125 – The Turning Point of Tremblingwood"s Fate
Marcus was somewhat aware regarding the Bloodline Fruit"s worth. Greater aristocrats were willing to spend upwards of one thousand gold coins in exchange for the site with a growing Bloodline Fruit.
If it wasn"t for the risk of failure involved in the growth of Bloodline Fruits, then their worth would be very possibly calculated in dragon coins.
He was both excited and rejoiced: “Fortunately, we launched the campaign against the Thorns Ridge"s magic beasts early. Otherwise, if we waited until the Bloodline Fruit matured, then this Violent Dog was likely to have a further breakthrough, making the consequent hunt of it even more difficult.”
It was precisely because of this reasoning that Liszt decided to campaign against the Thorns Ridge"s magic beasts in advance.
He reached out with his hand and touched the Bloodline Fruit. Unfortunately, humans couldn"t consume this fruit: “It looks like this Bloodline Fruit is about to mature. The Violent Dog wanted it for itself, yet now, it belongs to me.”
“Sir, after this treasure ripes, it will inevitably attract the Thorns Ridge"s magic beasts. Those magic beasts have keen senses, they must be nearby, waiting for the Bloodline Fruit to ripe.”
“Isn"t it just perfect?” Liszt suddenly had a flash of inspiration, “We can use the Bloodline Fruit as bait. We can install traps in the surroundings and then wait for the magic beasts to come to us.”
“Then I"ll bring the knight squad to install the traps!” Said Marcus in high spirits.
Before entering the Thorns Ridge, the knight squad made ample preparations, bringing ropes, shovels and other items. The knight squad had also learnt many skills from hunters., as they not only had to go to the battlefield, but also had to go into woods to hunt magic beasts.
Marcus was a veteran, laying a lot of nooses in some strategic location. Although those nooses couldn"t stop magic beasts, but in the spur of the moment, they could hinder them quite well.
To hunt, they had to mainly rely on him and Liszt.
It was already evening when they finished setting up the traps. During that whole time, Liszt stayed next to the Bloodline Fruit, waiting for it to ripe.
All the while, he pondered whether he should let Tremblingwoods or Blackdragon eat it.
Tremblingwoods was a low-ranked magic beast. After eating the Bloodline fruit, it was possible for it to evolve into a mid-ranked magic beast. Of course, it was also possible that the evolution would fail, but it should not die.
Blackdragon was a dragon type beast. After eating the Bloodline fruit, it was possible for it to evolve into a low-ranked dragon type magic beast. Similarly, it was also possible that the evolution would fail. However, it could even die.
“It"s better to have Tremblingwoods eat it. Blackdragon is an exceedingly rare dragon type beast with the heavy responsibility of breeding Blackdragon Horses. It"s indispensable.” After some considerations, Liszt came to a decision.
As for Blessedcurls, which stayed in the castle, it was completely ignored.
By the time the sun set, a bonfire was ignited again.
Liszt received a Violent Dog leg from a retainer, which he skewered on a stick and prepared to roasted. This was his dinner. His physical const.i.tution was getting stronger by the day and his qi was constantly rising. At the Earth Knight stage, his progress was so rapid that there was no comparison between him and an ordinary Earth Knight.
The reason for it being that he ate well!
Although, cultivation relied on talent, but the essence lied in the intake and utilization of nutrition. If one had magic beast meat for meals, then even a pig might turn into a magic pig.
If one didn"t eat their fill, then even with a peerless talent, they still wouldn"t be able to cultivate qi.
“Woof woof!” Tremblingwoods called at him, drooling over the magic beast meat in his hand.
Liszt patted Tremblingwoods on its big head: “You can"t eat it. It"s probably your father"s meat, and even if it"s not your father"s, then it"s your uncle"s… Anyway, it"s related to you.” Father and son killing each other was cruel enough, let alone father and son eating each other, he couldn"t stand for it.
Therefore, Tremblingwoods could only get a roasted hare.
While watching Liszt gorge himself on the Violent Dog leg, Tremblingwoods gnawed on an extremely thin hare, drooling.
“You don"t have to be so envious, there"s something good for you as well.” Liszt pointed at the Bloodline Fruit, which represented a major opportunity to Tremblingwoods, “From it"s magic power, which has nearly solidified into substance, it should mature soon, probably by tonight. Tremblingwoods, recharge your strength. I hope that after tonight, you can become a mid-ranked magic beast.”
