Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Mianbao
Edited by RED
“Let’s make a bet, then. I’ll walk in right now, and that person at the copperwood gate will definitely not stop me. If I can get in, then you’ll have to give me this basket of peaches,” Zhu Minglang bet the peach selling girl, roused by her words.
“Sure, but what if I win?” the peach girl smiled, her tanned skin and bright eyes forming a distinct contrast.
“Then I’ll buy all your peaches.”
“Looking at your appearance, you don’t seem to have the money,” the peach girl replied.
“Don’t worry about that!”
When others enroll into an academy, they might not have to dress especially well, but they have to look clean and presentable, at the very least. After escorting Li Yunzi back to Ancestral Dragon City State, then making his way to the Dragon Tamers Academy, Zhu Minglang didn’t even have many chances to take a bath. Furthermore, his coarse clothing made him look sloppy.
Zhu Minglang didn’t want things to be like this, either. Being poor was one thing, but looking presentable wasn’t an issue. Him being mistaken for a beggar was because he had encountered bandits and fallen into difficult times…
As he stepped onto the white stone bridge, the number of hawkers around gradually lessened. When he got closer to the copperwood gate, it even seemed like an elegant place, quiet and neat.
“I’m here to enroll. This is my letter.” Zhu Minglang handed his enrollment notice over politely.
“Why do you look like this?” the uncle guarding the gate asked.
“I was out training and came across bandits. I only managed to keep this letter after risking my life,” Zhu Minglang explained casually.
“Hmm. Go in front and get your Academy emblem, then wait at the side.” The gate guard uncle nodded, signalling the people behind to guide Zhu Minglang in.
Zhu Minglang kept the letter, then purposefully looked back at the tanned girl who sold peaches at the end of the bridge, ready to crack a smile like a fierce dog’s.
However, the peach girl seemed to be negotiating prices with a plump madam, talking animatedly.
She had completely forgotten about their bet!
A cold breeze blew across the lake, making a certain person look rather bleak…
In the end, Zhu Minglang could only sigh and walk through the gate.
-Sii, it feels worse than losing the bet!-
—
After crossing the gate, the bridge was nowhere to be seen. It turned out the white stone bridge was only a broken bridge. Beyond the gates was a moon-shaped abutment that gently extended under the clear lake water.
Down in the lake water, a long necked dragon with a wide back was waiting at the side of the abutment. It was as large as a single room apartment, its neck able to reach the gate on the bridge from underwater.
The long-necked dragon’s skin was firm and smooth. While it was huge, it gave off a docile and gentle feeling. There was no pressure even when coming into close contact with it; it seemed to be a completely different creature than Luo Xiao’s gilded fire dragon.
“We’ve gathered enough passengers; we can set off now.” The gate guard quickly brought four more people there.
There were already five people on the long necked dragon’s back. Including Zhu Minglang and the four that came after, there were a total of ten people.
Ten people on a dragon carriage crossed the lake!
“Li Shaoying, you’re our village’s hope! You have to become a dragon tamer no matter what!” a middle-aged man who came to send them off yelled out loudly from the abutment.
Li Shaoying looked embarrassed. After all, there were so many fellow students around!
“It’s fine even if you can’t become one. Quickly return to the village. Someone has to herd the cows and goats back at home, anyway. If they aren’t fed well, then they won’t grow well. And if they don’t grow well, they won’t produce much milk. With no milk, the baby goats and cows won’t make it through the winter,” the herder continued shouting.
A wave of low laughter rang out around them, especially the girls who were about to cross the lake on the long necked dragon to the Academy. They covered their mouths, but couldn’t suppress their laughter.
That youth known as Li Shaoying really wanted to jump into the lake to hide himself. He sent away the herder who had come to send him off impatiently, “I know, I know! Uncle Hua, you’d better quickly return!”
“Remember to share the bag of smoked deer meat with your peers. With nothing or anyone familiar around you, you need to form a good relationship with your peers and teachers! That way you wouldn’t get bullied easily!”
“Uncle, please return, I beg you!”
“Aiya, I forgot to give you some ointment. Here, here, if you get beat up, you’ll recover quickly if you apply some on your wounds.”
Finally, the warm and caring herder was persuaded to leave. If he stayed any longer, the freshman known as Li Shaoying might really jump into the lake to kill himself!
“You three are rather late in enrolling. You’d probably only get to choose the dragonlings that were left unpicked when you arrive at the Dragon Storage Hall. Even if the journey is far, you should have left earlier,” the gate guard uncle said to Li Shaoying, Zhu Minglang, and another tall and cold young master.
“You have only just enrolled, too?” Li Shaoying was surprised, and began to size up Zhu Minglang and that cold young master.
That tall and cold young master didn’t bother paying him any heed. It was obvious he had zero intention of forming any sort of relationship with someone like Li Shaoying, who had come from some poor, remote area to enroll in the Dragon Tamers Academy.
Having taken the initiative to start a conversation and getting ignored, Li Shaoying couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.
