The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

The chests varied in weight.

The lock was very sturdy.

But this could not stop Liszt from using just one sword imbued with Dou Qi to cut through the copper lock of the lightest chest. The lock broke, and the chest opened.

No one else was in the hall; Butler Carter had sent them all away, and he himself had stepped outside—there might be valuable treasures inside the chest; as a servant, he should not be concerned.

Too many people, too much chatter. Liszt was very pleased with Carter’s actions.

Even though he trusted Carter’s loyalty, he couldn’t trust that all servants were loyal; in case they saw treasures that weren’t meant to be seen, and talked about them outside, that would invite trouble.

Wealth should not be flaunted.

This principle must be understood.

“This chest is very light, quite different from the others, what could it contain? Or is it empty?” Liszt reached out and slowly lifted the lid.

Immediately, a blinding light nearly dazzled his eyes—the chest was filled with intensely reflective white metal ore, which scattered the light coming in through the window all over the place.

He blinked.

Getting used to the scattered light, he then took a closer look at the white metal ore in the chest. He took out a piece and weighed it in his hand. It hardly had any weight, but the feel of it was definitely metallic, cool and extremely hard.

“This is…”

He had never seen such a light metal before; in his knowledge, metals were generally very heavy.

Of course, he also knew of one metal that was very light, lithium, lighter than water by half, able to float on the surface. But even lithium was heavier than the metal ore in his hand now. It felt as if he wasn’t holding a piece of metal ore, but a piece of foam.

He squeezed hard, but the metal ore did not budge.

When he tried to cut it with a sword, he could not make a dent in it, only a faint scratch.

“It’s definitely not foam, and it’s not plastic,” he looked at the ore in his hand, recalling the knight novels he had read, the corners of his brows lifting slightly, gradually breaking into a smile, “I think I have guessed what this metal is. It’s as light as nothing, hard as iron… It’s a magic metal—mithril!”

In this world, metal was the same: gold, silver, copper, iron, aluminium, and so on.

But there were also several special metals, which had an affinity for magic power, were very good conductors of magic, and were essential materials for making magic equipment.

To date, there were three known types of magic metals—mithril, fine gold, and mountain copper.

Mithril as light as nothing, fine gold indestructible, mountain copper unbreakable.

These three kinds of magic metal also originated from dragons, and it was said that the Neverfall Empire had a Mithril Dragon. In the knight novels, the “Silver Knights” who often appeared to follow the protagonist into battle were all equipped with a set of brilliant mithril magic armor that made them swift as the wind.

“Mithril is very valuable, more precious than gold—a chest full of mithril ore is worth at least one dragon coin!” Liszt couldn’t help but lick his lips.

The treasure’s reputation was well-deserved!

He quickly used a Space Gem to store all the mithril ore, leaving behind an empty chest. Just this chest full of mithril ore could be considered a rich haul. However, he had no intention of selling it; he would keep it to craft equipment when he needed it in the future.

Touching the Crimson Blood Sword at his waist, he felt that it must contain a small amount of mithril—the magic conduction ability exceeded that of ordinary fine steel weapons.

Even without a Dragon Gem embedded, a weapon alloyed with mithril was at least a magic weapon.

“Now, let’s see what’s inside the second chest,” Liszt lifted his sword and gently severed the rusty copper lock, lifting the lid.

A foul odor assaulted him.

He nearly retched.

Inside were neatly stacked books, and the stench of the aged paper and binding was overpowering.

Holding his breath.

Liszt saw the book on top, inscribed in handwritten Serpent Script—Rudolf’s Alchemy Diary.

“An alchemy diary?”

His gaze flickered slightly.

The alchemist probably belonged to the profession of legend, possibly equivalent to a chemist, or perhaps a Taoist alchemist? Legends said they could turn ordinary stones into gold through magical alchemy, and whoever mastered the mystery of alchemy could possess wealth to rival nations.

In knight novels, alchemists appeared quite frequently.

It’s just that many who claimed the title of alchemist in reality never showcased any real alchemical skills—they were merely swindlers, tricking others for food and drink.

Liszt, who had studied physics, didn’t quite believe that the art of alchemy existed.

Of course.

In this Different World, where magic existed, who knew if alchemy were real? Like now, he had just seen a diary boldly claiming the title of “Alchemy.”

“Could it really contain records of alchemical techniques? Is this the rhythm of bestowing upon me the art of alchemy? Am I about to ascend to the peak of life so soon?”

Liszt felt his heart rate begin to accelerate.

The career of an alchemist shouldn’t be much less than those top-tier existences such as Dragon Knights, Dragon Domain Landlords, Archmages, and Dragon Slayers—as having money meant one could do whatever they wanted.

However, just as he was about to touch the book,

the seemingly clear script in “Rudolf’s Alchemy Diary” suddenly shattered and dispersed into powder. Liszt’s fingers passed right through the dust, grabbing at nothing.

“I…”

A string of curses almost escaped his thoughts.

In the blink of an eye, the entire box of books turned to dust. A light touch was all it took for them to crumble, rendering any lettering unrecognizable and their forms forever lost.

The wind blew in from the window, whisking away the powder along with a foul smell.

Stunned for quite a while, Liszt finally regained his composure, clutching his chest, almost vomiting blood: “My alchemy!” The thick leather-bound books had decayed with age.

The diary that contained the secrets of alchemy had also turned to ashes.

His heart was in agony.

Even though he doubted the existence of alchemy, the slim possibility that it might be real had slipped through his fingers, and the sense of loss struck a heavy blow to his spirit.

The chest that should have been filled with treasures of knowledge had turned into a pile of useless slag.

A sigh escaped him.

He forcibly suppressed his discomfort: “Forget it, fortune comes to those who have it, and those who don’t, it’s not meant to be. Who knows if the diary really contained alchemy. It was an unexpected find anyway, and losing it won’t shake my determination. A box of mithril ore is valuable enough.”

After comforting himself, he cautiously drew his sword and opened the third chest.

Inside were books as well.

Lying on top were the covers of five books.

Liszt learned his lesson and did not touch them directly, instead carefully memorizing the covers of each book.

“Beast Guide of the Steel Ridge Kingdom,” “Close Encounters with the Multi-horned Magic Rhinoceros,” “Tales of the Glittering Gold Tower,” “The Colorful Mushrooms of the Red Monkey Forest,” “The Rainy Night Thriller at Fox Manor.”

The covers of these books were not written in Serpent Script by hand, but printed, clearly commercially published works.

“Glittering Gold Tower? Red Monkey Forest? Fox Manor?”

He had never heard of these places, but he could be sure that all three locations were within the Steel Ridge Kingdom. Only Steel Ridge and its vassal states used Serpent Script. Including the aforementioned Rudolf who wrote the alchemy diary—they must all be from the Steel Ridge Kingdom.

He cautiously reached out to touch the books, hoping to turn a page.

But it was still a failure. As soon as the books were touched, they immediately turned to powder and could not be preserved.

“What a shame, two boxes of books, a wealth of knowledge, all gone.” Liszt shook his head, turning his gaze to the last two chests, “Are these two chests also filled with books?”