Recaps

Russell built his influence through cigar trade and new discoveries while helping Roland pursue Gewen, then trained until he could defeat Marcus. After contracting Harpe, Russell advanced to Second Turn Essence Breath and reached a new level of strength.

• Russell secured Count Merlin’s approval to advertise his cigars and persuaded Marquis Arno to add Rain Dragon Cigars to trade with the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, accepting Arno’s demand for eighty percent of the profits.
• Russell returned to Poplar Desert with Roland, but Baron Gevidas rejected Roland’s marriage proposal, and the brothers left Huyang Castle after Gevidas objected to Russell guiding Gelontan in swordsmanship.
• Russell received a Scholar’s Award Medal and a Wheat Sprite from the Elder Council, then found and contracted a Hops Spirit Worm in the Dark Dreamscape.
• Russell celebrated his territory’s successes and trained with Polly until he developed Snowy Unicorn Armor and a powerful Phantom Beast Fusion form.
• Russell planted Rossai’s egg on the Great Plain, where its heat melted the Ice Cap and formed a glowing pit before Rossai fell asleep beneath it.
• Russell challenged Marcus at Windmill Manor and defeated him with Four Sword Style after replenishing and enhancing his Essence Breath, then agreed to take Musk as a follower.
• Russell demonstrated his Three Sword Style and Four Sword Style to Rosen and Roland, while Roland continued training with him and encouraged him to write a Battle Aura martial skill.
• Russell successfully contracted Harpe, who gained First Turn Essence Breath as Russell advanced to Second Turn Essence Breath and unleashed his Six Meridian Divine Sword attacks.

Russell welcomed Rosai’s birth, became a Wyvern Knight, and gained Blackfire Land as his territory. After his Dragon Riding Ceremony, he considered his ambitions and heard Count Merlin’s concerns about the Grand Duchy and the Snow Demons.

• Russell trained with Harpe and waited at the Ice Cap as Rosai struggled to hatch, then bonded with her and became a Wyvern Knight.
• Russell rode Rosai to Huyang Castle, where his arrival helped Baron Roman secure Gewen’s marriage alliance with Roland, and Gelontan pledged himself as Russell’s follower.
• Russell returned to Fluorite Castle, surveyed Rosai’s expanding Warm Enclave, named it Blackfire Land, and began planning its development and trade routes.
• Russell formed a blood contract with the Gecko Amber Bug, discovered its regenerative ability, and continued training with his Contract Partners and followers.
• The Grand Duchy granted Russell the title of Grand Duchy Nobleman and Blackfire Land, while nobles and subjects prepared to celebrate his Dragon Riding Ceremony.
• At the ceremony, Russell welcomed Princess Anxia and Princess Kunlaya, considered the followers and workers his territory needed, and told Count Merlin that he wanted to earn a barony.
• Count Merlin warned Russell that the Scorching Torrent Kingdom might be exploiting the Grand Duchy’s conflict and discussed the Snow Demons’ rumored attempt to drain the continent’s Earth Power.
• Baron Roman learned from Ross that Rosai reacted to an unfamiliar aura around Russell, then reassured Ross and toasted the Fluorite Mushroom Family’s prosperity.

Russell hunted Snow Demons, survived Snow Giant Da’s ambush, and advanced with Polly into a Dragon Domain Lord. After reporting the attack and promising to keep hunting, he learned that Da had killed Baron Davis and was targeting Wyvern Knights.

• Marcus promised five hundred cases of Rain Dragon Cigars to Grand Duchy Noblemen, and Russell supplied the cases from Cousin Mel’s order.
• Russell trained Roland for his wedding duel with Dreller, who later confessed that Young Master Kunsley had urged him to disrupt the wedding.
• Russell hunted Snow Demons for Ice Soul Beads, then Snow Giant Da ambushed him and seized him in a gigantic hand.
• Polly and the Amber Bugs helped Russell survive in the Dark Dreamscape, and Russell and Polly advanced to Dragon Domain Lord before escaping Da’s grasp.
• Russell returned to his territory, revealed Polly’s evolution, and told his followers how they had survived Da’s attack with help from the Shadowflame Dragon and Harpe.
• Russell reported Da’s border crossing to the Shadowflame Dragon and Count Merlin, then vowed to keep hunting Snow Demons and not give Da another chance to kill him.
• Snow Giant Da ambushed Baron Davis, killed him, and drove the wounded Peat Dragon to flee, while Davis’s corpse became a Great Snow Ghost.
• Russell asked Count Merlin for people to develop his lands and urged him to continue the Demon Extermination Order, but the steward then reported Davis’s death and Merlin realized Da was openly hunting Wyvern Knights.

After becoming a Dragon Domain Lord, Russell defended his aunt’s family, secured his baronial title and expanded his ambitions through trade and settlement. The arc left him surveying his new lands as the Shadowflame Grand Duchy prepared for renewed danger from the Snow Giants.

• Count Merlin announced Russell’s advancement to Dragon Domain Lord and ordered the Wyvern Knights to suspend demon-cleansing missions after Snow Giant Da killed Baron Davis.
• Russell told the Kingtop Mushroom Family that Baroness Roby alone should choose Davis’s heir, then defeated Count Oscro’s wyverns and forced Oscro to the ground.
• Peat Dragon Howard chose Dyson as heir, and Diana decided to leave Kingtop Castle with Aunt Roby rather than accept the succession.
• Russell arranged a trade route and chose the Fluorite Mushroom surname before Red Castle invested him as Baron Thunderflame and awarded him new lands and 65,000 serfs.
• Russell demanded eighty percent of the cigar-trade profits from Marquis Arno and won the agreement by demonstrating his strength.
• Count Merlin asked Russell to serve as Knight Deputy during the warm-season border patrols, while the Shadowflame Dragon warned that a new force was gathering south of the Grand Duchy.
• Russell returned to Glimmering Market to organize the serfs’ arrival and assess potential followers, then visited Aunt Roby with Rowena and Cooper.
• Russell escorted Rowena and Cooper across the fractured Ice Caps and estimated the eventual size of his three expanding territories.