Hum!
Upon mounting the Little Dream Dragon, Russell saw the dream world before him suddenly undergo a massive change.
The dark lines of the castle remained as they were, but within each corner of the castle, there arose one bright light after another.
Russell was no longer surprised by this.
After several nights of exploration, he had gained a clear understanding of this dream world, which he referred to as the Gloomy Dreamland.
In his perception, the Gloomy Dreamland was in a superimposed state with the real world, or rather, it was like the flip side of reality—a version of the world where various interferences were filtered out through a sort of "lens," leaving behind only pure magic power.
And the key to activating this lens was none other than the Little Dream Dragon beneath him, glowing with a golden light.
The lights that lit up in various corners of the castle were the emissions of different magic powers.
Among them, the most striking one was the huge flame-like brightness at the top of the dimly outlined tower. It sketched out the silhouette of a Bipedal Flying Dragon, which at that moment was sitting and sleeping like a gargoyle.
Undoubtedly, this was Ros the Clay Dragon, manifested within the Gloomy Dreamland.
"Let's go take a look," Russell waved his small, short arms within the Gloomy Dreamland, which were chubby yet quite nimble, a feeling both strange and wonderful.
"Caw!"
The Little Dream Dragon cried out and flapped its wings, flying towards Ros the Clay Dragon at roughly the pace of an adult's walk.
It took a good while to get there.
Hovering right in front of Ros, Russell could clearly see through the flame pattern and make out the outline formed by Ros's magic power.
Fierce, mysterious, mystical.
"What a beautiful Bipedal Flying Dragon, overflowing with such rich magic power, too bad it harbors a strong hostility towards me, a traveler, and I can't ride it!" Russell lamented.
All extraordinary powers could be collectively termed as magic power.
Whether it was the Battle Qi of Knights, the Primal Force of Fantasy Beasts, the Dragon Breath of Flying Dragons, or even the Dragonflame spat by Great Dragons.
These forces were all different manifestations of magic power.
And the most basic magic power was found within the Magic Potion cultivated by Elves, which was the Earth's Power drawn and refined from the ground underfoot.
"Caw!"
Seemingly dissatisfied with Russell's praise for Ros the Clay Dragon, the Little Dream Dragon turned its bull-like head 180 degrees, and with the posture of a roaring evil dragon, let out a crisp, duck-like cry towards Russell.
"Haha, quite the jealous type," Russell reached out his little short hand to pat the Little Dream Dragon's big head and expressed his regret, "Too bad I can only ride you in dreams... What I really want is to ride a dragon in the real world!"
The Little Dream Dragon showed it did not understand but was still displeased: "Caw!"
"Let's move on."
The duo flew back and forth in the quiet Gloomy Dreamland, checking every place where the magic power glowed.
Most of the lights were emitted by the Knights within the castle, with varying degrees of brightness but mostly a dim and hazy gleam. Russell himself emitted a murky gleam as well, indicating that his Battle Qi was weak.
But there were exceptions for three of the Knights.
One lay in the castle's largest bedroom: Baron Youguang, Roman Youguangxun, whose emitted light was bright and stable, clearly outlining a human shape.
Next to the Baron was a very dim point of light.
"Hm, that must be Mother's Qi Seed," Russell thought. It's hard for women to cultivate Battle Qi due to physiological differences, so his mother, Meryl, had only managed to nurture a single Qi Seed, which hadn't blossomed into Battle Qi.
The Qi Seed was nestled in the lower abdomen area and thus didn't outline a human shape, appearing rather as a lone small point of light.
Russell looked around, the room's outline was blurry, but the walls were decorated with several rather bright luminous globes.
These were gemstone lamps embedded in the walls.
Bipedal Flying Dragons could produce metals, and likewise, they could produce gems, so most metal and gemstone creations bore the power of Dragon Breath and lit up in the Gloomy Dreamland. However, depending on the concentration of magic power, the brightness of the glow varied.
Only a few pieces with dense Dragon Breath could emit a glow that was easy to observe.
"No changes; it seems the Baron hasn't acquired any new treasures these past few days," Russell chuckled and rode away on the Little Dream Dragon.
Ever since he awakened the golden finger of the Gloomy Dreamland, he had been inspecting Fluorescent Castle every day, and he had pretty much figured out everything about the Baron's assets.
