Chapter 49

"Ahem, this is Hei Ya's opponent." Zhu Mingliang was also a bit embarrassed, as he had not mentioned it beforehand.

Bai Qi dispersed all the ice and snow, still looking uninterested, and landed back on Zhu Mingliang's shoulder. As it descended, its form gradually transformed, surrounded by feathers that dissolved like snow in the air.

"Let's find the next target. At least we have a better bait now." Zhu Mingliang consoled Hei Ya.

"Oh oh~~~" Hei Ya felt a bit wronged and was indeed somewhat disheartened.

The opponent he considered to be on par with him was so easily killed.

Zhu Mingliang walked towards the gruesome corpse of the fake dragon, which he had not even fully seen.

Reaching out his palm, Zhu Mingliang began to extract the soul and form a pearl. This was a beast with strength close to that of a dragon's offspring, and the pearl that could be condensed from it might be a dragon pearl.

If it were a dragon pearl, he would be in for a great fortune!

A dragon pearl has a certain probability of allowing latent dragon-qualified young spirits to transform into dragons. For true dragons, it is also a great nourishment, possibly awakening bloodline powers and innate abilities.

Xiao Bai Qi's Azure Dragon Mystical Art had yet to awaken, and it was highly likely that the Star Wind Ice Dragon bloodline had overridden the Silver Moon Ying Long bloodline. After all, the abilities it currently possessed were all those of the Star Wind Ice Dragon...

But Bai Qi's main bloodline was the Silver Moon Ying Long, and the Azure Dragon Mystical Art and Azure Dragon innate abilities should be stronger.

If subsequent feeding did not awaken it, Zhu Mingliang considered using a dragon pearl to assist.

But dragon pearls have always been highly valuable... especially since Bai Qi was a Dragon General.

"Strange, why is this fake dragon's soul so weak??" Zhu Mingliang saw brown soul energy.

But the soul energy was so faint that it was almost like a wisp of mist. Zhu Mingliang had tried his best to extract the soul, but in the end, he only managed to form a low-quality fake dragon soul pearl.

The fake dragon soul pearl could still fetch some money, but its quality was so poor that it might be blown away by the wind as soon as it was brought back to school.

"How could this be?" Zhu Mingliang was very puzzled.

A fake dragon with strength close to that of a dragon's offspring and five hundred years of cultivation, how could its soul pearl be so weak, when his technique was flawless?

At that moment, Zhu Mingliang flipped through the book on soul extraction and pearl formation he carried, but even after reading the entire book, there was no mention of the situation he encountered...

"Could it be that the soul was shattered by Bai Qi?"

"The fake dragon's soul I saw earlier was already in pieces..."

"Does this mean that high-level beings, due to their overwhelming strength, can easily destroy the physical and spiritual bodies of lower-level demons, making the soul too fragmented for the dragon master to extract a high-quality soul pearl?"

"In that case, when encountering high-quality prey, it's best not to engage in a level-crushing battle."

Zhu Mingliang was quite insightful. Reviewing some scattered records in the book and combining them with the current situation, he came to this conclusion.

Dragon taming is a profound art.

Zhu Mingliang felt there was still much for him to learn.

In the past, casting techniques and dragon taming were just auxiliary studies for him, and he had never taken them seriously. Now, he was somewhat regretful.

One cannot achieve much without effort in youth.

How can one be satisfied with just a bowl of rice when there are several dishes that make it even more delicious?

...

"Yuuu~~~~"

Bai Qi returned to the spirit realm to sleep, probably because there was no opponent in this forest that could match it.

And that was indeed the case.

This was just an ordinary large forest, how could a Dragon General-level being appear here?

A thousand-year-old demon spirit would likely reside in deeper areas, and they had no intention of venturing into such places for this hunting trip.

Zhu Mingliang had reviewed the assignments from the academy and the city-state, and there were not many tasks that required a Dragon General-level dragon master.

A Dragon General was indeed very powerful within the territory of the Ancestor Dragon City, and it was not always possible to have matching assignments. So, Xiao Bai Qi would have to wait for the opportunity to practice.

If a Dragon General-level assignment with good returns could be found within one or two months, it would be considered very lucky for Zhu Mingliang!

Low-reward assignments were not impossible to take, but they were somewhat unprofitable.

Any dragon consumes a lot of energy after a battle, regardless of whether it is injured or not. The amount of food needed to replenish after a battle would be many times more.

Zhu Mingliang currently had a limited supply of Frost Snow Tree flower nectar, enough to support Xiao Bai Qi for one full battle. If it were wasted on some minor assignments, it would not only lack training value for Bai Qi but also fail to cover the cost of the nectar.

So, don't be fooled by Xiao Bai Qi's grand and majestic display of snow and ice with a single flap of its wings.

In fact, it was all money being spent...

...

Hei Ya was also quite insightful. After just one fishing enforcement with Zhu Mingliang, it had become quite adept at it.

Dragging the blood-soaked corpse of the fake dragon, it placed it in a place where the aura of demons was clearly strong. Compared to the blood-drinking fur beast, this five-hundred-year-old demon beast fake dragon was a great temptation for many old demons in the deep mountains.

"We should be able to catch a bigger prey. With the soul pearl, we will return with a full load!" Zhu Mingliang said to Hei Ya.

Hei Ya hid its large, plump body behind a thin tree trunk, nodding vigorously, looking very eager for the prey to take the bait, unaware that its entire fierce and imposing form was mostly exposed.

"Yi~~~~~~~~~~"

A long cry echoed from above the dense tree canopy.

Zhu Mingliang looked up, trying to find the creature, but soon the same cry sounded again from around, sounding like a fierce bird of prey.

"Pu da pu da~~~~~~~~~~"

The smell of blood permeated the air, and the birds of prey perched in the treetops had already found their prey, their eyes sizing it up through the dense pine needles.

These birds of prey were cautious and had keen observation. Soon, they noticed the presence of the Black Cang Dragon.

Just as Zhu Mingliang thought these forest birds would retreat, several agile figures suddenly dove from the treetops, swiftly swooping over the corpse of the fake dragon, their razor-sharp claws tearing away large chunks of flesh!

"Quick, we need to retrieve our bait!" Zhu Mingliang shouted urgently.

The Black Cang Dragon also realized that the fake dragon it was using as bait was about to be taken by these birds of prey. It immediately released its dragon aura and charged towards the group of shameless birds.

Zhu Mingliang recognized these birds of prey as a group of cliff vultures. They often circled high above the vast forest, their eyes piercing through the layers of green leaves to observe creatures on the ground, and their keen sense of smell could detect the scent of blood from several kilometers away.

Whenever a creature was injured, these cliff vultures would circle overhead, exhausting the prey's strength while calling for their companions to gather. When the time was right, they would strike with lightning speed, tearing the injured target to death!

Cliff vultures are extremely dangerous creatures. Even a powerful demon spirit would fear them, and their appearance meant that death was very close!