The last refresh

December 1, 275 AC

Morning

Su Qin looked helplessly at Delia, who clung to him like an octopus, and slowly slipped free of her clutches with utmost care. Women were truly terrifying!

He got out of bed and slowly dressed.

Delia opened her eyes a little and glanced at Su Qin from the bed.

She turned her head and looked out the window. The sun had not risen yet, so she rolled over and went back to sleep.

Last night's pleasure had made Su Qin forget all about checking December's refreshed items!

As soon as he opened the system shop, he saw several items that left him excited, puzzled, and frustrated!

Su Qin sat helplessly on the bed in the second-floor study and scratched his head. He would have to borrow money again.

[December refresh items]

[Choose one of three: once one is selected, the system will reclaim the other two!]

[This refresh offers no targeted selection. Three epic-grade items (purple) have been refreshed in total. The system will not refresh again for a very long time! Host, we have other extremely important things to do!]

After carefully committing those words to memory, Su Qin read on.

[Item one]

[Torch Dragon United Hearts Pendants (purple): magical defensive earrings for couples. Contains two spells. Bind ownership with blood. Can be bound to two owners: one man and one woman, two women, or even two men!]

[Spell one: Torch Dragon Shield (purple): active/passive use. Generates a magical shield with a range of 3 meters. Can be recharged with magic crystals and used repeatedly.]

[Spell two: Torch Dragon Eye (purple): active use. Establishes a master-servant contract with an animal and shares its vision. Each pendant can contract one animal. After the animal dies, magic crystals can be used to contract a new animal.]

[Exchange price: 1,000 gold coins]

[Item two]

[Demon Dragon Wings (purple): flying magic item. Can be recharged with magic crystals. Bind ownership with blood.]

[One charge with a purple magic crystal allows 1,000 kilometers of flight! Hidden reserve energy remains when the main energy runs out, allowing the user to land.]

[Exchange price: 1,000 gold coins]

[Scaled Dragon Jade (purple): contains two healing spells. Can be recharged and used repeatedly. Bind ownership with blood.]

[Spell one: Ten Thousand Flowers Seal (purple): gathers life essence from flowers. Once guided with magic power, it can heal internal and external injuries and neutralize poison! Powered by magic crystals.]

[Spell two: Exorcism Spell (purple): uses the pure energy within magic crystals to dispel any dark magic that confuses the soul. Increase the quantity of magic crystals according to the power of the enemy's magic.]

[Exchange price: 1,000 gold coins]

[You may only choose one of the three. Host, please choose carefully. This is the greatest concession the system can make to help you before your territory's culture has completely transformed! To be clear, gold coins are nowhere near enough to exchange for magical items!]

Su Qin was shocked! Su Qin fell silent!

He wanted them all!

With flight, he could travel all over Westeros!

The earrings had broad applications!

With the jade, he would not have to fear dying of illness!

But he could only choose one.

Su Qin hesitated for a long, long time.

He clicked on one of the items, making his selection first and leaving payment for later.

That evening, on the double bed.

Delia found Su Qin very awkward. He was leafing through a book, yet he kept glancing at her.

Finally, Delia lost her temper. She snatched the book from his hands, rolled over, and straddled him. She liked this position.

"What exactly are you trying to say? Stop hemming and hawing and spit it out. You keep sneaking looks at me. It's annoying!"

Su Qin felt helpless. Without control over the finances, he really did feel far less imposing.

He scratched his head.

"Delia, I'd like to borrow some money..."

"Borrow money? What for?" Delia pressed.

Looking into Delia's violet eyes, Su Qin reached out with both hands and drew her into his arms.

"I want to exchange it for something."

"Exchange it for something?"

Delia fell silent.

After they looked at each other for a while, Delia sensed something and asked quietly:

"Do you need me to leave?"

Su Qin looked into Delia's eyes. "No. This is a miracle!"

Delia smiled at his answer. It seemed she would be fortunate enough to witness a miracle! She asked with a smile, "How much?"

"One thousand gold!"

Delia pulled free of Su Qin's embrace, put on her shoes, and rummaged through the large silver box beneath the bed. Soon, she pulled out a cloth bundle and tossed it onto the bed.

She liked hiding things under the bed, even though the bedroom had a secret compartment she never used!

"I brought three thousand gold. Count it yourself. I want to see this divine dragon's miracle!"

Delia sat on the edge of the bed and watched Su Qin.

Su Qin nodded and waved his right hand. The pile of gold coins immediately shrank.

Delia covered her mouth in shock as she stared at Su Qin!

She pointed at the gold coins with her right hand, her eyes wide. How had a whole portion just disappeared?!

