Chapter 29: Auston City

  The Nile River is the first river in the continent of Aran, and this river that almost runs through the continent originates from the snow-capped Teller Mountains, where it collects countless large and small rivers along the way, and finally flows into the Windran Sea.

  It's already early spring, the harsh winter still seems reluctant to leave this land, recklessly puffing out its chest and boasting of its own brutal strength. The river surface is rippling under the sunlight and the blowing cold wind.

  Li Junshan stood on the deck, the linen sail was blown by the strong wind and made a rustling sound, and the distant Florence city shrouded in thin fog finally disappeared from his sight.

  "Master, is this your first time in the Imperial City?" Fate walked over from the deck and stood beside Li Junshan, feeling a bit chilly as he shrunk his neck.

  "Hmm." Li Junshan nodded and said: "Is it your first time? Have you been here before?"

  "I've been there many times, my home is not far from the Imperial City, it's in a village in the Kis Mountains." Fatu sighed and said: "I've been away from home for decades, I don't know what it looks like now.

  Li Junshan smiled and said, "Don't be sentimental. If one day you can break through to the Saint rank, at that time you will return to your hometown with a noble emblem, and your family will be proud of you."

  A magician of the Saint rank would receive attention from the Empire and be lured with a noble title, at the very least an Earl.

  "I hope there will be such a day." Fati's face was full of yearning.

  Li Junshan smiled and said, "Hurry up and cultivate."

  As he spoke, Li Junshan walked towards his living quarters, closed the door after entering, sat on the bed, took out the yellowed summoning secret book, concentrated and followed the symbol patterns above, quickly drawing with his fingers.

  Days passed by, and life on the ship was dull. Li Junshan spent almost every day cultivating his spiritual power, but he had not made any progress yet. On the other hand, Fate's magic cultivation showed signs of breaking through to intermediate level.

  What gave Li Junshan a headache was that Xiao Hei Long's appetite was simply too big.

  When he was bored on the boat, Li Junshan would summon it to play with it. The little black dragon would fall asleep in the spiritual space, but it was clear that it was also growing up. If summoned outside, it would be like a starving man who hadn't eaten for decades, and could devour a whole roasted sheep in the blink of an eye. It would then lick its tongue and smack its lips, with a look of dissatisfaction on its face, gazing at Li Junshan with pitiful eyes.

  Li Junshan could only beckon to the servants with strange eyes, constantly asking them to bring over food. Originally, the ship had enough food for a whole crew, but because of the addition of a small black dragon, the ship had to find some port cities to supplement its food halfway through its journey.

  Later, Bern couldn't help but go find Li Junshan. If the summoned beast was placed in spiritual space, it wouldn't need to eat. He thought Li Junshan had summoned a strange creature out of boredom and was feeding it, so he tactfully expressed that Marquis Hou was waiting for them in the imperial capital and they couldn't delay their journey any longer.

  Li Junshan no longer summoned the little black dragon, and so, following the current along the Nile River for thirteen days, the large sailboat finally reached the shore. The convoy continued west on the main road for another three days, finally arriving at the imperial capital of the Lances Empire - Auston City.

  Auston City has a history of over 400 years, although it can't compare to the ancient cities on the Yalan continent, it has its own unique grandeur and desolation.

  Auston City is located in the center of the Lances Empire, and since King Andrew Aeroy moved the capital from the cold northwest more than 400 years ago, this land that had been quiet for several centuries has become bustling. King Andrew, who was also a devout believer in the church, ordered the construction of the highest building in the Lances Empire, the Central Cathedral, in Auston City at an enormous cost. This unprecedented project took over 200 years to complete.

  If it weren't for the Vatican's continuous financial support from behind, this central cathedral, which is 342 meters high from the horizon and stands on the middle of the mountain, would be enough to make the financial officials of the Lances Empire spit blood.

  As soon as Li Junshan saw the Central Cathedral, which had been praised countless times in epic poems, from a distance on the carriage, he was deeply shocked. The Gothic-style Central Cathedral, tightly connected to the towering and steep Kaisers Mountains, is made up of smooth stone slabs, with unique simple lines, reflecting the morning sunlight, natural and harmonious. The towering spire pierced directly into the clouds, making people feel reverence at first sight.

  Under the mountain of Keis is the vast city of Auston, a four-wheeled carriage entered the city along the wide bluestone avenue. The city guards initially thought it was a merchant group and were about to ask questions while trying to extort some gold coins. The emblem on the carriage representing the Hariman family immediately made them lose their sleepiness, and they quickly paid respects with the most respectful etiquette.

  The carriage sped along the central avenue towards the city center, this avenue was entirely paved with natural white stone from the Tayler Snow Mountain, and the three thousand meters of the central avenue could be said to be piled up with corpses. Li Junshan had heard Klaul say that those white stones were transported from the distant Tayler Snow Mountain to Auston City, and more than 10,000 civilians and slaves died in the process of quarrying and transporting the stones for the three thousand meters of the central avenue.

