Chapter 73

......

At the long slope of Chihu Village, a team of dragon masters rode their flying bird-like pseudo-dragons and landed on a somewhat withered grass field.

Among them, one person was on the ground, riding a Hellhound Dragon, which emitted a hot aura from its entire body. When it ran, scorching magma would drip from its fur, leaving a trail of scorched earth.

"Come down," the young man of the Nan family, who was riding the Hellhound Dragon, said.

"Aren't there a large group of lowly wolf demons here? We followed their scent all the way here," Nan Ye asked, somewhat puzzled.

"They were all killed by someone. Take a look for yourselves," the young man of the Nan family said.

Only then did the Nan family members descend from the sky. In a patch of wild grass, a large pit appeared, half-filled with corpses. At a glance, there were about twenty to thirty, not to mention those buried deeper in the mud.

Nan Ye was quite astonished. They were the earliest to arrive at Baita Town and had been chasing the largest group of wolf demons, which would have earned them a lot of credits. Who knew that the wolf demons had all been killed and discarded in the pit on the long slope...

"The souls have dispersed, and the bodies are shattered, no different from ordinary wild animal remains. The battle was almost a one-sided slaughter. Do we have such a strong person in our academy? Even a Dragon General would find it hard to achieve this level," the young man riding the Hellhound Dragon said.

"There seems to be a village at the foot of the slope. Let's go ask," a long-haired woman of the Nan family said.

"This is really frustrating, to come up empty-handed. If we return to Baita Town now, Jin Minjun's team will probably have already taken the lead!"

"Let's go to the village to get some clean water and prepare to move to the next place. We can't lose to the Li and Duan families again this year!" the young man riding the Hellhound Dragon said.

"This time we have no harvest, and we might already be behind others. I think we can try to find traces of a spirit demon. If we can hunt one, our ranking will be secure," the long-haired woman of the Nan family said.

"Agreed. We'll look for the spirit demon. If we can't handle it, we'll inform Nan Lingsha, who is stationed in Red Lotus City. If she kills the spirit demon, we can still get half the credits."

......

Xiaochi Mountain Station, a traveler's inn twenty miles from Baita Town, had three inns and one peddler shop.

This location was also a convergence point for various towns. Every five days, peddlers, farmers, woodcutters, hunters, and tea farmers from different towns would gather here.

Fortunately, the station was attacked on a non-market day; otherwise, the death toll would have been several times higher, reaching several hundred.

Zhu Minglang and his group had already abandoned the lead on the wolf demons, as the Nan family had already locked onto their escape direction and pursued them before they arrived.

The largest group of demons they could find now were the rat-faced demons, which had attacked the inn and moved on to Baita Town at night, a group of demons that liked to eat internal organs!

Zheng Yu's soldiers were also at the station, where the blood had already dried. They were searching for the footprints of the man-eating demons, looking for the bandits who had taken advantage of the chaos.

It seemed they had found a lead, and Zheng Yu had already set off for the low mountains. Zhu Minglang and Jin Minjun searched the station and found an unusual blood trail.

"This blood is not human; it seems a hunter injured one of the rat-faced demons with a knife," Jin Minjun said, pointing to the bloodstain seriously.

Zhu Minglang carefully examined it but couldn't tell the difference between the rat blood and human blood.

Perhaps Jin Minjun paid more attention to bloodstains. Using his spiritual energy, he could see things others couldn't.

Zhu Minglang's spiritual energy was more sensitive to the aura of demons, but only if it was left recently. For something that had been there for a while, it was harder to detect.

The injured rat-faced demon became the key to finding their nest. Zhu Minglang realized that his team was quite capable...

Indeed, true dragon masters were different from the slackers in his dorm.

Following the blood trail, they entered the mountains. To avoid alarming the cautious rat-faced demons, they did not bring their dragon beasts, except for Chu Yanyan's Wind Chime Dragon, which was searching for the demon aura.

The Wind Chime Dragon was small, about the size of a peacock, and its aura was as weak as that of an ordinary bird spirit, so there was no need to worry about it being detected by the rat-faced demons.

Its call was as pleasant as a bell, and the Wind Chime Dragon danced gracefully in the mountain breeze, light and elegant. Whenever the group became lost, the Wind Chime Dragon would guide them to a clearer path, and the missing footprints and bloodstains would reappear in their sight.

"Yi yi yi~~~~~"

The Green Holy Dragon of Shenmu requested to come out for some fresh air. Zhu Minglang thought about it; it had just reached the juvenile stage, and its aura was very weak, so it could come out for some exercise.

Little Qingzhuo liked the natural aura, and this mountain forest could grant it more power.

Moreover, the little holy dragon seemed to like the Wind Chime Dragon, flapping its somewhat stiff wings and following the beautiful tail of the Wind Chime Dragon, learning to fly.

"Is that a wooden dragon?" Lu Xiaoyao asked.

Lu Xiaoyao was the most fashionable of the five female students. On the journey, she would always take the time to touch up her makeup, maintaining her red lips and autumn eyebrows.

"Maybe it's a rotten wooden dragon, as the saying goes, 'rotten wood cannot be carved,' haha."

Cough, cough, the Green Holy Dragon was teased into being a rotten wooden dragon, and Zhu Minglang didn't know how to defend his little Qingzhuo.

"When we encounter the rat-faced demons, put it away quickly. It would be a pity if a young dragon died," Chu Yanyan said.

A young dragon in the Ancestor Dragon City was very expensive, and if it had high bloodline and potential, it could be bid to an astronomical price. Everyone could see that Zhu Minglang's green dragon was extraordinary, but they didn't say it out loud.

Zhu Minglang nodded. The little guy had just experienced a life-and-death ordeal and was not as reckless as other young dragons.

Just as he was thinking this, the little Green Holy Dragon suddenly disappeared from his sight. Zhu Minglang looked at the Wind Chime Dragon and saw that it was not following it.

He quickly used his spiritual perception to search for the little Green Holy Dragon in the bushes and found that it was right around him.

"Yi yi yi~~~~~"

On a hanging leaf canopy, the little Green Holy Dragon flapped its wings, maintaining a hovering state, its cute vertical pupils looking at Zhu Minglang, with a hint of mischief on its little face.

Zhu Minglang carefully observed and realized that this Green Holy Dragon had a natural affinity. Its feathers and scales changed color to blend with the yellow-green leaves, making its feathers identical to the leaves!

The little guy was showing off its skills, but this ability was quite unique, allowing it to blend completely with the environment.

A survival skill... Cherishing life is good. Zhu Minglang liked this ability that could ensure safety for a long time.