Chapter 858: Return to the Burial Grounds

This year, there was no mystery reward quest for the New Year's festival, which was quite a regret for Liszt. However, finding the natural node of *Black Horse Island* proved rather difficult.

For the Invisible-Dragon Bard to cross 3,500+ kilometers of sea from the *Vortex Archipelago* was a daunting challenge. Unless Acheronides could transport the invisible dragon to *Black Horse Island*. But despite its gentle temperament, the invisible dragon refused to enter the water and would not cooperate with Liszt's arrangement.

Thus, the only option was to enter the immaterial realm from the vicinity of Flame Island, locate a natural node close to *Black Horse Island*, and then cross over to begin a thorough search of that area.

"I hope we can find a suitable natural node soon. So far, we've discovered eight new natural nodes and three old ones, but most are within Flame Island’s vicinity... We still need to go to *Black Horse Island* to find the natural nodes around it," Liszt thought.

The three old natural nodes were the entrance to the Great Vortex, the exit of the Vortex Cave, and the entrance to the *Sand Valley Ruins*.

The eight new natural nodes included the volcano crater, *Jade Mountain*, four in the sea, one far from the island on the ocean's surface, and the last one discovered near the New Year's festival—located in a lake at the southeastern corner of Flame Island.

The lakeshore was abundant with reeds, hence it was named “Reed Marsh.”

In other words, out of the three old and eight new natural nodes, six were usable, particularly the volcano crater, *Jade Mountain*, “Reed Marsh,” and the ruins entrance. If Magic Gates could be established, they would perfectly connect the northwest, central, and southeastern regions of Flame Island.

Acheronides was still diligently practicing her spatial-element avatar. Preparations for the Magic Gates were complete, and as soon as she mastered the avatar, the gates could be activated at any time.

Liszt and the Invisible-Dragon Bard spent nearly every day in the immaterial realm.

After several refinements, spiral positioning could detect even the slightest fluctuations of natural nodes.

"Woo-yaa!"

"Don't rush, Bard. The natural node is out there, just waiting for us to find it!" Liszt half comforted the invisible dragon and half reassured himself.

In December last year, Flame Island saw no snow, and temperatures didn't drop below freezing. But the arid cold was even more unbearable than snowy weather. Crops in the fields stopped growing entirely, and the spirits had gone dormant. The forests lacked sufficient food, and animals that should have been hibernating had long disappeared.

Now, in January, the arid cold grew even harsher, revealing Flame Island's less temperate side.

"It's quite tough, Your Highness. The potato harvest wasn't as abundant as expected. Enlisting “Moon Killers” as serfs consumes a lot of food, making it difficult to maintain stability in *Ember City*. The southern *Riverport City* has also sent us urgent messages about food shortages. Should we pause the enlistment of serfs?" Duarte Hongxingguo, now trusted by Liszt and overseeing Flame Island's development, reported.

"No need to pause. If we're struggling, the “Moon Killers” are struggling even more. Using food as leverage now makes subduing the “Moon Killers” very easy... I'll personally transport food from *Black Horse Island* to support the settlement teams," Liszt replied, relying on his and Acheronides' ability to continuously transport food, rejecting Duarte's suggestion.

Still, he felt regretful.

The *Grand Sprite Kuki’s* effect on potatoes was strong, but the planting period had been too short. Many potatoes hadn't fully developed before winter arrived. Under the influence of the arid cold, even the *Grand Sprite* could no longer promote their growth.

Otherwise, this potato harvest could have sustained them for another half month. Now, they had no choice but to transport food from *Black Horse Island*.

"I hope we can find a natural node leading to *Black Horse Island* soon."

As if his wish had been granted, just as he was deeply troubled by the food shortage, the Invisible-Dragon Bard suddenly sensed an unusual feedback from another natural node.

"Let's go!"

Flying over, tearing through the material boundary of the node—a routine operation—the man and dragon soon saw the world outside the natural node.

"Hmm, this place... is actually *Mind Island*!" Liszt flew out of the natural node and found himself on the now-flattened *Mind Island*.

This island, once home to the *Jade Dragon’s* hind leg, had been cut down to half its height after extensive soil and rock were excavated during the mining of pale-green gemstones. Piles of rubble had been pushed off the cliffs, expanding the island's area by almost twice its original size.

"Perfect!"

"The location of this natural node is excellent, just six hundred kilometers away from Black Horse Island!"

Liszt was overjoyed; he’d finally discovered a natural node located in the Sapphire Archipelago—though not close to Black Horse Island, it could still work as a backup for connecting the Sapphire Archipelago and the Flame Archipelago. Immediately, he urged Bard, the invisible dragon, to soar high, weaving through the material boundary as they flew toward Black Horse Island.

Meanwhile, he wondered about the location of this natural node.

"Why is it on Heart Island?"

Previous natural nodes—those at sea or underwater—were off the table for now, but the ones on land were pretty fascinating. The volcanic crater was once a massive volcano, Jade Mountain was rich in jade, and Reed Marsh's resources remained unclear.

As for Heart Island, its main resource had clearly been the hind leg of the Jade Dragon from the earliest times.

"Could the formation of these natural nodes be related to the physical world? Is it due to strong magic power disrupting the material boundary, thus creating natural nodes?" He recalled the triangle theory of matter-spirit-magic power, where magic and matter could convert into each other to some extent.

"It's highly possible that areas abundant in magic power or where significant magical events occurred led to the formation of natural nodes!"

Of course, research into natural nodes was still lacking, and the underlying cause remained unclear. Liszt didn’t dwell on it further and continued racing at full speed, finally reaching Black Horse Island by nightfall.

Upon returning to the island, the invisible dragon flew straight to the Smokegrass plantation to rest, while Liszt settled in at Thorn Castle, enjoying its comfortable surroundings.

The next day, after clearing his backlog of duties, he wasted no time and rode Bard around searching for natural nodes around Black Horse Island. The moment he entered the world beyond matter, he discovered one. Skillfully opening the node, the entrance appeared in a secluded lake, its bed lined with ancient lava channels.

"Where is this?"

The invisible dragon didn’t want to go in the water, but under Liszt's guidance and the lake's apparent shallowness, it grudgingly flew out of the natural node.

Then, it quickly emerged from the shallow lake.

Outside, he saw a harvested field covered in snow, where several serfs in linen clothes were setting bird traps in the snow.

He knew this place!

"Black Horse Island!"

"This is Bone Lake in Red River Town—the burial site of the previous Fire Dragon!" The discovery thrilled Liszt beyond words. What natural node could be more perfect than this? "Just as expected, the most magically conflicted spot on Black Horse Island is the Fire Dragon's burial ground!"

And indeed, the burial site had formed a natural node.

With a thud!

Bard landed on the ground, and Liszt walked to the lakeside, admiring the little lake happily. A wisp of smoke appeared before him, forming serpent tongue script.

"Mission complete. Reward: Intermediate dragon beast group."

https://

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . Mobile version reading URL: