Chapter 903: Time Cannot Separate

Azure skies with drifting clouds, verdant mountains beside crystal streams.

Following the Rhine River upstream, Liszt, riding on the back of the Pale Emerald Gem Dragon Ethan, rested with closed eyes, navigating through Ethan’s sight.

The combination of the mana technique "Magic Eye" with Ethan was not smooth, or rather, its effect was lacking—barely sharper than when Liszt used it alone. The reduction in stamina drain was negligible for a Dragon Knight, and the spiral operation didn’t yield much improvement either.

It had to be said that aside from producing pale emerald gems, Ethan was rather mediocre in all other aspects.

This gem dragon’s combat prowess likely ranked among the weakest of all dragons. The Fire Drake Rio was only three years old this year, but with the boundless magical energy from the Endless Volcano Cluster and the constant support of Liszt’s magic potions, his growth was rapid. His pure combat ability had already surpassed Ethan’s.

Liszt’s primary reason for bringing Ethan along was to strengthen their soul bond, hoping Ethan could soon train alongside Emily.

"Roar!"

In his mind’s eye, the shadow of the knight riding Ethan grew clearer and clearer.

Every time Liszt entered Ethan’s mental world, he deepened the imprint of that shadow. This peculiar training method was unlike any other system—it belonged solely to dragons and the First Dragon Knight. But for Liszt, no matter how many dragons he rode, he remained the First Dragon Knight.

"At this point, my personal strength has stagnated, and I rely entirely on my dragons for combat... What lies beyond the Dragon Knight’s path? How can I grow even stronger?"

As Ethan’s mental imprint grew clearer, Liszt gradually felt the constraints of reaching his limits.

This bottleneck was shared by all Dragon Knights in the northeastern corner of the Legendary Continent—where Dragon Aura training reached its peak, and the dragon’s strength also hit its ceiling. At this stage, both the knight and the dragon found themselves trapped in an inescapable stagnation, euphemistically called the "Pinnacle State" of a Dragon Knight.

Liszt had ridden four dragons and still couldn’t break free from this constraint.

As a fire-attribute mana knight, his synergy with Rio was flawless. With Ethan, Bard, and Ornn, there was slight friction, but fortunately, dragon magic operated at a super-magic level, allowing seamless compatibility with any Dragon Aura.

Even a fire-attribute mana knight riding a water dragon could train and fight together without issue.

"Though a knight can ride any dragon, I have an inkling that breaking past the Dragon Knight level requires more than just soul-based training—it demands a deeper fusion between knight and dragon... Perhaps Rio will be my best partner for this breakthrough."

"Roar!"

Ethan sensed Liszt’s wavering focus and let out a displeased roar.

Liszt smiled and soothed him, "I know you don’t like Rio, and you don’t like me either, but soon I’ll find you a more suitable knight. Ethan, she’s a girl of extraordinary talent—a Sky Knight by age fourteen, a truly unparalleled genius."

"Roar!" Ethan urged Liszt to bring her quickly.

Though the mental battle had erased the First Dragon Knight’s imprint, leaving Ethan’s body and mind wholly Liszt’s, the dragon hadn’t lost its memories and still held reservations toward him. Combined with Liszt lacking qualities Ethan respected, there was always some persistent resentment.

Even with their mental bond and the power of the imprint forcing an unbreakable connection until death, it didn’t stop Ethan from wanting a different knight.

The Ironhide Dragon Ornn felt similarly. That iron dragon held a deep grudge against Liszt—after all, it had been ridden against its will while awake. That nightmare of a memory would likely haunt it for the rest of its life.

"Raised dragons are better. Rio may be a feral dragon, prone to bursts of malice and wild instincts, but his loyalty to me is unquestionable," Liszt murmured with a sigh.

Ethan responded with another disdainful roar.

Meanwhile, the Invisible Dragon, Bard, was quite content. On its back rode Acheronides. Though the Dragon-Tooth Platform wouldn’t open to her, and as a mage, she couldn’t establish a power link with a dragon, Bard adored her. This fondness stemmed largely from Acheronides’ understanding and perception of space.

Bard knew well that, compared to Liszt, Acheronides was the one who could truly guide its growth—unfortunately, she wasn’t a knight.

"It trilled!" Bard twisted its head to glance at Acheronides, who sat on its back, studying a scepter.

Acheronides looked up at Bard and forced a smile.

Bard immediately perked up.

But it didn’t know that Acheronides secretly disliked it—simply because Bard loved chewing Smokegrass too much. Though a dragon’s digestive system was powerful, with even its saliva capable of breaking down anything without leaving a trace of odor, the act of chewing still released that weird smell into the air.

Whenever this happened, Acheronides would whip out three masks designed by Liszt, tightly covering her nose.

This time was no different. Bard, not knowing where Liszt had stashed the Smokegrass prepared for it, quietly retrieved a handful and began chewing it slowly between its teeth as its mood lifted.

The foul odor instantly wafted back on the breeze.

"Big bro probably rides Ethan instead because he couldn’t stand the smell of Smokegrass," Acheronides thought, swiftly pulling out three masks and putting them on.

Even with the masks, whiffs of the smell still got through.

She could only endure it silently, focusing her attention on the Time Scepter in her hands. Throughout the journey, she had been studying the Time Gem embedded at its tip.

The knowledge tome had identified the Time Scepter as—Twilight Dragon Gem, Wood of the Golden Apple, Time's Reflection.

Yet, after much research, she still couldn’t figure out how to activate the Time Gem, what effects the Wood of the Golden Apple had, or the meaning behind "Time's Reflection."

She gazed at her reflection on each facet of the Time Gem.

There was the face of a little mermaid from her childhood, and that of an aged mermaid—as if every stage of her life was imprinted within the gem. Unlike humans, mermaids hardly aged at all, showing only slight wrinkles at the corners of their eyes.

"Is this how I’ll look when I’m old?"

Though Acheronides’ body had matured, she still felt like a young mermaid, confused about many adult matters. "Time, oh time… Acheronides wants to grow and grow old with big brother. But if he wants to contract a Fairy Dragon, then what about me?"

Zoning out, she absentmindedly used her magic.

At that very moment, the magic that should’ve faded when touching the Time Gem unexpectedly wasn’t erased by the force of time. Instead, it slowly trickled into the gem.

Then—

In Acheronides’ eyes, the invisible dragon Bard suddenly seemed to expand, its wingspan expanding from fifteen meters to the full twenty meters of adulthood.

And on the dragon’s back, atop the Dragon Tooth Platform, a knight wearing flame-forged armor slowly turned his head.

His figure was like a phantom, yet also real, his face both familiar and strange—clearly Liszt’s, but unshaven, as if he had reached middle age.

Only his gaze remained as clear as ever.

When the knight saw Acheronides, his eyes lit up before he gave a grown-up grin. His voice echoed strangely, both near and far: "Acheronides, time cannot separate us. I will conquer the Land of Exile..."

"Big brother!" Acheronides stared in shock at the scene before her.

But before she could say anything, the weirdly real image disappeared. The invisible dragon remained at its fifteen-meter wingspan, the Dragon Tooth Platform empty of any knight, and the stench of Smokegrass still faintly creeping into her nose.

Only the Time Scepter in her hand had changed—the Time Gem, once shimmering with a rainbow aura, had dimmed slightly.