Gains

After the victory, Casey led the warriors and found the hidden treasury of the Anca family, obtaining many spoils of war. Not only were there many crystal coins, there were also various rare art pieces and antiques, amongst which were works of the famous painter Laiska. It was assumed that those treasures came from the Anca family robbing a certain noble.

Laiska had been the most famous painter from the Banto Empire two thousand years ago. In many small towns, nobles there might not know how many sons the king had, but they would definitely know of the art piece that propelled Laiska to fame, the portrait of Pope Aynrosen the Tenth.

In the painting, Pope Aynrosen the Tenth was sitting on an opulent high chair, his body leaning to the left. His lips were shut, his brows locked tight together. His sullen face carried a thick, eagle-like nose. His stern appearance was laced with a shred of ferociousness. One could respect him, but not become friendly with him. One could honor him, but not get on close terms with him. The exquisite painting displayed the Pope's authority, and it was praised highly by Pope Aynrosen the Tenth himself.

Ever since it was finished, Laiska's painting had been regarded as the best portrait to have ever been produced. Be it nobles or artists, all of them had the highest of admiration for the painting. They all claimed it as a miracle and a model for all artists to follow. Thus, an endless number of nobles started asking Laiska to do portraits for them.

Those who did not know of Laiska were not fit to be nobles!

That was one of the ways nobles compared with one another. Whoever could get Laiska to do a portrait of them would have the right to boast in front of the others.

Casey and the rest found many of Laiska's famous works in a purple sandalwood crate. There were portraits of the wives of nobles, portraits of kings, and even a few paintings of popes, all incredibly lifelike.

It was a full crate!

With this many precious works of art, the prices would definitely be exorbitant if they were to auction them. After the explanation of the old butler Murbaqi, Yang Ling understood the value of these portraits.

"Murbaqi, do you have a way to quickly cash in on these antiques and pieces of calligraphy?" Yang Ling was not particularly interested in the so-called famous portraits. He would rather have a few crates of crystal coins.

The old butler was a little surprised when he heard Yang Ling say this. He had been a butler for Harribell's family for many years. He had only heard of nobles trying their hardest to collect these valuable paintings. He had never seen someone who did not care at all for them. After a daze, he reacted, "Sir, we can get Boulade Merchant's Association to auction the paintings, but it might take some time. In order to advertise it, we will probably need at least two months!"

"No problem, I'll give you free rein on that. Also, tidy up the castle as soon as possible; we relocate here in two days!" After giving a few instructions, Yang Ling turned to leave.

After all these times of observation, Yang Ling understood that the old butler was an assistant he could not have too many of. No matter how troublesome the situation was, it would become orderly in the hands of the butler. Also, the butler was experienced, knowing what he had to say and do. Whenever Alice would give him a massage in thin clothing, the dwarf Rumi would often shout in shock while the butler would pretend that he did not see anything.

Professionalism!

Seeing the capable Murbaqi, Yang Ling could not help but recall his female superior they called a superwoman. She was calm and logical, and she possessed years of experience!

The Anca family castle was called Wissen Castle. It was sturdy and magnificent, easy to defend and difficult to invade. There were many secrets within the castle, while the outside was surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was much better than being cooped up in the dwarf's weapon shop. Yang Ling would not let go of the opportunity to live in such a magnificent mansion.

Even though Wissen Tower had many eerie legends, Yang Ling did not pay much heed to them. Rumors spread quickly in this world, each version becoming more ridiculous than the last.

There might have been nothing going on, but incapable people tended to worry incessantly!

In Yang Ling's eyes, those rumors were mostly baseless. If he had the time to contemplate such flimsy legends, he might as well use that time to cultivate his Wizard Mantra or tame a few Magical Beasts in the Terras Forest.

After the battle with Ymir, Yang Ling felt that he was not powerful enough. If Ymir had not lost his rationality in his fury, or if Ymir had more battle experience, Yang Ling might have been reduced to ashes. Thinking back to the terrifying Nine-headed Snake Monster, Yang Ling could still feel his scalp crawl.

The Horned Bee Beasts were incredibly fast and even able to shoot out poisonous stingers after they have evolved, but as low level Magical Beasts, they were helpless against higher level beings like the Evil Demon Bartho. The Evil Eyes had immense power when attacking together, but their movements were slow and their defensive capabilities were a mess. The Withered Tree Warriors had powerful offensive capabilities, but their movements were also too slow. If they were pitted against a speed type Magical Beast, they would not be able to keep up. The Unicorn was quite good, adept in offense and defense. It was also incredibly speedy, but Yang Ling only had one.

Did he have to take the risk and enter deeper into the Terras Forest to tame higher level Magical Beasts?

Yang Ling shook his head. He had tamed the Unicorn through utter coincidence. He would not be that lucky every day. After entering the deeper regions of the forest, even Harribell and her team suffered heavy casualties. Yang Ling was not willing to be torn to shreds by hordes of high level Magical Beasts.

Thinking about high level Magical Beasts, Yang Ling had an idea. He remembered the corpse of the Nine-headed Snake Monster he had absorbed into his Space Ring. If a low level Twin-headed Deer could yield him two Blood Orbs, Yang Ling did not dare imagine how many Magical Beast Blood Essences a terrifying creature like the Nine-headed Snake Monster would give him.

Even though he had received another two small bottles of Water from the Spring of Life from the elf elder, Yang Ling was not willing to consume it all. After all, the forest elves could only obtain a few drops of the Water from the Spring of Life from an ancient tree every year. The water was a precious and scarce resource.

But Magical Beast Blood Essences were different. The Terras Forest spanned tens of thousands of miles. No one really knew how many Magical Beasts there were within. Even though the Blood Essence of low level Magical Beasts wasn't as good as the Water from the Spring of life in terms of enhancing Wizard Powers, it won in terms of availability.

In order to prevent sneak attacks from enemies while he was extracting the Magical Beast Blood Essences, Yang Ling instructed Argus to lead a team of barbarians to heavily guard the door.

Through the warriors and servants of the Anca family who surrendered to him, Yang Ling had learned that Ymir's father had gone away leading a group of elite warriors. That allowed Yang Ling to gain the advantage and easily topple the heavily defended Wissen Castle. Yang Ling had destroyed the Anca patriarch's lineage and leveled his stronghold. How would he forgive Yang Ling?

It was said that a barking dog would not bite, while a dog that would bite would not bark. The enemy in the darkness was always the most terrifying! Yang Ling did not wish to be stabbed in the back while he was concentrating on obtaining the Blood Orbs.

Releasing the corpse of the Nine-headed Snake Monster, Yang Ling looked at its massive body and stroked its hard, pitch-black scales. He then looked at the nine heads that could release different spells at the same time. Yang Ling felt fortunate. Thinking back to the fight, if he had hesitated for even a moment, he would have died horribly.

The lantern-sized eyes of the Nine-headed Snake Monster were bulging. It looked like, even in death, it couldn't believe that it had fallen to a human who knew neither Battle Energy nor magical spells. It certainly wasn't resting in peace!

Without any more delays, Yang Ling sat cross-legged and took a deep breath. He placed his right hand on the Nine-headed Snake Monster and circulated the Wizard Power within his body. Quickly, streaks of red blood vapors were released from the body of the Nine-headed Snake Monster, gathering in his palm.