Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 415 The Reason for the Assassination

While Rean was busy with his self-cultivation, changes were quietly taking place in every corner of the city.

There's a reason he's being targeted.

"Bang!"

The fully loaded carriages emerged from the portal of the Great Mirror Demon, and the town of Dania delivered another round of harvest.

The boxes, laden with goods, were bound together with specially made vines, yet the faint fragrance emanating from them still evoked a sense of wonder.

"It's a very high-grade herb. I can't smell it to identify exactly, but it will definitely impact the potion market."

"How can there be so many potion-grade materials? Aren't these materials very difficult to mass-produce?"

Those carriages were loaded with various magical potion ingredients and precious food. To many knowledgeable people, they looked like chests full of gold coins.

However, still no one took action.

"Boom!"

The giant guards of the convoy were particularly eye-catching, and the tremors they caused caused the cars near the street to shake constantly.

This was the result of both Forest Giants using secret techniques to shrink themselves to just over three meters tall. The existence of the Giant Tribe forced all factions to reassess the strength of Rean's forces.

"Actually, I invited them just to be farmers."

That's what Rean said; whether anyone believes him is another matter entirely.

The Druid Order, especially the Forest Giant Korluna, truly exceeded his expectations.

"What a waste! That's a World Tree. If nurtured properly, it could create at least a demiplane. Even a failed World Tree could still control the ley lines and weather in this area, which would be great for the development of mortals."

Many high-level beings possess the art of controlling the weather, but almost none of them are without side effects. When you force rain, not only is the affected area extremely limited, but it also causes drought in the same area.

But the World Tree can not only draw upon the surrounding earth's ley lines to form its own world, but also control the surrounding climate and the flow of earth's ley lines. More importantly, the results of this control will be naturally balanced.

In other words, it can completely control the surrounding area to have favorable weather and spring-like conditions all year round, while during wartime, it can throw extreme weather at the enemy.

Many of the elven holy lands of that time were created because of the World Tree, which could be used to create a small, independent world when necessary, serving as a safe zone to sustain at least hundreds of thousands of people.

After the giants told Rean about this, even Rean felt it was a real pity. However, the World Tree, which had already been corrupted by the Abyss Bull Demon, could not be turned back, so they could only make the most of its "remains".

"The power of nature is still gathering in the ley lines. Luckily you sought help from the druids, otherwise, at most a year later, that land would have rotted away even without being blown up."

The demise of the World Tree is roughly equivalent to the fall of a world; natural forces and world existences of this level are difficult to dissipate directly.

Just as when trees die, their branches, leaves, and roots return to the earth, becoming nutrients for composting, this excessive natural force also accumulates underground.

In a normal environment, this place would likely have become a super forest cluster, like a national forest park. However, because it is an underground area, these natural forces have nowhere to go and have accumulated naturally.

If left unchecked, there might be no problem in the short term, but problems will definitely arise in the long term.
"I suggest that instead of forcibly introducing ley lines and letting them go to waste, we should use them to accelerate the growth of plants and magical plants, and put them to good use."

Rean was very satisfied with the suggestion; who would refuse such valuable material for free?

But this practice of forcibly ripening plants and using the power of nature for profit surprised Rean, who had thought the Druid order was very traditional.

"After harvesting the magical plants, bury the remaining materials in this soil to nourish the land and provide a vessel for the earth's veins and underground natural energy. If all goes well, the natural energy of this area can flow out."

That's right. The Druid's goal is always the balance of nature and the stability of the world, and the specific manifestation of this is often planting various kinds of trees.

Kolluna used a lot of technical terms, but Rean understood them roughly. It was about creating a natural sanctuary similar to the previous Green Garden, though certainly not as grand as the natural sanctuary under the World Tree, but still a fertile land where anything could be harvested five times a year.

Such a natural place is not only beneficial to plants, but also can cure diseases and prolong life for animals and humans.

In this era, agriculture was always the foundation of everything, and no lord could resist the temptation of simply producing large quantities of grain.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this gift is almost semi-permanent, requiring only some short-term investment (plant seeds).

Rean readily agreed, and the initial rewards were a pleasant surprise.
"This is the rhizome of the An'er plant, a very precious and inexpensive magical plant. Because it consumes a lot of soil fertility, it is rarely seen."

The biggest surprise, however, came from Victoria, the alchemist. Seeing the large amount of potion ingredients being produced, she could already foresee how busy her little shop would be.

She pointed to the white roots in the wooden box and talked happily for a long time, but the others didn't understand at all.

"Uh, it's filling. One bite can keep you full for a day. After being made into low-grade potions or military rations, one big piece can feed one person for a month."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Corluna, make more!"

In times of war, nothing is more important than food; keeping people alive is the key.

The city had previously suffered a major fire (dark elf attack), resulting in the loss of a large amount of food. Dania played a trick by transporting the same batch of food back and forth to pretend that reinforcements had arrived, which relieved the immediate crisis. Sometimes, it's not that there is a real shortage of food; if used sparingly, there is enough for a new purchasing team to return. But once news of "we are short of food" appears, we will soon really be starving to death.

"Get more compressed rations onto the market and sell them at a low price."

The temporary measures worked, but as time went on, grain prices continued to rise. The Sunchaser caravans brought a large amount of new grain, but the price was also quite high. They seemed to have seen through the situation in Radiant City, and similar news circulated in the market, causing grain prices to rise again.

In the agricultural era, grain prices were the foundation of everything. If they were allowed to be manipulated like this, even if the entire market didn't collapse, it would still cause man-made famines among the common people.

"Pack it with the royal name, stamp it with my emblem, and sell it at the lowest possible price."

A paladin's reputation is also beneficial when "doing business." I, a paladin, can genuinely operate at a loss as long as it benefits the people. Would you, a true merchant, be willing to lose money along with me?
A madman might not necessarily lose money to do good deeds, but a paladin certainly would. Such a person is extremely unscrupulous in the cutthroat world of business competition.

Rean saw things very clearly. The key point wasn't the yield of this magical plant, but rather that as long as it continued to be produced and the absurdity of the way the town of Dania used it for cultivation was revealed (the news had already leaked), it was equivalent to the town having a "reserve grain warehouse that could expand wildly if necessary." Then, those outside grain merchants who wanted to cause trouble would have to be prepared to go bankrupt.

"I think I understand why so many people want me dead."

It seems that his assassination attempt was not entirely without reason.

Perhaps even the Church of the Sun Chasers, which was not on the list of suspects, now had a reason to take action.

"By the way, Corluna, can you do me a favor?"

At this time, Rean needed the giants' help with something else.

"Help me move."

"No problem." The giant may not have much else, but its strength, surpassing that of a crane, is more than enough; moving things is child's play for it.

Even the weakest hill giant is three or four meters tall, while the tall forest giant can grow to more than ten meters. They can move anything.

But soon, Corluna realized she had underestimated the trouble this job would cause.

"move place?"

"Yeah, moving."

Rean pointed to the yard where the foundation had already been dug. Since the giants were helping, let's just move the whole "house" there.

(End of this chapter)