94: Bronze Tier 5

"Awoo~"

Accompanied by a high-pitched wolf howl, the cracked bottleneck within Lister's body was shattered in one fell swoop.

Bronze Rank 5!

After only seven days, his cultivation level had taken another step forward. Such a speed of improvement was truly shocking.

However, he knew that all of this was brought about by those rare resources and high-level magic beast meat.

With the support of so many good things, this blowout-style improvement in the early stages was quite reasonable.

If he could still maintain this speed of improvement after reaching a higher level, that would be truly terrifying.

Red, who was beside him, looked delighted and immediately congratulated him: "Lord Lister, congratulations on your breakthrough once again."

Gratefully accepting the congratulations, Lister regained his calm expression and motioned for him to be quiet.

Red understood immediately, and the two of them quietly looked around.

At this moment, many people around them had already put down their plates and were circulating their Breathing Techniques to cultivate.

Various heavy breathing sounds, accompanied by different beast cries, rhythmically echoed throughout the training ground, as an invisible sense of pressure gradually spread out.

Soon, two distinct beast roars suddenly erupted from within the bodies of Sinclair and Tony respectively.

The former advanced from Bronze Rank 1 to Bronze Rank 2, while the latter advanced from an Apprentice Knight to a Full Knight (Bronze Rank 1).

Compared to Tony's ecstatic expression and uncontrollable shout, Sinclair showed more composure, showing only a look of pleasant surprise without any other outbursts.

Lister, who had been watching the whole time, nodded inwardly at this scene.

The cultivation of the Breathing Technique continued... After their initial surprise, Sinclair and Tony also consciously remained quiet to provide a good cultivation environment for others.

As time flowed like water, the rising and falling sounds of heavy breathing gradually quieted down.

Through the insights gained from this life-and-death battle and the vast energy brought by the magic beast meat, many people had made progress.

But unfortunately, they were not Lister, who used rare resources, nor were they exceptionally gifted like Red or Spartacus Bulk.

This time, besides Sinclair and Tony's major breakthroughs, the others only had more or less steady improvements.

Lister felt it was a bit of a pity, but he wasn't disappointed; after all, talent is not something that can be forced.

If every one of his subordinates had transcendent talent, he would likely be under close scrutiny by other territories, or even the royal family and the church.

However, there were other gains this time. Because of the magic beast meat, the physical strength of the ordinary Soldiers had been greatly improved.

Although they hadn't cultivated a Breathing Technique, their physical strength was already comparable to that of an Apprentice Knight.

If they had some innate cultivation talent, there would be a high probability of them becoming Apprentice Knights when they eventually started practicing a Breathing Technique.

This could be seen as laying a good foundation for the future selection of Apprentice Knights; perhaps they would give Lister a surprise then... A cold wind blew as the bright sun hung in the sky.

Under the boundless blue sky, three upright figures on horseback galloped northwest through the interior of the Ironthorn Forest.

*Clatter, clatter, clatter~*

Accompanied by the continuous, rapid, and heavy sound of horse hooves, a glimmer of light shone in from outside the forest. Before long, the horses leaped out from within the woods.

In the next second, a small plain appeared in their field of vision, and at the end of the horizon was a mountain range shrouded in clouds.

The Hengduan Mountains!

Looking at the undulating mountain range before him, which wasn't actually that large, Lister felt a slight sense of nostalgia.

In his previous life, when he traveled everywhere, he loved visiting famous mountains. He really enjoyed that feeling of height, continuity, and grandeur.

But the past is the past. Quickly snapping back to reality, he looked at Red on his right and asked, "Red, how much do you know about the Hengduan Mountains?"

Hearing this, Spartacus Bulk on the left also cast a curious and inquisitive gaze toward Red.

Red, following closely on his horse, thought for a moment and responded, "Lord Lister, from what I know, the Hengduan Mountains were named because they lie across the northwestern part of the kingdom, separating the kingdom from the territories of foreign races."

"Although it's not a large-scale mountain range, it's precisely because of its existence that the kingdom's northwestern territory has an extra natural defensive barrier."

"However, many years ago, a magic beast riot within the Hengduan Mountains caused heavy casualties to the northwestern part of the kingdom—specifically, most of the territories around our Ironthorn Territory."

"Consequently, the kingdom organized a large number of high-level knights to launch a powerful strike within the Hengduan Mountains, leading to the extinction of most high-level magic beasts there."

"Even today, the magic beasts entrenched in the Hengduan Mountains have not fully recovered."

"Back then, the Ironthorn Territory became a very barren land because of this incident. But due to the Hengduan Mountains, it was also spared from foreign invasions, so it was a mixed blessing."

Speaking to this point, Red praised sincerely, "Of course, the current Ironthorn Territory, under your governance and development, Lord Lister, is no longer that barren land."

"And in my view, rather than saying the Hengduan Mountains are a barrier because of the kingdom's strike, it's more because of the arrival of you, Lord Lister, who is blessed by the holy light god, that they have become the protective barrier for the Ironthorn Territory."

Hearing his exaggerated praise, the corners of Lister's mouth couldn't help but curl up.

He increasingly felt that this fellow Red was quite the flatterer, and he always managed to hit the right spots, making him feel very comfortable.

Not only that, whenever Red said such things, his expression was always one of absolute conviction.

Someone who didn't know the truth might really think what he was saying was real upon seeing him like this.

At this moment, Spartacus Bulk, who was beside them, was already speechless with envy and admiration for Red's shamelessness—no, his great eloquence.

'As expected of Lord Red. Why can't I say things like that?'

While sighing inwardly, he pulled out a pen and a piece of beast hide from somewhere and began scribbling furiously.

Red, who happened to be directly opposite him, even with his good composure, couldn't help but have the corners of his mouth twitch at Spartacus Bulk's actions.

'This blockhead... it looks like I'll have to give him a good workout when we get back.'

Spartacus Bulk, who was busy recording 'Lord Red's Advanced Quotes,' suddenly felt a chill run down his spine: 'What's going on? Why did it suddenly get cold?'

Feeling strange and confused, he scanned his surroundings. Finding nothing unusual, he buried his head back into his notes.

Lister had no idea about the bizarre thoughts of these two fellows.

At this time, his gaze was once again fixed on the Hengduan Mountains before him, while he calculated how to obtain resources from them to develop the territory.

After all, no matter how well Red spoke, it couldn't change the fact that the Ironthorn Territory's land and location were fundamentally poor.

As the saying goes, if you live near the mountains, you live off the mountains; if you live near the water, you live off the water.

Since the Ironthorn Territory didn't have good water, he could only rely on the good mountains before him.

Moreover, the Hengduan Mountains weren't as dangerous as they used to be, so he really could try to excavate the resources within them.