  The carriage turned into the inner city of Lyon, where either royalty or imperial ministers lived. This was also the power center of the Lances Empire. Except for nobles, even the richest merchants did not have the qualifications to live here.

  The carriage turned into the Marquis de Sweets' estate on the west edge of Lyon, and after the coachman stopped the horses, Li Junshan walked out with a harmless smile.

  In his capacity, there would naturally be no big shots to meet him, let alone the Marquis of Swiete himself. Several servants were standing in the courtyard helping to move things.

  Burney went up and whispered a few words to a servant, then came over to Li Junshan and said: "The Marquis is in the backyard, I'll take you there now."

  Li Junshan nodded to him and followed with Fate, looking around along the way. The green was green, the red was red, and the largest feature of the magnificent Prince's Mansion was that it had planted many strange plants, from blooming roses to the nearly extinct black night-blooming flower on the mainland. Artificial hills, fish ponds, stone bridges, and flowing water were arranged with care, complementing each other. The scenery was more elegant than the ancient Crawley Baron's mansion.

  All the way through, they passed by many pavilions and towers without stopping. Berny led Li Junshan into a crescent-shaped gate, and before them suddenly appeared a huge platform, all made of white stone, like a bright mirror.

  On both sides of the platform, dozens of shelves were placed, with knives, guns, clubs and other types of weapons inserted on them. On the empty platform sat an old man, his hair was white, his body slightly hunched, holding a thick book in his hands, reading intently.

  "Your Excellency." Bernhardt led Li Junshan over, bowing respectfully and saying: "I've brought back Master Nicholas."

  That old man was indeed Marquis Swiet, and it seemed that he had just noticed a few people coming over. He raised his head to look at Li Junshan, smiled slightly, and said: "You must be Nicholas, you look quite like your grandfather."

  "I have met His Excellency Marquis before." Li Junshan made a gesture and said, "Nicholas conveys his greetings to you from his father and mother."

  "Seeking trouble at the door, with one's own strength to defeat the war master, and killing a level 6 demon of a great summoner. Nicholas, you really are as hot-blooded as your grandfather Hadley." Marquis Sweet smiled, his eyes exceptionally bright.

  Li Junshan smiled awkwardly and didn't say a word.

  "When you go to the imperial capital, those people you want to see are all core members of the Harriman family. In front of them, especially those old aristocrats in their seventies and eighties, don't think about using your own cleverness to gain benefits. Just be yourself, even if it means being like a fool, maybe that's how you'll get what you want."

  This is what Linda said with tears before leaving, and Li Junshan deeply agreed.

  "Bernie, take them down for some breakfast first and bring them back later." The old marquis flashed a smile at Li Junshan before continuing to bury his head in the thick book "History of Imperial Wars".

  Farewell Sweet, Li Junshan and Fate followed Bernie out of the Wu Chang, the servants had already cleaned up the room, the two changed their clothes, and ate casually.

  "That's a marquis, you know." Fatt said with a mouthful of beef, his face flushed with excitement, "I've never been this close to a marquis before."

  Li Junshan looked at him with disdain, and then he noticed Bernie walking around the yard, casually pulling a few weeds, and then took Fate to walk towards the yard.

  Following Bernie, he returned to the martial arts arena. In just a short while, there were dozens of people standing in the previously empty martial arts arena, all of whom were young men around Li Junshan's age.

  Li Junshan and they walked around the edge of the court, came to behind Marquis Swiet, Berny did not make a sound, Li Junshan naturally would not say much, quietly standing curiously looking into the court.

  From the exquisite attire, it can be seen that most of these young men are dressed as nobles, standing in a neat row. As Li Junshan sized them up, their eyes also darted towards him, filled with both curiosity and playfulness.

  "Alright, let's begin." A tall and robust man standing in front of the group shouted: "Everyone separate into their respective teams for training."

  In an orderly manner, the more than 40 young men were divided into dozens of small teams and began to do some basic strength training. Unlike Li Junshan's guess, these young men not only had precise movements but also had several exceptionally strong ones among them, with weights of over a hundred kilograms flying up and down, looking very easy.

  "Hooke." Marquis Sweet called out softly, and the tall man responded with a loud voice, running over respectfully with his hands hanging down.

  "How's it going? These people have been here for a month now. Have you found any good prospects?" Swett put down his book and asked casually.

  The tall, imposing man named Hook bowed respectfully and said: "I report to Your Excellency that last time a total of sixty-five people were sent over. Except for the seven who have magical potential and have been sent to George Academy for study, there are still twenty-three people here who have the possibility of becoming warriors."

  "Hmm." Sweet nodded in satisfaction, saying: "Observe for a while longer. If there's really no potential, send him to Jim's side and see if he has any other qualifications. If he's useless, just send him home."

  Hooke nodded, and Sweet stood up and beckoned to Li Junshan, walking straight out. Li Junshan followed him under the envious gaze of a group of young people.