Chapter 14

......

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Some frost dotted the rather monotonous courtyard, and a young boy, his face full of resentment, was sweeping the communal area with a large broom. The ground was littered with large dragonling scales, broken armor, spit from beasts, and the most numerous were the remnants of cheap wooden dummies.

"I thought that by coming here, I wouldn't have to do these menial tasks anymore. Dajiao, you're really no good. Why couldn't you knock that big wolf spirit away? Then we wouldn't have to clean the courtyard." Li Shaoying complained, recalling the dragon battle from yesterday.

The opponent was a wolf spirit dragonling, which, in theory, should have been far less powerful than his own horned bull dragonling. Yet, his horned bull dragonling was clumsy and was toyed with throughout the battle.

"We need to work harder. Next time, we'll definitely regain our honor!" Li Shaoying continued to mutter to himself.

"Creak!"

The courtyard gate was pushed open, making a loud noise. Li Shaoying looked towards the gate in surprise.

Who could be up so early?

There are actually people who are so diligent and hardworking, completing their morning training before the sun even rises?

Soon, Li Shaoying saw Zhu Minglang walk in, his steps revealing his fatigue.

"Zhu Minglang." Li Shaoying's eyes lit up when he saw him and immediately called out.

The courtyard was a public area where everyone practiced dragon training, and the cleaning was shared by those who lived there.

However, at some point, an unwritten rule was established in the dormitory: a dragonling battle would be held every week, and the weakest person would be responsible for all the chores in the dormitory, including cleaning the dragonling droppings behind each person's room!

He had lost!

But Zhu Minglang didn't participate. Why should he be spared?

"Is there something you need?" Zhu Minglang asked.

"To tell you about the rules here... ugh, what's wrong with you, you smell like you fell into a manure pit!" Li Shaoying pinched his nose, almost gagging.

"I worked all night in the Dragon Storage Hall, trading for some premium food. I need to get some sleep now." Zhu Minglang said.

"Did you clean dragon droppings?" Li Shaoying asked.

"Yep." Zhu Minglang didn't mind Li Shaoying's tone.

Seeing Zhu Minglang's disheveled appearance, Li Shaoying felt a bit lucky.

This person was several years older but much more humble. Cleaning in the Dragon Storage Hall was a job for the dormitory slaves. As a student at Lichuan Dragon Training Academy, why would he do such a lowly job for just a bit of food?

"Since that's the case, clean up behind the other students' rooms when you wake up. You've already cleaned such a large hall, so it won't matter to clean these small areas." Li Shaoying spoke, unconsciously raising his head, as if he were superior.

"That's your own business." Zhu Minglang refused calmly.

"You didn't participate in the dragonling battle yesterday afternoon, which means you forfeited. The weakest one should clean the dormitory!" Li Shaoying said loudly.

Zhu Minglang stopped when he heard this.

He walked towards Li Shaoying, his eyes locking onto his. The tired and weary look on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a sharpness that made Li Shaoying feel a bit intimidated.

"Those who choose to participate in the rules must accept the consequences. I didn't participate in your private rules, which means I don't need you to clean my area, and I don't need to do chores for anyone else. Understand?" Zhu Minglang said.

Li Shaoying was stunned and nodded after a while.

It made sense.

But when Zhu Minglang returned to his room, Li Shaoying came to his senses and was so angry he almost threw the broom away.

What's he so proud of!!

He should tell this to Hong Hao, who raises wolves in the dormitory!!

......

Back in his room, Zhu Minglang took off the large bamboo basket on his back.

He walked to the back of the house and saw the little crocodile spirit lying on the sand, nibbling on the slightly fishy rockfish. The speed at which it ate showed that the smell was hard for it to swallow.

Zhu Minglang smiled bitterly.

Sigh, the little guy seems to know we're poor, so he swallows even the bad-tasting food.

"Black Tooth, look what I have." Zhu Minglang placed the bamboo basket in front of the little crocodile spirit.

As the basket tipped over, several fat, greasy meat worms rolled out. The little crocodile spirit's round eyes lit up!

It ran over, first swallowing the scattered meat worms, then burying its whole head in the basket, turning into a greedy pig, eating while wiggling its fat buttocks and tail.

After a frenzy, the little crocodile spirit finally ate its fill. The basket was empty, and it crawled to Zhu Minglang's side, its large tongue licking him affectionately.

"No, no, no, I'm covered in stink, I need to take a shower." Zhu Minglang pushed away the sticky little crocodile.

