A Surprising Discovery

Luo Ning, accompanied by three Professional Knights, began a new round of territorial inspection.

After the disappointing experience yesterday, his expectations were significantly lower today.

Today, he didn't want to continue inspecting farming but instead headed west. He wanted to get a clear understanding of the western geography before winter set in.

Unlike the east, the west had more rolling hills and relatively fewer flat areas.

As Luo Ning walked, he noted down the distinct geographical features on the parchment and gave them names.

For example, the naturally formed lake before them was located between three mountains, in a natural depression. It wasn't large, estimated to be about five to six hundred square meters.

According to Tom, there were several types of wild fish in the lake, and Prinster had even sent people to catch them. It was much easier than catching fish in the Mountain Forest Lake to the east.

Since it was closer to Wushan, Luo Ning named it "Wushan Lake."

Continuing west from Wushan Lake, they began to enter the Wushan Mountain Range territory. Theoretically, that area didn't belong to Luo Ning's territory.

However, no noble wanted to develop territory in this place, so there was no problem with Luo Ning utilizing some resources here.

"Before I came to Mountain Forest Town, Holwart, the Butler of Wushan Castle, told me that the previous Baron here took his family on a trip in the winter and died under the claws of Magical Beasts!"

Luo Ning looked at the increasingly dense mountain forest and recounted what he had heard. "Macken, when winter comes, the matter of Magical Beasts will be up to you. You'll have to get me a few more Magical Beast hides then!"

Macken, now wearing armor, thumped his chest heavily. "My Lord, I am very confident!"

Luo Ning laughed heartily.

It was only just past August 15th; there were still four months until winter. By then, Macken would not only be an Advanced Knight but should also be in the upper-middle ranks of Advanced Knights, right?

Such strength was enough to deal with ordinary Magical Beasts, unless a big one appeared, like the one that befell the previous Baron Green of Lakeside Town.

"Tom, are there many Magical Beasts that attack the town in winter?"

As someone born and raised in Mountain Forest Town, Tom had a lot to say about this matter.

"There are indeed some Magical Beasts that come down the mountain to forage in winter, but please rest assured, My Lord, it's not as exaggerated as that Butler said. Most of them are wolves, pigs, and the like. It's rare for particularly powerful Magical Beasts to appear."

Tom said, "To prevent Magical Beast attacks, Prinster arranged the wheat fields and reclaimed wasteland on the east side. The crops on the west side are basically dominated by flax, and there are relatively few people living there, so the losses won't be significant."

Luo Ning gave Prinster a silent thumbs-up in his heart. This guy finally did something that benefited him.

"That being said, the grassland in the northwest is my pasture. Cattle, sheep, and horses will be kept here. The Guards should be careful when patrolling and not let the beasts from the mountains eat my livestock!"

Luo Ning currently had 126 sheep, 35 Horses, 6 Dairy Cows, and 24 Black Water Buffalo. The numbers weren't large, and half of them he had brought from outside. Losing even one would pain him.

"Rest assured, My Lord, I will arrange for several Guards to patrol here starting tomorrow!"

Macken following Luo Ning on the inspection wasn't just about looking around. As the Guard Officer, he was considering the territory's defense layout.

They currently had three potential security threats: the Savage Tribe, Magical Beasts, and the Sain Territory.

Compared to the unpredictable nature of Magical Beasts, the Savage Tribe and the Sain Territory were the main focus.

Therefore, Macken planned to allocate more manpower to these two areas. As for the Magical Beasts Mountain Range in the west, he only needed to arrange for a few people to patrol. If there was a situation, they would notify the Guards to come for support.

Luo Ning nodded. "After the inspection is complete, you should also think about the territory's defense plan and report it to me."

"Yes, My Lord!" Macken accepted the command.

Talking and walking, they followed the small mountain path and soon entered the continuous mountains to the west.

The mountains here were much higher than those to the south, and looking into the distance, there were increasingly tall mountain ranges; that was Wushan.

The trees here were very lush, with large trees that were evergreen like pines and cypresses, as well as low shrubs and scattered grass.

As the master of the mountain forest, there was truly no need to worry about timber.

"It's just a pity that others don't lack wood either."

None of the noble territories in the Wushan Territory lacked mountains. Who didn't have wood?

Purely selling wood wouldn't make money, and long timber was difficult to transport on mountain roads.

