The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 0559 The Unbreakable Hemp Rope Vine (Second Update)

"Oh... Roar..."

At the edge of the Volcano Crater, Leo hung his head, utterly exhausted. He had been spewing Dragon Breath for a full ten minutes, completely draining his Magic Power to assist Liszt with his Dragon Breath Tempering—this time, there was no acting; he was genuinely so tired that even taking a Magic Potion couldn't revive his energy.

The flames died down.

Shaking off the ash from his body, Liszt let out a long breath of turbid air, having not felt such a satisfying cultivation session in a long time. The effect of today's training session alone was equivalent to half a month of solitary practice. No wonder Dragon Knights are the strongest fighting force in this world, the assistance of a dragon in cultivation was simply too powerful.

Leo was still just a young Dragon that hadn't even reached a month of age after birth.

Without personal experience, one couldn't understand the pleasure and refreshing feeling that came from cultivating with a dragon, so exhilarating and liberating. During Dragon Magic Refining Qi, it felt as if one had just stepped out of a sauna, an indescribable comfort; and during Dragon Breath Tempering, it was like having a full-body massage, with bones being stepped on and cracking satisfyingly.

Seeing the dejected Leo, Liszt knew he had "squeezed dry" this disobedient Little Fire Dragon.

"I probably need five days to digest what I've gained from today's training, as doing it too frequently is more than my human body can bear. After all, I cannot compare to the physique of a dragon," Liszt concluded, as he moved his arms and legs to feel his current physical state.

Thus, he said to Leo, "Rest well, this is the Magic Potion you deserve. I will have Ach prepare a pile of fish for you by the sea in three days. I will come back here in five days, bringing your favorite beef, and then we will continue our training in the same rhythm as today."

"Oh roar..."

Leo responded weakly and silently swallowed the Giant Algae Magic Potion that Liszt had given him.

Patting Leo's belly, Liszt waved and said, "Go on, return to the Volcano and cultivate properly. I don't know how much longer this volcano can maintain itself, so we must make the most of the time we have. With the volcano's magic power, the assistance of Magic Potions, and my training, the time for your growth will be significantly shortened."

"Oh roar."

Leo nodded humanly and then spread his wings to fly. He plunged into the magma inside the Volcano Crater and disappeared from sight. Liszt changed into a new set of clothes and returned to the wooden hut at the foot of the mountain for rest.

...

The next morning, he was awakened by a chorus of "dodo" calls.

"It's the Dodobird, a unique species on this island, which even gave the island its name," Liszt had seen Dodobirds a few days earlier, a kind of bird slightly smaller than a turkey, awkward in appearance and flightless but skilled at burrowing, always hiding in holes at the slightest fright.

No matter what was happening outside, they would keep their heads buried and not come out.

So, when the ancient Sun Descendants ran out of food, they would dig out these birds one by one from their burrows—unfortunately, Dodobird meat was very tough to chew, like eating dry sticks, and was hard to swallow.

Liszt had no interest in them whatsoever.

But to let them keep making noise outside and disturb his serene dreams was unacceptable, especially since he did not want to wake up so early, which put him in a bad mood.

He begrudgingly got up, left the wooden hut, and went to drive away those Dodobirds.

The Dodobirds were about a hundred meters away in the forest, seemingly having a frenetic gathering as if many of them had gone mad.

When he approached, he realized the Dodobirds were not going crazy, but were circling around a thick, black snake—Liszt recognized this type of snake, having hunted one in the Thorn Ridge forest before, a Dark Attribute Magical Beast called Shadow Snake that released the Dark Magic Whirlpool.

On the ground were several puddles of what looked like the corroded remnants of Dodobirds, clearly the handiwork of the Shadow Snake.

But this did not scare the Dodobirds away, as they frenetically circled the Shadow Snake, trying to peck at it—one after the other, hopping and jumping, their short wings flapping like spinning wheels.

Seeing this, Liszt activated his Dou Qi and charged forward, lunging to grab the neck of the Shadow Snake, his Dou Qi instantly enveloping it.