How many Elves there were, how many Fantasy Beasts, how many treasures, and where the treasures were hidden—he knew them all clearly.
Of course.
He had no intention of stealing— a thief within the family was still a thief, and he had no wish to become one.
However, should anything unexpected happen to the castle, he felt it was his duty to protect the family's wealth, and that was all.
"Little Dream Dragon, let's fly outside."
"Ga!"
The two of them flew slowly to the edge of the castle, which was the position of the outer wall; when they flew past the outer wall, they quickly encountered an invisible barrier.
"Hmm, still not working... It seems the Gloomy Dreamland has limited range, probably a circular area drawn with the place I sleep as the center," Russell thought, "As to whether that's the case or not, I'll naturally find out once I move into Wuyao Snake Manor."
"Ga!"
"Are you tired?"
"Ga!"
"Alright then, let's dispel it." Russell flipped off his back, waving goodbye to the Little Dream Dragon.
"Ga ga!" Although the Little Dream Dragon was a bit silly, it had learned a bit of human communication after several nights of contact.
It waved its short and thin right forelimb.
Then it turned around and slowly vanished into a turning corner of the castle outlined by lines, thereafter, the entire Gloomy Dreamland went completely dark.
All consciousness plunged into chaos.
...
"Ding ding ding!" Knocking sounds came from outside the room. It was Carter the butler, "Good morning, Mr. Russell, it's time to wake up."
"Thanks, Mr. Carter." On the large bed, Russell turned over and struggled for a few seconds before reluctantly sitting up.
Then he paused for a moment in a daze, laughing self-deprecatingly, "I didn't expect to still have to get up early after crossing over!"
The Baron's family upbringing was very strict, not allowing the children to oversleep, even though Russell had already had his coming-of-age ceremony, it was still not permitted.
"Fortunately, once I go to Wuyao Snake Manor, I can sleep until I'm fully rested every day!"
Thinking of this, Russell could hardly wait to gather his entourage and servants and hurry to his own domain, even though the quality of life there was nothing compared to Fluorescent Castle.
But that was still a home belonging to him alone.
A home without a mortgage and with life-long ownership rights, um, and it was a home spanning 20,000 hectares, that is 200 square kilometers.
The only regret was that being a Lord was a lifelong title, not hereditary. Once Russell passed away, the title and the domain would be reclaimed by the Lord, not passed down to his descendants.
Of course.
Russell didn't even have a partner yet, so he didn't need to consider such a distant future.
Ding ding ding, the knocking came again, and several maids stood at the door with basins for washing up, toothbrushes, towels, and a whole set of clean clothes, waiting to enter, "Good morning, Mr. Russell."
"Please come in." Russell had already got out of bed and was wearing only his undershirt.
The maids entered, each performing their duties. One maid began making the bed, another tidied up the random articles on the table, and another took the basin, toothbrush, and towel to the washroom and placed the new undergarments properly.
"Mr. Russell, you may begin washing up now," said the lead maid with a smile.
"Hmm, okay." Russell let the maids bustle about.
He inwardly berated the "evils of nobility" then entered the washroom to brush his teeth, wash his face, and change his undergarments.
When he came out of the washroom, the room had been made anew.
"Mr. Russell, your room has been cleaned."
"Thank you."
The maids, carrying the dirty clothes and bed linens, left the bedroom one after another, and almost at the same time, a male servant stood at the door, knocking softly.
"Mr. Russell."
"Come in."
After the male servant entered, he immediately picked up the clean clothes the maids had brought in, helped Russell get dressed, and carefully fastened his belt and necktie.
There were clear divisions of labor between male and female servants; in a noble household, it was absolutely forbidden to overstep boundaries—a male servant could not attend to a lady's dressing, nor could a female servant attend to a gentleman's dressing.
"You're getting handsomer by the day, I see the grace of the old Earl in you," flattered the male servant.
Russell raised an eyebrow, "Have you met my grandfather?"
"Of course, I once accompanied the old master to Bluebird Castle and saw the old Earl," said the male servant, who obviously wasn't just flattering, "Mr. Russell, my mother is ill, and Butler Carter is recruiting servants, I very much wish to serve you but…"