Playing dumb?
The skinny guy stared into Long Yi's eyes, detecting not a trace of deceit in them.
Without uttering another word, the skinny guy withdrew his scrutinizing gaze from Long Yi. Seeing that the skinny guy made no further moves, Long Yi turned back around to continue patiently waiting in line. Beside him, Bajie let out a snort, sweeping his gaze over the skinny guy with a look of disdain in his eyes.
"Elder brother, there's something off about that guy." The skinny guy's voice was so low that it was only audible to the man in front of him, a portly figure.
"Him? With that idiotic fat Ground Dragon?" The portly man scoffed and shook his head, thinking his younger brother too cautious. In his mind though, such caution perfectly complemented his fearless demeanor. He needed such caution.
Ground Dragon? Upon hearing the fat guy's voice, Long Yi turned and gave Bajie a look. Bajie, too, looked down at his own bloated belly, puzzled.
Indeed, from any perspective, Bajie was a fat and foolish Ground Dragon. Among all dragons unable to fly, Ground Dragons were the most common and constituted the military dragons most prevalent in the armies. A fully grown Ground Dragon was approximately five meters in length, strong-bodied, with equally impressive burst and endurance attributes. All nations' Dragon Knight Legions had a great number of Ground Dragons.
Of course, when compared to a purebred Ground Dragon, the scales on Bajie's back might be blacker, its teeth might be sharper and more densely packed, its front limbs might be stronger, and its gaze more piercing. Yet none of that really mattered compared to its corpulent form and the comically large backpack it carried, stuffed full with beef legs.
"Alright, Ground Dragon Bajie, you better not make a fool of me later!"
Long Yi patted Bajie's head, mumbling under his breath.
Bajie rolled his eyes helplessly, his mouth curving up in what seemed like a mocking smile.
Finally, it was Long Yi's turn.
With clear reluctance, Bajie left his meaty bundle outside the tent, and both man and dragon entered the tent.
There were three people sitting within the tent, the one on the left an elderly man with white hair and deep wrinkles across his face. His eyes were sharp, his manner unsociable, but he exuded no energy fluctuations. In the middle was a young woman wearing a mage's robe, a faint blue halo of magical energy emanating from her head creating an aura of magical oppression.
On the right was a man as solid as an iron tower. His bulging muscles strained against his vest, his eyes lighting up upon Long Yi entering the tent.
"What a sturdy lad. Now that's what a real Dragon Knight looks like." The burly man whispered to the woman next to him.
"The strength of a Dragon Knight lies in his dragon. No matter how brawny he is, can he be stronger than his dragon?" The woman disdainfully retorted.
Long Yi retained his naive expression, handing over his summons.
"Physicality of 98? Hmm, not bad, not bad." The burly man nodded, but then his eyebrows furrowed.
"Kid, it's okay if your Dragon-language isn't good. It's only used for casting spells anyway. It's understandable if your Dragon Soul Bloodline is weak. But the compatibility level of your contract is also this low. Did you buy this dragon from the black market? It seems like it doesn't even want to be with you."
As a Dragon Knight, the significance of 'Dragon' cannot be underestimated. Every nation had stringent laws forbidding the private sale of dragons. Even the low-ranking Earth Dragons were not exempt. But humans, willing to traffic their own kind, what considerations could they possibly have for dragons, these exotic creatures?
The best way to train a Dragon Knight was to allow them to hatch a dragon while they were still children — typically around six years old — and then raise the dragon and rider together. By the time they turned eighteen, the bond between them would be strong enough for the compatibility of their contract to be upwards of eighty.
And yet, Long Yi's compatibility was only sixty-one.
"Teacher, Bajie was hatched by me when I was three years old. He wasn't bought! If you don't believe me, you can ask him!"
Long Yi pushed the plump Bajie forward. Bajie immediately began nodding vigorously, his eyes as innocent as a rabbit's.
The three tutors exchanged glances. Ground Dragons may have been innately lacking in intelligence, but they were still capable of basic discernment. They supposed that Bajie probably wasn't purchased.
"Alright, you've chosen to join the Imperial Army then? Come over here for the test." An old man gestured for Long Yi. Long Yi grinned, saying, "No, no, I want to join the Air Force."
Thump--
The beautiful female mage across from Long Yi could not help but laugh. As soon as she noticed Long Yi's naive face, hers turned red. She coughed awkwardly, saying, "Sir, err, young man, you need to understand. Yours is an Earth Dragon. To join the Air Force, even if you don't have a Flying Dragon, you'd need a Golden Eagle at the very least. However, this is a Dragon Knight Academy."
Long Yi scratched his head and looked very seriously at the beautiful female mage, stating slowly and deliberately, "Bajie's a Flying Dragon."
What?
