Chapter 817: Whirlpool River

Upon his return.

Acheronides longed to speak with the invisible dragon as soon as possible to uncover the spatial secrets it held, but the language barrier and Liszt's lack of time to act as a translator made it impossible.

She could only focus on supervising the construction of the Flameheart Mage Tower while coordinating with the mage tower in Whirlpool Town to conduct preliminary studies on the Great Whirlpool. At the same time, she devoted herself to mastering ice-element magic, pushing to master it completely to unlock the next stage of elemental transformation—earth attribute!

With an earth-elemental avatar, manipulating the land would be a breeze—she still couldn’t stop thinking about the concept of the sky canal.

The mage tower was under construction.

Flameheart Town’s construction picked up speed as craftsmen and serfs arrived. The surrounding dense forests provided plenty of lumber for building houses at any time.

Rubber water’s super-strength glue sped things up.

They had plenty of stone, too.

Liszt’s young follower, Emily, spent her days either leading the Blizzard Beast squad into the forest to hunt alongside the knights or directing them to produce rocks, contributing to the town’s construction. Honestly, the evolved Blizzard Beasts had a high output of stone blocks, fully meeting the town’s needs.

Unfortunately, bloodline fruits were hard to come by, and no new Blizzard Beasts could be cultivated to resolve the issue of breeding barriers.

Since the rock spikes produced by Blizzard Beasts shattered into irregular shapes, Jo Maya Hammer, the chief overseer of Flameheart Town’s construction, proposed to Liszt the idea of building a brick factory in Flameheart Plain to produce bricks, panels, and culverts—following the modern construction methods used in Black Horse Island’s new town, where stone slabs paved the ground and culverts were buried underground.

Liszt agreed to Jo Maya’s proposal and planned to establish a Fire Dragon Brick Factory in Flameheart Plain. However, when he asked Leo for dragonfire energy, he was refused.

“Oh roar!” Leo’s refusal was justified—Liszt had previously forced it to trigger a volcanic eruption, wasting half of its dragonfire energy.

Since then, no new volcano had been found, and Leo’s dragonfire energy had yet to recover, severely hindering its growth.

With Liszt riding both the Lightgreen Gem Dragon Ethan and the invisible dragon Bard, Leo felt its status was threatened and was unwilling to weaken itself further.

“Don’t be stingy, Leo,” Liszt reassured his companion. “The Flame Islands are being developed, and this island—along with the entire archipelago—is vast. There must be new volcanoes for you to cultivate… Once I finish the construction in Whirlpool Town, I’ll explore the Flame Islands with you. How about that?”

Thinking ahead, for the sake of the future,

Leo finally nodded in agreement: “Oh roar!”

It coughed up just enough dragonfire energy for Liszt, enough to build seven or eight high-temperature kilns and sustain a large-scale Fire Dragon Brick Factory.

Seeing Leo’s weakened state after expelling the dragonfire energy, Liszt felt a twinge of guilt.

Though Leo was a downright nasty dragon, constantly stirring up trouble, it was still one he had personally nurtured. His bond with it was entirely different from that with the Lightgreen Gem Dragon or the invisible dragon: “Besides, Leo is a battle dragon, still in its youth. It needs to grow.”

Only a fully developed Fire Dragon could contribute more dragonfire energy, fueling the land’s industrial growth.

“We’ve gotta find an active volcano as soon as possible!”

…

To save its strength, Liszt had Leo return to his body to rest. Then, he summoned the invisible dragon Bard, intending to ride it frequently to improve their familiarity and explore its cultivation methods—striving to complete the *Invisible Dragon Knight - Dragon Aura Manual* as soon as possible.

Neither the Fire Dragon nor the invisible dragon had prior riding records, leaving Liszt to wing it alone.

Fortunately, the Lightgreen Gem Dragon had passed through several dragon knights, leaving behind a goldmine of tips for Liszt to reference. Relying on this knowledge and continuous experimentation with Leo, he had already begun compiling two riding manuals: *Liszt’s Complete Dragon Knight Training Guide* and *Fire Dragon Knight - Dragon Aura Manual*.

