Nie Yan brought out a Rank 3 Fire Life Core . The Darkwing Dragon glanced at the scarlet red crystal before turning its head away . It didn’t appear too interested but with enough coaxing would still eat it nonetheless; likely it wouldn’t be as effective, though, since it wasn’t of the corresponding element .
“Well, aren’t you the picky eater,” Nie Ya smiled . “I suppose I’ll have to feed you only Darkness Life Cores from now on . ”
Nie Yan tossed a Darkness Life Core into the air .
The Darkwing Dragon turned back around and snapped up the Life Core at lightning speed, then swallowed the whole thing down with glee .
Nie Yan could sense the Darkwing Dragon growing a bit stronger, albeit vaguely . He had no idea when it would rank up .
After eating the Life Core, the Darkwing Dragon stared at Nie Yan with sparkling eyes, almost as if begging for more .
Nie Yan took out another Darkness Life Core and threw it to the Darkwing Dragon .
The Darkwing Dragon swallowed one Life Core after another . Since it was a Rank 6 creature, the effects of Rank 1–3 Life Cores were limited . However, the quantity helped make up for this difference . Nie Yan could sense a powerful darkness aura radiating from the Darkwing Dragon . It was extremely corrosive . All the plants within a three-meter radius wilted and died .
The Darkwing Dragon let out a satisfied burp . Its belly was round and full, having probably eaten a dozen or so Life Cores .
Like anyone after devouring a big meal, the Darkwing Dragon seemed to be getting drowsy . So, Nie Yan recalled it back into his pet space .
Looking at the world inside, the Darkwing Dragon had already found a corner to curl up in and sleep . A dense mist of darkness energy shrouded its body, wrapping around it like a cozy blanket .
The Darkwing Dragon fell fast asleep .
Nie Yan could sense a powerful force stirring within the Darkwing Dragon . He didn’t know what kind of changes would occur once it woke up .
Nie Yan withdrew his gaze . His time was dedicated between training his artisan skills or clearing the Luminous Dancer class advancement quest . As he trekked deeper into the forest, far off in the distance, a strange structure hovering over the forest canopy caught his eye .
An enormous castle floated high in the air; nothing supported it off the ground . Though it was more ruin than castle, bearing traces of the flames of war—fallen towers, partially destroyed walls, and so on—it still looked exceptionally grand .
It was just like Calore, a floating city . You have discovered the World Heart .
“W-what? The World Heart!?” Nie Yan was dumbstruck .
In the Ancient Book of Curtis, the World Heart was the center of the world . Floating above the Atlanta Continent, it was the abode of the gods . But after the Third War of the Gods, it vanished without a trace, never to appear again .
Since the World Heart was only briefly described in ancient history books, it was treated as fiction, a myth of old .
Nie Yan’s intuition told him that the World Heart was directly related to his Luminous Dancer class advancement quest . He immediately set off toward it .
As he got closer to the World Heart, he started running into stronger and stronger monsters . Nie Yan gradually slowed down . He raised his head and saw black dots circling around the World Heart . They were flying creatures . Even though he had never seen them before, judging from their enormous sizes, he could tell they were quite high rank and much more powerful than his Darkwing Dragon .
In the blink of an eye, another 10 days passed by . On this day, Nie Yan completed Path of the Luminous Dancer 3 . A notification popped up . Path of the Luminous Dancer 4:
☐ Sneak into the World Heart . ☐ Retrieve the lost inheritance .
There was finally a break to the monoton! If Nie Yan was forced to grind mobs any longer, he would’ve gone mad! Rank 3 monsters were already pretty difficult to deal with, let alone Rank 4 or 5! However, this new quest wasn’t necessarily easier . In fact, sneaking into the World Heart made the last three quests look like a walk in the park!
Staring at the World Heart in the distance, it appeared getting in without a flying mount would be impossible . Nie Yan looked at his pet space . The Darkwing Dragon was still fast asleep .
“Forget it . I’ll just wait for the Darkwing Dragon to wake up . ” Nie Yan went all around harvesting materials and continued training his various artisan skills . Checking his progress, Engineering, Forging, and Spell Scribing were already Advanced rank, and it wouldn’t be long before they reached Master rank . Besides this, Alchemy Master was already 52% of the way to Grandmaster . He could concoct even more different kinds of potions now .
