Chapter 153: Chapter 133 Dinner [Fifth Update]
Every Dragon Knight dreams of dominating the sky, but not even the strongest dares to claim that they can achieve such a feat. Yet, Long Yi spoke these words, which sounded almost like an empty slogan.
What’s amusing is that Long Yi doesn’t even have a dragon to ride on at the moment.
Bajie, that fat Earth Dragon, is said to be a Demon Abyss Dragon. Ais had some understanding of the Demon Abyss Dragons. Those exotic dragon breeds that had always stayed on Sulfur Island in the Outer Sea, had enormous bodies and immensely destructive power. If Bajie was indeed a Demon Abyss Dragon, Long Yi’s promise to rule the sky might not be unfounded.
Yet, whether the other Shadow Dragon could be of any help to Long Yi was uncertain.
Ordinarily, Dual Dragon Knights can achieve an extremely high level swiftly due to the combined Dragon Power of the two dragons. However, Shadow Dragons are a breed of dragons that utterly despise Dragon Knights, and they would absolutely not contribute the slightest bit of Dragon Power to them. For many years, very few Shadow Dragons have chosen Dragon Knights. Even when they do choose a Dragon Knight, they just regard them as a tool for their quick evolution. They follow the orders of the Dragon Knight in battle, but they will never let anyone ride their backs.
Such a dragon’s influence could either be a blessing or a curse, it’s hard to tell.
Ais could distinctly sense that Long Yi aims to perfectly cultivate and evolve his dragons. Most Dragon Knights can’t wait to evolve their young dragons into adolescent dragons when they reach the fifth layer of Fighting Aura, and to evolve their dragons into young dragons when they reach the tenth layer. However, the power of the Dragon Mark forces the dragon to mature when the knight reaches the mark.
The idea is good, but there’s a huge obstacle.
Starting from the second year, there are elective courses on dragon-riding that many Dragon Knights choose to enhance their strength. By the sixth year, all instruction will take place on the backs of dragons. Sixth-year students will learn a variety of battle skills on dragonback, such as team combat, night combat, and ambush warfare. The entire sixth year is a watershed within the Dragon Knight Academy, as it’s the time to verify whether or not one is a truly qualified Dragon Knight after five grueling years of study.
Everyone knows that it’s best to perfectly evolve a Flying Dragon with a single Dragon Mark, yet many evolve their Mount Dragons early to acquaint themselves with Flying Dragons. After all, a Dragon Knight’s strength on the ground, however formidable, becomes a different matter once mounted on a dragon’s back. Overcoming the roughness of dragonback, changes in gravity, fierce winds, and a lack of oxygen are hard for most people to achieve with ease.
Besides, evolving a Flying Dragon in advance can help one harness the power of the evolved Flying Dragon earlier. After all, the Dragon Power that young dragons can provide Dragon Knights is qualitatively different from that of juvenile dragons.
So, although the principle is understood by all, practicing it is not so easy.
Long Yi already has the strength of a twelfth-layer Fighting Aura, but both of Long Yi’s dragons are still juveniles. Long Yi has been studying like mad, hoping to skip grades and advance to higher years, which is bound to confront him with the hurdle of the sixth year.
Long Yi could ignore previous elective courses, but the sixth-year curriculum is something he absolutely can’t avoid. The capacity to become a successful Empire Dragon Knight hinges on the courses of the sixth year.
When Ais shared these things with Long Yi, Long Yi just smiled.
"Don’t worry, Second Brother, I currently have a twelfth-layer Fighting Aura. Isn’t getting a Dragon Mark in the fifth year a piece of cake?"
Ais had no idea how Long Yi was practicing, but he could feel that Long Yi’s actual strength had already surpassed a single Dragon Mark. However, through some special means, he suppressed his own power, which no doubt made his cultivation more difficult. This is like trying to continue pumping air into a bottle already filled with air; it requires much more effort than filling an empty bottle.
Even so, Long Yi’s words still gave Ais the feeling of being exaggerations. The further the progression of the Fighting Aura layers, the harder it becomes, and that one Dragon Mark is even more difficult to attain.
Ais himself was a case in point. He was now in the sixth year, and originally, he also planned to perfectly cultivate his Mount Dragon. But he’s been stuck at the nineteenth layer of Fighting Aura and has been unable to take that final step. Therefore, he was forced to evolve his Mount Dragon prematurely and enter the sixth year. Actually, he isn’t old and wasn’t in a hurry. But that’s his temperament; once he made up his mind, no one could talk him out of it. However, that gap between a Dragon evolved at the nineteenth layer of Fighting Aura and a perfectly evolved one is only a tiny bit off, which also provides a powerful reward in strength to Ais.
Long Yi stayed in the General’s Mansion for two days. One morning after breakfast, he suddenly exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no!" and hurriedly rushed out of the mansion. He returned after a long time, his face already calm.
