Contented

Negotiating a price requires patience.

Luo Ning had plenty of patience. After all, he held the leverage now; the advantage was his.

However, he also knew that one thousand gold coins was too high a price. Even if the other party had it, they likely wouldn't be willing to pay.

So, he would slowly lower the price.

After some back and forth, and two glasses of cold water later, they finally reached an agreement—

608 gold coins, plus three male Black Water Buffalo and ten female Black Water Buffalo.

Luo Ning took a pen and signed his name on the parchment, a persistent smile on his face.

"Please convey to Baron Leysen upon your return, Sir, that I guarantee no one else will know about this matter!"

Philiton accepted the signed parchment and simultaneously took out the bag of gold coins from his怀里 and handed it to Luo Ning: "My Lord, there are six hundred gold coins in here."

Clearly, Baron Leysen's maximum offer was six hundred gold coins.

Philiton then took out eight more gold coins from his pocket and added them to the bag. This was his own private money, paid in advance.

The moment the money bag entered his hand, long-unseen text appeared before Luo Ning's eyes:

"Prosperous Fortune" Achievement unlocked, Attribute Points +20, Energy Essence +40

"My Lord, please count it."

Luo Ning chuckled, placing the money bag aside. "No need to count. I've never doubted your integrity, Sir!"

Philiton couldn't manage a smile at all.

Not only had he given away all six hundred gold coins prepared by Baron Leysen, but he had also paid eight gold coins out of his own pocket!

"I will send two retainers to deliver the cattle you just discussed tomorrow."

Philiton cursed inwardly, but maintained his composure, bowing as he said, "Then, Philiton bids you farewell, My Lord!"

"Don't go yet~"

Luo Ning grinned, showing his teeth. "I'll have someone prepare lunch right away. You absolutely must stay, Sir."

"Baron Leysen is about to depart for Black Python City to celebrate Count Orson Hyde's birthday. I must rush back to report, so please do not blame me, My Lord Luo Ning."

In truth, Leysen had left that morning. He was just finding a reasonable excuse to leave.

However, this excuse made Luo Ning wary.

This Baron Leysen still had connections with the Border Count Hyde Family?

Then he would need to be even more vigilant in the future.

Luo Ning no longer insisted on him staying. "Since that's the case, I won't force you to stay. Please give my regards to Baron Leysen!"

Under his enthusiastic send-off, Philiton and his squire knight left the castle, mounted their horses, and galloped away.

Luo Ning also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Having gone through this matter, he could at least guarantee that Sain Territory wouldn't trouble him for a while.

Moreover, Baron Leysen had gone to Black Python City for the birthday celebration and likely wouldn't return for ten days to half a month.

Even if they wanted to deal with him, they would have to wait until Leysen returned. Philiton was ultimately just an Ennobled Knight and couldn't make decisions about attacking a noble.

"Congratulations, My Lord, on acquiring such a large sum of gold coins!" Macken congratulated with a smile.

"Haha, this is all thanks to having a good neighbor!"

Luo Ning was very happy. "Have someone inform Bob and Marseille that they don't need to deliver the letter. Oh, and remember to burn that letter."

"Yes, My Lord, I'll go inform them now."

"Wait."

Luo Ning called out. He brought up Macken's attribute interface and used all 40 points of Energy Essence he had gained. The other party's Knight level progress increased to 135/200.

The feeling of becoming stronger made Macken feel comfortable all over. He hadn't expected to improve again just a few hours after becoming stronger that morning.

"Thank you for the gift, My Lord!"

Luo Ning patted the other party's shoulder. "Go on. Cultivate a few more Professional Knights like David for me."

He could add points to Macken and Elrond, but he couldn't add points to people like David.

These individuals needed to rely on their own efforts to become extraordinary professionals, and the same applied to increasing their strength levels.

Therefore, David and the others needed training, sparring, and combat to become stronger and stronger.

Macken could serve this role very well.

"Macken will give his all!"

The Guard Officer performed a solemn knight's salute, then left with a burst of enthusiasm.

Luo Ning, meanwhile, brought up his attribute panel and walked towards the study while adding points to himself.

After a surge of Mental Power brought a feeling of exhilaration, Luo Ning's Mage progress reached 126/150.

"I only need to gain another 24 Attribute Points to break through and become an Intermediate Professional!"

After obtaining Gold Coins from Sain Territory, Luo Ning now had three sources for gaining Attribute Points:

Monthly Check-in, First Purchase Bonus, and Achievement Master.

Over the next six days, through the Monthly Check-in, he could only get 6 Attribute Points.

Completing the First Purchase Bonus would not only allow him to summon Professional Knights with Blazing Sun Aptitude, but also included a Luxury Gift Pack, which Luo Ning estimated would contain Attribute Points.

Besides these two, the last one was the Achievement Master interface.

Luo Ning looked over.

At this time, the [Prosperous Fortune] achievement, just like the [Slaughter Master] achievement completed earlier, had also advanced to a new stage after completing the first stage.

[Prosperous Fortune]: Obtain 1000 Gold Coins in a single transaction. Reward: Attribute Points +50, Energy Essence +100

Compared to the first stage, this time Luo Ning needed to obtain 1000 Gold Coins in a single transaction.

Although Luo Ning's current savings already exceeded one thousand Gold Coins, this didn't mean making money was that easy.

Over nine hundred of his Gold Coins were given by Wushan Castle, Lakeside Town, and Sain Territory, and the rest were all obtained by killing people, such as the Mage Pedro, and Prinster, among others.

As for what he truly earned...

He was sorry, but there was none.

"Having to make money no matter which world I go to, this is truly a headache!"

Luo Ning currently knew of only one source of wealth in Mountain Forest Town, and that was selling grain.

According to Philiton, the amount of grain sent to Sain Territory over the years was not small.

Luo Ning no longer needed to "pay tribute" to Sain Territory, so he could naturally take the surplus grain produced each year and sell it.

But grain was nowhere near as quick to earn money as the horses from Pasture City or the Black Water Buffalo from Sain Territory.

Selling ten thousand catties of Barley would only earn about 30 Gold Coins.

To earn 1000 Gold in a single transaction by selling Barley, he would need to prepare 330,000 catties of Barley.

Where would Mountain Forest Town get so much Barley to sell?

Clearly, this path was not very feasible.

"I wonder if Mountain Forest Town has any specialties!"

Arriving at the study, Luo Ning sat in a chair and rummaged through the books on the desk (there weren't many), but regrettably, Prinster had not left any written descriptions about the products of Mountain Forest Town.

"I need to conduct a tour of the territory."

Luo Ning had already decided to tour the territory within these two days, and at the same time, he was also preparing to recruit Administrators for Mountain Forest Town.

At this stage, he could lower his requirements for Administrators. They didn't need to have governing ability; they just needed to be able to convey his intentions and conscientiously and responsibly complete the tasks he assigned.

"Whether they are Serfs or Freemen, as long as they are literate and have a little bit of logic, they can apply."

Luo Ning planned to have Chahar issue a notice to recruit Administrators after he had finished recruiting castle servants.

Besides these two matters, he also needed to make a trip to Pasture City to buy Magic Crystal Stones before Baron Leysen returned from his birthday celebration.