Chapter 189: Chapter 0189: This is the Li Dragon Horse Herd (Second Update)
Circling the island,

it turned out just as Kostor had speculated,

Black Horse Island is an irregularly shaped oval island.

There are no natural harbors for sheltering from the wind,

and the most suitable place for a seaport is the Rock Pier where they docked last night.

However, it is difficult to dock large ships there,

because the water is not deep enough for a medium-sized merchant ship like the Fresh Flower Vessel, it was a bit of a struggle.

When the sun began to release its heat,

everyone gradually ventured deeper into the hinterlands of Black Horse Island in search of the Li Dragon Horse Herd.

The island had few trees and the hills were not very steep, so the view was wide-open,

allowing clear visibility for great distances. Marcus used his monocular telescope all the way,

searching for traces of the herd without expending much effort, and soon found what he was looking for.

“My lord, this is horse dung, the Li Dragon Horse Herd is nearby!” he exclaimed excitedly,

bending over to use a stick to turn over a clump of small black ball-shaped objects in the bushes.

Knight’s familiarity with horse dung certainly surpasses knowing how many moles are on their wife’s body.

Liszt was just as familiar with horse dung, and upon hearing that, he looked up at the gentle hill in front of him: “They should be on the other side of the slope, let’s go around.”

Douson the Dog took the lead, carrying Liszt, and stepped into a delicate trot.

Marcus and the others, without mounts, could only follow with a jog.

A moment later, the group successfully crossed over the weeds and came to the other side of the hill.

No telescope was needed to see a herd of black wild horses on the distant slope, leisurely grazing, quite contented.

“The Li Dragon Horse Herd!”

“They’re all black, they must be Li Dragon Horses!”

“Don’t rush over there, first observe carefully and count how many horses there are,” Liszt said calmly,

pulling out a telescope and looking towards the Li Dragon Horse Herd.

Through the lens,

horse after horse, no less majestic than the Li Dragon Horse at the castle, seemingly unaware of their presence,

was simply busy eating grass and frolicking about.

One, two, three… there were exactly thirty-seven black horses.

Though a small herd, it was a significant discovery for Liszt,

because every single black horse here might be a Dragon Breed Horse!

After Marcus had counted the horses, his excitement was hard to contain: “My lord, there are thirty-seven in total,

nine of which are foals, and the remaining twenty-eight are enough to arm two squads of knights!”

“Teacher Marcus, you can now have one of them,”

Liszt said.

“Thank you, my lord!” Marcus could hardly wait to go capture and tame a black horse,

but to avoid startling the herd, he said, “There must be a horse king among these wild horses, my lord,

it should be up to you to tame the horse king personally, then the rest of the Li Dragon Horses won’t run away.”

The term “horse king” is a colloquial way to refer to the leader among a herd of wild horses.

Typically, the bravest stallion leads and protects the herd.

Taming the horse king would lead the other horses to naturally follow its lead,

effectively meaning the entire herd would be tamed.

“Are you sure which one is the horse king?” Liszt asked eagerly,

as the horse king would naturally belong to him; only a landlord is entitled to ride the king.

“It’s simple, we scare the herd, and the one leading them will be the king,” Marcus suggested.

The task of intimidation went directly to Douson,

and upon his appearance, the aura of an Intermediate Magical Beast immediately spooked the Li Dragon Horse Herd.

Then they stopped grazing and turned to run.

“Did you see clearly which one it is?”

“I saw clearly, my lord, the horse king is that black horse with a hint of violet on its forehead.

It has the longest mane and is the tallest among them, I feel it’s even more majestic than your Li Dragon Horse,” Marcus said.

“Let’s first survey the terrain around us,

and once the herd has calmed down, we shall encircle them and I shall personally tame the horse king!” Liszt declared.

The Li Dragon Horse Herd was already a sitting duck, requiring no excessive vigilance.

The location he was in was slightly to the south of the center of the island, on the north slope of the highest hill, which served as the grazing ground for the Li Dragon Horse Herd. The pasture was extensive, stretching from this hill to another, including the valleys in between—all sparsely wooded grasslands.

“This is a natural pasture, where I have found four types of high-quality forage, my lord, please look…” Marcus was like a connoisseur when it came to pastures.

“This is Sheep Grass, most suitable for sheep; it’s not abundant, but very nutritious; this is Needle Grass, horses’ favorite food, although its growth here is a bit weak; this is Alfalfa, which can’t grow without Elf Bugs; and this is Ice Grass, an excellent forage, but unfortunately it’s also not thriving, with plants tending to be short.”

The grasslands on Black Horse Island have the potential to become a top pasture, with a very rich variety of forages. However, the land is barren and lacks Elf Bugs for care, resulting in generally poor growth of the forages.

This is likely why the Li Dragon Horse Herd only numbers thirty-seven, as the pasture can’t support more wild horses.

The team continued to explore.

They made their way to the northeastern part, almost to the center of Black Horse Island, and climbed the highest hill, barely able to glimpse the full expanse of the island. The oval-shaped island lacked great undulations, with the highest hill being the one beneath their feet, estimated to be no more than three hundred meters above sea level. There were also three other shorter hills.

The four hills were distributed in a “口” shape, forming the topography of the island.

“Let’s mark these down for now: Sheep Grass Hill, Needle Grass Hill, Alfalfa Hill, and the Ice Grass Hill beneath our feet,” Liszt irresponsibly named the four hills.

Standing atop Ice Grass Hill, one could see that on the slopes of Needle Grass Hill, the Li Dragon Horse Herd had once again started to graze leisurely. The range of the grassland stretched from Sheep Grass Hill to Needle Grass Hill and bisected Alfalfa Hill. From Alfalfa Hill to the slopes of Ice Grass Hill, miscellaneous trees became more frequent and pastures gradually decreased.

“Cut down all these miscellaneous trees and cultivate forage, to expand the scale of the Li Dragon Horse Herd.”

Liszt already envisioned a magnificent scene of Li Dragon Horses racing back and forth between the four hills in the future. Of course, now was not the time for daydreaming; he and Marcus discussed briefly, planning how to tame the lead stallion.

It wasn’t rocket science.

They simply divided the Retainer Knights and sailors they had brought into four groups, approaching the Li Dragon Horse Herd from four directions to induce a situation where the horses could neither advance nor retreat, causing panic and breaking their formation. Then Liszt would charge directly at them, mount the lead stallion, and begin taming—taming a horse was a piece of cake for an Elite Earth Knight.

Thus.

An hour later.

Liszt was hugging the neck of the lead stallion, letting it buck and jump wildly, carrying him in a frenzied dash all over the hillside.

A contest of strength between man and horse.

He even had the mind to hum a song, “Spin, leap, I close my eyes…”

After another half an hour, the lead stallion showed no sign of slowing down, still running wildly over the hills. Compared to his initial taming of Li Dragon Horses, the stallion was evidently stronger and more patient.

But the outcome was still submission.

In time, the lead stallion lowered its proud head, allowing Liszt to ride and command it.

“Congratulations, my lord, for obtaining an even more majestic steed!”

“Indeed, it’s stronger and taller than the Li Dragon Horse,” Liszt took the handkerchief from Thomas, wiped off his sweat, and threw it back, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. He kept stroking the lead stallion’s neck, “See the purple-red hair on its forehead? Does it not resemble a flash of lightning?”

With a slight smile,

He declared, “This lead stallion of the Li Dragon Horse Herd shall be called Lightning!”