Chapter 164: The Key to the Evolution of Thornworms

Dismiss the tactless Glanny.

Liszt closed the door and waved his hand in the brightly lit study, summoning the smoky task.

"Complete the task, reward: a mutated fast-growing variety of thorns."

"Magic potion!"

Seeing these two snake characters, Liszt's pupils dilated. The long-desired mutation had finally come to fruition—indeed, magic potions were born from the thorns! Not cutting down the ordinary fast-growing thorns back then was indeed a wise choice. Even though fast-growing iron thorns were practical, they were not as important as magic potions.

Especially now that he had entered the ranks of elite Earth Knights, he needed magic potions more than ever.

It felt like a timely rain, refreshing and exhilarating.

The smoke slowly transformed before his eyes, forming new snake characters: "Task: A series of five mutated varieties of thorns is due to the Thorn Sprite Bug's desire for evolution, which has led it to wage a fierce battle against fate. As its contract owner, you should lend a helping hand. Please provide the Thorn Bug with new varieties of thorns. Reward: a small sprite."

Reading this,

Liszt's pupils dilated once again.

"The Thorn Bug chain task has finally reached its final stage. My first small sprite will be a Thorn Sprite! I originally thought it was the least likely to evolve successfully, but unexpectedly, it was the first to do so... New varieties of thorns are not available in Flower Town, so I'll have to look elsewhere."

With this thought in mind, he wasted no time.

He immediately summoned his squire knights Philip and Xavier, who were the first to cultivate aura among the apprentice knights and were most likely to break through to become Earth Knights. They were Liszt's key training targets.

"Philip, Xavier, I have a task for you."

The young face, now tanned dark by the sun, no longer looked dull but was filled with determination: "At your service, sir!"

"Philip, run to Coral City and tell Captain Harpagon to mobilize all the resources of the merchant caravan to find thorns. Not ordinary thorns, but unusual varieties."

Philip responded promptly: "Understood!"

"Xavier, accompany the thorn merchant caravan on their journey. Your task is the same: find unusual varieties of thorns. Also, when you leave, please call Marcus over."

"As you wish."

Xavier quickly called Marcus, who was training the young serfs.

"Sir, you called me?"

"Follow me." Liszt directly led Marcus to the second-floor bug room and pointed to the increasingly plump Thorn Bugs. "Marcus, you are my most trusted person. Look at these sprite bugs. Do you see anything?"

Marcus rarely saw sprite bugs.

But that did not mean he knew little about them. As someone aspiring to nobility, he had inquired extensively about sprite bugs. Seeing the Thorn Bugs, he was stunned: "Sir, this Thorn Bug... It has entered the fat cocoon phase?"

"The emergence of four mutated varieties of thorns means that my Thorn Bug is not an ordinary one. It has a strong desire to evolve. I can feel its urgent need to evolve, so I must help it. You need to go to Tulip Castle, Beer Castle, and Shattered Stone Castle."

"Sir, what task do you have for me?"

"Contact them and inquire about Thorn Bugs. I suspect these three places all have Thorn Bugs, especially Tulip Castle, which still has two Thorn Bugs. If they possess non-ordinary varieties of thorns, negotiate on my behalf. I want to bring my Thorn Bugs to assimilate these thorn varieties."

Thomas nodded in agreement but then frowned and asked, "Sir, do you think the Thorn Bugs could break through to become small sprites?"

"Why not? Perhaps the probability is low, but nothing is absolute. Even if there's only a slim chance, I won't give up. I need Thorn Sprites to take care of the fast-growing iron thorns. Understand?"

"I understand. I'll set off right away."

"I'll write three letters for you to carry."

...

Marcus set off with the three letters.

Liszt did not idle either. He took Hiddleston and greeted Elkson, who was preparing to train Juan Fu, before heading towards the thorn shrubs.

He sought out the new magic potion mutated fast-growing variety of thorns, which he called—fast-growing magic thorns.

Fast-growing thorns, fast-growing poisonous thorns, fast-growing spiky thorns, fast-growing iron thorns, and fast-growing magic thorns—the benefits brought by the Thorn Bugs were already rich. Now that they were about to break through, the future benefits of thorns would be even greater.

Riding on the Black Dragon horse,

he suddenly thought of a serious issue: "After obtaining a small sprite, I can probably choose to change my surname, right?"

Some nobles changed their surnames for their sprites.

Usually, after obtaining a great sprite, they would change their surnames to proclaim their family's glory. However, since great sprites were rare, many lesser nobles followed suit, changing their surnames upon obtaining a small sprite—great sprites lived for 200 years, while small sprites lived for 100 years, both extending the family's glory for generations.

The Tulip Family started during the Earl era, with the Tulip Sprite evolving into a Tulip Great Sprite, changing their surname from "Tile" to "Tulip."

The Hops Family of Beer Castle had a Hops Sprite and directly changed their surname to "Hops."

The Shattered Stone Family of Shattered Stone Castle also had a small sprite but did not change their surname. Perhaps they had grand ambitions, wanting to obtain a great sprite before changing their surname; or perhaps they were too shy to use a small sprite's name as their surname.

"In any case, I can now change my surname to Thorn... Liszt Thorn... It doesn't sound as noble as Liszt Tulip. Forget it, I won't change it. I'll continue using Tulip to maintain a distance from Tulip Castle and keep getting benefits from the Earl."

Arriving at the thorn bug shrubbery,

the bug guards came forward to salute him.

He then directly used the Magic Eye to observe the thorns. The thorn bug shrubs were the most prominent, brimming with magic energy. After a moment, Liszt discovered new signs of magic in a corner of the shrubbery, confirming the location of the fast-growing magic thorns.

The fast-growing magic thorns were not conspicuous.

On the contrary, compared to the surrounding fast-growing thorns, they were smaller. This smallness was not due to being in the seedling stage but rather a dwarfed appearance overall. Judging by its shape, it had definitely grown for more than a month, with fully extended branches, yet it only reached his shins.

"Chaos attributeless magic, just like the black tulip, excellent. With this, I have a new magic potion to use... Most importantly, this is a fast-growing variety of magic potion, essentially a gold production line!"

He touched the Fast-Growing Magic Thorns; their spikes were small and blunt, basically lacking any lethality.

Next to it was a Fast-Growing Spike Thorn, its spikes gleaming coldly as if ready to kill at any moment.

"We need to protect this Fast-Growing Magic Thorn. Remove all other varieties of thorns from root to tip, clearing a growing area for it."

Having confirmed the plan for cultivating the Fast-Growing Magic Thorn, he faced a new dilemma: "The Fast-Growing Magic Thorn needs Thorn Bugs to increase its yield, and the Fast-Growing Iron Thorn also needs Thorn Bugs to boost its yield. How should I allocate them?"

"You can't have both fish and bear paws."

He could only hope that the Thorn Bugs would soon evolve into Thorn Sprites, affecting a larger area of thorns.

Standing up, he looked at the over a hundred acres of Thorn Bug shrubs, envisioning an endless supply of magical potions and high-quality wood.

"The Sea of Thorns sounds exaggerated; the Land of Thorns is too ordinary; the Forest of Thorns lacks creativity... let's simply call this shrubbery the Garden of Thorns. I will treat this place like a garden!"