Making wood into furniture of a new style might be possible to sell, but there would still be the problem of difficult transportation, and it would be easy to imitate.

"Looking at the clean road ahead with no weeds growing, it's clear that people walk here often."

Luo Ning pointed to the mountain path, which was three to four people wide. "Who comes here often?"

This mountain path was winding, about one meter wide, and the weeds on the roadside weren't growing well, seemingly trampled on frequently.

Logically speaking, this was no longer within Mountain Forest Town's territory and carried a certain degree of danger, so not many people should be coming here.

"My Lord, the townspeople often come here in groups of three or five to chop firewood!"

Tom was very familiar with this path. "Before you came to Mountain Forest Town, Prinster didn't allow the townspeople to casually cut down trees within the town. If people wanted to build houses, they either had to pay Prinster a certain amount of money or provide labor, otherwise they could only come to these mountains to find wood."

The flowers, trees, mountains, and rivers within the territory all belonged to the Lord. If the townspeople wanted them, they had to apply to the Lord and provide conditions for exchange.

If they didn't apply, or didn't pay money or provide labor, it was illegal. Once discovered, not only would it be confiscated, but severe punishment would also be imposed.

Luo Ning sighed inwardly. The common people in this world were truly pitiful; they had too few means of production they could control.

Even though he was now the Lord here, he couldn't say that the trees within Mountain Forest Town could be cut down casually. But as a transmigrator, he felt it was necessary to address this "dangerous" situation.

He didn't want the townspeople to lose their lives to Magical Beasts just to get some wood. Compared to a laborer, a tree was less valuable.

"Tom, do many people from the town come here?"

Luo Ning, riding his horse, continued deeper along the mountain path. "Are there any particularly dangerous spots or magical beasts inside?"

"Only the brave ones come this way. Most of the timid ones don't dare, so they have to entrust those brave ones to help and pay them a little something."

Tom continued, "I'm not sure about particularly dangerous spots and magical beasts, but my lord, there is a special place."

"Oh?" Luo Ning's curiosity was piqued.

"My lord, there's a large Black Forest ahead. The trees there are exceptionally hard. Regular stone axes can't cut them at all, and even with iron axes, it takes a lot of effort to chop them down!"

Luo Ning's eyes lit up.

From yesterday until today, he had been hoping to discover something different, but reality had consistently disappointed him.

But now, it seemed something special had arrived?

"Take me there!" he quickly said.

The place Tom mentioned wasn't far. After walking two or three li further, Luo Ning saw a black forest.

This was a forest composed of peculiar trees with black trunks, over ten meters tall and fifty to sixty centimeters in diameter, spread over a wide area.

Luo Ning reached out and touched the bark. It felt much more comfortable than pine bark, not very rough.

With a sense of anticipation, he drew his longsword and struck the trunk.

With a clang, perhaps because he didn't use much force, his sword was actually repelled.

He carefully examined the spot he had struck and found that the sword had only left a faint mark on it, with no sign of breaking through the bark at all.

Luo Ning's eyes brightened. Is it really that hard?

He quickly beckoned to Macken. "Come on, Macken, see if you can chop this tree down with one strike."

Macken was confident about this. "My lord, a tree is just a tree after all. No matter how hard it is, it can't withstand the full force of my sword!"

As he spoke, he walked to the trunk, gripped his greatsword with both hands, and Battle Qi flowed over the blade, emanating a faint aura of power.

With a deep shout, Macken violently swung his sword at the trunk.

Bang!

The enormous impact caused the Black Iron Tree to shake violently. Macken's longsword was not repelled; instead, it directly broke through the Black Iron Tree's bark and penetrated thirty centimeters before it was difficult to advance further.

An Intermediate Knight in the mid to late stage, using a sharp longsword and striking with full force, was unable to chop down this tree. This was enough to show how hard it was.

Macken was still blushing from losing face in front of his lord, but Luo Ning was clapping his hands happily.

"Good, good, good!"

Such hard wood was rare, and its value was not low.

"It's called 'Black Iron Tree,' right?" Luo Ning asked.

Tom bowed. "No one has named it, my lord. We call this place the Black Forest and call them 'Black Trees.'"

"Then from today onwards, it will be called the Black Iron Tree."

Luo Ning was somewhat pleased. "Come on, Knights, cut down a tree and take it back for me to study."