Chapter 722: The Choice

The Lightgreen Gem Dragon was at death's door, and Liszt quickly discovered that those multicolored roots were sprouting from the base of a small shrub.

The shrub grew in a small pit right beside the Lightgreen Gem Dragon's head.

"If I remember correctly, this pit was left by me. Originally, a Soulfruit Tree grew here. To prevent the Milon Mind Fruit from losing its magic power, I transplanted the entire withered Soulfruit Tree away. I never expected another small tree to grow in the pit, now absorbing the Lightgreen Gem Dragon's magic power."

After confirming that neither the Lightgreen Gem Dragon nor the small shrub posed any immediate danger,

Liszt decisively leaped off Leo's back and landed on the Lightgreen Gem Dragon's body. The emaciated dragon wasn't dead yet, but its vitality had severely waned, fading fast. Its wounds weren't bleeding or healing, only revealing cracked white flesh—bloodless muscle.

That was what muscles looked like after all the blood had drained.

"No wonder the smoke mission hinted that I could obtain a dragon. This Lightgreen Gem Dragon is practically dead already—no effort required."

Liszt muttered to himself.

He knew a dragon wouldn't be so easily acquired. At the very least, a series of smoke missions should be involved, slowly manipulating the dragon's fate until it finally fell into his hands—just like how Leo came to be, and how the invisible dragon required completing multiple quest chains.

He climbed down from the Lightgreen Gem Dragon's body and slowly approached the small shrub. Only after confirming there was truly no danger did he wave for Acheronides to join him.

As for Leo,

he seemed agitated after witnessing the Lightgreen Gem Dragon's pitiful state, clearly spooked by the shrub in the pit on Soul Island.

But Liszt had no time to comfort him for now.

Kneeling by the pit, he carefully examined the small shrub inside and noticed that the entire tree glowed with rainbow-hued magic—a hue he had only seen once before.

"The Milon Mind Fruit had this exact same magic color!"

"So... could this be a new Soulfruit Tree?"

"Same location, same magic color, and this tree is absorbing a dragon's magic to grow—this is clearly primed to bear Milon Mind Fruit!"

With this realization, he soon noticed something different.

Among the shrub's branches, he spotted four tiny buds tucked between the branches—small and unopened, yet slowly expanding.

He carefully matched up this tree with the dead husk of the Soulfruit Tree in his spatial ring and found them remarkably similar in shape, with identical branch structures and twists. The only difference was that the withered tree had shed even its bark, making it impossible to restore its original form.

Acheronides had already hopped off the waterspout and joined the research team.

Meanwhile, Liszt quietly called up the smoke mission: "Complete the mission, reward: one Lightgreen Gem Dragon." As expected, the mission was completed.

A new task promptly appeared.

"Mission: You have obtained temporary ownership of a Lightgreen Gem Dragon, but its physical condition is dire, its life hanging by a thread. The choice of its fate lies in your hands—will you allow the Lightgreen Gem Dragon to be devoured by the Soulfruit Tree, nurturing new Milon Mind Fruit, or will you dig up the Soulfruit Tree to save the Lightgreen Gem Dragon? Reward: a Lightgreen Gemstone Mine."

"Can't I choose both?"

Liszt thought bitterly. He wanted both the Milon Mind Fruit and the Lightgreen Gem Dragon!

The Milon Mind Fruit was his guarantee for future dragon-riding, ensuring victory in every soul battle. Meanwhile, the Lightgreen Gem Dragon was ready-to-use firepower and a resource generator ready for use. Both were precious—he couldn't bear to lose either.

"This sucks!"

"Why promise me a dragon as a reward, only to make me choose to lose it?"

Wincing, he turned and asked, "Acheronides, here's the deal. Option one: save the dragon—dig up this Soulfruit Tree and it lives. Option two: get the fruit—let the Soulfruit Tree consume the dragon and we get four Milon Mind Fruits."

He paused and asked, "What do you think I should choose?"

"Brother, Acheronides thinks we should let the Lightgreen Gem Dragon be consumed to cultivate Milon Mind Fruit."

"Huh?" Liszt was taken aback. Acheronides' choice seemed far too decisive.

Acheronides, however, spoke earnestly: "The Lightgreen Gem Dragon bears the psychic imprint of the First Dragon Knight. Even if it recovers from its injuries, it may not submit to you, brother. Moreover, the Kingdom of the Eagle would never allow one of their dragons to remain outside their control—keeping it imprisoned would be too risky. The smartest move is to exchange it for four Milon Mind Fruits. That way, brother can ride four additional dragons later!"

She had a point.

Liszt couldn't argue with her reasoning.

He wanted a dragon—he wanted one now, especially since it was right there for the taking. But as Acheronides had pointed out, just because he wanted the Lightgreen Gem Dragon didn’t mean it would willingly become his. Psychic imprints were difficult to erase unless he was willing to sacrifice a Milon Mind Fruit as payment.

That was clearly out of the question. Saving a mortally wounded dragon over four hundred years old at the cost of a future dragon was simply not worth it.

Yet giving up was painful.

After all, the dragon was right there before him—a creature countless knights would go mad for, now within his reach. Even though he already had Leo, he still couldn’t bring himself to decide.

Acheronides spoke again: "Brother, the Lightgreen Gem Dragon is on death's door. You need to decide quickly. If you give up on it, Acheronides would like to conduct some experiments before it dies. Witnessing a dragon’s death would surely boost my research!"

He glanced at the Lightgreen Gem Dragon gasping its last breaths.

Then at the blossoming Soulfruit Tree.

Finally, at Acheronides’ eager expression. Liszt finally made his decision: "I’ll give up the Lightgreen Gem Dragon. Acheronides, go ahead with your experiments." He kept consoling himself—this was for Acheronides’ research, and that was why he was reluctantly letting go of a dragon. Acheronides was more important than any dragon!

"Perfect!" Acheronides said happily. She loved dragons, but ever since becoming an Archmage, she loved studying them even more. "It’s such a big, beautiful dragon! Acheronides never thought she’d have a dragon as a research subject one day. I'm so excited!"

Liszt tilted his head back and sighed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leo still circling the island, terrified of the Soulfruit Tree. Instinctively, it sensed the immense threat the tree posed to dragons.

Pushing down his sadness, Liszt walked straight to the cliff’s edge and beckoned Leo, calling him back into himself to rest. He didn’t want Leo to lose control and destroy the Soulfruit Tree—when faced with a threat, a fierce dragon wouldn’t simply flee. Confronting and annihilating the danger was its natural response.

With Leo safely stored away, he returned to watch Acheronides as she collected samples, arranged her instruments, and stimulated the Lightgreen Gem Dragon’s physiological reactions.

The more he watched, the more unsettled he felt.

He slumped down at the edge of the pit, gazing vacantly at the four half-bloomed flower buds—he had just given up an actual dragon!

"No!"

"I’m just sacrificing one tree to save the whole forest!"