On a bright and sunny morning of a new day, the Villa welcomed a bearer of good news. Chu Kuang excitedly brought him to the hall of the Villa, where Ikasa was enjoying his breakfast.

“Official Mo Fan! Welcome! What brings you to this humble place?”

Ikasa asked, gesturing to the man to take a seat at the table. He declined and instead passed the scroll in his hand.

“Your first request according to the contract has been fulfilled. Should I call you Property Owner Ikasa now?”

Ikasa unfurled the scroll, only to see it was the title deed for the Herb Garden. With a broad smile, he passed it to the person most enthused about this purchase, Chu Kuang.

Chu Kuang happily skimmed through the deed to find any discrepancies even though he knew there probably wouldn’t be any.

In the meanwhile, Ikasa turned his attention to Mo Fan.

“What about my suggestion? Is Commander Lu willing to bring his troops to the Herb Garden when they use the manual?”

Mo Fan waved his hand as if it was a given.

“Of course, these are orders from the City Lord. But beware, Commander Lu Shao might hold this against you and cause trouble.”

Ikasa nodded slowly. He expected to ruffle a few feathers with his sudden interference in the City Guards. If a Sense Realm Expert like Lu Shao is also one of them, so be it.

“Thank you, Brother Mo! I am very grateful for your assistance. Here is a gift for your son. I hear he should be at the age suitable for cultivation. This one is a Single-Use manual, so treat it carefully.”

Smilingly Mo Fan quickly pocketed the book Ikasa presented. However, the words from his mouth were very different.

“Where was the need for this between us brothers? Since you have a present for me, I should also give you one. There is an outstanding tax of 1800 Gold on that Herb Garden. Pay it off as soon as possible, alright?”

Ikasa choked on the sip of water he had just taken. Coughing violently, he tried to vocalize his objection, but Mo Fan had already left.

“Damn it! You sneaky, City Lord! And here I was wracking my brains, ‘How did he give something for free?'”

He cursed, stabbing his chopsticks into the omelet on his plate.

After finishing the breakfast, everyone except Ikasa departed for the Herb Garden. On the other hand, he went to the administrative office of Birch City to pay off the tax.

In the City Hall, when he placed the heavy bag filled with coins before the official in charge of finance, the man on the other side smiled.

“Tax for Herb Garden?” He asked.

Upon Ikasa’s nod, he passed him the receipt and a note. Ikasa looked at him questioningly, seeing the amount for the tax was paid in full.

“The City Lord paid for it. He also asked me to hand that note to whoever came to pay the tax.”

He unfolded the note with doubt and read the contents.

‘A small payback for embarrassing me before my subordinates.’

“Pfffftt!”

Ikasa snorted as he folded the note and kept it in his sleeve.

‘To play this elaborate joke…  the defeat yesterday must have bruised his ego.’

Ikasa smiled with schadenfreude as he exited the City Hall.

On the way out, he ran into a revered existence in the City Guards, Commander Lu Shao!

During the period when the Hu Clan suppressed the City Guards in the City and the Monstrous Flame Sect’s arrogance had reached an unbearable scale, this commanding officer had broken through.

In the first Tribute Tournament, he had routed the experts from the other two powers with City Lord.

This achievement had elevated his status in the minds of his troops to just below the City Lord.

“Commander Lu! A pleasure to meet you! Did official Mo inform you of the new manuals for your troops?”

Lu Shao looked at Ikasa in puzzlement, wondering about his identity. Only when he heard about the new manuals did he recognize the identity of the person greeting him.

“You must be our benefactor, the Merchant of Manuals, Ikasa. Thanks to you and your Magical manuals, the City Guards now have a fighting chance against our adversaries.”

Even though the words sounded sincere, they were laced with sarcasm. Lu Shao’s eyes showed clear contempt for the so-called ‘Magical Manuals.’

‘Another unbelieving one, huh?’

This thought flashed through Ikasa’s head instinctively. A plan to correct the disdainful approach of this Commander Lu formed in his head.

Pretending to ignore the sarcasm in his words, Ikasa acted as if flattered.

“I am flattered, Sense Trainer Lu. When are you bringing your troops to the Herb Garden to experience them? I am sure your troops would appreciate my techniques even more after trying them!”

Lu Shao floundered for words. He couldn’t outright disrespect Ikasa and incur the wrath of the City Lord. However, the way Ikasa had made his men’s efforts seem worthless rubbed him the wrong way.

