Dragon Tamer

Chapter 141: Chapter 142: The Theory of Inscriptions

Translator: 549690339

By the next day at noon,

Aunt Bai Xin invited the three of them for a meal at her home.

Zhu Minglang noticed Aunt Bai Xin’s feigned calmness, and felt a twinge of discomfort in his heart.

That bastard Hao Shaocong, Zhu Minglang had resolved to kill him, and when the time came, he would make sure that Aunt and Uncle were dressed in their finest to attend the funeral of their son, Hao Yong.

After the meal, Fang Niannian ran out on her own.

Concerned that Fang Niannian, a young girl, would get lost in the unfamiliar Imperial City or encounter troublesome people, Bai Xin specifically instructed a female clanservant from the Sword Sect to follow close behind her.

By evening, Fang Niannian had returned. She appeared jubilant as she spoke to Zhu Minglang, who was tending to Big Black Tooth’s wounds, “The Dragon Food for next month is all prepared, and I even got the Essence of Water and Wood Element that you wanted. I bought it from an old man who grows trees, and it only cost 500 gold!”

“Impressive!” Zhu Minglang gave her a thumbs up.

Such Essence of Water and Wood Element would have cost at least a thousand or two thousand gold in the Spirit Market.

Five hundred gold was indeed a bargain.

“The old man said that the people at the Spirit Market are even more ruthless, not even offering up to 300 gold for a single item,” Fang Niannian said.

“Such extortionate profit margins, eh?” Zhu Minglang remarked.

In this world, there are countless spiritual objects, most of which are closely linked to breeders, planters, herbalists, and mountain patrollers.

Simply put, Dragon Shepherds specialize in dragon rearing. Different dragons require different foods, and the massive consumption of food has to be purchased from farmers and merchants.

Similarly, the various unique treasures of the mountainous spiritual lands are more likely to be encountered by those who frequently venture into the mountains, such as hunters, woodcutters, herbalists, and mountain patrollers.

Every once in a while, the people from the Spirit Markets would visit these individuals to collect items, paying high prices for spiritual objects that Dragon Shepherds need.

This has formed an industry in the major cities across the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent, as there are so many Dragon Shepherds and countless Juvenile Spirits and True Dragons that without this group of farmers and merchants, many dragon pets would experience stunted growth.

This is why Dragon Shepherds and other major dragon-rearing powers must occupy cities.

With a city, they can levy resources grown in the wild from the vast number of farmers and merchants. After all, the number of Dragon Shepherds who gather spirits on their own is still small.

Fang Niannian grew up selling goods outside the Dragon Taming Academy and often purchased Dragon Food and spiritual objects for students, so she was familiar with the ropes.

With a bit of extra time, buying directly from the farmers can save a substantial amount of money.

Of course, it wasn’t always possible to be so lucky and find spiritual resources that matched the needs of Little Qingzhuo, not to mention they had to be of the exact age.

Fang Niannian planned if she hadn’t found what she needed today, she would have bought it from the Spirit Market. Even if it would cost two or three thousand gold, she could not delay since Little Qingzhuo was on the verge of evolving.

“I have to report to you that Little White’s crystals have cost a total of twelve thousand gold,” she said.

“Big Black Tooth has been eating food from the Zhu Clan’s Outer Court, so that’s some money saved,” she added.

“And for Little Qingzhuo’s Nanmu Juice, that’s been taken care of for a month too, costing two thousand three hundred gold,” she continued.

“Then there’s the money we got from those villains in the City of Sin and our own savings. Starting today, we’re down to less than a thousand Gold Sand. Boss, you haven’t paid me this month’s salary yet,” Fang Niannian itemized the expenses, causing Zhu Minglang to feel dizzy with the numbers!

How did the monthly expenses exceed ten thousand??? He thought with the inheritance from the Sect Palace and the villains, they could live comfortably for a year or half, but now, before autumn has even arrived, they’re down to a thousand gold??? One thousand gold probably wouldn’t even cover Big Black Tooth’s meals.

Big Black Tooth now requires to eat Pig Demon Dragon Meat!

“How about we cut down on the meals a bit? I’ve seen many substitutes, like the Star Fragment Crystals, for example. In the Spirit Market, there’s a kind of Star Moon Mineral, I’ve calculated it, and it only costs less than two thousand gold per month. For Nanmu Juice, let’s not get the golden-threaded variety. Regular Nanmu Juice is just a few hundred gold,” Fang Niannian suggested.

“We can’t do that, we need the very best. No matter how poor we are, we can’t shortchange our dragon babies,” Zhu Minglang insisted.

“Your father looks quite rich. Can’t you ask him for a reimbursement?” Fang Niannian asked.

Asking Zhu Heavenly Officer for money was easy, and this small amount was nothing to him.

But since he was raising dragons, he needed to find his own way to make money. In the future, when the dragon pets reached higher levels, the monthly costs would be even greater. He couldn’t possibly ask Zhu Heavenly Officer for handouts every month, could he??

“It’s not worth it to ask him for this little amount of money. Don’t worry, we still have a month. I’ll figure out a way to handle it!” Zhu Minglang declared.

“Alright, I’ll make more trips to the Spirit Gatherers and see if I can procure some high-quality, low-priced resources,” Fang Niannian said.

