Chapter 73: Little Azure Dragon |
Elder Shu’s light and shadow emerged from the wall. When he saw Lu Fengmian, he gave a cold snort: “So you still know how to come back?” Lu Fengmian smiled and apologized, saying he would come another day to recite the scriptures.
Elder Shu snorted again, but did not blame him. He was clearly in a good mood.
Then there was the martial arena, the Transmission Hall…
Lu Fengmian handled matters as he walked, his footsteps never stopping.
The disciples he encountered along the way became excited when they saw him, gathering around one after another to salute and greet him.
The bolder ones even said a few extra words, such as “Senior Brother, you’re finally back,” or “Senior Brother, these past few days while you were away…” Lu Fengmian responded to them all with a smile, occasionally stopping to chat for a few sentences.
Busy handling these matters, by the time he finished dealing with the most urgent affairs, the sun had already risen high.
Lu Fengmian raised his head to look at the sky, then lowered his head to glance at his schedule.
There was still one more thing to do.
The spirit beast garden was the same as usual.
Before he even approached, he could already hear all kinds of sounds coming from inside: spirit beasts neighing, disciples shouting, and Elder Sun’s resonant voice.
Just as Lu Fengmian arrived at the entrance of the spirit beast garden, a green figure rushed out from within, charging straight at his face!
He stopped abruptly.
That green shadow was extremely fast, arriving before him in the blink of an eye. Before Lu Fengmian could react, the thing had already struck his face with a “smack”.
It was cool and soft, and something thin brushed back and forth across his face.
Lu Fengmian was stunned.
This green thing… why did it look so familiar?
He steadied himself and carefully looked at the lump on his face.
It had green scales, a slender body, and a pair of tiny jade-like horns on its head.
Lu Fengmian hesitated slightly before tentatively speaking:
“Ink Jade Swallowtail Dragon?”
The green lump suddenly raised its head. A pair of silver-white vertical pupils stared brightly at him, the tip of its tail wagging wildly as it rubbed against him even harder.
“It really is you!”
As it rubbed against Lu Fengmian’s face, Lu Fengmian smiled and reached out to peel it off his face, holding it in his palm to examine it carefully.
Its body was no longer that previous ink-green color, but was covered in layer upon layer of fine green scales. The two jade horns on its head had grown much longer than before, with faint traces of branching visible. The most obvious change was that four tiny claws had now grown beneath its abdomen.
Lu Fengmian said in pleasant surprise, “You awakened successfully!”
The Ink Jade Swallowtail Dragon—no, it should now be called Little Azure Dragon.
Little Azure Dragon proudly raised its head and patted Lu Fengmian’s palm with its tail, as if saying, “Of course.”
Then, it leapt up from his palm.
Lu Fengmian raised his head.
Little Azure Dragon spun in midair, flicked its tail, twisted its body, and actually hovered steadily in the air. It looked proudly at Lu Fengmian and began performing.
It did a somersault, then another, then flew three circles around Lu Fengmian.
A beautiful emergency brake in midair.
Then a dive, pulling up sharply right before hitting the ground.
Finally, it gracefully spun back to his shoulder, even deliberately tilting its tail upward.
After watching, Lu Fengmian couldn’t help laughing.
“You can fly now,” he said. “Amazing.”
Little Azure Dragon understood, and its entire head lifted up.
“Of course!”
A voice full of energy came from the garden.
Elder Sun stroked his beard and slowly strolled over, his eyes and brows full of pride.
“With me here, how could it possibly fail?”
He walked up to Lu Fengmian, looked him up and down, then looked at Little Azure Dragon on his shoulder and nodded in satisfaction.
“Aiya, Little Disciple Lu, you’re finally back.”
Lu Fengmian bowed and said, “Junior Uncle Sun, thank you for your hard work these past few days.”
“It was hard work, truly hard work!” Elder Sun waved his hand and pulled him inside. “Come, come, let me properly tell you how this little fellow performed these past few days!”
