Chapter 48
But this was his first time seeing one alive, before now, only records and sketches in ancient tomes.
The Heaven-Robbing Black Dragons had vanished without a trace in the Immemorial Era, no one knew where they went, the one before him was very likely the last in the Azure Spirit World.
Every breath it took whipped up a small whirlwind, the vortices dispersing only when they struck the barrier walls, Soren studied the sealed slumbering dragon carefully.
And finally, he had to complain.
"It’s not even an Eastern dragon..."
"Bit of a letdown..."
Snort! The dragon blasted out a breath, the vortex two or three times larger than before, whether that was sleeping indignation at the review or a coincidental shift in its breathing, no one could say.
Soren planted his hand on the Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon’s head.
At that exact moment, its eyelids cracked open, dark golden light spilled from its pupils, lending color to the gloom.
[Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon.]
[Middle-Tier Spirit Ancestor.]
[To conquer it, you must seize its lifeblood.]
[Within every Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon lies a Dragon Pearl steeped in dragon soul and dragon blood.]
[The Pearl’s location is not fixed, each dragon hides it somewhere different, and it can shift at will.]
[Taking the Dragon Pearl weakens the dragon, temporarily degrading its realm to the Spirit Emperor level at minimum.]
[Its long imprisonment has left it stiff and weak, without the Pearl, its strength will be comparable to a Middle-Tier Spirit Emperor at best.]
So the Dragon Pearl was the key.
The difficulty was finding a fist-sized pearl inside a three-hundred-meter body, for anyone else, a task on par with climbing to heaven, but for a man with the Strategy Encyclopedia, easy as turning over his hand.
[The Dragon Pearl is hidden inside its left pupil.]
[The key to conquering this dragon: you must beat it into submission.]
[The harder you beat it, the higher its relationship tier with Master will climb.]
Soren drew his sword and charged the dragon’s left eye, he moved so fast his figure vanished while his demonic might still churned in place, refusing to disperse.
Before the dragon’s eyes fully opened, his blade was already driving toward the center of its pupil.
The sudden attack jolted it awake, it loosed a furious roar.
Soren carved one hard slash inside the pupil, and a fist-sized pearl popped free, dropping neatly into his palm.
He chuckled, stowed the pearl, and withdrew, facing it down with sword in hand.
"Damn it!"
"My Dragon Pearl!"
The dragon spewed a pillar of black fire at him, hot enough to melt surrounding rock on contact.
One sword stroke ended the crisis, the sharp sword qi surged out like some chaos-born great demon, fangs bared, and shoved the black flame back with unstoppable momentum.
The fire poured straight down the dragon’s own throat, and it swallowed the lot.
A muffled whump, the dragon’s eye twitched, black smoke boiling from its mouth.
"Cough, cough, cough."
"Bastard!"
Soren sneered and gave it another stroke, the sword qi opened a gash, a thin jet of blood hissing out, the dragon howled.
Without the Dragon Pearl, even the protective power of its scales had degraded.
And according to the Strategy Encyclopedia, the harder he beat it, the closer it would grow to him.
It’s literally begging for a beating! The Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon is only loyal to whoever thrashes it into submission, so I have to beat it black and blue!
"Master, I’ll help too!" Lysara moved to unleash a technique.
Soren refused. "No, I’ll do it myself!"
"Step back!"
Boom! Bang bang bang! Thud! Crack!
In less time than an incense stick burns, the Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon lived a nightmare, craters from Soren’s fists covered its body, his sword found every vital spot, blood gushed until it was less a Black Dragon than a Blood Dragon.
It shivered. "De... Demon!"
"You are simply a demon!"
Soren frowned, the sword in his hand drank in demonic energy, swelling several times over. "I hate being called a demon most of all!"
"I am kind-hearted by nature, I wouldn’t dare kill a chicken, and you call me a demon?"
Kind... kind-hearted? The dragon’s mind blanked, if this isn’t a demon, what is!?
"What? You doubt me?"
"Then I’ll beat you until you stop doubting!"
Bang bang bang! Thud! Crack!
"I was wrong, I was wrong."
"Stop hitting me, oh hell, stop hitting me."
"I think my tailbone is broken!"
"Big bro, big bro, stop!"
Soren checked the panel. Only Obedient and Submissive had lit, judging the beating insufficient, he served up another flurry of fists and feet.
These were no ordinary blows, they were lethal to dragons, the steady thud-thud-thud left Lysara shaking where she stood.
It reminded her of her own crushing, when she’d had no room to fight back and could only watch, dazed, as her grandmother opened her arms to welcome her, presumably the dragon felt the same, its grandmother was on the way to collect it too.
Boom! With one heave, Soren threw the entire three-hundred-meter body through the air.
It slammed into the barrier wall, triggering a cascade of punishing lightning, then lay on the ground twitching, finished.
Soren checked the panel, under his tender care, the dragon had been forcibly dragged from Strangers Meeting by Chance all the way to Deep Affection and Righteousness.
Enough, any demand he made now, it wouldn’t dare refuse, and having agreed, it wouldn’t dare betray.
"Promise me one thing."
"I’ll let you off the hook, I’ll even take you out of this godforsaken place."
"Just one? Ten things are fine!" At the words out of this place, affection surged through the dragon, its voice turning outright fawning.
"Alright, ten things, then."
"Ah? You’re serious? Look at this stupid mouth of mine!" Regret hit it so hard it could have perished twice, it raised a huge claw and gently stroked its own face.
Watching the performance, Soren grew suspicious, is this goofy thing really a former Middle-Tier Spirit Ancestor? Forget it.
"Starting today, you serve me loyally as a mount and obey my every command."
"I’ll leave a master-servant blood contract brand on you, for better control, the Dragon Pearl will be returned at an opportune time."
The dragon raised its little claws like the world’s most obedient baby, then, mouth twitching, it asked, "Obeying every command... does that include drawing my Spirit blood?"