The group of young girls giggled when they heard Alexandria's frustrated voice.
"Fine, fine, we were just kidding. But one thing is for sure, if you want him, you might have to work really hard," one of them, Rose, said with a smile.
"Yeah, that guy has a perfect body and a face far beyond mortal standards. You could find a picture of him in almost every maiden's phone in the 36th Stronghold," Amy added, grinning.
"Still, you won't see a single girl casually going up to him to strike a conversation or invite him on a date," Helen said mysteriously.
"Why's that?" Alexandria asked, her face curious.
"The reason is simple. His nickname is the Butcher Demon, and he is considered one of the scariest individuals in the 36th Stronghold. According to rumors, he was hunting alone in the forest from the age of seven with just a pair of kitchen knives that aren't even spirit weapons."
"I don't know why he let you guys walk away even after Tyler tried to kill him. That guy is considered a crackhead who will kill anybody who offends him. As far as I know, even though none are proven, there are more than five hundred murder cases on his head, and all the victims were from influential families of the 36th Stronghold."
"That's true. For many, it's still a mystery how that guy is still alive after offending so many people."
"Forget about all that, guys. Just think about his muscles. Every time I look at them, I have a strange urge to eat him up."
"Huh? Do you have a nude of him?"
"Pah, what nude? It's just a topless photo I bought for two gold coins from one of the senior brothers. He's also a great fan of the Butcher."
"My dear sister, share it with me, too."
"Of course, how can I refuse my best friends? Just give me two silver coins each, and I will send you the photo right away."
"You are shameless. How can you talk about money between sisters?"
Alexandria gritted her teeth in anger as she watched them fight among themselves for a single photo of Draven. Initially, when Draven said his elemental cores were damaged, she thought there wouldn't be much competition in winning his heart.
She had even made plans to ask her new master from the 1st Stronghold to help heal his inner world so they could live happily as a couple.
But now, by the looks of it, it didn't seem as simple as she had thought.
Rose patted Alexandria's shoulder when she saw her expression. "You are still a little girl, so there are some things you don't know about men. Let me enlighten you somewhat."
Alexandria looked at Rose with a pout.
Rose playfully pinched her rosy cheeks. "Most of the elemental cultivators are sissies with very weak stamina. Against us from the upper strongholds, who cultivate both body and elemental chi, these weaklings wouldn't stand a chance."
"This is also why most of us look down on all the male cultivators who come after us like flies. We know they are all show and no substance."
"But, on the other hand, Draven is on a completely different level. According to the senior brothers and sisters who went into the forest to hunt with him, he has abundant stamina and almost never-ending vital chi inside his body."
Helen chimed in when she heard their conversation. "By the way, according to rumors, Instructor Maya even proposed to him a year ago. Unfortunately, she was rejected. I don't know the authenticity of the news, but as far as it goes, she was even ready for an unofficial relationship with him."
Alexandria looked at Helen in disbelief. "Isn't she more than forty years old?"
Rose smirked. "Little girl, don't look down on her just because of her age. The group of young people who flock around her like roosters, including your ex-fiancé Tyler, is not small. I can even bet with you, except for Draven, no other male in the 36th Stronghold would refuse the advances of someone as hot as our beautiful instructor."
...
For the next five days, Draven would, as usual, go into the forest to hunt in the morning and return home by evening.
He first completely cleared out most of the higher-tier beasts in the pond that Edward had shown him before exploring other areas for more prey. His bank balance also skyrocketed to more than four lakh second-tier essence coins, making him officially one of the richest residents in the 36th Stronghold.
He also successfully recorded the Indestructible Heavenly Lotus Body in his Dream God Ring but didn't allocate any dream points to it yet. There was also the matter of collecting the information on the Mirror Heart from the Merchant Association and picking up the little white tyrant dragon from the mount rental shop.
He had pushed both matters aside until now because he was worried someone else might find the pond and hunt the beasts inside before him. After all, it wasn't easy to find such a large group of animals, and if a hunter from the 2nd or 3rd Realm from outside the stronghold stumbled upon that place, they wouldn't even leave bones behind for him to collect.
Fortunately, nothing like that happened, and most of the beasts were hunted by Draven himself. Now that the immediate tasks were over, he decided to go and pick up that little dragon first.
"Shopkeeper, here is my bank card. I am picking up my little dragon today," Draven said, handing his card to the shop owner.
The shop owner looked at Draven in surprise. "Were you serious back then?"
