Night by the River

After finishing dinner, Russell decided to personally stand guard at the potion storage to ensure the three Insect Grasses could safely pass their first night.

"Russell, you're too diligent as a Lord, but in reality, there's no need to be so tense," Charles expressed his lack of understanding. "With Tom and the other Armored Knights on guard, and Eric also staying up, nothing will go wrong."

Russell smiled, "I understand, Teacher Charles, but I've already decided."

Seeing Russell's resolve, Charles could only helplessly spread his hands, "Of course, you are the Lord, whatever you wish."

"Teacher Charles, you stay at the manor's annex, no need to come along."

"Is that alright?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. You are the administrator of this territory." Russell didn't ask Charles to stay up with him. There was a distinction between civil and military affairs; Charles's role was to help him govern the territory, so there was no need for him to stay up all night.

Besides.

Russell wasn't actually staying up just for the sake of staying up; he had other plans.

Charles bowed gratefully, "Russell, I truly see the Baron Lord's shadow in you. You have completely inherited the excellent qualities of the Fluorite Mushroom family... Dragon's Gaze, you will definitely be an excellent Lord in the future!"

"Dragon's Gaze, I will strive to be an excellent Lord." Russell knew how to say the right things; it's a mutual courtesy.

As for whether the Grand Duke's Shadowflame Dragon could see this place, it didn't matter.

"Eric, protect Russell, and be alert tonight," Charles added a few more words to Eric, appearing very concerned about Russell.

Eric really wanted to roll his eyes, but in the end, he just grunted, "Of course."

Tent, campfire, sleeping bag.

Beside the thickest birch tree in the birch forest, Russell chose to set up camp for the night, with Knight Retainer Jack squatting nearby.

He called it guarding the night, but he was actually just coming here to sleep. Eric and the four Knight Retainers were the ones who truly needed to stand watch all night.

"Jack, if there's any disturbance, remember to wake me."

"Understood!"

Yawning and turning over, Russell settled comfortably into his sleeping bag, beginning his watch in the birch forest.

In a daze, his consciousness once again descended into a desolate and dark environment.

Undoubtedly, he had entered a new Dark Dreamscape. There was no line-drawn castle, nor a line-drawn manor annex.

This time, the Dark Dreamscape was set in a forest outlined with lines.

Before the Little Dream Dragon appeared, in Russell's eyes, the Dark Dreamscape was completely silent, pitch black, and devoid of any light.

"Caw!"

The Little Dream Dragon arrived as promised.

Once Russell mounted the Little Dream Dragon, it was as if he had flipped the switch for the Dark Dreamscape. Instantly, three points of light rose within the line-drawn forest.

Russell easily identified them: "This one in the tree is the Insect Grass of the Fluorite Mushroom Bug; this one pacing is Jack; and this other light should be my sword - the Green Ceramic Sword, especially this emerald, it's so bright."

The Green Ceramic Sword was a gift from the Baron on his birthday the year before last.

Its main body was made of clay nurtured by a Clay Dragon, fired and forged into a ceramic sword. A sword master then carved a groove and inlaid an emerald with the effect of attracting Battle Qi, hence its name, the Green Ceramic Sword.

The name wasn't very elegant, but its value was considerable; the emerald alone was worth a fortune.

"It's strange. I can clearly see the magical light emitted by my sword, but I can't see the magical light emitted by my own body... Does this mean I'm no longer in my sleeping bag, but my real body has entered this Dark Dreamscape?"

Russell couldn't understand.

He remembered when he first transmigrated and was staying at Fluorite Castle. He hadn't felt well and went to sleep early, then wandered around riding the Little Dream Dragon.

Then he saw his mother, Meryl, quietly enter the room and sit by his bedside for a while.

If his real body had entered the Dark Dreamscape at that time, Meryl would have noticed something unusual, but clearly, Meryl saw him sleeping soundly.

This meant he was truly just dreaming, not that his real body had entered the Dark Dreamscape.

Looking down at his cartoonish self, Russell gave up on finding an answer. He would eventually find out as he explored slowly.

"So little light."

Besides the three points of light, everything else Russell saw in the forest was pitch black.

Eric and the others in the distance were likely outside the range of the Dark Dreamscape, so their emitted magical light couldn't be seen.

"Take off, Little Dream Dragon!"

"Caw!"

With his tent as the center, the Dark Dreamscape encompassed a portion of the birch forest and the Glimmering River. The man and the dragon flew within this forest, slowly searching for any unusual lights, especially dim ones.

Unfortunately, they found nothing.

So Russell rode the Little Dream Dragon to the riverbank, hoping to try his luck and see if he could find a second river clam that could breed pearls.

Alas, after searching the entire area, he still found nothing.

"Came up empty, Snowball," Russell patted the Little Dream Dragon's big head, deciding to call it Snowball from now on.

He remembered that before he transmigrated, he was eating Dream Dragon Ice Cream when he was run over by a dump truck.

There was a destiny in the unseen. Heaven had given him a Little Dream Dragon as a golden finger, perhaps to compensate for his misfortune.

After all, on Earth, his mortgage was almost paid off, and he was about to live a wonderful life.

"Gaa?" The Little Dream Dragon turned its head 180 degrees, not understanding the name "Ice Cream." "Gaa gaa?"

"What's with the 'gaa'?" Russell yawned, wondering why he could still yawn and feel sleepy in the dreamscape.

"Gaa!"

"Let's go back, you little dummy."

"Gaa gaa!"

The man and the dragon flew back to the tent. Russell prepared to wait for the Little Dream Dragon to get tired and automatically dispel the Dark Dreamscape.

At this moment, the Little Dream Dragon led him in circles around the thickest birch tree, letting out continuous "gaa gaa" sounds, seemingly implying something.

"Idiot, that's the Fluorite Mushroom Insect Grass I planted."

"Gaa gaa!"

The Little Dream Dragon continued to circle the birch tree, unable to understand what Russell was trying to convey. Its dim-witted appearance made Russell so angry he wanted to slap it.

But as the Little Dream Dragon completed one circle after another, Russell gradually realized that he might have misunderstood the dragon's intention.

The Little Dream Dragon wasn't interested in the Fluorite Mushroom Insect Grass, but in the thickest birch tree itself.

"Stop, stop, stop, don't circle anymore." Russell grabbed the Little Dream Dragon's horn, finally managing to force it to stop.

He approached the birch tree and carefully inspected it from the roots upwards.

Then.

About three meters up from the base of the trunk, Russell saw a faint light, almost imperceptible. He had been too distracted by the glow of the Fluorite Mushroom Insect Grass to even consider that the birch tree itself could emit light.

"The birch tree is glowing, as if it's nurturing something within its trunk... Could it be a Spirit Worm?" Russell suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Dragons, wyverns, elves, magic potions—all power originates from the earth.

And at this moment, the birch tree was naturally drawing Earth Power, nurturing a new, magical creation: a Spirit Worm.