Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 81

Chapter 76 The Great Official Prestige_1

Translator: 549690339

After entering the mountain, tender grass gradually appeared by the roadside.

Ah Niu still worried that it was too small to eat grass. Xiao Nui nibbled a bit here and there, closely following Qin Niu.

In its eyes, this might just be an adventure through the mountains and streams.

Qin Niu wanted to build it a cowshed and needed to find suitable wood for that.

Fir was a relatively ideal material.

But since every household used it for construction, these peripheral areas had long been cleared.

Qin Niu had plenty of strength, along with a treasured sword and martial skills, so he fearlessly went deep into the mountain.

He soon found a grove of fir trees; not just a few, but even cutting a hundred firs wouldn’t be a problem.

“Xiao Nui, graze here by yourself, and don’t wander off too far. I’ll cut a few fir trees to build you a cowshed,” Qin Niu said as he patted its head.

It didn’t resist.

“Moo~!”

It answered Qin Niu with a deep moo.

It probably couldn’t understand Qin Niu’s words since he had only mastered Insect Trace Identification and couldn’t communicate with beasts yet.

But it was smart and seemed to roughly understand Qin Niu’s intentions.

Seeing Xiao Nui busily looking for tender grass and leaves to nibble, Qin Niu stopped minding it and drew his treasured sword, chopping at a fir as thick as an adult’s thigh.

A tree of that thickness was just right for building a cowshed.

With one swing, Blade Qi appeared, easily felling the large tree.

The cut was neat and tidy.

He smiled, satisfied; he had long had this strength.

It was just that the treasured sword had revealed its Blade Qi just now, making the chopping much easier.

After pruning the branches and cutting off the narrower end where it was as thick as a lower leg, one fir was ready.

For a typical lumberjack, it would take at least a quarter of an hour or more.

With his Threefold mortal cultivation and the treasured sword that could reveal Blade Qi, he estimated he could fell six or seven trees in fifteen minutes.

He cut down fifteen fir trees in one go, each as thick as an adult’s thigh.

Bundling five together, he found dragging them to be very easy.

There was no need to carry them on his back.

Raw wood was very heavy; five logs together must weigh at least five to six hundred pounds.

“Moo~!”

Xiao Nui called out and then galloped towards Qin Niu.

“Quite spirited, huh! It knows I’m going back and came over without being called,” Qin Niu said with a laugh.

Having a companion in the mountains was a pretty good feeling.

Termites and bees couldn’t provide that feeling.

Only having Xiao Nui alongside gave him a sense of companionship.

Qin Niu dragged the five logs, his head bowed as he walked, but his eyes carefully observed the ground. His Insect Trace Identification skills had become proficient, allowing him to spot insects from their hidden traces.

Ordinary insects had no value in his eyes.

He aimed to catch rare insects.

Whether taming them as pets or selling them for Silver Money, it would be very good.

He didn’t discover any on the way.

There were countless unusual insects in the big mountains; not finding any only meant that his Insect Trace Identification skills were still weak.

The more formidable the insects, the more cautious they were, leaving behind very few traces.

Some powerful insects even went so far as to erase the traces they left or camouflage them as natural features.

Dragging the five firs down the mountain, he broke out in a sweat.

Xiao Nui ran to the back several times, using its head to push against the logs, seemingly wanting to help Qin Niu.

This comical scene made Qin Niu smile involuntarily.

“When you’re a bit bigger, you can help me with the work,” Qin Niu said.

Dragging the fir wood back to the village, from a distance, Qin Niu saw many villagers gathered around the entrance of Wang Furen’s residence.

A tremendously majestic black horse was tethered outside, obviously of a much higher quality than the one Steward Yan Qi used for his carriage by several folds.

Not only was this horse taller than an adult, its limbs were robust and powerful, and its entire coat shone like black satin, glossy and radiant. The saddle was forged from refined iron, and the handle and other parts were made of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel.

