Chapter 39: National Power

The hierarchy of nobility in monarchies is based on titles, typically determined by the amount of land owned. The primary ranks are Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

Duke: Among the nobility, the Duke holds the highest rank. Those conferred with the title of Duke are usually members of the royal family or close relatives.

Marquis: The Marquis is the second rank in the nobility. Initially, it referred to a regional governor with special full powers, akin to a feudal lord or independent large lord. Later, the Marquis became a rank between Duke and Earl, above the Earl.

Earl: Earls initially served as attendants to the emperor, managing military, civil, and financial powers, and sometimes serving as local officials. They could become hereditary large feudal lords. Over time, their status declined, placing them between Marquis and Viscount as the third rank of nobility.

Viscount: Originally a deputy to the Earl, Viscounts later existed independently and could also be hereditary.

Baron: The lowest rank of nobility is the Baron. The word "Baron" originally meant "just an ordinary person," later evolving to mean "a person of strength."

These five ranks of nobility are further divided into hereditary and life nobility, depending on whether the title can be passed to descendants. Hereditary nobles' titles can be inherited by their eldest son after their death, while life nobility titles are only held during their lifetime and cannot be inherited by their children.

Above the ranks of Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, and Duke is the Prince, usually a direct relative of the royal family.

In various empires or kingdoms, there are several noble families with absolute influence, each with its unique characteristics. However, they are commonly referred to as the "Noble of Nobles" by the public.

Discussion on the History of Continental Development

"Sharo, did anyone bully you on the way?" Lin Yushang asked with a mischievous smile, holding Sharo's hand.

"No, no one did," Sharo replied, her face turning red, speaking softly with her head down.

"Haha, if anyone dared to..." Lin Yushang playfully waved her fist and then asked with concern, "Did you encounter any enemies? I was so worried."

"Yes, we did. We encountered five enemies, but he defeated them all," Sharo explained.

"Oh, five enemies, that's quite something," Lin Yushang remarked, suddenly discovering something new, her tone turning curious, "Who is 'he'?"

Although Da Qingshan had always been quite innocent, under someone's guidance, he had become sensitive to such tones and immediately chimed in with Lin Yushang's conversation, "Five Black Knights surrounded us. It was quite dangerous, but Lü'er handled four of them by himself."

"Ha!" Amy exclaimed, playfully slapping Lü'er's bald head, "I knew you were impressive. Come, let me give you a kiss." Amy stood on tiptoe, attempting to blow into Lü'er's ear, but Lü'er reacted quickly, turning his head to avoid it, and then used his large green tongue to lick Amy's face.

"Eww—so dirty!" Amy exclaimed, wiping her face vigorously. Once her face was clean, Lü'er came up to lick her again. Eventually, she had to use a piece of beef to distract Lü'er's tongue.

At night, Da Qingshan suddenly spoke to Amy while lying in bed, "It seems that Lü'er's mage level has increased. According to the teacher's test, I estimate he's now a Grand Mage."

"Yes, it must be. The Dragon God raised his rank, so..." Amy whispered, and soon fatigue overtook the two boys, and gentle snores emanated from the small room.

Early the next morning, Lin Yushang and Sharo donned formal attire and invited Amy and Da Qingshan to join them in visiting King Yisu III of the Hami people.

Despite its remote location, the palace was quite magnificent. It was built on a small hill with a 20° incline, featuring a red palace roof, snow-white walls, and towering arches. In front of the palace was a vast square filled with unique flowers of the Frozen Continent, a sea of bright red that seemed to dance like flames in the breeze. The distant sound of snowmelt trickled down, appearing to flow through some conduit and erupting in front of the square, creating a natural fountain.

The layout, colors, and space created a breathtaking architectural beauty that left anyone seeing the palace for the first time in awe.

Note: On the Frozen Continent, where the weather is harsh, there are few insects to spread pollen, and the scent of flowers is not easily dispersed in the cold wind. Therefore, all flowers rely on birds to spread pollen. To attract birds, the flowers are very large and brightly colored, making them easy for the birds to find.

"Amy Empire's envoy, seeking an audience—" a tall Amy warrior straightened his chest and shouted loudly.

"Amy Empire's envoy, seeking an audience—"

"Amy Empire's envoy, seeking an audience—"

"Amy Empire's envoy, seeking an audience—"

The warrior's announcement echoed through the corridors.

"The envoy is here for an audience."

Similarly, a loud voice replied from within.

