Dragon Tamer - Chapter 28
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Mianbao
Edited by RED
Calling upon the clouds and rain was no different from being a deity to Li Shaoying, who grew up in a herder household.
Because of the many cattle and sheep his family raised, who fed on grass, which needed to be nourished by the rain, they needed to spend large amounts of time and energy herding their livestock to places with grass during times like the dry summers and end of autumn when there was not a drop of rain.
Not only did this process waste a lot of time and energy, it was easy to lose their livestock!
Furthermore, with no rain, the grass wouldn’t grow. It wasn’t uncommon for livestock to die from starvation. To herders, whose livelihood depended on rearing their livestock, it was simply a catastrophe. It was possible a family would have no money for food and clothes because of that, leaving them unable to survive the winter.
-Summoning clouds, calling upon rain, and Azure Dragon Mystic Arts… If I had such abilities, wouldn’t the entire village worship me as god?-
“Among Mystic Arts, there are those that call upon rain and snow, and there are also those that put Curses on another. Every dragon possesses different abilities. Even dragons with the same bloodline may Awaken different abilities, depending on their growth and training,” Teacher Duan Lan explained, despite the fact that they were flying.
The wind was howling, but her voice rang clearly.
The other students were also paying attention to her explanation, mainly because they were bored of looking at the plains below. Duan Lan, on the other hand, was someone the students would never get bored of looking at!
Dragons were primarily divided into three subspecies: Ancient Dragons, Great Dragons, and Azure Dragons.
Ancient Dragons were the overlords on land. They possessed unmatched physiques and brute strength, and had knowledge of some ancient battle skills. Most of them had burly bodies, savage fangs, sharp claws, and skin as tough as rock.
In Zhu Minglang’s opinion, Heiya’s main lineage was probably that of an Ancient Dragon. If he could be equipped with a set of heavy armor in the future, he’d definitely be invincible!
Great Dragons were born with strong bodies.
They could cast destructive magic, and most Great Dragons had a strong pair of wings, allowing them to take flight and fight in the air, as well as fly past mountains.
Luo Xiao’s Gilded Fire Dragon was a creature whose bloodline was close to a Great Dragon, wielding the powers of fire magic!
Compared to Ancient Dragons and Great Dragons, Azure Dragons’ physiques were not as strong. However, Azure Dragons’ Mystic Arts were extremely powerful. Even Great Dragons that were proficient in magic were unable to contend against Azure Dragons in their profound Arts!
Duan Lan’s Deep River Dragon was a very pure-blooded Azure Dragon.
Even though dragons were separated into three main bloodlines, most dragons were a mix of different bloodlines.
A dragon with a mixed bloodline might inherit Battle Skills, Magic, and Mystic Arts at the same time, and they also might not Awaken any of them.
Pure-blooded dragons had an eighty to ninety percent chance of Awakening the ability unique to their bloodline, but the other two abilities would never be Awakened, no matter how much training they underwent.
Baiqi used to be a pure-blooded Azure Dragon. However, Zhu Minglang noticed he seemed to have changed somewhat after he regressed and dragonized once more. The icy feathers on his wings seemed like crystalized magic…
——
Glory Valley City was located below a mountain stream. Due to the colder autumn this year, the source of the stream had frozen over long ago. The water flowing down from the mountain valley was currently thinner than a thread, and could not irrigate the paddy fields and grass.
Due to the climate and the topography in this area, the crops matured slower than other places. With no rainfall for a month, in addition to the lack of irrigation from the mountain stream, a supposedly bountiful harvest might turn into a drought. Even the livestock would be severely affected.
Six Pseudodragon Birds flew over the skies of the old city, and landed right in the middle of the city, one after another.
A group of people in brown clothing came up to them respectfully, like they were meeting their saviors.
“We’ve been waiting for you two teachers from Lichuan Academy!” a very young-looking man who seemed to be the leader of the group exclaimed.
“How can you, as the city lord of Glory Valley City, not foresee the mountains freezing and the irrigation stream lacking water? The East Dawn Stronghold twenty-five kilometers away is the frontline of the battlefield, and they need to replenish their food supplies. Do you think you will get to keep your head if the Wutu plebeians manage to fight their way in?” Teacher Ke Bei immediately criticized angrily after he got off his ride.
“Teacher is right in your scolding. This lowly one requested a rain dragon from Ancestral Dragon City State a month ago, but there aren’t many with abilities like Teacher Ke Bei and Teacher Duan Lan, and this matter dragged on just like that, again and again. Fortunately our request reached the Lichuan Academy. For now, esteemed teachers and dragon tamer students, please go rest in the mansion,” the young city lord answered, neither servile nor overbearing.
“Since this matter concerns the front lines, we don’t have the time to waste. Let’s begin now,” Teacher Ke Bei said impatiently.
“The sky is turning dark soon; the temperature will fall greatly. The rain you teachers call upon might turn to ice and hurt the crops instead, and freeze the ground,” the brown-clothed city lord replied promptly.
“Mhm, let’s push it back till tomorrow,” Duan Lan nodded.
Ke Bei didn’t have anything to say against that.
“After you!” the city lord waved him in.
