Chapter 764 Little Bird

*Crack!*

The egg finally split open, and a tiny pink bird poked its head out from the crack. It had no feathers, its skin a purplish-red, but its eyes were already open—bright and alert.

Soon, a second chick emerged, followed by a third.

In no time, all three chicks had broken free from their shells, chirping excitedly, celebrating their birth. They then began nibbling on their own eggshells, their half-finger-long beaks nimble and sharp, crunching the shells like crackers.

"Liszt, baby birds! Flame Dragonbirds! So ugly, haha!" Ai Ni danced joyfully, fluttering around the nest. "Oh, look, look! They're growing feathers!"

Ai Ni didn’t need to point it out.

Liszt, still in his dragon-mounted form, had been observing the three newborn Flame Dragonbirds through his dragon-eye vision. He could clearly see the changes in their bodies as they consumed the fire-attuned, magic-rich eggshells. The shells dissolved into magic power, helping them grow feathers one by one.

The most noticeable transformation was the formation of their tail feathers—seven still-fragile plumes, revealing themselves to Liszt in an entirely new way.

"So that’s how it is… This is how tail feathers are born—the fusion of soul and magic power. The Flame Dragonbirds merge their souls with their tail feathers. Just like the legends say, dragons hide their souls in their teeth, and elite dragon beasts also choose to conceal their souls in a specific part of their bodies."

The thunder-attribute turtle chose its shell, while the Flame Dragonbirds chose their tail feathers.

Liszt felt many insights struck him, yet it still wasn’t enough. "Still missing something… The fusion of soul and magic power—I still can’t see it clearly enough! I need more Flame Dragonbirds, more elite dragon beasts, to uncover the secrets of the soul!"

He had always disliked tampering with souls, feeling it was a desecration of life.

But now, he realized that his lack of understanding of the soul was preventing him from grasping deeper mysteries of life. Perhaps the fusion of soul and magic power was the next stage of cultivation for a Dragon Knight.

"Seems like I’ll have to sponsor mages’ soul research… But no rush. I’m still young—there’s time. I can explore the soul later!"

As he pondered, the three little Flame Dragonbirds finished devouring their shells, their vibrant red feathers now fully grown. Each was about rooster-sized, though with slenderer bodies and thicker feathers. Compared to the majestic adult Flame Dragonbirds, these chicks looked much cuter.

*Cluck!*

*Cluck!*

*Cluck!*

Once they had eaten their shells and sprouted feathers, the three chicks immediately attempted flight. After a few test flaps in the nest, they took off—unsteady at first, almost crashing. But after a short distance, they quickly mastered flight, easily circling the Phoenix Perch Tree.

Soon after, the three little Flame Dragonbirds suddenly flew toward Fire Drake Rio, fluttering and chirping around him in delight.

Ai Ni joined in, laughing along with the chicks.

*"Roar!"* Rio unleashed his dragon’s aura, instantly scaring the three Flame Dragonbirds into plummeting to the ground. Only Ai Ni, already accustomed to dragon’s aura, remained unaffected.

The three chicks quickly scrambled back up, flapping their wings to take flight again. Despite being newly hatched, they were tough for newborns—they weren’t hurt at all. Unfortunately, Rio kept releasing his dragon’s aura, grounding them despite their efforts.

Under the oppressive force, they even nearly passed out.

"Stop the dragon’s aura, Rio." Liszt couldn’t bear to see Rio torment the chicks. Rio, now free of dark urges, obeyed immediately, retracting his aura—though he still drooled at the sight of the birds. Flame Dragonbirds were a potent boost for him, and the temptation was hard to resist.

Yet, the chicks treated Rio like their parent, immediately flying up again to circle around him.

*"Roar."*

Rio’s drool dripped, instantly sizzling into vapor—as if blaming the birds for their fate.

"They like you, you can't eat them. I'm going to keep them... Leo, just come back inside." Liszt feared the little birds would continue to trigger Leo's predatory instincts, so he simply had Leo return to his body.

Leo vanished.

Yet the little birds seemed to still sense Leo's presence and began circling around Liszt again. He reached out his hand, and immediately, a small Flame Dragonbird landed on it, chattering at him.

"Liszt, the birds are cute," Ai Ni landed on his shoulder, grinning.

"So, Ai Ni, what have you seen Flame Dragonbirds eat?" Watching the little birds constantly opening their beaks, Liszt guessed they were probably hungry.

With no parents to feed them, Liszt had to take on the task himself.

"Big snakes, big cats, big lizards, big birds..." Ai Ni counted on her short fingers, listing the things she had seen Flame Dragonbirds eat—mostly monster beasts or wild animals, carnivorous birds, nothing too unusual.

He promptly took out a piece of monster meat and tossed it to one of the birds.

The little bird caught the meat in its beak, gobbled it down noisily before opening its beak again for more. The other two flying birds also landed on his arm, jostling for the meat. Liszt was fascinated by feeding the three little Flame Dragonbirds, but his mind couldn't help but drift to another bird—the wind falcon Quiff.

That low-level magical beast, unwilling to submit to him, had flown off to who-knows-where and hadn't been seen since.

"I hope you three aren't ungrateful little beasts," he muttered, feeding them for a while until they were full. Then, he prepared to return to the *Flame*, planning on taking the three little birds back to his territory as well.

But this meant Ai Ni would be left alone—on this island, aside from the slumbering Lightgreen Gem Dragon, there were no other creatures to keep her company.

"Ai Ni, the Dodo Island volcano is about to go dormant. The concentration of fire-attribute magic here will drop. Why don’t you relocate your fungus grass and settle back on Black Horse Island?"

"Huh?" Ai Ni tilted her head, indecisive.

She loved places rich in fire-attribute magic, adored the three little Flame Dragonbirds, and was especially fond of Leo. Yet once the Dodo Island volcano went dormant, all of this would slip away from her. Still, the island currently was saturated with dense fire-attribute magic, making it hard for her to leave.

Seeing Ai Ni's hesitation, Liszt didn’t push her. "How about you stay here for now and relocate after the volcano goes dormant? Don’t worry—when I establish my kingdom, I’ll definitely build my palace on a volcano. Then, your fungus grass can grow right beside it!"

With the Fire Dragon Leo around, volcanic eruptions posed no threat to Liszt. Leo could suppress the lava—controlling magma and volcanoes was easy as breathing for a grown Fire Dragon.

Building a palace on a volcano would undoubtedly be a jaw-dropping spectacle.

Of course, the local climate might be a serious issue—no one wanted to eat or sleep practically on a furnace. But that was a problem for after the kingdom was founded.

Bidding farewell to Ai Ni, Liszt took the three little birds and returned to the *Flame*.

Acheronides immediately conjured a waterspout to lift the *Flame*, guiding it back toward Black Horse Island.