Chapter 69: The Little Chick's Belonging

  Xiao An sat down again, looking at Li Xie and raising her nose: "Brother Xie just needs to buy grain from His Majesty!"

  "Useless! Talking is like not talking at all!" Li Xie gave her a white eye.

  "Hmm!" Xiao An's eyebrows rose: "Elder brother only needs to send someone on a fast horse to the imperial capital, tell His Majesty that Huajing City urgently needs grain and it will take about a month to arrive! As long as His Majesty agrees to sell grain, in about a month, there will be grain sent to Huajing City! Don't ask me why, anyway it will be like this!"

  "Is it true?" Li Xie couldn't understand, but saw Xiao An's affirmative tone, which didn't seem like a joke.

  "This is a big deal, how can Xiao An speak nonsense? Xie Ge will do it." Xiao An continued: "In addition, if Xie Ge is still worried, on the one hand, he can go to Meihua City to purchase grain, and on the other hand, order those refugee slaves to open up wasteland and plant bitter melons. Even if they don't buy grain from Your Majesty, they can hold out until next spring. By then, the spring harvest will be near, and they can last for a while longer. With large-scale land reclamation and planting, by autumn harvest, there won't be any food problems!"

  "What is bitter melon?"

  "Bitter gourd is a climbing plant, cold and drought tolerant, with strong vitality. From germination to maturity, it only takes 40 days to produce fruit. If using cuttings, it can produce fruit in just 30 days! The taste of bitter gourd is bitter and astringent, which would be unbearable for the nobility, but refugees and slaves wouldn't care about this. Even common people often eat bitter gourd as food! Although bitter gourd tastes bad, it fills the belly and has nutrition. Now planting bitter gourd can solve next month's food problem. And..."

  Xiao An continued: "If I'm not mistaken, there must be a lot of grain flour in the granary. These things can be collected and brewed with seasonings to make wine. The wine lees can be mixed with some oil to make coarse cakes. Then we'll have both wine and coarse cakes, and we'll get through the winter!"

  Li Xie listened with a dazed expression, completely bewildered, and could only turn to Tiel, the one in charge of food: "What is this poor melon stuff?"

  Tiel's forehead was covered in a cold sweat, and beside him, Xiao An snorted: "This noble has no idea what it means to be poor, but if Brother Ye goes to ask a commoner, he'll definitely know!"

  Li Xie asked again: "What's going on with the grain and rice flour?"

  "Ah, I see," said the official, "the grain that has been stored for a long time becomes powder due to temperature and pressure issues. During transportation, most of it spills inside the granary. We usually don't bother with these powders, but over time, a thick layer of grain dust accumulates at the bottom of the granary. Although we can't eat this dust because it's mixed with grain husks, Ah...Ah-gu says that it's actually usable and can be made into a large quantity of food!"

  "Great!" Li Xie finally understood, that is, there was a large amount of grain! And, what Xiao An said must be reliable. He couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Come on, little sister Xiao An, hehe, this matter will be left to you to handle! If it's done well, there will be a big reward!"

  "Hmph! I don't care about any rewards! However, Yako, if you say so, and Little An has a way, then grant Little An a wish!"

  "Go on, you say!"

  "I want little chicken!"

  "Huh!" Li Xie was taken aback: "You...this..."

  Jīn Líng war chicken is an eighth-tier demon beast! In the future, it may even become a tenth-tier undead firebird!

  "What? Are you going back on your word?" Xiao An said with some displeasure.

  "Joking aside, what I said is definitely not a joke. What I mean is, you're not an expert, why bother with Golden Feather War Chicken? It's too wasteful, let's get something else." Li Xie anyway couldn't make the Golden Feather War Chicken his demon pet, sending it away was only a matter of time, but giving it to Xiao An would be a clear waste.

  Vandy Sell, who was standing by, was shocked and frightened. He was afraid that Li Xie would really send away the Golden Winged War Chicken! Fortunately, Li Xie said so, seemingly unwilling to send away the Golden Winged War Chicken, which made Vandy Sell slightly more at ease.

  But Xiao An said, "I'm giving it to my brother! My brother is a 9th rank Sword Saint, but he doesn't have a magical creature. If Little Chicken becomes his magical creature and advances to become a 9th rank magical beast, then my brother will be a 9th rank Summoner!"

  "Alright then... I'll just give it to your brother, you can have another wish! Li Xie had originally planned to give the Golden Winged War Chicken to Fan Di Sel, but Jack Rosenthal was also a candidate, only he didn't know him well enough. However, seeing how much Xiao An understood, and considering that the siblings might be useful in the future, he decided to do them a personal favor!"

  Xiao An shook his head and smiled: "The adults' gifts are different from mine, brother has always given me things, I also want to give my brother something. I know that brother has always wanted a powerful demon beast, so I'll grant this wish!"

  "Alright!" Li Xie agreed, but it made Fan Di Ze tremble beside him!

  His loss was written all over his face, and Li Xie also noticed it, smiling: "Fan Di, big man, why the dejected look? Don't worry, as long as you follow me, the demon beast won't be scarce for you! Today is eighth rank, tomorrow maybe ninth rank! I, the Duke, promise you that in the future when there are powerful demon beasts, you will have priority!"

  "Really?"

  "Have I ever deceived you?"

  "Thank you, sir!" Vandy Sell hastily cupped his hands together, his face revealing the joy in his heart. Although high-ranking magical beasts were rare and hard to come by, Vandy Sell believed that Li Xie would eventually have one! This confidence stemmed from what he had seen in the grand hall of the City Lord's Manor!

