To Repel Foreigners, One Must First Pacify the Interior

To Resist Foreign Threats, One Must First Pacify Within

"Young Master, you're much stronger than before. You must have suffered a lot." Tina gently kneaded Li Junshan's shoulders with her soft little hands, feeling that compared to before, the young master's skin was not only much darker, but there were also slightly bulging muscles everywhere.

Li Junshan smiled faintly and said, "It was nothing. I'm a man. A little hardship is normal. By the way, Tina, do you know where I can hire a high-level priest?"

Tina's hands paused slightly, then began rubbing again. She sighed and said, "Young Master, you want to heal Madam's eyes, don't you? Master already tried. It's no use. Those high-level priests put on even more airs than mages, and Master couldn't afford their outrageous fees. Now that he's lost his title too, there's no way to invite them."

"The servants in the manor are all working outside to earn money and help support the household. Otherwise..." Tina stopped halfway and said no more.

Lightly patting the surface of the water, Li Junshan gave a cold laugh and said nothing else. Before long, after he had finished bathing, Tina brought him a new set of clothes. Li Junshan put them on and walked outside.

Claur was still sitting in the living room. When he saw Li Junshan come in, he pointed at the bread and pastries on the table and said, "You must be hungry. Eat a little first to fill your stomach. I've also had some sent over to that companion of yours. Later, when everyone working outside has returned, we'll have dinner."

"He really is a kind old man. In this world, what noble would wait to eat with servants, even a noble who'd lost his title?" Li Junshan thought. Even so, Claur's words warmed his heart.

After casually eating a few pieces of bread, Li Junshan asked, "Father, where in Floro City can I sell magical beast pelts and bones?"

Claur was slightly startled. Then he remembered the carriage in the courtyard and understood. He said, "If there's a large quantity, we can go out and find someone to come here and buy them. Most trading firms purchase such things. Does your companion have magical beast pelts and bones to sell?"

Claur did not believe for a second that his own son could hunt magical beasts. He assumed it was Fate's doing, even though he did not know what rank of mage Fate was.

Seeing Li Junshan nod, Claur got up and called in a servant. After giving him a few instructions, the servant went out.

Li Junshan ate by himself while Claur sat to the side watching him, his eyes full of satisfaction and a gentle smile on his face. It made Li Junshan feel awkward all over.

Before long, after Li Junshan had eaten his fill, the front door was pushed open, and the servant led two people inside.

"Sir, do you have magical beast pelts and bones to sell?" The big fat man in the lead spoke with neither servility nor arrogance, though a hint of regret could be seen between his brows.

"I thought this would be some big deal, but it's just a fallen noble. What good stuff could he possibly have?" the fat man thought.

"Take a look and see how much these are worth." Li Junshan motioned for the servant to close the front door, then walked to the middle of the courtyard and rubbed the spatial ring on his finger.

Suddenly, a great pile of magical beast pelts and bones appeared in the empty courtyard. They showed no signs of decay, and most of them were intact. These were what Li Junshan had hunted in the Falling Moon Mountains. He had almost forgotten about them; only when he was about to set off had he remembered, gone to that cave, and packed them all into his spatial ring to bring back.

"A level-five magical beast, Crimson Flame Giant Python! Huh, and the pelt of a level-five Violent Bear too." The fat man clearly knew his goods. His eyes went wide at once, and he rushed over in a few steps, immediately starting to rummage through them.

Not only were the servants and soldiers in the manor stunned, even Claur stood off to the side, dumbstruck.

"Level-five magical beasts! A spatial ring! Is this still Nicholas?" Claur's mind was in chaos.

Li Junshan saw the fat man happily moving the pelts and bones out and sorting them by type. Estimating that it would still take some time, he simply had Tina bring over two stools and sat to the side with Claur to wait.

"Nicholas, what's going on with these magical beasts?" Claur could not help asking. "Is that thing on your hand a spatial ring?"

Li Junshan smiled and said, "Father, those magical beasts were hunted in the Falling Moon Mountains. As for this spatial ring, I'll tell you later."

"The Falling Moon Mountains!" Claur's brain seized up again. Only after a long while did he say, "Nicholas, you'd better keep this spatial ring properly. It would be best to string it on a cord and wear it under your clothes. It wouldn't be good if people saw it."

No wonder Claur was so nervous. Seven-Degree Gold was a mineral that was almost impossible to buy on the Yalan Continent, no matter how much money one had. Anyone who owned a spatial ring was either rich or noble. In Floro City alone, the number of people who possessed spatial rings could definitely be counted on one's fingers, and would not exceed ten.

"My lord, Young Master, this humble one has counted them. There are eleven completely intact level-five magical beast pelts, fourteen lightly damaged ones, and quite a few with especially severe damage, thirty in total. There aren't many level-four ones, and the degree of damage varies. How about this: I'll compromise on all the level-four magical beast pelts and calculate them as moderately damaged. What do you think?"

The fat man wore a face full of fawning smiles and stood bent at the waist.

"I called you here to buy them, but that doesn't mean I have to sell them to you." Seeing Claur hesitate silently to the side, Li Junshan knew he was not good at this, so he said, "Name a price first. I'll hear it."

Without even thinking, the fat man opened his mouth and said, "For level-five magical beast pelts, intact ones at one thousand gold coins each, lightly damaged ones at four hundred gold coins each, and severely damaged ones at fifty gold coins each. As for the level-four magical beast pelts, if we average them as moderately damaged, there are fifty-two in total, all calculated at fifty gold coins each. Young Master, what do you think?"

"Depressing." Li Junshan thought, "The price difference between intact magical beast pelts and damaged ones is actually this huge. I only cared about using the Xenomorphs for training, and too many of the pelts were damaged." Not knowing whether this price was fair, Li Junshan glanced at Fate, who nodded at him.

