Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Mianbao
Edited by RED
“Hoo! Hoo!!” Zhu Minglang breathed heavily. It had been too long since he felt such unbearable excitement.
-No, no, no. I have to calm down first.
-Little Baiqi is still metamorphosing. It remains an ordinary little spiritling before it breaks out of the cocoon. I have to find a safe place and wait out Baiqi’s pupation process.
-Where is a suitable place to go? I’m not even familiar with anyone or anywhere in this Ancestral Dragon City State…-
“Young Master! Young Master, a moment, please.”
While Zhu Minglang was considering his options at the Li Clan’s main gates, a delicate and pretty miss in a maid’s outfit called out to him.
“You’re calling for me?” Zhu Minglang was hesitant.
“Are you Young Master Zhu Minglang? My lady has ordered me to pass on this Academy Letter to you,” the delicate maid said gently.
Zhu Minglang noticed the words Dragon Tamers Academy on the letter.
-Is this making our pretense into reality?
-Is this a precaution in case Luo Xiao investigates this matter afterward?
-The Academy is indeed a good place to go to, and it’s suitable for me to wait out the pupation state.
-Alright, to the Academy it is!-
Zhu Minglang accepted the heavy letter.
The enrollment conditions for the Dragon Tamers Academy were actually very strict. You had to either have enough money to ensure you could nurture a dragon from nothing, or the spiritling you were raising was determined to be a potential dragonling.
The Academy was considered a good place, having both the rich nobles, and common citizens who relied on their unique insights and wisdom to become students there.
Becoming a dragon tamer wasn’t a privilege unique to those born to a good life. There were common citizens among the population who crossed their dragon gates, soaring to the heavens.
“Young Master, after you report to the dragon tamers academy in Lichuan, make sure to not miss the spiritling selection, and to display your best insights when picking your spiritling,” the pretty maid reminded him warmly, blinking her eyes.
“Many thanks, Miss.”
“Just call me Shuang’er.”
“Many thanks, Miss Shuang’er.”
“Keke,” Shuang’er chuckled, her voice as crisp as a bell.
—
Holding the enrollment letter, Zhu Minglang walked down the stairs and headed towards the bustling city’s Blue Limestone Street.
Behind him was the Li Clan’s royal court, its surroundings rigid and cold, separated from the Blue Limestone Street by only a river bridge.
After crossing the bridge, however, the smell of smoke and fire hit him immediately. Blending into the crowd, he became a face that no one would pay any attention to.
Since he was an adaptable person, naturally he could call any place his home, and settle down at an elegant Academy!
It could be considered a fresh start…
——
In the courtyard…
Shuang’er, with a butterfly-shaped hair band on her head, walked back into the house. At first glance, she saw her young miss, Li Yunzi, sitting alone on the goose-feather bed.
Shuang’er had also heard of this matter.
Outside, Li Yunzi was a princess, once looked up to and respected by many. In this courtyard, however, she was no different from any other girl from a noble house. People from the Li Clan’s royal court also addressed her as Young Miss Yunzi.
Shuang’er knew her young miss had suffered during this period of time, but she didn’t know how she could help her young miss step out from under the trauma.
“Young Miss, Shuang’er doesn’t quite understand. How did that woman from Ever City know about your weakness? You have always been very careful,” Shuang’er asked after performing a curtsey.
“The person who set me up is here,” Li Yunzi said coldly.
Why had she returned?
Li Yunzi was very clear that the person who knew her fatal weakness was definitely someone closely related to her.
“Ah? It’s someone from our Li Clan that orchestrated it from behind the scenes? Then why didn’t you tell the patriarch that someone from the clan was trying to harm you?” Shuang’er asked.
Li Yunzi shook her head, saying, “I would alert the snake instead if I spoke about it.”
Shuang’er was a smart girl. She immediately realized who the snake Li Yunzi was referring to. Her eyes were filled with shock. After some time, she asked softly, “You suspect the lady of the house, Concubine Kong Tong?”
