Inside the Emerald King City.

The young King listened to the dispatches that arrived.

"Black Snake Baron..."

The king brought back distant memories.

He almost forgot that such a family existed.

According to the laws of the kingdom, Baron Levi is indeed the legal heir to Tulip Territory and Storm Territory.

But because of the interference of the Duke of Montenegro, the royal family originally wanted to turn a blind eye and take back the two territories.

The Black Snake Family had been silent for too long, and he thought that the heir Levi would not care about this matter.

Unexpectedly, because of the snow monster disaster in the north.

Levi, who originally didn't want to come to the South, had to come to the South.

The king called his ministers to discuss the matter.

Finally, everyone reached a consensus.

That means let this matter pass and don't mention it again.

After all, the kingdom itself was unreasonable in the first place.

The kingdom, which had just ended a long period of war, was fragile, leaking air from all sides and was on the verge of collapse.

The kingdom no longer wants to engage in war.

Moreover, it seems that Baron Levi is now a top knight like his father. Even the Red Willow Sword among the Seven Swords of the King is no match for him.

Baron Levi is in his prime, and there is no need to make an enemy of a top knight at this time.

Besides, although Levi eventually found out that it was the Duke of Montenegro who was responsible for the sacrifice of the Black Snake Knight and his soldiers for the country, it had nothing to do with the kingdom.

However, the kingdom condoned the subsequent usurpation of the Duke of Montenegro, which was also in the wrong and allowed the Duke of Montenegro to continue to expand, eventually becoming a catalyst for rebellion.

So after thinking about it, everyone decided that letting Baron Levi return to the territory was the most appropriate option at the moment.

Carrying gifts from the kingdom, the envoys set off for Tulip Country.

Not long after that, in the Storm Territory, the Sword of the Nation also led his troops to evacuate the area.

The last few days of the year 1014 in the Holy Hui Calendar.

Levi also received a reply from the kingdom.

The kingdom had approved of his actions.

They were legal in the first place, and the kingdom couldn't say anything.

Otherwise, the power base of the nobles would be shaken, and the king, as the "leader of the alliance", would also be unsettled.

Levi naturally wrote back, expressing his gratitude and loyalty to the kingdom and flattering the new king.

Later, Duke Hongliu also came with a dark face and took his son and army away with a ransom.

Levi also let him go readily.

If looks could kill, the old eyes of the Duke of Red Willow could have killed me countless times.

After all, he had destroyed the life seed of their family's rising star, the Red Willow Sword.

But the old guy couldn't say anything, as he also received compensation from the kingdom.

Moreover, even his own son is no match for Levi. Levi's current strength is only stronger than the Black Snake Knight back then.

Gradually, all the great nobles in the south knew that the powerful "Black Snake" had returned and was entrenched in Tulip Territory.

Levi's fame also began to spread in a small area.

Titles like "Giant Bear Lord" and "Black Snake Lord" also began to spread slowly.

Although this is not the effect Levi wants to achieve, there is nothing he can do about it.

Being low-key does not mean you will be wronged. Sometimes, you have to have a little reputation to avoid some troubles.

Of course, there must be a limit to this.

It's enough for now, and from now on just live a peaceful and stable life. People can be famous, but not too famous. The fattest pigs are most likely to be sent to the slaughterhouse.

"No matter what, I can live a more peaceful life from now on."

Levi murmured in his heart.

He heard that the snow demon from the north had appeared on the edge of Earl Silver Mountain's territory.

It made him glad he moved to the South.

If I still stay in the north, worrying about Lan Shuang every day, how can I practice?

Sometimes people just have to give in.

Face the snow demon disaster in Icewind City.

Levi could only wish his old friend Earl Yinshan good luck in this difficult time.

Levi was not very happy after taking back Tulip Territory and Storm Territory.

Having so many territories is a problem in itself.

Especially since Storm Collar and Tulip Collar are not adjacent to each other.

He also lacks talent in his territory now.

Levi's focus is always on cultivation, and he won't waste too much energy on the territory.

He had no choice but to spend a lot of money to recruit talents to help him govern his territory.

