Outside Hei Fort, in a secluded forest clearing, stood a square courtyard constructed from black rocks.

Li Cheng颐 carefully used stones smeared with griffon stone powder to construct a special model that appeared rhomboid but contained an incredibly complex internal network structure.

After thousands of repeated tests, he had finally reproduced the special structure inside the Heart of the Griffon.

And this should be the key to the Heart of the Griffon generating electricity.

"Truly a marvelous structure," Li Cheng颐 said as he placed the last stone into the rhombus, then stepped back to observe the unique construction, which was asymmetrical yet gave off a sense of immense harmony.

It was this structure that drastically increased the amount of charge generated by friction during transfer.

Snowflakes fell from the sky, landing on the surrounding ground and on the surface of this wondrous structure.

But, strangely, as soon as they landed, the snowflakes seemed to melt as if encountering heat.

It was as if the structure itself could generate a subtle electric current.

‘If not for the sword furnace, I wouldn't have been able to discover this marvelous structure… A natural amplification structure, no… this isn't amplification, but rather, it generates a subtle current out of nothing.’

Li Cheng颐 reached out and gently touched the surface of the rhomboid structure.

Then, he rubbed it lightly.

Immediately, a faint arc of electricity appeared on the surface of the stone coated in griffon stone powder.

With a crackle, the blue arc rapidly grew larger and thicker, then filled the interior of the rhomboid structure, traveling back and forth along the incredibly complex network.

And as it traveled, the current's strength rapidly increased.

Before long.

*Crack!*

A thumb-thick arc of electricity shot out from the other side of the rhombus, striking the snow-covered ground and leaving a scorched mark.

"Powerful amplification!" A faint joy appeared on Li Cheng颐's face.

The flames in the sword furnace in his mind also grew stronger as he understood a new part of the world's principles.

The flames were gradually spreading from the inside of the previous sword furnace to encompass the entire furnace.

When the flames completely filled the Yuanshen sword palace, it would be the final moment for him to ignite the divine fire.

‘Next, I need to study why this structure can generate such massive current amplification.’

Electricity and magnetism are inseparable. He felt he should start his research from the direction of magnetic fields.

"Baron."

Suddenly, a Hei Fort guard calling a message loudly outside the yard.

"The old madam and Master Buck request your presence in the conference hall for discussions."

Li Cheng颐 frowned slightly.

It should be about the barbarians. For the Sola Empire, the barbarians were age-old enemies for thousands of years.

Mutual killing and looting between the two sides had already forged an irreconcilable blood feud.

The O'Kelah territory was one of those.

The previous Baron of O'Kelah, and the old baron before him, had both died in battles against the barbarians.

Those snow barbarians who resembled humans but were often much taller, were extremely strong and possessed immense brute force.

Although their intelligence wasn't high, their vitality was extremely vigorous.

Every few years, when the barbarians lacked food and tools, they would come to attack and plunder the Sola Empire.

"Guard this place carefully, do not allow anyone to approach." Li Cheng颐 instructed, then turned and quickly walked towards Hei Fort.

If it weren't for the fear of an explosion, he would have placed the experimental site inside Hei Fort, which would have been safer.

He quickly returned to Hei Fort.

Inside the conference hall, Melissa and old Buck had already arrived, and Milton was standing to the side, along with two territorial administrators, a tax official and a legal official.

Seeing him enter, everyone bowed slightly.

Melissa was still seated, with a subtle, gentle smile on her face. She seemed to be in a good mood lately, and even the bad news from the barbarians didn't seem to affect her.

This made Li Cheng颐 take another look at her.

"Mother, everyone, you can speak directly about the news of the barbarians. I still have experiments to conduct in a while."

He didn't hide his longing for magic or the various strange experiments he was conducting.

After all, these things required money, manpower, and resources, and couldn't be hidden.

"Yes, my lord." Old steward Buck, who had just recovered from his illness, looked energetic and bowed before speaking.

"According to the latest news, near Green Screen Town, which is close to the barbarian plains, adventurers and herbalists accidentally discovered huge footprints left by barbarians. After a bounty investigation, Knight Milton also led a team to investigate and found that small barbarian teams were indeed starting to become active near our territory's outskirts."

"To add, the barbarian team we discovered had a total of five barbarians, generally around two and a half meters tall, and suffering from severe night blindness, obviously due to a monotonous diet."

Knight Milton added from the side.

"Yes, I've already had five dispersed watchtowers built urgently near Green Screen Town, hoping to detect the barbarians' movements in advance. According to past experience, once the barbarians start scouting, they may launch a plundering attack at any time. Their targets are very clear, no need to guess, it must be Green Screen Town." Old Buck had experienced many wars under the previous baron of O'Kelah and was very familiar with the barbarians.

"How many soldiers are generally needed to resist them?" Li Cheng颐 was slightly interested.

