The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 861: Chapter 0858: Chin with a Big Shovel (First Update)

Bone Lake was filled with water, and to establish a Magic Gate, these waters needed to be drained. Draining Bone Lake was simple, merely requiring a breach to be dug to connect it to the nearby Red River. Positioned higher than Red River, Bone Lake could not retain its water.

Then, with some further excavation, Bone Lake was transformed into a plaza, where the Magic Gate would be activated.

“I wonder whether the Magic Gate arranged by Ach will cause too much turbulence and repulsive force. If it ejects users like the Whirlpool Cave Entrance does each time, commuting would still be a major hassle… I hope to continuously reduce this repulsive force so entry and exit can be at a normal speed.”

Although he thought this, he did not take immediate action. Everything still had to wait until Ach personally surveyed the site before making a decision.

Expertise matters.

Overall coordination and battling also were his strengths, whereas magic was Ach’s forte.

...

He shifted his focus to a new Smoke Mission, feeling a vague sense of annoyance upon checking the details.

“Mission: To get rich, build roads first. Developing Flame Island faces many challenges, one important constraint being the poor road conditions, particularly for knights who can’t fully utilize their combat potential without sufficient open space for charging. Please construct a 500-kilometer raceway on Flame Island. Reward: Emily’s Dou Qi rebirth.”

The reward for the mission was significant.

Dou Qi rebirth referred to the progression from Intermediate Dou Qi to Advanced Dou Qi, and Emily was about to become a Sky Knight, which was exciting news. As the only person in the territory eligible for potential Dragon Knight status and a prodigy, Liszt had high hopes for this fourteen-year-old girl.

He had always been training her to be a Light Green Gemstone Dragon Knight.

However, Emily, without any cheats, was not as monstrously talented as Liszt, who ascended from Earth Knight to Sky Knight in half a year, and then to Dragon Knight a few months later. She had spent a full year at the Earth Knight stage, and it may take even longer to advance to Dragon Knight.

It seemed unlikely she would become an immediate combat asset soon— unless the Light Green Gemstone Dragon recognized her and agreed to assist in hastening her Dragon Dou Qi Cultivation.

If so, Advanced Dou Qi mastery was imminent.

“Emily is fourteen this year, fifteen next year, sixteen the year after. If we give her a few more years, she might be able to ride a dragon before she turns twenty. Such talent might truly terrify people… The only concern is that once she physically matures, being female might impose significant constraints.”

Historically, female Sky Knights have existed, but there have definitely been no female Dragon Knights—female powerhouses are generally concentrated among magicians.

Among the six ancestral statues of the Moon Slayer people, though barely recognizable now, one can discern that one of them, the one holding the Knowledge Ancient Book, is a female statue.

“I hope Emily can break this norm and become the first female Dragon Knight.”

No matter what, Liszt would fully dedicate himself to training Emily, even if she could not become a Dragon Knight in the future, she could still learn from the “Dou Qi Domain Manual” and become a Domain Knight. Her displayed talent justified this investment, and Liszt couldn’t deny a certain unspoken thought in his heart.

Nurturing a young girl, perhaps…

“This Smoke Mission needs to be completed soon to assist Emily’s Dou Qi rebirth, but the task is daunting—constructing a 500-kilometer raceway on Flame Island.”

A raceway is not a mere path, but a thoroughfare designed for knights to charge freely. It does not necessarily need to be paved with stone; a dirt road can suffice. However, the standard for a raceway requires a very wide and flat surface, without excessive curves, typically constructed around major cities.

Around Iron Hoof City, there is a raceway that leads to Bull Castle, thirty kilometers long.

They need to construct a 500-kilometer expressway, and given the current capabilities of Flame City, it might take almost half a year. They’d need to build bridges over rivers and dig tunnels through mountains, and if the terrain proved too complex, even half a year might not suffice.

“Let’s just take it one step at a time!”

…

The discovery of natural nodes on Black Horse Island had made it possible for Liszt to shuttle freely between Black Horse Island and Flame Island.

Flying in the physical world for half an hour, he easily located the wave fluctuations of the wormhole space within the Great Whirlpool Magic Teleportation Matrix. Then, riding the Formless Dragon Bard, he crossed the wormhole space directly and flew out from the Whirlpool Entrance.

Looking at the cascading waterfall behind him.

He suddenly thought of something, “I have four Space Rings, and Ach has two. Together, that’s about four hundred cubic meters, roughly equivalent to a large warehouse. Before the Magic Gate is established, I can act as a porter and transport materials with the Space Rings.”

While he couldn’t transport large bulk items, he could personally transport valuable items.

He didn’t find Ach in the Mage Tower laboratory.

Only after asking the twin sisters, Lucy and Ruth, did he find out that Ach had gone out and wouldn’t be back until evening. Liszt was considering taking this time to return to Black Horse Island and transport a batch of rubber water back. Suddenly, he received a report that the knights who had gone to conquer the Xia Tribe had encountered a large invasion of giant elephants.

The Xia Tribe couldn’t resist and had already evacuated to within the sphere of influence of Flame City.

“Giant elephants?”

Liszt asked in detail before understanding that these were a very strong species of Earth Attribute Magical Beasts that moved in herds. They didn’t harm people but had entirely raided the Xia Tribe’s food storage warehouses and wantonly destroyed buildings and scavenged for food, flattening the ground wherever they passed.

“The ground was trampled flat?”

“Yes, Your Highness. The group of giant elephants is too powerful. It’s difficult for our knights to charge at them. When they stomp their feet, the ground shakes, and then our mounts can’t stay upright. The magicians’ magic can’t hurt them either; they all know Magic—Firmstone Armor.”

The Firmstone Armor, an Earth System Advanced Magic, was a skill also known by Douson. It formed robust rock plates over the body, providing a defense not inferior to Mithril Armor.

With a thought,

Liszt directly rode the Formless Dragon Bard and headed for the Xia Tribe. After a few flashes, he arrived at the valley where the Xia Tribe was located. After a brief search, he spotted the group of giant elephants the knights had mentioned—about a hundred or so, large and small, forming a large familial group.

The giant elephants looked very peculiar, different from ordinary elephants.

The most unique feature was the huge lower jaw under their trunks, which appeared infinitely elongated, both long and wide, with a pair of large tusks in front.

It looked like a large shovel attached to their chin.

Their tusks, which should have been long, were not prominent, only about a meter in length. Given their height of at least six meters and a body weight of more than twenty tons, the tusks were very short, and even the trunk was not long enough. The limbs were stubby and thick, making their overall physique appear more bloated than ordinary elephants, and their heads were not large enough.

Liszt observed from the air using Crystal White View and quickly noticed something unusual: “Earth Attribute giant elephants with a faint Dragon Might on them—so these are the Mid-Level Dragon Beast Group awarded by the Smoke Mission!”