The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

The lava passage was, of course, not found.

He used the Eye of Magic to try and pick up some stragglers, to find a couple of Elf Bugs, but similarly came up empty. Broken Tooth Mountain, as a dead volcano, probably had died a long time ago and had completely weathered into a normal mountain range, with no trace of magma and not even any geothermal heat.

There were no hot springs, no steam, no caverns, just a regular mountain range.

"Loki, let's go back!" Liszt called out. The Little Fire Dragon that was circling in the sky chasing small birds immediately dived down, and just less than three meters from Liszt, it suddenly turned into a ball of flames. With a loud bang, it rushed into Liszt's body, almost knocking him over.

Steadying his body with two steps back on his hind legs, he immediately scolded the Little Fire Dragon in his mind: "Keep it steady, how many times have I told you, be gentle when coming home!"

"Oh-ho!"

The Little Fire Dragon let out a response, but without any emotion; it didn't listen to a word Liszt was saying.

Training it like one would train a Blizzard Beast was not easy – perhaps because dragons have such long growth cycles, they are undoubtedly smart, but their adaptation is measured in years... In any case, the most significant change in the Little Fire Dragon over this past month of training was that it had accepted its new name.

Leo!

As to why Liszt wanted to name the Little Fire Dragon that, probably only Liszt himself knew.

Leaving Broken Tooth Mountain.

Riding on Loki, Liszt flew to the southern beach of Coral Island to visit an Intermediate Magical Beast – the Purple Sand Crocodile. This crocodile was leisurely sunbathing on the beach; upon Liszt's arrival, it immediately became alert, raising its head in a posture ready to attack.

"I really want to slaughter it, skin it, and eat its meat, but it's a bit embarrassing. I somewhat understand that the Earl probably deliberately left the Purple Sand Crocodile to maintain the diversity of magical beasts on Coral Island."

The relationship between humans and Magical Beasts on the continent is one of mutually hunting each other.

But in the Duchy of Sapphire, isolated overseas, Magical Beasts are considered rare species. Often they are domesticated and raised or protected in their habitats to allow the beasts to continue breeding, ensuring a continuous supply of Magical Beast Meat. Like Liszt's previous approach of killing off all the beasts in Thorn Ridge, it is very ill-advised.

The Purple Sand Crocodile in front of him wasn't aware of what the human was thinking.

But sensing the danger that had descended upon it, it opened its mouth and spewed out Magic – the Water Wave Shield, instantly a pale blue halo completely enveloping it.

Seeing this.

Liszt slowly drew the Sky-Cleaving Greatsword, as powerful Dragon Dou Qi surged within him, ready to burst forth.

Boom!

The one to attack first wasn't him, but rather the Purple Sand Crocodile, as the large crocodile crazily unleashed Magic – Water Arrow Barrage, countless water arrows piercing like sharp arrows toward Liszt.

With his legs pushing off the ground, Liszt leaped high, deftly avoiding the crocodile's magic.

The Sky-Cleaving Greatsword swung violently in midair, sending forth a "Crimson Dawn Burn" which struck the Purple Sand Crocodile's Water Wave Shield as a line of fire.

With a thunderous blast!

The Purple Sand Crocodile's Water Wave Shield didn't hold up and shattered in a second. Explore more stories at empire

The not yet fully dissipated high-level Fire Attribute Dragon Dou Qi then splashed onto the crocodile, casting a purple sheen over its scales, instantly scorching the scales of the Purple Sand Crocodile.

"Wu gugu!"

The Purple Sand Crocodile let out a scream of agony; it couldn't block Liszt's sword strike at all, but of course, this could only be considered a superficial wound. Seeing its state, Liszt gently landed, put away the Sky-Cleaving Greatsword, and with a whistle, called over Loki. He hopped on without a backward glance and left the sandy beach.

He could feel his own strength had explosively increased; an ordinary Intermediate Magical Beast had great difficulty resisting his charged sword strike.

It was just a test of attack power; there was no need to kill the Purple Sand Crocodile.

