The Spread of the Catastrophe

“Is this the Dragon Blood Fruit?”

Kai looked at the baskets filled with red fruits in front of him, his eyes almost glowing with excitement.

“Does this truly have a third of the effect of a Lesser Dragonblood Potion?”

Su Nan smiled slightly and said, “Would you like someone to try it?”

“No need, don’t you trust me?” Kai laughed heartily.

Of course, he wasn’t doubting Su Nan. His words merely expressed his overwhelming excitement.

Due to the insufficient supply of Lesser Dragonblood Potions, the expansion speed of the Black Rock Cavalry Corps had significantly slowed recently.

Even with the entire territory’s full support, the current number of Black Rock Cavalry remained around three hundred.

Only about two-thirds of them were knights.

There was still a considerable gap from the fully knighted army that Kai envisioned.

He dreamt that Su Nan would sooner produce an alternative to the Lesser Dragonblood Potion.

Fortunately, this problem had finally been resolved.

With this batch of Dragon Blood Fruit, the long-stagnant Black Rock Cavalry Corps could once again accelerate their expansion!

Behind Kai, Brad, Jordan, and Stali also showed expressions joyful.

They all understood what the Dragon Blood Fruit portended.

With it, the military strength of the Shining Lands could swiftly expand again!

“Right, take this.”

Su Nan tossed a Dragon Blood Fruit to Kai.

The latter instinctively caught it, puzzled, “What is this…”

“A special Dragon Blood Fruit. After eating it, you should be able to break through and advance to an Intermediate Grand Knight,” Su Nan said.

In fact, this was a synthesized Dragon Blood Fruit, made from over a hundred Dragon Blood Fruits.

If converted to Dragonblood Potion, it would be equivalent to three or four bottles of high-grade Dragonblood Potion.

Upon hearing Su Nan’s words, Kai’s spirit was immediately uplifted. He carefully stored the Dragon Blood Fruit, planning to find an opportune moment to consume it.

Such a fine thing shouldn’t be wasted by swallowing it hastily.

It’s best to practice the breathing technique immediately after consumption to achieve the optimal absorption effect.

Returning from his delight, Kai said with a smile, “I’ve already issued a mandate: from now on, every child over the age of twelve within the territory will undergo aptitude testing. Those found to have wizard apprentice aptitude will be sent to the base for you to train.”

After a pause, Kai hesitated, then couldn’t help but say, “Can you lower the standards for selecting wizard apprentices?”

In such a large Shining Lands, only three wizard apprentices were finally selected, which was really too few.

Su Nan shook his head and said, “The minimum standard is being able to read Enlightenment Books.”

Didn’t he also want to train more apprentices?

But the standards were already inflexible, and he was helpless.

People without wizard aptitude, even if sent to the base, would be of no use and could only do some daily cleaning work.

And these tasks were already being handled by clay golems.

Ultimately, the selection and training of wizard apprentices is a long process and cannot be rushed.

Given the current population of Shining Lands, having one qualified apprentice every two to three years is already quite good.

Unless the territory expands greatly, acquiring more land and population, the number of apprentices in the short term will not significantly increase.

Listening to the conversation between the two, Jordan couldn’t help but glance at Stali, sighed, and murmured, “I really envy your family’s Korei, becoming Su Nan’s student. Why doesn’t my kid have that talent?”

Speaking of his son, a proud expression crept onto Stali’s usually solemn face.

When his son was detected to have wizard aptitude, he couldn’t have been happier.

If his son could become a mighty figure like Su Nan in the future, the McKinning family might thrive and become a true noble household.

Seeing Stali’s face full of pride, Jordan felt sour like he’d bitten into a lemon and began pondering whether he should have more children.

“My youngest son will also be twelve next year. I’ll have him participate in the test then,” Brad said hopefully.

With Stali’s son as an example, now all settled knights in the Shining Lands hoped that their children could become wizards.

Kai didn’t notice the whispers of his three subordinates and turned to Su Nan to discuss another topic.

“The beast-like plague in the Frostveil Province is getting worse. Not just Silver Ridge City, the beastization is already spreading to other towns,” Kai explained.

Su Nan was surprised, “Didn’t the Frosted Marquis deploy the army to suppress it?”

“I heard that during the suppression process, dozens of knights in the army were infected, leading to the rapid worsening of the situation. The army dispatched suffered heavy losses, and I estimate the Frosted Marquis is already frazzled,” Kai replied.

Su Nan’s mouth twitched slightly.

The beast-like affliction usually grants immense power at the cost of complete loss of sanity, similar to a permanent berserk state.

If a knight is infected, an increase in power by one or two minor realms is normal.

If a peak knight is infected, their combat power can even surge to rival that of a grand knight.

Dozens of infected knights could directly attack a fully armed thousand-man cavalry regiment; just thinking about it was daunting.

One would wonder how the military leadership overseeing the suppression allowed things to deteriorate to this extent.

Seemingly perceiving Su Nan’s doubts, Kai continued, “The general responsible for suppression has been relieved of command by the Frosted Marquis. The new appointee is Sir John, a veteran general who has campaigned alongside the Frosted Marquis for years. Furthermore, he is a legendary knight. With him in charge, the beast-like plague should be swiftly brought under control.”

Kai spoke with absolute confidence.

After all, a legendary knight already represented the pinnacle of combat power in the Celestial Star Kingdom.

Such a powerful figure subduing a group of mindless infected was thought to be a breeze.

In fact, every noble aware of the situation thought similarly.

But how the situation evolved caught everyone off guard.

In Star Calendar 1251, in the month of Spring Dawn (March).

Legendary knight Sir John was besieged and killed in exhausted combat in Yulan City by thousands of infected.

His accompanying elite cavalry regiment was completely wiped out.

The announcement shocked the entire Celestial Star Kingdom, focusing countless nobles’ attention on the Frostveil Province.

The same year, during the month of Thunderclaps (April),

the beast plague spread with astonishing speed.

Almost everywhere in the Frostveil Province, except for its central city, Frostveil City, began showing signs of beast-like symptoms.

Silver Ridge City, the origin of the disaster, became a wasteland.

The bordering provinces of Lake Blue, Red Leaf, and White Tower quickly set up blockades at their borders, barring entry from Frostveil Province residents.

In the same month, the Frosted Marquis sought assistance from the capital, requesting reinforcements.

In the following month, the Grand Duke of Celestial Star dispatched troops into Frostveil Province to begin subduing the infected.

For a time, the entire Celestial Star Kingdom seemed to be enveloped in a foreboding atmosphere.