The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

This chapter features "Wu Ma Wei Yang" rewarding with an additional bonus.

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The legends of this world.

The phoenix lives for five hundred years; when it approaches death, it gathers many branches to burn itself to ashes. From those ashes, a new phoenix will be born, and the cycle continues endlessly.

There are also legends that after a phoenix dies, worms will breed within its bones, consuming one another until finally, a new phoenix emerges.

Of course, there are tales that phoenixes reside in volcano craters, reborn from the deceased fire dragons.

"A five-hundred-year cycle, this sounds somewhat similar to the legend of the Valley of Dragons Virginia told me about. Legends say that the Valley of Dragons is where dragons reincarnate. Aged dragons return to the valley to set up the secrets of their reincarnation… It seems these legends all share a connection,"

For legendary creatures, humans probably can only imagine them with miraculous attributes like reincarnation and immortality.

He placed the Phoenix Feather on the table and then had a servant bring paper and a pen to start writing a letter. The letter was addressed to Marquis Merlin, expressing gratitude and hinting that he would look out for the Long Taro Family while also inquiring more about the Phoenix Feather from the Marquis.

From where it was obtained, whether there truly were phoenixes, and so on.

After finishing the letter, he lit a candle, scooped a bit of rosin to melt, and poured it on the seal of the envelope. Then he took out a rectangular seal with "Lis" engraved in Serpent Script, pressed it onto the rosin, leaving a unique mark. He handed it to the servants of Tulip Castle, asking them to help send the letter.

Afterward.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He began to focus on studying the Phoenix Feather, handling it in his palm, feeling its warm texture. Because the Phoenix Feather was incredibly precious, he was always extremely careful and studied it bit by bit. He lost track of time in his study, and before he knew it, it was nearly twelve o'clock.

Having roughly figured out the external properties of the Phoenix Feather, he decided to channel Dou Qi into it to activate the feather and attempted to use the Phoenix Feather to accelerate his Dou Qi cultivation.

When Dou Qi touched the Phoenix Feather, Liszt could feel the temperature in the room soar by ten degrees in an instant.

The Phoenix Feather immediately seemed to ignite—not with real flames, but with surging Fire Attribute Mana, releasing in a form that flowed like flames. It then entered Liszt's meridians through the cycle of Dou Qi, aiding in expanding the driving force of his Dou Qi.

"The effect is somewhat like being high on drugs!"

Liszt's eyes sparkled as he carefully manipulated this new Magic Power, transforming it into his own Dou Qi. The new Dou Qi had a clear boundary with the Dragon Dou Qi already in his body, but as it circulated continuously, the boundary began to blur, attempting to merge—the nature of his Dou Qi was to merge after all.

The newborn Dou Qi would undoubtedly become stronger.

However, as this still unmerged Dou Qi flowed through his meridians towards his heart,

an unexpected twist occurred!

The Magic Fire Seed located in his heart became stimulated by the fresh Dou Qi, suddenly erupting in violence. It exerted a massive attractive force, ravenously devouring Liszt's internal Dou Qi. Almost in the blink of an eye, his internal Dou Qi was emptied, leaving his body weak and powerless.

Only his brain remained clear, filled with sheer terror: "What's happening? Is there a conflict between the Phoenix Feather's Magic Power and the Magic Fire Seed?"

Can a mountain not hold two tigers?

So, did the Magic Fire Seed fly into a rage?

Mixed with fear and anxiety, Liszt felt as though he was succumbing to magical backlash, his condition was very bad. Dou Qi is the source of a Knight's power; once it disappears, a Knight will certainly become an ordinary person. However, he couldn't resist as the Magic Fire Seed residing in his heart was beyond his control.

"Raising a dragon within one's body was truly a poor move!" he began to regret, wishing he could dig out his heart, find the Magic Fire Seed, and crush it to pieces.

But soon another change occurred. After absorbing all of the Dou Qi from his body, the Magic Fire Seed did not stop. Instead, it continued to devour—without Dou Qi in his body, it turned towards the Phoenix Feather in Liszt's hand.

The intense suction force, traveling along his meridians into his hands, actually began to swallow the magic form of the Phoenix Feather's flames.

These flames seemed to want to resist.

But they were unable to struggle and were swiftly absorbed into the meridians of Liszt's hands. A scorching, stabbing pain spread across his hands, then continued to assail his entire body through the meridians until it reached the heart, making it feel as though his entire heart began to spasm. The excruciating pain was almost numbing.

He very much wanted to pass out, but the continuous improvement in his physical constitution made it impossible for him to faint.

He could only feel the pain consciously, "What in the world is happening, what exactly is going on, why is the Magic Fire Seed rebelling! Could it be that the Phoenix Feather is stimulating the Magic Fire Seed!"

He could only distract himself from the pain by thinking.

He wanted to activate the Eye of Magic, but without any Dou Qi to circulate, he could only watch his hands with his naked eyes. The flame of the Phoenix Feather on his hand kept "drilling" into the skin of his palm. As the Magic Fire Seed continued to absorb, the flames grew smaller and the luster of the Phoenix Feather dimmed.

He didn't know how much time had passed, for him, it felt as long as a century.

Finally.

The Phoenix Feather in his hands completely extinguished, losing all of its luster, then slowly shattered into powder disappearing between his fingers before it even touched the ground, turning completely to ash.

"My priceless treasure, the Phoenix Feather… just like that, it's gone?"

Liszt wanted to cry, but no tears would come. Even before he had begun his cultivation, the Phoenix Feather, worth several Dragon coins, completely vanished without a trace.

Before he could cry,

a strange sensation rapidly emerged, spreading from the heart— the absorbing power of the Magic Fire Seed had disappeared, and in fact, he couldn't even feel the Magic Fire Seed anymore. Only the unusual feeling at the position of his heart tugged at his brain, creating a certain sensation...

It was as if something had come to life!

"Oh!"

A childish voice sounded in his mind, ending all the pain in his body and also giving him a sense of mind connection similar to that with a contracted Elf Bug— as if the emotions of a naive, newborn, and fragile life, occupied a corner of his soul.

"Is this..."

Liszt was somewhat befuddled.

At the same time, the warmth at his heart began to move quickly, traveling along his meridians to his palm in no time. He looked down, and his gaze immediately caught the flame that spontaneously ignited in the palm of his hand, with no burning sensation or the sting of flames, only a faint warmth.

This flame quickly twisted, forming a tiny flying creature.

With wings like those of a bat, a slim body with two sturdy hind legs and two short forelimbs, a constantly twitching tail, and a slightly cute long-horned head.

Clearly the form of the Magic Little Fire Dragon!

"Oh!"

The Magic Little Fire Dragon opened its mouth, uttering a faint but real roar, suddenly pulling the bewildered Liszt from his trance back to reality, completely awake.

"Magic Little Fire Dragon?"

"No, wrong. It's even more solid than the Magic Little Fire Dragon, with more texture and vitality. Is this a young Fire Dragon?"