Chapter Summaries

Russell challenged Lord Marcus to a spar and revealed the strength of his Three Sword Style. The fight escalated into a clash between their Essence Breath armor and weapons, leaving Roland convinced he could not compete with Russell.

• Baron Roman arrived to watch Russell challenge Lord Marcus and ordered Marcus not to hold back, while Roland and Old Lord Sali joined the crowd.
• Russell and Marcus exchanged twenty blows, with Russell's swordsmanship pressing Marcus but failing to break his Second Turn Essence Breath armor.
• Russell called for two more swords and unleashed Three Sword Style, nearly breaking Marcus's defenses in a single exchange.
• Marcus summoned Pangolin King and Steel Thunder Beast to form Battle Qi Elemental Martial armor and a greatsword, then took to the air with Battle Qi Skyward Flight.
• Russell summoned Unicorn Polly as Snowy Unicorn Armor and rose to meet Marcus, intensifying the battle with Three Sword Style.
• Roland watched Russell fight and gave up on competing with him, expecting Russell's power to pull him even farther ahead.

Russell overcame Marcus, a Tier 2 High Phantom Beast Knight, by activating the Four Sword Style and defeating him before the gathered nobles and knights. The victory established Russell as the second strongest in Guangguang River Valley and drew Lord Ross’s wary attention.

• Marcus pressured Russell with his Second Turn Essence Breath greatsword and Earth Spike Assault magic, leaving Russell struggling to defend himself.
• Russell used blood-and-qi conversion from the Tick Amber Bug to replenish his Essence Breath and activated the Sword Butterfly Amber Bug’s enhancement.
• Russell unleashed the Four Sword Style, combining his twin swords, a Battle Qi-controlled third sword, and sword light from his feet.
• Russell broke through Marcus’s defenses and blasted him from the sky, then held a sword before the fallen knight’s face.
• The onlookers reacted in disbelief, while Lord Ross turned away from Russell’s gaze and the watching knights began cheering for Russell.
• Russell accepted the crowd’s praise and offered his hand to Marcus, thanking him for letting him win.

After defeating Marcus, Russell joined Roland for lunch at Fluorite Castle, where he revealed that the Sword Butterfly let him release sword aura without a weapon. The family discussed Marcus and Malena, and Russell agreed to take Musk as a follower, though several others were already ahead of him in line.

• Roland invited Russell and his followers to lunch at Fluorite Castle, and Old Lord Sali flew home to Gray Cat Manor.
• At Fluorite Castle, Russell showed his family the Sword Butterfly and explained that it enabled him to unleash sword aura without a weapon.
• During lunch, Russell protested that Malena's matter was not his fault, while Baron Roman explained why he had once supported Marcus's proposed marriage.
• Baron Roman asked Russell to take Musk as a follower to repay Marcus, and Russell agreed.
• Roland noted that Eric, Grove, Katie, and a baron's second son from Poplar Desert were already waiting to follow Russell.

After Russell defeated Marcus, his family gathered at Fluorite Castle to hear about the fight and witness Russell’s sword techniques. Russell left Roland determined to learn the Three Sword Style Great Move and mentioned he might compile it into a Battle Aura martial skill.

• Rosen learned from the knights that Russell had defeated Marcus and went to Fluorite Castle with Old Madam Ingrid to confirm it.
• At Fluorite Castle, Russell was teaching Roland swordsmanship, and Roland asked to learn the Three Sword Style Great Move.
• Roland recounted Russell’s battle with Marcus, and Russell demonstrated the Three Sword Style Great Move and Four Sword Style Ultimate for Rosen.
• Rosen and Baron Roman gave up trying to learn the techniques, while Roland continued studying with Russell for more than two hours.
• Russell said he had considered writing a Battle Aura martial skill based on the Three Sword Style Great Move, and Roland encouraged him to do so.

Russell established a Tier 2 contract with Harpy Dragon Harpe, becoming a High Phantom Beast Knight and gaining Second Turn Essence Breath. He tested his enhanced strength on the garden terrace, convinced he could defeat far stronger opponents.

• Russell returned to Wuyou Snake Manor and celebrated the success of his Rain Dragon Cigars with his officials.
• Russell soothed Unicorn Polly before preparing to contract Harpe and drew on advice he had received from Baron Roman.
• Russell linked his mind and power with Harpe through a blood bond, successfully completing the Tier 2 contract.
• Harpe gained First Turn Essence Breath, while Russell’s power transformed into Second Turn Essence Breath.
• Russell unleashed dazzling Six Meridian Divine Sword attacks and marveled at his newfound strength.

