The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Upon entering the fourth floor of the Mage Tower, a cool breeze hit me in the face.

It was now mid-June, officially entering the scorching summer heat. Although Black Horse Island is at a high latitude with considerable rainfall, and located above the sea, on clear days the heat was still frightening. Outside, it must have been around twenty-seven or twenty-eight degrees, but after entering the room, it felt like it was only in the teens.

The change in temperature was astounding.
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"Viscount, this is the magic equipment we made using the Golden Pearl. The outer disc is the controlling magic array, which can be operated to adjust the temperature from high to low," Granney, acting as the guide, detailed the properties of the equipment to Liszt.

It was essentially a disc-shaped piece of equipment with a Golden Pearl embedded in the center.

Liszt touched the disc, finding the disc's temperature to be about the same as the room's, not any cooler: "Is the current temperature set to high or low?"

"It is essentially low energy consumption at a higher temperature."

"Adjust it to the lowest temperature, let's see how much it can drop."

Granney had settled in the Mage Tower, with people delivering food and drink to him, and occasionally, he could go see a play or a comedy show in the port town. He could often consult Grand Magician Chris, and his life was quite pleasant, which improved his temper a lot. He worked very diligently and spoke much more gently.

"Yes, Viscount."

He quickly activated the magic runes on the disc for adjustment, and after a moment, the temperature inside the room plummeted, growing colder and colder.

When it reached about four or five degrees, it couldn't cool any further.

Feeling the goosebumps on his skin, Liszt frowned and asked, "Is this its lowest cooling capability? Can it not be lowered to a degree that can form ice?"

"I apologize, Viscount. The Grand Magician and I have tried many times but still cannot make the Golden Pearl conjure ice blocks; this is its upper limit of magic power," Granney said regretfully, as the ability to make ice would have doubled the pearl's value.

Chris shook her head as well, "It's a pity the Golden-Lipped Clam is a water attribute sea monster. If it had been an ice attribute sea monster, the Golden Pearl would definitely have been able to create ice." As a Grand Magician, she could produce a small amount of ice herself, but using her personal magic to create and sell ice would be uneconomical.

Although he felt regret, Liszt still encouraged them, "It's quite impressive already. With the Golden Pearl, I believe the hot summer will be much more bearable... Have you named it yet?"

"Please name it, Viscount."

"Hmm," Liszt thought for a moment, then inquired further, "Since it can regulate temperature, can it also raise the temperature during winter?"

After pondering, Chris said, "Although we think it has triggered its ice attribute properties, according to its essence, it's more like a constant temperature control. Since it's the hot summer now, it exhibits a cooling nature, but in winter, it should be able to warm up."

During the previous report, she and Granney had only thought the Golden Pearl could cool. It was only after Liszt's question that they realized this—if it could cool in summer, why couldn't it warm in winter? After all, its range of temperature adjustment was from four or five degrees to the teens—of course, the temperature measurement is just what Liszt felt, as there were no thermometers here.

"This makes it more versatile, being able to cool as well as warm," Liszt was very pleased with this feature, as mere cooling had limited effect, but both cooling and warming made for a good air conditioner, "Since it's a kind of constant temperature regulation, then, let's call it the Temperature Calming Pearl!"

The Black Pearl could be turned into the Calming Wind Pearl.

The Pink Pearl could be turned into the Water Calming Pearl.

The Golden Pearl could be turned into the Temperature Calming Pearl.

All three pearls had powerful effects, which made him quite satisfied. It was the best news he had heard in a while: "The Tranquil Lake on Blue Dragon Island has sea monster pearl oysters that can produce White Pearls, which have only the simple effect of calming the mind, far inferior to the three types of pearls produced in my territory!"

Especially since Black Pearls inherently exude a heart-calming and tranquilizing effect, they are far superior to White Pearls.

Together with Levis and The Loria Couple, he had already sold Black Pearls to many nobles and famous ladies in the Grand Duchy, earning heaps upon heaps of Gold Coins.

Unfortunately, the Black Pearls had sold out, and harvesting more would take at least a year and a half—as for the large Black Pearls, it could take decades, even a hundred years to cultivate. However, the old Tridacna, living in the deep sea, whenever they appeared in Pearl Lake, would allow for a substantial profit.

Techniques for pearl harvesting and culturing had been figured out, which allowed for the extraction without harming the lives of the Tridacna.

This was an industry that could be developed over the long term.

He gathered his thoughts.

He asked Chris and Granney, "How large is the range of the Temperature Calming Pearl?"

"Based on the standard of this Golden Pearl, it's the size of a thirty-square-meter room."

"Hmm, a bit small," Liszt complained, then quickly added, "I will provide you with more Golden Pearls. When you have the time, make them into Temperature Calming Pearls. The Mage Tower will install a batch, and I need the rest for my Thorn Castle."

Granney, the main force in creating Magic Equipment, immediately nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Viscount, I will take care of making the Temperature Calming Pearls."

...

The Golden-Lipped Clam is a Sea Monster that can cast the Common Magic - Water Bullet.

The best suited collector for the job was Sea Sprite Ake, but as Ake was recently fully engaged in the study of Natural Magic, Liszt did not disturb her. Instead, he personally rode the Rainbow Whale Rose to the habitat of the Golden-Lipped Clam near Rocky Island. He looked for large Golden-Lipped Clams and lured them with food.

Once a clam opened up its shell, he quickly jammed in a Fire Dragon Bone, blocking the clam's defenses, then held up his shield to block the Water Bullets it released.

Rapidly he sliced open the thin membrane surrounding the Golden Pearl and extracted it.

After inserting a grain of sand, he withdrew the Fire Dragon Bone.

In this way, the Golden-Lipped Clam would be unharmed and could continue to gestate Golden Pearls—the healing power of Sea Monsters is strong as long as they are not excessively tampered with, they rarely die.

Shellfish like the Golden-Lipped Clam and Tridacna could all be processed in this manner. The true challenge was the Fen Hai Luo, from which the Pink Pearls could not be extracted without killing it.

So he repeated the process.

Within an hour, Liszt had acquired fifteen Golden Pearls.

He calculated that this should be sufficient to meet the needs; the Castle required Temperature Calming Pearls in no more than ten rooms, and the Mage Tower would have five more installed, which would just use up the fifteen Pearls. As for the current pearl in hand, he could give it to Ake to play with and study.

The main issue was that the population of Golden-Lipped Clams was not large, and even fewer had the rightly sized Golden Pearls, comparable to a chicken egg.

Otherwise, Liszt would definitely have harvested in large quantities, creating Temperature Calming Pearls for sale, and earning a vast amount of Gold Coins to purchase supplies.

It seemed like his good luck had returned.

No sooner had he digested the good news about the Golden Pearls.

Then another piece of good news arrived—the textile workshop had finally turned the fibers from Green Caterpillars into fabric, which was delivered to the Castle for Liszt's appraisal.