Chapter 46 - 46 Black Wild Boar
After transforming into a dragon, a Spirit Contract can be signed.
Thanks to the previous Spirit Bond with the Juvenile Spirit, signing the Spirit Contract became very smooth. Combined with Big Black Tooth’s own willingness, Zhu Minglang has now officially become a Dragon Shepherd to two True Dragons starting from today!!
Upon completing the signing, Zhu Minglang could feel the soul connection more clearly. At the same time, he felt as if there was something different in his own mind and spirit world, as if his five senses had become sharper, and his insight into the surrounding things had also strengthened!
“Spiritual Power has increased, and the Spirit Realm can make both Bai Qi and Black Tooth grow faster, one day equivalent to half a month. Moreover, now I can try to use Spiritual Power for Soul Collecting Pearl Brewing!” Zhu Minglang exclaimed excitedly.
The leap over the Dragon Gate by Black Tooth had evidently brought about many changes to himself, as if his own realm had taken a huge step forward, and he didn’t have to be a salted fish anymore!
Although Bai Qi’s strength was still far above Black Tooth’s, being an inferior Dragon General in its growth stage, for some reason its advancement did not bring much change to his mind and spirit.
On the other hand, it was Black Tooth’s transformation into a dragon that had truly brought Zhu Minglang into the threshold of being a Dragon Shepherd!
“The first time being a formal Dragon Shepherd, there’s still a lot to slowly figure out. Mhm, mhm, steady but advancing, moving towards a small goal!” Zhu Minglang was in high spirits, already vaguely seeing the signs of his return to the peak!
To become a strong individual of this era, one must have a Dragon Lord.
But thinking about the realm Li Yunzi was in, Zhu Minglang felt he needed to raise his small goal a bit.
Li Yunzi exhibited strength at the Lord Level, so as an authoritative man himself, he should at least reach the Monarch Level to be able to sweep away all opposition!
After taking Black Tooth with him, Zhu Minglang noticed that a certain girl was still lying on the desk, sleeping just like before, completely unaware that a big man and a Black Azure Dragon had walked out from the rear pavilion. The only difference was that she had changed her sleeping posture, looking rather cute and no longer tranquil…
Zhu Minglang didn’t want to disturb her, but as he was leaving, he suddenly noticed a bill hanging in front of the door, clearly stating the credits he needed to pay and some of the ingredients they had fed in these days.
“You eat this much?” Zhu Minglang turned to ask Big Black Tooth.
“Oh??” Big Black Tooth looked as if it had never been satiated.
Zhu Minglang felt a headache coming on as he thought about his money and the pitiful number of credits he had on hand.
Fortunately, the Rehabilitation Pavilion was one of the few places in the
Dragon Taming Academy where you could run up a tab, otherwise Zhu Minglang would have had to pawn the newly transformed Big Black Tooth right there.
Speaking of dragon food, the formerly high-spirited Zhu Minglang fell into deep thought once again.
The supply of Frost Tree Flower Honey for Little White was almost out, and after its advancement, its appetite had increased a little, and it seemed that the Frost Tree Flower Honey was no longer nutritious enough. At least up to now, Zhu Minglang had not seen Bai Qi awaken its Azure Dragon Mystics…
After Big Black Tooth transformed into a dragon, its appetite… could no longer be sated by just a few baskets of meat grubs.
Now, Big Black Tooth no longer ate cheap meat grubs, it wanted meat, rich and premium, and energy-packed meat.
The recent bill clearly stated that Big Black Tooth had consumed a total of seven adult wild black pigs!!
Yet, Big Black Tooth still didn’t feel full.
Dragons truly did eat gold!
Now that Big Black Tooth could be taken into the Spirit Realm, moving in and out would be much easier.
Having become a true Dragon Shepherd, Zhu Minglang was eligible to move into a separate residence, but changing living arrangements cost credits and money. After thinking about it, he felt the lively atmosphere with his enthusiastic classmates was pretty good!
His own house had been cleaned spotlessly. When Hong Hao saw Zhu Minglang return, he immediately came up to greet him, and his praise made Zhu Minglang feel quite comfortable.
“I’ve been a bit short on money recently…” Zhu Minglang just so happened to have something to ask Hong Hao.
“Ah?? I’m not rich though.” Hong Hao shuddered in fear, feeling that his wealth was about to be bullied away.
“I’m not borrowing from you, what are you panicking for? I’m asking if there are any good commissions within the academy that offer high rewards?” Zhu Minglang said.
“Not many academy appointments recently, you can go check in the city-states, there should be something suitable for Brother Zhu’s level!” Hong Hao said.
“Help me find out where there’s an abundance of black wild pigs,” Zhu Minglang said.
“No problem!” Hong Hao became exceptionally enthusiastic.
Zhu Minglang went back to his room to sleep. He hadn’t closed his eyes in a while and was just as exhausted.
He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, sleeping very deeply. The windows of the room were tightly closed, with curtains drawn, hardly letting in any light. Occasionally, when Zhu Minglang awoke, he couldn’t tell if it was day or night outside.
In the Spirit Realm.
