Frost Flower Trees are definitely not cheap, and while anyone could do the job of a miscellaneous assistant, it's only right that Teacher Duan Lan asks me to help with another ten small tasks!
However, Zhu Minglang was curious why Teacher Duan Lan didn't request the stronger Bai Qi for this task but Little Black Tooth instead.
When they arrived under the Phoenix Embankment Waterfall, Zhu Minglang finally understood why Duan Lan needed Little Black Tooth.
Looking at the turbulent waterfall currents and the large rocks in the giant pool, Zhu Minglang fell into deep thought, unsure of how to communicate with Little Crocodile Spirit.
"Little Black Tooth, remember, as soon as it lunges at you, you must swim away immediately. Don't let it catch you. Leave the rest to Teacher Duan Lan's Waterfall Flood Dragon, understand?" Zhu Minglang said earnestly while cradling Little Crocodile Spirit's adorably ugly big head.
Little Crocodile Spirit had a face like a bitter melon, although it always looked that way.
It could never have imagined that it, who had been soundly sleeping behind the house, would suddenly become fish bait.
It was a crocodile, a big crocodile, for goodness' sake!
Who ever heard of using a crocodile for bait!!
"Don't worry, that century-old water monster isn't very strong; it just has an extremely sensitive sense of smell. Every time I summon the Zhan River Dragon, it hides among the rocks at the bottom of the pool. It would be easy to use Profound Art to forcefully obliterate it, but that could harm other creatures living at the bottom of the pool," Teacher Duan Lan explained to Zhu Minglang.
As a teacher at Li Chuan Academy, Teacher Duan Lan had noticed a water monster under the waterfall that posed a great threat to fishermen. This was something he should take care of even without a formal mission, but unfortunately, the creature bulled the weak and feared the strong; it knew how to survive and was hard to catch on an ordinary day...
The Waterfall Flood Dragon was quite large, making it inconvenient to search among the chaotic stones at the bottom of the pool. Hence, when Duan Lan saw Zhu Minglang, he remembered that Zhu Minglang had a Little Crocodile Spirit.
The Crocodile Spirit was just at the right level: weaker than the century-old water monster but also a perfect prey specimen for it, as an ordinary fish wouldn't even catch its attention!
Now, Zhu Minglang finally understood.
Using his Crocodile Spirit as bait for the century-old water monster was the real compensation!
In this world, there are beings that have never transformed into dragons. At the age of a hundred years, they are called Demon Spirits.
At a thousand years, they are called Devil Spirits.
At ten thousand years, they become Holy Spirits.
These special demons and devils, despite never having crossed the Dragon Gate, possess strength that can sometimes crush that of True Dragons, especially the Devil Spirits and Holy Spirits, before whom even Dragon Lords and Dragon Kings would cower!
A century-old Demon Spirit was also not weak, likely close to an evolved Green Forest Dragon.
It would have been fine to send Bai Qi.
But Little Black Tooth stood no chance against it.
So Zhu Minglang kept reiterating his instructions, telling it to bolt at the first sign of the water monster among the chaotic stone forest at the bottom of the pool!
...
Little Crocodile Spirit was brave; it jumped into the giant pool.
Without a Spirit Contract to sense its feelings and condition, Zhu Minglang was honestly quite worried.
Yet considering that Little Crocodile Spirit had to cross the Dragon Gate someday, experiencing these trials was necessary. After all, merely training in lake waters without danger wouldn't lead to transformation into a dragon anytime soon.
Due to the impact of the waterfall, the pool's water was constantly turbulent, and Zhu Minglang couldn't see underneath at all.
The longer he waited, the more anxious he became. The Spirit Bond connecting him with his dragon pet was too weak, breaking only upon death. Although Zhu Minglang understood that every creature needed to go through life and death training to possibly transform into a dragon and knew the risk was low with a powerful Dragon Trainer like Duan Lan around, he couldn't help but worry.
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!!!!"
The water surface suddenly began churning violently, and a dark crocodile head slowly emerged from the midst, not coming out completely but rather quickly wiggling its body just below the surface.
Zhu Minglang could clearly see its black figure swimming from his position on the large rock.
It was Little Black Tooth!
Before Zhu Minglang could heave a sigh of relief, purple-red bolts of lightning began to appear where the water churned, spreading slowly amidst a cloud of underwater smoke!
The next second, a dark red monster burst out and chased after Little Crocodile Spirit at full speed.
As the dark red monster moved, the bolts of lightning and black smoke accompanied it. Meanwhile, many large fish that couldn't escape in time were flipped belly-up and floated on the agitated surface, paralyzed or electrocuted in a matter of moments.
The scene was nothing short of horrifying!
Yet the dark red water monster showed no interest in those plump fish, biting down on Little Crocodile Spirit instead. The thick smoke with dark red lightning looked like a huge demonic claw, about to catch Little Crocodile Spirit's tail.
"Teacher Duan Lan," Zhu Minglang called out urgently.
"Not yet under the waterfall curtain," Duan Lan replied calmly.
Little Crocodile Spirit struggled fiercely, moving twice as fast as it usually did in the training currents, but it still couldn't shake off that terrifying dark red water monster.
Little Crocodile Spirit was giving it everything it had, but at this rate, it wouldn't reach the waterfall curtain in time and would be paralyzed by the dark red creature!
Realizing its life was in danger, Little Crocodile Spirit began to cry for help. It had never encountered such an enemy and was clearly terrified. The sound was akin to a crying child.
