The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Spinning, leaping, I soared to the sky.

The training of Sky Knights is entirely different from that of Earth Knights. Earth Knights are inseparable from the "Earth," while Sky Knights yearn for the "Sky."

With continuous practice of "Rising Sun Blaze", he had already managed to control his flight one hundred meters up in the air and unleash powerful Dou Qi techniques. By using the forces of diving and plummeting, he could strike enemies on the ground, crushing a Knight Order on his own.

At the same time, Liszt did not forget "Multi-Arrow".

Archery executed with Advanced Dou Qi was even more terrifying.

His control also greatly strengthened. Originally, with Intermediate Dou Qi, he could only master the Triple Arrow realm, but now he was able to control the Multiple Arrow realm. With one hand drawing four arrows, he could freely combine the flight paths of the arrows and still hit his target with unerring accuracy.

The Ultimate Mystery Technique—Multiple Phantom Arrow—could be executed instantaneously, without the need for long charge-up times.

And one day, Liszt gradually discovered that since his Advanced Dou Qi had upgraded to High-level Fire Attribute Dragon Dou Qi, the power greatly increased while the dispersion rate significantly decreased. From the moment the arrow was shot to the point it hit the target, the Dou Qi he attached to the arrow would not completely dissipate.

This allowed him to control the arrow from start to finish, greatly enhancing its threat.

He could even detonate the Dou Qi at the last moment for an additional increase in power.

"The arrow's power of an ordinary Sky Knight is 1 point, with the addition of Dragon Dou Qi, mine is at least 3 points!" Although he had not seen other Sky Knights shoot arrows, with his level of control and detailed analysis of combat power, the margin of error was not large.

Thump!

He fell from the sky, the Dou Qi stored in his feet interacting with the ground rebound, allowing him to steadily control his body. He did not damage the ground, no more than an ordinary person jumping off a wall.

He stowed away the Swift Shadow Bow.

Drawing the Sky-Cleaving Greatsword, he quickly went through the twelve standard techniques of "Rising Sun Blaze". Normal techniques had no fixed routine and could be randomly combined; these techniques were more like a guide to the movement of Dou Qi rather than a combination of powerful moves.

"This Dou Qi Manuscript is somewhat inconsistent with the nature of the Dou Qi inside my body, especially now that I have Dragon Dou Qi and not just pure Fire Attribute Dou Qi."

While practicing the moves, he could still afford to let his mind wander, "When I have free time, I must revise this Advanced Dou Qi Manual or even compile a completely new one that suits me." He had previously mentioned to the Earl in a conversation that he would write his own Advanced Dou Qi Manual.

At the time, it sounded boastful, and he had taken no action since.

However, now, he truly felt that others' Dou Qi Manuscripts were not perfectly compatible with his Dou Qi, preventing him from leveraging his full combat power.

He couldn't compile a new manual quickly.

For the time being, he could only continue to practice "Rising Sun Blaze".

...

Black Horse Island.

The heavy snow had stopped, and sunlight cleaved through the clouds. The melting snow chattered away in every corner of the island. Standing amidst the thorns in Thorn Town's Thorn Garden, Liszt took out a Jade Box, allowing the newly contracted Thorn Bug to crawl onto his hand.

He gently called out, "Little one, release the Cordyceps."

The Thorn Bug opened its mouth, and a beam of light spat out, transforming into a seed that fell into the center of the Thorn Garden. Then, a new thorn bush swiftly grew at a visible pace... This was a Thorn Bug born from a Rapid Growth Magic Thorn, and unlike the plain grey common Thorn Bugs, this one was a light shade of purple amidst the white.

It was a bit more beautiful.

But as long as it was a Thorn Bug, the plants it affected were all thorns.

Based on Liszt's knowledge and observations of Elf Bugs, the area they influenced was limited to the plant's "genus"—domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species being the genus. Stay connected via empire

The species is the most basic classification of creatures.

The genus is a collection of closely related species.

Alfalfa is a genus that includes species such as purple alfalfa, sky blue alfalfa, and even the shrubby wooden alfalfa. Alfalfa Bugs affect all these species of alfalfa.

