The nectar of frosty snow trees was definitely not cheap, and anybody could work as a miscellaneous assistant. Even if Teacher Duan Lan wanted Zhu Minglang to help with ten trivial tasks, it would be well within her right to!
However, he was curious as to why she didnât request Baiqiâs help, since he was stronger, and asked for little Heiya instead?
After arriving at the pond under the Phoenix Falls, Zhu Minglang finally understood why Duan Lan had requested he bring little Heiya.
Seeing the stirring water under the waterfall, and the large rocks in the pond, Zhu Minglang fell into deep thought. For a moment, he didnât know how he should communicate with his little crocodile spirit.
âRemember, Heiya, immediately swim away when they jump at you. Donât ever get caught. Just leave the rest to Teacher Duan Lanâs flood dragon. Understand?â Zhu Minglang said seriously, holding the little crocodile spiritâs adorable head.
The little crocodile spirit showed a sulky face, even though he usually looked bitter normally.
He, who was originally sleeping peacefully in the backyard, never expected to suddenly become no more than bait.
He was a crocodile. A crocodile!
Who would use a crocodile as bait!?
âDonât worry. That hundred-year-old water monster isnât very strong, just that it has a very sensitive sense of smell. It will hide among the rocks at the bottom of the pond every time I summon my Deep River Dragon. It would be a piece of cake to kill it by using Mystic Arts, but doing so would hurt the other creatures in the pond,â Teacher Duan Lan told Zhu Minglang.
After training her Waterfall Flood Dragon under the waterfall for a long time, she had discovered the existence of a water monster that posed a great threat to the fishermen.
As a teacher of the Lichuan Dragon Tamers Academy, it was her duty to handle such matters, even if it wasnât a commissioned task. Alas, that water demon understood the way of survival, only bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult to catch itâŠ
A flood dragon was too big, making it difficult for it to search between the rocks at the bottom of the pond. When Duan Lan saw Zhu Minglang, she remembered he had a little crocodile spirit.
The crocodile spiritâs current level was just right, being weaker than the hundred-year-old water demon, and was within its standards for prey. Ordinary big fish werenât enough to enter the eyes of this hundred-year-old water demon!
Now, Zhu Minglang finally understood.
Letting his crocodile spirit be bait for the hundred-year-old water demon was the real reward!
All creatures who had failed to dragonize would be called Demon Spirits when they reached a hundred years of age.
At a thousand years old, they were known as Devil Spirits.
As for those over ten thousand years old, they were referred to as Holy Spirits.
Even if these unique demons and devils had never crossed their Dragon Gate, there were many among them whose strength was above real dragons, especially Devil Spirits and Holy Spirits. Even some Dragon Lords and Dragon Monarchs would have to avoid them!
A hundred-year-old Demon Spirit wasnât weak by any means. It was approximately at the level of the evolved Green Forest Dragon.
Letting Baiqi take it on was alright, but little Heiya was definitely not a match for it!
That was why Zhu Minglang had reminded little Heiya again and again to make a run for it immediately once it discovered the water monster among the large rocks at the bottom of the pond!
ââ
The little crocodile spirit was very brave, jumping into the huge pond.
Due to not having made a soul contract with one another, Zhu Minglang was unable to sense the little crocodile spiritâs emotions and condition. Truth be told, he was worried.
However, considering that the little crocodile spirit ultimately needed to cross his Dragon Gate anyway, letting him experience this was a kind of trail. After all, when would it ever dragonize from just doing some training in the waters with no danger to speak of?
Due to the crashing waterfall, the surface of the pond was very rough. Zhu Minglang was unable to tell what was happening in the water at all.
The longer he waited, the more uneasy he felt. The strength of a soul bond with a dragon pet was truly too weak, and would only break after death. Although Zhu Minglang understood that every living creature would had to experience life and death trials for it to become possible to dragonize, and was aware that the risk was already very low with a powerful Master Dragon Tamer like Duan Lan around, he couldnât help but feel worried.
Buruburuburu!!!
The water surface suddenly stirred violently. A black crocodile head slowly emerged, but it didnât come out of the water completely, instead swimming around quickly under the water.
From the large rocks above the water, Zhu Minglang could clearly see the swimming black figure.
It was Heiya!
Before Zhu Minglang could heave a sigh of relief, rays of purplish-red electrical light suddenly shone from the stirring pond. The electrical rays were dense, slowly spreading out from a thick cloud of smoke under the water!
In the next second, a dark red monster shot out swiftly, chasing after the little crocodile spirit aggressively.
As the dark red monster moved, the electrical black smoke followed at its side. Many fish werenât able to get away in time and had all turned up on their bellies, floating on the churning surface of the water. In just a short while, a whole spread of them were electrocuted.
The scene looked extremely harrowing!
The dark red monster wasnât the slightest bit interested in those plump fish, however. The thick smoke with dark red electrical light was like a devilâs claw, grabbing at the little crocodile spiritâs tail.
âTheyâre not under the waterfall yet,â Duan Lan replied calmly.
The little crocodile spirit swam as fast as he could, twice as fast as when he trained in the waterfallâs rapids. Even so, he wasnât able to shake off that terrifying dark red monster.
The little crocodile spirit was already trying his best. If this situation persisted, he wouldnât be able to make it to the curtain of the waterfall before he was paralyzed by the dark red monsterâs electricity!
Realizing his life was in danger, the little crocodile spirit started crying for help. He had never come across such an enemy, and was obviously scared to the extreme. His voice was like a crying childâs.