And now, Ikasa had provoked him with a subtle challenge. A challenge to test his men’s resolve against the wondrous techniques.

Commander Lu responded to the provocation without batting an eyelid.

“I will bring my two regiments this afternoon to test your High-Grade Cultivation Manual at the Herb Garden!”

‘Got him!’

Ikasa inwardly cheered while maintaining a warm smile on his face.

“I will be there to welcome you, Commanding Officer.”

He replied with a polite smile, but his eyes envisioned the future of his prospering Herb Garden!

Ikasa had arrived at the Herb Garden after his chance meeting with Lu Shao. The moment he arrived at the garden, he was bombarded by Chu Kuang with a list of repairs and renovations.

As soon as he heard the total amount required, he exclaimed at the outrageous number.

“1400 gold coins!”

He turned to Chu Kuang and scathingly asked, “Why don’t you just tear this entire goddamn thing down and rebuild a new one? I am sure it will cost much less than this number!”

Xin Ruo jumped to defend Chu Kuang, who was being blamed for her ideas.

“Look closely! We are building a new pavilion to serve as an auction house and our store.”

She proceeded to explain her plans for this land.

“We can build the Pavilion to the west. That way, it will be closer to the City….”

Ikasa listened to the excited Xin Ruo detail about her dream pavilion. It hurt him to break her dream, but a Pavilion was a redundant structure at this point.

“The building you imagined seems quite elegant and refined.”

Ikasa complimented her to cushion her from the blow that was coming.

“Have you thought about what we can sell in this Pavilion? Or how will we protect this Pavilion?”

Xin Ruo had no answer. Chu Kuang cursed Ikasa for not treating the fairer sex better when he saw dejection crawl upon the girl’s face.

Ikasa left Xin Ruo alone to come up with a valid reason for her dream to come true while he discussed details with Chu Kuang.

‘With the plan for the Pavilion trashed, the repair cost came down to 300 Gold. Maybe I can afford to build an Auction House if the strength of my private force grows soon.’

Looking at the depressed Xin Ruo, he couldn’t help but entertain such a thought. And it was not wholly new.

Back in the Sal City, he had seen a new side of Xin Ruo and had vowed to make her the best Hostess in the entire Holy Wood Empire! Building this auction house would just be another step in that direction.

He shook his head and put these thoughts on the back burner.

Focusing on the person before him, he heard him list the various necessary facilities and their costs.

“Uncle Chu, here is 500 Gold. The extra 200 is for you to buy necessary furniture for the new residents of this building.”

Ikasa said, handing over a bag filled with coins to this trusted aide. Chu Kuang accepted the bag with a grateful smile.

“I will do my best to renovate this building within the next month.”

Chu Kuang promised Ikasa. His dilligence was apparent as he returned to rechecking every nook and cranny for cracks and faults.

Time passed as Ikasa and Chu Kuang busied themselves in the discussions about the potential of this herb field.

As soon as the Sun started its downward journey, Commander Lu arrived with the first and second regiments, each consisting of 50 men.

Their arrival caused a commotion, attracting the attention of everyone present at the Herb Garden.

Feng Yan, the teens, Xin Ruo, Chu Kuang, and Caretaker Han; Everyone came out to see the 100 men march on the lands of their herb garden.

“Merchant Ikasa, I have brought my men to evaluate your wonderful techniques. Have you prepared them?”

Commander Lu approached Ikasa as soon as their eyes met. He was in no mood for formalities after the tense exchange in the morning.

Noticing Lu Shao’s short temper, Ikasa shook his head. He brought out the x100 use Cultivation Manual and took charge of the soldiers lined up.

“If any of you do not cultivate the standard technique of City Lord’s Manor, Fall Out!”

The loud instruction rumbled in every soldier’s ear. However, none fit the criterion and hence, did not break the ranks.

“This is the first batch of City Guards. Every technique they know is the standard technique of City Guard.”

Commander Lu proudly explained why no one stepped out of the line.

‘Since that’s the case, I don’t have to worry about incompatibility with manuals.’

Ikasa reassured himself and passed the Dumb Belle’s Guide to Strength to the first person on his right. With a smirk, he instructed the guard.

“Open the first page, read and pass it on. Once you are done, get ready to witness the miracle!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep