Six newly recruited Earth Knights had gone through a period of adjustment without causing too many issues that dissatisfied Liszt.


    However, Liszt nned to consider their allegiance after a full three months.


    Now that the Smoke Mission had issued a task in advance, with a reward as valuable as a Dou Qi Secret Technique, he had no reason not toplete it.


    "After I return, I will have these six follow me."


    The sunrise had yet to break the eastern sky, and the early summer morning still carried a lingering chill, while Liszt''s thoughts flickered rapidly: "No one can predict whether the path ahead is full of thorns or a smooth journey... Does this mean that even the Smoke Mission cannot influence the Threads of Destiny tied to the Sapphire Dragon?"


    On second thought, that seemed incorrect. If the Formless Dragon could be influenced, there was no way that the destiny thread of a Gemstone Dragon would be thicker than that of a Sacred Dragon.


    "Perhaps it''s a matter of distance?"


    He suddenly realized, "Up to this point, I have undertaken sixty Smoke Missions,pleting fifty-seven of them, with only three changing... the Old Tanner''s hidden books, the Thief spying on the Landlord, and the founding of the Fire Dragon Brick Factory... Out of all the tasks, fifty-nine were rted to Fresh Flower Town or ck Horse Ind, with only one concerning Duniko Hyacinth."


    In other words, the range within which the Smoke Mission could influence the Threads of Destiny was all within Liszt''s territory.


    The only exception, Duniko, who had shared a bed with him, was undeniably also influenced by that unhealthy rtionship, however slight the pull on her thread might have been.


    As three months had passed since Liszt gave up on going to Red Crab Ind to find her, there were no more ties, and the Threads of Destiny had likely already snapped.


    "So, it was because the Formless Dragon stayed near Fresh Flower Town that it was affected by the Smoke Mission, or perhaps by the Power of Destiny of the Smoke Dragon. But with the Sapphire Dragon located on the distant Blue Dragon Ind, the Smoke Mission simply cannot involve it?"


    These were only spections, without any concrete conclusions.


    After all, Liszt wasn''t even sure whether the smoke he saw was left by the Smoke Dragon. If it was, was he some form of a Dragon Wraith, or a Dragon-Bred human? Moreover, looking at cases where Dragons infected beasts, Dragon bloodlines didn''t seem to possess the magical attributes of Dragons.


    Beasts infected by the Fire Dragon, Water Dragon, or Metal Dragon were just ordinary Dragon Breed Beasts—some exceptionally majestic, but that was about it.


    They wouldn''t turn into fire horses from Fire Dragon infection or into water horses from Water Dragon infection.


    And certainly not into smoke horses from Smoke Dragon infection—by the same logic, if Liszt were infected by the Smoke Dragon, he would at most be a small dragonkin, not what he appeared like now.


    As for Dragon Wraiths,


    The White Dragon Wraiths were a special form of existence where ghosts were created bybining Magic Power with the Soul after death by a Dragon; ck Dragon Wraiths willingly dedicated themselves and were then corrupted by a Dragon''s Magic Power.


    Liszt was certainly not a ghost and had never offered himself willingly, so he was likely not a Dragon Wraith either.


    "So, did the Smoke Dragon die and its power entered my body? The key question is, who could kill a Smoke Dragon that represents fate... ording to some Knight''s Novels and Magic Books, when a Dragon is near death, it flies to the Valley of Dragons, whose location is unknown."


    Therefore, it was improbable for the Smoke Dragon to have died naturally and then had its power attach to Liszt''s body—but it couldn''t be ruled out either, since even the Fire Dragon had died and decayed on ck Horse Ind, reduced to a pile of bones.


    Regardless,


    All these divergent and logical thoughts leading to spections had been considered by Liszt more than once. Still, ultimately, there was too little evidence to prove anything.


    ...


    His thoughts fluctuating along the way, he arrived at Tulip Castle by eight o''clock in the morning.


    Levis was just about to leave the house and was surprised to see Liszt''s arrival: "My brother, why have youe today, and so early at that? What time did you leave Fresh Flower Town?"


    "I set off before dawn. Where is Father?"


    "Father is practicing his morning exercises in the flower garden on the back hill. Do you have a matter to discuss?"


    "Very serious business, brother. Please go and call father back. I will wait for you in the study," Liszt said gravely.


    "What is it? Tell me first."


    "More serious than anything you could guess." Liszt didn''t want to talk about it outside the study and simply urged Levis to hurry and summon the others.


    He then led Chris into the Earl''s study first.


    Butler Louis was sick. Now Tulip Castle was in the hands of Vice-Butler Silva, who personally brought in two cups of milk tea—milk tea was the only drink Liszt enjoyed at Tulip Castle.


    "Please have a seat, Chris. Don''t be nervous. My father is not too strict," Liszt reassured her as he could see her nervousness.


    Chris nodded and sat down, "Baron, I''m just a bit worried that this might involve you and the Tulip Family behind you… You saved me, and I don''t want you to suffer misfortune because of me."


    "Coral Ind is remote, and information doesn''t flow smoothly. As long as you don''t reveal your identity, nobody will recognize you, and no one will connect you with that incident. As for my father and brother, the more they know, the better they can deal with danger."


    "Yes, as long as I can help the Baron."


    "Have some milk tea. You seem not to have fully recovered yet."


    "Thank you."


    The wait wasn''t long. Soon the Earl''s voice could be heard from outside the door: "…I would really like to know what kind of matter would bring a son, who hunted a one-ton serpent but only gave five pounds of its meat to his father, to seek his own father."


    Liszt, who was drinking milk tea, couldn''t help but cough.


    It wasn''t that he was stingy. He simply couldn''t bring himself to part with it—middle-grade sea monster meat was priceless, each piece of snake meat was a part of his future strength.


    "Cough, cough."


    He hadn''t stopped coughing yet.


    The Earl had already pushed the door open and entered the study. After ncing at Liszt and Chris, who wasn''t in her magic cloak but dressed like an ordinary person, he walked straight to the desk, "Speak up, Liszt, my dear son, what do you have for me?"


    Levis closed the door tightly and then asked, "Liszt, are you sure… thisdy, whose name we have yet to ask, should remain in the study?"


    "Her name is Chris Truth. She is a magician, and the source of the newses from her." Liszt ignored the Earl''s earlier jibe about the "five pounds of snake meat" and said solemnly, "Brother, please check again to make sure there''s no one outside or near the window eavesdropping."


    "That careful?"


    Finding himself being ordered about by Liszt, Levis felt a bit awkward, but still took the task seriously and checked again.


    The Earl had already helped himself to a ss of red wine and took a small sip, "Put an end to your secretiveness. Speak inly. What news does Her Excellency Chris bring?"


    "The Marquis of Bull might be nning to assassinate the Grand Duke''s Sapphire Dragon, no, he might have already done so. At least a week and a half have passed since Chris brought the message; it could be two weeks… She was pursued by Grand Magicians in the open sea and cast into its depths using Permafrost, eventually drifting to Coral Ind."


    Chris and others fled Iron Hoof Ind by sea but did not know where they were headed. After being overtaken by the Grand Magicians, she sank into the sea.


    Drifting with the current, she arrived in the waters of Fresh Flower Town five dayster—enough time to assume the Marquis of Bull would strike within that period, to avoid dyedplications.


    After that, Chris was unconscious for nine days. Nine days were enough time to discern the oue of ying a dragon.


    Upon hearing this, Levis burst into a wryugh, "Assassinate the Grand Duke''s dragon? Liszt, and Miss Chris, do you realize how foolish that decision is?"