CHAPTER 586: CHAPTER 43: DISCIPLINING THE GIANT DRAGON (PART 1)

It’s unclear whether Zhan Tian had given special instructions or it was in retaliation for the previous day’s disturbance by the Quasi-Dragon Knights at the Dragon Cave, but the breeders there had simply dumped all the work onto Yue Jinghua and Long Rui.

Early in the morning, when Yue Jinghua and Long Rui entered the Dragon Cave, they were greeted by a mountainous pile of dragon feces and an extensive list of daily tasks.

In the Dragon War Empire, the Sub-Asian Dragons, as the empire’s signature Dark Beasts, enjoyed astonishingly great welfare benefits. People took care of their feces and fed them.

The daily task list for the Dragon Cave included cleaning, feeding, ventilation, and daily entertainment activities.

With a heavy diet comes heavy excretion. On usual days, just clearing the dragon feces could take the Empire’s cultivators half a day’s time, and the quantity was staggering, not to mention the suffocating odor.

Beyond the dragon feces, Yue Jinghua and others also faced the dietary needs of the giant dragons.

Due to their considerable size, the dragons required a significant amount of food daily to be peeled, deboned, and washed—a job that could take another half day. Every day, the food prepared just for the Sub-Asian Dragons of the empire was measurable in tons.

However, compared to the Sub-Asian Dragons’ daily entertainment, the first two tasks seemed trivial.

After a busy day, just as Yue Jinghua and Long Rui managed to catch their breath, those leisurely breeders who were cracking melon seeds by the side brought out a beast skin ball with a diameter as big as a round table.

"Playing ball with dragons?" Yue Jinghua and Long Rui were quickly informed that because the Dragon War Empire had been peaceful and prosperous in recent years, reducing the number of times the Sub-Asian Dragons went on expeditions, the breeders had specially made these beast skin balls to prevent the dragons from becoming unhealthy due to long periods of inactivity.

Yue Jinghua examined the ball in her hands. Rather than calling it a ball, it was more like a leather helmet, somewhat similar to modern oversized toy costumes.

Once a person gets inside the beast skin ball and retracts their limbs, they become a "human-shaped ball."

The Sub-Asian Dragons really enjoyed ball games. Every evening, the dragons in the Dragon Cave would "play" a round of ball.

To play ball with dragons essentially meant a group of dragons chasing after the "human-shaped ball."

Upon hearing that they would have to run from a pack of Sub-Asian Dragons and face the threat of being stepped on by a giant dragon’s foot or gnawed on by sharp dragon teeth, Long Rui turned pale and looked at Yue Jinghua for help with a pleading expression.

The latter, in her heart, had already cursed the ancestors of Zhan Tian and the past eighteen generations of Sub-Asian Dragons.

This wasn’t playing ball with dragons; this was essentially gambling with their lives.

The breeders of the Dragon Cave, however, assured them with great confidence that the skin ball was absolutely sturdy and could withstand multiple bites from giant dragons without injury.

Long Rui, who had already experienced a narrow escape from a dragon’s mouth, was terrified and turned ghastly pale.

However, seeing the pitiful look in the eyes of the "future sister-in-law," Yue Jinghua, considering her own experience of being chased by an ox on Mazaro Mountain, braced herself, clenched her teeth, and took on the task of being "played" by the dragons.

On this day, the sun shone brightly, and the sky was clear. In the open space outside the Dragon Cave, a strangely shaped "human-shaped ball" watched warily ahead.

A line of excited Green Dragons, Red Dragons, Blue Dragons, and Black Dragons stomped their feet, flapped their wings, and their eyes glowed with anticipation.

A Dragon Cave breeder gave the command, "Kick-off."

"No holding back," Yue Jinghua didn’t dare hesitate and immediately employed the full force of the Small Cloud Trace Steps technique.

But after she exerted her force, she realized that the Dark Beast Skin ball strapped to her, which was made of a considerable amount of beast skin, felt like a lead ball. Her movement technique was limited, achieving only half of her usual strength.

