Chapter 325: Hope of Flower Town

"Does smelting dragon bones really have this effect?"

If this proves true, the pile of Fire Dragon bone fragments he collected could be incredibly useful. Without wasting a moment, Liszt, ever the man of action, set about conducting his experiment.

He lit a campfire.

Throwing in a few pieces of Fire Dragon bone fragments, he then began to wait for the dragon aura to manifest. However, after hours passed and the fire nearly died out, no dragon aura appeared. He stirred the ashes with his longsword and found that the Fire Dragon bone fragments were only charred on the surface, showing no significant internal changes.

"Is the fire not hot enough, or are the bones not broken down enough?"

He then ordered the servants to bring an iron box, filled it with charcoal, and added some oil. The temperature at the center of this fire was already very high. He broke the Fire Dragon bone fragments into smaller pieces and tossed them into the furnace.

Yet, after half a day, there was still no dragon aura produced.

"Is Millery's speculation wrong, or are the Fire Dragon bone fragments in my hand completely decayed and unable to produce any dragon aura?"

"Or perhaps Fire Dragon bones are ineffective when burned? After all, Fire Dragons are experts at playing with fire."

Thinking this, he took out the only preserved stabilized dragon bone from his spatial gem.

The technique of stabilizing dragon bones had been lost with the fall of the Magic Goat family. This remaining dragon beast bone was essentially useless.

"Dragon bones can release dragon aura, and dragon beast bones can slightly stimulate it. Since this stabilized dragon bone is still relatively fresh, I might as well give it a try." Without further hesitation, he broke off a small piece from the stabilized dragon bone.

Throwing it into the rekindled fire.

Moments later, a faint aura burst out from the fire, causing Liszt's skin to crawl and his heart to tighten. He immediately thought of the dragon aura he felt when the invisible dragon came. Compared to that, this dragon aura was very faint and weak, but it was indeed dragon aura.

After a while, the faint dragon aura slowly dissipated.

Liszt extinguished the fire and returned to the castle.

Feeling somewhat excited: "Indeed, Millery's guess was correct. Smelting dragon bones can release dragon aura. The Fire Dragon bone fragments might be too decayed or resistant to produce any aura. Only this stabilized dragon bone can still emit a faint dragon aura... I wonder if it can intimidate Droomichita."

He had already decided.

He would use the bloodfruit, Soul Disruption Potion, and dragon aura to triple-disrupt Droomichita's magical casting.

"With this, the restriction measures are ready, the magic interference measures are in place, and the powerful fire dragon is prepared. All that remains is to set the trap for Droomichita."

...

The bloodfruit was not very difficult to purchase.

The flower merchants bought twenty-two potted bloodfruit plants from Coral Island. Due to the season, none of them had borne fruit yet.

They resembled small chili pepper plants, standing about two handspans tall.

"Unfortunately, Lord, there are no bloodfruits available for purchase on Coral Island. We only managed to buy some potted plants," reported Harpagon.

"Continue to purchase all the bloodfruit potted plants you can find," Liszt instructed calmly, not particularly concerned about the merchant team's outcome.

The Tulip Castle's merchant team had not yet returned, so it was unclear whether they had acquired any bloodfruits, but the Beer Castle's team had already delivered a batch of bloodfruits through Flower Harbor, about a thousand jin. Bloodfruits were dried fruits, and there were many venomous snakes on some islands in the Sapphire Duchy, so the local lords would stockpile bloodfruits.

The merchant caravans of Beer Castle have complex routes, making it easy to contact the smaller lords.

With a sufficient supply of bloodfruit, all the links in the plan were now in place.

When Marcus returns by ship to Flower Town, Lisszt instructed him directly, “Master Marcus, I need you to go to Black Horse Island again and bring Griffin and Lassie back. For this operation to hunt down the Six-Headed Sea Serpent, the Earth Knights will be the main force. We need to start training in advance.”

Upon hearing Lisszt’s decision, Marcus offered some advice. While Gort looked dejected, Marcus’s eyes gleamed with eager anticipation.

“Sir, your plan is perfect. I believe Hiddleston should take on a more important role. Though Hiddleston isn’t fully grown, neither is the Six-Headed Sea Serpent. Hiddleston might be able to face off against the Six-Headed Sea Serpent. It can serve as the primary force, and this will give you the chance to train it for battle.”

Lisszt nodded, “Yes, Hiddleston needs a real challenge. Keeping it in the yard will only diminish its wildness.”

“Another point: since you plan to use arrows to inject the Soul Disruption Potion and disrupt the Six-Headed Sea Serpent’s magic, why not have the squires join the battle using their bows? You have deadly wasp venom in your collection. Poison-tipped arrows would likely be effective against the Six-Headed Sea Serpent.”

“That’s a good addition.”

After discussing with Marcus, the plan to slay the serpent became more comprehensive.

……

End of March.

The spring plowing had kicked off on a grand scale. In addition to the 1,500 people working on Black Horse Island, Flower Town still had a population of over 3,000.

Hundreds of serfs were digging river traps under the pretense of maintaining the waterways.

The remaining serfs were mostly farming, trying to sow seeds across all the cultivated fields within Flower Town and Thorns Ridge.

The compost that had piled up all winter was now being steadily spread across the fields.

All the serfs were equipped with a full set of farm tools, from bone tools like shovels and hoes to wooden buckets, basins, and carrying poles, significantly improving work efficiency.

After returning from inspecting the river traps, Liszt, along with Zanbuluota, Blair, Nemo, and other town officials, continued to inspect the spring farming activities.

Monsters are important, but so is getting the crops in the ground.

Standing on the field's edge, watching the serfs working hard, he gave important instructions: "The development of Flower Town has not been easy. As town officials, you must take it seriously and ensure the success of this spring farming task. No cultivated fields in the town should be left fallow."

"Yes, Lord!" the officials responded in unison.

"Gort and Isaiah need to oversee the digging of the river channels, so their tasks will be taken over by you, starting with Blair."

"Yes, Lord!"

Afterward, Liszt led the officials to various settlements to inspect the progress of the spring farming and meet with the local managers. Though he didn’t go out of his way to appear approachable, the image of the Lord valuing agriculture was already established.

No one dared to slack off during the spring planting.

In fact, even without this display, the serfs wouldn’t slack off. Most of them had lived through hard times. Since arriving in Flower Town, they’ve found a merciful Lord, plenty of food, jobs everywhere, and a fair system where hard work pays off, giving them hope for the future.

"This year, I’m going to farm twenty acres of wheat!" A newly arrived serf, watching the Lord and his entourage leave, felt a burning enthusiasm in his heart, "My wife and children died of starvation, but I am still young. If I earn enough, I can start a new family and have more kids."

Most of the serfs who were brought here had lost their families.

Once they got past their grief, they hoped to start new families.

The kind and noble Lord had given them real opportunities.

Riding his Black Dragon, Liszt surveyed the town, bathed in the glow of hard work, and felt a surge of pride.

"This is the land I’ve built with my own hands!"