Zhu Minglang also realized that the little crocodile spirit wouldnât be able to complete his mission, and he immediately reached out his hand, wanting to summon Baiqi to save him.
âIf you terminate the mission now, youâre as good as giving up on its Dragon Gate. Many young creatures arenât aware of their own potential, and often choose to rely on their dragon tamers at crucial moments. However, it still isnât a real dragon yet; you canât possibly hide it in your spirit domain. A day will come when it will get out of your sight, be swept into the waterfallâs rapid current again, and encounter a much stronger preyâŠâ Duan Lanâs voice carried a hint of strictness.
As a teacher, she understood that the little crocodile spiritâs current situation wasnât at the point of hopelessness yet.
Concern bred disorder. Duan Lan wanted Zhu Minglang to stay calm at this moment, a quality all Master Dragon Tamers needed to possess.
Like eagles, if the eaglets were never pushed to a cliff, they would forever hide in their nests, waiting to be fed and never learning how to fly.
They wouldnât learn how to hunt, nor how to fly. They would become food for the sly pythons, or be bitten to death by other beasts fighting for territory.
Zhu Minglang took a deep breath, ultimately choosing to watch coldly from the side.
The little crocodile spiritâs cries for help grew louder, but Zhu Minglang didnât respond to him.
Gu!
That dark red water monster suddenly peeked half its head out of the water. Its eyes were completely red, flashing with a weird luster.
The pond water ahead was under the control of some strange, unknown power. It actually started moving backwards, like a huge tail sweeping out in a reverse wave!
The distance the little crocodile spirit was keeping between them wasnât enough. With the appearance of this unexpected counter-current, he had no way of dodging, and the sheep was sent right into the tigerâs mouth!
Zhu Minglangâs heart sank as he witnessed this scene.
-The opponent knows Demon Arts! Thereâs no way the little crocodile spirit can escape now.-
The little crocodile spirit seemed to understand that no one would come save him. The reverse wave swept over him, nearly flipping him around. There was no hope of him escaping!
âOuâŠ!!!â
The little crocodile spirit swung his tail, adjusting himself to face the dark red water monster.
Taking advantage of the reverse wave, the little crocodile spirit lowered his head and aimed his horn straight, betting it all on this and charging at the dark red water monster!
Heavy crocodile horn attack!
In terms of toughness of his physique, the little crocodile spirit, who had grown to two meters long, wouldnât be inferior to many ferocious creatures. Furthermore, the horn on his forehead was comparable to a rhinocerosâ. This charge held terrifying might behind it!
Bang!!!
Cloaked inside its dark cloud, the dark red monster wasnât expecting its prey to retaliate, and was sent flying out of the water.
At this moment, Zhu Minglang finally got a clear look at the monster. It was actually a terrifying Violent Catfish. It had two whiskers on both its upper and lower jaws. Those four whiskers were what was emitting those dark red electrical lights!
Violent Catfishes were naturally devoid of scales. This hundred-year demon spirit, however, had actually grown an outer skin similar to an iron sheet. Once, it would have been possible for the little crocodile spiritâs heavy horn charge to severely injure his opponent, but it was blocked by the Violent Catfishâs tough skin.
BzziziziziâŠ
Surrounded by electrical smoke, the little crocodile spirit was electrocuted by the dark red threads of electricity as he sent the Violent Catfish flying with his charge, and his body started convulsing.
âOu!!â the little crocodile spirit cried painfully, as he tried swimming out of the black cloud before he was fully paralyzedâŠ
He managed to swim out of the black cloud, but he couldnât move his head, neck, chest, and front limbs in the end. Relying on his tail, the little crocodile waded his way toward the waterfall with much difficulty.
âGuâŠ!!!â the Violent Catfish called out, only recovering from its dizziness after some time.
Its red eyes glared at the little crocodile spirit angrily. The Violent Catfish raised a huge splash of water once more, chasing after the little crocodile spirit. It wouldnât let things rest without swallowing its prey!
The little crocodile spirit was moving extremely slowly, like an elder on crutches racing against an adult man at full sprint. He didnât give up, however, and continued swimming with his aching and fatigued bodyâŠ
âGugu!!!â
The Violent Catfish leapt up, its mouth opening up like a black basket. The two-meter-long little crocodile spirit seemed tiny in comparison; it seemed like this monster was truly intending on swallowing it alive!
Suddenly, a blue flood dragon broke out from the curtain of the rolling waterfall with a roar, its slender, mighty figure pouncing toward the pond.
It was so fast that it looked like a thick bolt of blue lightning had flashed across. The Waterfall Flood Dragon actually intercepted the ferocious Violent Catfish in midair, like a snake grabbing a frog in one bite.
As majestic as a tall tower, the Waterfall Flood Dragon flung its neck, throwing the captured Violent Catfish ruthlessly toward the cliff!
Pa! Flesh and blood spattered, painting the waterfallâs rock wall. The strength behind the Waterfall Flood Dragonâs throw was truly too shocking, actually smashing the tough and ferocious Violent Catfish to bits and pieces!
ShuahuahuaâŠ
With the waterfall flushing down, the Violent Catfishâs large puddle of flesh and blood was soon washed away, bit by bit, into the pondâŠ
As the carcass was washed away, countless carnivorous fish were drawn there, fighting for food. After being bullied by this Violent Catfish for a very long time, the carnivorous fish in the pond had a great time feasting on its carcass, wagging their tails endlessly.
In just a matter of minutes, the Violent Catfish was completely dismembered. Even the bloody water became much more dilutedâŠ