Chapter 181: Pace

Facing the wariness of the mixed-blood female Barbarian, Dean laughed again—

“I know Buchea.”

Dean said this.

Although Barbarians were stubborn and obstinate, making them appear rough and rude, Dean, who had dealt with these Barbarians, knew very well that despite being rough, Barbarians were definitely not stupid; anyone who truly took Barbarians for fools would be the fool themselves.

And the scene before him was obviously the mixed-blood female Barbarian suspecting his intentions.

After all, Dean was very clear about the bad habits of certain Emerald Nobles.

“You know Buchea?”

The mixed-blood female Barbarian was somewhat surprised, but still a little suspicious.

“I am the Regiment Commander of the Ferrchelen Knight Order of the Tier Territory, so of course I know Buchea—I rested in that Stockade when I was exterminating bandits. If you are worried, you can send someone to ask!”

Dean explained with a smile.

“Is that so?”

The mixed-blood female Barbarian relaxed her hand gripping the Wolf Tooth Club, though still slightly suspicious.

“You only need ten grams of Bailanzhi Essence, which I will give you right now; I will deliver the remaining ninety grams to Buchea, how about that?”

Dean changed his approach.

“Good!”

Without being asked about Chekeduo’s location again, the mixed-blood female Barbarian agreed straightforwardly.

Afterward, when Old Anders returned with fruit wine, the relationship between the two sides immediately became familiar—some fruit wine, plus a whole plate of Horned Sheep meat, made this mixed-blood female Barbarian start to show goodwill toward Dean.

At the same time, Dean learned the other party’s name, Takli.

A name that perfectly fit Barbarian customs.

“Takli, if you need anything in the future, you can find me at the Ferrchelen Knight Order in the Tier Territory, or come here!”

Dean said when saying goodbye to the other party.

“Understood, Dean!”

The mixed-blood female Barbarian waved her hand and left the shop directly, without any dragging of feet.

Seeing the other party’s back disappear, Dean returned to the shop and instructed Old Anders to deliver the remaining Bailanzhi Essence to the Ferrchelen Knight Order’s station.

Dean naturally wanted to meet that future Northland Beast Tamer, the Beast King.

Moreover, winning over Barbarians was one of his plans in the first place.

And coincidentally, Chekeduo was definitely a large tribe among the Barbarian communities, with a population of over five thousand, giving it influence that could not be ignored on the Snowplains Dense Forest and the Northern Ice Plains.

Of course, this needed to be done slowly.

Given the Barbarians’ exclusiveness and stubbornness, one absolutely could not act too hastily.

Afterward, Dean took the gifts he bought for the group in the Tier Territory and returned to his temporary residence, where the residence’s cook served a sumptuous lunch.

As for the Horned Sheep meat from before?

Dean did not not eat it, but most of it fell into the stomach of that mixed-blood female Barbarian; her wolfish eating manner made Dean wisely choose to give up the idea of competing with her for food.

Therefore, a lunch was a must for Dean.

In fact, it had to be far more than an ordinary person’s portion.

After all, an outstanding body determined the need for more food to provide energy.

Although there were some Secret Techniques that could reduce the total amount of food and absorb energy and supplement nutrition in special ways, those were definitely not something Dean could find.

In fact, the several Secret Techniques Dean currently mastered to exercise his body were only a little stronger than the most basic military body-training techniques.

But being just this little bit stronger had already been regarded by certain Nobles as incredible Secret Techniques, even though the true Grand Nobles and Royal Family would scoff at them.

“Dean! Dean!”

During lunch, Anluo’s voice rang out; this Grand Knight pushed the door open without knocking, then pulled out a chair, sat opposite Dean, his face full of excitement.

“Any gains?”

Dean looked at the excitement on the other party’s face and asked, though he knew the answer.

“Of course! Caught two big guys—are these the gifts you bought? This, this… too?”

Anluo nodded repeatedly, then looked at the gifts Dean bought—according to the agreement, he needed to pay for these things; however, when he saw that rough Magic necklace, this Grand Knight’s face turned a little green.

Although Marquis Vauban never treated the Knights around him poorly, Anluo, this prodigal son, could not possibly have more savings; after all, to please those Ladies and Misses, the shop ‘Punk and Anna’ was definitely the first choice, and it was well known in Vauban City that the things there, though very good, were not cheap.

Therefore, this Grand Knight basically would not have more than a hundred Gold Pulton in savings all year round, although this was only one-fifth of the salary Marquis Vauban gave him.

“That’s not, I bought that privately… those are, one hundred and ten Gold Pulton in total!”

