Chapter 414: 416: The Hunting Festival
Exactly what species it was, Zhu Minglang couldn’t quite identify just yet.
After all, this was the Dragon Taming Academy, where one could always find out what this dragon with the domineering helmet-like structure on its head was.
Zhu Minglang had saved quite a bit of Hawk Emperor Meat.
Although Little Wild Jiao also ate meat, it seemed to prefer the meat of creatures from the sea, not showing as much enthusiasm for the meat from land.
Big Black Tooth, on the other hand, liked the meat from land, despite it possessing the bloodline of the Azure Dragon.
Hawk Emperor Meat…
One piece at a time, Big Black Tooth, freshly broken out of its cocoon, ate with a look of contentment on its face.
Recalling its past, when it first crawled out of the Juvenile Spirit Hall, it had to compete with a group of barbaric Wolf Spirits for food, which left it covered in wounds, and the only meat it got was from flesh worms.
The flesh worms had a lifespan of at most half a month.
The Hawk Emperor, however, lived for twenty-five thousand years, and its meat was extremely nourishing.
With every gulp swallowed, Little Black Dragon felt a warmth filling its belly, flowing towards every part of its body—organs, blood, bones, tendons, muscles, skin!
Little Black Dragon indeed inherited its original physique, a true glutton.
That meal alone consumed about one-tenth of the Hawk Emperor Meat.
Seeing Little Black Dragon finally satisfied, Zhu Minglang suddenly fell into deep thought.
If in the future Big Black Tooth would only eat Holy Spirits meat, my hunting days would become tough.
But that’s not quite right…
I just need to find a Holy Spirit. The Heavenly Slaughter Dragon drinks only blood, Big Black Tooth eats only meat, which actually doesn’t make my hunting more difficult. It’s like hitting several targets with one arrow!
“Starting today, I should pay more attention to information on Ten Thousand Year Saint Spirits, and go hunting a few when I have the chance. After all, they are all in need of training,” he thought.
Hunting could be integrated with combat.
For example, sending the Heavenly Slaughter Dragon after a Ten Thousand Year Saint Spirit wouldn’t be suitable. That kind of high-level suppression in a kill wouldn’t help the Heavenly Slaughter Dragon at all and could even damage its soul, preventing soul collecting and pearl brewing.
Handing over such a Ten Thousand Year Saint Spirit to the now grown Little Qingzhuo and Big Black Tooth would provide not only food but also real combat training, killing two birds with one stone!
Just after eating its fill, Little Black Dragon’s body grew!
Its bones stretched out, and its body lengthened. The speed at which it digested the meat was astonishing, making Zhu Minglang feel a bit incredulous.
Just one meal, and it had grown to two and a half meters!
This was no longer a house dog, it was a fierce tiger!
Eating a lot and growing fast, and given that Big Black Tooth had a very short growth cycle, it probably wouldn’t be long before it reached its growth period.
“Now that you’re full, show off your abilities,” Zhu Minglang said to the Little Black Dragon.
Little Black Dragon couldn’t wait.
It looked around, and in the thick fog, Little Black Dragon saw a Fierce Dragon approaching like a predator in search of food.
Little Black Dragon immediately pounced, its speed not matching its size at all. Even while running, one could see a force of Ancient Dark Aura cloaking it entirely, making its two-and-a-half-meter-long Young Dragon form as formidable as a black giant elephant, fierce and menacing!
The slowly approaching Fierce Dragon was terrified out of its wits.
This Fierce Dragon was merely a mount, its fighting power was only as good as a regular Dragon Son’s. Seeing such a Black Dragon, bearing the shadow of an Ancient Beast, charging at it, it panicked and, like an ostrich, buried its head into the sand!
“Big Black Tooth, stop!” Zhu Minglang hastily called out to the Little Black Dragon.
Just hatched from the egg and already trying to hunt a dragon to eat? Unbelievable!
If Zhu Minglang had been even a bit slower in shouting, Little Black Dragon’s teeth would have sunk into the Fierce Dragon’s neck.
It had inherited its battle skills from before; with its current biting force, it could have snapped the Fierce Dragon’s neck in one go, then flung it into the air, shattering all its bones upon impact.
Unfortunately, its master called it off.
It still wanted to show its master its current hunting abilities…
Little Black Dragon stopped its attack, and the Ancient Dark Aura around it disappeared as well.
Only then did Little Black Dragon notice that on the back of the Fierce Dragon mount, there was a person.
That person had been dismounted by the Fierce Dragon’s comical behavior, tumbling down into the sand, looking utterly disheveled.
Zhu Minglang walked over and helped Luo Shaoyan, who had gotten a mouthful of sand.
“Is this your dragon?” Luo Shaoyan spit out the sand and asked with a look of astonishment on his face.
“Yes, it’s a Little Young Dragon,” Zhu Minglang nodded in confirmation.
“Another… another Young Dragon?” Luo Shaoyan scrutinized Little Black Dragon carefully.
So you call a black Violent Dragon that’s over two meters long, capable of rushing in and biting to death the fierce dragon mount you sit on—a ‘Little Young Dragon’?
What’s little, what’s young about it!
“Are you also up early for dragon taming?” Zhu Minglang chuckled and patted Big Black Tooth’s head.
Big Black Tooth loved this kind of petting; it seemed as if just by rubbing its head, its whole body became uncontrollably comfortable, and though its head stayed still, the Little Black Dragon’s body had already flipped over, rolling around in the sand.
“To make up for the loss I brought you last time, I’ll take you to a more exciting place,” said Luo Shaoyan.
“Let’s hear it,” Zhu Minglang said.
“You know about the Neon Sea Yan Clan, right?” Luo Shaoyan continued.
“I’ve heard of them,” Zhu Minglang nodded.
“The Yan Clan is a rather brutal large family. They frequently engage in deeds that somewhat contravene humanity. Many countries in their own right are tyrannical and especially endorse the Yan Clan. Thus, they are a force in Neon Sea that not many commoners dare to provoke,” Luo Shaoyan explained.
“Get to the point; I’ll see if I’m interested,” Zhu Minglang wasn’t interested in listening to these background introductions.
“They hold a hunting festival every year,” said Luo Shaoyan.
“A group hunt, to see who can hunt the most demonic beasts? Many places have that,” Zhu Minglang remarked.
In the Imperial City, those with power and nothing better to do enjoy watching killings; group hunts are the most popular.
You seal off a mountain, then a bunch of people go hunting in the hills, and in the end, whoever brings back the most prey wins.
It’s one of the Royal Family’s favorite outdoor sports, more about the clans and sects showing off to one another, really.
“No, no, no, what they hunt are not demonic beasts,” Luo Shaoyan said with an air of mystery.
“Then what are they hunting, wild dragons? I’m not interested,” Zhu Minglang shook his head.
If the stakes are raised, it simply means that the organizers capture wild dragons and then use them as hunting targets.
Since dragons are sentient beings, Zhu Minglang is quite the humanitarian, and he doesn’t like it.
“They hunt people,” Luo Shaoyan said in a low voice.
“What??” Zhu Minglang thought he must have misheard.
The Neon Sea should count as a civilized kingdom, right? How could they allow the Yan Clan to openly hunt living humans??
“These people, of course, are not ordinary citizens; they are extremely vicious death-row inmates, or traitors to the nation, or those with serious crimes on the wanted list…”