Chapter 439 - 298: Sleeping Buji (Part 2)

"Queen Aixi, long time no see," Levi greeted.

"It has been a long time. You’ve even started to look a bit world-weary," Aixi said with a smile.

Levi rubbed the stubble that had sprouted on his chin, not minding it at all.

During a military campaign, even a Lord couldn’t be expected to shave every day and keep his appearance perfectly impeccable.

He hadn’t shaved in half a month.

"Levi, you must be exhausted from your journey." Baisitina stood on her tiptoes, her heart aching for him as she brushed the snowflakes from the Lord’s hair.

Before they met, she had a thousand things to say, but now that they were face to face, it all coalesced into a simple greeting.

"I’m fine, I’m fine." Levi chuckled, then held out a hand to measure her height. "Tina, you’ve gotten taller again!" he exclaimed in surprise.

When he left, the young girl was just a little over 1.5 ren, but now she was at least 1.6, nearly 1.7 ren tall.

While she couldn’t compare to the tall Aixi and Miriel, it was still quite an impressive height.

"Tina is still young; her height hasn’t fully settled yet. If she continues to eat Konglan Snake Flower, she can still grow a bit more," Aixi was the first to explain with a smile.

They cultivated this low-level Magic Plant around the Tribe, and the women often ate it as food. Besides having a pleasant taste and serving as sustenance, it also had the effect of increasing one’s height.

"The journey must have been tiring. Let’s go eat first," Baisitina said, pointing to the specially expanded dining hall.

The crowd flowed in like a river, and the cooks of High Cliff Castle immediately gave it their all, working tirelessly to prepare the meal.

Levi plopped down in the main seat, and the others sat in their respective places.

"So, how was the trip?" Miriel asked curiously.

News about the Demons was currently classified, so besides those who had seen them firsthand, almost no one else knew.

Therefore, Miriel only knew that High Cliff Castle’s forces had won several victories after heading south, and that Liya had successfully inherited her title in the end.

As for why they had stayed in Kolon for so long afterward, she wasn’t quite sure.

"Now that’s a long story." Levi snapped his fingers. An apron-wearing Goat-man cook piled food onto his plate until it formed a small mountain, only then nodding in satisfaction.

When it was the others’ turn, the cook adopted a strictly business-like attitude, giving everyone the same portion size.

"Just listen to me tell it..."

The Lord spoke while stuffing his face.

Soon, he began recounting the journey with a few embellishments.

As a veteran reader of Knightly Novels, he knew how to make a story lively and engaging. Coupled with the fact that the journey had indeed been full of twists and turns, the words poured out of him endlessly once he began.

He started with how they had easily established a beachhead in Kalia Town by smashing a Stone Giant several stories tall. Then he described how they were ambushed at Black Stone Castle, where an explosion killed several thousand of their men and two Counts. By this point, everyone was completely captivated.

When he spoke of the terrifying power of the wildfire, Baisitina couldn’t help but pat her chest, grateful that it wasn’t High Cliff Castle’s main force that had gone.

As the story continued from the brutal siege of Black Stone Castle to the moment the Demons were brought in by the Griffin Knights, everyone found themselves completely engrossed.

They had conquered Kolon and enjoyed a long period of peace, but when he described the late-night visit from a human army made of disguised Demons, everyone subconsciously held their breath.

He told them that this Demon force was merely a Vanguard Army, that White Bone Fortress was in grave danger, and that the southern army had immediately rushed to reinforce it. He described their shock when a human traitor opened the gates, allowing the Demons to nearly capture the fortress, while the situation at the Teleportation Gate also became critical.

The entire dining hall had fallen so silent you could hear a pin drop. No one dared to even breathe loudly.

Even the Elf Maidens, who had been gasping and covering their mouths earlier, now clamped their hands over them tightly.

The Lord was very pleased with their reaction. Drawing out his final words, he adopted the most show-offish tone of a tavern Minstrel to describe how, at the most critical moment...

