The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 891: Chapter 0888: An Official Letter (Second Update)
 

Whether it was the Phoenix Perch Parasol Tree Greater Elf Annie or the Pea Great Elf Ash, both had already begun to attempt dragon evolution, and whether they would be successful was an unknown.

There were just too few cases of successful Greater Elf evolution to draw from, but fortunately, failed evolution among them did not lead to death.

“I wonder if Annie and Ash can be successful under the guidance of the Power of Destiny. Speaking of which, I have two Greater Elves undergoing evolution, but with so many Minor Elves, it seems it’s been a long while since any of them evolved into Greater Elves,” Liszt pondered.

The most recent case was last year when Nami evolved into a Mangrove Greater Elf.

Minor Elf Bugs evolving into Little Minor Elves also haven’t made a move in a long time, the last time being last year when the Rubber Bug Triplets became three distinct Rubber Minor Elves.

“Perhaps it’s because I’m not paying enough attention, and the Power of Destiny hasn’t poured into this area, so the elves are stuck in the normal efficiency of evolution… Thinking this way, the Power of Destiny I can command doesn’t seem to be that strong… No, that’s not right, even dragons have been tricked, so why not some Elf Bugs?”

Unable to fathom the mysteries concerning Smoke Dragons and the Power of Destiny, these concepts were too ethereal to grasp.

He didn’t bother to think too deeply either.

At the current stage, the construction of the Mind Island-Reed Marsh Magic Teleportation Array was his most pressing concern, and he also had to consider searching for Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprites.

Emily was constantly sending him the latest updates on the search for the Man-Eating Tree.

She had also sent a batch of Man-Eating Tree samples. These slender trees didn’t differ much from common ones; their trunks and branches were vine-like and slender. They had the toughness of trees, and while they didn’t reach the quality of ironwood, they were definitely excellent timber, just too thin for making large objects.

“The Man-Eating Trees aren’t widely distributed in the forest and move very quickly; they can burrow into the ground!” Emily mentioned the special abilities of the Man-Eating Trees in her reports.

They could burrow underground like snakes and move swiftly, leaving hardly any trace. It’s less about physically burrowing and more akin to some kind of Earth System Magic. But no magic power fluctuations were detected in the Man-Eating Trees’ samples, and no structures suggesting mobility were found upon chopping them up.

The Man-Eating Trees that could be caught were all rooted in the ground, immobile.

Those that couldn’t be caught would burrow into the ground rapidly, disappearing without a trace.

“The ones captured don’t move, and the ones we can’t catch burrow into the ground. They are not animals, nor do they possess magic power,” Liszt’s interest in the Man-Eating Trees grew stronger, “This must be the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite causing trouble behind the scenes, but is this really an innate ability of the Dragon Sprites?”

He had seen the Oat Dragon Elf of the Sapphire Family and the Juniper Dragon Spirit of the Original Bull Family in the Azure Sky Peak Palace.

Both Dragon Sprites were about one meter tall, their shapes becoming more and more human-like, though their bodies still had a translucent, crystalline appearance, like a large gemstone. Their intelligence was no different from that of ordinary people, they knew how to dress, were multitalented, helped their owners manage elves, and also took care of Sapphire Dragons.

They didn’t know magic, but by relying on their innate instincts, they still possessed some magical methods, such as spreading seeds, hastening crop maturity, and improving species quality.

But no matter what, they couldn’t make their cultivated crops fly or burrow.

“Maybe this Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite is cheating?” Liszt suddenly recalled the three Rubber Minor Elves, “The Rubber Triplets can unleash the Tri-Phase Force, instantly repairing Rubber Trees. Could the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite have a similar trick to make the Man-Eating Trees burrow and run?”

If that were the case, catching this Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite would be a bit difficult.

Usually, the reason for capturing elves is that Cordyceps can’t move, and elves dare not stray from them, ensuring a certain capture. Now, if the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite enables the Cordyceps to move, they would run away at the sight of humans—the most crucial point being that Dragon Sprites hold a grudge against humans, hence its name, the Man-Eating Tree.

Back in the day, the Moon Slayers lost many people to the Man-Eating Trees, which led to the naming of these trees.