Upon Ai Lin’s inquiry, it was revealed that Long Yi, who had been in the Imperial City for two days, had completely forgotten to visit Elsa at the White Dragon Tower because he was too excited about fighting with Ais. If Elsa found out about this in the future, it would certainly be a great sin! Hence, Long Yi ran out. When he arrived at the White Dragon Tower and inquired, a White Dragon Knight with an unfriendly face told him that Elsa had left to take on a mission ten days ago and haven’t returned yet, only then did Long Yi calm down.
As Long Yi was about to leave, the unfriendly young Dragon Knight asked back, "Who are you? Why are you looking for Lady Elsa?"
Long Yi curled his lips, "I’m her boyfriend!"
And with that, the young man stood there dumbfounded.
Ai Lin had always kept this issue in mind, but since Long Yi hadn’t brought it up, she was more than happy not to bring it up either. Seeing Long Yi recall it now, Ai Lin felt a touch of shame.
Ai Lin informed Long Yi that the emperor’s banquet would surely invite the four Guardian Dragon Knights, and Elsa would definitely be there. Seeing Long Yi’s excitement, Ai Lin had mixed feelings; a blend of sweetness and bitterness.
Time, at last, arrived at New Year’s Eve.
The royal banquet, naturally, was not for just anyone to attend. The empire’s top officials, giant merchants who contributed to the empire, extraordinary youths, these were all on the guest list. The list also included foreign delegations such as representatives from the Dwarves, Elves... Strangely enough, Long Yi saw a delegate from the Darkness City on the list.
Is the Darkness City, which legend says never interacts with humans, sending a delegate to attend the White Dragon Empire’s banquet? Is this a sign of friendship between the White Dragon Empire and the Darkness City? Or do both parties have their own agendas?
Long Yi didn’t understand the politics, anyway, he was going to dine, drink, and find his bride.
The General’s Mansion dispatched three carriages; the front one was for Ais, the middle for General Kai Long, and the last one for Long Yi and Ai Lin. According to etiquette, this means leading the way, holding the fort, and bringing up the rear. Entrusting the rear to an outsider is considered a form of respect in etiquette. Long Yi was somewhat flattered by this, he had originally thought he would simply ride a horse there.
The grand imperial palace came into full view as they proceeded from the middle city into the inner city, with open roads all the way.
In his previous life, Long Yi had visited many royal palaces. Although they all seemed grand enough, they all harbored a fading aura of history.
But now, the brightly lit, golden structures, full of life and vitality, were the heart of the entire White Dragon Empire—a truly royal place.
The royal banquet was held in the palace’s back garden—an open-air, buffet style event. When Long Yi saw the arrangement on site, he breathed a sigh of relief. Most of the royal dining etiquette Little Zi had drilled into him previously was of no use here.
Both Long Yi and Ai Lin were dressed in formal attire. Long Yi’s suit was hastily tailored overnight by a renowned tailor in the Imperial City. Long Yi originally wanted to wear the Dragon Knight Academy’s uniform, but this idea was promptly corrected by Ai Lin and Little Zi.
Thankfully, the formal attire of this world wasn’t complicated. Though the style was rather conservative, it wasn’t the kind that required half an hour to put on. Ai Lin wore a light silver gown, which matched her silver hair, creating a beautiful harmony. A red jewel necklace around her neck provided a brilliant highlight amongst all the silver. The black high heels Long Yi had prepared for her were understated enough not to steal the limelight, their modest height made the already tall and graceful Ai Lin stand out even more.
Compared to Ai Lin, Long Yi wasn’t too particular about his own appearance. Luckily, Little Zi, the attentive little maid, was there to pick out the appropriate cufflinks and bow tie for him. These small details were enough to showcase a man’s inner character.
The end result was naturally perfect. Despite his towering height, Long Yi had the perfect physique of a model. With just a slight touch of makeup, his impressive stature was fully revealed.
Thus, a tall and mighty man, dressed in low-key black, and a pure and graceful woman in a somewhat sensual silver dress, became the focus of everyone’s attention when they appeared at the banquet.
Small Zi, a cute little maid who stood behind them with arms by her side, felt very pleased at the attention they attracted.
The banquet is my battlefield! This is a fight for my dignity as a maid! Humph!
Despite arriving together, General Kai Long did not enter with Long Yi, but instead took another route to meet the emperor. While it was a royal banquet, there were still distinctions between inner and outer circles, clearly outlining where a person of a certain status was allowed to go.
Although Long Yi was not a celebrity, Ai Lin was well-known in the upper echelons of the imperial city’s society. As soon as they appeared, people went up to them to say hello. Ai Lin naturally returned their greetings with grace, while carefully introducing Long Yi to them. Everyone had a bit of an impression of the tall man who had once hit the emperor’s son. But since they didn’t have much interaction, after politely greeting Long Yi, their attention turned back to Ai Lin.
Since no one is accompanying him, he decides to entertain himself. After ordering Little Zi to look after Ai Lin, Long Yi went off to find some food to eat. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
