Chapter 588: Making a Promise with Pyke

The well fish did not cause much of a stir. If this were on Earth, the gimmick of fish emerging from underground springs would undoubtedly be a fantastic marketing opportunity.

But in this world brimming with wonders,

an underground fish spring isn’t even noteworthy—even fish raining from the sky wouldn’t count as a major event.

The same went for Liszt. He was merely curious about the formation of the fish fountain and enjoyed the delicious taste of the well fish, but he didn’t place too much importance on it. Currently, the only local specialties that could truly capture his interest were magic beasts, magic herbs, and unique plants like rubber trees and hemp rope vine.

The knights he sent to dive into the fish fountain soon delivered their investigation report—the fountain indeed fed from an underground river, but it was extremely narrow. After swimming no more than ten meters in either direction, they encountered constricted passages that made further progress impossible. However, the channel was teeming with well fish.

This proved the fish fountain fed from an underground river, which explained the abundance of fish.

After reading the report, Liszt wasn’t entirely satisfied. "If the underground river is just a narrow channel, it couldn’t possibly sustain so many well fish. There must be a vast underground cavern or lake somewhere, or perhaps the river is linked to former lava tunnels!"

He recalled Bone Lake near Red River Town, once a burial ground for dragons. Beneath those dragon bones had been vast lava caverns, with sealed-off lava tunnels in every direction. Maybe the underground river had formed within these blocked passages.

"Ah well, no use guessing blindly. I’ll explore the underground river system of Black Horse Island properly when the opportunity arises."

Though the fish fountain didn’t reveal anything more intriguing, Liszt still prioritized it as a secondary attraction for Thorn Fort.

They dug a downward-sloping tunnel,

and built a pavilion aboveground, naming it the Fish Fountain Pavilion—a perfect spot for leisure.

Liszt even considered setting up a barbecue stall there, envisioning future DIY barbecue feasts at Thorn Fort, where guests could catch and cook fish on the spot for a fun experience.

With everything set up,

Liszt shifted his focus away from Thorn Fort’s construction. He headed to Dodo Island’s volcano to train through the night with Leo the Fire Drake. Returning to Flower Town with many insights, he organized his notes into another magnum opus, *Liszt’s Dragon Taming Manual*.

After further revisions, he finalized *Theories on the Link Between Magic Network Nodes, Spirit Bugs, and Dragons*

and presented it to Acheronides for review.

Acheronides, who studied druidic magic, rarely dove into theoretical magic texts, but she found this one thoroughly engaging. Meanwhile, Liszt chatted with Pyke, who by now had mastered serpent tongue and could hold normal conversations—even picking up some wind-speech, all taught by Acheronides.

In the territory, Acheronides was undoubtedly the fastest learner, picking up anything she studied with ease.

"Liszt, did you bring me jade dust? I want a change—eating white jade dust all the time is boring. Get me something special, like the purple jade dust I had last time. It tasted great," Pyke said casually, lounging in the pool. His biggest concern these days was jade dust.

"Out of purple jade, but I brought green jade dust," Liszt handed him a packet of finely ground green jade dust.

Jade dust wasn’t a gemstone or crystal but a naturally occurring, magic-charged stone from the earth’s veins. Though its magic power was difficult to harness for crafting enchanted gear, it was ideal for spirit bugs’ diets. Regular consumption kept them lively, and during herb transplantation, they relied on it for survival.

However, there was no evidence that jade dust aided their evolution—it just kept them alive.

Of course, it also satisfied their cravings.

Jade came in all sorts: green, purple, white, yellow, jadeite, chalcedony, agate, black jade, red jade, etc. Any naturally formed, magic-charged stone counted as jade. Surface deposits were plentiful, making jade far cheaper than crystals.

With the growing number of spirit bugs, Liszt consumed large quantities daily. He had searched Black Horse Island thoroughly but found no jade veins,

forcing him to continue purchasing from outside.

In truth, Black Horse Island lacked resources. Apart from the previously mined volcanic glass, it had no other mineral deposits—no graphite, saltpeter, sulfur, jade, or phosphorite. Even quartz, essential for glassmaking, was absent.

If not for Liszt’s smoke tasks transforming the island...

For any other lord, Black Horse Island would probably only be suitable for raising horses—those black-blood steeds.

"This green jade powder is gross. Don’t bring it next time. I don’t like it," Pyke licked the powder and said unhappily. "Liszt, I feel like you don’t care enough about me. You know I prefer hard-textured jade powder, yet you insist on giving me the soft kind!"

"You’re lucky to get anything at all. Stop being so picky."

"Treating the handsome Pyke like this—doesn’t your conscience hurt?" Pyke clutched his tiny chest, putting on a dramatic act.

Liszt smiled and said, "No."

Pyke yelled, "Ah!"

He flailed in the pool, venting his frustration.

"Stop making a scene. Look at Fizz, Tahm, and Eddie next door—they’re eating happily."

"Please don’t compare the handsome Pyke to that ugly, brainless trio. It’s an insult to me and to yourself—after all, we’re equally handsome," Pyke scoffed. In his eyes, no one but Liszt and himself could be called handsome.

The three Giant Kelp Sprites had been repeatedly mocked to their faces as ugly and nicknamed "the three idiots" by him.

The Giant Kelp Sprites fumed silently—because they couldn’t win a fight. Unlike spirit bugs, which couldn’t defy Liszt’s orders, the contract’s hold on Grand Sprites was relatively loose. Pyke had often gone behind Liszt’s back to smack around the three Giant Kelp Sprites whenever they bared their teeth at him.

Fortunately, he understood the importance of spirit bugs in Liszt’s eyes and never truly crippled them—just left them bruised at most.

"Pyke, let’s make a deal, okay? From now on, don’t say we’re equally handsome. I think you’re the most handsome."

Pyke cackled. "Hahaha, it’s fine—we’re equally handsome." He genuinely thought Liszt was complimenting him.

Liszt’s eye twitched, and he stopped wasting words.

No matter how smart a Grand Sprite was, it was still just a Grand Sprite—not like a real human with proper reasoning skills. He walked into the study and saw the siren Acheronides engrossed in her book—her petite figure, fair skin tinged with pink, delicate and innocent face, and the water-veiled lower half of her body.

Such a sight always set his mind racing.

Sometimes Acheronides wore clothes, but most of the time, she disliked being constrained by them. Liszt, with his own ulterior motives, never forced her to dress every day.

His gaze wandered over Acheronides’ graceful curves before finally settling on her ankles, fused with seashells and seawater. The lack of feet was her biggest drawback.

"Sigh, why does it feel like everyone I meet is underage?" He adjusted his sleeves, musing aloud.

Acheronides was underage, Leo was newly hatched, the invisible dragon was probably underage, Emily was underage, and the twin sisters Lucy and Rose were also underage…

He shook off the thought. He was an upright man, after all!

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