The three people present were taken aback. At first, they didn't believe it, but when they honestly looked at Bajie, their facial expressions changed dramatically. Especially the burly man immediately stood up, walked in front of Bajie, and stared carefully into Bajie's eyes. Almost simultaneously, a visible spark exploded between their eyes.
"This dragon..." The beautiful mage's face also became careful, looking toward the old man on the right, whose expression had turned even more serious.
"Yes, Bajie is a Demon Abyss Dragon." Long Yi's expression became more honest.
The three people present fell completely silent.
The Demon Abyss Dragon was not a native creature of this plane but came from another incredibly hostile plane, called the Melting Fire Abyss. The seas there were molten iron, and the rain in the sky was burning fuel. The creatures that inhabited that plane were so violent that it would be insufficient to describe them as destructive.
Among these creatures, the Demon Abyss Dragon was the most well-known.
The Demon Abyss Dragon's fame came from one hundred thirty years ago when a sorcerer used the forbidden Dragon Blood Summoning Spell to open a portal to another plane and summoned a Demon Abyss Dragon. He had intended to control the Demon Abyss Dragon and make it his mount but didn't expect that the first thing the Demon Abyss Dragon did was to eat the sorcerer who summoned it.
Because that sorcerer had summoned the Demon Abyss Dragon King.
Later, relying on its power, the Demon Abyss Dragon King maintained the inter-plane connection and summoned dozens more of Demon Abyss Dragons from the Melting Fire Abyss. They laid waste to three cities in just one day, killing hundreds of giant dragons and their dragon knights. In the end, it was the elite dragon knights from several great empires who managed to drive the Demon Abyss Dragon King back to the Melting Fire Abyss.
Of the remaining Demon Abyss Dragons, apart from some that were eliminated, some escaped from the pursuit of the elite dragon knights and went into hiding. These Demon Abyss Dragons hid on an island overseas called Sulfur Island, which was constantly spewing magma and had a strong smell of sulfur detectable hundreds of miles away, hence its name. The environment there was extremely harsh, but it was very suitable for Demon Abyss Dragons to live.
Ordinary adult Demon Abyss Dragons were over fifty meters long, classified as giant dragons.
People had always used to call the Dragon Clan giant dragons, but most dragons were not more than thirty meters long. Those ten meters long were considered small dragons, those about twenty meters long were medium dragons, and those thirty meters long were called large dragons. Only those above fifty meters could be called giant dragons.
The Demon Abyss Dragon King of that year was over a hundred meters long, a true super giant dragon.
However, the Demon Abyss Dragon has a slight disadvantage: juvenile Demon Abyss Dragons have no wings. Since juvenile Demon Abyss Dragons live mainly in the magma, they do not need wings. They only grow wings during adolescence.
There are juvenile, adolescent, adult, and elderly stages in a dragon's life cycle. The growth of a dragon that has made a contract with a dragon knight depends mostly on evolution rather than age. As dragon knowledge is inherited, there were no physiological and psychological disconnection issues.
The three people were looking around Bajie. Behind Bajie, they could vaguely see two bulges. These were the hidden wings of the Demon Abyss Dragon, which would open only after evolution.
Over the years, humans had thought about communicating with the Demon Abyss Dragons, but there was a problem.
The Dragon Clan absolutely would not acknowledge a Dragon Knight who already has another dragon. And for young candidate Dragon Knights, such rookie level Demon Abyss Dragons considered them even more contemptible, so there was even less chance of successful communication.
The simplest way was to get a Demon Abyss Dragon egg. It wasn't that people hadn't thought about it, as hatching from an egg was considered the best starting point. But how many people could venture onto Sulfur Island?
"Lad, you're not going to tell me you've been to Sulfur Island, are you?"
The burly man asked, his face full of disbelief. Ordinary people would be poisoned to death by the dense toxic gases even before they could get close to it. When you reach the island, every corner has a temperature of hundreds of degrees, and boiling water is everywhere.
Moreover, there were the Demon Abyss Dragons on the island.
However, oddly enough, these Demon Abyss Dragons did not seem to have any plans to leave the island.
"Actually..." Long Yi looked up and smiled.
"Actually?" The three people held their breath and focused, waiting for Long Yi to speak.
"Actually, I've never been there."
"Ah--"
The three of them were stunned, and the old man immediately burst into laughter. Seeing the old man laugh, the burly man glanced at the beautiful Mage beside him, and the two of them also started laughing.
In their opinion, it would be impossible for Long Yi, who was just eighteen years old, to have set foot on the island. Being able to acquire a Demon Abyss Dragon, Long Yi must have a powerful force behind him helping.
Maybe it was some reclusive predecessor? Asking Long Yi would definitely not lead him to disclose it. However, it was much better that this Demon Abyss Dragon appeared in the White Dragon Empire than in other countries.