Before, we only had to take care of Blackwater Valley, and the talent issue was not very prominent.

Today, Tulip Collar and Storm Collar are both very popular.

Levi knew that there must be many people coveting his territory.

The talents recruited are definitely not as good as those trained by ourselves.

But Levi had no choice, his heart was not in this territory, and now he was the lord simply because he didn't want to give away his family's property.

"Don't mess with me, I'm really easy to get along with, really..." Levi said to himself.

I hope the great nobles in the south will be more sensible, otherwise the few great knights in this world may become even fewer.

Having basically solved the problems of the territory, Levi practiced with peace of mind, waiting for the fire paper to burn.

New Year, 1015th year of the Holy Hui Calendar.

Levi gave a speech in the Flower City, officially announcing his return.

The kingdom also sent envoys to congratulate.

This surprised Levi a little.

More than ten years have passed since Levi traveled to this world.

He also grew from a little boy to a 25-year-old man.

Two meters tall, with strong muscles, an angular face, and a rough beard.

This is Levi's look now, which is getting further and further away from his original image of a handsome young man and a handsome fair-looking man.

Instead, it gives me the feeling of Yan Chixia in Tsui Hark's A Chinese Ghost Story.

Levi also went to Blackwater Valley and brought the two generals Heng and Ha to Tulip Territory. Levi hid them in the dense forest behind the Flower City and designated this area as a restricted area.

He did this entirely for the safety of his subjects.

There are two huge beasts at the level of great knights. If anyone who is not tactful enters, there is a high probability that he will never come back.

With these two giant beasts guarding the Flower City, ordinary enemies would not know how they died if they came.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another half a year has passed.

It has been more than half a year since Levi moved into Flower City.

Big cities also have their advantages.

At least Levi doesn't need to go into the city frequently to go to the Shining Tavern.

After all, it’s in my own city.

But Levi basically has nothing to lack now.

So I went to the Shining Tavern less and less often.

Most of the time, he was practicing.

I would occasionally go to the Shining Tavern to eavesdrop on other people's conversations.

Or to see if pyroxene has fallen.

The meditation method still requires you to improve your proficiency a little bit every day, and this will not change.

But this is a good thing for practicing breathing techniques.

After all, after practicing meditation every day, there is still a lot of spare time.

Levi used this time to practice breathing techniques.

He now sleeps no more than three hours a day on average, and sees the Flower City at three in the morning every day.

With his current physique and physical fitness, he really doesn't need that much sleep.

Three hours was enough for him to have an efficient rest.

With such hard work, the breathing method progressed rapidly.

However, Li Weiwei's breathing method also has its focus.

Because the Black Snake has been stuck at the ninth level limit for a long time.

Therefore, during this period of time, Levi focused on practicing the tortoise breathing method, an excellent defensive breathing method.

After more than half a year of hard work, Li Weiwei has pushed this breathing method to its limit.

Levi——

Turtle Breathing Method: Ninth Level (Ultimate, Can Be Broken), Special Effect: Elephant Armor (Gaseous).

…

The elephant shell effect after reaching the ninth level of the tortoise breathing method is essentially the same as the black scale effect of the black snake breathing method.

Moreover, Levi tried it and found that the defensive power of the elephant armor was almost the same as that of the black scales.

But the elephant shell makes him look like a turtle.

It is not as beautiful as black scales.

Levi's body is now covered with layers of gaseous carapace like a turtle shell.

Suddenly, Levi discovered a problem.

The tortoise breathing method and the black snake breathing method can be performed at the same time.

However, only one of the special effects of the elephant armor and the special effects of the black snake can appear at a time.

"It seems that special effects still cannot be simply repeated and superimposed." Levi sighed.

He thought that if the special effects of the elephant armor and the black scales could be superimposed, then he would not merge the elephant tortoise breathing method into the black snake breathing method.

But now it seems that Li Wei was overthinking it.

It's like two extraordinary defenses can't be simply stacked at the same time.

There is no way to stack elephant armor and black scales at the same time.

In this case, Levi has nothing to be nostalgic about.

