Chapter 856: Ancient Book of Knowledge

This chapter is a bonus chapter celebrating the alliance leader by War Song.

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Boom!

The crushing Dragon Fear of the invisible dragon unfurled, causing all the Xia Tribe's Moon Killers to tremble in fear. Even Dennis and Harold couldn't help but tense up.

However, the Dragon Fear quickly receded, and the translucent, crystal-like figure of the invisible dragon appeared above the valley.

The ancient mages among the Moon Killers trembled as they gazed up at the flying invisible dragon, completely stunned and unable to muster any thought of resistance.

"Elder, step forward and speak!" the mage Harold shouted loudly in the Lunar Language.

"I am the Elder of the Xia Tribe. Who are you?" An ancient mage wrapped in a rough black cloak, gripping a skull-topped staff, cautiously stepped forward.

"Ta, don’t you recognize me?" Dennis, who had visited the Xia Tribe before, lifted the visor of his helmet.

The Elder opposite was named Tanasto, referred to as Ta by the Moon Killers of the Xia Tribe. Ta squinted at Dennis with eyes, whether or not they were failing, his wrinkled face expressionless. "It’s you, the foreign Fire Kingdom men, the knight, the knight-merchant!"

When the knight squad had first approached the Moon Killers tribe, they had introduced themselves as merchants, knights of the Fire Kingdom who had sailed from afar.

"Fire Kingdom men, why have you come again? Our Xia Tribe has already refused—we won't give you our men and women without food in return!" Another ancient mage stepped beside Ta and shouted defiantly.

"You may refuse me,"

Dennis raised his head and declared boldly, "but you cannot refuse my lord!"

He suddenly pointed to the sky, toward the invisible dragon circling above: "Biglizard!" Then, pointing at Liszt on the dragon’s back, he roared, "the Sage!"

Biglizard was a dragon, and the Sage was holy.

"Ah!"

The ancient mages cried out in shock, their eyes filled with fear as they stared at the sky, exclaiming, "Biglizard! The Sage! That’s Biglizard and the Sage!"

The ancient mages of the Moon Killers had never seen a dragon before, but they had grown up hearing legends of them. "The Sage" was what they called their ancestors. Now, witnessing Dennis’s bold declarations, they were utterly stunned.

As if following the script,

Liszt unleashed another wave of overwhelming Dragon Fear, flattening the ancient mages.

After several rounds of intimidation and the smooth-talking of Dennis and Harold, the ancient mages of the Xia Tribe, bewildered, began hailing Liszt as "the Sage" and the invisible dragon as "Biglizard," ultimately choosing to submit. They then acted as guides, leading Liszt and his party to the enshrined statue deep in the valley.

The statue was placed inside a stone cave, with a platform in front—likely a place where they danced and sang around bonfires in ordinary times.

Elder Ta muttered something while pointing at the grotto.

Harold translated for Liszt: "He says this is the statue of their ancestors, a Sage, just like you, Your Highness. They are all descendants of the Sage and worship him."

"Tell him to step aside."

Harold immediately translated it into the Lunar Language.

Ta and the ancient mages didn't dare resist and obediently moved aside, watching as Liszt strode step by step into the grotto. Inside was a badly damaged bust, some parts propped up with wooden supports. It seemed to have been slightly better preserved than the statues in the Sage Tribe and Horn Tribe.

Of course, the improvement was limited.

Truly, one wonders what these Moon Killers were thinking. These were clearly relics of their ancestors, objects of reverence, yet they left them exposed to the elements, letting them weather away until they were nearly crumbling into dust.

He didn't care whether the statue was broken or not. Seeing that the hands of the statue were still intact and holding a book, he felt relieved.

Among the six sacred mountain statues of the Moon Killers, he had already obtained two ancient relics sealed in the hands of the statues—the Staff of Time and the Eight Dragons Divine Sword. Now, he was about to acquire the third ancient relic.

"Looks like a magic book?"

Without further thought, he jumped straight to the statue's hands, took out his bone hammer, and began slowly chiseling at the stone magic book. This action immediately sent the Moon Killers into an uproar.

Elder Ta barked, "That is a relic of our ancestors! Stop at once!"

Harold and Dennis glared and snapped, "Silence! The great Sage is working. You may only watch quietly!"

However, their empty threats were not enough to intimidate the Moon Killers. Led by Ta, the ancient mages began shouting, trying to stop Liszt's actions.

Yet Liszt didn't slow down in the slightest. The invisible dragon beside him unleashed its Dragon Fear, striking the ancient mages with overwhelming force for the third time. The ancient mages of the Xia tribe weren't as tough as those from the Sacred tribe. Under the pressure of the invisible dragon's Dragon Fear, they had no choice but to shut up.

*Thud.*

Liszt quickly broke open the stone magic book. Sure enough, another artifact was sealed inside.

It was shaped like an open magic book, but strangely, it wasn’t an actual book. It was carved from special wood, permanently opened and unable to close. The pages were completely blank, making it seem quite peculiar.

Without examining it closely, he tossed it into his spatial ring, and it went in smoothly.

Likely unrelated to the Sacred Dragon, this magic book appeared to be made of some kind of wood, possessing neither the power of time nor that of an Elemental Dragon.

Jumping down from the statue, Liszt had Dennis and Harold act as translators, giving a stern warning to the Xia tribe and forcing them to allow their people to be recruited while allowing the knights free access to their territory. Only then did he leave the Xia tribe—though he did not take Dennis and Harold with him, instead leaving them behind as overseers.

After all, they'd be working for him soon enough. The sooner they were subdued, the sooner they could contribute.

On the way back, he retrieved the peculiar magic book again, trying to figure it out. Yet despite his efforts, the book showed no reaction. "The Scepter of Time's purpose is unknown—could this magic book also be useless?" That would be rather awkward.

Since conventional methods failed, he decided to try something unconventional.

He had Bard land by a river, scooped some water to sprinkle on the book, to see if anything would happen. Naturally, there was none. This wooden magic book, completely blank, was not inscribed with water-reactive words.

"Then, is it because the surface is too thickly coated?" He came up with another crazy idea. Drawing the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword he carried—the Eight Dragons Divine Sword was more for special occasions, unsuitable for constant carrying and combat—he dragged the blade across the magic book.

He wanted to test its hardness.

But then, something extraordinary happened. The moment the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword touched the magic book, it suddenly glowed.

Immediately afterward, glowing Moon Language words began forming on the previously blank pages.

"What is this?"

He moved the sword away—the text remained but slowly dimmed. When he placed the sword back, the words brightened again.

"Incredible!"

Pulling out his notes on the Moon Language, he quickly checked his Moon Language notes, deciphering its general meaning—*spirit blood, dragon bone, conversion to ice attribute...*

"Is this directly deciphering the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword’s properties?" Liszt was astonished. The sword was indeed forged from the bones of an ice dragon and tempered with the blood of a Grand Sprite, capable of converting any mana into ice-attribute mana.

However, the book left out one ability—it could also freeze mana fields. Likely, during the Moon Empire era, knights had yet to develop mana fields.

"If it can truly decipher anything it touches, isn’t this a grand encyclopedia—no, more like a scanner-like artifact?" Liszt's excitement grew. His regard for this artifact instantly soared to unparalleled heights. "This is a tome of ancient knowledge!"

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