18 Chapter 18: Fighting the Dragon
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
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“It is said that the Dragon Taming Academy is independent of all city-states, and more like a self-established church.” Zhu Minglang walked along the forest and found that the buildings of the Dragon Taming Academy seemed to be even more imposing than those of the city-states.
Upon reaching the large classroom, which was a massive rock building that rose from the ground, its outer walls made of countless moon-white pebbles, with wooden stairs on the outside winding around the entire rock building up to the high teaching hall.
From the hall, terraces extended in all four directions. When Zhu Minglang climbed up, he just happened to see a Flying Bird Pseudo-Dragon raised by the academy perched on the terrace, complete with a leather saddle. It must have belonged either to a teacher or some flashy student showing off.
The Flying Bird Pseudo-Dragon was the offspring of a Pterosaur and a Giant Bird-Dragon, which the academy had domesticated quite a few. As long as a Spirit Bond was formed with one, it could become one’s exclusive mount. They could also be exchanged for academic credits, but not for something trivial like exterminating fish demons.
Zhu Minglang arrived quite early and found himself a seat in the middle.
Soon enough, several familiar faces also sat down, including the young men from his own dormitory and the aloof young master who had enrolled the same day as him, sitting right in front of him.
The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, so Zhu Minglang casually flipped through the book he had borrowed.
“Have you heard? Recently, a Gold-plated Fire Dragon has been wreaking havoc in Dongxu City. The fierce mob from Wutu no longer crosses the border, and many people in Ancestral Dragon City are talking about the Dragon Trainer riding the Gold-plated Fire Dragon,” one student said.
“That’s Luo Xiao, a Dragon Trainer recently recruited by the Li Family. I heard he’s quite ferocious.”
“A man isn’t considered worthy until he has made his mark on the battlefield. When my Wolfsprite transforms into a dragon, I’ll take down a city. Then, you’re all welcome to visit my city, and I as City Lord will treat you well, hahaha,” Hong Hao said.
This person owned a ferocious Big Wolfsprite and his favorite pastime was to challenge people to a fight with his Big Wolfsprite. In the dormitory, aside from Zhu Minglang, the other ten had been thoroughly trounced by Hong Hao and his Big Wolfsprite, establishing him as the dormitory’s tyrant.
Being combative is indeed one way to open the Dragon Gate for many creatures. This dormitory tyrant’s training approach wasn’t wrong; it was just a little wasteful.
“If anyone is to become a dragon, it should be Nan Ye. His Juvenile Spirit can already cast some low-tier magic. His dragon is inherently a Dragon Son, merely still growing. After maturing, it will be a true Giant Dragon, unlike us who are still struggling to find the way of the Dragon Gate,” Li Shaoying, who couldn’t stand Hong Hao’s arrogance, remarked coldly.
Zhu Minglang shook his head when he heard his words.
This Li Shaoying, truly asking for a beating. Who talks like that to people from another dormitory? With that attitude, the medicinal wine his uncle gives him for bruises probably won’t be enough.
The Nan Ye that Li Shaoying mentioned was the same aloof young master who had enrolled with Zhu Minglang.
So this guy had owned a True Dragon right from the start; no wonder he never cared for the juvenile spirits in the Reserve Dragons Storage Hall.
The aloof young master Nan Ye sat there, not talking to the other students around him.
He wore a faint smile, probably pleased with the bootlicking from Li Shaoying.
Some things, if said by oneself, seem to lack a bit of impact, but they strike differently when said by others.
This made the aloof young master Nan Ye suddenly the focus of everyone around, even causing a few female students who had been chatting quietly to steal more glances towards Nan Ye!
“My Wolfsprite transforming into a dragon is imminent. Don’t talk to me about some juvenile Dragon Son. Without proper care in its nest, it might just get eaten by my Wolfsprite,” Hong Hao said carelessly.
Nan Ye frowned in dissatisfaction. He turned his head to stare at Hong Hao and disdainfully said, “You might not understand the difference between dragons and wild beasts. Even in its juvenile phase, it could tear your Wolfsprite to pieces.”
“I don’t like verbal disputes. In our dorm, except for Zhu Minglang, everyone else has been beaten black and blue by me. If you’re capable, compare yourself to him,” Hong Hao continued.
Zhu Minglang was dumbfounded.
What kind of rhetorical art was this???
He was just sitting quietly, hoping to remain inconspicuous, so why had he suddenly been thrust into the spotlight?
The other dormitory students were also caught off guard by Hong Hao’s move. Li Shaoying was about to correct him but was silenced by a fierce glare from Hong Hao.
Zhu Minglang looked at Hong Hao deeply.
He had thought this guy was just an aggressive brute.
He himself wanted to test Nan Ye’s strength, yet he was cautious of Nan Ye’s Young Dragon and resorted to this underhanded tactic.
Moreover, it also served to harshly punish Zhu Minglang, the antisocial one in the dormitory.
“Is that so? If I recall correctly, you’re the one who came to the academy begging for a Juvenile Spirit like a beggar on the day of enrollment, and now, just a month later, you think you’re capable?” Nan Ye’s gaze turned towards Zhu Minglang, his words dripping with mockery.
Beggar??
Zhu Minglang was sensitive to that term!
On enrollment day, it was simply that his clothes were a bit plain, hardly akin to a beggar’s.
