Mark quietly lurked through the woods. The woods were very tall, mostly only having shrubs. But it was because of these shrubs that the grass here was able to grow long and dense, which was suitable for him to hide himself in.
Mark Purcell was a specially trained killer. His training methods weren't the same as a warrior's. It was mostly based on a number of light-weights, disguises, sneaking, and assassination. It was an alternative type of training that major clans would give to a few members who weren't afraid of death.
This time the task that the clan gave him was simple. He had to monitor Stony Mountain, because there were some rumors of a black mage named Zhao. This small mountain seemed to have been bought by him, and his clan wanted to know what Zhao was going to do with it.
Mark made it halfway up the mountain when he saw a chaotic situation among the rocks.
Although he didn't see what was happening inside the manor, the outside of the estate couldn't escape his eyes. There was a layer of black fog enveloping the manor. He was very clear on the fact that this wasn't the usual mist that formed around Stony Mountain, but something that could only be made by a black mage. In addition to the darkness, he could see many undead wandering around the mountain. Their large size, dark green color, and eyes that flashed with red fire. Even though Mark was a highly trained killer, his heart felt scared.
It was because of these undead that Mark didn't dare get closer to the manor. He was very good at stealth and assassination, but he feared these undead because they might determine his location without even seeing him. Everyone in the Continent knew that the undead desired fresh flesh. No matter how you tried to hide yourself, as long as you were a living creature, you couldn't fool the undead.
Mark wanted to know what those people were doing on this mountain, but unfortunately, he couldn't see anything and could only lie there waiting.
Since Zhao couldn't use black magic, he certainly didn't create that black fog. That spell was casted by Drunk. It was just an added effect to make people more sure that Zhao was a black mage.
Right now, what Zhao eventually named Blue Stone Hills estate, was very busy. The slaves, now free from the space, were busy cleaning up the manor, putting in the furniture, and making a variety of tools.
This place wasn't the same as Iron Mountain, which barely had any trees and was difficult to find stones that they could mine. Because that mountain had already been hollowed out by dwarves, if they mine randomly, it might collapse.
Stony Mountain was different. The mountain was full of blue stones that they could use, plus the other mountains around them had forests. If it wasn't another person's private domain, then they were free to cut down those trees. So now they could rest assured because of this and had plenty of materials to make tools.
However, Zhao didn't immediately send anyone to go around the mountains to cut down trees. In any case, it wasn't like those tree could run away. Now he just made his undead gather stones and then ship them back to the manor, allowing Ann and the slaves to use them. This way, they were able to make several discs for the mill stones. However, Zhao thought that it wasn't enough. They had a lot of corn, and just a few discs wasn't much. Plus they also had to make a variety of tools.
As for the outsiders, Zhao knew that when they arrived at Stony Mountain, there would be people keeping an eye on them, but he didn't care. He had already become accustomed to it.
Meirin had suggested to cover the manor in a blanket of darkness. Do not forget, Zhao's identity was supposed to be a black mage, who were usually secretive and mysterious.
The estate wasn't that big. It only took half a day for a hundred people to finish cleaning it. Once they were done, Zhao chose a room for himself in the manor. The original owner, Henry, could be considered very intelligent. He had built the manor so that hot water would flow into the rooms, creating spa pools. There was one in the bedroom that Zhao chose.
The only source of water in Stony Mountain came from the hot springs. When the owner built the manor, he took the time to plan it. The water would be divided so they could use it in several different ways. One was for bathing, the other was for drinking, and the last was for the fish.
It could be said that although the manor's appearance didn't look very good, the inside was very well built, apparently designed by a famous expert.
Since everyone in the manor was busy, Zhao didn't have the time to properly soak in the spa. He had to wait until the evening. After dinner, Zhao returned to his room and took his black robe off, then he got into the spa.
Out of the entire estate, his room, which was the biggest room, had the largest spa, which was about ten square meters. The other rooms only had spa pools that were two meters long and one meter wide.
But this manor was built very well. Every bedroom had a spa, which was very extraordinary. And the drainage system was good too. After washing yourself in a bath, you just simply pulled the cork and the water would drain away. It wasn't just convenient, but also hygienic.
Zhao was sitting in his spa, releasing a sigh at how comfortable he was. He didn't know how long it has been since he took a bath. In the Black Waste, because of limited conditions, he could only clean himself by wiping his body. There was no way to comfortably take a bath, but now he finally had the chance.
Gently paddling his fingers, Zhao softly said, "Ah, it feels nice to bathe in a hot spring after a long day. I wonder what will happen if I put this water in the space. I should take a look at the quality of the water."
His hand made a move and a space hole appeared next to him. A surge of hot spring water then flowed into the hole, which then closed. Fortunately, today the slaves were sleeping outside the space, otherwise Zhao would have woken them up.
Once the hot water was in the space, the voice immediately rang out: [High-grade hot spring water contains a variety of beneficial minerals. Extracting useful minerals. Spatial water has been upgraded. Your level has risen to six. The space has reached the necessary requirements. Increasing size for hot springs. You will be rewarded with a bag of broccoli seeds, enough to plant two acres]
Zhao froze for a moment. He knew that there would be a reaction when he put the hot spring water into the space, just like last time with the underground lake water from Iron Mountain, but he didn't think that it would be this good. Did the voice mention a hot spring? What did that mean? Zhao couldn't wait. With a thought, while naked, he stepped into the space.
Zhao discovered that the space was different. Not only was there the spatial water spring in front of his hut, in addition to that was another spring where steam was coming out. It looked like the temperature was definitely not low.
It was a good thing that no one else was in the space because Zhao was in his bare buttocks when he quickly ran to the hot springs. The spa looked promising, but he didn't dare to touch it. With the steaming hot water, he feared that the temperature may be very high, maybe even eighty degrees celsius.
A high temperature of eighty degrees could boil eggs, so Zhao naturally didn't put his hand into the water. If he wanted to soak in a hot spring, he could just go back to his room's spa.
Taking one last look around the space, he saw that nothing else had changed. The oil fruits were growing well, and the corn were also looking good. He might be able to harvest them tomorrow.
Zhao stepped outside the space and back into his spa pool. Lying there quietly, he calculated with his hands.
Right now he had about two hundred and forty thousand catty of radishes, his oil fruits were growing in their eleventh batch, and he had around four hundred and ninety five thousand catty of corn, which had just gone through their twenty sixth batch. Also, two days ago he stopped growing corn for awhile and started planting wheat, cabbages, and eggplants. Now he had thirty two thousand catty of wheat, twenty thousand catty of eggplants, and twenty thousand catty of cabbages. Plus his space had six hundred gold coins, and he had just gotten a bag of broccoli seeds. The remaining seeds were just pasture seeds. All of these things were what Zhao currently had.