Chapter 468: The Life Form I Think About Day and Night

However, Liszt encountered a disappointing turn of events.

The Peregrine Count, who had dominated Fredo in the sword fight, did not opt for a decisive charge. Instead, he led his knights in a retreat towards Snake Fang City.

Snake Fang City, the central hub of the Viper Ridge, is next to the towering Serpent's Coil Fortress, which stands between two peaks and is easily defensible but difficult to assault. It appears the Peregrine Count had coordinated with the Marquis of Snake Fang, relinquishing the strategic Mass Hand Fortress and retreating to the Serpent's Coil Fortress.

Adding to the earlier retreat of the Peregrine Count, the Serpent's Coil Fortress now hosts several sky knights, rendering it a tough target to conquer.

"The Peregrine Count has fled, and the Mass Hand Fortress has fallen into our hands. Liszt, thank you for your help; my mission is perfectly accomplished. From now on, we can occupy the Mass Hand Fortress, threatening the safety of the Marquis of Snake Fang's knight order, and a large area of territory is under the threat of our knight order."

Roger, the golden wheat ear, was thrilled.

He promptly ordered the knights to advance on the Mass Hand Fortress. Though the portable supplies were already removed, the castle still held a vast array of equipment, food, utensils, and other supplies.

As the knights were occupied with cataloging the spoils, Roger decided at the following merit distribution meeting: "Your merit will be shared with Viscount Fredo for the top spot. Liszt, any objections?"

"None," Liszt replied calmly. While Hiddleston was instrumental in the siege, without Fredo's efforts to hold back the Peregrine Count, it would have been impossible to safely conquer the city, so sharing the honor was acceptable.

"Regarding the spoils, I understand you have little use for common supplies, so we'll convert it all into food and load it onto the thirty ships I'm providing you. How does that sound?"

"An excellent distribution plan."

He didn't haggle, and Roger wasn't stingy. The allocation of merits and spoils was swiftly executed. The knights naturally handled the receipt of everything for Liszt, and after the merit distribution meeting, he returned to his room to rest for a while.

Saying rest, but actually, there was a disturbance in his heart.

An indescribable feeling spread from his heart, bringing him a mix of comfort and discomfort, forcing him to decline social engagements and carefully examine his body.

"The mission is complete; the magic power seed has sprouted," Liszt quickly realized as he closed the door.

He thus summoned the smoke mission.

"Mission complete, reward: the sprouting of the magic power seed."

As expected.

Then came a new smoke mission.

"Mission: The sprouted magic power seed has become the new life form you've been longing for. Its growth requires a lot of resources, but it can also bring you infinite benefits. Please cultivate in conjunction with the magic power seed. Reward: a bloodline fruit."

"The new life form I've been longing for?"

"Cultivate in conjunction with the magic power seed?"

"Is its growth direction indeed a Fire Dragon?" Liszt pondered the content hints of the smoke mission, feeling the changes in his heart.

His blood was already boiling.

Because all signs indicated that a future Fire Dragon indeed resided within him.

What is needed now is to work hard to nurture the Fire Dragon—there is no information on how dragons are born, but following the hints of the smoke mission step by step, the magic power seed can surely give birth to a Fire Dragon—it's just not known in what manner it will be born.

"I hope I don't 'give birth' to a Fire Dragon; that would be extremely awkward."

Suppressing his excitement.

His gaze lingered on the reward of the smoke mission, and his eyes sparkled with excitement: "Another Bloodline Fruit! The last Bloodline Fruit cultivated Hiddleston into an intermediate magical beast and also spawned eight Blizzard Beasts! This time, who should ingest the Bloodline Fruit?"

He wasn’t quite sure where the Bloodline Fruit would grow. If it were on his land, it would be beyond his control, and he could only rely on luck to see which creature would ingest it.

If it were on the battlefield.

The choices would be fairly clear—Hiddleston and the eight little ones would be good choices; the land bird, Loki, would also be a good choice; the black-blooded horse, Black Dragon, could also be cultivated with the Bloodline Fruit.

He began to ponder.

Who should ingest it?

"If possible, I’d prefer Hiddleston to ingest the Bloodline Fruit for further evolution. But Hiddleston has already consumed a Bloodline Fruit in a short time, and if it ingests another, the risk of failure would skyrocket. If it exploded and died, it would be a major setback for me."

The risk of Hiddleston ingesting it is too great; it’s not a good option.

The eight little ones are a safer bet; even if one died from overconsumption, it wouldn’t disrupt the bigger picture. But considering they are also the offspring of Hiddleston, which hadn’t fully digested the Bloodline Fruit, their bloodline likely still carries resistance from the Bloodline Fruit, making it quite risky.

"If Black Dragon ingests it, it seems rather pointless. Transforming it into a magical beast would merely add another low-tier dragon beast. Actually, it would be better to let Loki consume it. Loki is already a low-tier dragon beast, and once it evolves into an intermediate dragon beast, its strength would undergo a significant leap."

However, like Hiddleston and the eight little ones, if Loki exploded and died, it would be a huge loss.

Dragon beasts, especially those suitable for riding, are truly hard to find—the Earl has been searching for years and hasn’t found a suitable riding beast, showing how rare a good mount is.

"Forget it, I won’t think about it now. When the time comes, I’ll decide whether to give it to the eight little ones or to Loki."

He turned his attention back to his heart.

Circulating mana, he tried to sense any changes in the sprouted magic power seed.

If the previous magic power seed was like a seed that only absorbed and didn’t give back, then this time he felt the magic power seed was more like a converter filter. He could still feel it continuously absorbing nutrients and magic power from his body, but at the same time, it began to emit magic power.

A very special magic power, mixed with Liszt’s circulating mana, caused some abnormal changes in his mana.

The mana that originally moved with his will now seemed somewhat disobedient, especially when circulating along the paths of mana techniques, creating a strong sense of stagnation. The more complex the circulation path, the stronger the sense of stagnation, making it almost impossible to execute mana techniques.

Even when he used Magic Eye, he felt it wasn’t as smooth as before.

"Somewhat bad, the sprouted magic power seed in my body... seems to 'excrete' impure magic power, mixing with my pure mana, severely reducing my control over mana. My current combat power is probably greatly reduced, less than half of what it was before!"

His expression turned serious.

Although this situation is likely due to initial discomfort, once he figures out the right cultivation method, it can be resolved.

But it still set off alarm bells, making him realize the severity of the problem.

"I can no longer participate in battles. In my current state, going to the battlefield would inevitably lead to accidents. The Hand Castle has been captured, and next I just need to patiently wait to join forces with the Earl, and I can just play a minor role on the battlefield." He had decided to lay low for a while.

Or rather, for this period of time, he is a salted fish.