For him, who needed to understand the world's knowledge, a new race, how it originated, developed, reproduced, and even strengthened its civilization, was a fascinating topic.

"Usually, one or two hundred heavy shield soldiers are enough, with crossbowmen providing ranged attacks." Old Buck replied.

"Can you estimate the time?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"No, we can only hold our ground."

"Can't we take the initiative?" Li Cheng颐 said.

"This… the barbarians' strength is often more than twice that of our ordinary soldiers. If we take the initiative, I'm afraid the casualties will be heavy." The old steward hesitated.

Although he didn't want to dampen the young baron's confidence, he still had to tell the truth.

"Holding the ground is the best tactic, my lord. I've also participated in battles against the barbarians before. The barbarians are divided into ordinary soldiers, barbarian warriors, barbarian mages, and the barbarian king. A tribe will have at least such a complete organization. Moreover, they move very quickly and have amazing endurance. The old, weak, and sick are almost all dead, and those who remain are all adults." Milton advised euphemistically.

"Is that so? Well, a very interesting race." Li Cheng颐 stroked his chin.

"How many soldiers are there in the territory now, and how many knights?" He turned to ask Milton.

"Um…" Milton was dumbfounded. Did this man not even know how many soldiers he had under his command?

It was normal not to know the number of soldiers, as they were mostly farmers who were conscripted temporarily during wartime.

But he should know how many knights there were, as there were only a handful of them.

"Including myself, there are three in total, all recruited later." Milton replied helplessly. "As for soldiers, there are currently one hundred and fifty full-time soldiers, mainly used for patrolling the territory. In addition, to deal with a war, we need to conscript at least five hundred people, which requires a large sum of military rations and money."

Finances were mainly managed by Old Buck. Speaking of this, he looked at Old Buck.

The latter shook his head helplessly.

"In that case, we have to prioritize guaranteeing the expenses of the soldiers needed for the barbarian war. Your subsequent experimental arrangements, my lord, may not be supported…" He looked at Li Cheng颐.

"It doesn't matter, just do what you need to do. Also, notify me immediately when you discover the barbarians. I want to participate in the war." Li Cheng颐 smiled.

"???"

Everyone was stunned.

How old are you? And you already want to participate in the war!?

"No, war is not a game!" Melissa's original expression changed instantly, and she stood up abruptly.

"Don't worry, I'll just watch, I won't go up there." Li Cheng颐 smiled.

He seemed to be in a good mood, which the others couldn't understand.

"There's another piece of news. The White Tower has found the corpses of Mage Tig, who disappeared in the forest last time, and the griffon corpses. They've sent a special team of mages who claim to be able to restore the traces of death and injury to apprehend the real culprit." Old Buck said.

"Is that so? That's great." Li Cheng颐 smiled again, "There are such vicious thugs near my territory, which makes me worry day and night."

Old Buck gave him a deep look.

"There are rumors that they suspect that everything was done by elves, so please be careful."

"Elves??"

Melissa exclaimed softly, her face changing suddenly.

Elves had once waged an unprecedented race war with humans, with millions of enemies killed on both sides.

In the end, in this battle for supremacy, the elves were completely defeated due to the internal corruption of the ruling High Elves.

They were a race that understood magic extremely well. The High Elf mages of the past were born with unparalleled magical talent.

That was why Melissa reacted so strongly when she heard about the elves.

If the elves were to make a comeback, their harm would be far greater than that of the barbarians.

"Elves?" Li Cheng颐 became even happier in his heart.

Another new race. What a race brings is also a huge amount of developing civilization history. Their bodies themselves are a living evolution history.

This would allow him to have new major gains in studying this world.

*Puchi, Puchi.*

Just then, a pure white-feathered owl flew past outside the windows of Hei Fort.

The owl glided on its wings, gently landing on the edge of the window, tilting its head to preen its feathers, seeming like just an ordinary bird that happened to pass by.

But Li Cheng颐 suddenly felt something and turned to look at it.

"A new type of owl that I've never seen before." He narrowed his eyes at the creature.

"Isn't that just an ordinary owl?" Milton was a little confused.

"Have you ever seen an owl active during the day? And…" Li Cheng颐 smiled, "It has six toes. I'm very interested."

"What!?" Milton was stunned.

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he lost sight of his lord.

*Whoosh!*

A rapid whistling sound exploded.

Li Cheng颐 appeared in front of the window in the blink of an eye, his heavy sword suddenly drawn and swung down at the white owl.

*Bang!*

The poor bird opened its mouth, about to speak and reveal its identity, but it was already too late.

Its powerful body, three times stronger than an ordinary bird, had no power to resist Li Cheng颐's monstrous strength and was struck on the head, immediately losing consciousness.

*Pfft.*

It was grabbed by the neck and lifted up. In its last moments of consciousness, it only saw Li Cheng颐's eyes, filled with intense anatomical interest.

‘No!’ It fell into complete darkness.