This guy was clearly trying to insult him.
“That in your arms, is it the Juvenile Spirit you received upon enrollment? A white wild mountain chicken? You’d better hold it tighter. Without the need for my Green Dragon to act, I could crush it with one hand,” Nan Ye continued to press aggressively.
Zhu Minglang was getting uncomfortable.
Insult him if you must, but Little White was absolutely not to be ridiculed!
“Yi~~~~~~~~~~~~~”
The sleepy Ice Morning White Dragon let out a soft chirp as it slowly opened its eyes.
Its tail rippled out in circles, like waves spreading across water, and the wings unfolded gently, the pristine, frost-like feathers shining with a crystalline luster, as noble as a princess waking in the morning light.
Flapping its wings, the exquisite Ice Morning White Dragon flew toward the demonstration platform in front of the academy buildings, its diamond-bright eyes fixing on the brash-spoken Nan Ye with an expression of pride mingled with cool disdain.
Zhu Minglang had thought Little White would be sound asleep, indifferent to the world outside, but to his surprise, it was as sensitive as he was.
“How beautiful! What kind of dragon is this?” a few female students couldn’t help but exclaim, immediately captivated by the uniquely beautiful appearance of the Ice Morning White Dragon.
“Some chickens just live off their bright feathers, you may have not seen a real dragon.” Nan Ye said with utter disdain.
He pressed his right hand onto the back of his left hand, where the palm of his left hand opened up to reveal his own Spirit Realm!
“Spirit Realm, Nan Ye has a Spirit Realm already!!”
“Nan Ye is really a Dragon Shepherd, but he has just started school.”
Spirit Realm, a Dragon Shepherd’s Spirit Realm can contain dragons with which they have a Spirit Contract. Before both human and dragon have stepped through the first Dragon Gate, other people raising Juvenile Spirits lack the ability to summon or call them back as they have not yet opened their Spirit Realm.
“Roar!!!!!!!”
Suddenly, a roar emerged from nowhere, more shocking than a mountain tiger, and a green seal appeared on Nan Ye’s palm, glowing intensely and casting beams onto the demonstration platform in front of the hall.
In the interplay of light and shadow, an enlarged tenfold seal manifested, standing in the air like a mirror gate that could open to another world.
“Roar!!!!!!!!!!”
Another long roar, and from within the gate of the seal emerged a Green Forest Dragon, covered with coarse green skin, standing two meters tall.
With a head as large as a giant lizard, its nostrils emitting a green mist and its sharp teeth mostly bared.
Its chest was muscular, and its belly bloated, covered with tougher scales; the claws of the Big Wolfsprite and the teeth of the Crocodile Spirit could hardly bite through them from the front.
This Green Forest Dragon stood upright, its hind limbs incredibly strong, as if they could trample stone tiles, while its foreclaws were somewhat shorter.
It seemed still in its juvenile stage, its foreclaws had not yet grown the sharp claws capable of slicing through wild beasts.
Green Forest Dragon!!!
Seeing the true appearance of this Green Forest Dragon, Hong Hao turned pale with fear.
He was lucky that he had sent Zhu Minglang to probe, otherwise his own Big Wolfsprite would have been bitten into two by the opponent!
Compared to this Green Forest Dragon, his Big Wolfsprite was indeed just a wild beast, completely lacking in dragon essence!!
The fifty fellow students in the hall had not expected Nan Ye’s dragon to be so ferocious.
To think it was still in its juvenile stage!
Already so large in its juvenile stage, exuding an overwhelming dragon might that crushed all living creatures!!
When this Green Forest Dragon reached adulthood, what kind of terrifying colossus would it become!!
“There is a difference between dragons and wild chickens!” Nan Ye declared with an air of superiority.
Compared with the Green Forest Dragon, the Ice Morning White Dragon indeed seemed much smaller, but the competition between dragons was not purely about size.
The Ice Morning White Dragon flapped its wings, slowly rising into the air, its long tail still gracefully hanging down.
Like a butterfly poised in front of a flower, the Ice Morning White Dragon hovered in the air, wings outstretched.
Its wings appeared to move lightly, but a strong current of air was stirring around it, slowly gathering into a column of wind.
“Swoo~~~~~~~~~!”
Suddenly, it tucked its wings and its slender body dived into the wind column. One could see its diving speed surge in that instant while the wind column intensified several times over, cushioning the Ice Morning White Dragon as it hurtled towards the Green Forest Dragon!
“Boom!!!!!!!!”
The Green Forest Dragon, seeming like a giant rock, watched as the wind shaped by the Ice Morning White Dragon struck like a drill at its most muscular chest.
The Green Forest Dragon slid backward and smashed hard against the rock wall, shaking the entire academy!
“Grrrr~~~~~”
Wailing in pain, the Green Forest Dragon lay on the ground, unable to rise again.
The Ice Morning White Dragon dispersed the winds it controlled, its delicate body landing on the Green Forest Dragon’s head, using its long tail to tap on the Green Forest Dragon’s nose as though it were a stern teacher disciplining someone else’s terribly naughty child.
The students inside the academy were at a loss for words!
How could that ferocious Green Forest Dragon be so vulnerable??
And how could the seemingly harmless, delicate creature burst forth with such terrifying power in an instant!!
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