However, after carefully studying the samples of the Man-Eating Tree, Liszt did not think that this type of tree had the “man-eating” function. Any man-eating, scavenging, or insectivorous plant must possess an organ for digesting bodies. The Man-Eating Tree clearly didn’t have such an organ, unless it buried the bodies under its roots and slowly absorbed them.

“Compared to killing and burying corpses, I’m more inclined to believe the so-called ‘man-eating’ of the Man-Eating Tree is the Dragon Elves’ revenge against the Moon Slayers,” Li Si Te speculated.

From antiquity to the present, the Moon Slayers have been using elves to make Magic Dust to learn magic; it’s possible that the kin of the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Elves were among those killed. That could have sparked the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Elves to seek vengeance, demoting the River Tribe from a large tribe to a small one.

“If that’s the case, maybe I’ll have to take matters into my own hands and claim the reward that’s rightfully mine!” A thought occurred to him.

Once decided, he hesitated no longer.

He tossed the Magic Gate construction tasks to Ach and rode the Formless Dragon Bard himself to join the chase for the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Elf.

He slipped into the material boundary, closely following the Mammoth Knight Brigade that was digging three feet into the ground searching for the Man-Eating Tree.

He was going to use the Crystal White Trajectory to verify whether there were any magical feedback glows when those Man-Eating Trees burrowed into the ground, then use the glow to pinpoint the location of the Man-Eating Tree Dragon Elf.

“Little darling, stop messing about, come over here now!”

…

When the Grey Iron Dragon appeared on Blue Dragon Island.

The news spread like wildfire, soaring across the ocean from the Duchy of Sapphire, flying to the three kingdoms of the Legendary Continent and the numerous Grand Duchies.

In the grand hall of the palace of the King’s Castle in the Eagle Kingdom, the Eagle Kingdom’s King forcefully smashed a crystal goblet against a column, shattering it into fragments: “Who can tell me, who can tell me, why the Grey Iron Dragon has fallen into Liszt’s hands, why Duke Pierrot has become a captive!”

No ministers in the palace dared to respond, and the person involved, Alonso Xiankelai, had already gone to defend the borders. Alex White Iron was escorting Loyle Purple Copper’s body to the Purple Copper Duchy.

They were not present.

So.

The Eagle Kingdom’s King’s question was doomed to remain unanswered; he didn’t even know how Pierrot and the Grey Iron Dragon were captured, or how Liszt managed to mount the Grey Iron Dragon so quickly—he wasn’t a Dragon Knight, but having grown up with dragons, he knew how extremely difficult dragon riding could be.

However, among the Sapphire Flies that were like maggots clinging to bone, there was an oddity who successively mounted four dragons.

Just the other day he had been discussing with Dragon Knights how to contain Liszt, and in the blink of an eye, the man went from having three dragons to four. So much for containment.

“Who can tell me!”

The Eagle Kingdom’s King didn’t bellow, but his tone was nearly identical to roaring, clearly furious to the extreme, his beard quivering uncontrollably. The Noble Landlords serving as ministers for the day kept silent, letting the Eagle Kingdom’s King breathe heavily in anger. An eerie silence filled the great hall where one could hear a pin drop.

Taking a deep breath, the Eagle Kingdom’s King looked down at his ministers, who were as good as trash, and finally managed to rein in his anger.

He knew well that asking these ministers, who had not taken part in the dragon-slaying battle, would yield no results. He could only quickly send letters of inquiry to Alonso and Alex.

However, before he could dismiss the ministers, a Knight Guarding from outside the palace reported loudly, “Your Majesty, there is an urgent missive from the Duchy of Sapphire!”

“Sapphire… an urgent missive!” The Eagle Kingdom’s King’s face darkened again. “What now, the King of the Flies over the sea, Andrew, wants to show me his true colors as well? Knight, come in and read that urgent missive aloud. I want to hear what Andrew has to say!”

The knight walked cautiously into the grand hall, opened the urgent missive, and read woodenly, “To all masters of the sea territories, all lords of the islands, the great future King of the Flame Kingdom, the Fire Dragon Knight, the Formless Dragon Knight, the Grey Iron Dragon Knight, the Light Green Sapphire Dragon Knight, Liszt Flame…”