Chapter 190: Farewell to the Black Blood BMW

Lightning is undoubtedly a stallion.

To determine its age, Liszt forcibly pried open its mouth and had Marcus inspect its teeth.

A normal stallion has forty teeth, including twelve incisors, four canines, and twenty molars. Mares do not have canines and only have thirty-six teeth.

To determine a horse's age, one primarily looks at the incisors.

"Incisors are divided into central incisors, intermediate incisors, and corner incisors. The central incisors are the frontmost teeth, the corner incisors are the outermost ones, and the intermediate incisors are between them. Incisors go through two stages: the deciduous stage, which we call baby teeth, and the permanent stage."

While observing, Marcus explained to Liszt and the squire knights, fulfilling his duties as a tutor and knight instructor.

In foals, deciduous central incisors grow within 1-2 weeks, deciduous intermediate incisors within 3-6 weeks, and deciduous corner incisors within 6-8 months. The deciduous teeth do not align properly.

At two and a half years old, the deciduous central incisors fall out, and permanent central incisors emerge. At three years old, the permanent central incisors align.

At three and a half years old, the deciduous intermediate incisors fall out, and permanent intermediate incisors emerge. By four years old, the permanent intermediate incisors align. At four and a half years old, the deciduous corner incisors fall out, and permanent corner incisors emerge. By five years old, all permanent corner incisors align.

Pointing to Lightning's perfectly aligned incisors, he said, "Lightning's incisors are fully aligned and are all permanent teeth, so it must be over five years old. After five years, we need to judge its age based on the depth of the black pits in the teeth."

The black pits wear down at different rates, allowing us to estimate the age from six to eleven years. Once the black pits completely disappear, we can judge the age from thirteen to eighteen years by the shape, size, and position of the enamel ridges.

"If Lightning were an ordinary warhorse, it would be around eight years old," Marcus concluded after his inspection.

However, he added, "But many excellent warhorses are mixed with magical beast or dragon bloodlines. Estimating age by teeth can lead to errors. Adjusting for Lightning's magical beast bloodline, it might be ten years old or even older."

The development of magical beast or dragon bloodline horses is similar to ordinary horses, but their enhanced bloodline makes their teeth better and more resistant to wear.

The rate at which the black pits wear down and the enamel ridges disappear slows down accordingly.

Marcus did not know that the Black Dragons had dragon blood, estimating it to be ten years old. Liszt silently adjusted this, concluding that Lightning was likely twelve years old.

It was a stallion in its prime.

"I'll ride Lightning to get used to it. Teacher Marcus, you should also choose some Black Dragons to tame," Liszt said, looking at the herd near the Horse King, smiling.

Marcus took a deep breath and knelt on one knee. "Thank you, my lord!"

In his understanding, a single Black Dragon was worth more than a hundred gold coins, a tremendous gift. If he knew it was a dragon bloodline horse, its breeding value would be immeasurable; even if castrated, it would still be worth a fortune.

He would have to prostrate himself in gratitude.

After accepting Marcus's bow, Liszt said calmly, "The Black Dragons have strong bloodlines. Before they go to battle, they will be bred to expand the herd."

"That makes sense!" Marcus agreed.

Then, with trembling legs, he walked toward the Black Dragons, determined to tame one for himself!

The squire knights looked enviously at Marcus. They were not yet qualified to ride such valuable horses and could only ride inferior ones.

...

A gentle breeze blew, and the sun was warm.

Riding the steady horse, Liszt let Lightning roam freely.

His thoughts drifted to another matter: "Black Dragon is the name of my mount back at the castle. I named it 'Black Dragon' because of its pure black color. Now that there are so many Black Dragons, should 'Black Dragon' be the name of a single horse or the herd?"

Ultimately, his affection for Black Dragon prevailed.

"Black Dragon will remain the name of a single horse, just like my Fire Dragon. The new herd should have a new breed name... Grand Duke Sapphire has Blue Blood Horses; perhaps I can have Black Blood Horses?"

They are all dragon bloodline horses, none more noble than the others.

"Although Blue Blood Horses aren't actually blue... never mind, Black Blood Horses sound great, like top-tier horses."

Thus, the pure black dragon bloodline horses had an official name.

Black Dragon remained Black Dragon, but its status would inevitably decline, making way for Liszt's new mount, Lightning!

Strictly speaking, Lightning was not entirely black; it had a small patch of purplish-red hair on its forehead, resembling the Flash's lightning symbol, adding to its majesty.

Perhaps due to its high intelligence, Lightning seemed to understand the closeness between Hiddleston and Liszt after being tamed, and its fear of Hiddleston quickly dissipated. Even when Hiddleston stood nearby, baring its teeth and growling, Lightning did not flee.

Instead, it raised its head and snorted dismissively at Hiddleston.

Standing at least four meters tall, Lightning towered over Hiddleston, who was only one meter ninety, forcing him to look up. This undoubtedly humiliated Hiddleston, especially since he felt his master had been "stolen." However, he could not bite Lightning, just as he dared not bite the Black Dragons.

"Woof woof!"

"Huff!"

One barked, the other snorted, communicating in their own way.

...

The initial exploration of Black Horse Island ended with the taming of the Horse King, Lightning.

Liszt and Marcus each rode a Black Blood Horse, leading the squire knights and sailors back to the Rock Pier. Unexpectedly, the herd followed them to the pier, still attached to their king.

Woof! Huff!

"The herd of Black Blood horses has been found; the mission of this voyage is complete. We set sail for home tomorrow," Liszt issued the order. "From now on, the development of Black Horse Island will be on the agenda. First, we need to establish a temporary base here. While there's still some daylight left, let's clear the area around the dock."

"Yes, sir!"

Once the temporary base was established, the sailors and their families would be relocated to Black Horse Island to prevent any leaks about its existence.

If news of the Black Blood horses were to spread, it could attract the attention of covetous parties. Once they discovered the value of the Black Blood horses, they would undoubtedly spare no effort to seize them. Only when Liszt had earned his military merit and received the title of Viscount along with a fiefdom would it be the right time for Black Horse Island to be revealed. For now, the island would develop slowly under the covert support of Flower Town.

Time flew by like a white horse passing through a crevice, and before long, a night had passed.

The next morning, after riding Lightning around the dock one last time, Liszt reluctantly released it back to the herd. He did not intend to take the Black Blood horses back with him.

Marcus did the same, releasing the "Black Scourge" he had tamed.

Lightning and Black Scourge quickly merged back into the herd, but they would lift their heads and gaze out at the sea, watching as the sailboat slowly turned and eventually disappeared over the horizon.