However, beyond the genus, the Elf Bug can no longer influence.

For example, barley and wheat are both part of the wheat family but belong to different genera, so the Barley Bug cannot affect wheat, and the Little Wheat Bug cannot affect barley.

When a similar plant mutates to produce a Magic Potion, it is equivalent to the emergence of a new species. The Rapid Growth Magic Thorn is a new species, but still belongs to the Thorn genus. It and the common Thorn, Rapid Growth Thorn, Rapid Growth Poison Thorn, Rapid Growth Spiky Thorn, and Rapid Growth Iron Thorns are all closely related species, all affected by the Thorn Bug.

Similarly, the mutated varieties of Corn Grass such as Valley Corn, Oil Corn, and Stick Corn also belong to the Corn genus—on Earth, they probably fall under the genus of maize, but here, they fall under the Corn genus as defined by Liszt.

Cordyceps were placed.

The Thorn Bug obviously weakened a lot.

Liszt placed it back into the Jade Box and instructed Charles, the Captain of the security team that followed: "The security team must take good care of the Cordyceps in the Thorn Garden. After the spring, I may move Jela's Cordyceps here as well. The Thorn Garden will be a key cultivation area in the domain."

"I understand, my Lord. Rest assured, the security team will guard all the Cordyceps and workshops," Charles said full of ambition. He was once a wandering Honored Knight from outside the territory who gave up his title to follow Liszt back into the fray.

The changes to the territory and the strength of the Landlord now filled him with great content at his decision back then.

Moreover, he was entrusted with an important role, becoming one of the three group leaders.

He knew he couldn't compare to Marcus's tough connections, to Paris's strength and high beauty, so being appointed as the Captain of the security team was an honor of the highest order.

The only repayment for the Landlord's trust was diligent work!

After encouraging Charles a few words,

Liszt left the Thorn Garden and headed straight for New Harbor Town. By now, New Harbor had been mostly built and was capable of berthing ships. Next to New Harbor, a rudimentary shipyard had been constructed, and that sunken Sky Ship was in the shipyard being refitted into a sea-going vessel.

Without professional Shipbuilders in the domain, the shipwrights could only mimic other sailing ships to design this Sky Ship.

"My Lord, welcome to inspect the progress of the shipyard," said the Steward managing the shipyard, a former Earth Knight from the Eagle Kingdom who had a keen interest in shipbuilding.

"How is the progress of the Sunset?" Liszt inquired.

The Sunset was the name of this new ship, and currently, there were a total of seven sea-going ships that had been launched from Fresh Flower Town.

These were the Fresh Flower Vessel, Thorn Number, Mangrove Number, Pearl, as well as three newly launched ships, Corn, Rubber, and Serpent Blood. The names commemorated Mickey, the Corn Minor Elf, the triplet Rubber Bugs, and the Intermediate-level Sea Monster, the Six-Headed King Serpent.

"The main repair work on the Sunset is nearly complete, and we're contemplating how to retrofit it. The hull is simply too large, making the design complex, and it will need at least three masts to provide power. Our shipwrights only have experience with two-masted ships and find it difficult to design a three-masted structure."

"Then organize a group of shipwrights to study the Tulip Family's three-masted sailing ships, understand their structure; I will arrange this matter."

"Thank you, my Lord."

...

Having inspected the shipyard,

Liszt had no further hesitation; he returned to Fresh Flower Town to rest for the night. The following day, February 17th,

he donned his rarely worn Mithril Armor, lined with serpent skin, and draped in a red faced black cape with golden edges. He carried the Swift Shadow Bow on his back and the Sky-Cleaving Greatsword at his waist. He also wore a Sapphire Pendant, an Amplification Bracelet, and a Stabilizing Ring. Riding the Landwalker bird Loki, he called for the Blizzard Beast Squad.

Followed by the Retainer Knights and footmen,

he stepped through the snow that had yet to melt, heading towards Tulip Castle. He had already successfully practiced the five charging moves of "Rising Sun Blaze" and was brimming with High-level Fire Attribute Dragon Dou Qi.

It was time to challenge the current ruler of Coral Island—Sea Wave Sword Saint Li Weiliam Tulip.