Among them, *Fire Dragon Knight - Dragon Aura Manual* focused purely on mana cultivation and combat techniques, currently limited to five moves: *Dragon Slash - Cleave*, *Skyburn - Sweep*, *Devour the Sun - Thrust*, *Boil the Sea - Twist*, and *Shake the Earth - Hammer*.

*Liszt’s Complete Dragon Knight Training Guide*, on the other hand, was a catch-all notebook documenting all aspects of dragon riding. It included preparations before riding, techniques for mental battles, the development of draconic abilities, and numerous non-combat skills.

Skills such as *Dragon Mana Refinement*, *Dragon Breath Tempering*, *Dragon Force Focus*, *Dragon Heart Code*, *Dragon Blood Infection*, *Dragon-Rider Resonance*, and *Dragon Eye Trajectory* were all recorded in detail.

Not limited to the cultivation of the Fire Dragon, he hoped this book could become the go-to beginner's guide for all Dragon Riders.

It was to be passed down as a family heirloom for generations, read by his descendants to increase their chances of becoming Dragon Riders and to uphold the family's legacy for ages.

"Bard, let's try the Dragon Eye Trajectory!"

"Woo-ee!"

The wind howled as Liszt and the invisible dragon turned invisible together, flying downstream along the Whirlpool River, which ran alongside Ember Plain. The river's flow was substantial, fed by the thundering Whirlpool Falls cascading down from Whirlpool Mountain. The twisting river's course gradually widened as it flowed.

The small river became a great river.

Tributaries continuously merged into the Whirlpool River, expanding its breadth. At Ember Plain, it was only two meters wide, but 300 kilometers downstream, it had widened to fifty meters. There, it converged with another thirty-meter-wide waterway, bending its path from southeast to southwest.

The river's volume surged dramatically, and after another 200 kilometers, it reached a width of over 130 meters.

"You could really call it the Great Whirlpool River now!" Liszt remarked. At this point, an eighty-meter-wide tributary joined, and the river turned westward.

About fifty kilometers later, it abruptly curved southward again, its surface expanding to an astonishing five hundred meters.

By the time it reached the estuary, its width was immeasurable, as the Great Whirlpool River had formed a vast delta, dotted with sparse trees like a sprawling marshland.

"Measuring from Whirlpool Mountain as the river's source, its total length is roughly a thousand kilometers—about as long as Earth's Huai River. Moreover, the terrain along the Great Whirlpool River is relatively flat, reminiscent of the rich Yangtze-Huai farmland. I wonder if this area could be developed into a similar 'land of fish and rice' for the Whirlpool River."

On the Legendary Continent, human settlements largely followed river basins.

Given the immense size of Flame Island, developing the whole island would take ages, so Liszt planned to focus on the Great Whirlpool River basin as the primary area for future expansion.

Of course,

that wasn't written in stone.

The Great Whirlpool River was only a corner of Flame Island's southeast. Other regions might have even bigger, more fertile river basins, better suited for development.

"Bard, let's find a spot near the estuary to rest and pin down why the Dragon Eye Trajectory isn't working yet."

Landing on a small rise by the estuary, the invisible dragon called out, "Woo-ee!"

It was asking Liszt for Smokegrass.

"Here." Liszt took out a stem of Smokegrass and stuffed it into the dragon's mouth. The invisible dragon happily chewed, relishing the taste released by the plant.

You couldn't eat this stuff too often—overindulgence led to hyperactivity.

Liszt quietly slipped on a face mask.

The invisible dragon had many advantages, but its one lamentable trait was its weird craving for Smokegrass. Fortunately, a dragon's saliva had strong digestive properties, so the smell quickly dissipated with the wind, leaving no lingering stench in its mouth.

"Next time, eat your grass somewhere secluded, or you'll ruin your cool factor."