He integrated the tortoise breathing method into the black snake breathing method, and added it to a basic defensive breathing method he had acquired previously.

Levi's Black Snake Breathing Technique broke the limit again.

Levi——

Black Snake Breathing Method: Level 9 (1/150000), Special Effect: Black Scale (Gaseous).

…

"I can continue to practice the Black Snake Breathing Technique. When I reach the tenth level of the Black Snake, my cultivation should be on the same level as the former Fist of the Empire and the Duke of Black Mountain."

After the Black Snake broke the limit, it had already surpassed the scope of excellent quality breathing techniques.

It should be a genuine breathing method of perfect quality.

Levi left the castle and secluded himself for half a year.

The fire paper was still silent.

Li Wei always carried the fire paper with him for fear of missing the call.

"The wizard's efficiency is really low."

Levi couldn't help but complain.

His stomach growled; his whale sac was empty.

And the Bag of Gluttony seems to be hungry too.

He asked his servants to prepare a large table of food for him.

A whole cow was prepared for the Bag of Gluttony.

Next, it’s time for the two big eaters to feast on delicious food.

While eating, Levi listened to the report on the situation in the territory from the newly recruited officials of Flower City.

The two core departments of the territory, finance and military, are all headed by the people Levi brought out from Blackwater Valley.

One is in charge of money, and the other is in charge of the military, both are crucial, especially the one in charge of money.

Flower City is not Blackwater Valley. The annual fiscal revenue is still a considerable income even for the now wealthy Levi, and Levi cannot give it up.

In addition, Stormwind’s income cannot be underestimated.

This is also the reason why the Duke of Montenegro is determined to take over these two territories no matter what.

So far, everything is normal in the territory.

It was much better than Levi had imagined.

Maybe it's because the influence I left some time ago is still there, so everyone is behaving well at the moment.

Moreover, my neighbors also express their kindness to me in various ways.

After all, I am still young and at the peak of my strength.

The deterrent power of a top-level knight alone is enough to scare away most enemies.

What's more, his three giant northern bears that tore countless enemies apart with their bare hands, as well as the well-equipped armored red-blood cavalry, left a deep impression on others.

The giant bear of the North is a symbol of toughness. Three giant bears can be tamed as pets. In other people's impression, Levi is a rude, barbaric and violent barbarian from the North.

Such people are unreasonable.

If you can avoid it, don't provoke it.

The hypocritical southern nobles naturally understood this truth.

Finally, Levi heard a report on security issues in the territory.

"My lord, there have been some strange murders in the territory recently. My subordinates are weak and cannot find out who committed the murder, but I guess the murderer is not a human." The sheriff reported nervously.

"Oh? Not a human."

Levi doesn't care much about what happens in the territory.

But when he heard that the murderer might not be a human, he was no longer sleepy.

He smelled the scent of evil spirits.

"It just so happens that my Seal of Dragon Might is almost reaching the third level. Let's see which lucky guy is here to deliver the takeaway." In order to improve his proficiency in the Seal of Dragon Might, Levi's Evil Spirit Dust is almost used up.

Now only some essential ones are left for actual combat.

I was worried that there were no evil spirits to catch me.

He was even thinking about opening a ghost-exorcism agency.

At that time, some lords who are tormented by evil spirits will pay me to remove the spirits. I can get evil spirit dust and money, and the lords can be safe.

The best of both worlds, a win-win situation, isn’t that wonderful?

"Take me to see the dead. I want to see who dares to cause trouble in my territory." Levi sneered.

The sheriff took Levi to the morgue.

Levi looked at the three bodies in the morgue.

"The wounds on these three victims are similar. I suspect they were caused by the same... person."

The sheriff lifted the white cloth and Levi looked at the corpses which were already slightly smelly.

"Where's the heart?"

Levi suddenly discovered that these corpses had no hearts.

"When my subordinates found it, the heart was gone." The sheriff shuddered at the thought of such a heart-stealing maniac hiding in the dark corners of the Flower City.

Levi observed the body carefully.