Zhu Minglang realized Little Crocodile Spirit couldn't complete this task and immediately reached out his hand to summon Bai Qi to save it.
"If you stop now, you are essentially giving up on its Dragon Gate. Many young creatures don't even know their own potential, often choosing to rely on the Dragon Shepherd at critical moments. But it's not yet a True Dragon, and you can't possibly keep it protected in the Spirit Realm forever. One day it will leave your sight, it will again become entangled in the waterfall's current, and it will encounter predators stronger than itself…" Duan Lan's tone was somewhat severe.
As a teacher, she understood that the condition of the Little Crocodile Spirit was not yet dire.
Anxiety leads to chaos, and Duan Lan hoped that Zhu Minglang would maintain the detachment that every Dragon Shepherd should possess at this moment.
Just like with eagles, if you don't push the eaglets to the brink of the cliff, they will forever hide in their nest, waiting to be fed, never learning to fly.
Without the ability to hunt or fly, even the mighty eagle becomes prey to cunning pythons, or is killed by other large birds fighting for territory.
Zhu Minglang took a deep breath and finally chose to watch coldly from the sidelines.
The cries for help from the Little Crocodile Spirit grew louder, yet Zhu Minglang did not respond.
"Grr!"
Suddenly, the dark red water monster protruded half of its head; its eyes were blood red and flickered with a demonic luster.
It was clear the water in the pool ahead was being affected by some strange force; it abruptly began rolling backwards as if lashed by a huge tail, creating a reverse wave!
The Little Crocodile Spirit was already too close for comfort, and this sudden wave caught it off-guard. Unable to evade, the creature was delivered straight into the jaws of danger!
Zhu Minglang felt a sinking feeling in his heart upon witnessing this scene.
The opponent knows Demon Art, the Little Crocodile Spirit will not escape.
Realizing that no one would come to its rescue, the Little Crocodile Spirit, hit by the reverse wave, spun almost completely around. Any hope of escape was utterly lost!
"Ohhhhhhh!"
The Little Crocodile Spirit decided to swing its tail, aligning itself to face the approaching dark red water monster.
Using the reverse wave, the Little Crocodile Spirit plunged its head down and stood its horn upright, charging with reckless abandon at the dark red water monster!
Heavy Crocodile Horn Strike!
When it came to physical robustness, the two-meter-long Little Crocodile Spirit was not inferior to many ferocious creatures, and its horn on the forehead was comparable to that of a rhinoceros. The force of this counter-charge was astonishing!
"Bang!"
Within the black mist, the dark red monster was likewise taken aback by its prey's resistance. It was violently knocked out of the water surface.
It was only then that Zhu Minglang finally caught a clear glimpse of the creature; it was a terrifying Violent Catfish with a pair of barbels hanging from each of its upper and lower jaws, emitting dark red sparks!
The Violent Catfish was naturally scaleless, but this century-old Demon Spirit had developed a skin nearly as tough as metal plates. Although the Little Crocodile Spirit's Heavy Horn Strike could have severely injured its opponent, it was thwarted by the Violent Catfish's hardened skin.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~~~~~~~~~~~"
The Violent Catfish was surrounded by electric threads and black mist. As the Little Crocodile Spirit sent it flying, the creature itself was assaulted by the dark red electrical filaments, causing its body to convulse.
"Ohhhhh!"
The Little Crocodile Spirit cried out in agony, quickly trying to swim out of the black water and electric mist before its entire body became paralyzed…
It managed to get away, but its head, neck, chest, and forelimbs were virtually immobile. Relying on its tail, the Little Crocodile Spirit struggled to paddle toward the direction of the waterfall curtain.
"Grrr~~~~~~~~~~!!"
The Violent Catfish screamed, taking some time to recover from its daze.
Its bloodshot eyes glared hatefully at the Little Crocodile Spirit. The Violent Catfish once again stirred up a huge wave and rushed after the Little Crocodile Spirit. It would not rest until it had swallowed the Little Crocodile Spirit alive!
With its extremely slow speed, the Little Crocodile Spirit was like an old man with a cane against a fully grown man sprinting, but it did not give up. Dragging along its painful, exhausted body, it continued to swim forward…
"Grrr, grrr!"
The Violent Catfish leaped, its wide mouth gaping like a black basket. In front of it, the two-meter-long Little Crocodile Spirit seemed quite slender. The monster intended to truly swallow it whole!
"Roar~~~~~~~~!!"
Suddenly, from the churning waterfall, a blue Waterfall Flood Dragon burst forth from behind the water curtain, its majestic and elongated body launching toward the water's surface.
As swift as a thick blue lightning bolt, the Waterfall Flood Dragon intercepted in midair, capturing the fierce Violent Catfish in its jaws as easily as a snake catches a frog.
Standing like a towering cliff, the Waterfall Flood Dragon thrashed its neck, flinging the captured Violent Catfish hard against the waterfall's rocky wall!
"Slap!"
Flesh flew, splattering against the waterfall's rocks. The strength with which the Waterfall Flood Dragon threw the creature was truly fearsome; the Violent Catfish, brutally ferocious, was smashed to pieces, reduced to a smear!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~~~~~~~"
The current washed away, and soon the spatter of Violent Catfish's flesh was cleansed by the waterfall, little by little dissolving into the pool below…
The carcass dispersed, attracting countless carnivorous fish from the pool that frenziedly fought over the remains. Having been oppressed by the Violent Catfish for a long time, these carnivorous fish feasted with unrestrained glee, happily slapping their tails.
In a matter of minutes, the Violent Catfish was dismembered, its blood diluted by the water…