The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

However, the unfortunate event that Liszt dreaded happened.

The Swift Flying Sword Saint, who had been dominating Fredo in the sword battle, didn't choose to charge and engage in a decisive death battle. Instead, he chose to break out and led the knights to flee toward Serpent Fang City.

Serpent Fang City is the central large city of Poisonous Snake Ridge, with the towering Snake Coil Fortress right next to it, standing between two mountain peaks, easy to defend but hard to attack. Clearly, Count Feijiang seemed to have communicated with Marquis Snake Fang, abandoning the strategic position of Hands Fort and retreating to defend Snake Coil Fortress.

Together with the earlier fleeing Peregrine Count.

Snake Coil Fortress had already gathered several Sky Knights, making it very difficult to attack.

"Count Feijiang has fled, and Hands Fort has fallen into our hands. Liszt, thank you for your help, my mission has been perfectly accomplished. From now on, we can be entrenched in Hands Fort, threatening the safety of the knight order of Marquis Snake Fang, with vast territories under the threat of our knight order."

Roger Golden Wheat was extremely excited.

He hastily directed the knight order to rush toward Hands Fort. The resources that could be taken away had been taken, but there were still large amounts of equipment, food, and tools left in the castle.

While the knights were busy tallying their gains.

Roger then decided in the subsequent merit distribution meeting, "Your merit will be ranked alongside Viscount Fredo's as first place, Liszt. Do you have any objections?"

"None," Liszt calmly said, acknowledging that while Douson played a huge role in the siege, without Fredo restraining the Swift Flying Sword Saint, it would have been impossible to safely attack the stronghold. Therefore, sharing the glory was acceptable.

"As for the distribution of the spoils of war, I know you don't have much need for ordinary resources, so let's convert all of it into food and transport it onto the thirty Airships I've provided for you, how about that?"

"A very good distribution plan," he said.

He wasn't nitpicky, and Roger wasn't petty or stingy. The distribution of merits and spoils of war was quickly implemented. Knights took care of receiving everything for Liszt, and after the merit distribution meeting ended, he returned to his own room to rest for a while.

To say he rested was actually not entirely accurate due to a peculiar sensation at the location of his heart.

He felt an indescribable sensation spreading from his heart, giving him an experience that was both comfortable and uncomfortable, forcing him to decline social invitations and carefully examine his body.

"It must be the Magic Fire Seed sprouting, the mission is completed," Liszt thought as he closed the door of his room.

He thus called upon the Smoke Mission.

"Complete the mission, reward: sprouting of the Magic Fire Seed."

As expected.

Then came the new Smoke Mission.

"Mission: The already sprouted Magic Fire Seed has become the brand-new life form you've been longing for. Its growth requires a large amount of resources, but it can also bring you boundless benefits. Please train in coordination with the Magic Fire Seed. Reward: a Bloodline Fruit."

"The brand-new life form that I've been longing for?"

"Train in coordination with the Magic Fire Seed?"

"Is its growth direction truly aimed towards becoming a Fire Dragon?" wondered Liszt as he felt the changes at the location of his heart, pondering the hints given in the Smoke Mission.

His blood was already boiling.

For all signs pointed to a Fire Dragon indeed residing within him, waiting to emerge in the future.

What was needed now was to make every effort to nurture the Fire Dragon--No information indicated how dragons were born, but following the hints from the Smoke Mission, step by step, the Magic Fire Seed could undoubtedly breed a Fire Dragon--It was just unknown how it would be bred.

"I hope it's not me 'birthing' a Fire Dragon, that would be incredibly awkward."

He suppressed his excitement.

His gaze lingered on the reward for the Smoke Mission, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "Another Bloodline Fruit! The last Bloodline Fruit I got nurtured Douson into an Intermediate Magical Beast, and even came with the bonus of breeding eight Blizzard Beasts! Now, who should I feed this Bloodline Fruit to?"

He wasn't quite sure where the Bloodline Fruit would grow; if it were in his own territory, it would be out of reach, and all he could do was leave it to luck to see which creature on his land would consume the Bloodline Fruit.

If it were on the battlefield.

The choices were fairly clear—Douson and the Eight Tiny Ones were good candidates; the Landwalker bird Loki was also a solid choice; the Black Blood Treasured Horse Li Dragon Horse could also be nurtured with the Bloodline Fruit.

He began to contemplate.

Who to feed it to, after all.

"If I could, I'd naturally want Douson to consume the Bloodline Fruit and further evolve. But since Douson has already consumed a Bloodline Fruit recently, eating another so soon would probably greatly increase the odds of failure… If it were to explode and die, it would be a major blow to me."

Feeding Douson posed too much risk; it was not appropriate.

The Eight Tiny Ones, on the other hand, were quite suitable. Even if one of them were to burst and die, it wouldn't affect the overall situation. However, considering that they were born from Douson before it completely digested the previous Bloodline Fruit, there must still be a "drug resistance" to the Bloodline Fruit in their bloodline, which also poses a great danger.

"Feeding the Li Dragon Horse seems pointless; turning it into a Magical Beast would just mean having another low-level Dragon Breed Magic Beast… It might actually be better to let Loki have it. Loki is basically a low-level Dragon Breed Magic Beast, and upon evolution into an Intermediate Dragon Beast, its strength would leap qualitatively."

However, just like with Douson and the Eight Tiny Ones, if Loki were to explode and die, it would also be a great pity.

Dragon Breed Magic Beasts are indeed very suitable for riding, and true dragons are hard to find—the Earl searched for many years without finding an appropriate mount to ride. The difficulty of finding a good steed is evident.

"Forget it, let's not think about this now; when the time comes, I'll decide whether to feed it to the Eight Tiny Ones or to Loki."

He turned his attention back to his heart.

He circulated his Dou Qi, trying to sense any changes in the sprouted Magic Fire Seed.

If the Magic Fire Seed before was like a seed that only absorbed without giving back, then the Magic Fire Seed he felt this time was more like a converter filter. He could still feel it constantly drawing in nutrition and magic power from his body, but at the same time, it began to emit magic power.

Very unique magic power, mixed with the Dou Qi that Liszt was circulating, causing his Dou Qi to undergo some abnormal changes.

The Dou Qi, which usually followed his commands with ease, now felt slightly disobedient, especially when circulating along the complex routes of Dou Qi techniques, causing a great sense of stagnation. The more complex the circulation route, the stronger the sense of stagnation, making it almost impossible to perform Dou Qi techniques.

Even when he used the Eye of Magic, he felt it wasn't as agreeable as before.

"This is a bit of a problem; the sprouted Magic Fire Seed inside me seems to be 'excreting' impure magic power, mingling with my pure Dou Qi and drastically reducing my control over Dou Qi… My combat ability now has probably dropped significantly, to less than half of what it was before!"

His expression was serious.

Although this condition was probably due to initially not being accustomed to it, and a proper cultivation method could eventually resolve it,

it still set off alarm bells in his head, making him aware of the severity of the issue.

"I can no longer participate in battles; with my current state, it's bound to lead to accidents on the battlefield. Hands Fort has already been taken; all I need to do now is wait patiently to meet up with the Earl and just be a bystander on the battlefield." He had decided to play dead for a while.

Or rather, for this period, he was just a bystander.