Chapter 883: High-profile Actions

The continent is too large, making communication slow.

The capture of Piero Grey Iron and the Grey Iron Dragon becoming Liszt's mount haven't spread yet. In fact, the outcome of the dragon-slaying battle is just starting to spread among the high-ranking officials of the Sapphire Duchy and the Kingdom of the Eagle. Of course, spies from various kingdoms and duchies have already carried the news back to their homelands.

Before long, the northeastern corner of the Legendary Continent will undoubtedly erupt in chaos.

Some will be on edge, some will treat it like gossip, some will idolize him, and some will burn with jealousy—all normal reactions. However, Liszt is destined to fan the flames.

The reason is simple.

He himself is pretty low-key, but after completing the "Punish the Traitor" mission, the Smoke Task issued a surprisingly flashy new mission.

"Mission: The Sapphire Duchy has begun to spread your fame, while the high-ranking officials of the Kingdom of the Eagle are plotting to stop your rise. But a true man fears no underhanded schemes. It's time to ride the Grey Iron Dragon to visit Blue Dragon Island and make the Sapphire family make the right choice. Reward: Your first vassal state."

Clearly, the Sapphire Duke is still hesitating.

This makes sense. For generations, Liszt's ancestors were followers of the Sapphire family, but now the roles are reversed—the Sapphire family must become Liszt's followers. Practically speaking, Liszt, with his multiple dragons and an Archmage, already has what it takes to be king.

A duchy submitting to a kingdom, both being maritime nations, is only natural.

But emotionally, it is much harder. Additionally, the Sapphire family still holds hope in the Steel Ridge Kingdom's royal family, wishing to hedge their bets between the Kingdom of Steel Ridge and the future Fire Kingdom, unwilling to change sides so easily.

"The Sapphire Duke's hesitation is understandable... Though he was the one who broke the alliance, he is still the lord the Tulip family has served for generations. Pushing him too hard would hurt the family's name."

By reason and sentiment alike.

The Sapphire family was once the liege of the Tulip family, and their relationship as lord and vassal was good—the Tulip family never betrayed, and the Sapphire family never mistreated them.

This loyalty must be respected.

Otherwise, Liszt's reputation after his rise would suffer—reputation is usually just a bonus. But as a member of the nobility, especially a top-tier dragon-raising family, ruling through the knightly code requires that icing.

"Then I'll ride the Grey Iron Dragon Ornn to Blue Dragon Island and let the Sapphire Duke size up the situation himself." Looking at the Smoke Task, he made his decision.

After delivering the grain supplies, he teleported directly to Heart Island.

The injured Grey Iron Dragon Ornn had mostly recovered. Unlike the Lightgreen Gem Dragon, which had suffered severe wounds, Ornn's injuries were superficial, and with a dragon's powerful regenerative abilities, it had healed quickly. Only the depleted dragon's hypermagic would take time to replenish.

Normal riding and combat were no longer an issue.

"Roar!"

Ornn's impression of Liszt wasn't great—after all, their psychic battle had been forced. But after erasing the First Dragon Knight's psychic imprint, Ornn accepted him as its true psychic-bonded dragon knight.

"Bard, you carry Acheronides. I'll ride Ornn!" Liszt quickly arranged the mounts.

"Wee-ya!" Bard didn't refuse Acheronides riding it—though the dragon's saddle was Liszt's exclusive seat. No matter how much Bard favored Acheronides, it wouldn't let her sit there.

Just as the Grey Iron Dragon had protected Piero, the saddle was never his to occupy.

Thus.

One man and one dragon flew toward Blue Dragon Island, with the magic power-formed Fire Drake Rio nestled on Liszt's chest. Since this trip was to assert authority, he decided to reveal all his cards. Had the Lightgreen Gem Dragon not been on Flame Island, he would have brought four dragons.

The tide had turned, and he no longer cared about being exposed to the eyes of the Legendary Continent's great kingdoms.