Su Qin tapped the air again, and purple light appeared in midair.

[Purple epic!]

A pair of purple-black earrings slowly descended before Delia.

Delia slowly caught the Torch Dragon Pair Pendants in both hands.

Looking at the exquisite little objects in her hands, she picked up the earrings for a closer inspection.

The dragons' eyes on the earrings were purple, while the dragon's eyes on the earlier Golden Dragon necklace were gold!

After studying them for a while, she asked, "What are these?"

Su Qin smiled. "Torch Dragon Pair Pendants. They should be items exclusively for couples!"

"Exclusively for couples?"

Delia carefully stroked the earrings. Then there had to be one for her! She raised her head and said, "I like them!"

She was just about to put them on when Su Qin stopped her.

"Delia, we each get one of these!"

Su Qin wanted one too! They could protect him and others! They were incredibly useful!

"Each earring can activate two spells. The first is the purple-grade spell Torch Dragon Shield, which can protect us both actively and passively!"

"The second spell is Torch Dragon Eye. It lets each of us contract an animal and see through its eyes."

"And they can be used repeatedly! But they need magic crystals to activate!"

"And they bind to their owners with blood! A personal binding."

Delia stared blankly at the earrings. Probably even the most exalted person in the world did not possess anything like these right now. She gave Su Qin a long look.

He could have kept them to himself and sold them for a high price. He was desperately short of money and had already borrowed three times!

He had even told her openly that he wanted to exchange for these.

She had witnessed this so-called miracle.

She understood his feelings and had witnessed the miracle too.

To be honest, she was deeply shaken!

Although she did not know what the miracle actually was, it no longer mattered. To her, Su Qin mattered more than the miracle.

Delia smiled. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Delia pulled an embroidery needle from beside the bed, climbed onto the bed, and sat on Su Qin's lower abdomen. She took his left hand, pricked a hole with the needle, and pressed his finger against an earring.

Once the blood merged with the earring, a flash of purple light appeared, then everything returned to normal!

Su Qin smiled and slowly took Delia's right hand. He carefully pricked her ring finger and let her blood merge with the purple earring. Another flash of purple light appeared.

Su Qin slowly sat up and steadied Delia. They hung the earrings on each other's earlobes.

Once they were on, Delia closed her eyes, and Su Qin slowly leaned in to kiss her.

The two struck while the iron was hot, setting about creating a new life.

It was another exhausting night.

The crucial thing was that Delia's bosom was as vast as a valley, her soil fertile, and her rivers surging. Su Qin simply could not withstand her.

In the morning, he came out leaning against the wall.

With the December item exchanged, it was time to get down to business. The grain from the fields had already been packed into sacks.

The corn was first left to dry on the cob.

The 5,000 units of seed would be shelled first and stored separately. They were extremely precious!

Next came the archers. Fifty redwood horn bows had now been completed, and people were being assigned to make arrows. Training had to begin!

The horn bows had an effective direct-fire range of 150 meters. Very impressive!

Formal training for the light cavalry also had to begin.

Light cavalry were extremely important!

Su Qin needed to choose carefully which dynasty and which army's cavalry template to summon and apply to these fifty men! But that would have to wait. He had other uses for the money!

Light cavalry could be used for terrain reconnaissance, kiting tactics, rapid support, pursuing fleeing soldiers, and harassing infantry!

With excellent weapons and highly skilled soldiers, against enemies who were not particularly formidable, a single horse archer could fight dozens of infantrymen. There were clear historical records of this!

Of course, light cavalry, as well as heavy cavalry, could not recklessly charge a firmly established infantry formation.

For light cavalry to charge a solid formation of infantry spearmen was suicide!

Apart from a small number of battles in history, most were decided by infantry versus infantry!

Cavalry were for fighting mobile engagements!

In fact, struggles for supremacy between two nations often involved repeated contests over a key region!

The first thing to do in war: find advantageous terrain and establish camp!

The second: contest water sources and detach troops to secure the supply routes!

The third: send out scouts and guard against surprise attacks!

The fourth: seek intelligence on weaknesses in the enemy and strive to achieve great results with minimal force!

The fifth: have the commander-in-chief and generals take their respective positions, with orders obeyed and prohibitions enforced!

Only then would they discuss the campaign over a map, deciding how to begin fighting and where to attack!

Moreover, a nation with cultural depth often required many campaigns to destroy completely!

Could a single battle decide a nation's strength or decline? It was possible, but unlikely!

In the end, it would inevitably be an all-out contest of economics, agriculture, technology, military strength, culture, and the people's hearts!