Chapter 201 The Falling Fire Dragon

Liszt was once deeply fascinated by an American TV series called *Game of Thrones*, which featured the majestic Wall.

The Wall, constructed with the help of giants, was a 300-mile-long and 700-foot-high ice barrier.

Back then, he was very interested in the Wall and did extensive research, discovering that its real-world inspiration was a cliff formed by basalt columns in western Iceland. This led him to learn about the natural wonder that is basalt columns.

The Giant's Causeway in Ireland, Devils Tower in the United States, Fingal's Cave in Scotland, and the basalt columns at Gui Mountain in Nanjing were all typical examples of basalt columns.

The neatly arranged stone columns were hard to believe were formed by volcanic eruptions.

When lava from a volcanic eruption cools, it forms porous basalt and contracts, creating cracks in a very regular geometric pattern. Most often, these cracks form hexagonal shapes, as if they had been artificially crafted.

"These are definitely basalt columns!"

As the excavation of the large pit continued, the appearance of the basalt columns was gradually revealed. The orderly hexagonal columns emerged one by one.

Following Liszt, Kosto suddenly exclaimed, "I remember! My lord, I remember! I've seen this kind of rock on an island!"

"What island?"

"It was an uninhabited island we encountered during our voyage to Deep Throat Island. The entire island was covered with densely packed stone columns, just like these."

Kosto's words confirmed Liszt's judgment.

The rocks underfoot were indeed basalt columns, a geological formation caused by volcanic eruptions. Looking at the massive skeleton, he suddenly thought of a possibility.

He silently pondered, "Perhaps my previous assumption was wrong. This might not be the remains of a dragon but rather the remains of a fire dragon!"

A wind dragon could create a valley of howling winds, with constant gales.

A fire dragon naturally could create a volcano.

"If it was a fire dragon that fell here in its final moments, its magic would have certainly caused a volcanic eruption, and the dragon's body would have been engulfed by the volcano. Over time, perhaps tens of thousands of years, the dragon's magic would have dissipated, the volcano would die, and the upper layers would erode or be covered by soil, forming the current Black Horse Island."

Black Horse Island did not appear to be a volcanic island.

But Liszt found it reasonable. It might have been deep sea before the fire dragon's fall, with continuous volcanic eruptions layering over each other until they broke through the seawater and emerged above the surface.

"If I were to dive down now and explore the underwater base of Black Horse Island, I might find a massive volcanic structure. The exposed part of Black Horse Island could be just the crater."

Indeed, it resembled the structure of a volcano. The grassy hills—icegrass hill, feathergrass hill, alfalfa hill, and sheepgrass hill—were arranged in a square shape, forming a low valley that matched the structure of a crater. The bones were located between the feathergrass hill and the icegrass hill, not far from the crater, suggesting that the fire dragon's remains might have been brought up by the volcanic eruption.

Even though his Magic Eye could not detect fire elemental magic, Liszt felt that the fire elemental qi within him was becoming restless, as if the fire elemental magic here was active.

Of course, it was an illusion. After calming down, he found no such signs, and the restlessness of his qi subsided.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much. After tens of thousands of years, everything else of the fire dragon must have vanished except for these few bones."

Dragons!

Fire dragons!

Liszt stood up, stepping on the basalt columns, approaching the bones. He touched the rough surface of the bones, feeling a complex mix of emotions: "I seem destined to have a connection with dragons—invisible dragons, smoke dragons, and now fire dragons. These are rare sights for ordinary people, yet I keep encountering them. Perhaps I am fated to ride a dragon in the sky."

Unfortunately, the fallen dragon was not a metal dragon or a gemstone dragon, leaving no precious metals or gems behind.

But then again, if it were a metal dragon or a gemstone dragon, without continuous volcanic eruptions, Black Horse Island would likely still be submerged under the sea, and Liszt would never have found any minerals.

Everything has its reason.

He thought further, "If the fire dragon fell here and wasn't killed by another, then there should be no Dragon Valley... According to *Dragonlance Chronicles: Dragons of Autumn Twilight*, old dragons fly to Dragon Valley." But here, there was only the vast ocean, no Dragon Valley.

At that moment, Marcus, who was overseeing the work, proposed an idea: "My lord, since there are five bones embedded in these stones, might there be more bones similarly embedded? Perhaps their exposed parts have rotted into fragments?"

"That makes sense. We need to carefully clear this area... the Burial Ground," Liszt said, feeling pleased with his choice of name. "This place will be called the Burial Ground. If the workers have spare time, they can level the ground and see how many bones we can collect."

Even though the fire dragon's bones had rotted, they remained very hard and were excellent material.

The upcoming bone workshop would not lack suitable raw materials.

...

Having understood the origin of the bones in the Burial Ground, Liszt felt there was no need to study them further. So, early the next morning, under the red glow of the rising sun, he set off to leave Black Horse Island.

Of course, he took a batch of bone fragments back with him.

He needed to continue pondering what else these bones could be used for, besides crafting bone tools. Using dragon bones for farming seemed like a waste.

Upon returning to Flower Town, he met Elkson Truth again.

The mage had come to Flower Town to prepare the next batch of Flame Valley magic potions.

Liszt had a sudden idea and handed a bone fragment to him: "Mr. Elkson, I recently discovered some ruins and found a few bone fragments. Could you help me study them to determine what creature they belonged to and what use they might have?" Even if the secret of the dragon bones was revealed after tens of thousands of years, it wouldn't matter.

What mattered was understanding their potential uses.

Elkson took the bone fragment and nodded. "Rest assured, my lord. I will study it when I have the time. Also, Baron, I have brought the fifty-six books on magic you asked me to purchase. As for knight novels, you can have your merchant caravans buy them."

Knowledge was something Liszt craved.

He needed to compile a chronicle called *Dragons in the Wild* and required extensive reference material... cough, extensive reference material. The books written by mages, who pursued truth and rejected lies, tended to be more factual and broad in scope, making them highly valuable references.

"Thank you very much. The cost of the books will be paid by Mr. Carter as soon as possible."

"I'm not in a hurry; I have full confidence in your credibility," Elkson said with a smile.