“Look, what’s he doing?”

...

The players from Pantheon watched Nie Yan stuffing Darkness Life Cores into the Darkwing Dragon’s mouth.

“The hell is he thinking!? He’s gone crazy! Is he not afraid of his Darkwing Dragon exploding!?” a Warrior exclaimed.

“My budha in Heaven. Where did he get so many Life Cores!?”

“Shit! Is he not afraid of all those Life Cores going to waste?”

“The Darkwing Dragon is pretty much dead! He might as well just give them to us! Fuck! I really have to bow my head to this prodigal son! My heart hurts just looking at all these Life Cores going down the drain!”

The value of these Life Cores probably exceeded that of the Darkwing Dragon!

However, from Nie Yan’s perspective, these Life Cores were only material, while the Darkwing Dragon was his baby. He’d raised it and fought with it, sharing together both the good and the bad times.

Nie Yan grabbed the seventh handful of Life Cores, when he sensed a powerful energy surging through the Darkwing Dragon, threatening to tear it apart from within. His heart sunk. This was the outcome he feared the most!

After being consumed, the hard shell of a Life Core would crumble, releasing the energy held within which the flying mount would feast on. The Darkwing Dragon was right now eating its belly full, and then some. But if it couldn’t digest all this energy, the only place it could go was out!

Was the Darkwing Dragon going to die here?

Nie Yan’s heart grew anxious. There was nothing he could do to help the Darkwing Dragon, but to support it with affection.

“GROOOAAAGHH...!” the Darkwing Dragon wailed out in agony. Nie Yan could sense how much pain it was going through.

Nie Yan had no idea what kind of transformation the Darkwing Dragon would undergo after consuming so many Darkness Life Cores while on the verge of death.

Live! Please, live! Nie Yan prayed.

However, the situation was far more severe than Nie Yan could imagine. The Darkwing Dragon’s scales released a dazzling black radiance as its flesh was splitting apart. The veins under its scales swelled to the extreme, looking as if they would burst at any moment because of the rampaging energy coursing through its body.

These were the warning signs before an imminent explosion. Alas, the Darkwing Dragon couldn’t withstand the energy contained inside all these Darkness Life Core after all.

Shit! Nie Yan despaired. Whatever he did was useless right now. He tossed the Darkness Life Cores in his hands back into his bag. The Darkwing Dragon was struggling to contain the energy going wild inside it. If he fed it anymore, he would be cutting off the last strand of hope.

The fearful image of the Darkwing Dragon exploding into a million pieces flashed before his eyes. Nie Yan shuddered in fear.

“Dammit! If the Darkwing Dragon explodes, we won’t get anything! All those Life Cores, wasted!”

“Blast it with magic! Kill it!”

The Mages waved their staffs and sent a shower of spells flying towards the Darkwing Dragon. However, when the spells came within 10 meters of it, they detonated in mid-air.

Before these spells could reach the Darkwing Dragon, they were destroyed by the berserk aura flowing out of it.

The fluctuations around the Darkwing Dragon grew increasingly intense. Nie Yan nearly lost his balance and had to activate the Rank 16 Darkbright Barrier to prevent himself from getting torn to shreds by the rampaging energy.

The Darkwing Dragon’s body started to expand.

It had reached its limit!

Glancing at the Dragon Cores in his bag, Nie Yan had a crazy idea. Dragon Cores were undoubtedly first rate Life Cores. The energy contained inside them were several dozens to hundreds of times greater than that of other cores. He’d hesitated using them before, always waiting for the right moment.

But at this rate, that day would never come! If not today, Nie Yan would never get another opportunity!

Faced with guaranteed death and the miniscule possibility of survival, Nie Yan no longer hesitated. Even until the end, he wasn’t willing to give up on the Darkwing Dragon. He shoved a Dragon Core into the Darkwing Dragon’s mouth.

Nie Yan’s eyes were fixated on the Darkwing Dragon, while in his mind a mental finger hovered above the button to activate Adjudicator of God.

“Holy shit! He really is mad! He actually fed it a Dragon Core!”

Everyone sensed the Darkwing Dragon was about to explode. Given how powerful it was, the force of its explosion wouldn’t be something they could survive.

“Everyone, back away! Don’t get caught in the explosion!”

The players from Pantheon retreated over 60 meters away. They watched from afar, waiting for the Darkwing Dragon to explode.

“Pay attention to Nirvana Flame. Don’t let him escape!”

Even though they had Nie Yan completely surrounded, they didn’t dare to lower their vigilance. Thieves were as slippery as an eel.

The Darkwing Dragon swallowed the Dragon Core. Nie Yan’s actions were those of a madman. It was already at its limit from all those Darkness Life Cores, but now he had fed it something as powerful as a Dragon Core! Its aura started rapidly climbing again.