Afterwards, he shifted his gaze to Zhu Minglang, and he immediately looked surprised.
As a herder, Li Shaoying already looked rather shabby. His self-esteem had taken a hit after being laughed at earlier, but unexpectedly, there was someone who seemed even poorer than him, and yet he was also a new student of the Dragon Tamers Academy?
If the gate guard hadn’t said anything, Li Shaoying would have thought this person was a chore boy of the Dragon Tamers Academy!
“You’re a student too?” Li Shaoying asked.
“Yes, I’m Zhu Minglang.” Zhu Minglang maintained his manners, looking friendly and approachable.
“Oh,” Li Shaoying replied half-heartedly, not reciprocating the courtesy.
As expected, after learning Zhu Minglang was also a freshman, another wave of laughter rang out from the others.
Seeing the reaction from the others, Zhu Minglang didn’t act as uneasy as Li Shaoying had. He seemed indifferent about it.
Wandering around the world, having a thick skin was also a skill one needed to master.
The lake breeze was refreshing. The long-necked dragon slowly ferried the ten people closer to the land in the middle of the lake, the palace countless people dreamed of: the Dragon Tamers Academy!
—–
At the bridge head, the girl who had just sold a few pounds of ripe peaches was taking a moment of rest when she suddenly thought of something. She turned to look at the tightly shut copperwood gates.
A look of surprise colored her face.
“He was thrown into the lake? How pitiful,” the girl mumbled to herself.
——-
Dragon Storage Hall…
Every newly enrolled student would get a chance to pick a dragon, regardless of whether they already owned a spiritling or not.
Although people admired the art of inspecting and recognizing dragons, correctly picking a dragon out of countless ordinary spiritlings was like finding a needle in a haystack. More often, it was like placing a bet!
Zhu Minglang, Li Shaoying, and the cold young master were brought to the Dragon Storage Hall. The spiritlings and spirit eggs stored in here were as abundant as the pebbles in a river.
“Go on, pick one. After choosing yours, go register with the old mister inside the hall. The spiritling will be yours after your imprint is branded on it.” The gate guard was very dutiful, leaving only after guiding them here and instructing them properly.
Li Shaoying was filled with anticipation. He walked over to a nest of spiritlings with quick steps, staring at a group of infant blue bird spirits, inspecting them.
Zhu Minglang also went along the paved path, and began slowly observing.
There were many kinds of spirits: bird spirits, river spirits, beast spirits, ancient spirits, poison spirits, stone spirits, and many others that obviously possessed the bloodline of dragons, like sub-dragons, pseudo-dragons, and hybrid dragonlings. They had yet to truly dragonize, but the extraordinary features and physique of a dragon have already manifested!
At this moment, the tall and cold young master spoke, “Heh, you guys are pretty serious about selecting your spiritling. Do you not have an ounce of understanding toward the Dragon Tamers Academy before enrolling? A real dragon might not exist even among thousands of spiritlings. Letting you pick one here is only to give you a sliver of hope to become a student of the Academy.”
Zhu Minglang and Li Shaoying looked at him at the same time. It turned out that he wasn’t a mute!
Zhu Minglang nodded to himself and asked, “Indeed, we aren’t very clear on this. Please explain this to us.”
“Don’t waste your time and just pick one at random. If you have the time to pick at garbage here, you might as well spend more effort on raising your own spiritling,” the cold young master said.
Li Shaoying smiled in embarrassment.
Indeed, the free spiritlings provided by the Academy wouldn’t be very good. Otherwise, anyone who enrolled into the Academy would be able to become a master dragon tamer; why would there still be a large majority of them hovering before their dragon gate?
In the end, Li Shaoying chose one of the bird spirits that seemed most competitive and held it in his hand, not treating it too importantly.
Zhu Minglang scratched his head. His situation was a little awkward.
Most of those who could enroll into the Dragon Tamers Academy would have a spiritling with decent potential, some of them just a step short of crossing their dragon gates.
Li Shaoying obviously had his own spiritling, while the cold young master seemed to already own a dragonling.
Baiqi was still deep in slumber in the ice cocoon; Zhu Minglang had nothing at this moment, and only managed to be forcibly enrolled into the Academy by means of connection.
-Looks like I still have to rely on the relief provided by the Academy and use it as my spiritling.-
However, this was Zhu Minglang’s starting point, after all. He couldn’t be bothered listening to that cold young master’s arrogant explanation, and continued choosing his spiritling seriously.
Recognizing a dragon was like inspecting a treasure. One needed extremely high insight, and a little bit of luck.
It just so happened that Zhu Minglang possessed neither trait. He was blind and unlucky.
However, a sense of ceremony was still required. No matter what, his attitude had to be correct.
“Will you hurry up!?” the cold young master said with a harsher tone.
Zhu Minglang proceeded as if he hadn’t heard him. He observed the little creatures here carefully. Some of them were still in the form of eggs, while some had just hatched, and some even had grown feathers and teeth, possessing a hint of destructive power at the handcrafted nest…