The invisible dragon's combat prowess was unremarkable, but its spatial traversal ability was formidable enough to ensure his escape from any danger.

The Smoke Task mentioned that the Kingdom of the Eagle was plotting schemes to curb Liszt's rise.

Other kingdoms on the continent, upon learning of Liszt's rise and the presence of a sacred creature like the Invisible Dragon, would inevitably hatch conspiracies. But these schemes would amount to nothing more than dragon-slaying campaigns and economic sanctions—no one could deal with an Invisible Dragon that could escape, and economic sanctions would be even less effective.

Liszt could simply resort to raiding if trade failed.

A single raid on Hot Spring Island had already made him rich. If he were to raid a few more marquises on the continent, he’d get obscenely rich.

He could even go as far as robbing dragon knights.

A lone dragon knight was no match for him. With his formidable lineup—himself, Bard, Leo, and Acheronides—wiping out a lone dragon knight would be child’s play. If not for the fear of pushing the continental kingdoms too far and forcing them to unite in deploying all their dragon knights to capture him, Liszt would have already adopted such tactics.

"Besides, I have the Serpentine Smoke alerts..."

He had a clear understanding of the continent’s political landscape. Given the Eagle Kingdom’s two failed dragon-slaying campaigns, other kingdoms would likely try to win him over instead.

Perhaps some king would even offer his daughter in marriage.

Of course, Liszt couldn’t care less about marrying a princess. What he truly desired now wasn’t the submission of the Sapphire Duchy, but the reward from the previous Serpentine Smoke task.

"Complete the task, reward: a Man-Eating Tree Dragon Spirit."

This was the Serpentine Smoke’s message after completing the mission to punish traitors. While transporting grain to Ember City, Liszt immediately sought out Emily, who was supervising roadwork, to inquire about his Man-Eating Tree Dragon Spirit.

He had previously received updates from the magic comms.

Emily had been investigating the ogre incident, which was the reward from the task before last—"traces of ogres." Eventually, they uncovered the true culprit behind the ogres, the reward from the task before that—"a grove of man-eating trees." The third phase of the ogre-related quest then granted the reward from the previous task—"a Man-Eating Tree Dragon Spirit."

A Dragon Spirit!

A single Dragon Spirit!

Though this reward paled in comparison to that of an actual dragon, it was a game-changer for Liszt. His obsession with spirits was next-level.

He had long hoped to obtain a Dragon Spirit.

After all, a dragon-raising family without a Dragon Spirit would seem pathetically lame.

He had originally assumed that wild Dragon Spirits were nearly impossible to find, given the harsh conditions for spirit evolution. For a Grand Sprite to evolve into a Dragon Spirit, it required prolonged proximity to a dragon. Dragons themselves were exceedingly rare, and those that roamed the wild were often evil dragons unlikely to tolerate a Grand Sprite’s presence.

Thus, wild Dragon Spirits were out of the question, and stealing one was unrealistic. His only option was to cultivate one himself—Ai Ni, the Grand Sprite of the Phoenix Roost, who loved chatting while petting the Fire Drake, was his first hopeful candidate.

A long time had passed, yet Ai Ni was still stuck petting, with no signs of evolution.

And then—

Out of nowhere, a quest chain he had barely paid attention to due to the dragon-slaying campaigns suddenly rewarded him with a Dragon Spirit, leaving him over the moon.

Unfortunately, despite Emily and her team hunting the Man-Eating Trees for some time, they had yet to locate this Dragon Spirit. According to Emily’s speculation, the man-eating trees could burrow underground—meaning the Dragon Spirit might be hiding beneath the surface. After personally scouring the forest three or four times to no avail, Liszt ordered Emily to continue the search.

Even if they had to turn the place upside down, they would find this Dragon Spirit.

If it’s meant to be his, it won’t get away.

He decided to relax and first head to Blue Dragon Island—itching for his next meeting with the Duke of Sapphire.

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