Lin Yushang led a group of four into a grand castle.

On both sides stood Hami warriors, their hands resting on curved swords, arranged in four neat columns.

King Yisu III was a very tall and stout elder, with eyebrows entirely white, extending down to his mouth corners—a look reminiscent of fairy tales, unique to elderly Hami people.

King Yisu III accepted the national seal from an attendant and stamped it on the document. Then, with a peaceful demeanor, he asked, "Are you the daughter of Earl Lin?" Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he remarked with emotion, "Twenty years ago, your father came to receive a magical beast. Time flies; back then, he was about your age."

King Yisu III flipped through the list of envoys and curiously inquired, "Isn't your country's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs supposed to be the envoy? Why didn't he come? Is he unwell?"

Lin Yushang briefly recounted the attack they encountered en route to King Yisu III, whose eyebrows lifted high, his expression turning grim, "Such a thing happened? Military Minister, first, immediately notify the border and thoroughly investigate the Black Knights who attacked the envoy group; second, arrange for 500 wolf cavalry to escort the envoy group back to the northern federation of the Amy Empire."

"Yes, Your Highness," a middle-aged man in his forties, with a green dragon embroidered on his attire, stepped forward from the nobles and respectfully saluted King Yisu III.

"What about how you managed to break through their attack?" King Yisu III asked with genuine concern.

"Your Highness, we hired a mercenary group to assist us, specifically the two gentlemen behind me. They are from the small mercenary group," Lin Yushang introduced Amy and Da Qingshan to King Yisu III.

"A small mercenary group?"

"The Evil Dragon's Roar?"

"These two young men?"

Over thirty key nobles and officials of the Hami Kingdom expressed their disbelief in astonished exclamations.

King Yisu III was also quite surprised by this: "Are they the Amy and Da Qingshan who just completed the double S mission?"

Lin Yushang and Sharo could hardly believe the high profile of Amy and Da Qingshan and, along with King Yisu III's gaze, re-evaluated the two young boys they had been with for days.

"Indeed, Your Highness. It's an honor to meet you," Amy pulled Da Qingshan, a slight smile on her lips, and saluted King Yisu III with a knight's gesture.

"Haha, truly, young heroes," King Yisu III, evidently a cheerful and approachable person, said, "What are your full names? We've heard the story from the dwarf Locke. It was thrilling, and thanks to you, otherwise, not only would we have failed to kill the Evil Dragon, but the Silver Snow Wolf Mercenary Group would have lost an elite team."

"Your Highness, that's the care of Senior Locke towards the younger generation. Please don't take it as true," Amy, at that moment, behaved like a noble of many generations, interpreting every courtly etiquette flawlessly: "My partner is Harlek Da Qingshan, and I am Amy Haber."

"Oh, Amy Haber," King Yisu III repeated the name twice, as if recalling something, and a peculiar smile appeared on his lips.

"Haber is a very ancient surname, and it reminds me of an interesting person," King Yisu III's odd smile deepened, "Speaking of which, Amy, this person might be your relative. Do you know someone named Lake Haber?"

As soon as King Yisu III finished speaking, many Hami military officers in armor began whispering among themselves.

"Umm," Amy let out a long nasal sound, "How to say... I don't really know him because when I met him, I was only two years old, so I have no memory. Although, he seems to be my father."

"What?"

"The son of Lake Haber?"

Most of the military officers present displayed unease.

"Haha, your father is Lake Haber," King Yisu III seemed very pleased with this revelation, "Your father and a man named Chi Hanfeng were known as the Empire's Border Grinding Stones. Did you know that?"

Empire's Border Grinding Stones Amy shook her head: "Your Highness, my partner is a disciple of Chi Hanfeng, but..."

Before Amy could finish speaking, almost all the military officers in the hall drew their swords from their waists, glaring at Amy and Da Qingshan, while the civil officials and nobles present surprisingly shared King Yisu III's strange smile.

A hearty laugh sounded again in the hall, "Enough, do you intend to scare the children?" King Yisu III gestured for calm, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Your Highness, I demand a duel with them both."

"Your Highness, I request a duel."

"Your Majesty!"

Da Qingshan and Amy were clearly stunned by the scene before them.

"Alright," King Yisu III, suppressing his amusement, began telling the two boys a story, ignoring the dissatisfaction of the military officers.

King Yisu III was a very wise ruler. During his reign, he constantly strived to improve domestic policies, storing weapons, and releasing wolves into the forests, avoiding conflict with any country unless absolutely necessary.