Refined iron costs one tael of silver per jin.

This large saddle, excluding the leather parts, weighed at least twenty or thirty jin.

Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel was three times the price of silver; one tael of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel required three taels of silver. Although the horse’s owner had only used Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel for the critical parts, at least two jin was needed.

Two jin of Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel, that’s sixty taels of silver.

The saddle’s leather was also unlikely to be cheap, definitely not cowhide. It seemed more like it was made from expensive bear hide.

Bear hide is thick, soft, and wear-resistant, and sitting on it would be more comfortable.

The cost of this saddle alone was at least a hundred taels of silver, not including the labor fee.

The eyes of the horse carried a hint of blue, like two gemstones.

Seeing its appearance and domineering aura, Qin Niu was sure it wasn’t an ordinary black-maned horse, but rather a Wuzhuang horse worth over a thousand taels of silver.

This horse had a fierce nature, extremely difficult to tame.

Yet, it was incomparably brave on the battlefield with astonishing stamina. Even if it were wounded, it could still carry its master and gallop. Moreover, it was one of the rare horses that did not fear tigers or wolves.

Many generals dreamed of owning such a treasured horse.

Only such a horse would be fitting for a high-class saddle worth over a hundred taels of silver.

“It must be an official visit.”

Qin Niu noticed another two stout, tall, and strong bay horses tied next to the Wuzhuang horse.

They too were excellent among horses.

However, compared to the Wuzhuang horse, they were not in the same league.

It was entirely the difference between a firefly and the bright moon.

The officials from the Yan Family had arrived yesterday.

They would surely have been treated to fine food and drink overnight before being accompanied today to inspect the surrounding villages.

Since the visitor was not a mid-to-high-ranking official, Yan Ruohai could not possibly accompany them personally.

Sending a middle-tier member of the Yan Family, a direct descendant, to accompany them was quite fitting.

Local powerhouses like the Yan Family, though far less powerful than the official government, undoubtedly had members holding official positions. They would also lavish gifts on many high-ranking officials during the holidays and birthdays.

Thus, an ordinary minor official would receive only the treatment of a common distinguished guest at the Yan Family.

Qin Niu felt envious in his heart; even a mere minor official could ride a Wuzhuang horse worth a thousand taels of silver. Indeed, it’s good to have protection from the powers that be!

“Ah Niu, I heard you beat up Wang Haikun, is that true or false?”

“Of course, it’s true! I saw it with my own eyes when I was fishing.”

“Wang Haikun has been holed up at home and hasn’t shown his face!”

If it were any other time, Wang Haikun would have eagerly come to curry favor upon hearing of an official visit.

But the officials all have their own dignity and wouldn’t bother with someone like Wang Haikun unless they held at least some position.

It’s only the low-ranking officials who come to collect the grain taxes annually that need to leverage Wang Haikun’s intimidation in the village to gather the taxes and would give him some attention.

The villagers saw Qin Niu pulling back five fir logs as thick as an adult’s thigh, each inwardly astonished.

That would require a strength of over two hundred jin, right?

It seemed the rumors were true.

Qin Niu did not bother with these villagers and went into his home, dragging the fir logs behind him.

The villagers who had been blocking the way quickly stepped aside.

Watching the little calf following closely behind Qin Niu, they couldn’t help but feel even more envious.

They all speculated on how Qin Niu had suddenly become so powerful?

Can strength really increase so quickly?

They just couldn’t see the hard work Qin Niu put in on a daily basis.

After placing the fir logs in the front yard, Qin Niu headed out again.

He happened to see the officials leaving Wang Furen’s house.

A hooked nose, eyes like a fox, a beak-like mouth, with a mustache. He wore a black official robe with a red mantle thrown over it, and a black cloth cap on his head.

As he walked, his presence was like that of a moving mountain, very domineering.

The two representatives from the Yan Family accompanied the man, walking half a step behind him.