After advancing to Tier 2 High Phantom Beast Knight, Russell took Eric and Grove to the Ice Cap pit where Black Oil Dragon Rosai was hatching and revealed that Rosai was his contracted Wyvern. He began training with Harpe’s magic, but learned that Little Dream Dragon could not bring Harpe into the Dark Dreamscape.

• Russell quietly reached Tier 2 High Phantom Beast Knight and traveled with Eric and Grove to the warm pit beneath the Ice Cap.
• Russell revealed that Black Oil Dragon Rosai was hatching in the pit and that he had contracted her, while Eric vowed to protect her.
• Russell practiced adjusting to Harpe and learning to use her Wind Wall Technique and Hurricane Technique.
• Little Dream Dragon arrived to take Russell and Polly into the snowfield, but Russell discovered that Harpe could not be brought into the Dark Dreamscape.
• Russell concluded that Polly’s Dream Walk enabled her connection to the Dark Dreamscape and looked forward to openly having a real dragon.

After Gewen asked Roland to fight for her, he decided to travel to the Poplar Desert with Baron Roman and challenge Baron Gevidas. Meanwhile, Kendall found Russell in the snowfield and realized the young lord might be the key to their advantage.

• Gewen wrote to Roland that Baron Gevidas had agreed to her marriage alliance with Dreller, confessed her love, and asked Roland to come fight for her.
• Roland resolved not to give up on Gewen, and Baron Roman agreed to accompany him to the Poplar Desert.
• Baron Roman sent Kendall to find Russell, then set out with Roland on their Nightmare Ghost Horses.
• Kendall flew over the snowfield, found the huge pit, and met Russell emerging from a tent inside it.
• Kendall saluted Russell as Lord Russell after realizing he could strengthen Baron Roman's position.

Russell trained on the snowfield while waiting for Black Oil Dragon Rosai to hatch, and he began preparing to claim the glory of becoming a Wyvern Knight. When a hot spring erupted from the great pit, Russell stayed behind as Rosai’s consciousness awakened and the wyvern’s arrival began.

• Knight Captain Kendall learned that Russell had found a wyvern and realized Russell’s rise could also create opportunities for Eric.
• Russell sent Kendall away, then trained with Harpe and resolved to become a 5th Rank High Phantom Beast Knight before becoming a Dragon Knight.
• For nearly two weeks, Russell trained on the snowfield and regularly sparred with Eric and Grove.
• On September 11, the ground shook, cracks opened in the great pit, and hot spring water erupted.
• Russell ordered Eric and Grove to take the tents to Ice Cap while he stayed behind to welcome his awakening wyvern.

Russell witnessed Black Oil Dragon Rosai emerge as a newborn Wyvern and recognized it as a Concept God. Rosai greeted Russell as her father, and they began the advancement to Wyvern Knight above the newly formed Warm Enclave.

• Magma fissures beneath the Ice Cap crater flooded the surrounding area with spring water as Rosai struggled to be born.
• The collapsing ice cap forced Eric and Grove into the meltwater, while Russell waited above the water and sensed Rosai's immense power.
• Rosai burst from the water, spread her wings, and flew freely through the sky.
• Russell stroked Rosai's face as they greeted each other through their spiritual link and accepted their father-and-child bond.
• Rosai asked Russell to become Wyvern Knights with her, and they began the advancement above the flooded marshland.

Russell used his contract with Black Oil Dragon Rosai to become a Wyvern Knight and flew over the newborn Warm Enclave. He left Eric and Grove to survey the transformed land while he hurried north to Huyang Territory to support his older brother.

• Russell formed a Battle Qi Chain with Rosai and covered his body and Essence Breath with Dragon Breath, gaining immense power and the ability to walk through the air.
• Russell rode Rosai across the sky and saw that her hot spring had melted the surrounding Ice Cap, creating a growing Warm Enclave.
• Eric and Grove greeted Russell and Rosai, and Russell instructed them to contact Fluorite Castle and survey the Warm Enclave.
• Russell flew north with Rosai, Polly, and Harpe to Huyang Territory, leaving Eric and Grove behind.
• Eric and Grove waded out of the flooded area and marveled at Rosai’s size.

Russell left Rosai’s Warm Enclave and rode the enormous Black Oil Dragon to Huyang Castle, where Baron Roman and Baron Gevidas’s marriage negotiations had broken down over their rival political allegiances. Russell’s dramatic arrival halted a tense confrontation between Roman’s Clay Dragon and Gevidas’s Bismuth Hua Dragon, while Roland and Gewen exchanged hopeful glances.

