Chapter 804: Through the Great Whirlpool

This chapter is an extra update for the "100,000 Years a Salted Fish" reward.

Digging wildly, chiseling away with bone tools.

Trying to excavate the shattered jade from rock layers over ten meters below was no small feat. It required constantly prying open the upper layers of rock, digging out large sections at a time. If Liszt weren't a Dragon Knight, it would have taken him at least a month or two to complete. But his long-term cultivation of Dragon Aura had endowed him with an exceptionally robust physique.

Dragon Aura tempering further honed his body constantly, granting him strength so immense that a casual punch could kill a magic beast.

Of course, the reason he could resort to such violent digging was that he discovered the "shattered jade" was terrifyingly hard. Even when struck forcefully with a bone chisel, not a single scratch was left. Thus, he continued chiseling through the layered green jade shale, revealing more and more of the jade.

After working nonstop for a day,

he finally unearthed all the shattered jade. When the jade was fully exposed, Liszt and Acheronides suddenly realized it was actually a lifelike rear leg of a dragon, exquisitely carved from jade, down to the finest details of the claws and scales.

At the root of the dragon's rear leg was a large piece of dragon flesh, with a razor-sharp cut at one end.

It looked as if some sharp weapon had cleanly severed this hind leg—likely belonging to a Jade Dragon. The cross-section of the cut revealed varying shades of emerald green, possibly representing dragon bones, flesh, blood vessels, or skin.

Liszt and Acheronides exchanged glances: "So, this clean cut on the Jade Dragon's rear leg likely means it died a violent death?"

Acheronides was puzzled: "But what weapon could slice through the body of a Sacred Dragon? Brother, you tested the hardness of the Jade Dragon's remains—it's incredibly difficult to damage. When it was alive, it must have been even stronger, making such a severe wound even more impossible... How bizarre."

Not just strange, but bone-chilling.

A Sacred Dragon—a legendary Sacred Dragon—with a severed limb buried here for who knows how long, yet still vividly lifelike.

The clear cut brutally exposed how sharp the weapon that severed its leg must have been, and how powerful the wielder of that weapon must have been.

He activated Magic Eye.

Liszt examined the roughly 18-meter-long Jade Dragon rear leg from another angle. Based on its size, he estimated the dragon's living body length to be around 45 meters, with a wingspan of about 40 to 50 meters. Essentially, it was about the same size as a Lightgreen Gem Dragon.

The magical hues of the rear leg weren't rainbow-colored but chaotic. Yet, its energy level was unmistakably transcendent magic, infused into every inch of its tissue without any signs of leakage.

"The magic power shows no signs of dissipation at all. It's hard to tell when it was killed in the Jade Wave Sea... It must have been killed—losing an entire rear leg would be fatal... So where are the rest of its remains? Are they also in the Jade Wave Sea?"

A torrent of thoughts flooded Liszt's mind.

The most prominent one—the most chilling—was: Who killed the Jade Dragon?

Even the Fire Dragon remains on Black Horse Island might have fallen in the same battle. That adult Fire Dragon could have been slain by the same being that killed the Jade Dragon.

Of course, it might not have been a human.

But to craft such a weapon, it must have been a highly intelligent being.

"Wait, Acheronides, look at this cut. It's smooth and clean, but it doesn't necessarily have to be from a weapon. If it was some creature's sharp claws, it could also leave such a mark... But to cleanly slice through such a thick rear leg, those claws would have to be at least 20 meters long. How massive would the creature itself be?"

An adult Fire Dragon could reach 100 meters in length and wingspan, but its claws were only about 3 to 4 meters long. Claws 20 meters long would imply a creature easily 600 to 700 meters in size.

"Brother, maybe that creature just had disproportionately long claws," Acheronides suggested.

"Possibly... Never mind, speculation is pointless. Let's move this Jade Dragon rear leg first and study it later! Then I'll assemble a team of loyal knights to mine here and thoroughly turn over every stone of Mind Island to see if there are any other remains of the Jade Dragon."

...

That same night, Acheronides and Liszt moved the Jade Dragon's rear leg away.

The newly built ship for maritime travel, Flame II, was stored in its cabin, then anchored at the end of the sea canal beneath Thorn Castle, where it was kept under strict custody.

Liszt quickly organized a group of Earth Knights to head to Heart Island to mine the light-green gemstones. These knights had already signed agreements stating that after mining, they would relocate with their families to settle on the new islands as the first workforce to develop the Flame Archipelago—the newly discovered founding islands.

Once they finished mining, they would not return to Black Horse Island.

However, these knights would be promoted from commoners to knighted lords, and upon setting foot on the Flame Archipelago and establishing the first city, they could further advance to the rank of baron.

After finalizing the knight selections, Liszt took a moment to check the smoky mission: "Mission completed. Reward: remains of a Jade Dragon's hind leg."

The light-green gemstone mine had only just begun excavation, yet the mission was already completed, indicating that full extraction was not mandatory.

"Mission: The Great Vortex has been confirmed as a Magic Teleportation Circle. Whether it is a marvel of nature or the ingenious craftsmanship of ancient mages remains unknown, but studying and utilizing it is now the top priority. Successfully traverse the Great Vortex once. Reward: Profound understanding of the Magic Teleportation Circle."

"Originally, I wanted to wait longer, but now it seems the Great Vortex poses little danger—I could cross it directly... With my strength as a Dragon Rider, traversing the Great Vortex should be effortless... Of course, it would be best to first send Sky Knights aboard a large ship to attempt the crossing."

Thus, he swiftly gathered several Sky Knights and informed them of the plan to traverse the Great Vortex.

Selectively sharing partial details—the Great Vortex was dangerous, yet many Earth Knights, mages, and even several apprentice knight sailors had survived the crossing. Sky Knights faced minimal survival risk.

"The choice is yours. Among you, only Duerte holds the rank of earl; the rest are viscounts. I do not skimp on rewards—the merit for traversing the Great Vortex shall be equivalent to that required for a viscount’s promotion to earl." Liszt casually offered an earldom as the incentive.

After all, the Flame Archipelago was vast, and he cared little about parceling out small tracts of land—his greater concern was the lack of nobles to develop the wilderness. Thus, he urgently sought to elevate the knights’ ranks to motivate his followers.

With the bait cast—a chance for rank advancement and a risk not deemed excessively high—the Sky Knights fiercely contested the opportunity, with Cross Shaji ultimately seizing it.

He was one of the nine Sky Knights who surrendered during the Great Sea War. As a mid-tier Sky Knight, his strength had already faintly reached the level of Sword Saints, lacking only renown and an official title.

For the chance at an earldom, he was willing to take the gamble.