Ti quietly arrived at the beginning of September, in the autumn of Sea Origin Calendar 188.
At this ti, Buffalo, located in the northern New Continent, already had a slight chill, but one place was different, and that was Saratoga Springs in the northernmost part of the territory.
This small city, located upstream of the Hartson River, is rich in geothermal resources, with nurous hot springs scattered throughout the city, making winter arrive later than in other places.
As the last city Aiven retook from ghosts and Totem Gods after acquiring this fiefdom, Saratoga was sparsely populated and lacked a sufficient market for tourism resource developnt.
It was naturally temporarily abandoned during the initial "population concentration plan" implentation.
But today, "Pamukkale," the most picturesque of the many hot springs, has once again welcod its own guests.
Clatter...
The main body of this hot spring is a series of terraced white hills, where calcium-rich water has flowed for countless years, piling up pure white calcium carbonate into a scene as magnificent as a castle.
Soaking in the hot springs of Pamukkale is like soaking in the clouds.
Surrounded by 37-degree warm spring water, with innurable connected peacock green natural hot spring pools before your eyes, accompanied by a glass of fine red wine, it's simply delightful!
"Ha, soaking in a hot spring is so comfortable, next ti I must bring mom along. And the locally produced wine from Buffalo is not bad, with a faint hint of blackcurrant and mulberry fruit fragrance, quite distinctive."
Olivia used a gemstone hairpin shaped like a peacock's tail to pile her glossy black hair high, her entire body subrged in the spring water. She lazily leaned her jade-like shoulders on Aiven's broad chest, gently swirling the bright red wine in the goblet.
At this mont, as the sunset gradually sank towards the horizon, Pamukkale reflected a splendid golden hue in the sunlight; the sight of the lting golden sunset was simply breathtakingly beautiful.
It's unclear whether it was the hot spring, the wine, or the sunset, but a pair of brilliant red clouds appeared on the girl's cream-like cheeks, more tender than rose petals, making Aiven, who was moved, want to gently nip them.
"If you like it, we can directly allocate this place to the Lord's Mansion, and after they've built proper facilities, we can co here for holidays often. Besides, soaking in a hot spring while watching the snow in winter is one of life's great pleasures."
From late July till now, their more than a month-long Clock Tower journey has co to an end, finally allowing them to slow down and enjoy each other's company.
Kingdom and Hilus' Sea Monarchy competition; the yet unexplored Erging "Broken Star Islands"; the True God Church's struggle for world trend dominance; the Ancient God "Chaos Worm" that might awaken at any ti... none of these were more important than being together.
Hearing this, Olivia smiled sweetly, turned around, and gave Aiven a hard kiss on the corner of his lips:
"Let's not, the pristine landscape is already good. The territory's construction is just now picking up pace, everywhere needs money, and money should be spent wisely, enjoying pleasures should co later."
Hearing his wise wife's words, Aiven felt a bit guilty.
It's not every man who could secretly squander enough wealth to build several Kingdom fleets, especially in a naval powerhouse like the Phaletis Kingdom, with its main fleets like the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, doing better than him.
His gaze involuntarily fell on the "gemstone" pendant on Olivia's chest, emitting splendid golden sparkles even when soaked in the spring water. Compared to its luster, even gold pales like fireflies next to a bright moon.
The girl still didn't know that it was precisely the "eight million Golden Lions" Aiven "spent" on acquiring this ultimately invaluable treasure—a bit of Divinity from an Ancient God's Descendant.
Except for the public funds necessary for the territory's and "Long Island Developnt Bank's" operations, using his entire personal savings to acquire this item makes it hard to say whether it was a gain or a loss.
The item is definitely sothing people would fight over, yet it's far too high-end for their current situation.
The complete world is divided into two sides, the material and the spiritual.
In the Era changes sparked by the Spirit Realm Tide, for planets within the vast cosmos, physical constants clearly cannot change with the planet's Era changes.
What truly undergoes profound changes is the spiritual and ntal level represented by Divine Spirits and Extraordinary beings.
The distorted Ancient Gods and their Beloved are precisely the survivors who made it through the Era catastrophes.
Though as an immortal force, Ancient God's Divinity and the normal Divinity coming out from this Era have no fundantal differences.
But this, even within the entire Extraordinary World, belonging to the highest grade of advanced stuff isn't sothing that anyone or anything can suddenly transform into a Divine Creature or a Divine Artifact just by obtaining it.
It's sowhat like the Wizard's True Na, not a power itself but more like a bridge, a permission.
To utilize it, one must at least have the corresponding Extraordinary Essence, like when the Rose Sword Saint created the Titled Sacred Artifact: Unbreakable Cutting God, Gerdios.
Until figuring out how to turn it into power, this piece of Divinity sealed in the gemstone can only remain a piece of jewelry similar in value to the entire Kingdom Navy.
And for Aiven, the most important thing now is to quickly find a way to make money back! At this stage, actual gold and silver are more useful than Divinity.
So, after the two of them snuggled together for a while, Aiven finished the wine in his glass.
"Let's go, Hesi! Buffalo's second main industry is promising, let's go see how sister and the others are doing."
"Hmm, with high-quality raw materials, Angie can ensure that the most difficult ferntation process won't have issues; the quality of the new products is guaranteed. Maybe we'll improve the yeast strains along the way, and our Long Island Winery will have its flagship product."
