Chapter 724: Unable to Stay Still

This chapter is an extra update sponsored by "Frostbite the Tyrannosaurus."

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After siphoning substantial magic from Leo as well, the first Milon Mind Fruit was finally ripened. Under the afternoon sunlight, it shimmered with an iridescent sheen.

More rounded than an apple, it had no scent nor magic radiation.

Without the Magic Eye to observe it, one would simply think it was a fruit resembling an apple. Even Acheronides, an Archmage, couldn't sense its magic. The mature Milon Mind Fruit had magic power circulating within, its rainbow hues gradually transforming into a chaotic color.

Neither black nor white, illusory yet real, misty yet hazy.

"The rainbow colors are due to the magic exhibiting various properties, while the chaos indicates that the magic has already fused these properties during maturation, appearing property-less." Liszt speculated this was the result of "magic particles" moving toward convergence. Based on prior research, the properties of magic were indeed related to the movement of magic particles.

The foundational components of magic were runes; the basic units of runes were magic power, and the smallest units of magic power were tiny magic motes.

The movement and stillness of magic motes were the primary factors in transforming magic into matter or matter into magic. Accelerating the movement of magic motes could be seen as the process of casting magic. Mages released magic by using mental power to interfere with the movement of magic motes.

At the Archmage level, one could also perceive that magic motes had further subdivisions, with the smaller units being magic particles.

Different movement patterns of magic particles endowed magic with different attributes—this was the research result Acheronides had obtained through meticulous study of the Magic Web.

Her own body had already undergone elemental transformation, meaning the smallest units of magic composing her body were water-attribute magic particles.

However, exclusive water magic had too many limitations—for example, flightlessness posed a severe limitation.

For this reason, Acheronides had always wanted to achieve interference with the magic particles of her elementalized body through thorough study of the Magic Web, thereby enabling her to cast magic from other elements. This research was being conducted cautiously. After learning about it, Liszt exhorted her repeatedly to proceed slowly and not rush.

If she failed, it would be a loss Liszt couldn't countenance—something he absolutely couldn't bear.

Due to Liszt's interference, Acheronides' research on magic particles had yielded scant progress, and she still couldn't wield magic from other elements.

Now, witnessing the maturation changes of the Milon Mind Fruit, Liszt suddenly thought: "If Acheronides studies the Milon Mind Fruit, she might gain a deeper understanding of magic particles, effectively aiding her evolution from a water-based Archmage to an omni-elemental Archmage... I should give her one Milon Mind Fruit to study."

With this in mind, he unhesitatingly harvested the Milon Mind Fruit and handed it to Acheronides: "Take this for research. The rapid transformation of iridescent magic into chaotic magic suggests the Milon Mind Fruit might contain information about magic particles."

"Brother, aren't you keeping it for dragon riding?"

"It's fine. I still have two more, and this Soulfruit Tree is still alive. I have the chance to cultivate new Milon Mind Fruits." Liszt grinned nonchalantly and waved generously. "Just be careful during your research—try not to damage the integrity of the Milon Mind Fruit if possible, but it's fine if it happens."

"Mmm, thank you, brother." Acheronides happily accepted the fruit and stored it in her dimensional ring.

……

Glancing at the three still-unfurled flowers on the Soulfruit Tree, Liszt was in good spirits. With time, the tree would eventually bear new fruits.

Perhaps after one harvest, another would grow. And even if the Soulfruit Tree withered, soon enough a new one would sprout here.

"There must be mysteries below this hollow. Once the Soulfruit Tree fulfills its purpose, I'll dig carefully to see what lies at the bottom!"

"Maybe it's the remains of a dragon!"

"After all, the Milon Mind Fruit bears fruit by devouring dragons. The dragon's remains might only be bones, but the spilled lifeblood at death could have transformed into mineral deposits... Even if not, the blood previously shed by the Lightgreen Gem Dragon should have seeped into Soul Island, forming Lightgreen Gem deposits!"

He glanced at Acheronides, who was currently treating the moribund Lightgreen Gem Dragon teetering on death's edge.

Softly, he invoked the mist-bound quest.

"Quest: You have obtained provisional claim over a Lightgreen Gem Dragon, but its physical condition is dire, balanced on a knife's edge between life and death. You hold the power to decide its fate—will you let the Lightgreen Gem Dragon be devoured by the Soulfruit Tree to nurture a new Milon Mind Fruit, or will you uproot the Soulfruit Tree to save the Lightgreen Gem Dragon? Reward: A Lightgreen Gem deposit."

"Huh?"

"The mission’s not done?"

Liszt frowned, puzzled by the lack of progress on the mission. He re-read the prompt above and tried again: "Could it be that completing the mission requires either destroying the Soulfruit Tree or sacrificing the Lightgreen Gem Dragon? They can't both survive?"

"That doesn’t make sense. The Smoke Mission shouldn’t have no-win choices!"

He was convinced the Smoke Mission was a unique creation born from the fusion of the Smoke Dragon’s fate power and his subconscious mind—driven by his own will. As an adult, he knew his subconscious wouldn’t force such an either-or scenario; balance was key.

"Or did I miss something?"

"What if the Lightgreen Gem Dragon really can’t be saved?"

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Acheronides called out: "Brother, the Lightgreen Gem Dragon’s breathing has stabilized. Its life is saved."

"Is that so? Great job!" Liszt replied.

But he quickly returned to his earlier thoughts: "If the Lightgreen Gem Dragon survived, then what about the Soulfruit Tree? Without the dragon's magic, would it wither away?"

At that thought—

He suddenly felt alarmed.

He rushed to inspect the Soulfruit Tree.

Sure enough, he noticed a serious problem. The tree’s flowers were slowly wilting—or rather, the entire tree was gradually leaking magical energy. The severed multicolored roots were breaking down, and without a source of magic, the tree seemed unable to maintain its internal magical balance.

"Acheronides, get over here! The Soulfruit Tree is in trouble!"

He called her over, and they scrambled to find a way to stop the tree from dying. But whether as a dragon rider or an Archmage, without a continued supply of dragon magic or Dragon Aura, the decline was irreversible.

After a moment,

Liszt made a decision: "Looks like the Soulfruit Tree won’t last out here. Our only shot is to kill the Lightgreen Gem Dragon and use its power to ripen one final Milon Mind Fruit. But a straight swap isn’t worth it… Acheronides, based on your judgment, can the dragon still produce more than one fruit?"

"Yes, brother. At full strength, it could definitely ripen three or more. But it’s banged up—without your Dragon Aura feeding it, it couldn’t even manage two."

"Then we don’t trade!" Liszt suddenly had an idea. "Let’s yank it out and shove it in a spatial ring!"

A spatial ring put everything on pause!

Unless a soul entered without special protection—which meant instant death—anything else—plants, fire, you name it—would freeze completely inside. Thinking this, they frantically dug up the Soulfruit Tree and shoved it into the spatial ring.

But the moment it was stored—

Before Liszt could relax, his face changed: "No way—the tree’s still leaking magic!"

After years of using the spatial ring, this was a first. The ring actually failed?!