Lord of the Magical Beasts

Even though the Flying Dragon King was badly injured, the Bullmen and Medusa warriors were still unable to withstand a single hit.

Flailing its injured tail, the Flying Dragon King tossed the Bullmen and Medusas obstructing its path away as it aimed its sharp claws straight at Yang Ling’s head, ignoring Ashnamov’s sharp Darkmetal Longspear and Goode’s icicles entirely.

The Flying Dragon King knew that it was far behind in the battle, having fallen victim to Yang Ling’s poison trap and surrounded as it was. It needed to kill Yang Ling if it was going to turn the tables, even despite the attacks that rained down upon it from Ashnamov, Goode, and the rest of the group.

Yang Ling saw what the Flying Dragon King intended, and quickly cast the Gaze of Confusion Wizard Mantra. Immediately, the Mantra took effect on the Dragon King, and Yang Ling took advantage of that moment to teleport to the dragon using the Earth Evasion Technique. He plunged the Blood Elf Dagger into the third rib of the beast’s chest precisely, and the blade slid cleanly in.

According to the Flying Dragons’ memories, the depression behind the third rib of a Flying Dragon was their weakest point. If they were to suffer a blow in that location, they would either go completely numb, rendering them powerless, or they would suffocate.

The Flying Dragon King howled in mortal pain. It crumpled to the ground in a heap, happening to swat Ashnamov, who had moved closer to strike, out of attack range on its way down.

The Soul Robbing Incense that numbed the nerves, the ambush from the tamed Flying Dragons, and the Blood Dagger absorbing its blood like a bottomless hole combined. The Flying Dragon King was spent, unable to defend itself.

“Hehe, mission complete!” Yang Ling sighed with happy relief. He had succeeded in his counterattack, and he had had no casualties. Now that he’d dealt with the Flying Dragon King, the rest of the dragons would pose no real trouble to him, even if they managed to escape back to their caves. If he succeeded in taming the Flying Dragon King, his plan would be half complete.

He pulled the Blood Elf Dagger from the creature, and tamed the convulsing Flying Dragon King, which ceased the dragon’s pained convulsions. Then Yang Ling tamed the rest of Flying Dragons. Just as he had expected, without the Flying Dragon King, the ordinary dragons, with their morale depleted and suffering from the harsh poison, posed no threat.

Soon after, Yang Ling had finished taming the eighty Flying Dragons that the Flying Dragon King had brought along. He quickly recalled each creature into the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda to heal. Including the Flying Dragons that he had tamed earlier, Yang Ling had tamed a total of a hundred and twenty Flying Dragons. According to the memories of the Flying Dragon King, almost all of the Flying Dragons in the Flying Dragon Valley had been exterminated. Other than a few young Flying Dragons that were still too small to fly, the valley’s threats had been eliminated.

The Fox Elder, Goode and the rest were flabbergasted to a person, until Yang Ling sat down to recover the mental energy and Wizard Power he had expended. Though they knew that Yang Ling’s abilities ran deep, and that he could summon Magical Beasts to do battle for him, no one expected him to be so strong!

From start to finish, Goode, Yuna and the rest had not had to help. Yang Ling had completed the task by himself, of course with the help of his Magical Beast army. In other words, Yang Ling had defeated over a hundred Flying Dragons practically alone!

The Fox Elder came to his senses and was relieved that he had not ever engaged in conflict with Yang Ling, and Goode saw renewed hope for saving his family. Ashnamov, who was experienced in battle, was completely convinced of Yang Ling’s abilities. His strategies were also meticulous and worthy of praise.

After consuming thirty six Magical Beast Blood Orbs to recover his energy, Yang Ling took in a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. He stood slowly, stretched, and walked to the Flying Dragon Valley’s entrance.

According to the memories of the Flying Dragon King, there was a divine temple of the Snow Goddess at the Anima Snowy Mountains, its entrance hidden under the lake. But the lake was frozen, and its waters were a thousand meters deep, and the water pressure was stronger than anyone could imagine. Even the Flying Dragon King had difficulty diving that far.

The race of Flying Dragons were responsible for guarding the lake’s perimeter, and there were still many other guardians at the underground entrance, and some of them were Level Surpassing Magical Beasts.

Over two hundred years before, the five great families on the continent had joined forces and attacked the snowy mountains, killing a few hundred of the Flying Dragons and then storming into the lake. But in the end, they were nearly exterminated by the Level Surpassing Magical Beasts at the bottom of the lake. In the end, not only were their forces diminished, but they were forced to sign an agreement that promised to never step foot in the Anima Snowy Mountains again.

The five great families suffered many casualties, but the Flying Dragons guarding the perimeter of the lake also lost many. Nearly eighty percent of their mature Flying Dragons perished in the conflict, and their numbers were still recovering from the battle despite having prospered in the Flying Dragon Lagoon for many years. This was also the reason why the Flying Dragon King had not dared attack recklessly when it saw Yang Ling and his group. It was precisely because Yang Ling had stalled for time that the dragon had carelessly breathed in so much of the colorless, odorless Soul Robbing Incense.

Even though there was no information about the five great families in the Flying Dragon King’s memory, Yang Ling concluded that they must have had powerful abilities, given that they were able to kill hundreds of Flying Dragons in a direct confrontation. Their joining forces and acting together meant that there must be an extraordinary treasure within the divine temple.

