Forgotten Dou Qi Secret Techniques

Magic Beasts can be trained, so naturally, a few monkeys can be as well. To a knight possessing Battle Qi, wild beasts are no different from kittens or puppies.

However, currently, there are only five people in Flower Town who possess Battle Qi—Liszt, Marcus, Gortai, Isaiah, and Blair.

Each has their own duties and cannot possibly become a beast tamer.

It seems it is time to select a few strong youths from the town's commoners, teach them Battle Qi, and make them my squire knights.

As long as he can afford to support them, Liszt could even form a knight order.

But limited by the castle's financial and material resources, he can at most support a dozen or so squire knights to form a small knight squad. This is a plan he has long held; the greatest use for this knight squad will be to clear out the Magic Beasts of Thorn Ridge, bringing Thorn Ridge into Flower Town and making it his territory.

Once the food supply from Oyster Hamlet stabilizes and the castle's tax revenue begins to steady, I will immediately train squire knights.

Karl the Hammer and the other four squire knights do not possess Battle Qi; their potential is already wasted, and they are not worth cultivating. New squire knights must be cultivated from their youth, allowing them to practice Battle Qi and become true knights.

He was currently enjoying the shade and contemplating his grand development plan.

Beside him, Gortai could not stop wiping sweat with his handkerchief. He had to wear his neat Noble Three-Piece Suit every day and was dying of heat: "Liszt, the fishermen have finished their patrol of the sea, and everything is progressing smoothly. Should we head back now?"

Liszt was also very hot.

This weather is truly not a good time to be out, he thought, nodding at the words: "Very well, let's return." He is not a pampered person, but why suffer if one can enjoy comfort? As a lord, holding the power of life and death over his territory, there is no need to put on a show of being "close to the people" or "hardworking."

Bloodline and Battle Qi are the foundations of nobility.

On the way back, Liszt took the opportunity to inspect the road construction in the various hamlets. There is plenty of sea sand, but transporting it is difficult; the commoners can only use buckets and basins, which is not very efficient.

But regardless, the road is taking shape.

Just as they passed the Flower Farm, a sudden stench drifted over from afar, drilling into Liszt's nose and nearly making him vomit in disgust.

The Fire Dragon Horse beneath him also kept sneezing, looking as if it could not stand it.

"Ah, it's so stinky! What is this smell?"

"Who created this foul odor?"

The few squire knights were also covering their noses, wishing they could vomit on the spot.

Is someone cleaning out a latrine? Liszt recalled the smell of cleaning out manure pits in the countryside during his childhood—that fragrant, overflowing scent—but this smell was even more intense. However, he quickly realized, "Flower Town has no latrines, nor have we built any septic tanks. The manure we collect shouldn't have a smell like this."

He pinched his nose and said to the squire knights: "Karl, you four go investigate and see where the smell is drifting from."

A moment later, Karl returned, pinching a blade of grass: "My Lord, the cause has been found."

He held the grass in his hand up high: "It is this kind of grass. Some children from the farm were fooling around and pulled up quite a lot of this grass from a patch of wasteland. Who knew this grass would emit such a disgusting stench."

As he spoke, an even thicker stench drilled into Liszt's nose; the source was indeed the grass in Karl's hand.

Liszt endured the stench, but his eyes lit up: "Is there a large patch of this grass?"

"Yes."

"Good, very good! Karl, go notify Gortai immediately to protect this patch of grass. Do not allow anyone to approach it, and certainly do not damage it!"

Though puzzled, the squire knight obeyed the order.

After giving the command, Liszt was in high spirits.

His personal valet, Thomas, could not help but ask: "Master, why are you happy about such stinky grass?"

"You don't understand, this grass has a great use."

He returned to the castle and, while taking a cold shower, checked the Smoke Serpent Script to see if the mission had updated. He had assumed he would need to replace the equipment for all the fishermen before the mission was considered complete, but now that the mission reward of "a large patch of Smoke-Cured Grass" had clearly been obtained, it meant the mission was finished.

Sure enough, after the smoke emerged, the serpent script updated: "Mission completed, reward: a large patch of Smoke-Cured Grass."

A moment later, the Smoke Serpent Script changed again: "Mission: The newly reclaimed millet field has been sown with seeds, and the Millet Bugs are eager to breathe fresh air. It is a brave little creature; please provide Bug Grass for the Millet Bugs. Reward: A forgotten Battle Qi secret technique."

A forgotten Battle Qi secret technique? Not a Battle Qi manual, but a secret technique. Does this mean the reward is just a powerful ultimate move? Liszt speculated.

A manual contains the methods for refining and utilizing Battle Qi, as well as various combat moves.

A Battle Qi secret technique is a move with relatively greater power, somewhat similar to the ultimate mysteries within a Battle Qi manual; it can be understood as an ultimate move.

However, due to obscure and hidden inheritance, coupled with the great difficulty of learning them, it is very hard for minor nobles to pass down secret techniques from generation to generation.

The Tulip Family has no inherited secret techniques, and the Marquis family of Red Crab Island has not been established long enough to have any either.

Only long-standing Marquis families might possess a move or two of a secret technique.

But there is no denying that the value of a secret technique is enormous. An ultimate mystery is the strongest move in any given Battle Qi manual, but its power is naturally limited by whether it is an intermediate or advanced manual. A secret technique is different; the stronger the Battle Qi, the greater the power.

Liszt was very satisfied with this: "Not bad, not bad. Although I don't like fighting and killing, having a secret technique to rely on can greatly increase my combat power and reduce the possibility of encountering danger."

"I just don't know what kind of Battle Qi secret technique it will be, but I will know soon enough."

So far, the smoke missions have not contained any ultra-high-difficulty content; they are basically daily tasks that Liszt should have been doing anyway. This time was the same—the millet field was reclaimed specifically to house the Millet Bugs; even without the mission, Liszt would have set out to do it.

Subsequently, he pondered another question: "Could this mission still be part of the Invisible Dragon series of chain missions?"

Three days later, the fishermen of Oyster Hamlet were able to fish steadily, harvesting large quantities of seafood each time.

A portion of the seafood quickly entered the commoners' tables, replacing the fishermen's need for bread and allowing the town to minimize the consumption of grain.

But there was nowhere to store the surplus seafood.

"Liszt, we must think of a solution. The East Coast has too much seafood; the fishermen are catching more than can be eaten, and it will spoil at any moment." Gortai found Liszt and began to fret.

Liszt was quite speechless at this: "Since it cannot all be eaten, then find a way to process the seafood into dried goods for storage... Now is not the best season for making dried goods; it would be more suitable during the summer and autumn... If it is not the season for dried goods, then stop the fishing. The seafood will not vanish from the ocean."

Without cold storage or a sufficient quantity of salt for curing, dried goods were the best method of preservation.

Since the weather was currently too hot and dried goods would easily spoil, they should simply catch less seafood—catch only what could be eaten—so as not to cause overfishing of the sea.

Having said this, Liszt's tone turned slightly stern, expressing his dissatisfaction: "Teacher Gortai, I am the lord and you are an official. I need you to govern Flower Town for me, not come running to the lord the moment a problem arises. Do you understand?"

Gortai gave a sheepish smile: "I understand, of course, Liszt. Please believe me, I will not make such a mistake again so easily."