Chapter 857: The Tree of Golden Apples

To verify whether the Ancient Tome of Knowledge was truly so miraculous, Liszt proceeded to test it by bringing out various objects and making contact with the magical book.

The space ring touched it.

A glow flickered, and a simple phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Invisible Dragon Gem, self-contained dimension.

The Eight Dragons Divine Sword touched it.

A shimmer flashed, and a simple phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Power of the Elemental Dragon, enhancement of water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, light, ice, and dark attributes.

The Milon Mind Fruit touched it.

Light pulsed, and a simple phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Jade’s Fruit, Jade Dragon power, the mind of a lost dragon.

Liszt nodded slightly: "So, the Milon Mind Fruit was called Jade’s Fruit in the Moon Empire’s reign. The dragon hind leg I found was indeed from a Jade Dragon."

A sapphire pendant touched it.

A glow flickered, and another simple phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Sapphire, amplifies power.

He then placed an uncut golden pearl against it.

A shimmer flashed, and an even simpler phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Water-aligned material.

"Just 'water-aligned material,' with no further explanation?" Liszt was somewhat dissatisfied with the appraisal of the golden pearl. He already knew it was a water-aligned material—even an apprentice could discern that. The key was what purpose the golden pearl served.

Retrieving the golden pearl, he took out a Phoenix Feather.

Light pulsed, and a simple phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Phoenix Feather—enhances fire affinity.

"This description is clearer, especially the term 'Phoenix' in Lunar Language... It seems that in the Moon Empire’s reign, Flame Dragonbirds were already called phoenixes. The phoenix myths likely originated from the Moon Empire."

Next, he pulled out a Vampire Fang from a vampire of the Black Knight lineage, a powerful artifact confiscated from them that aided in vampire cultivation. He had originally planned to reward Mary Dawnbreak with it once she distinguished herself.

After the magical book made contact, a glow flickered, and a new phrase in Lunar Language appeared—Mutated sanguine essence.

"Hmm, this description is interesting—'mutated, blood-attribute.' It seems the Moon Empire era already studied blood magic, but again, there’s no further detail about the Vampire Fang."

For the rest of the journey,

Liszt continuously tested various objects. Non-magical items, such as telescopes or single-handed swords, drew no response from the Ancient Tome of Knowledge—it simply couldn’t appraise them. For ordinary magical equipment or materials, it only gave generic labels like "[Element]-attribute material."

However, for materials from Alpha Dragon Beasts or equipment forged from draconic components, it clearly identified the source and even provided hints at their abilities.

"Well," Liszt evaluated the Ancient Tome of Knowledge, "it does have a powerful function in appraising materials, with immeasurable value. But it’s limited to high-end materials—appraising low-end ones isn’t particularly meaningful. It’s no all-knowing compendium."

Of course, one couldn’t expect a single magical book to encompass all the knowledge of the world.

As long as it could provide attribute appraisals for high-end materials, that alone was invaluable—as priceless as a divine relic like the Eight Dragons Divine Sword.

"Once I return, I’ll reclaim the Scepter of Time from Acheronides for appraisal. I wonder what result the Ancient Tome of Knowledge will give."

Before long, they arrived at Flameheart City. Directing Bard to rest first, Liszt headed straight for the mage tower to find Acheronides mid-task.

"Acheronides, I’ve unearthed a treasure!"

"What is it?"

"First, fetch the Scepter of Time."

Taking the Scepter of Time handed over by Acheronides, Liszt directly touched it against the Tome of Knowledge. In the next moment, a glow erupted.

A segment of Lunar Language emerged—Twilight Dragon Gem, Wood of the Golden Apple, Reflecting Time.

Acheronides, already fluent in Lunar Language, immediately translated its meaning: "Brother, does this text describe the Scepter of Time? The Time Gem is the gem of the Twilight Dragon, and the scepter itself is made from the wood of the Golden Apple Tree... The Golden Apple’s legendary—but does it actually exist?"

"If the Tome confirms it, the Golden Apple must be real!" Liszt now largely believed in the legends of this world—the only distinction lay in whether the legends were exaggerated, not whether the legendary objects existed.

"Tome of Knowledge?"

"This magic book. It's a relic I found in the hand of the third statue. It can identify high-end equipment and materials like dragon-related items and provide basic details." Liszt pointed to the Lunar Language on the book. "The materials of this Scepter of Time are the Twilight Dragon Gem and the Wood of the Golden Apple, and its attribute is 'Reflecting Time.'"

"What does 'Reflecting Time' mean, brother?"

"I don’t know... In fact, I can’t even activate it with magic—it doesn’t function at all. That’s why I handed it to you for research."

"Acheronides is busy right now."

"You can look into it when you have time. The Scepter of Time isn’t going anywhere."

Then, Acheronides suddenly had an idea: "By the way, brother, can the Tome of Knowledge identify spirit bugs?"

"Identify spirit bugs?" Liszt was taken aback. In truth, spirit bugs didn’t need identification—once they produced their cocoon grass, their species could be discerned. But he hadn’t tried using it on living creatures yet—his own hand didn’t count, as placing it on the book elicited no reaction.

So he brought a spirit bug and placed it on the Tome of Knowledge.

Then, the magic book emitted a glow but only displayed a single Lunar Language word—Spirit Bug.

"Wow, really? I *totally* didn’t know it was a spirit bug." Liszt chuckled at the Tome of Knowledge’s capabilities. "Well then, this Tome of Knowledge is useless to me. I’ll hand it over to you, Acheronides. You often need to identify magical materials anyway."

Acheronides didn’t refuse: "Got it."

...

After acquiring the Tome of Knowledge, Liszt’s heart grew eager about the relics sealed within the other three statues. What kind of unique treasures might they hold?

But there was no rush. Once all the Moon Killer tribes were conquered, these relics would inevitably fall into his hands.

Thus,

He continued searching for natural nodes.

Not just to complete the Smoke Task, but also because he urgently wanted to establish a passage between Black Horse Island and the Fire Kingdom. So, day after day, he remained busy with the search.

Soon, the year 154 of the Sapphire Calendar drew to a close, and the new year of 155 arrived.

Thorn Fortress was quieter this year. Under the leadership of Butler Carter, the servants celebrated a simple New Year. Meanwhile, the newly built castle in Ember City bustled with clinking glasses and lively chatter. Liszt and his followers celebrated Fire Island’s first New Year in this castle, named "Ember Keep."

"Your Highness, I propose declaring this year the first year of the Fire Calendar and today as the first New Year of the Fire Calendar," Duert Hongxingguo raised his cup and suggested.

Liszt narrowed his eyes: "No. We’re not a kingdom yet, so the Fire Calendar can wait. We’ll continue using the Sapphire Calendar for now. However, I’ll have the Magic Guild create a new calendar based on Fire Island’s seasonal cycles, integrating the movements of the sun and moon. It will be rolled out immediately after the kingdom’s founding."