With a gentle push, he stowed it into the Gemstone Space.

Then he kicked the Dodobird with a foot, "Scatter, all of you, stop making noise, a bunch of foul-tasting rubbish." Driving the Dodobirds away, he began to examine the Shadow Snake in the Gemstone Space. In almost just a few breaths, the Shadow Snake was completely devoid of life, dead beyond any doubt.

Aside from Virginia Truth, who was in a soul state and parasitizing a Soul Storage Vessel, no creature lacking a soul could survive in the Gemstone Space.

The fundamental reason, Liszt conjectured, was that the Gemstone Space belonged to a type of "alternate dimension," with incomplete rules that couldn't sustain the existence of souls. Even for Virginia, once the Soul Storage Vessel she parasitized was placed into the Gemstone Space, it would become inert, incapable of even dreaming.

According to Liszt's experiments, Virginia could dream within the Soul Storage Vessel, existing in a state akin to dreaming but not. She could feel the passage of time, though not intensely, but at most could sense a slight difference between a day and a month inside.

But once placed into the Gemstone Space, this sense would become muddled, unable to feel the flow of time.

Therefore.

The ability to erase souls, Liszt used it to hunt—Low-Level Magical Beasts couldn't resist his Dou Qi wrap, so he caught them with certainty.

It was ineffective against humans with Dou Qi and high-level Magical Beasts.

Because Dou Qi would resist, failing to envelop completely and thus unable to be sent into the Gemstone Space.

The complete skin of the Shadow Snake could sell for over a dozen Gold Coins; he couldn't bear to let the Dodobirds peck it to ruins, nor chop it up himself. Conveniently using this method, he directly eradicated the soul, leaving the intact snake body behind.

"Not bad, the Dodobirds are pretty useless in combat, they didn't damage the snakeskin, this is the best quality, should be able to earn fifteen Gold Coins."

The snakeskin could be sold for money, and the remaining parts could be used as snacks to accompany drinks.

Easily pocketing fifteen Gold Coins, any dissatisfaction that arose from his peaceful sleep being disturbed had completely dissipated. Just as he was about to leave, something caught his peripheral vision—a cluster of vines entwined around a Human Skull Tree. Taking a direct look, he saw the vines climbing the trunk, virtually merging with the Human Skull Tree.

On several of the neighboring Human Skull Trees, there were climbing vines as well.

"This... should be the Hemp Rope Vine that's meant to reward me." He quickly realized, and advanced toward the Human Skull Tree. As he drew closer, more and more Hemp Rope Vines became visible ahead.

Indeed, it was a vast patch.

These Hemp Rope Vines weren't Magic Potions, just ordinary plants, with very small leaves and not particularly thick vines. Some bore pale yellow flowers, while others had pods. Without a close examination, it would indeed be difficult to notice the flowers and pods, no wonder it had not been discovered despite being only a hundred meters away from the wooden house.

"What use are these pods?" Liszt picked a few and rubbed open their husks, revealing seed after seed of black, watermelon wedge-like seeds inside, "They're so small, they don't seem edible, perhaps I should collect a sample plant and some seeds to ask others about them."

He was ready to pull down a vine.

The vines were tightly entwined and could not be pulled down, so he decided to forcefully tear them off. However, as he increased his strength, an embarrassing thing happened—the Hemp Rope Vine didn't break at all, and he ended up tearing off a wrist-thick branch of the Human Skull Tree while the Hemp Rope Vine remained unbroken.

"It's too sturdy!"

"It's called Hemp Rope Vine, could it be that its sturdiness is comparable to that of hemp ropes?" Liszt's eyes quickly lit up with the realization. If the effect was indeed like that, the Hemp Rope Vine could be very useful.

Rope has a very wide range of uses in daily life.

The ropes currently used by humans are all hemp ropes, made from flax or sisal, which, while sturdy, are prone to rot. Especially the fishing nets used for fishing in the territory, after being soaked in water for three days, require two days of drying to prevent rot.

"If the effects of Hemp Rope Vine are better than those of hemp ropes, it's definitely a specialty worth promoting!"