——
Walking into the mansion, Ke Bei, who led the group, kept his duties as a teacher in mind and turned to speak with the students behind him calmly.
The noisy students immediately quieted down, listening to him closely.
Seeing their teachers had such high statuses even outside of the Academy, naturally the students didn’t dare to be disrespectful.
“The call for rain will be performed by your Teacher Duan Lan’s Deep River Dragon, demonstrating the Azure Dragon Mystic Art. Wake up early tomorrow and don’t miss the spectacle,” Teacher Ke Bei said.
—–
Even as the night was at its coldest, clusters of scarlet red clouds shone brightly in the pitch-black eastern skies, making it seem like a distant sunset to Glory Valley City.
The battlefield was only twenty-five kilometers away. Seeing the imposing red clouds in the sky, Zhu Minglang quickly thought of a pale man, and his mighty fire dragon covered in fiery scales.
“That guy seems to have become stronger,” Zhu Minglang mumbled to himself.
Zhu Minglang was no idiot. He was very clear that what threatened him the most right now was that man who owned a Gilded Fire Dragon.
He had a cruel nature and killed people in cold blood. Most importantly, he had a scary obsession with Li Yunzi, like he would do the craziest things to possess her.
Zhu Minglang’s identity would be exposed sooner or later, and the matter about the rumored vagrant and crown princess escaping from the dungeon together would also spread.
As long as someone investigated that matter, his situation would be exposed immediately! Luo Xiao definitely wouldn’t let him go!
He was the first great enemy Zhu Minglang would have to face; he definitely couldn’t let his guard down!
“Zhu Minglang,” a gentle voice spoke out, interrupting Zhu Minglang’s thoughts.
“Teacher Duan Lan,” Zhu Minglang greeted her, bowing slightly with his left hand cupped around his right, maintaining respect one should have for their teacher.
“I’ll be calling upon the rain tomorrow at about noon, but the rain will only be enough for immediate needs. Both irrigating the fields and feeding the livestock in the future will require large amounts of water. I hope you can walk up along the stream at dawn tomorrow and see if there’s something cutting off the waterway and interrupting the source of water,” Duan Lan said to Zhu Minglang.
“No problem,” Zhu Minglang nodded. That was his duty as a teaching assistant, after all!
“You don’t need to go too far. I’m afraid there might be demons in the deep mountains and forests. Come back before the summoning starts!” Duan Lan continued.
Zhu Minglang saluted once more and sent Teacher Duan Lan off with his gaze.
—–
Zhu Minglang woke up as the sky was starting to turn bright. The scent of lavender he had burned last night lingered in the room, giving off a refreshing feeling.
Just as he was about to rise up, Zhu Minglang realized a flawlessly white little fellow was at his bedside, his slender tail coiled around his petite body, like a lazy, yet elegant little cat
His gorgeous fur covered his body neatly, his icy feathers spread and retracted slightly in line with his breathing, like pure coral being swept along gently by the waves.
Zhu Minglang smiled. He gently caressed the White Ice Morning Dragon’s fur, especially the tassel-like snowy white fur on his neck. Putting his hand on it was simply a pleasure.
“Yuu…” Baiqi seemed to enjoy being petted a lot, unknowingly rubbing his body against Zhu Minglang’s finger.
“You’re awake? Perfect. Come patrol the mountain with me,” Zhu Minglang said.
“Yi!” Little Baiqi nodded, very happy to go take a walk with Zhu Minglang in the mountains.
“You should have evolved, haven’t you? Why are you still so small?” Zhu Minglang sized up little Baiqi curiously.
Counting the days, it should be time for little Baiqi to step into his growth phase after he woke up from his deep slumber, based on the information he had gleaned from the books. From his extrapolation as per Baiqi’s main and secondary bloodlines, his infant phase should be a very short one.
However, Zhu Minglang hadn’t noticed any changes in little Baiqi.
Perhaps it was still a little longer until his evolution. Zhu Minglang wasn’t in a hurry, either. Little Baiqi was probably tired of sleeping inside his spirit domain and wanted to come out and take a breather.
—–
Zhu Minglang fed some nectar to little Baiqi. Although little Baiqi had wings like a bird, yet fluffy like a butterfly, his adorable limbs were like a cat’s, in addition to his soft, cute claws.
His mouth wasn’t a sharp beak like a bird’s, either. Instead, it was similar to a deer’s. Zhu Minglang couldn’t feed little Baiqi nectar from the can. He could only pour the nectar onto his palm and bring it up to the dragon’s mouth, who would extend his tongue lazily, lapping the nectar up little by little like a deer drinking water.
As they walked upstream along the gorge, Zhu Minglang slowly fed the White Ice Morning Dragon, while paying special attention to the crop fields near the stream. He found that they were indeed slightly frozen.
Zhu Minglang moved very quickly as he walked deeper into the gorge. His physique was much stronger than normal people, unlike some Dragon Tamers, who were weaker than those who practiced martial arts after separating from their dragons.
After trekking over the mountain in front of him, the sky had thoroughly brightened up. The warm sunlight shone through the clean mountain forest. The wild life started absorbing its energy, the birds and other animals started scouring around for food…