The Essence of Water and Wood Element, the quintessence of five hundred years, Zhu Minglang arrived at the mountain stream and saw Mr. Jinli floating in the air, dozing off.

After waking him up, Zhu Minglang planned to inquire about some specifics.

As expected, Mr. Jinli had completely forgotten he’d ever said those things.

“You go back to enjoying your nap,” Zhu Minglang said.

Following the northern edge of the mountain stream, Zhu Minglang headed to the Cast Palace.

In the Zhu Clan’s inner court, there was no smelting of raw iron or raw ore; therefore, even upon entering the Cast Palace, one would not see the great furnaces, nor would there be billowing smoke within the expanse of Zhu Gate Lake Mountain Island.

Zhu Minglang stepped into the hall and saw that most people had already returned to their residences to rest, leaving behind a few night disciples.

“Young Master.”

“Young Master.”

The night disciples greeted him politely.

“Is there anyone still inside, someone of the elder rank?” Zhu Minglang asked.

“The master is inside,” one of the disciples replied.

“Hmm.”

Zhu Minglang walked in, bypassing the main hall, and headed for an armor casting room. Zhu Heavenly Officer should be in there.

Pushing open the heavy door, Zhu Minglang saw countless marks glittering like stars within this splendid foundry. They were ancient and mysterious, as if harboring boundless power that could move mountains and fill seas once unleashed!

“Inscriptions!” Zhu Minglang exclaimed in surprise.

“You recognize inscriptions, huh.” Zhu Heavenly Officer raised his hand, and all the glowing marks swirled into a dazzling vortex, slowly infusing into an exceedingly thick armor piece.

That armor piece, as large as a millstone and already subjected to thousands of refinements, exuded a tenacious and weighty texture. As the inscriptions poured in, it appeared to become a mighty body endowed with a more splendid soul, radiating an aura of immortality!

“The infusion of inscriptions is the quintessence of our Zhu Clan. Any instrument, no matter how mundane the copper or iron, after being baptized by our inscriptions, will display extraordinary power.”

“There’s no need to attend court today. This morning, I’ve already coordinated with those old friends, and tomorrow in the court, we will surely make all the forces competing against us lose a chunk of flesh!”

“It seems our plan is perfect, but there’s one key issue—what if you lose?”

“If you lose, we will have nothing left, and we will have to add the resources of the forces that aligned with us.”

“So after some consideration, I thought that our Zhu Clan must present something respectable to ensure your victorious battle this time.”

As he spoke, Zhu Heavenly Officer had already completed the inscription infusion for that heavy armor piece. He placed it into a pool free of impurities, and then began to remove the protective gear he was wearing.

“Are you forging dragon armor for my dragon pet?” Zhu Minglang asked.

“Yes, I heard about what happened at the Ancient Bronze Battlefield from Qin Yang yesterday,” Zhu Heavenly Officer said.

“I came here indeed to forge a new dragon armor for my Black Dragon, and by the way, to ‘borrow’ some of our family’s good materials…” Zhu Minglang said.

“What do you mean by ‘borrow’? You can take whatever you want from the Zhu Clan; if any elder disagrees, I’ll kick them out of the family, hmph!” Zhu Heavenly Officer said with a cold snort.

“Father happens to be free today, which is just as well as I have some things to ask him about,” said Zhu Minglang.

“About casting art?” Zhu Heavenly Officer raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

Zhu Heavenly Officer, who was just now serious, changed to look extremely joyful at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He turned around, bowed to a statue inside the foundry, and said, “Blessed by the heavens, blessed by the heavens, my child has finally decided to learn our family craft, blessed by the heavens!”

“What’s the reasoning behind these inscriptions on armaments?” Zhu Minglang asked.

“You can think of inscriptions as the soul of an armament. Once any armament has a soul, its power will be incomparable to that of any common metal. Take the Azure Dragon as an example; their strength lies in their Profound Art. An Azure Dragon without Profound Art is no different from a python,” Zhu Heavenly Officer explained.

“Which kind of instrument would have a soul, and which would not?” Zhu Minglang continued to inquire.

“Like all creatures in this world, there is also a concept of cultivation for instruments. Forged by mighty craftsmen and refined year after year, over a long time, the instrument will have a soul, a shine of inscription.

“A sword that has slain thousands and drunk copious blood will also possess a certain cultivation base and a blood glow of inscriptions.”

“An armor hammered thousands of times, forged from crystal ore that has absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, and worn by powerful individuals in each generation, will naturally be extraordinary,” Zhu Heavenly Officer explained.

Zhu Minglang lowered his head, deep in thought.

The idea that instruments could have a cultivation base was perhaps the most absurd thing imaginable. If others heard such talk, they would think the speaker was ill.

Previously, Zhu Minglang would not have considered this aspect.

But after seeing the Sword Spirit Dragon, Zhu Minglang was utterly convinced.

And this secret was already known within the Zhu Clan Inner Court.

“Is there a concept of inscriptions being sealed or sleeping?” Zhu Minglang asked.

What Zhu Minglang wanted to learn about was the matter of the Sword Spirit Dragon’s inscriptions.

The Sword Spirit Dragon still had many legendary swords whose souls had not awakened, meaning that the inscriptions were dormant.

If the glory of those legendary sword souls could be revived, the Sword Spirit Dragon would become even more formidable.

The Sword Spirit Dragon might even surpass its original Sword Cultivation Level.