But no matter how precious the treasure was, there was no point in obtaining it if he had to die in the process!

Yang Ling would not hurry into the divine temple under the lake if even the five great families were unable to defeat the monsters together. If even the Flying Dragon King, a level nine Magical Beast, was this hard to deal with, it would be even more so for the Level Surpassing Magical Beasts at the lake’s bottom. No one even knew if there were guards in the divine temple even more terrifying than the Level Surpassing Magical Beasts. Storming in would only be asking for death.

Of course, even if he was unable to enter the divine temple under the lake for the time being, it did not mean that he would not be able to do so in the future. Yang Ling believed that as long as he persisted in his training, he would one day gain the ability to scout the area. He might be able to move freely under the lake when he reached the level of Divine Wizard and grasped higher level Soul Tampering Techniques, and he’d be even more prepared when he reached Soul Wizard or Wizard Deity stage.

He was unable to search for treasure at the bottom of the lake for the time being, but the Flying Dragon Valley did not pose much of a problem for him. According to the memories of the Flying Dragon King, there were many treasures in the Flying Dragon Valley!

“Goode, bring the group back to Wissen Castle directly. You need not wait for me at the foot of the mountain.” After a pause, peering deep into the Flying Dragon Valley, Yang Ling continued, “I will likely take four or five days, or perhaps a dozen days if I am slow, to return to Wissen Town.”

The Flying Dragon Valley was deep. Since there were only a few harmless Flying Dragons left untamed there, Yang Ling felt that he could explore the area at his leisure. He would not need anyone to help.

Goode received the order and backed off, instructing the group of pack up their equipment to leave quickly. But Yuna could not bear to leave like that, and she threw herself into Yang Ling’s embrace. “Brother Yang, I… I’ll stay and accompany you!”

Even if unparalleled danger remained in the Flying Dragon Valley, she hoped to go down with Yang Ling. She hoped that she could be with Yang Ling forever.

Yang Ling kissed Yuna’s forehead gently. “Yuna, there is no longer any danger in the Flying Dragon Valley,” he said. “I’ll return to Wissen Castle soon. Go back with Goode and the rest, and be careful along the way!”

With Yang Ling’s consolation, and the realization of how much work she had to accomplish back at Wissen Town, and watching the group preparing to descend the mountain, Yuna relented. She looked over her shoulder frequently as they began to make their way back to civilization, watching Yang Ling’s figure, perched at a cliff’s edge, shrink as they put distance between them.

Once the group disappeared in the distance, Yang Ling hesitated no longer, and summoned the Tarantula King. He rode it straight into the cave of the Flying Dragons. Following the memories of the Flying Dragon King, he tamed the little Flying Dragons he encountered one by one, then pillaged everything he found in all of the caves.

He required a vast forest and a large number of low level Magical Beasts if he wanted to build a true Magical Beast Base in the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda, but he had to have high level Magical Beasts too. After taming so many Flying Dragons, building a base of Flying Beasts was the best next step.

In Wissen Town, folklore had it that the dragon race hoarded sparkling crystal coins and gemstones, but Yang Ling realized that these were just ancient rumors after having searched a few of the caves.

Other than a handful of Magical Beast Essence Crystals, skeletons, and beast hides, there were no special treasures in the caves of the Flying Dragons. Luckily for Yang Ling, most of the Magical Beast Essence Crystals he obtained were high quality, at least mid level Magical Beast quality. Even if he could not fetch a good price for them, he could use them to set up Wizard Formations.

After searching each of the Flying Dragons’ caves carefully and ascertaining that he had not missed anything, Yang Ling rode the Tarantula King to the bottom of the valley, still hidden in thick fog.

The bottom of the valley was a sea of white in every direction. Looking up, Yang Ling felt that the fog, which obscured the sunlight, made it feel as though he was in an abyss, disconnected from the world. If it had been someone else, they might have had difficulty navigating. Lucky for Yang Ling, his vision had improved greatly, having advanced to the level of Heaven Wizard. He quickly became accustomed to the thick fog, and his surroundings became increasingly clearer.

The bottom of the valley was small, the football field-sized Flying Dragon Lagoon situated right in the middle. It was surrounded by stocky Dragon Bonegrass. Having accumulated for many years, the water of the lagoon smelled strongly of Dragon Bonegrass. Yang Ling dipped his finger into the water and tasted it. It was bitter and acrid, with an herbaceous tinge.

According to the memories of the Flying Dragon King, the Dragon Bonegrass and the lagoon water possessed immense benefits for Flying Dragons. They could accelerate their own proliferation, and they could speed their own growth and evolution. The water also held great restorative properties for the injured.

Once, most of the Flying Dragons had been killed off by the combined forces of the five great families, and the survivors barely hung on. The Flying Dragon Lagoon prevented them from going completely extinct. Its presence had allowed their race to recover over the intervening years.

How can I transport the Flying Dragon Lagoon and the surrounding Dragon Bonegrass into the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda?

Yang Ling circled the lagoon, inspecting the clusters of Dragon Bonegrass. He lowered his head, thinking hard. Since the Dragon Bonegrass and the Flying Dragon Lagoon were so important to his newest acquisitions, he loathed the idea of leaving such treasures behind.