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 for large ships to berth there due to insufficient water depth. Even a medium-sized merchant ship like the Fresh Flower struggled.

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, searching for the herd, and without much effort, he spotted what he was looking for.

"Sir, this is horse droppings. The Black Dragon horse herd must be nearby!" He exclaimed, bending down to poke at a cluster of small black balls with a stick.

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

Liszt was equally familiar with horse droppings. 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 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 slope, enjoying themselves.

"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 took out his monocular and looked at the Black Dragon horse herd.

Through the lens,

one by one, majestic horses, not inferior to the Black Dragon horse from 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 find because every black horse here could potentially be a dragon-bred horse!

After counting the horses,

Marcus, unable to contain his excitement, said, "Sir, 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, sir!" 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. Sir, you should personally tame the Horse King, and the rest of the Black Dragons won't run away."

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

Taming the Horse King means the entire herd would follow his lead.

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

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

The task of scaring the herd fell to Hiddleston. As soon as he appeared, his intermediate demonic beast aura frightened the Black Dragon herd. The horses stopped grazing and turned to run.

"Did you see which one it was?"

"I saw clearly, sir. 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 too anxious.

Their location was roughly in the middle of the island, slightly south of the highest hill. The north-facing slope of that hill was the grazing ground for the Black Dragon herd. The grazing area was vast, 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. Sir, please look..." Marcus was well-versed in grass varieties.

"This is orchardgrass, best for sheep, not much of it, but very nutritious; this is needlegrass, horses love it, but it's growing a bit weak here; this is alfalfa, it won't grow without fairy bugs; this is icegrass, excellent pasture grass, but it's still growing poorly, with short plants."

This 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 fairy 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, giving them a glimpse of the entire island. The elliptical shape of the island was clear, with little elevation change. The highest hill was under 300 meters, and there were three smaller hills.

The four hills formed a "square," 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 needlegrass hill. The grazing area stretched from the orchardgrass hill to the needlegrass hill and half of the alfalfa hill. On the slopes from alfalfa to icegrass, trees became more numerous, and grass decreased.

"Cut down all the trees here and cultivate grass 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 a plan to tame the Horse King.

There wasn't much technical skill involved.

They divided the accompanying knights and sailors into four groups, approaching the Black Dragon herd from different directions to create confusion and disarray. Then, Liszt would charge forward, mount the Horse King, and begin taming—something easily accomplished by an elite Earth Knight.

So,

an hour later,

Liszt was holding onto the Horse King's neck, riding it as it bucked and galloped across the hill.

In the struggle,

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

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

But in the end, the result was still submission.

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

"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 then threw it back, his voice filled with uncontainable excitement as he stroked The Horse King's neck again and again. "See the purple-red hair on its forehead? Doesn't it look like a bolt of lightning?"

With a slight smile,

He announced, "The Horse King of this herd of Black Dragon horses shall be called Lightning!"