Transmigrated with a Demon-Refining Pot: Hehehe, Refine in an instant

The city gates of Silver City have never been so bustling.

Even the last time Marquis Mammon convened a banquet for the lords, this many people didn't gather.

In Silver City now, the lords of the pioneering territories had already arrived long ago, and they weren't the only ones.

Earls and marquises from other principalities in the surrounding areas also sent people to offer their congratulations, and they have been arriving one after another in the past few days.

However, the most important guests were the envoys from the principalities and kingdoms on the mainland.

Ron had simply announced that the nation would be established in a month and welcomed neighboring countries to attend the ceremony. Yet, they all learned of the news through various channels and traveled tens of thousands of kilometers to come within a month.

The representatives of these kingdoms arrived in great pomp and circumstance; those from farther away arrived in airships, rushing to Silver City at top speed.

The arrival of these airships attracted considerable attention, and Ron was naturally drawn to these magical creations.

Wow, they've finally broken into the mainstream.

So this is how advanced technology has become in this world?

Each of these airships is one or two hundred meters long and is covered with a dense array of magic crystal cannons.

People would believe it if you said it was a war fortress.

Why haven't I seen the Bronze Duchy and the Iron Duchy use it before? Are they too poor to use it?

If Windsor knew, she would definitely yell at Ron for being shameless. "You're riding a dragon, and I'm going to fly over there in my airship and be your target!"

Do you know how precious this thing is? If I were hit by a dragon's breath, I wouldn't even have anywhere to repair it.

Ron was wrong. No matter how poor the northern duchies were, they could still afford airships; it's just that they were established much later than the southern kingdoms.

Most mages live on the southern continent, where the magical atmosphere is far superior to that of the northern duchies.

There is a well-established path for training magicians, and magical knowledge is strictly guarded, with very few opportunities to be revealed.

These northern duchies naturally couldn't attract magicians, and it was unlikely they could cultivate them themselves.

At most, the nobles of the various duchies could hire some magicians who couldn't make it in the Southern Continent to manage the magic departments of their respective duchies.

Therefore, these high-level magical artifacts must be purchased from the countries in the south.

Among them, the airships exported by the Magic Empire and the Tide Commercial Federation are the most popular. Most of the airships that flew in this time also came from these two companies, and some even had the same model.

Ron did not neglect these messengers.

Since they're not adjacent, the possibility of future conflicts of interest is probably low. Instead, we can try to expand maritime trade.

Several coastal duchies were clearly interested, not for the Silver Duchy's market, but to establish a connection with this young dragon knight.

Ron was unaware of the immense shock his sudden appearance caused in these kingdoms.

This is a dragon knight!

It has been so many years since a new dragon knight was born in this world.

The process of becoming a dragon knight is extremely rigorous; the mental battles that each dragon faces are different.

To gain the approval of these proud dragons, you must first demonstrate exceptionally high and distinctive personal qualities that align with each dragon's unique taste.

For example, some dragons require you to be kind, some require you to be upright, some require you to be evil, and some don't follow the usual path and make you guess riddles with them.

This often requires a trial that takes more than a decade, involving completing various dragon quests, in order to earn a chance at a battle of the mind.

In the battle of the mind, everything you express is your true, instinctive thought.

Any slight deception, any difference from previous outward appearances, will be detected by the dragon, resulting in failure of the test.

During this process, countless people died in the dragon's trial mission. Even if they survived with their lives, the pass rate for the battle of the mind was pitifully low.

Cheating is impossible, as each kingdom has several dragons in its Dragon Garden.

Some of these dragons were juvenile wild dragons that were discovered and taken away by the kingdom, while others were adult giant dragons that came to the kingdom on their own initiative to reach a support agreement.

Whether they are adults or minors, they will not abandon the dignity of the dragon and let people pass for any reason.

So there are really too few dragon knights.

However, if any dragon knight can survive to the third rank, then he and his dragon almost represent the world's top combat power.

It can support a kingdom and gain widespread recognition.

If you become hostile, it would take at least three times the number of equally capable fighters to kill him.

Only a few major empires still possess the resources to threaten such a powerful entity.

But the empire doesn't want to provoke such a powerful figure unless absolutely necessary.

Therefore, facing such a rising power that will only become stronger in the future, each kingdom approaches the situation with the mindset of not offending it and trying to establish friendly relations.

Those principalities not far from the settlements had even more on their minds.

These duchies are roughly as powerful as the Bronze and Iron Duchies. Each of them has dragons, but most of them were passed down from the time of their founding, and the dragon riders are long gone.

The dragon still exists, but it's more of a contract of servitude.

So they came partly to make friends, and partly to see if Ron's aggression was as bad as rumored.

If taking over the territory of the Bronze Duchy is not enough, and they want to take over the surrounding territories, then they will unite.

Even if it means suffering huge losses, we must ensure that Ron can no longer gain a foothold in this territory.

Fortunately, Ron has no further expansion plans for the time being; his current expansion is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

It was entirely due to Margaret's strength that the surrounding countries gritted their teeth and endured it. Her own resources, whether wealth or the knights under her command, were insufficient to support a duchy.

After the establishment of the Silver Principality, he will need to focus on development and assimilation for a long time.

After receiving these kingdom delegations and finalizing numerous commercial deals, Ron eagerly awaited the day of the founding ceremony.

That day, Ron gathered his men and had Palin draw up a list.

It was decided that on the day the country was founded, a group of founding nobles would be granted titles.

Ron, now that he's a Grand Duke, can't let those who fought alongside him suffer.

The main problem is that the duchy doesn't lack territory, but it lacks nobles and lords.

Laun, Hart, and Ebadon are to be enfeoffed as earls, and the Broccoli family is also granted an earldom.

Perrin, Gray, Erin, and Selena were made viscounts.

He also conferred forty or fifty barons of varying ranks, all of whom were his long-time subordinates and knights whose talents were beginning to emerge.

Even Dick got a baronial position, but he was just someone who worked for Ron.

They won't develop their territory; they'll prioritize Ron's affairs. This applies to Laun, Hart, and the others as well.

Perhaps a few years later, when Ron begins to establish a court nobility, they will be able to lay down their burdens and build their own territories.

Ron allocated a small portion of the annexed territory to these new nobles. Their only task was to take over the lands directly.

Ron built various cities on the remaining territory and sent administrators to manage them directly.

The new northernmost frontier territories were all given to the lords who had submitted, since even if Ron gave the frontier lord positions to his own men, they wouldn't have the money to expand.

Giving these lords the best option is to grant them titles and rewards without spending a penny.

They should thank Ron!