However, in the third year of the Red Moon calendar, the Amy Empire once again launched an attack on the regions of Snow Moon Lake and Warm Water River. King Yisu III was not overly alarmed and, following the ancestral method, sent 20,000 snow wolf cavalry along the Dragon Tooth Mountain road to attack the Empire's border army, quickly forcing the Empire to retreat fully.

King Yisu III was unaware that during that time, Amy's father joined the Amy Empire's border army.

According to King Yisu III's intention, he intended to end the conflict there.

However, his generals were unwilling to accept this reality. After five years of diligent preparation, in the first part of the Red Moon calendar, some pro-war generals privately led 3,000 wolf cavalry to attack the Empire's border army.

At that time, the two divisional commanders of the Empire's border army were Lake Haber, commander of the Glacier Infantry, and Chi Hanfeng, the cavalry commander. The two newly acquainted friends teamed up for a brilliant collaboration, luring all the wolf cavalry into a valley and surrounding them. In the freezing cold, the wolf cavalry could only hold out for two days before surrendering entirely, tying up a few obstinate young nobles and presenting them to Chi Hanfeng and Lake Haber as a greeting gift.

Chi Hanfeng and Lake Haber did not make things difficult for them, sending a letter to King Yisu III on behalf of Chi Hanfeng, requesting 4,000 large animal skins as welfare for the Empire's soldiers before returning the young nobles to the kingdom.

These young nobles were primarily descendants of the kingdom's two most prestigious families, with intricate ties to the royal family. King Yisu III did not punish them severely and let the matter slide.

However, several nobles regarded this as a severe humiliation, and at every court morning session, they advocated for another war.

Half a year later, they privately dispatched 5,000 snow wolf cavalry, launching a surprise attack on the Empire's border army camp. Unbeknownst to them, they had fallen into another trap. The Empire's soldiers ceded their warm camp and covered the ground with pine resin. Once the wolf cavalry charged into the camp, they were immediately surrounded from outside, with longbowmen positioned at the camp gates.

Reportedly, a 25-year-old Empire noble with a malicious grin, riding a colossal snow wolf—only rideable by Hami people—stood at the camp gate, loudly demanding the wolf cavalry surrender; otherwise, they would be roasted into whole roasted wolves and roasted humans. Even more intolerable was his insistence on the nobles stepping forward individually and handing over their family emblems.

According to eyewitness accounts, the man later identified at various hearings as Chi Hanfeng, made a special point to emphasize that they must provide proof of their identity, facilitating his ability to demand ransom from the kingdom's nobles. Nobles unable to pay ransom would be sent to the mines if strong, sold to certain places of special service within the Empire to satisfy the whims of certain depraved women if weak and fair-skinned, and sold off to other continents as exotic Hami specimens for zoos if weak and dull-skinned.

The tradition of receiving magical beasts has existed for a long time.

Over 2,000 years ago, wizards and knights discovered the magical beast sanctuary, a wondrous place where any animal entering at the precise moment of the two suns' convergence, undergoing a cleansing in the sanctuary's blood pool, could gain remarkable abilities and enter into a contract with the person who brought them into the magical beast sanctuary, allowing them to be summoned through a barrier.

A magical beast knight's ability is equivalent to that of 100 ordinary cavalry of the same type.

Furthermore, the magical beast sanctuary can break the ordinary bloodline recognition relationship. For instance, even non-Hami people who bring a snow wolf magical beast into the magical beast sanctuary can gain the ability to summon and ride them.

Through years of experimentation, the best wild animal species for magical beast trials have been confirmed across continents, with notable examples including the snow wolf of the Frozen Continent, crocodiles of the Lanfaesis Continent, and unicorns, sand lizards, and earth dragons from the Eminor Continent.

To optimize the quality of each species, countries assign specialists to cultivate special magical beast offspring, ensuring the quality of magical beasts improves annually.

Access to the Holy Snow Mountain has always been controlled by one or several countries. To gain the ability to raise magical beasts in the Holy Snow Mountain, countries without direct access must trade their specially bred magical beast offspring for this privilege.

Thus, every five years, countries with access to the Holy Snow Mountain send envoys to other countries to receive magical beasts, and subsequently, based on pre-arranged agreements, other nations dispatch the same number of prospective magical beast knights and magical beast offspring to undergo the magical beast sanctuary's cleansing.

—Recorded in "Shan Hai Jing: Tales and Theories of the Bizarre"