, her performance at work was impeccable.

Not only were her administrative tasks handled in an orderly fashion, but what was even more rare was that the girl, who was usually a bit timid and shy in personality, never backed down when it came to her work.

What should be, is what it is, with a rather unyielding demeanor.

Over these past few days, with this approach and her considerable management skills, she had earned the trust of the employees below City Hall, subtly gaining considerable prestige.

This directly dispelled Loren's previous worry that the girl would be deceived by her subordinates.

To be praised as a genius by the system, she was indeed extraordinary.

Because of this, Ariel's status in his heart rose another step.

This girl, whose loyalty had slowly climbed to 95 points, had completely become his confidante.

"Let's go take a look."

Loren nodded, and walked towards the city walls with Ariel.

"How is Tommy's paper mill construction going? How much longer until paper can be produced?"

Old Tommy had originally guaranteed that paper would be developed within 5 days.

But Loren found it frustrating that the City of Brilliant Moon didn't even have half of what the guy needed, and he had been trying to solve his tool problems for the past few days.

The development of paper had to be postponed.

He didn't know if it was due to magic, but paper manufacturing on the Nol Main Plane seemed to be very different from Earth, with many additional procedures.

He had no knowledge reserves in this area, and normal people wouldn't think of learning how to make paper, so he could only offer his sympathies.

Ariel's clear eyes gazed at Loren's near-perfect profile, a faint blush on her face, and she said softly.

"Factory Director Tommy stayed up late last night researching and made good progress. It's estimated that we'll have results within 5 days at the latest."

"5 days? Tell him to hurry up. Once ordinary paper is developed, he should pass the technology on to others. I need him to develop Magic Paper."

Although plain paper was also a profitable business, it was far inferior to Magic Paper.

Magic Paper was a prerequisite for manufacturing Magic Scrolls, which could greatly enhance the territory's military strength and should not be overlooked.

Moreover, the City of Brilliant Moon had Sim, a Bloodline Mage.

Once true Magic Paper was developed, he could completely have the Kobolds try to make Magic Scrolls.

If everyone had a Magic Scroll of Fireball Spell, wouldn't his Barbarians and Javelinists take off?

If they couldn't win, they could just overwhelm their opponents with Magic Scrolls.

Thinking of this beautiful future, Loren couldn't wait for Tommy to hurry up and research Magic Paper.