Although Draven had previously made a deal to buy the white tyrant dragon youngling for 50,000 second-tier coins, he had never mentioned it again when he came to the shop to rent the white horse. So, the shop owner thought he had probably been bluffing. Though he felt a little disappointed inside, he had tactfully avoided the topic until now.
Draven rolled his eyes. "Do I look like a cheater to you? If I said I would buy it, then even if I had to sell my house, I would. Just deduct the fifty thousand and bring me to my dragon youngling."
The shopkeeper hurriedly nodded and swiped Draven's card to deduct the money.
"The payment is complete, sir. Please follow me. I will bring you to see your white dragon youngling," the shop owner said with a broad smile.
Draven nodded and followed the shop owner inside the large building, where separate places were built for various types of beasts. While most were mortal realm or ascendant realm one-horned horses, there were also some bird-type and water-type beasts.
Draven wasn't sure what types of beasts were inside most of the artificial ponds, as he couldn't distinguish them, but he did see a large tortoise the size of a car and a dolphin-like fish whose exact species he didn't know.
After walking for a few minutes, they reached a medium-sized room at the far end of the building. The door to the room was tightly locked with a solid steel door.
"Please stay here, sir. I will capture that guy and make him unconscious. That way, it will be easier to form a contract with it," the shop owner said as he stopped before the iron gate.
Draven shook his head. "I am not planning on forming a contract with him just yet. Just give him to me. No need to make him unconscious or anything."
"But sir, this dragon youngling is quite aggressive. Even with my 4th-stage ascendant realm cultivation, it is difficult to control him. Even though he hasn't started cultivating yet, it would be wise to forcibly form a contract. Otherwise, he might try to harm you," the shop owner said with a troubled look.
Draven smiled. "Just open the door and let me in. If I didn't have what it takes to subdue a little dragon, do you really think I would have been able to casually pay you fifty thousand for him?"
The shop owner's eyes lit up. Of course, he had overlooked that point considering Draven's aura was only at the mortal realm, but thinking back on the rumors about this youth, he was able to suppress a bunch of ascendant realm cultivators with his aura alone. Although he might not be a match for him, protecting himself from the dragon youngling shouldn't be a problem.
"Then please pay attention to your safety," he said with a smile. He gently opened the first iron door with a key from his storage ring, and they entered, closing it behind them. There was another iron door inside, which he opened after securing the first. It looked like this creature was kept under serious protection.
"The beast pouch and this guy are worth quite a lot, so they are kept in our most secure chamber," the shop owner explained as they walked inside.
The room itself was nothing special. There was a small artificial pond at the center and a small bed on one side that looked like a cradle meant for little kids. There was also a basket of red-colored fruits scattered on the floor as if someone had kicked it away in anger.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, from above them, the sound of something cutting through the air was heard. The shop owner's expression changed. "Watch out!"
He hurriedly pulled out a shield from his storage ring and rushed toward Draven. But before he could even react, Draven simply leapt upwards slightly and caught the small animal, which was trying to attack him, by the soft scruff of its neck.
"Is this thing really a white Tyrant Dragon?" Draven asked with a frown, studying the struggling white fur ball in his hand. "It looks like a white-colored sea otter to me. From any angle, it doesn't seem related to a dragon."
The shop owner awkwardly put the shield back into his storage ring and said with a cough, "Actually, this guy has two forms. One is this sea otter-like form, and the other is the dragon form. After his mother died, we initially didn't have much hope of hatching the egg. As a last resort, I bought a cheap dragon-type growth medicine from the black market and infused it into the egg."
"As a result, vitality returned to the egg, so I continued the medicine once every month until he hatched. It was only then that I realized the medicine was actually a scam. But luckily, he survived and gained a shape-shifting gene in his DNA, which allows him to exist in both forms."
"Now, apart from the traditional elemental cores of earth, wind, and water attributes he inherited from the white tyrant dragon lineage, he additionally has the space and lightning attributes he likely inherited from whatever beast the medicine was made from."
Draven looked at the little guy in surprise. This was the first time he had heard of such a fascinating mutation.
"Ayoo... ayoo... bad guy... bad guy..." When it noticed Draven's intense stare, the little guy stopped resisting and started crying in the voice of a one-year-old boy who was not good at speaking.
Once again, Draven's eyes widened in surprise. "Isn't it said that only third realm or higher demon beasts can speak human language, and that too only after forming a contract with a human? Why can this little guy speak so fluently?"
The shop owner scratched his head. "I'm not sure of the exact reason, but maybe it's because of the mutation."