For the next incense stick’s worth of time, Lu Fengmian carefully listened to every detail of Little Azure Dragon’s awakening period, including but not limited to:
Which day its spiritual energy fluctuations were the most intense, which day it first grew claws, which day it tried to fly but crashed headfirst into the wall, and which day it finally succeeded in flying, circled the spirit beast garden three times, and incidentally scared a utility disciple into tears.
Elder Sun spoke with glowing enthusiasm, and Little Azure Dragon nodded frequently as well, occasionally pointing at itself with its tail, as if saying, “That’s right, that was me.”
As Lu Fengmian listened, he nodded, silently thinking: The awakening period proceeded very smoothly, all physiological indicators were normal, and it was merely a little mischievous.
After Elder Sun finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something and clapped his hands.
“That’s right, that’s right. Just talking is useless; let me show you its abilities!”
He pulled Lu Fengmian farther inside while calling out, “Move aside, move aside, clear some space!”
The disciples in the spirit beast garden hurriedly scattered, clearing out an open area.
Elder Sun waved at Little Azure Dragon. “Come, show your master what you can do!”
Little Azure Dragon flew up from Lu Fengmian’s shoulder and hovered in midair.
A white ripple spread outward from its body, and the surrounding spiritual energy instantly became active, gathering toward it.
Then it opened its mouth and exhaled a faint mist.
The mist dispersed and fell onto the grass on the ground. Those blades of grass seemed to have been watered by a divine spring, instantly becoming even more luxuriant.
Elder Sun introduced from the side, “How about it? This is the natural ability it gained after awakening. It can nourish plants, so in the future, you’ll have no problem cultivating spiritual herbs!”
Little Azure Dragon circled once more, then flicked its tail. A gust of fresh wind blew over, sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground completely clean.
“There’s more, there’s more!” Elder Sun continued explaining, “It can now control wind. Although it isn’t powerful yet, it’ll become very strong once it grows up!”
After the performance ended, Little Azure Dragon flew back to Lu Fengmian’s shoulder and rubbed against his face, wanting praise.
Lu Fengmian smiled and stroked it.
Elder Sun finally finished speaking, smacked his lips as though he still wanted to say more, then suddenly remembered something.
“Right, Little Disciple Lu.” He looked at Lu Fengmian. “What name do you plan to give it now?”
Lu Fengmian froze for a moment.
Name?
“After all, this is a spirit beast that has awakened an ancient bloodline,” Elder Sun said. “You can’t keep calling it Ink Jade Swallowtail Dragon forever, can you?”
Little Azure Dragon also turned its head and looked at him eagerly.
Lu Fengmian thought seriously.
“How about Little Qing?”
“Smack!”
Little Azure Dragon’s tail struck the back of his hand hard.
Lu Fengmian lowered his head and looked at it. Those silver-white vertical pupils seemed to be saying: “Are you serious?”
“…Looks like you’re not satisfied.”
He wisely changed his words. “Little Dragon?”
“Smack!”
Its tail lashed him again.
“Little Black?”
“Smack!”
This time, Little Azure Dragon’s tail swung so quickly that the image blurred.
Lu Fengmian looked at the faint red marks on the back of his hand and fell into deep thought.
It was dissatisfied with this and dissatisfied with that. What exactly should I call it?
Elder Sun watched from the side, dumbfounded.
He had originally thought that someone like Lu Fengmian, who handled matters so seriously and thoroughly, would surely be thoughtful and profound when choosing a name too.
But reality was otherwise—
Little Qing? Little Dragon? Little Black?
What kind of chaotic naming method was this?
He could not help interrupting Lu Fengmian’s contemplation.
“Little Disciple Lu,” he said, pointing at Little Azure Dragon, “this is an Azure Dragon.”
An ancient bloodline.
A descendant of the Azure Dragon.
“At the very least, you have to choose a resounding name, right?”
Little Azure Dragon crouched on Lu Fengmian’s shoulder and nodded deeply in agreement.