“I hope it’s her…” Li Yunzi mumbled to herself, somewhat distracted.
“No wonder the news spread through the city, even though that lunatic Luo Xiao destroyed Ever City. Someone in the clan doesn’t want you to be in power. But such methods are simply too vicious!” Shuang’er said, feeling indignant at the injustice.
Li Yunzi took a deep breath.
Some people wanted her to fall to eternal damnation, wanted her reputation to be tarnished. She wouldn’t allow things to go their way so easily, however.
LI Yunzi needed some time to let everything slowly settle down. She would return the favor tenfold to anyone who trampled on her!
“Has the Autumn Phoebe trees Xinghua planted bloomed?” Li Yunzi asked.
“They have. They are really beautiful. Let’s go there, Young Miss.”
“Don’t bring this matter up to her when she wakes up,” Li Yunzi instructed her.
“Ah?” Shuang’er didn’t know how to reply.
There was a small hill with a wide view behind the courtyard, with azure colored trees planted all over. These Autumn Phoebe evergreens were tall and beautiful, the branches full of phoebe flowers that only bloomed in the fall.
The flowers were hugging closely together, like interwoven silk, blooming in clusters on the tree branches. Matched with the dense yet orderly faintly green leaves, they looked even more beautiful.
The fragrance of flowers lingered as they stood below the phoebe trees. Li Yunzi looked at the flowers and leaves in a distracted manner. The gentle branches, and the curtain of sunlight that seeped through them…
“Times are never as nice and peaceful as this,” she said softly.
——–
‘Lichuan’ referred to the three rivers that extended to this vast plain from the distant mountains, irrigating the land, nourishing the fertile soil, and supporting the millions of creatures here.
The Lichuan Dragon Tamers Academy wasn’t located in the Ancestral Dragon City State. It stood further upstream, along the Lichuan.
Going north along the main river from where the three streams intersected at Ancestral Dragon City State, the majestic Phoenix Falls could be seen no more than fifty kilometers away!
The Phoenix Falls was a waterfall formed from an abrupt turn from the main river. Thousands of tons of silvery-white river water crashed down. Looking up the Phoenix Falls from downstream, it looked like hundreds of flood dragons were descending in a long rainbow, the waves resembling white scales and silver feathers…
Above the Phoenix Falls, the main river of Lichuan suddenly widened a dozenfold. River water gathered here, the river’s frame slowly widening to both sides, forming a rare calm lake.
As for the Lichuan Dragon Tamers Academy, it was built in the middle of this huge calm lake!
Zhu Minglang journeyed his way here, and was captivated by the scenery before him. -So this is the Dragon Tamers Academy! Just from the location alone, it seems extraordinary!-
Walking up the long slope covered by autumn grass, and around the majestic Phoenix Falls, Zhu Minglang saw a very old but elegant little town. Although the town wasn’t large, it was heavily populated. It was hard to keep count of the travellers passing by.
At the end of the street in Phoenix Falls Town, a white stone bridge was connected to the Lichuan Dragon Tamers Academy. A big copperwood door stood in the middle of the white stone bridge. The doors were wide open, and wealthily dressed young men and women could occasionally be seen entering or leaving.
“Handsome brother, you’re here to admire the Academy?” a girl selling peaches by the bridge asked.
The girl had tanned skin, looking very healthy. It was obvious at a glance that she was often exposed to the sun. She was holding a peach she was selling in her hand, and bit down on it, then used the back of her hand to wipe away the juice on her lips.
“I’m here to enroll in the Academy,” Zhu Minglang let out a harmless smile.
“Ah, I couldn’t tell…” the peach girl sized up Zhu Minglang again, surprised.
The smile on Zhu Minglang’s face gradually grew brighter.
“I couldn’t tell that you’re actually crazy,” the peach girl continued.
Zhu Minglang’s expression stiffened. He didn’t expect this girl selling peaches by the bridge to actually have such a wicked tongue!