On the Ancestral Plateau, tens of thousands of troops are attacking in all directions with the original temple of the highland god of war as the center point, sweeping all the barbarian tribes they encounter along the way. Five thousand regular troops were stationed in the city, officially annexing the land to the territory of the Crimson Duchy. The other 50,000 main troops were quietly transferred back to the Bloodstained Land by Richard and stationed in a secret valley. It is only a few dozen kilometers away from the border of the Iron Triangle Empire.

Tensions still exist in the city attached to the Temple of the Highlands, but a large number of craftsmen are pouring into the city, and they will build three temples around the Temple of the Eternal Dragon, each for the use of the three goddesses. The priests of the Three Goddesses have been stationed in large numbers, and they will be responsible for the conversion of these shallow believers. Several large convoys had already departed, and when they arrived, they would be laden with food, clothing, and wine that would allow the shallow believers to see the true promise of faith. Even if they refuse to convert, they will be shaken in their hearts. For Richard, that was enough, and the shallow believers were the greatest source of the power of faith.

Several convoys of goods were loaded with millions of goods, enough for tens of thousands of people in the city to survive a rich and warm winter. What was the purpose of this? Richard was also a little unclear. It's not all ideals, it's not just to cut off their beliefs, maybe it's a bit of both. As Io said, people are contradictory.

At this moment, Richard was not in his own army, he rode a split-brain, and was flying towards a small oasis city. With only a few thousand people in the city and far from the main trade routes, life seems peaceful and quiet. In the middle of the oasis is a small, clear lake that sustains the people of the city.

When Richard walked into the city, it was dusk. Smoke fills the city, and the aroma of barbecue wafts from time to time. Most of the people walking on the streets are relaxed and relaxed. The city is also very clean, and the slaves in charge of cleaning can be seen all the time. Slaves still have a distinct mark in the city, but most of them appear to be healthy and strong, not as weak as slaves from other human nations.

The reality of this small town satisfied Richard. Plane warfare had amassed a great fortune for Richard, who had previously focused on how quickly he could arm his army. And when Ellie Jie becomes a partner, the goddess of war shows another side of her talent for territorial governance. Most of the territorial policies of Farrow and other planes came from her hands, and in her own territory, Alyselle could squeeze out a small amount of military expenditure for the development of people's livelihood, and the policies made for Richard were even more so. Although Richard has not yet allowed her to intervene in Faro's plane, Faro's followers have begun to spontaneously borrow from her policy practices.

For example, cleaning each city hall will have a group of its own slaves, responsible for the cleaning of the entire city, the maintenance of public facilities, etc., while in the Crimson Principality, these slaves receive twice the daily food ration of other human countries, and what they can't eat can be kept for their families. This alone made many slaves work hard to avoid being resold by the town hall.

A few blocks through this laid-back town, Richard stopped in front of a very secluded courtyard and knocked on the door.

A moment later, the courtyard door creaked open, revealing a wrinkled face. This is an old man who is about to come to the end of his life. His eyes had become cloudy, and it took a moment for him to show surprise, "Is it Richard?"

"It's me, Perrin, long time no see. ”

The old man looked at Richard for a while, and then sighed: "You are still exactly the same as you were back then! Now I believe that you are indeed different." Come in, I didn't expect to see you again before I died. ”

Richard followed Perrin into the courtyard, and saw that there were flower shovels and wine jugs in the courtyard, and it seemed that Perrin was tending to the garden just now.

Richard pointed to the manicured garden and smiled, "Looks like you're doing pretty well right now." I thought you were still perfecting your plane math system!"

Perrin sighed and said, "It's not because of you, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known that what I spent my life studying had been studied in other planes long ago, and it had already become a well-established system. In that case, what's the point of me studying this? Recently, I can feel that I am aging rapidly, so I want to do something in the last period of my life that I have never done before. Like drinking tea, eating something different, trying to take care of the garden myself, and even I learned to be in a daze and take a nap!"

Richard laughed and said, "Looks like you're doing much better than I am!"

The maid brought black tea and delicate refreshments, and then retreated into the room, leaving Richard and Palin alone in the courtyard.

Perrin picked up the teacup but didn't rush to drink it, but looked at Richard and asked with a little hope and anxiety, "You didn't come just to have a cup of tea with me this time, did you?"