...he had transformed into a Dragon Knight to turn the tide and resolve the crisis at White Bone Fortress. Then, he had rushed into the Hengduan Mountain Range, beheaded the Legendary Powerhouse, the Balrog Flame Demon, in front of everyone, clashed with one of the Gods, and finally, closed the Teleportation Gate.

Instantly, the dining hall was filled with the gasps of the young women.

"And look at this! A genuine Legendary Weapon!" But the Lord felt something was still missing. He pulled a Giant Sword from his inventory and, with a flick of his wrist, plunged it into the floor in the center of the dining hall.

If the dining hall hadn’t been expanded, it wouldn’t have been able to fit this Giant Sword, which was nearly five ren long.

The massive Flame Sword, wreathed in roaring flames, illuminated the entire dining hall. Everyone had been bundled up against the cold, but now they couldn’t help but feel a sweltering heat.

Embedded in the hilt was a palm-sized, prismatic red crystal. Inside it, a small red dragon with a face full of resentment was staring at the Lord.

"A Dragon Crystal!" This time, even Aixi couldn’t help but exclaim, her face paling.

In ancient times, Elves, Giant Dragons, and Giants were the hegemons who dominated this land, and they often fought one another.

The Elves often used Dragon Crystals for research or to craft powerful weapons. They had books on the subject, and Aixi could even guess the age of the Giant Dragon just by looking at this Dragon Crystal.

And without a doubt, this was the Dragon Crystal of an adult Red Dragon. A Giant Dragon of this age was an opponent that not even a Legendary Powerhouse could face. It was hard to imagine what kind of enemy it had encountered to end up being forged into a weapon.

"That’s right," Levi nodded. He then gave another embellished account of how he had acquired the sword before turning to the Red Dragon in the crystal. "Quick, spit some fire for everyone to see."

After speaking, he even whistled twice.

Unfortunately, the Red Dragon just kept staring at him resentfully, not moving at all.

You have to understand, in this corner of the world that was High Cliff Castle, no one had ever dared to defy the Lord.

"If you’re itching for a beating, just say so. As it happens, I, your Lord, have more Holy Light than I know what to do with." Levi stood up with a cold smile, Holy Light surging in his hands.

He knew the Red Dragon Soul could understand him. Although it couldn’t speak, its intelligence was probably on par with a seven or eight-year-old child.

A trace of fear flashed across the Red Dragon’s face. It seemed to realize that its circumstances were dire and that staying alive was more important than anything else. Reluctantly, it swam out of the Dragon Crystal, opened its mouth, and spat a small puff of dragon’s breath into the air.

After spitting it out, it immediately flew back inside the Dragon Crystal.

"That’s truly incredible," Aixi marveled. She had read many books and knew more than the others. "A Dragon Crystal stores the essence of a Giant Dragon’s entire life, but it should never contain a Dragon Soul."

"To be able to preserve this Red Dragon’s soul and house it within the Dragon Crystal... it’s simply unimaginable who could have accomplished such a thing."

"Truly unimaginable," Levi said, thinking of the young Demon he had seen sitting on the throne.

The being’s power was immense, the greatest he had ever witnessed in his life. ’To be honest, I’m probably no match for him right now.’

’But that might not be the case after I finish things up here and make a trip to the Holy Light Church in Gonda.’

"By the way, where’s Buji?"

Levi scanned the room but couldn’t find any sign of the little creature.

Normally, the little guy would have smelled him and flown over the moment he arrived at the gates of High Cliff Castle.

"Not long after you left, Little Buji started getting drowsy all the time. It would often fall asleep in the middle of eating. Then, a short while ago, it fell into a deep sleep and hasn’t woken up since."

Baisitina explained, her face full of confusion.

Levi froze. He was no erudite scholar and was completely clueless about this. This was a matter for someone who knew what they were talking about.

He turned his gaze to the little old Shaman who was holding a bowl and drinking mutton soup. "Sam, what’s going on here?"

Seeing his superior asking a question, Sam quickly put down his bowl, licked his fingers, and then stroked the goatee he had deliberately grown, a contemplative look on his face.

After a long moment, he spoke, his face showing sudden realization:

"There are two possibilities. Either it’s hibernation, or it’s something else entirely."