"I wonder how many sword strikes can the Earl now withstand? If the Sapphire Duke were to come, without relying on the Sapphire Dragon, just by matching Dragon Dou Qi and Dou Qi Secret Techniques, could I withstand his two or three strikes? Surely the Sapphire Family must possess Dou Qi Secret Techniques centered on lethality, although I have two Dou Qi Secret Techniques, both are auxiliary in nature..."

When measuring against the Earl, Liszt's strength had already surpassed all Sky Knights. But for the Grand Duke who might become a Dragon Knight, he had no way to gauge.

"My current strength is quite far from that of the Marquis of Bull."

Originally, the Marquis of Bull was capable of fighting dozens of Sky Knights by himself. Although he was ultimately forced to flee, his strength after transforming into a Lich was unquestionably formidable.

Liszt now felt confident he could strongly overpower two or three Sky Knights, but if there were more, he could only beat a hasty retreat, a far cry from the Marquis.

Of course.

His strength was in a rapid growth phase, improving every day.

After all, he was a Dragon Knight about to ride a dragon.

...

This self-assured Dragon Knight, who had not yet ridden a dragon.

After returning to Fresh Flower Town, his mood was no longer so cheerful. The reason was simple: he was out of magic potions again. The Little Fire Dragon began to howl for its medicine, and his own cultivation slowed without the aid of magic potions. The interruption to his rising momentum was uncomfortable.

"It's mid-April now, about five or six months away from the Pioneer Mandate... I really want to charge straight into the Eagle Kingdom and plunder a batch of resources, preferably capturing a Marquis or Earl or two. The ransom money alone would probably be enough to satisfy me!"

When there were no magic potions to consume.

Liszt would always unconsciously have thoughts of plundering.

While suppressing this greed, he couldn't help but ponder, "No wonder wars happen every year. The resources consumed in knight cultivation always drive the nobles to compete with each other. Even someone like me, who grew up in a peaceful era, can't help but get involved."

Enduring.

Night fell.

When he went to the Sea View Villa to chat with Ach.

Ach suddenly mentioned something interesting, "Brother, Ach discovered a colorful big fish near Black Horse Island. It looked like a beautiful Rainbow Dolphin, definitely a sea monster. Ach wanted to catch up with it to catch it for brother, but it swam very fast and disappeared into a large mass of seaweed, nowhere to be seen."

Rainbow Dolphin?

What kind of sea monster was that?

Liszt's surprise about the Rainbow Dolphin was fleeting, and his attention quickly focused on another point: "A large mass of seaweed?"

"Yes, there's a very large forest of seaweed under the sea there, like an undersea forest. Ach almost got dizzy trying to navigate it. It's very strange seaweed, the first time Ach has ever discovered so much seaweed gathered together at the bottom of the sea. There are many fish living among it."

A vast expanse of seaweed, an undersea forest.

These two pieces of information quickly flashed through Liszt's mind, making him think of the Smoke Mission. Without much thought, he immediately summoned the Smoke Mission.

Indeed.

The content of the mission had changed.

"Complete the mission, reward: Giant Algae Forest."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

About a thousand acres of mushroom greenhouse had already been built, so the new mission was also promptly released: "Mission: The keen perception of the Sea Serpent detected something unusual about the Giant Algae Forest, but she lacks the cultivation of the Eye of Magic and cannot peer into its essence. Perhaps you need to dive into the water and explore it yourself to uncover the secrets of the Giant Algae Forest. Reward: An Elf Bug."

Hidden within the Giant Algae Forest was an Elf Bug.

It was likely a Giant Algae Bug, and although Liszt was currently unable to afford to develop underwater cultivation, he still looked forward to each Elf Bug. "Ach, where did you find this Giant Algae Forest?"

After thinking for a moment, Ach replied, "It's about five hundred meters from the southeast corner of Black Horse Island, with a depth of around thirty meters. There are many rocks on the seabed, and those giant algae are growing on the rocks. It's like ropes extending towards the surface, dense and seemingly endless."

"Guide me there, Ach. I want to explore it myself!"