Chapter 509: Departure to Tulip Castle

Twisting and leaping, I ascend into the heavens.

The training regimen of a Sky Knight diverges sharply from that of an Earth Knight. While the Earth Knight is inseparable from the "earth," the Sky Knight aspires to the "sky."

Through relentless training in the "Crimson Sunflare Surge," he has mastered the technique of soaring a hundred meters into the air, deploying formidable mana techniques while airborne. Harnessing the tremendous energy from plunges and descents, he can strike ground enemies with ease, able to single-handedly crush an entire knight regiment.

In the meantime, Liszt hasn't neglected "Multiple Arrows."

Advanced mana amplifies the terror of his archery.

His mastery has also seen a marked improvement. Before, with intermediate mana, he was limited to the Triple Arrow realm, but now, he commands the Multiple Arrow realm. Drawing four arrows with one hand, he manipulates their trajectories at will, ensuring every shot hits its mark without fail.

The ultimate technique, Multiple Phantom Arrows, enables instant shots without charge time.

Furthermore, Liszt has realized that his advanced mana has evolved into the fire-attribute Dragon Aura. Its potency has surged while its dissipation has drastically slowed. The mana infused in the arrow remains intact from launch to impact.

This grants him full control over the arrow, significantly boosting its lethality.

He can also trigger the mana at the final instant, unleashing an additional burst of power.

"While a typical Sky Knight's arrow scores a 1, with Dragon Aura, mine hits at least a 3!" Though he hasn't observed other Sky Knights, his control enables precise combat analysis with minimal error.

With a thud, he lands, the mana in his feet cushioning the impact, steadying him. He leaves the ground unscathed, as though he'd merely hopped off a wall.

He sheathes the Swift Shadow Bow.

Unsheathing the Skyrend Greatsword, he swiftly performs the twelve basic moves of "Crimson Sunflare Surge." The basic moves lack set patterns, allowing random combinations, serving more as mana guidance than rigid techniques.

"This manual doesn't align well with my mana's nature, especially since I now wield Dragon Aura, transcending mere fire-attribute mana."

As he practices, he muses: "When time allows, I'll overhaul this advanced mana manual, perhaps even craft one tailored to me." Back then, it sounded like bravado, and he never followed through.

Now, he genuinely believes others' manuals don't sync with his mana, limiting his combat potential.

But in the short term, he can't compile a new manual.

He can only continue practicing "Crimson Sunflare Surge" for now.

...

Black Horse Island.

The heavy snow has stopped, and sunlight pierces through the dark clouds. The sound of melting snow can be heard in every corner of the island. In the Thorn Garden of Thorn Town, Liszt stands amidst the thorns, taking out a jade box and letting the newly contracted Thorn Bug crawl onto his hand.

He softly calls out: "Little one, release the insect grass."

The Thorn Bug opens its mouth, a light spits out, transforming into a seed that lands in the center of the Thorn Garden. At a visible speed, a new thorn rapidly grows... This is a Thorn Bug born from a fast-growing magic thorn, its color a faint purple amidst white, more beautiful than the grayish-white ordinary Thorn Bug.

However, as long as it's a Thorn Bug, the plants it affects are all thorns.

Based on Liszt's knowledge and observation of Spirit Bugs, the range of influence of a Spirit Bug is defined by the "genus" of the plant, within the boundaries of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, tribe, genus, and species.

Species is the most basic classification of organisms.

A genus is a group of closely related species.

The alfalfa genus includes purple alfalfa, blue alfalfa, and shrubby woody alfalfa. Alfalfa bugs can influence all these alfalfa species.

However, spirit bugs cannot influence beyond the genus.

For instance, barley and wheat are in the wheat tribe but different genera. Thus, barley bugs can't affect wheat, and wheat bugs can't affect barley.

When a plant mutates into a magical herb, it becomes a new species. The fast-growing magical thorn is a new species within the thorn genus. It, common thorns, fast-growing thorns, fast-growing poisonous thorns, fast-growing spiked thorns, and fast-growing iron thorns are closely related species, all affected by thorn bugs.

Similarly, corn grass mutations like grain corn, oil corn, and stick corn are all in the corn genus. On Earth, they might be in the Zea genus, but here, Liszt classifies them under the corn genus.

After planting the bug grass.

The thorn bug appeared much weaker.

Liszt placed it back in the jade box and instructed Charles, the security team leader who accompanied him: "The security team needs to protect the bug grass in the Thorn Garden. After spring, I may relocate Jie La's bug grass here too. The Thorn Garden will become a crucial planting zone in the territory."

"Understood, my lord. Rest assured, the security team will safeguard all the bug grass and workshops." Charles was resolute. He had been a wandering knight from afar, who renounced his title to join Liszt in battle.

Now, the territory's progress and the lord's power made him deeply thankful for his choice.

Furthermore, he was given a key role as one of the three main team leaders.

He knew he paled in comparison to Marcus's connections or Parris's strength and looks. Becoming the security team leader was a great honor.

He could only repay the lord's trust through hard work!

After a few words of encouragement to Charles.

Liszt departed the Thorn Garden and went directly to New Port Town. With New Port almost finished, it was ready to dock ships. A basic dock was constructed on one side of New Port, where the sunken sky ship was being converted into a seafaring vessel.

Without professional shipbuilders, the workers had to copy other sailing ships to design this sky ship.

"My lord, welcome to check the dock's progress," said the dock manager, an Earth Knight from the Kingdom of the Eagle with a keen interest in shipbuilding.

"How's the Sunset coming along?" Liszt asked.

The Sunset was the name of the new ship. Currently, Flower Town had seven launched ships.

They were the Flower, the Thorn, the Red Mangrove, the Pearl, and the three newly launched ships: the Corn, the Rubber, and the Snake Blood. The names commemorated the corn spirit bug Mickey, the rubber bug triplets, and the intermediate sea monster, the Six-Headed King Sea Snake.

"Currently, the main repair work on the Sunset is nearing completion. We are contemplating how to refit it. Its hull is too large, making the design very complex, requiring at least three-masted sails for propulsion. However, our shipworkers only have experience with two-masted sailing ships, making it difficult to design a three-masted structure."

"Then organize a group of shipworkers to inspect the three-masted sailing ships of the Tulip family to understand their structure. I will arrange this."

"Thank you, my lord."

...

After inspecting the dock.

Liszt did not hesitate any longer and returned to Flower Town to rest for the night. The next day, February 17th.

He donned the mithril armor he hadn't worn for a long time, with a snakeskin armor inside and a red-faced, black-backed, gold-edged cloak outside. He carried the Swift Shadow Bow on his back and the Sky-Splitting Greatsword at his waist. He also wore a sapphire pendant, an amplification bracelet, and a stabilizing ring. Riding the land bird Loki, he summoned the Blizzard Beast Squad.

Behind him followed the squire knights and accompanying footmen.

Treading on the snow that had not yet melted, he headed towards Tulip Castle. The five charging moves of the Crimson Sunflare Surge had been successfully cultivated, and the high-level fire attribute Dragon Aura was fully charged.

It was time to challenge the current ruler of Coral Island, the Sword Saint of the Waves, William Lee Tulip.