48: Farm Core

Renn finally modified an underground Medicinal Herb Field in a basement of Red River Fortress and planted over a dozen shadow vines.

In the right environment, the shadow vines grew well without any further adverse reactions.

Having solved the issue with the shadow vines, Renn took out the next item to be handled.

Two farmstead lair cores.

"The farmstead covers an area of about two hundred square meters, which the castle has enough room for. I'll just put it inside the castle."

lair cores were precious ancient relics. After some thought, Renn decided it would be more appropriate to place it within Red River Fortress.

Red River Fortress was protected by tall city walls, and its interior was spacious enough after years of modification and expansion by the Derrick Family.

Renn had people bring enough timber and stone to his chosen location and ordered two thousand pounds of fish from the docks to be kept on standby.

Then, Renn took out a farmstead core and placed ten magic stones on top of it.

The ten magic stones were immediately attracted to the core, and the magic energy within them flowed continuously into it.

Renn cut his palm and dripped his blood onto the core. Once the core had absorbed the blood, he gave it a gentle toss. It landed steadily above the pre-selected spot, right over the prepared timber and stone.

As the lair core drained the ten magic stones, they turned to powder and vanished. The core then emitted a blinding light that enveloped the materials below.

Enveloped by the light, the timber and stone began to fly around the core, self-assembling. The prototype of a building rapidly appeared before Renn's eyes, becoming more complete as time passed.

Inside a room in the castle, Master Kapdo, who was guiding Cecilia in brewing magic potions, was startled by the unusual energy fluctuations outside.

"This aura?"

"Why is it so familiar? Could it be that thing?"

Several pieces of information flashed through Kapdo's mind. Beside him, Cecilia also felt the fluctuation in the aura and turned to look at him.

"Grandfather?"

"I'm going to see what's happening outside. Little Cecilia, continue the concoction yourself. You know what to do; I believe you'll have no problem."

"Mm, okay, Grandfather!"

Cecilia buried her head back into focusing on concocting the blood of the magic wolf. After a quick tidy-up, Kapdo headed straight out toward the source of the aura that had drawn him.

By the time Kapdo arrived, the farmstead was complete.

Renn was carefully examining the miraculous building before him.

The farmstead was square-shaped, the entire structure appearing as a single, seamless entity. Its exterior differed from a typical farmhouse courtyard; it was completely enclosed, making it impossible to see inside, and the main gates were tightly shut.

To build it, Renn had spent ten magic stones, worth a thousand gold coins.

Upon seeing the farmstead, the newly arrived Kapdo immediately exclaimed in wonder.

"It really is an ancient relic, a lair core!"

Renn looked toward Kapdo at the sound of his voice.

"Master Kapdo, you recognize this thing?"

"Of course, Baron Renn. You truly keep surprising me. I didn't expect you to even get your hands on a lair core. This is an ancient relic; very few Barons could ever possess such a thing."

"There are several lair cores within the Holy White Academy, so I'm quite familiar with these ancient relics."

While explaining, Kapdo walked over to the farmstead and took a few looks.

"This should be a Rank One human auxiliary lair core, the farmstead. It's also the most common type of lair core."

"Rank One?"

Renn asked curiously, "Do lair cores have different ranks?"

"Of course. Currently, all lairs are divided into five ranks based on strength. Rank One consists of ordinary lair creatures, while Rank Five consists of Gold Rank lair creatures."

"This is the most mainstream method of classifying lair cores today. As for how the beings who created them in ancient times classified them, no one knows."

"Your core is among those with the lowest rank and value. However, it's just right for you; if its value were too high, it might not be a good thing for you."

Renn remained noncommittal, not dwelling on the issue.

"Let's see the actual effects before deciding if it's good or not!"

Renn pushed a cart full of fish into the farmstead. The tightly shut doors opened instantly, swallowed the cart of fish, and then slammed shut again.

In that brief moment, Renn caught a glimpse of the interior, but he only saw the lair core floating in the room; everything else was pitch black and invisible.

"Baron Renn, don't bother studying the interior of a lair building. Countless Archmages, master alchemists, and even Legendary Mages have explored this question."

"Yet, to this day, no one has been able to figure out the secrets of constructing these lair cores. Since the collapse of the Tamriel Empire, no one has been able to create a new one."

"These ancient relics contain miraculous power. Rumor has it that if one could understand the principles behind them, they could glimpse the path beyond the Legendary rank."

"As a result, countless geniuses and powerhouses embarked on this path, only for it all to come to nothing in the end."

Kapdo looked at the farmstead with a complex expression. He had once studied lair cores as well, but unfortunately, he never found a clue and couldn't understand them at all.

"Master Kapdo, it seems you've studied many lair cores. Can you tell me what use this farmstead core has?"

Renn didn't care at all about the path beyond Legendary right now; that was far too distant for him. He was more concerned with the path immediately ahead.

He wanted to know what assistance the farmstead could provide and whether it was worth further investment, as he still had another farmstead core waiting to be used.

"When I was at the Holy White Academy, I studied lair cores for a while with my teacher. I came into contact with many different types and gained some understanding of them."

"Among them was the farmstead core!"

Kapdo thought for a moment and continued:

"A farmstead core. For just a thousand pounds of meat a week, you can get ten skilled Farmers in return. The Farmers produced by this farmstead come from the peak civilization of the ancient era that could create lair cores."

"Every Farmer produced by the farmstead possesses farming techniques far more advanced than the current ones in your Northlands."

"Possess advanced farming techniques?"

Hearing Kapdo say this, Renn felt that the farmstead's utility might be much greater than he had imagined.

"How advanced?"

"Based on the farmstead core I studied before, these Farmers master every step of the process—from seed selection and breeding to sowing, cultivation, harvesting, and storage. They can be called all-around masters of farming."

"As for how advanced, they should be a notch above the farming techniques of the Golden Plains. In terms of yield, if Nest Farmers are used to cultivate the land, the output of ordinary farmland can reach six hundred pounds per mu."

"If the soil is more fertile and you, as their master, can provide better farming conditions, the yield can be further increased."

"Six hundred pounds per mu?"

"That high?"

The yield Kapdo mentioned was already three times the current yield of the Red River Territory's farmland.

Even if Renn promoted his latest farming techniques, replaced agricultural tools, and used every other means available, he wasn't confident he could push the territory's yields to six hundred pounds in a short time.

"This is fucking made for me!"

Looking at the farmstead, in Renn's eyes, this thing was no longer just a simple lair building, but a treasure trove for producing high-level agricultural technicians!

"Why the hell would I sell it then!"

"Build them all for me!"