The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Liszt casually flipped through a few of the magic books brought by Elkerson and happily paid for them.

To encourage Elkerson to pick out useful books for him, he adopted a strategy of buying uninspiring books by the box and valuable books individually.

Among this batch of books, there were indeed a few that were quite good.

So, he paid a total of seven Gold Coins. Just the money he spent on books each month could amount to a dozen or twenty Gold Coins—now that he had money, he didn’t care about this expense. It was like subscribing to a few newspapers back on Earth.

Most of the magic books, he would not bother to read.

Because truly… they had no value.

Just like now, he no longer felt like reading most Knight’s Novels. His taste had been spoiled by one bizarre, grotesque story after another. Besides, “Dragons Fight in the Wild” had been indefinitely suspended, even his interest in searching for information had vanished. The number of books on his shelf kept increasing, yet the number he read dwindled.

On the other hand, Sea Sprite Ake read books with relish.

Those boring, tedious notes on magic experiments, in her eyes, seemed like heart-stirring gold and jewels. The naive and cheerful Little Sea Monster was almost turning into a bookworm.

To prevent this from happening,

he played the piano by her side and often took her out to sea to have fun, meanwhile discussing magic with her to keep her from getting bored.

“Brother, Ake has learned a new spell, look quickly.” She stretched out her hand, and a water bullet instantly formed, shooting towards the window and exploding with a bang in mid-air. “This is Water Bullet. The principle is similar to the Water Arrow Spell, but the power is much greater, and it uses less Magic Power.”

“Hmm!”

Liszt had already been astonished by her talent for magic, so he nodded placidly and said, “Keep it up, strive for the greatness of a Grand Magician.”

“Yes, Ake will work hard!”

Every conversation with Ake was like a psychological counseling session, healing all negative emotions. It made him forget about the desire, interest, passion, and chaos that occurred in the named Castle.

He brewed a cup of Biluochun tea.

It was a tea brewed from the leaves of the Green Tea Tree, named Biluochun because of the slightly curled leaves: “Ake, try my tea-making skills. This is a new beverage, and besides me, probably only you in the world can taste it.”

“Thank you, Brother.”

Ake picked up the transparent Crystal cup and took a sip. Immediately, her face changed, exclaiming, “Brother, it’s so bitter. Ake doesn’t like it!”

“The bitterness leads to sweetness. Try it again, and you’ll find the fragrance of the tea lingering between your lips and teeth.”

However, after two more sips, Ake still cried out that it was bitter, “It’s not tasty at all, Brother. Ake doesn’t want to drink tea. Ake likes to drink juice.”

“Alright then.” Liszt regretted that his first sharing of tea ended in failure. He didn’t mind Ake’s saliva and directly drank the remaining half cup of tea himself.

He couldn’t bear to pick more leaves from the three tea trees that were to be used for breeding. He couldn’t afford to drink one cup a day; he could only save as much as possible.

Ake again floated on the surface of the shell, earnestly reading her book, undisturbed by the world’s distractions.

He set down the teacup.

Liszt walked over to the piano.

His emotions surged, as if a swan had risen on the lake of his heart, dancing elegantly. Then another swan flew in, joining in the graceful dance. Soon after, two more swans appeared, all dancing together.

He savored the feeling in his mind, and his hands involuntarily struck the keys, pulsating with rhythm.

One note after another blossomed from the upright piano, like a bouquet of vibrant red roses unfurling, forming four dancing swans.

Ake closed the book in her hands, staring at Liszt in wonder.

Unaware, Liszt was immersed in playing the piano, surrounded by four dancing swans composed of rhythmic notes. Suddenly, one swan let out a mournful cry, its wing broken. It collapsed onto the piano, bloodstaining the keys red as if Liszt was playing with blood.

Then, another swan followed with a mournful cry, its wings snapping, as blood dyed the entire piano red.

In the end, the last two swans flew away in terror, one to the left, the other to the right, leaving behind the blood-red piano and its owner, Liszt, who continued to strike the keys, allowing the notes to dance in the blood.

The swans that were to die had died, those meant to fly had flown, all turning into nothingness.

The room was still that same worm room.

Jela was dozing off, Ake cocked its head to one side, listening, and only Liszt sat before the upright piano, elegantly playing the black and white keys, his fingers like ten little minor elves leaping.

Until the final note ended.

Liszt swiftly grabbed the paper and pen on the piano, dipped it in ink, and with the most abstract and hurried scribbles, recorded all the melodies in his head.

Just three short pages.

In an instant, they were filled. Comparing them to the melody that still lingered in his ears, he corrected a few erroneous notes, and finally transcribed this new piece.

With a pen, he wrote in the blank space, the title “Saint Saëns-Swan-Piano Solo.”

In 19th century Paris, France, there was a not-so-famous composer, Saint Saëns, who created the symphonic work “Carnival of the Animals” for fun. Since many of its melodies were malicious alterations of others’ work without permission, they were never published.

Only one piece, “The Swan,” had been performed publicly, which paradoxically became Saint Saëns’ signature piece and a timeless classic, depicting the swan’s graceful and noble swimming in the water, her lonely and unapproachable yet profoundly sacred figure.

Liszt did not know why.

Inspiration had suddenly burst forth, and without relying on the Smoke Mission, he recalled this melody on his own.

After a thought, he scratched out the “Saint Saëns” in Serpent Script and wrote a new title: “Liszt-Swan-Piano Solo,” earnestly adding it to his own collection of piano scores.

Previously, he already had “Liszt-With You” and “Liszt-To Alice-Rearrangement” in his piano repertoire.

“To Alice” had already been adapted with a backstory credited to someone else’s creation, making it impossible to use it directly as his own composition, so he only included it under the guise of revision and arrangement.

“By accident, I’ve become a piano master,” he mused.

…

The following day after returning,

The Fresh Flower Vessel also returned to port, bringing good news: the main body of the lighthouse was complete, ready for the installation of the crystal lamps. These crystal lamps were specially made to harness the magic power within the crystals through a magic array, releasing it as light.

Unfortunately, the light from the crystal lamps was not very bright.

Whether it could reach two or three kilometers away was uncertain.

When arriving at Black Horse Port, Jomaya Bangtu, who had been whipped so brutally he couldn’t walk, was now able to hobble around with a cane.

“Lord Landlord, rubber is truly miraculous. By using rubber water to mix with sand and stone, the construction of the lighthouse far exceeded expectations. Moreover, once solidified, its sturdiness is comparable to sticky rice mortar. Coupled with the gray bricks you guided us in firing, we saved a great deal of time in selecting materials, so we built it in five days!”

He pointed at the ten-meter-high lighthouse on Rocky Beach, his voice carrying a hint of pride. He had lived in the shadow of his teacher Mbappé, but now he could finally build independently.

The lighthouse was neither large, tall, nor thick.

The lower half was mainly constructed of piled rocks, while the upper half predominantly featured brickwork. The seams between the stones and bricks were not very neat, but the structure was complete.

“Teacher Marcus, I entrust this crystal lamp to your care. When the Fresh Flower Vessel needs to sail back at night, have someone light it on the lighthouse, and if there’s no need for navigation, take it down,” he instructed.

“Understood, my lord!”

With that, the lighthouse was finished.

Liszt quickly began checking the Smoke Mission.

“Mission complete, reward: the magic book ‘Secrets of Sea Serpent Aquatic Monsters.’