The first corpse was an ordinary person, his heart was missing and his body was shriveled.

The second body was that of a formal knight, apparently a minor nobleman, and similarly, his heart was missing.

"No real knight can defeat them. It could be an evil spirit."

Levi's inner analysis.

But he had never seen an evil spirit that attacked by digging out the heart.

According to Levi's understanding, creatures like evil spirits generally do not attack physically, they directly attack the soul.

For example, the Soul-stealing Nun and the Water Nymph are like this.

If it is a physical attack, the evil spirit must be a physical entity. It cannot carry out physical attacks in the spirit state.

"Could it be that evil spirits have physical bodies?" Levi muttered to himself.

"I understand. You continue to increase patrols and investigations. The criminal may be a human, but he is disguising himself as a monster by taking out his heart to deceive others. If you find a possible enemy, don't take action. Report to me first."

Levi said.

Now it seems that it doesn’t matter whether the murderer is human or not.

In short, ordinary knights should not be their opponents.

"Yes, sir!"

The sheriff retreated, panting, as if he had been pardoned.

It was a bit difficult to breathe when standing in front of the two-meter-tall lord.

Levi closed the door.

He released Tutankhamun.

Now whenever he was in doubt, he would ask Tutankhamun.

Tutankhamun was, after all, an apprentice wizard.

His knowledge must be far beyond my own.

When Tutankhamun saw the death, his face became solemn.

"For this kind of death, if we exclude the human murderer who was playing a prank, then the closest and most likely cause is the work of the vampires."

"Vampires? Aren't they evil spirits?" Levi asked.

"It's probably not an evil spirit. The deceased's heart is missing, and all the blood in his body has been drained. He looks like a corpse. He must be a vampire. According to the research of wizards, creatures like vampires have appeared in the human world a long time ago, and they have never left. They come from the intersection of multiple planes in ancient times. They are monsters left behind in our world after creatures from certain planes invaded our world."

"You have to be careful. Creatures like the blood clan are not as easy to deal with as ordinary evil spirits or snow monsters. Evil spirits are actually some mortals with strong obsessions combined with the devil tide to create distorted creatures. Snow monsters are the undead distortions of mortals invaded by blue frost and infected. Although they have some supernatural qualities, their strength is limited.

But vampires are different. They are powerful creatures from certain planes. They are as powerful as in the legends. Moreover, unlike the legendary stories told by the bards, vampires are not afraid of the so-called silver, nor are they afraid of the sunlight, nor are they afraid of garlic. Although they don't like the sunlight, they will not die when they encounter the sunlight as in the stories.

Even for wizard apprentices, vampires are not easy to deal with, and powerful vampires can be a headache for even formal wizards. My suggestion is to report this matter to the church and let the church send professionals to deal with it."

Tutankhamun said.

"The church? Count on them?"

Levi couldn't help but think of the evil spirit that had been doing evil in Icewind City for more than half a year. The church today is a group of mobs.

He can’t even handle a dangerous evil spirit, let alone the vampires.

"Do you have any books like monster encyclopedias? As a wizard apprentice, monster knowledge should be a compulsory course. Otherwise, how can we deal with monsters?" Levi took the opportunity to ask.

He is in great need of such things now. He needs to make up for some monster knowledge so that he can know himself and the enemy, and be more calm when facing these monsters that are revived by the magic tide.

In the Pot of Equivalence, a thin booklet appeared.

"Knowledge is money, and things like the Monster Manual are also very valuable. After all, a lot of monster knowledge is the unique research results of some wizards, and it is generally not easily given to others. But this one of mine is relatively basic, and it contains some common monsters. According to the principle of equivalent exchange, in exchange for the soul of a knight, this manual will be yours." Tutankhamun said nervously.

"No problem." Levi randomly found a death row prisoner in the dungeon and exchanged the booklet from Tutankhamun.

Frankenwizard's Monster Manual.

"It seems you have a lot of good things here." Levi looked at Tutankhamun with a smile.

Upon seeing this, Tutankhamun immediately slipped back into the pot.

Levi shrugged, went back to the castle, and started to make up lessons.