"Definitely. I came here specifically this time for two things. One is to fulfill a promise to Duke Greywolf, and the other is to see if you are willing to help me. This thing can give you an extra three years of life. With that, Richard took out an hourglass of time and placed it on the table.

It's an extremely delicate little thing, and you can see the difference at a glance. Perrin looked at the grains of sand slowly rolling down inside, and couldn't breathe for a while!

There's nothing more exciting than coming to the end of your life and suddenly knowing that there will be an extra life. Perrin reached out to touch it, but his fingertips were trembling, and he couldn't reach any further than he could touch the hourglass of time. He was afraid that this was a beautiful bubble, and once it touched it, it would burst.

"But you can't make it yet. ”

Richard's words immediately caused Perrin to bounce out of his chair. He stared at Richard, rolling his throat up and down a few times, but nothing came out. Perrin tried to suppress his breathing to calm himself down, then sat down slowly and asked, "What do you need me to do?" I don't think there's really much I can do to help you. ”

Richard's smile was as charming as ever, and he said, "This thing is called the hourglass of time, and it's ...... Oh, something very special, from the grace of the dragon of eternity and time. To use it, you need to give up your ancestor worship and believe in the dragon of eternity and time instead. Because you're not from Norland, that's the only way to make the hourglass work. ”

"Conversion?"

"Yes. This hourglass of time is a promise I made to your father, and now I finally have a chance to fulfill it, so you don't need to do anything for me, just take responsibility for yourself and make your choices. Richard said, placing another badge on the table. On the badge is a wolf's head, which is the symbol of the inheritance of the Duke of Grey Wolf's family.

On one side is the badge, and on the other is the hourglass of time.

Perrin's forehead began to ooze sweat, this time the choice was not as simple as conversion, he vaguely felt that behind the choice was actually the choice between Farrow and Norland. While choosing the hourglass of time and getting extra lives, he is also standing on the opposite side of the entire Faro, and there will be no turning back. The rule is the most ruthless because it goes straight to the soul and brooks no deception. This time, it was fundamentally different from the divine grace that he received after sacrificing himself.

"I ......" Perrin didn't know what to say, his hand up and down. In the end, he suddenly buried his face in his hands and didn't lift it for a long time.

Richard waited for a while before he said, "If I were you, I would definitely choose the hourglass of time." ”

"But ......"

"You love this plane, but it doesn't love you, it's just a world built on a set of rules, and any living creature living in it is dispensable to it. Even beings that are too powerful are like cancerous beings to the plane itself. Also, if you're trying to do something for Faro, then obviously you've got to live. Richard said.

"Will Norland conquer Faro?" asked Perrin.

"Definitely. It's not me, it's someone else. I can say without boasting that you don't want the rest of Norland to come to Faro. ”

Perrin nodded, "That's right." The civilians of the Crimson Duchy are doing better than most of the Faroe nations. I just don't know what the future will look like. ”

Seeing Palin pick up the hourglass of time, Richard smiled, handed over a piece of paper that had been prepared a long time ago, and said, "Recite the prayer before using it." As for the life of the commoners of the principality, that was later. You can try to influence my decision. ”

Perrin silently recited the prayer, then shattered the hourglass of time, watched the sand turn into bands of light, merge into his body, let out a long breath, and said, "What do you want me to help you do?"

Richard took out a book, placed it on the table, and said, "This is complete plane math, and you have ten days to learn it." ”

Smack, another book was placed in front of Perrin. "This is the basic principle of magic array in the mathematics of magic. This book can be relaxed for some time, you have twenty days. ”

A third book has reappeared. "This is the general theory of the functional magic array, and there are dozens of the most basic functional magic arrays on it. You have ten days for this. ”

Next, there are seven or eight books such as the Encyclopedia of Magical Materials and the Science of Magical Properties. Richard gave Palin a total of three months to learn everything.

"And then?"

"Then, I'll tell you what kind of magic circle I want, and all you have to do is design it. Don't think about the material, just tell how to achieve the function, you can use your imagination, even if you need a big devil as the driving core of the magic array. ”

"Sounds fascinating. I don't feel like I can find any reason to refuse you. Palin's eyes were completely off the books Richard had placed on his desk, which had been his lifelong dream.