Chapter 671: The Vitality of a Small Man

This chapter is an extra update for the "Starting Today" reward.

Unfortunately, the Fish-Ugly people have declined for unknown reasons, likely around the same era as the Moon Empire's decline, and Magicians also fell from prominence during that time.

The cause of their decline remains a mystery, but subsequently, knights rose to prominence, with Liszt among those who benefited.

Had it still been the era of Magician rule under the Moon Empire, even if Liszt had become a Dragon Knight, he might not have enjoyed such freedom.

Controlling a nation's destiny.

No sooner had Blackhorse Port been cleared than Liszt received new good news. Under Cris's coordination, the Magicians of the Magic Academy successfully solved Acheronides' problem—though it was only difficult for theoretical Magicians like her, who had knowledge but lacked practice.

The three Great Magicians, with their rich experience, quickly offered practical solutions and resolved the issue in one go.

Liszt swiftly sent the solution back to the seaside castle in Flower Town, delivering it to Acheronides: "Acheronides, these problems are solved. How much longer until the resonance theory is verified?"

"Brother, let me review these answers first."

After a moment of making notes on thick paper, Acheronides finally looked up with a confident answer: "If all goes well, in another four or five days, I should crack the resonance theory and develop the resonance training method for Dragon Knights, brother."

"Excellent! Looking forward to it!"

Leaving the seaside castle, Liszt sought out Old Phil at the tannery, offering generous payment to agree to assist the Great Magicians at the Magic Academy with minor experiments. To ensure the Great Magicians wouldn't treat Old Phil like a test subject, Liszt personally accompanied him.

He wouldn't allow the Great Magicians to conduct human experiments at this stage.

Any research violating ethics would be strictly halted by him—until Magicians were transformed into research scholars, they must first develop law-abiding values.

When he brought Old Phil to the Magic Academy, the three Great Magicians were stunned: "Lord Viscount, is this Sun Descendant you mentioned just an old man?"

"What do you think?"

"Lord Viscount, an old man is useless. Better to have his offspring assist in the research."

Old Phil spoke up himself: "Magician, Old Phil has no offspring. I’m afraid I’ve disappointed you."

"You have no offspring? Why didn’t you marry?"

"Old Phil was too poor to marry before. Recently, I did marry, but it seems I can no longer father children." Old Phil had married his widow wife, and though they had been together for some time, her belly showed no signs of life—she had borne children before, so the problem must be with Old Phil.

Great Magician Lars bluntly asked: "You're incapable?"

Old Phil laughed nervously: "Well, Magician, I just can't get my wife pregnant."

"That’s simple. Let Cyril prepare you a potion to boost the vigor of the Little Men. Go home and try harder, and strive to father descendants... But first, let us draw a few vials of blood!"

Though spoken casually...

Liszt chose a quiet room and had a servant summon Great Magician Cyril to inquire: "Can you prepare a potion to aid conception?"

"Lord Viscount, there might be some misunderstanding. I don’t make conception potions, but I can prepare a potion to boost the vigor of the Little Men. This potion targets the weakening of Little Men in elderly men, significantly boosting their vitality—but it doesn’t include aphrodisiac effects."

In simple terms, his potion could improve sperm motility.

Of course, people here didn’t know about sperm. Ordinary folks might understand nothing beyond the fact that men and women could conceive together. Some Magicians who studied such matters believed men carried tiny Little Men inside them.

After coupling, these Little Men would enter the woman’s womb, nourished there until they grew into infants.

Cyril was a proponent of this theory: "I once served as a noble’s retained Magician. His son died in battle, leaving no heir. To preserve the family line, he tasked me with researching a potion to boost the vigor of the Little Men. In the end, he successfully sired a new heir."

He was referring to "making little men."

Liszt directly interpreted it as seed.

He immediately said, "Cyril, I want the formula for this potion. Write it down and hand it over to me now. I will count it toward your merits, helping you gain freedom sooner." He wasn’t asking for himself but intended to give it to his cousin Meopo to try. If successful, it would put an end to this headache.

An offer like this—Cyril had no reason to refuse.

He quickly completed the potion formula and detailed instructions, covering several pages in dense script. Liszt merely glanced at it before setting it aside, planning to have a servant copy it later and send it to Meopo.

...

Old Phil was fortunate.

Originally destined to be a guinea pig, he suddenly became the beneficiary of expert help for his infertility issue. Perhaps this was fate’s whims—disaster hides fortune, and fortune may conceal disaster. Behind one good thing, another might be lurking, whether good or bad.

For Liszt, with the smoke mission—a remnant of fate’s power possibly left by the smoke dragon—fate was no longer fickle. All he touched turned to gold.

Under his influence, those around him also reaped constant blessings.

The Earl was a perfect example. Under normal circumstances, he might have remained an Earl for life. But on the very day after Old Phil eagerly returned home to "make little men," the Earl, who had gone to Blue Dragon Island for his promotion, returned basking in glory as Marquis Niuwei.

A herald knight arrived at Flower Town.

Liszt immediately led his retinue and servants to Tulip Castle—a major event for the family.

Passing through Coral City, he saw the entire city in raucous celebration. All commoners poured into the streets, shouting celebratory slogans like "Tulip family," "Marquis Niuwei," "Lord," "Marquis," and "The glory of knighthood!"

Undoubtedly, this was an organized activity by Coral City officials to suck up to their superiors.

Among the cheering crowd, many also shouted slogans like "Lord Liszt," "Lord Viscount," and even "Little Lord Richard."

Riding his strider, Loki, Liszt galloped to Tulip Castle. The once gray-white towering castle was now adorned with tulips of various colors, resembling a storybook castle. Knights clad in mithril armor guarded the path up the hill, saluting as Liszt passed.

At the grand entrance of Tulip Castle, Liszt met Lee William, dressed in splendid attire. A medal with crimson tassels symbolizing the rank of Marquis adorned his chest, and he leaned on a sapphire-embedded walking stick. From this moment on, he was no longer the Earl of Coral Island but Marquis Niuwei—

Lord of all territories affiliated with Niuwei City in Ironhoof Island, the seventh Marquis of the Sapphire Duchy, a landed lord of real authority.

Seeing Lee William standing tall and radiating confidence, Liszt bowed slightly. "Father, congratulations on becoming Marquis Niuwei."