The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

"Control your anger, Little Water Dragon, or I'll have to call Leo back," Liszt disliked this dark thought greatly; he never imagined that the previously wronged Little Water Dragon could also harbor such malevolence, equating in intensity to the dark thoughts Leo once held.

It must be said, classifying Elemental Dragons as Evil Dragons was an astute generalization.

"Yo-ho!" Mention of Leo's name made the Little Water Dragon visibly shudder, and it immediately restrained its furious emotions, daring not to display any more evil.

Only then did Liszt turn to Eternia, whose lips had turned white, "How do you feel now? Has the Superior Magic collapsed?"

Eternia exhaled deeply and rallied her spirits, "Thank goodness Your Majesty intervened in time, otherwise the Little Water Dragon's absorption would have seriously drained my vitality... I thought, given a mermaid's strong physique, I could sustain the Little Water Dragon's draw on the Superior Magic, but who would have expected it to be so powerful right from birth."

The enormous swallowing capacity that fired up all of a sudden frightened Eternia so much that she still felt residual fear; hence, one can see the gap in strength between mermaids and dragons, both Superior Magic beings.

"I am truly sorry, I didn't expect the Little Water Dragon's swallowing power to be this strong, though, of course, this might also be related to you not yet returning to your peak condition," said Liszt gently, "Go back and rest well, health is more important than anything else, recuperate fully before you do more work."

"Understood, Your Majesty," Eternia responded with a wry smile, "But I'm afraid we mermaids won't be able to help the young master cultivate the Little Water Dragon anymore, its absorptive capacity is beyond what any mermaid can satisfy."

"Mhm, I will slowly cultivate it. There's no rush."

…

Since mermaids couldn't withstand the Little Water Dragon's absorption, Liszt didn't dare to casually call on Ach to provide Water Attribute Super Magic either, just in case it caused Ach any harm. That was not something he wanted to see.

However, upon learning the situation, Ach said, "Brother, if the mermaids can't provide magic power, that's because the Little Water Dragon doesn't just draw on Superior Magic but also their bodies' unique Superior Magic. Just as with the tail feathers of the Flame Dragon Bird, they are a special form where soul and magic power fuse together."

"That must be the case, it's just a pity there's no treasure like Phoenix Feather of Water Attribute that could speed up the Little Water Dragon's growth."

"Ach can do it," the Sea Monster Magician said with a smile, "Brother mustn't forget what Ach has recently been researching, precisely Soul Elements. Ach can entirely mix the Soul Elements refined from the Cursed Dragon's power with Water Attribute Super Magic to encourage the Little Water Dragon's growth."

"Is that really possible?"

"Mhm," Ach nodded seriously, "And Ach has also discovered a secret, a piece of information about something beyond Completion-term Dragon Knights."

Liszt's brows instantly raised, "Oh? Please, do share."

He long surmised that once Dragon Knights reached completion, their further advancement must surely involve soul-level cultivation, yet he had never found any clues or leads. Unexpectedly, Ach's recent research into the Cursed Dragon had uncovered such clues.

"Dragon Knights, or to say, dragons, are beings at the pinnacle of strength. But this pinnacle still has its limits, to put it precisely, a kind of shackle... Ach calls it a bastion, and Completion-term Dragon Knights will face the shackles of this bastion, unable to proceed any further."

"Bastion?" Liszt didn't understand.

Ach continued to explain, "Brother has seen the Dragon of the Magic Web and should know of its existence, not bound by our current fixed space-time. Ach believes it's a dragon that has transcended the bastion, which perhaps is the dividing line between matter, spirit, and magic power."

The Dragon of the Magic Web does not belong to the material world, nor to the material boundary, nor to the world beyond the material.

Yet, it traverses all of these worlds, its presence felt from the material world to the material boundary, and even the world beyond material.

Ach referred to the barrier as the boundary between material things, or between magic powers, or even between spirits—the barrier that the Dragon of the Magic Web had broken was clearly one between material things.

"Material, spirit, and magic power are all cornerstones of the world, and once the barriers between these basics are broken, one will transcend the peak of strength. Therefore, Ach believes that the next step in the cultivation system for an Elemental Dragon Knight should be the magic power barrier; for Metal Dragon Knights and Gemstone Dragon Knights, it should be the material barrier."

"What about the Sacred Dragon?" Liszt inquired.

"For the Formless Dragon, it is obviously the material barrier; for the Twilight Dragon, it's unclear, as the significance of time is something Ach still can't explain; the Jade Dragon represents dreams and the mind, and should be about breaking the spiritual barrier; the Smoke Dragon signifies fate, what fate is, Ach is also unclear; the Immortal Dragon represents life, which is also hard to say."

"So does that mean if the Cursed Dragon progressed further, it would also be breaking the spiritual barrier?"

"It could be so... Of course, the above barrier information is just Ach's speculation, and whether such a barrier exists still needs to be verified."

When it comes to barriers, Ach can only speculate at present.

Therefore, for Liszt's subsequent questions,

About whether "a Fire Dragon Knight breaking the magic power barrier could become a Water Dragon Knight," "if a Formless Dragon Knight broke a barrier, could it become the next Dragon of the Magic Web," "whether the Cursed Dragon has already broken the spiritual barrier to contaminate the ocean," "what kind of dragon evolved into the Dragon of the Magic Web by breaking a barrier," and so on, all were unanswerable.

In any case.

The barrier is, for the time being, just a concept. Even though Liszt is deeply fascinated by it and has already named the next phase of the Dragon Knights' cultivation system "Bastion Knight," it still doesn't mean that barriers actually exist or that Bastion Knights are a feasible cultivation prospect.

The topic returned to the supply of Superior Magic. Ach quickly designed a Magic Array that integrated Superior Magic with Soul Elements, and then personally provided the Superior Magic.

Allowing the Little Water Dragon to fully absorb it.

Once the Magic Array was properly arranged and activated, Ach, in the form of the Water Elemental Embodiment, continually drew magic power from the Magic Web, then, with the help of Unicorn Charlie, amplified it to Superior Magic. Liszt then lifted the restrictions on the Little Water Dragon, which cried out "Yo-ho" and wildly absorbed the magic.

With no restrictions and a consistent supply of magic, Ach remained relaxed from start to finish, without experiencing the overexertion that Mermaids did.

After ten full minutes of absorption,

The Magic Power Little Water Dragon suddenly let out a "Yo-ho," exhibiting a bout of "hiccup"-like emotions, no longer able to absorb more Superior Magic. It grew lethargic in spirit, its magic power retracted into Liszt's kidneys, and it began to sleep soundly, digesting this sumptuous feast.

"This approach is good; after two or three more sessions of devouring like this, the Little Water Dragon should be well on its way to development... By the way, Ach, is there enough Soul Element left refined from the Cursed Dragon's power?"

"There's enough for two or three times, but no worries, if it runs out, we can just catch a bunch of Devils with the Mermaids at the bottom of the sea." Ach, capable of obliterating a Devil Tower on her own, spoke very lightly—as far as she was concerned, the Devils that once loomed over the sea like phantoms were merely magical ingredients.

"Hmm, better not to venture into Devil's Sea without thorough preparation. This time it was just a Devil Tower we encountered; if there are more Devils, it will still be dangerous."

Ach nodded. "Understood."

Liszt caressed Ach's azure hair. "Remember, this is just a Little Water Dragon, its growth is not even one ten-thousandth as important as your safety."

Ach suddenly squinted her eyes in enjoyment, like a little cat, "Hehe, brother, Ach is now even more powerful in the sea than a Dragon Knight!"