Is this the end...? Nie Yan gulped, his face ashen.

Six seconds later, the Darkwing Dragon still hadn’t exploded. It thrashed about wildly in the air, nearly throwing Nie Yan off several times. He tenaciously clung onto its back, even activating the Crawler Ring.

Nie Yan suddenly discovered a peculiar change. Black, poisoned blood was being expelled out of the Darkwing Dragon’s wounds as they started closing up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Nie Yan’s heart trembled. It worked!

Over the next 10 seconds, the countless wounds covering the Darkwing Dragon’s body healed completely.

The Darkwing Dragon writhed in pain. After consuming the Dragon Core, the darkness energy inside its body went even more berserk, almost as if it were going to consume it. At the same time, its flesh grew stronger, its skin grew harder, and its scales grew thicker. Whether this was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

The Darkwing Dragon was barely conscious and on the verge of being swallowed up by the rampaging energy. The pain it was going through was unimaginable. After flailing wildly in the air for six minutes, its aura suddenly grew faint to the point of being unnoticeable. It stopped moving and entered freefall.

Had the Darkwing Dragon died?

Nie Yan despaired. He could no longer feel the Darkwing Dragon’s heartbeat.

Seeing the Darkwing Dragon falling from the sky, the players from Pantheon became excited.

“The Darkwing Dragon is dead!”

“Don’t let Nirvana Flame escape!”

They urged their flying mounts to swoop down.

The Darkwing Dragon barrelled toward the ground, 1,000 meters, 500 meters, 100 meters... Nie Yan felt deep heartache. After trying so hard, he still failed to save the Darkwing Dragon. This sort of dismay and dejection was something he hadn’t yet experienced since reincarnating back to the past.

Nie Yan was just about to jump off, when the Darkwing Dragon’s aura suddenly blazed back to life, skyrocketing even higher than before. A dragon’s might swept out and enveloped the sky.

What was going on?

Nie Yan suddenly felt the Darkwing Dragon’s heartbeat. THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! It was brimming with life force!

The Darkwing Dragon’s eyes snapped open, revealing two beams of crimson light which pierced through the darkness of the sky before fading away.

With a powerful flap of its wings, the Darkwing Dragon kicked up a whirlwind on the ground and shot back up to the sky.

As the connection between the two was reestablished, Nie Yan’s eyes lit up with joy. He thought he’d lost the Darkwing Dragon for good.

Nie Yan could tell the Darkwing Dragon was far stronger than before. The rampaging energy from the Darkness Life Cores and Dragon Core was all digested.

Nie Yan excitedly examined the Darkwing Dragon’s status window. He discovered it had broken through from Rank 7 to Rank 8. All its stats were substantially higher than before.

After all this time, the Darkwing Dragon finally ranked up!

Nie Yan raised his head and saw over a dozen Rank 6 flying mounts swooping down towards him. His eyes flashed with a cold light. It’s time for payback! I’ll let you experience the might of a Rank 8 flying mount!

Seeing the Darkwing Dragon crashing towards the ground, the players from Pantheon thought it was dead for sure. They were about to finish off Nie Yan and collect their spoils of war, only to see the Darkwing Dragon turn around and shoot back up to the sky. The powerful draconic might caused their Rank 6 flying mounts to freeze up with fear.

“W-what!?”

“T-the Darkwing Dragon came back to life!”

The players from Pantheon hurriedly reigned back their flying mounts, as the Darkwing Dragon shot upward like a black streak of lightning.

“It’s coming!”

“Shit! It broke through to Rank 8!”

The Darkwing Dragon was already a nightmare to deal with when it was Rank 7. Now that it was rank 8, the players from Panteon had no idea what to do. This moment of hesitation proved fatal.

“Stop it!”

“Fuck! Don’t panic! What are you running for!?”

Caught off-guard by the Darkwing Dragon’s revival, the players from Pantheon lost their cool and broke formation. However, they were still experts and quickly regained their composure. Three Nether Hawks swooped down toward the Darkwing Dragon.

“GROAR!” The Darkwing Dragon opened its maw and blasted one of the Nether Hawks with a black jet of scorching hot Dragon Breath. BOOOM! Flames flew everywhere. The Nether Hawk’s health instantly hit zero as it spiralled down toward the ground.

The Darkwing Dragon’s breath attack!

Flying mounts capable of attacking from afar were already few and far between. However, less than a handful had ranged attacks this powerful!

Nie Yan was surprised by the power of the Dragon Breath. Seeing the blackened body of the Nether Hawk giving off smoke, he couldn’t help but gasp. What frightening firepower!