Chapter 189 This is the Lilong Horse Herd

Circling the island, it was indeed as Kosto had speculated: Black Horse Island was an imperfectly elliptical island.

There were no natural sheltered harbors, and the most suitable place to establish a harbor was the rocky dock where they had anchored last night. However, it was difficult to berth large ships there due to insufficient water depth. Even a medium-sized merchant ship like the Flower would find it barely manageable.

As the sun began to release its heat,

the group gradually ventured deeper into the interior of Black Horse Island in search of the Black Dragon horse herd.

The island had few trees and gentle undulating hills, providing a wide field of vision. Marcus used his monocular continuously along the way to search for the herd, and without much effort, he spotted what they were looking for.

"My lord, this is horse dung. The Black Dragon horse herd must be nearby!" He exclaimed, bending down to poke at a small black ball-shaped object in the grass with a stick.

Knights knew horse dung better than the number of moles on their wives' bodies.

Liszt was equally familiar with horse dung. Hearing this, he looked up towards the gentle hill in front of him: "They should be on the other side of the hill. Let's go around."

Hiddleston led the way, carrying Liszt in small, quick steps.

Marcus and the others, without mounts, had to jog behind. A moment later, they successfully crossed the tall grass and arrived on the other side of the hill. Without needing the monocular, they could see a herd of black wild horses grazing leisurely on the distant hillside, completely at ease.

"The Black Dragon horse herd!"

"All black horses, they must be the Black Dragons!"

"Don't rush over. First, observe carefully and count how many there are," Liszt calmly said, pulling out his monocular to look at the herd.

Through the lens,

one majestic horse after another, not inferior to the Black Dragon horse at the castle, seemed unaware of their presence, only focused on grazing and playing.

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

A small herd, but for Liszt, it was a significant gain because every one of these black horses could potentially be a dragon-bred horse!

After counting the horses, Marcus couldn't contain his excitement: "My lord, there are thirty-seven in total, nine foals, and the remaining twenty-eight are enough to equip two Knight Squads!"

"Teacher Marcus, you can choose one now."

"Thank you, my lord!" Marcus wished he could immediately catch and tame a black horse, but to avoid alarming the herd, he said, "Among these wild horses, there must be a Horse King. My lord, you should personally tame the Horse King, and the rest of the Black Dragons won't run away."

The Horse King is a common term for the leader of a herd of wild horses. Typically, it is the bravest stallion that leads and protects the herd.

Taming the Horse King means the entire herd will follow his lead, effectively taming the whole herd.

"Can you determine which one is the Horse King?" Liszt was eager to try, knowing the Horse King belonged to him, as only a lord had the right to ride the Horse King.

"It's simple. We'll scare the herd, and the leading one will be the Horse King."

The task of scaring the herd was assigned to Hiddleston. As soon as he appeared, the aura of a mid-level magical beast frightened the Black Dragon herd. They stopped grazing and turned to run.

"Did you see which one?"

"I saw clearly, my lord. The Horse King is the black horse with a slight purple-red mark on its forehead. It has the longest mane and is the tallest. I feel it's even more majestic than your Black Dragon horse."

Liszt responded: "First, let's examine the surrounding terrain. Once the herd relaxes, we'll encircle them, and I'll personally tame the Horse King!"

The Black Dragon herd was already trapped, so there was no need to be overly anxious.

Their current location was roughly in the middle of the island, slightly south of the highest hill. The north slope of that hill was the feeding ground for the Black Dragon herd. The pasture was extensive, stretching from one hill to another, including the valley between them, all with sparse trees and abundant grass.

"This is a natural pasture. I've identified four types of high-quality grass. Please take a look..." Marcus was well-versed in grass varieties.

"This is orchardgrass, best for sheep, though there isn't much of it, but it's highly nutritious; this is needlegrass, which horses love, but it's growing weak here; this is alfalfa, which doesn't grow well without elf bugs; and this is icegrass, an excellent pasture grass, but unfortunately, it's also growing poorly, with short plants."

The pasture on Black Horse Island had the potential to become a top-tier pasture, with a rich variety of grasses. However, the soil was poor and lacked elf bugs, resulting in generally weak grass growth.

This was likely why the Black Dragon herd numbered only thirty-seven; the pasture couldn't support more wild horses.

The group continued exploring.

They ventured further northeast into the center of the island, climbing the highest hill to get a glimpse of the entire island. The elliptical shape of the island was clear, with minimal elevation changes. The highest hill was under 300 meters in altitude, and there were three smaller hills.

The four hills formed a "square" distribution, shaping the island's terrain.

"Let's mark them: orchardgrass hill, needlegrass hill, alfalfa hill, and the icegrass hill we're standing on," Liszt named the hills rather casually.

From the top of the icegrass hill, they could see the Black Dragon herd grazing leisurely on the slopes of the needlegrass hill. The pasture stretched from the orchardgrass hill to the needlegrass hill and half of the alfalfa hill. Beyond the alfalfa hill, the number of trees increased, and the pasture grass decreased.

"Cut down all the trees here and cultivate the pasture to expand the Black Dragon herd."

Liszt envisioned the future, with Black Dragons galloping between the four hills. Of course, now wasn't the time for daydreaming. He and Marcus discussed their plan to tame the Horse King.

There wasn't much technical skill involved.

They divided the accompanying knights and sailors into four teams, approaching the Black Dragon herd from four directions to create confusion and disarray. Then, Liszt would charge forward, mount the Horse King, and begin the taming process. For an elite earth knight, taming a horse was a straightforward task.

So,

an hour later,

Liszt was holding onto the Horse King's neck, letting it buck and jump, carrying him across the slopes.

In the struggle,

he even hummed a song: "Spinning, leaping, with my eyes closed..."

Another half-hour passed, and the Horse King showed no sign of stopping, still running wildly across the slopes. Compared to taming the Black Dragon horse, the Horse King was clearly stronger and more patient.

But ultimately, it submitted.

After an unknown amount of time, The Horse King lowered its proud head, submitting to Liszt's ride and command.

"Congratulations, my lord, on acquiring an even more magnificent steed!"

"It is indeed stronger and taller than the Black Dragon horses." Liszt took the handkerchief Thomas handed him, wiped his sweat, and threw it back, his voice filled with barely contained excitement as he stroked The Horse King's neck again and again. "See the purplish-red hair on its forehead? Doesn't it look like a bolt of lightning?"

With a slight smile,

he declared, "The Horse King of this herd of Black Dragon horses shall be named Lightning!"