  "Alright, Xiao An you're in charge of handling the food supplies. Tiel and Vandersa, you two will follow Xiao An closely for the time being and assist him from the side. Give it your all, or else you know what the consequences will be!"

  "Yes! Understood, sir! We will follow your orders!" Till and Van der Sa hastily replied. They were now afraid of Li Xie, this lord who would kill at the slightest provocation.

  Xiao An made a bow and said, "I'll go find the poor melon seeds now and arrange for the land to be opened up for farming. I'll also tell my brother this good news." Xiao An left first.

  Li Xie nodded and said: "Fan Di, you temporarily follow Xiao An, remember to protect Xiao An's sister's safety."

  "Yes! Sir!"

  Watching Xiao An leave, Li Xie's smile on his face never dissipated. Jack was undoubtedly a super commander, and his sister Xiao An didn't seem so simple either. These two siblings were likely to be a great help in the future! Therefore, Xiao An's safety had to be considered, otherwise if something happened to Xiao An, it would definitely affect Jack's heart!

  At present, the city is still in chaos. Let Vandy Seal protect Xiao An and everything should be fine. As for Li Xie's safety, with Zaydenard around, there shouldn't be a problem. If even Zaydenard, this 9th-tier giant dragon, can't handle it, adding another Vandy Seal probably won't make a difference either.

  "Zain, take me to the rooftop of the hotel."

  Zayn Nad picked up Li Xie and flew into the air, taking him to the top of the hotel. The two stood on the roof, looking down at the streets below.

  Li Xie let Zayn Nad bring him up, not out of boredom, but because there was something that needed to be clarified with Zayn Nad.

  The cat on Li Xie's head jumped down from his body and stared at the two men with its eyes: "Meow..."

  Zayn glared sideways at the kitten: "I'm not a homo! He asked me to carry him up!"

  The kitten patted its paw on its forehead, indicating that it didn't care, and sat down to one side. It took out a bottle from the space ring around its neck and started drinking by itself.

  Li Xie shook his head and ignored the strange little cat, saying: "Zaynarde, I promise to help you get promoted. Once things settle down in Chrysanthemum City, I'll arrange for Duke Everell to come over and secretly promote you!"

  "Are you in a hurry?" Zayn Nadir stared at Li Xie.

  Uh...

  He was taken aback by the counter-question and immediately smiled awkwardly: "I'm afraid you're in a hurry."

  Zainnarde's gaze looked far away: "In these days, I have also been considering what you said before. You are right, if I truly become powerful enough to threaten the Dragon Clan Imperial Family, the Dragon Clan Imperial Family will definitely take action to kill me! Now that I am a 9th-stage giant dragon, if I advance to a 10th-stage giant dragon, I will reach the power of the Elder Council. Plus, my dragon blood is golden, and my dragon breath is stronger than the Elder Council's, enough to threaten their existence! At that time, it may attract the attention of the Dragon Clan!"

  Li Xie smiled and said: "I told you, it's a secret promotion. You and I won't say anything, and neither will Duke Aiwier. Let's wait until you reach the 10th rank before we talk about it."

  "You don't understand." Zayn said: "A tenth-tier demon beast, like a tenth-tier sword saint or magician, is relatively a qualitative breakthrough for those below the tenth tier. Once I advance to the tenth tier, at the moment of my advancement, my dragon aura will completely erupt. Others may not notice it, but the Dragon Emperor must be able to sense it! At that time, he will probably directly dispatch dragons to search for me everywhere. Even if I transform into human form, the dragons can still sense my aura, which is impossible to conceal. They will find me soon. And even if I am a tenth-tier dragon, I am not a match for the Dragon Clan."

  Li's eyebrows jumped: "Then you don't have a chance to advance to the tenth rank of giant dragon?"

  "It's not, as long as I can get the Anxi grass that grows inside the Dragon Tomb to eat, the dragon aura on my body will disappear. Even if I stand in front of the Dragon Emperor, he won't be able to recognize me even if I don't reveal my dragon form!"

  "Rest grass......" Li Xie furrowed his brow and said: "Where is the Dragon's Tomb?"

  "The Dragon Clan's old nest is in Mount Buzhou, only the Dragon Clan Imperial Family knows where it is, and only they can open it, it belongs to the Dragon Clan's sacred land!"

  "It seems you won't be able to go to the Dragon Clan. Alright, if there's a chance, I'll definitely help you get the Anxi Grass, this is a promise as a friend!"

  "Friend......" Zainnade gazed intently at Li Xie, seemingly lost in thought. After a long while, he spoke: "These days I've been living quite happily, unlike before when my heart was filled with hatred and only sought to advance. Hehe, the matter of Anxiangcao, we'll have another chance to discuss it later. But you, your secret must not be let out!"

  In fact, Li Xie called Zayn to come up and talk about this matter. About Li Xie's body being able to treat demonic beasts, and something that Zayn didn't know yet, his body could make demonic beasts advance in rank.

  He needed Zaynab to keep it a secret for him, after all, Zaynab was the only one who hadn't sworn that night!

  "I didn't think you'd guess my intention already. Hehe... " Li Xie chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I don't know why it's like this, of course, I also know that if this secret is exposed, or even spreads out, what kind of crisis I'll face! So, I want to ask you to keep it a secret."

  "Don't I also have secrets in your mouth?"

  "I, Li Xie, am not someone who would betray a friend!"

  "I'm not Michael Jackson either!"

  "Alright! Haha...... Let's drink! Meow meow, throw two bottles over here, don't just drink by yourself."

  "Meow......" The little kitten raised the right corner of its mouth, revealing a small sharp tooth.

  "What did she say?"

  "She said our secrets she all knows, better bribe her, or else she will tell everyone!"

  "My god! Dead cat!"