The little crocodile didn't mind and kept coming closer, until it had given Zhu Minglang a slobbery kiss on the face, then returned to its pool, satisfied.

Zhu Minglang also got up, planning to clean up the smelly rockfish. The little crocodile was reluctant and looked at Zhu Minglang.

Black Tooth's intelligence was not low.

It seemed to understand that Zhu Minglang had worked hard all night to get this basket of meat worms. It decided to keep the rockfish, in case it got hungry and could make do.

"Don't worry, the next meal is guaranteed. Tomorrow morning, you'll see an even bigger basket. These are no longer needed." Zhu Minglang reassured the little crocodile.

Hearing this, the little crocodile was very happy and offered its ugly, cute head for Zhu Minglang to pet.

"Go back to sleep. When you wake up, it's time to train. Just so you know, I'll be a heartless devil during training." Zhu Minglang said.

"Roar!" The little crocodile responded, equally eager to become stronger.

After taking a shower and lying down, despite being extremely tired, Zhu Minglang couldn't fall asleep immediately.

Cleaning the Dragon Storage Hall all night only earned him a basket of meat worms. If he went again tonight, the little crocodile's food would be secured for tomorrow, but this wasn't a sustainable solution.

Xiaobai could wake up at any time, and the value of honey was far greater than meat worms, which couldn't be earned by doing these odd jobs. But maintaining the little crocodile's food already took up most of Zhu Minglang's time...

The little crocodile would grow larger, and when it reached two to three meters, its appetite would increase several times. Zhu Minglang would have to work day and night to feed it, leaving no time for training.

"When I return from the Dragon Storage Hall, there seems to be a well-rewarded job at the college. I'll take a short nap and try it before noon."

The college would post some jobs, which students or dragon trainers could take on. Raising dragons and dragonlings was very expensive, and students without backgrounds either worked part-time or took on these college assignments to earn money.

Among them were well-paid dragon hunts.

There were also purely labor-intensive jobs like taking care of dragonlings, spirits, and cleaning dragon dens.

Zhu Minglang had talked to the old man at the Dragon Storage Hall. He could help take care of the dragonlings at night, and the new slaves would clean the hall. Since the slaves didn't understand the habits of dragonlings and spirits, he, as a proper dragon trainer student, was qualified.

One night's work could earn him two baskets of meat worms.

The old man needed Zhu Minglang tonight, so he would work the night shift, securing the food for the next two days.

He also needed to find a better-paying assignment in the next two days to prepare the honey.

"Sigh, it's been a long time since I've had such a planned life!" Zhu Minglang sighed.

Although the future would be more challenging, life was full of hope.

......

Zhu Minglang didn't sleep long, as time was tight, and reducing sleep was necessary.

He needed to prepare food for the little crocodile and Xiaobai.

At the cafeteria, he quickly ate some food and rushed to the college assignment board to see what he could do.

"Whew, there are even assignments to go to battle and attack cities... This must be for dragon trainers. The college really has a wide range." Zhu Minglang looked at the complex assignment board, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

The reward for going to battle was astonishing, a quarter of the city's tax!

If Xiaobai hadn't degenerated, Zhu Minglang could have tried it.

Owning a city's tax could buy several mountains of meat worms... Wait, why am I using meat worms as a unit? That's so unambitious.

"The fish spirits in Lichuan Lake are becoming rampant, their mating calls at night are very noisy, and their eggs on the shore are as hard as stones, seriously affecting the beauty of the college and Lichuan Lake. Some fish spirits even attack the town's fishermen, which is extremely malicious..."

Zhu Minglang read out this assignment.

Clear out the blue-spotted fish spirits!

This was an awkward assignment.

Dragon trainers with true dragons wouldn't bother with such a task. Fish spirits have their own survival instincts and ways to avoid strong opponents. Sending a dragonling to do this would be time-consuming and not very rewarding.

Among the dragonlings, some need to learn water skills and have sharp hunting abilities, and most dragonlings might not be up to the task, and could even be surrounded and killed by a group of fish spirits.

But the little crocodile spirit was a great hunter of fish!

Every afternoon was the little crocodile spirit's training time. It could strengthen its body in the waterfall's current and hunt these rockfish, achieving two goals at once!

"For half a month, this gives Black Tooth a clear training direction. If we complete it smoothly, we can get a grain of gold sand." Zhu Minglang smiled.

Training and earning money, both at the same time!

Getting this grain of gold sand would greatly alleviate the food crisis!

I'll take this job!