Little White was deeply asleep too, its feathers lightly fluttering with its breath.
Big Black Tooth was in another corner, its snoring thunderous, growing more intense. Whenever the snores reached a peak, Little White’s tail would sweep through the air sending a strong wind across Big Black Tooth’s face in the Spirit Realm.
Big Black Tooth half-awoke and rubbed his face against his nest a few times before falling back asleep, his snoring growing louder by the moment until a crosswind swept through the Spirit Realm, bringing a moment of tranquility.
Apparently unable to endure the Black Dragon’s snoring any longer, Little White woke up, crawled out of the Spirit Realm, and, as usual, folded his wings, circled his tail around himself, and curled up like a little cat on Zhu Minglang’s quilt.
Zhu Minglang groggily opened his eyes, still heavy with sleep, but when he noticed a Little White Dragon nested atop his quilt and taking up a spot, he carefully turned to one side, daring not to tug even a bit at the bedding so that part of his body was nearly exposed. Even as he shivered from the cold, he couldn’t bear to ask Little White to move…
Overcast skies, cold autumn.
To the north of Li Chuan Dragon Taming Academy lay a vast and lush forest, with a region near the entrance dominated by cedar trees, while deeper in stood many tall and ancient pines.
The reason Zhu Minglang was in these woods was due to Hong Hao’s high recommendation of it as an excellent hunting ground, where many Dragon Shepherds who had carnivorous dragons would hunt every now and then, maintaining the dragons’ ferocity and wildness!
Walking into the cedar forest, the soil was covered with many leaves that had only recently fallen, which felt incredibly soft underfoot.
Of course, it was Zhu Minglang walking on them, but when Big Black Tooth took a step, his huge footprints appeared directly in the soil, causing the fragile young cedar trees nearby to tremble.
As one moved deeper, they would encounter forest black pigs, but such creatures were not as ubiquitous as sparrows and not easy to find. Zhu Minglang had wandered the area for quite a while and hadn’t spotted a single wild boar!
The most difficult part of hunting wasn’t killing the prey, but finding it. In a vast forest full of trees, even without the obstructed view by low shrubs, locating a fierce wild boar was no easy task.
Fortunately, Zhu Minglang had made some preparations; tracking the footprints of certain creatures was a skill most Dragon Shepherds needed to know.
With Zhu Minglang’s greatly enhanced sensory abilities, he could now detect the residual scent of certain creatures within a certain area. Closing his eyes, the scents would float around like fragrant wind, lingering somewhere before drifting in a fixed yet slightly vague direction—the direction most likely taken by the creature…
Of course, scents could also dissipate with environmental disturbances, and many Demon Spirits knew how to hide, mislead, or erase their scent to avoid being found by their predators. “This way,”
Zhu Minglang pointed in a direction.
Sitting on Big Black Tooth’s back, Zhu Minglang felt much more at ease and moved much faster than before.
“No, that’s wrong. That seems to be a deer. It’s this way. This time, I’m sure I’m not mistaken,” Zhu Minglang corrected, pointing in another direction.
The Black Azure Violent Dragon turned quite nimbly; it did, after all, have powerful hind limbs and could, like the Barbaric Tyrant Dragons, maintain an upright gait…
Zhu Minglang had already conducted some identification at the academy; Big Black Tooth bore the pure bloodlines of a Barbaric Tyrant Dragon and a Dark Azure Dragon—an authentic Ancient Dragon.
Barbaric Tyrant Dragon and Azure Dragon were respectively the overlords of land and sea, so Big Black Tooth possessed exceedingly formidable combat capability on land as well.
A howl came from ahead, and Zhu Minglang immediately ordered the Black Azure Violent Dragon to halt and wait there.
The Black Azure Violent Dragon was too big, and its Violent Dragon aura was immensely powerful. Those Ordinary Spirits with keen senses would scatter like birds and beasts long before Big Black Tooth could approach.
Forest black pigs were no different; they could not contend with an Ancient Dragon, and they would start to flee at the slightest noise.
Zhu Minglang certainly didn’t want to miss this wild boar. He decided to go on foot, following the call.
The Black Azure Violent Dragon had to move very slowly if it wanted to proceed, but its size made it hard to move stealthily.
“You wait here; I’ll go ahead and take a look. Don’t scare off our first prey,” Zhu Minglang instructed.
“Shh-???? Zhu Minglang quickly made a quiet gesture to Big Black Tooth.
Big Black Tooth forcefully held back his vigorous response, snorting heavily through his nostrils!
Zhu Minglang hurried forward.
He noticed many gnawed cedar cones at his feet, though most were not eaten cleanly.
Probably the work of black pigs—they didn’t have the agile incisors like squirrels or rabbits to eat cedar cones delicately. Instead, they gobbled them up whole and had to spit out the inedible shells in the end.
After crossing the area littered with cedar cones, Zhu Minglang saw a huge wild boar covered in long, thick hair!
The black pig’s fur was nearly dragging on the ground, its size could rival some wild yaks, which was significantly older than the black wild boars caught in the academy.
In a few more years, this black wild pig might even become a demon itself!