• Russell learned that Rosai gained strength from the Warm Enclave’s earth but returned to normal strength outside it, and he marveled at the dragon’s enormous size.
• Baron Gevidas refused Baron Roman’s request for Roland to marry Gewen unless Roman supported Young Master Kunsley, and the two argued over the succession and Count Merlin’s loyalties.
• Baron Roman rejected Gevidas’s demand and left Huyang Castle with Roland, then challenged Gevidas once more outside the gates.
• Clay Dragon Ross and the Bismuth Hua Dragon each breathed Dragon Breath at the other knight’s side, bringing the confrontation close to a fight.
• Russell arrived on Rosai, whose size and presence overwhelmed the gathering, and his arrival thrilled Roman and Roland while astonishing Gevidas’s family.

Russell returned to the Poplar Desert riding the newly hatched Black Oil Dragon Rosai, forcing Baron Gevidas to abandon his earlier hostility and welcome him. The chapter left Russell and his family being honored at a lavish banquet celebrating his rise as a Wyvern Knight.

• Russell arrived at Huyang Castle on Rosai, and Baron Roman welcomed him as Baron Gevidas and his family stared in shock.
• Russell taunted Baron Gevidas about whether the Poplar Desert welcomed him, and Gevidas quickly apologized and invited the family inside.
• Russell told Rosai to fly nearby without harassing anyone, while Ross and Bismuth Hua Dragon also took to the sky and watched Rosai warily.
• Russell encouraged Gelongtan to keep working at swordsmanship, and Roland thanked Russell for arriving in time to help him and Baron Roman.
• Baron Gevidas hosted a lavish banquet for the knighted lords of the Poplar Desert and toasted Russell as the Shadowflame Grand Duchy's newest young Wyvern Knight.

At the banquet, Gelontan decided to leave the Poplar Desert and become Russell’s follower after seeing how Russell’s new status as a Wyvern Knight changed the way others treated him. The chapter ended with Gelontan kneeling before Russell and asking to follow him and win achievements together.

• Gelontan watched the guests toast Russell and realized how much Russell’s status as a Wyvern Knight had changed his family’s attitude toward him.
• Gelontan decided that he wanted to follow Russell rather than rely on his family to secure a noble fief for him.
• Baron Roman and Baron Gevidas renewed their marriage alliance proposal, and Gewen agreed to marry Roland.
• Russell left the banquet to rest, and Joanna asked Gelontan to escort him to the guest room.
• Gelontan knelt before Russell and declared that he wanted to follow him and win achievements together.

Gelongtan asked Russell to accept him as a follower, but Russell told him to seek his parents’ approval and make the pledge publicly. Russell then hunted Snow Ghosts with Little Dream Dragon, while nobles in Guangguang River Valley watched the Warm Enclave expand and celebrated his achievement as a dragon rider.

• Gelongtan pledged himself to Russell, who refused to accept him without his parents’ approval and witnesses.
• Russell entered the Dark Dreamscape with Little Dream Dragon and showed Rosai’s magical outline to Polly and Snowy.
• Russell flew beyond Huyang Territory and hunted Snow Ghosts across the snowfields so Little Dream Dragon could eat.
• Old Madam Ingrid, Madam Meryl, and the nobles of Guangguang River Valley watched the Warm Enclave expand across the melting snowfields.
• Marcus declared that losing to Russell was a glorious defeat, and several nobles said they wanted to send their descendants to Russell as followers.
• Old Madam Ingrid thanked Meryl for bearing Russell, and Meryl called his excellence their shared pride.

Count Merlin learned that Russell Fluorite Mushroom had contracted with the newly born Black Oil Dragon Rosai and advanced to Wyvern Knight, prompting the Elder Council to convene and plan his reward. The council proposed granting Russell Grand Duchy Nobleman status and Warm Enclave as his territory.

• Count Merlin reviewed Kroya's report that a search of the eastern border's Lightning Rod Points had found no trace of Snow Giant Da.
• An assistant told Count Merlin that Russell had contracted with a newly born Black Oil Dragon and become a Wyvern Knight.
• Messenger Raphael confirmed that Russell found the dragon east of Guangguang River Valley, named it Lord Rosai, and then went to the Poplar Desert after Roman.
• Princess Anxia asked the Elder Council to discuss a reward for Russell, and Count Merlin convened the council.
• Lord Kunbei proposed granting Russell the title of Grand Duchy Nobleman, giving him Warm Enclave, and announcing the award in an extra edition of the official gazette.

Princess Anxia worried that Russell’s success as a Wyvern Knight might draw the Shadowflame Dragon’s attention, while Baron Kunbif feared Russell’s new strength would shift the balance in the Young Masters’ selection. The chapter ended with Marquis Arno dismissing the dragon-riding news and deciding to leave Russell’s share of the cigar trade at twenty percent.