After leaving the hot spring pool, the two quickly rinsed off and changed into matching blue floral bathrobes made by their factory.
Snap—!
With a snap of the fingers, they hand in hand entered the Witchcraft Garden.
At this ti, Aiven's Witchcraft Garden had already undergone a transformation.
The first thing upon returning to the territory was using the Seed of Space-Ti obtained from the Desecration Ant Queen to expand the Witchcraft Garden.
Outside the original rectangular city of Poseidya City, expansive hills, mountains, and rivers have erged, bringing the total space to 300 square kiloters, or precisely 30,000 hectares.
15,000 hectares have been used to plant "Treasure Trees." A "Treasure Tree" capable of building a Legendary Battleship requires roughly 10,000 square ters of space and needs to be planted alongside an associated forest of "iron oak trees."
This planned area can accommodate 15,000 "Treasure Trees." With the boost from [Nature's Favor], it will take about a decade to harvest the materials necessary to build 2-3 more Legendary Battleships.
This is a long-term investnt; don't expect imdiate yields. However, ordinary iron oak can be used for the shipyards in Far Sails Territory.
Thump..thump..thump..
Two people in slippers arrived at the unchanged third layer of Poseidya City.
Here, a giant wisteria, which grew spontaneously without any intentional planting, sprawled luxuriously across 2000 square ters, draping countless purple flower clusters that covered half of their house on the edge of the third layer.
A giant wooden basin was placed in front of the house.
"Hahaha..."
"Hehehe..."
Annie, Jasmine, and Angie, who had taken a bath earlier than the two of them, were wearing matching bathrobes and standing barefoot in the basin, having fun while energetically stomping on deep purple grapes.
Seeing the newcors, Anita imdiately waved to Olivia:
"Hesi, co help! There are still lots of grapes!"
Nearby, several large earthen jars were already filled with grapes stomped on by the group of girls, and the basin still held at least 300 pounds of de-stemd premium Cabernet grapes.
"Hehehe, I'm coming!"
Perhaps finding it quite fun, Olivia had already dashed over, kicked off her slippers, and joined them.
The climate in the Buffalo Region is naturally conducive to grape growing. In an era where fruit consumption wasn't prevalent due to transportation issues, wine beca the most important comrcial avenue.
Now, during the peak grape maturation season, to support the developnt of the territory's second major economic sector, the Lord's Mansion naturally had to set an example by purchasing a large batch of premium grapes.
They're even preparing to establish their own winery, aiming to expand and strengthen the wine industry!
These grapes co from the Hartson River Valley. The western Xianggang Mountain Range stretches as a barrier against the cold, and with the climate regulation by the Hartson River, the region maintains a mild climate, completely resilient to the cold air from the northeast. It is the largest grape-producing area in the New Continent.
The Hartson River Valley grows native New Continent grape varieties such as Concord and Catawba, as well as Cabernet—introduced by early Ilya immigrants. The first two lack the popularity among consurs that Cabernet enjoys.
The distinguishing feature is its intense grassy aroma mixed with pleasant blackcurrant and mulberry fruit flavors, a highly recognizable characteristic.
If the grape sweetness is insufficient, at least a 5:1 ratio of added sugar is needed for complete ferntation, but thanks to Buffalo's exceptional climate, grapes produced here do not require this.
The girls are now performing the crushing stage in wine production.
If using machines or other tools to press the grapes, the seeds also get crushed, releasing bitterness from within.
Conversely, stomping yields milder grape juice that better presses the skins, dissolving flavor compounds into the juice and ensuring the wine benefits from the grape's inherent flavors, resulting in a better-tasting wine.
This technique was already widely used at least two thousand years ago during the Holy Rosar Empire era, not exactly an advanced invention.
Subsequently, yeast is added, followed by ferntation, juicing, additional ferntation, sedint removal, maturation, and placent in oak barrels for complete aging, approximately two years.
In one's own domain, there's no shortage of climate, grapes, or oak. For Aiven, such a high-value industry holds significant appeal.
During the previous [Clock Tower] expedition, everyone gained considerably, the benefits abundant enough for them to digest for so ti.
Even with the Ocean Treasure: Ancient Scroll in hand, Aiven wasn't planning on sudden outings anyti soon; the utmost priority now is... making money!
Initially believing that developing artificial organic gemstones with Olivia would free him from his father-in-law's impoverished days, he didn't foresee the ergence of an even more demanding gold-devouring beast after settling matters with his fiancée and mother-in-law.
"Wealth is Power" beca an absolute truth after acquiring the Libra Balance Holy Sword.
To cover the deficits from wielding that sword and in hopes of executing another strike, Aiven conveniently proclaid an "economic developnt-oriented" slogan, ambitiously driving territorial advancent.
At least if money runs out it can be earned again, while a lost life forfeits everything, a point he understands clearly.
Suddenly.
Whoosh—
The beautiful Night Spirit Maid Sarah, possessing erald in one eye and amber in the other, entered the [Witchcraft Garden], and gracefully curtseyed beside Aiven:
"Sir, the Church representatives have arrived."
Swish—
A flash of golden light crossed Aiven's eyes.
No, it's that the fat sheep have finally arrived!
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