Chapter 838: The Gem of Time

Dismounting from the invisible dragon, Liszt saw no need to hide and immediately began examining the ruined stone tower.

The tower was likely the mage tower of an ancient Archmage, its architectural style lost to time. It covered a vast area, spanning several hundred square meters, with the upper half collapsed and the lower two floors still intact. The original wooden door had likely rotted away, and the Moon Killers had blocked the entrance with large stones.

Working the stones loose, Liszt gave a quick scan before stepping inside the tower.

Sunlight streamed through cracks in the walls, so the interior wasn’t too dark. It was clear that the tower had once served as some sort of "library," with rows of stone-carved bookshelves. Unfortunately, not one book remained on the shelves—only thick layers of dust.

The stone-carved staircase remained intact and sturdy underfoot.

Climbing to the second floor, he found a vast, empty room, its original purpose unclear. The adjacent section of the floor had broken away, letting sunlight flood in and form a large bright patch. Weeds sprouted in the sunlit area, suggesting the area had long been exposed to wind and sun, unprotected.

"The natives' treasure must be here, so it’s likely something left behind by an ancient Archmage. But what exactly?" Liszt cast Magic Eye and began scanning the ruined tower.

He found no magical resonance, nor anything that resembled a treasure.

The first floor was empty, and so was the second. According to the Hillfoot Tribe's Elder Kui, the ruined tower enshrined a treasure passed down by their ancestors. Kui didn’t know what the treasure was, and now it seemed that even if there had been one, it was probably removed after the collapse.

"Wait, no—Kui specifically mentioned the ruined tower, meaning it was already collapsed at that time... What’s going on here? Let me take a closer look."

He walked to the broken section of the floor and vaulted up.

The third floor was half-collapsed.

Unexpectedly, his Magic Eye caught a faint glimmer of magic power feedback emanating from a pile of rubble. He quickly cleared away the debris and unearthed the glowing object—a fractured stone staff, with a few stone-carved fingers still attached to its handle.

In other words, this stone staff had originally been part of a larger statue.

The magic power feedback came from the large, round gemstone carved from an unknown type of rock at the top of the staff, though the glow was dull and muted.

"Perhaps it’s encased in rock, preventing the light from shining through?" After studying it for a moment, Liszt confirmed that the outer stone wasn’t a magical object and began gently tapping it. With increasing force, cracks formed until the stone finally shattered, revealing the true item inside.

The light exploded outward instantly, like a lamp being lit in the darkness.

Only when Liszt deactivated his Magic Eye did he see clearly—inside the stone staff was a short metal staff, roughly forearm-length, topped with a transparent gemstone shimmering with seven colors. The potent magical aura made his spine tingle.

This was undoubtedly a rare gemstone, unlike any produced by a gem dragon.

With care, he extracted the metal staff from the stone and brought the gemstone closer to examine it. The gem had countless facets, each perfectly smooth, reflecting his own face. But when Liszt focused on the reflections, his pupils suddenly dilated.

The face staring back at him was that of an old man.

Whirling around, he expected to find someone behind him—but there was nothing, only the distant figure of the invisible dragon dozing on the mountainside.

No creature could evade the invisible dragon’s detection and sneak up on him.

"What...?"

Baffled, he looked back at another facet of the gemstone. This time, the reflection showed the face of a child.

Again, he turned—still nothing behind him.

No one was approaching. The faces in the reflections could only be coming from within the gemstone itself. Slightly reassured, Liszt continued observing. Sure enough, countless facets displayed countless faces of different ages. But soon, his breathing grew rapid as he realized something—all these faces shared one trait.

They looked strikingly like his own. Some of the younger faces were unmistakably his.

He blinked, and the reflections blinked back—whether child or elder.

After a moment of study, it suddenly dawned on him: "Fascinating. These reflections are all me at different ages... As expected, I’ve been handsome my whole life, charming at every stage. What a strange gem—like it contains time's very magic."

"Huh?"

"The power of time magic?"

Liszt froze mid-thought: "Time, the magic power of time... Could it be that this gem was produced by the Dusk Dragon, one of the Sacred Dragons?"

The Dusk Dragon represents the power of time—no one has ever seen it, nor does anyone know how it exists. Yet now, holding this metal staff and gazing at the gem reflecting his own face at different ages, he abruptly connected the two. Perhaps this gem was indeed created by the Dusk Dragon.

The Invisible Dragon produces space gems, forming independent spaces.

The Dusk Dragon's unique gem must inherently carry the essence of time.

He attempted to store the metal staff in his spatial ring, only to find that no matter how much magic power he wrapped around it, the staff refused to be absorbed. Especially when his magic power wrapped around the peculiar gem, it seemed as though time itself flowed—the magic dissipated slowly, unable to be reclaimed.

"Truly extraordinary. This might indeed be the power of the Dusk Dragon, a magic power intertwined with time?" Liszt couldn't yet confirm the gem's nature.

But that didn't stop him from temporarily naming it the Chronodiamond.

The metal staff would be the Chronostaff.

Gripping the staff, admiring the Chronodiamond's shimmering aura under the sunlight, Liszt felt immense satisfaction: "Chronostaff, what mystical powers do you hold? How did the Ancient Archmages utilize you? Does finding you mean uncovering clues to the Dusk Dragon?"

The Invisible Dragon was already in his possession, the Smoke Dragon's power wreathed his body, a Jade Dragon's corpse fragment had been found, and now the Dusk Dragon's gem had fallen into his hands.

Only the life-representing Sprite Dragon remained to cross paths with Liszt.

Perhaps one day, he could gather all five Sacred Dragons and become the world's most formidable Sacred Dragon Knight. Of course, the Sacred Dragons might not even be the most mystical dragons: "The Web Dragon is likely the most terrifying dragon I've ever encountered, and the Moon Dragon is probably another unfathomably powerful dragon."

These two dragons seemed even mightier than the Sacred Dragons.

...

Rome wasn't built in a day. Finding the Chronostaff and touching upon the Dusk Dragon's trail left him quite pleased with today's gains. He tucked the Chronostaff into his belt and turned his attention to the shattered stone staff.

"What was the intention of the Ancient Archmages, hiding a magical artifact like the Chronostaff—something that clearly resembles a divine relic—inside a carving? I recall the Mermaid's Tear found in the Fish-Demon Temple was also hung on a mermaid statue. It seems these ancient Archmages all enjoyed crafting statues of themselves?"

He sifted through the rubble, searching for other parts of the statue, but no matter how thoroughly he combed the debris, he couldn't find the remaining pieces.

Most likely, they had eroded over time, reverting to the most ordinary of stones.