Translated by Mianbao
Edited by RED
Zhu Minglang bit his finger and quickly drew a pattern on the baby dragon’s forehead. The pattern was a soul contract; he was trying to form one with this soon-to-perish soul.
The baby dragon showed no signs of rejection at all. With its organs in shambles, it probably didn’t have the strength to do so, anyway.
Its soul would be linked to Zhu Minglang after the soul contract was established. When it was formed, Zhu Minglang immediately sent it into his spirit domain, and used the spiritual air in his spirit domain to keep it on its last breath.
Doing so was actually very dangerous.
The baby dragon was dying. After forming a soul contract, if he didn’t survive, it was equivalent to Zhu Minglang’s pet dragon dying, and the soul contract would shatter.
When a soul contract shattered, Zhu Minglang would receive a severe backlash. Let alone him suffering a heavy injury to his soul, the soul contract would completely decay, unable to be repaired.
With a shattered soul contract, he would not be able to form another soul contract with other dragons.
At present, Zhu Minglang only had three soul contracts.
Since he wanted to become a Master Dragon Tamer, losing an important soul contract during his development was a huge taboo.
However, some lives radiated an indescribable brilliance. It was very hard for Zhu Minglang to ignore them, so he still chose to do so in the end.
Even if he had to risk sacrificing his future, Zhu Minglang hoped the baby dragon in his embrace would survive. He had such a strong desire to remain in this world, even though his short life thus far was mostly pain and torment.
—–
It was already night. Zhu Minglang thought the old mister would probably be at the Dragon Storage Hall.
He quickly made his way there and pushed the doors open. He immediately saw the old mister resting on a rattan chair, about to fall asleep.
“Old Mister Wu, please help me save him.” Without saying anything further, Zhu Minglang activated his spirit domain and placed the baby dragon in front of Elder Wu.
Old Mister Wu was jolted awake by Zhu Minglang’s voice. A bloodied baby dragon entered his vision, his bones almost all broken, his miserable appearance no different from a dead dog at the roadside!
Old Mister Wu’s first reaction was to lay the baby dragon flat, then turn his own spirit force into a small cloud of steam like in a hot spring, shrouding the baby dragon. Afterwards, he immediately applied soft pressure, teasing the dragon’s bones back straight to help his blood flow better.
“Go to the Infirmary Hall and get a wooden bucket from the healing pool here. Fast!” Old Mister Wu instructed Zhu Minglang.
Zhu Minglang didn’t dare to delay at all, and immediately sprinted to the Infirmary Hall.
After forming a soul contract, the baby dragon’s pain was transferred through their souls’ connection into Zhu Minglang’s brain. He was taking in less than ten percent of the feedback, and was already finding it hard to endure.
With their souls bonded and linked together, Zhu Minglang wanted the baby dragon to pass away just like that even less. He found a wooden bucket and filled it with the healing pool’s spring water, then ran back.
—–
The night went deeper. , many little heads in the Dragon Storage Hall gathered around the front desk curiously. They were looking at the baby dragon laying on top of the desk, watching him as he opened its eyes, then closed, then opened them again shortly thereafter…
Finally, Old Mister Wu used a cloth dyed red with blood to wipe the sweat on his face away. He let Zhu Minglang pick up the baby dragon, and submerge his whole body into the wooden bucket filled with the healing pool’s spring water.
“Luckily you made it in time,” Old Mister Wu heaved out a long breath, then continued, “If not, I would have already gone back to sleep.”
“Will he live?” Zhu Minglang asked worriedly, looking at the completely comatose baby dragon.
“Hmph, if you managed to bring him to me, I can keep him alive as long as he’s still breathing!” Old Mister Wu declared.
“I knew you were a living deity from the first day I arrived at the Academy!” Zhu Minglang praised in admiration from the bottom of his heart.
“You’re absurd. So be it if a dying dragonling perished. You think spirits don’t die every day in the forest? Can’t a dragonling die? You almost threw away your future!” Old Mister Wu reprimanded him harshly, disapproving of Zhu Minglang’s actions.
After understanding the situation, Old Mister Wu really didn’t know how he should evaluate this student.
Souls were very important to a Dragon Tamer. If they wanted to go a step further, their soul contracts must never shatter. It wasn’t just the dragon that was affected; it also concerned the growth of the Dragon Tamer themselves!
“It’s a unique situation,” Zhu Minglang smiled bitterly.
“You stand guard here tonight. I’m going back to sleep. Oh, right, settle the bill afterwards. The Infirmary Hall isn’t some emergency relief organization.” Old Mister Wu hammered his waist, before walking out of the Dragon Storage Hall.
Zhu Minglang hurriedly saluted him as thanks. Old Mister Wu had helped him greatly once again. Naturally he wouldn’t shirk away from helping him stand guard for the night in return!
Walking to the doorstep, Old Mister Wu suddenly turned back and asked Zhu Minglang, “Oh, do you know what breed he is?”
“I don’t know yet,” Zhu Minglang replied.
“Oh you… you didn’t even know what kind of a dragon it was before forming a soul contract with it… Consider yourself fortunate. When he wakes up, feed him some Phoebe tree juice to help him better regenerate his blood,” Old Mister Wu barely showed a smile.
“Isn’t it a Green Forest Dragon or a Great Forest Dragon?” Zhu Minglang asked, surprised.
“Much stronger.”
Done speaking, the old mister was already at the door. A few especially clingy spiritlings followed the old mister, but were soon told to return.
Zhu Minglang bade farewell to the old mister and closed the Dragon Storage Hall’s doors.
He patrolled a round. The spiritlings were the same as before, very noisy. If he didn’t pinch them and put them back in their nests, they would never go to sleep.
It was until late into the night that the spiritlings all fell asleep. The Dragon Storage Hall finally quieted down.
Zhu Minglang walked to the wooden bucket and looked down at the baby dragon, wanting to discern what was so extraordinary about him that Old Mister Wu had noticed. However, Zhu Minglang only saw his bloodied appearance. He would probably have to wait until the dragonling fully recovered before he could tell the difference.
—–
It was the beginning of winter. Clear snow filled the Dragon Tamers Academy. They hung on the branches, which were now devoid of leaves, and also scattered on the bushes, covering the tiny courtyard.
Zhu Minglang stretched his back. He realized he was the earliest one up today. His fellow students seemed to be still in their beds. Even the most hardworking Li Shaoying wasn’t training his spiritling as usual.
Zhu Minglang was sleepy, but he didn’t have a choice. He had many things to do.
First, he needed to go to the foundry in the morning and regain his foundations. He could only work hard and persevere.
Luckily, after becoming a real Dragon Tamer, Zhu Minglang’s physique was much better than before. He finally didn’t have to drag himself around with an aching body and think about life near the pleasure boat.
Second, he still had a huge amount of dragon hoard riches on hand. He needed to find a suitable place to fence his stolen goods, and make himself rich. That way, he’d be able to buy more high-quality nectar for little Baiqi, and forge the ideal heavy armor of his dreams!