The speed of the Sub-Asian Dragon was astoundingly fast, and Yue Jinghua found herself being struck down underfoot by a Red Venerate Dragon after just a few steps.

What’s worse, the dragon’s mouth was merciless, and after a fierce bout of crazy biting, the beast skin ball was torn to shreds in no time.

Left with no choice, Yue Jinghua had to summon her Dark Energy, desperately protecting her body’s vital parts.

Only after the Sub-Asian Dragons grew tired did the Cultivators call a halt. Although Yue Jinghua’s body was toughened by the Jiao Long Duan and thus incredibly resilient, it could not withstand the continuous gnawing of the dragons and was covered in wounds.

Every movement of her arms and legs felt exhausting, Long Rui hurriedly helped Yue Jinghua out and, seeing "him" lying still and staring blankly into the sky, she was scared witless, "Minzhi, are you, are you okay?"

Yue Jinghua sprung up, "This won’t do, I can’t live like this. If I don’t subdue those beasts, I won’t bear the name Yue."

Having said that, she immediately returned to her dwelling and wrote a letter overnight, which she sent to Shalman at the Duke Mansion.

The next morning, Yue Jinghua found the dragon breeders of the Dragon Cave, inquiring about the usual handling of dragon feces in the cave.

"It’s all discarded on the back mountain, what other use could dragon dung possibly have?" that Cultivator wondered.

"Since it’s just being thrown away, could you send it to me? I’ll take care of it without charging any fees," Yue Jinghua said with a smile on her face.

The Cultivator looked down upon her with disdain, thinking that a falling household would indeed be desperate, so desperate that even dragon dung seemed useful.

But on second thought, the annual expenses for disposing of the dragon feces were a significant sum, so he readily agreed.

Yue Jinghua was unfazed by this, and that very day she ordered Hong Ling and Hong Yao, among others, to hire Dark Beast Carriages and haul all the dragon dung away.

In other people’s eyes, dragon feces were dirty and stinky, but for Yue Jinghua who owned Sky Dragon Palace and Green Land Black Forest, dragon feces were the best fertilizer.

Moreover, combining modern knowledge, Yue Jinghua understood that Dark Beast feces were an excellent source of biogas.

Fengdan County is located in a cold region, especially during the winter season, dragon feces could solve the heating problems of numerous local residents.

All she had to wait for was Qian Luo to open the Transmission Array channels to Xuan Beast Ridge and Mazaro provided by the Wohua Emperor. Then, no matter how much dragon feces there were, she would have them transported to Sky Dragon Palace and Green Land Black Forest to cultivate the local Spiritual Grass and Spiritual Wood.

When Yue Jinghua and Long Rui began to transport the dragon feces, an annoying, ear-piercing guffaw was heard, "Yo, the Young Duke of the Blood Cherry Duke Mansion actually became a little sanitation worker, even handling dragon dung, how utterly foul, utterly vile."

Upon hearing this, Long Rui’s eyebrows shot up, she put her hands on her hips and angrily retorted: "Ji Yun, what are you doing here?"

"Miss Long Rui," seeing Long Rui’s face become even more charming out of thin anger, Ji Yun felt his bones go soft, "I’ve also become a Quasi-Dragon Knight. I came here just yesterday, hearing that you were burdened by Yue Min in the Dragon Cave, I specially came to visit you."

Turns out that Ji Residence had always wanted Ji Yun to join the Dragon Rider Team, but during the last Quasi-Dragon Knight selection, Ji Yun could not surpass Yue Min and ended up being eliminated.

A few days ago, due to the disaster in the Dragon Cave, a Quasi-Dragon Knight was unlucky enough to get injured, having his leg crushed by a Sub-Asian Dragon. He was taken to the Imperial Hospital and was told that the leg couldn’t be saved.

Upon receiving the news, Ji Yun’s father, Ji Jie, once again discreetly spent some money, finally securing Ji Yun’s place as a replacement for that injured Quasi-Dragon Knight, thus he became a Quasi-Dragon Knight.

After becoming a Quasi-Dragon Knight, his first move was to show off to "Yue Min."