"Young Master." At some point, the old butler Raymond had appeared behind Claur. He leaned forward and said to Li Junshan, "The price is about right. Floro City is a small border city, not like those large cities. This is basically the going rate."

"Then let's do that," Li Junshan said. "Remember, I want all of it in gold coins. I don't need a Magic Crystal Card. Hurry up and find people to haul it away. Leaving it in this courtyard is really an eyesore."

Seeing that the deal was done, the fat man grinned from ear to ear. He quickly gave a few instructions to the attendant behind him, and the attendant hurriedly ran outside, probably to look for a carriage.

"You don't want the magical beast skeletons?" Seeing that he had picked all the pelts to one side and stacked them neatly, but had not touched the bones at all, Li Junshan could not help finding it strange.

These skeletons were all from magical beasts of level five or above. He had thrown away all the lower-level ones.

The fat man said with an apologetic smile, "Young Master, if they were level six, that would be great. They could sell for several thousand gold coins. But level-five bones aren't valued by alchemists or apothecaries, so these aren't of much use. This whole pile is worth at most a few silver coins."

Only then did Li Junshan recall that Anna had once said magical beast bones were useful, which was why he had kept them. At the time, Fate had seemed completely indifferent. So in Anna's eyes, even a few silver coins counted as money!

Having wasted so much effort collecting magical beast bones for nothing, Li Junshan did not know whether to laugh or cry. He said, "Then I don't want any money for them. Haul them all away."

"No problem!" the fat man agreed readily. At that moment, a huge carriage pulled by three Savage Bulls drove in, and several strong men climbed down and began carrying the goods onto it.

"There are twenty thousand seven hundred gold coins in total." The fat man came over with another person, dragging several cloth bags. He set them down in front of Li Junshan, opened them, and said, "Young Master, please take a look. One small bag contains one hundred gold coins, and there are two hundred and seven small bags in the two large bags."

The old butler stepped forward at just the right moment and took two servants over to count them.

"Twenty thousand seven hundred gold coins." Standing to the side, Claur's brain seemed to suffer a bout of oxygen deprivation. From childhood to adulthood, he had devoted himself to the sea of art. Poetry, chess records, painting—he was proficient in all of them, yet he happened to have no concept of money. When he was young, his parents managed everything. After his parents passed away, Linda ran the household. Only after disaster struck the family, and Linda ruined her eyes from crying, did this unqualified noble finally understand the importance of money.

"My lord, Young Master, if you have anything else to sell in the future, you can contact us at any time." Seeing that his men had loaded everything onto the carriage, the fat man walked up to Claur and Li Junshan, nodding and bowing as he spoke.

"Mm. Go on." Claur's eyes were fixed on the money bags beside the old butler, and he waved his hand in a daze.

The fat man tactfully led his people away. Li Junshan stood up and asked the old butler, "Have all the servants who were working outside returned?"

Raymond nodded and said respectfully, "The fifteen manor guards who went to carry goods at the grain shop on East Street, and the thirteen maids who went to work at the clothing shop in the west of the city, all returned just now. I saw something was going on here in front, so I had them enter through the back door."

"Call everyone in the manor over."

Although the old butler did not know what the young master wanted, he still went to carry out his instructions. Before long, the courtyard was filled with servants and guards. Most of them had only just returned from working outside and had only now seen Li Junshan. Their faces were full of excitement and emotion as they greeted him from time to time.

"Everyone's here." The old steward did a head count, then said to Li Junshan, "Sixteen servants in all, and thirty guards."

"Everyone, quiet down." Li Junshan shouted, and the servants and guards stopped talking and looked at him.

"Something has happened to our family, and it's serious. Even if I don't say it, you all know." Li Junshan's face was solemn as he said, "At the most difficult moment, you didn't leave this household. Not only did you stay, you even went out to work for this family. I can imagine how much hardship you suffered out there, how many cold looks and insults you endured. On behalf of my father and mother, I thank you!"

Tears began to shimmer in the eyes of the servants and guards. In the past, even as servants, they had been connected to nobility. But now, when they went out to work, the guards hauling heavy sacks at the granary had been mocked and sneered at countless times. The maids had it even worse; not only did they have to do a great deal of work every day, they were also ostracized and cursed at by their coworkers in the clothing shop. Now, hearing their young master say the words "thank you," quite a few of the maids began to sob.

"I'm back." Li Junshan clenched his fist and said, "All of this ends now. From today on, none of you need to go out and work anymore. I promise you, life will only get better from here. No matter how much you were paid before, from today on, everyone's monthly wages will increase by two gold coins. This is what you deserve, and it will continue from now on."

A servant's monthly wages were only fifty silver coins, while a guard's were slightly higher at one hundred silver coins—and only one hundred silver coins could be exchanged for one gold coin. As soon as they heard they would receive two extra gold coins every month from now on, the courtyard instantly erupted.

"Grandpa Raymond," Li Junshan called loudly to the old steward, "take out some gold coins first and give everyone ten each. Consider it a little compensation for everyone's hard work during this time."

"Long live the young master!" everyone shouted excitedly.

Li Junshan smiled and waved to everyone, then looked toward Claur.

From the moment Li Junshan had taken out that pile of magic beast pelts to his speech just now, Claur had felt as though he suddenly no longer recognized this son of his.

"Father." Li Junshan clearly knew what he was thinking. He walked over and said, "Over the past half year, I really did suffer quite a bit, and I came to understand many things. Don't worry. From now on, please let me support this family together with you."

"Support it together... Nicholas, you've grown up." Claur murmured, his eyes reddening despite himself, but his heart filled with comfort.