Visari arrived in the hall with the trembling Tax Official Hunter.
Once both stood still, Visari smiled and patted Tax Official Hunter's shoulder: "Don't be nervous, as long as your heart doesn't resist, the blessing won't affect you."
Without waiting for Tax Official Hunter to respond, Visari silently chanted a spell, and mana converged on a drop of Blue Blood in a wondrous ritual.
As Visari pointed at Tax Official Hunter's glabella, this drop of Blue Blood seeped into Tax Official Hunter's body, and almost instantly, Hunter's eyes changed.
Tax Official Hunter glanced at the servants and Steward in the hall, and respectfully reported to Visari: "Master, there are too many eyes and ears here. Please move to the study, Master, and I will continue to report to you."
Visari nodded with a smile, and the two moved to the study.
As Tax Official Hunter narrated, Visari gradually understood the composition of the Manor.
Noctem Manor was a classic medieval barony, encompassing cultivated land, lord's private cultivated land, woodland, grassland, and the distant mine.
The personnel structure included serfs, freemen, and direct noble servants.
Before Visari's arrival, Noctem Manor primarily had three major forces: the freemen faction led by Tax Official Hunter, the lord's servant faction led by the Steward, who previously served a collateral branch of the Castille family.
And finally, the Grand Duke's direct servant responsible for managing the Ghoul mine slaves and the mine. This was the same black Moor strong servant who had previously taken Visari to the Royal Capital.
He has now returned to the Royal Capital, and this part of the force is something Visari can seamlessly take over.
Now, to rule the entire Manor, he only needed to use the Blood Curse on the Steward.
Visari pondered for a moment, then said to Tax Official Hunter: "Go organize your forces. The two knight attendants I brought will assist you. Bring everyone critical to the Manor's operation to me, including the Steward and the other tax official. Tell them I want to bestow a blessing upon them."
Tax Official Hunter nodded in agreement and then exited the study.
Soon, this Manor, which had previously been turbulent with hidden currents, was under Visari's control. But the same still applied, Visari had no interest in governing the Manor or bringing them prosperity; he only needed the Manor to serve his wizard cultivation.
"Master Visari, the Manor currently has 587 gold coins in storage, the mine can produce about 300 gold coins per year, the freemen can contribute about 50 gold coins in taxes annually, and the trade with Padua—"
Before Tax Official Hunter could finish speaking, Visari interrupted him.
"I'm not interested in understanding the Manor's economy; that's your responsibility. You just need to tell me how many gold coins we can take out beyond maintaining the Manor's operation and the essential social needs between nobles?"
Tax Official Hunter quickly calculated in his mind, then replied: "340 gold coins, Master. We can take out that much."
Visari nodded and began issuing instructions: "I still have 90 gold coins in my hand. Adding this money together, I want you to go to the Artisan Guild in Padua and custom-order a batch of glassware. I will write the specific specifications on paper later.
Go to the market and purchase enough Pyroxene for two months of my cultivation. Ask the Steward for the specific amount, and have him calculate it based on the quantity used by that Castille collateral branch.
Use all the remaining gold coins to acquire rare beasts and fungi. I need them for studying flesh and blood witchcraft."
The currency system of the Nobai Kingdom is the star coin - Gold Coin - Silver Coin - Copper Coin system.
star coins are a currency unique to Blue Blood Aristocrats. One star coin contains the starlight collected by a Blue Blood user for one month and is not circulated among citizens or freemen.
Pyroxene is a glowing ore containing the power of stars. Blue Blood Aristocrats believe that Pyroxene is the reflection of the stars on the ground.
star coins are often cast from molten Pyroxene powder.
One star coin equals 10 gold coins, one gold coin equals 20 silver coins, and 1 silver coin equals 100 copper coins. The value of a year's food for an ordinary freeman family is about 5 silver coins.
Having received his orders, Tax Official Hunter went to arrange the work. Visari, meanwhile, meticulously explored the study.
In addition to the extraordinary knowledge on the bookshelves, Visari also found a useful extraordinary item—a Light Crystal.
A Light Crystal is a crystal that transmits information via starlight. It can connect to different objects based on the frequency of mana input, essentially acting like a mobile phone with only call functionality.
The existence of the Light Crystal was why the Grand Duke was able to issue orders so quickly when Visari awoke.
According to noble historical records, there were initially 20 Blue Blood ancestors. They conquered the land together and founded the original Nobai Kingdom.
Passed down to the present day, the twenty Blue Blood branches have either faded or died out, leaving only six branches.
After learning the history of the family's Blue Blood, Visari finally understood the cause and effect of what happened.
Visari was not one of the six branches; his awakening represented the revival of a new branch.
Grand Duke Adolf, as the head of the nobles, saw this matter through the changes in the stars, which is why he ordered his servant to contact Visari.
Blue Blood Aristocrats are also called Blue Blood Wizards. Various types of witchcraft are their primary extraordinary means. Based on the type of witchcraft they study, they are divided into the Scarlet School and the Star Worshiper School.
But regardless of the school, the essence of cultivation is the same—Astrology.
Meditating on the astrology born from Blue Blood is the utmost priority for all nobles and the source for casting high-level witchcraft.
Before meditating on their astrology, nobles do not have the ability to externalize mana; they can only use the starlight at night to enhance their physical strength. Their combat power is only equivalent to that of a knight attendant who has not yet condensed a life seed.
After meditating on their own astrology, wizards can draw in starlight during the day, externalize mana, and use various direct or bizarre elementary witchcraft. Wizards at this stage are called Blue Blood users.
The Starlight Arrow and Blood Curse that Visari learned are elementary witchcraft from the Star Worshiper School and the Scarlet School, respectively.
Subsequent cultivation involves gradually solidifying one's astrology until it can resist various external disturbances.
At this point, the astrology can be raised to the High Heavens and merge with the world, becoming one of the stars in the sky.
This is when they can begin to learn high-level witchcraft cast through astrology. This is also where the Star Worshiper School and the Scarlet School gradually diverge.
Star Worshipers use astrology to control the world, casting large-scale spells such as Meteor Art, causing the ground to collapse and hurricanes to rage, truly capable of being a one-man army;
The Scarlet School uses astrology as a springboard to connect with the world, remotely manipulating people's minds and corrupting flesh and blood, making calm people arrogant and causing sturdy bodies to grow tentacles, incredibly bizarre.
Blue Blood Aristocrats at this stage are called Star Envoys.
But regardless of the school, the essence of cultivation is the same, which is to constantly expand the range of influence of one's astrology. When the astrology can cover the entire world, perhaps one can enter the legendary realm of the Star God.
Although there is no fundamental difference, there are still levels among Star Envoys.
Some Star Envoys can cover an entire province, while others can only cover a single house.
To show respect for the strong, the nobles have still established a general ranking. From low to high, they are:
Seeker of Knowledge, Sage, Wise One, Great Sage, Crowned Prophet