Chapter 21: Four Months

Several days have passed since the fierce leader battle between Lai Ang and Hol.

Lai Ang's injuries have mostly healed, and his strength has basically returned to its peak.

Yes, in the battle against the black dragon Hol, Lai Ang, relying on his greater agility and speed, spent most of the time making Hol run in circles.

But after all, he didn't surpass Hol by much, and Lai Ang's combat experience wasn't strong, so he inevitably suffered a heavy tail swipe from Hol, causing some dragon scales to break and his internal organs to sustain minor injuries.

However, the giant dragon, worthy of being a top magical creature, quickly recovered in the element-rich inner fort of the dragon fort, with ample supply of monster flesh and blood.

The young dragons' competition for the dragon forts is not solely because the academy regularly provides food to the twelve dragon forts; it's also because each dragon fort bears a magic circle inscribed by alchemists.

These magic circles envelop the entire dragon fort, drawing external elements into it, and the closer to the fort's center, the higher the elemental concentration.

The reason giant dragons hoard treasure, besides their innate love for it, is also related to the elemental power contained within the wealth.

When large amounts of treasure pile up, they naturally attract vast elemental energy, passively nourishing the giant dragon's body, making its body stronger over long periods and its scales harder.

The elemental attributes gathered by each dragon fort's alchemical magic circle are also different.

The attribute gathered by the Black Dragon Fort is water, which is also the most suitable elemental environment for a black dragon to live and grow.

"What should I plan next?" Lai Ang pondered.

For now, it seems the black dragon Hol won't provoke it; at least before it becomes stronger and gains enough confidence, it cannot possibly provoke Lai Ang again.

And the young dragons of other dragon forts, even if conflicts arise, cannot threaten Lai Ang's position because each fort suits different dragon species.

Unless a black dragon hatchling stronger than Lai Ang appears and defeats him.

"Black Water Battle Qi is currently at Second Rank, Level 1; each level up now takes fifty days."

To reach Level 10 and break through to Third Rank takes four hundred fifty days.

That's over a year.

This speed is already quite fast.

"Then I will continue to focus on raising the level of my Black Water Battle Qi." After thinking it over, Lai Ang did not change his previous plan.

Although raising the level of the Black Dragon Contemplation Method and the innate talent skill 'Dragon Might' would be more beneficial for Lai Ang's future growth,

but when one is still weak, the priority must be strength.

The competition at Jadeite Academy remains quite brutal.

"That female white dragon once said that, every so often, all twelve dragon forts' young dragons must undergo a ranking battle. In this battle, the strong can enjoy more resources afterward, while the weak not only receive no reward but also punishment." Lai Ang thought to himself.

These thoughts flashed through Lai Ang's mind, and soon he calmed down and began cultivating the Black Dragon Contemplation Method.

There is ultimately only one idle slot; at least for now, it's just one, and at the same time only one ability rune can be loaded into it for enhancement.

And Lai Ang has learned a great deal; if he waited to upgrade everything using the idle slot, who knows how long it would take.

Therefore, his own diligence is also quite important.

Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, four months passed.

Black Dragon Inner Fort, eastern area.

A knocking sound rang out.

After receiving permission to enter, a black dragon hatchling then opened the side door and entered this luxurious dragon nest.

The black dragon hatchling was Ai Di.

It entered the room, looked up at the platform two meters above the ground, where the black dragon that had just awakened from sleep lay. Its dark, lustrous scales, the muscles faintly bulging beneath them, the long, powerful tail slowly swaying, and those dragon eyes, slightly deeper in color, said, "Big brother."

Ai Di felt that Lai Ang Big Brother's aura had become somewhat stronger than when they had met earlier; thinking this, a hint of reverence unconsciously appeared in its dragon eyes.

For some reason, Ai Di always had a strange feeling inside—that Lai Ang Big Brother, or rather, compared to all the giant dragons it had seen so far, was very different.

But as to exactly how he differed, Ai Di could not immediately describe this feeling concretely.

Is it strength?

Or is it spellcasting?

It seems not either. "Ai Di, what's the matter?"

The black dragon on the platform spoke.

Bringing Ai Di's wandering thoughts back, it then realized it still had something to tell Lai Ang.

"That annoying green dragon has come again." Upon mentioning the green dragon, Ai Di's dragon eyes flashed with a hint of annoyance and fear.

The green dragon was naturally La De, who, when Lai Ang and the other two first entered Jadeite Academy, still called themselves their teacher.

As a result, over a month later, Lai Ang still hadn't seen this so-called teacher.

Later, Lai Ang learned that the green dragon La De only comes to teach on the dragon fort plain once every two or three months.

The teaching content includes spells, battle qi, and even alchemy.

In the past half year, the green dragon La De has come only twice, and Lai Ang has listened to its teachings both times.

After listening, Lai Ang also gained a better understanding of it.

"A very versatile and formidable green dragon, but its teaching methods are too crude and brutal."

Why say that La De's teaching is so crude and brutal?

Because La De's teaching is more like forcibly instilling principles and knowledge into the young dragons.

And if the young dragons make no progress in what they learned during the next lesson, they will suffer La De's punishment.

For example, making them drink an alchemical potion dozens of times smellier than feces, after which the young dragon will reek horribly for a long time, so foul that even sleeping becomes impossible, causing great torment.

Furthermore, in short, La De's temperament is very nasty; it seems to regard the process of teaching the young dragons as a pastime in its long life.

And Ai Di both resents and fears La De, naturally because it too has been punished once.

"The green dragon brought a message saying that the dragon fort ranking battle will begin in three days."

Ranking battle. Lai Ang's heart stirred slightly.

He glanced at the panel showing his Black Water Battle Qi already at Second Rank, Level 3.

And his dragon body has now grown to 3.2 meters.

There is also a considerable amount of mental power.

After four months of growth, under the idle machine tank and its own efforts, Lai Ang's strength has been steadily increasing.

Nowadays, if it were to fight the black dragon Hol again, it would have considerable confidence to defeat the opponent.

No longer like four months ago, when it needed a bit of luck to barely draw with it.

(End of chapter)