• Princess Kunlaya trained hard and told Princess Anxia she hoped to earn His Highness Shadowflame’s recognition, but her mother warned her to aim for a wyvern instead.
• Princess Anxia prayed to the sleeping Shadowflame Dragon and reported that Russell had ridden Rosay, bringing another Warm Enclave to its territory.
• Baron Kunbif secretly visited Marquis Arno and warned that Russell’s advancement gave Young Master Mel another powerful ally and threatened Kunsley’s prospects.
• Marquis Arno urged Kunbif to recruit more Wyvern Knights and dismissed concerns about Russell, reasoning that the Shadowflame Dragon could not resist its circumstances.
• Marquis Arno decided to keep eighty percent of the cigar trade’s profits rather than demand another ten percent, citing the need to give Russell some respect.

Marquis Arno sent the Scorching Torrent king news that Russell had become a Wyvern Knight, and the king resolved that such a talent should not escape his grasp. Russell accepted Gelontan as a follower, returned to Fluorite Castle, and was welcomed by his family.

• Marquis Arno wrote to the king about Russell inventing cigars and becoming a Wyvern Knight, and the king praised Russell's talent while dismissing the news as secondary to state affairs.
• After Roland's marriage alliance with Miss Gewen was settled, Russell prepared to leave Huyang Castle for his territory.
• Gelontan knelt before Russell and asked to become his follower, and Russell accepted his loyalty and told him to remain at Huyang Castle until Gewen's wedding.
• Russell rode Rosai back toward his territory, declined invitations from nearby titled lords, and reached Fluorite Castle three days later.
• Old Madam Ingrid embraced Russell on his return, while Madam Meryl, Laura, and Uncle Rosen greeted him and marveled at his status as a Wyvern Knight.

Russell returned to Fluorite Castle as a Wyvern Knight, prompting Butler Carter to fuss over the preparations for his lunch. During the meal, his family discussed his eldest brother’s engagement and plans for Russell’s Dragon Riding Ceremony, while Russell revealed that he had contracted with Hape.

• Butler Carter anxiously reviewed the menu and ordered the castle staff to prepare carefully for Russell’s first lunch at Fluorite Castle as a Wyvern Knight.
• Old Madam Ingrid and the family discussed how Russell’s rise had helped secure his eldest brother’s marriage to Miss Gewen.
• Madam Meryl proposed holding a grand Dragon Riding Ceremony and inviting Princess Anxia and Marquis Arno.
• Old Madam Ingrid suggested Russell visit Kingtop Castle to meet his uncle by marriage, a fellow Wyvern Knight, and spar with him.
• Russell told Uncle Rosen that he had contracted with Hape, though his synchronization with Hape was weaker than with Polly.
• Uncle Rosen praised Russell’s talent and joked that even Shadowflame Dragon choosing to contract with him would no longer surprise him.

Russell explored the newly formed Warm Enclave with Black Oil Dragon Rosai and his knights, assessing its terrain and unusual signs of life. He left the territory hopeful about its future and with his retainers pledging their loyalty.

• Russell returned to Wuyou Snake Manor on Rosai, left Polly and Hape with Butler Morris, then flew to the Warm Enclave.
• Russell surveyed the enclave from above and saw that it had expanded into a triangular plain centered on the hot spring, though snowmelt still had no outlet.
• Eric reported that the knights had found no black oil deposits, and Russell explained that such deposits could take years to form and that Rosai would sense them.
• Russell explored the dried land with his retainers, found grass, saplings, and an ant nest, and accepted Katie's explanation that Earth Power protected life in the Warm Enclave.
• Russell declared that they would build their new home there, and Katie, Eric, Tom, and the other knights swore to follow him.

Russell named his new Warm Enclave Blackfire Land and considered how it might connect to his other territories as they expanded. Back at Wuyou Snake Manor, he planned a public celebration of his dragon-riding achievement and reflected on how far he had come.

• Russell named the Warm Enclave opened by Black Oil Dragon Rosai Blackfire Land and left it for Wuyou Snake Manor.
• Russell mapped out future northern and southern trade routes, then worried about finding enough people to develop the expanding territory.
• Russell returned to Wuyou Snake Manor, where Charles proposed ways to celebrate his dragon-riding achievement.
• Russell chose a song and dance gathering for the celebration and asked Charles to coordinate it with Fluorite Castle's ceremony.
• After dinner, Russell admired his Contract Partners and the night sky, grateful that he was no longer alone and amazed he had become a Wyvern Knight.