Dean waved his hand, only pointing to the gifts bought at ‘Punk and Anna’; as for the rest? The price added up to less than one Gold Pulton, and Dean obviously would not bring them out for ‘reimbursement’.

However, even so, Anluo’s face looked a bit troubled.

In fact, when Dean denied that the Magic necklace was on the gift list, Anluo had just let out a breath of relief, but the reported price made Anluo swallow that breath right back.

“I only have one hundred Gold Pulton here; for the remaining ten, I think I need to write an IOU!”

Anluo said with a bitter smile, his face full of embarrassment.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask for collateral or interest!”

Dean nodded and did not object.

Such a debt was basically a disguised investment for Dean; let alone just ten Gold Pulton, even if it were ten or a hundred times more, Dean would not bat an eye.

After all, Grand Knight Anluo’s status had long exceeded this limit.

“I will pay you back as soon as possible!”

Anluo said very solemnly.

Then, after the two chatted for a bit, Anluo got up and left—having just caught a large batch of ‘shadowy’ forces hiding in Vauban City, Grand Knight Anluo obviously could not be idle.

And Dean continued his lunch.

When the cook took all the tableware away, Dean, having fully rested, began the planned exercise.

Or… it was more appropriate to call it cultivation.

Following the most familiar of the several Secret Techniques in his mind, Dean stood on one leg, assumed a posture with his whole body stretched out, and cooperated with rhythmic breathing to begin the long-awaited ‘first’ cultivation.

He needed to familiarize himself with the ‘Secret Technique’ again as soon as possible and gain the recognition of the System.

Dean had made such a plan when undergoing the ‘Knight’s Baptism’.

As for why it was during the ‘Knight’s Baptism’?

Apart from the previous time constraint, which gave Dean not enough time.

The most important thing was that the several Secret Techniques he was familiar with could only begin to exert their maximum effects after undergoing the ‘Knight’s Baptism’.

Of course, this was only what Dean knew.

The Secret Techniques truly mastered by Grand Nobles and Royal Families had no such restrictions.

It was just that Dean did not know.

Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale…

With his previous experience, Dean entered the state almost a dozen seconds later, and that conscious breathing became natural and unconscious.

Then, a warm feeling rose from within Dean’s body, slowly wrapping his entire body.

This state lasted for about half an hour.

When that warm feeling dissipated, Dean took a long breath and opened his eyes—

【All Attributes +0.05】

On the character panel, there was such a prompt.

Of course, this was definitely not the miraculous effect of the Secret Technique mastered by Dean; it was merely the result of the rapid absorption of the residue of the Emerald Royal Family’s ‘Knight’s Baptism’ Potion.

After all, if this were really the effect of the Secret Technique, it would probably surpass the Secret Techniques mastered by those Grand Nobles and Royal Families.

“0.05?”

Dean frowned slightly.

Obviously, the effect of absorbing the residual potion this time did not reach the level Dean was satisfied with; after all, the first time was always the best, and afterward, it would only gradually decay until there was nothing.

And according to Dean’s original plan, he wanted to increase All Attributes by another +0.1.

However, looking at it now, it could only float around 0.08.

Of course, such a matter could not affect Dean.

After resting for just a moment, Dean entered the state of cultivation again; the only difference was that this time he changed to a different angle.

Until it got dark.

Dean performed this cultivation four times in total.

The second time, All Attributes +0.03.

The third time, All Attributes +0.01.

And by the fourth time, there was no movement at all; obviously, the medicinal effect had been completely absorbed.

The rest relied on years of accumulation to achieve a qualitative breakthrough.

However, that was for ordinary people.

Possessing the System, Dean certainly did not need to do that.

But this did not mean that Dean had no restrictions.

At the very least… Dean needed to let the System recognize this Secret Technique as a Skill again.

And this was definitely not an easy task.

After all, until now, apart from Bandaging, Dean had not had any moment of ‘Flash’.

Gently, Dean pushed open the window in the room, and immediately, a bone-piercing night wind blew in, and Moonlight came in with it.

Recalling the teachings of the Old Thief about this Secret Technique in his mind.

Dean, who had rested for a moment, looked at his energy which had once again recovered to its peak, and he slowly walked to the place where Moonlight and Shadow intertwined.

Half of his body was placed under the Moonlight, while the other half was shrouded in Shadow.

Then, he assumed that posture again.

Long, rhythmic breathing sounded in the room once more—

That warm feeling wrapped around Dean’s body all the time.

And in the character panel, in the Stamina column, the number representing Stamina slowly decreased.

At a speed of almost one point per minute.