CHAPTER 182: CHAPTER 149: SUPREME TALENT?

But before getting close, one would be subjected to such strong attacks that ordinary people couldn’t withstand it.

Luo De stared at the door at the end of the corridor, falling into deep thought.

Just as Luo De was trying to come up with a solution, the Guard ran up to report,

"Lord, that soldier from earlier has woken up."

"Oh?"

Luo De was somewhat surprised, "How is he?"

"His eyes are unfocused, and he doesn’t respond no matter how we call him, just drooling with his mouth open."

The Guard hesitantly reported, "He seems to have become a fool..."

"Alright, I understand. Take good care of him."

Luo De calmly said, though feeling some pity inside.

It seems Mussen is truly special.

Luo De couldn’t help but look at Mussen beside him.

"Mussen, come over here."

Luo De beckoned to Mussen.

Mussen briskly ran forward, "My Lord, what are your orders?"

"Put your hand on it, and use your mind to feel the presence of this pearl."

Mussen obediently placed his hand on it.

With a swirl of mist inside the pearl crystal, Luo De then saw Mussen’s spiritual strength—11.1.

"Huh???"

Luo De stared in disbelief!

It took him so long to cultivate to just 11.4, and this fellow reached 11.1 directly?

No wonder he only rolled his eyes after a spiritual attack.

Such talent is incredibly powerful!

This must be what they call a top-tier wizard’s talent, right?

Luo De felt that if he couldn’t directly absorb the energy from Extraordinary Gems, he would be envious by now.

"How old are you?"

A moment later, Luo De asked the now conscious Mussen.

Mussen seemed yet to recover from the vision of the Crystal Ball, standing dazed with an unfocused gaze.

"The Lord is asking your age!" Gang Le loudly reminded.

"Oh oh, nineteen years old, not yet passed my First Birth Day, my Lord."

Mussen hurriedly responded.

Being recruited as a soldier at nineteen is not surprising; in this era, the youngest at sixteen could join the army.

In some places of the Northern Territory, due to sparse population, even fifteen or fourteen-year-olds would become soldiers.

"A bit old, but with this talent, it should be fine."

Luo De murmured to himself, looking at Mussen and asked, "What did you see?"

"My Lord, I saw a lot of snow,"

Mussen honestly replied,

"It seemed like I was in the snow mountain, the skies started to snow, I wanted to find a place to hide from the snow, and then an avalanche occurred."

"It was terrifying, the avalanche buried me right over my head, and then I awoke."

With a nervous expression, Mussen cautiously whispered, "My Lord, am I sick?"

"No, you don’t need to worry."

Luo De comforted, "Don’t think too much, just work diligently for me in the future."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Mussen smiled delightedly, "Don’t worry, I’ll do everything you say and work hard with you!"

Luo De nodded slightly, then looked at Gang Le beside him,

"Come, you try putting your hand on it too."

"Alright!"

Gang Le placed his large hand directly over it, Luo De saw the Crystal Ball’s result and shook his head slightly in disappointment.

9.3, a bit higher than an average person, but still below the Meditation Technique’s threshold.

"How am I, Lord?"

Gang Le looked at Luo De with eager anticipation.

Unwilling to discourage him, Luo De patted his back,

"You’re doing well, eat well, sleep well, and exercise."

"Let’s go back."

Luo De waved his hand, leading the way leaving.

Gang Le scratched his head,

"Why didn’t the Lord ask what I saw?"

...

...

After the basic investigation was clear, Luo De had everyone leave and closed the stone door.

Except for Luo De, no one knew the rune password, so no one else could enter.

In the future, this would be his underground vault to store various precious items.

With such a spacious area, even if the Imperial Vault were stored here, it could hold everything.

It’s a pity Luo De didn’t know the exact size of the Imperial Vault.

Of course, Luo De would first bring Avril over to sort out those data.

Suddenly, Luo De felt that there were too few people with knowledge and skills in his territory, not enough at all.

Especially if he were to establish a school in the future, talent would be even scarcer.

Perhaps, Prophet Bai Shuang could also be utilized.

Luo De did not stay long at the salt mine, just for one night.

He had a meal with Jess and the miners, drank some wine, and inquired about their living conditions.

The cave wasn’t as cold as the outside, and the food sent was ample, so the miners had no issues.

Just a small request.

They hoped Luo De could send some women over.

With ample food and drink, only that sort of thing remained for the miners.

Unlike soldiers who could rotate shifts back home, they were long repressed.

After listening, Luo De smiled and promised that if there were women willing to come, he would arrange it.

The miners thanked him profusely, toasting him repeatedly.

Unfortunately, Luo De needed to set off the next day, only having two cups with Jess.

As the sun rose the next morning, Luo De set out with his group, hurrying back to Frost Leaf Town.

Upon arriving, Luo De headed straight to the house storing rye and wheat without returning to the manor.

As the temperature inside stayed fairly optimal, the rye and wheat had mostly sprouted.

Immediately, Luo De instructed Otto to lead the slaves to light the fires, heating the fire pit, and spread the sprouted grains on the flue pipe and fire pit for drying.

This process required careful temperature control, maintaining it just hot enough to hold but not too hot.

Essentially, avoiding scorching the grains.

This process lasted a whole day and night, with Luo De constantly overseeing, checking occasionally to prevent the slaves from dozing off and ruining the grains.

Once these sprouted grains were dried, they were known as malt.

Next, malt sugar could be made from the malt.

Luo De summoned all the working slaves around him, guiding them personally,

"Grind all this malt with a stone mortar, crushing the malt shells."

"But don’t use too much force, to avoid turning the malt into powder."

Crushed malt allows for better sugar extraction.

However, turning it into fine powder would cause it to become mushy in water, clogging the filter cloth, making filtration difficult, and clouding the sugar liquid.

"After grinding, soak it in warm water for half a day, then put it in a pot to cook."

"But the water shouldn’t be too hot, with the same temperature requirement as during drying."

"Once it’s about done, use coarse cloth to filter out the residues, leaving the malt water for me."

Luo De reminded the slaves, "Don’t throw away the residues either, they can be used for making cakes."

"Alright, start working now!"

After the malt sugar water emerged, sugar would need to be boiled further.

But teaching them all at once was impossible to remember, so Luo De didn’t waste words with them.

"Yes, my Lord!"

The slaves answered in unison, starting to busy themselves.

Luo De exchanged a few words with Otto, then returned to the manor.

Avril was busy studying Sea Race scripts, Luo De placed the Crystal Ball in front of her,

"Come, test your spiritual strength."

Luo De had a curious thought.

Since Vivian was Avril’s embodiment, would their spiritual strengths be the same?

Avril looked puzzled, knowing Vivian had been tested, and wondered why Luo De wanted to test her as well.

Still, she placed her hand on it.

The swirling mist appeared once more, as dots of light floated up.

Luo De’s expression changed dramatically.

There were actually eleven!