Mid-ranked magic beasts were comparable to Sky Knights.
Besides, trained magic beasts could be taken to the battle field. Having a mid-ranked magic beast was equivalent to having a Sky Warlock as their retainer, an unambitious retainer at that. As a master of a mid-ranked magic beast, one would have smooth sailing in achieving meritorious military service, one would only have to wait to have their t.i.tle promoted.
“Can Tremblingwoods evolve?” Mused Liszt.
He couldn"t tell.
There were all kinds of powerful magic beasts in this world. But on the Coral Island, magic beasts were practically all low-ranked, with the exception of the Purple Sand Crocodile, which was a mid-ranked magic beast. The Violent Dogs were known as the kings of the Thorns Ridge, yet they were essentially still low-ranked magic beasts. It was difficult to tell whether seizing this chance would result in the revision of the bloodline or failure as well as the waste of a Bloodline Fruit.
“Sir, aren"t you going to have a rest?” Asked Marcus after he finished patrolling the surroundings.
“I"m not. Staying up late once in a while isn"t a big deal.”
As time went by, the night was getting darker and darker.
Apart from the bonfire intermittently issuing crackling sounds, the entire Thorns Ridge was only left with the sound of wind and the cries of some insects as well as occasional calls of some small critters.
Tremblingwoods nestled itself against Liszt"s leg, giving off even snoring sounds.
While leaning against a tree trunk, Liszt watched the Bloodline Fruit. He still felt energetic. A long while later, Liszt"s eyes suddenly lit up in excitement: “I"ts going to ripe soon, I can sense that the Bloodline Fruit is going to exude magic power soon! It"s at a critical point!”
He gave Tremblingwoods a kick, waking it up.
He also called Marcus: “Teacher Marcus, the Bloodline Fruit is going to ripe! Remind the knights to be mindful of possible magic beast attacks!”
“It"s about to mature?” With a grave expression, Marcus quickly informed the knight squad to be alert.
Meanwhile, the b.l.o.o.d.y fruit suddenly fell down and a fascinating aroma spread from it.
It matured!
Liszt quickly picked up the Bloodline Fruit and gave it to Tremblingwoods: “Tremblingwoods, eat it, quickly!” The Bloodline Fruit only had a shelf life of a few minutes, loosing part of its magic power with every pa.s.sing moment, which in turn had a great impact on its effectiveness.
Tremblingwoods understood that it was something good. It opened its mouth and instantly swallowed the Bloodline Fruit.
Meanwhile, Liszt, who had released Magic Eyes, noticed several figures of magic power quickly rushing over in the surroundings: “Teacher Marcus, enemy attack! There are magic beasts in the east, southwest, and northwest!”
Crackle! Crackle! The traps played their role, ensnaring two magic beasts.
Marcus took the lead and rushed at the magic beast in the east. This magic beast was not unfamiliar to him. It was another Violent Dog! It turned out that there more Violent Dogs in the Thorns Ridge than just Tremblingwoods" family. Momentarily, a berserk output of wind-attributed qi dealt a heavy blow to the Violent Dog, which had yet to free itself from a noose.
It immediately struck back with Rockthorns, forcing Marcus to nervously dodge and be momentarily incapable of killing the Violent Dog.
The magic beast in the southwest was also caught in a noose. Several retainer knights a.s.saulted it while roaring.
Liszt drew the Redblood Sword and looked at the magic beast, which looked like a boar. In the Thorns Ridge, there was only a single type of magic beasts that looked like a boar and had attacked the Flower Town in winter – the Thundertusk Boar. It was a thunder-attributed magic beast whose tusks could release thunder-attributed magic – Thunderbolt Flash
Rumble! The Thundertusk Boar released Thunderbolt Flash without hesitation and a stream of lightning illuminated the woods.
“Retreat! Approach! Raise shield! Insert sword! Release qi!” Liszt issued five orders in a breath. Following their conditioned reflexes, the retainer knights retreated, drew closer, raised their shields, inserted their swords into the ground, and releasing their qi, attaching it to their shields.
Boom!
A lightning whip hit the shields, sending two retainer knights flying.
“Ah!” “Ah!” Sounded two screams.