Chapter 816: Beyond Matter

This chapter is an extra update sponsored by "Salty Fish of 100K Years".

Under blue skies and white clouds, the invisible dragon flew slowly—its speed wasn’t fast, to be precise, its base flight speed wasn’t quick.

However, while flying in the material world, the invisible dragon could suddenly cross a blurred, ethereal boundary, only to reappear dozens of meters away the next moment. It was as if it was constantly toggling a teleportation ability mid-flight. Even when Liszt used Magic Eye, it was difficult to detect any signs of this ability in operation.

It seemed unrelated to magic power, just an innate gift—just like Acheronides’ control over water, which was also an inborn trait.

With this ability, the invisible dragon could reach a peak speed of 400 kilometers per hour, far surpassing the speed of dragons like Leo. Moreover, this inborn prowess would continue to strengthen as it aged, though its upper limit remained unknown.

Liszt suspected that it might eventually allow the dragon to fly through the illusory realm, just as it had during its previous misstep—entering a dimension beyond the material world.

"Woo-yah!"

The invisible dragon roared, conveying its thoughts to Liszt: it dared not fly at its limit again, because the last time it did, it suddenly pierced the veil of material space and ended up lost in a dimension beyond the material world for a long time.

It nearly starved, exhausted itself, and went mad.

"Don’t worry, with me here, you won’t get lost next time," Liszt reassured.

But the invisible dragon responded with disdain, believing Liszt couldn’t even solve a tricky labyrinth, let alone serve as its guide. Then, its thoughts transmitted another notion that left Liszt unsure how to react—the only reason it gave Liszt a second chance in the mental duel was entirely for Acheronides’ sake.

As it turned out,

during their first encounter, it had indeed opened the possibility of a mental duel—not just because it had inhaled too much Smokegrass or gotten overly excited from eating beef, but mostly because it suspected the great vortex Magic Teleportation Circle was connected to Liszt. The ability to construct a Magic Teleportation Circle spanning material space undoubtedly indicated mastery over spatial magic.

Thus, it acknowledged Liszt and initiated the mental duel, only to be disappointed by his performance.

However, during their brief mental exchange, it sensed Acheronides’ presence and mistakenly assumed that Acheronides was the true architect of the Magic Teleportation Circle. So, it hoped to form a cooperative relationship with her, offering its own resources in exchange for her spatial secrets—

to help it avoid getting lost again,

until it truly mastered the ability to fly through dimensions beyond the material world.

Dragons possessed extremely high intelligence, no less than humans. Yet, despite its clever scheme, Acheronides shook her head in confusion, unable to understand the dragon’s otherworldly calls, leading the dragon to misinterpret her refusal—knowing Liszt’s relationship with her, it assumed its resistance to Liszt was the cause.

And so,

it gave Liszt a second chance in the mental duel. Once it formed a dragonrider bond with Liszt, Acheronides would naturally guide it.

"How... cunning," Liszt mused.

Yet, reflecting on the current situation, neither he nor the dragon felt particularly happy about their soul-bond. Liszt was displeased because he was merely a tool, a means for the invisible dragon to attract Acheronides; the dragon was unhappy because, deep down, it hadn’t truly accepted Liszt.

But life was never smooth sailing.

Now that the two were bound together, they would need to cooperate wholeheartedly in the days to come.

Liszt was the first to let go of grievances, guiding its thoughts: "Fear not, invisible dragon. As my dragon, you’ll have plenty of chances to interact with Acheronides. I’ll have her impart all her spatial wisdom, so you’ll never get lost again."

"Woo-yah!" The invisible dragon trilled, its doubts melting away.

With their mental barriers lifted, the bond between rider and dragon deepened into seamless harmony.

"My name is Liszt Flame, but you still don’t have one. How about ‘Bard’?" Bard represented the Wandering Celestial—a hero from *League of Legends* who could open portals, eerily aligned with the invisible dragon’s abilities, and symbolizing Liszt’s hopes for it.

He hoped that with the invisible dragon’s help, Acheronides could weave magic arrays more easily in the future, while he himself could rely on the dragon to traverse the legendary realms unchained.

"Whoa!"

The invisible dragon neither liked nor disliked the name Bard; it merely accepted the name as a label. In truth, to itself, "invisible dragon" was its name. All dragons were like this—names like Leo, Ethan, or Bard were merely human habits.

"Since that's the case, Bard, let's try something interesting—merging your invisibility with me!" Liszt led the mental exchange.

Without the invisible dragon's concealment ability, he would surely look ridiculous to others—a man flying butt-first through the sky.

That would be way too embarrassing for a dragon rider.

The invisible dragon Bard quickly attempted to merge its power with Liszt. This power involved the manipulation of spatial magic. As the spatial magic and Dragon Aura began resonating at a high frequency, Liszt felt a strange sensation enveloping him, as if submerged in water.

But it wasn’t water—it was the "boundary" of the material world, a unique state.

The invisible dragon’s magic could form spatial gems, directly creating pocket-sized spaces within the material realm. Thus, with its magic alone, it could temporarily create an independent space, akin to vanishing into a 2D space. Unlike the fixed space of a spatial gem, however, this temporary space was as fragile as a bubble—easily popped and useless in combat.

Yet, it perfectly concealed the presence of both the invisible dragon and Liszt. Unless detected by a skill like Magic Eye, no one could perceive the existence of the invisible dragon rider.

This ability was insanely effective—an ideal tool for assassination.

The only drawback was the change in perception. Once merged with the boundary of the material world, Liszt found the appearance of reality rapidly dissolving. All matter transformed into crystalline structures, resembling the digital code rain world seen by the protagonist in *The Matrix*.

Liszt saw a world of white crystals—everything composed of crystalline forms, shaping animals, plants, mountains, soil, and flowing water.

He called this vision the *Crystal White Sight*.

By the time he got used to it, evening was approaching.

Soon.

They returned to Ember Plains.

Within the *Crystal White Sight*, the figures of Leo and Acheronides appeared. To Liszt’s surprise, Leo’s form was a flame-like red structure, while Acheronides was a blue-white water structure—the only two colors and non-crystalline forms visible in this vision.

"Is this… because their magic level surpasses the low-magic tier?"

At that moment, Leo, who had been lying on the ground asleep, suddenly raised its neck and stared in Liszt’s direction. It keenly sensed an approaching threat. Though it couldn’t see or smell the invisible dragon, the unique connection between dragons allowed it to detect Bard’s presence.

Through Dragon Heart Code communication, Liszt quickly calmed the agitated Leo with a few potions as payment.

Then, Acheronides also looked up at the sky. She hadn’t sensed the invisible dragon’s presence, but Leo’s reaction had already given her the answer.

Thump!

Liszt signaled for the invisible dragon to rest nearby and not stray too far. Then, he descended from the sky. As he landed in a crouch, the spatial magic within him dissipated, and his body slowly rematerialized.

He stood and walked toward Acheronides.

His red cloak swayed behind him. Without his helmet, his light blond hair reflected the glow of the setting sun, and his tall, heroic figure was bathed in golden light.

"I’m back."