As Nie Yan learned more and more skills, his knowledge of crafting grew deeper and deeper . An odd idea suddenly popped into his mind . “Is it possible to make my own weapons?”
Nie Yan took out some metal extract from his bag . With the help of the Forging skill, he gradually beat them into needles about three inches long and half a thumb thick . One of the needles was made exceptionally sharp, to the extent that it could easily pierce through any armour . Then with the Alchemy Master skill, he concocted a poison which glistened with an azure coloured hue and coated the needles in it .
“Not bad . . . They’ll definitely come in handy if I encounter anything unexpected . ” Nie Yan pondered for a moment . “I could probably improve them even further . ” With the Engineering skill, he added a special property to these needles . Once they pierced skin, a mechanism would trigger to release serrated hooks . If you tried to forcefully pull it out, it would rip out a huge chunk of flesh .
This was a clever idea Nie Yan had come up with on the spot . While he was marvelling at his ingenuity, a notification popped up . You have invented a new weapon . Attack power evaluation: Strength x 5 + 5,000 . Special properties evaluation: deal 20% additional bleed damage every second for 10 seconds, chance to inflict cripple status effect . Please name this weapon .
Nie Yan checked the properties of the needles . He didn’t expect them to have this kind of effect; the attack power in particular was quite astonishing . There was even an additional bleed and cripple effect . He had about 6,000 Strength . If he attacked an enemy with one of these needles, it would deal 35,000 damage and an additional 70,000 in bleed damage .
“What would be a good name for these things?” Nie Yan pondered for a moment . “Let’s just call them Flesh Biters . ” Naming successful! You have successfully invented Flesh Biters . +500 skill proficiency to Forging and Engineering .
Two rays of light enveloped Nie Yan . It was the sign of something ranking up! He quickly checked his skill list . Forging and Engineering had both advanced to Master rank . He didn’t expect to receive so much skill proficiency at once!
“Wow, my artisan skills are improving so quickly!” Nie Yan crafted another Flesh Biter . However, this time, he merely gained five skill proficiency in Forging and Engineering . It appeared only inventing something new would give such a large amount of skill proficiency .
Even so, crafting Flesh Biters provided much more skill proficiency than crafting ordinary weapons . Not to mention he could train Forging and Engineering at the same time . It was two birds with one stone .
Nie Yan suddenly felt that learning all these artisan skills was even more worthwhile than he originally thought .
Most players usually learned only one artisan skill . Even if they trained it to a high rank, they still had to find recipes and blueprints, unlike Nie Yan who could research and create high rank items all by himself . In general, high rank items involved at least two or more different technologies in their creation . Even concocting a new type of potion couldn’t be done all willy nilly . You still needed the help of other artisans in obtaining specialized receptacles and other Alchemy tools .
The Flesh Biters turned out better than Nie Yan expected . They would become powerful supplementary weapons in the future . In a few more days, he could raise all his artisan skills to Master rank . At that time, he could come up with even more new inventions, which he could use to make himself stronger .
While Nie Yan was lost in thought, he felt a violent fluctuation as a powerful darkness energy overflowed out of his pet space .
“What’s going on?” Nie Yan’s heart trembled . Looking inside his pet space, all he saw was a dark haze spewing out from his Darkwing Dragon .
The Darkwing Dragon awoke from its slumber and got up on its feet . It radiated a domineering and invincible pressure . Standing taller than before, dense, grayish black scales now protected its body, reflecting a glossy black luster . With a beat of its powerful wings, two small tornadoes wreaked havoc in the pet space .
Nie Yan examined the Darkwing Dragon . All of its stats had risen by at least 30% . It wasn’t far from ranking up, only a few Life Cores away . It would probably advance to Rank 7 in no time . At that point, its strength would increase severalfold .
At present, the strongest flying mounts other than his own were Rank 4 at best . With a difference of three ranks, his Darkwing Dragon could easily slaughter all of them .
The Darkwing Dragon was finally fully awake . For the time being, he couldn’t feed it any more Life Cores . Nie Yan looked up at the World Heart . He needed to fly up there!
Nie Yan made some preparations, crafting over 50 Flesh Biters, a large amount of Master Health Potions, and some Advanced Combat Bandages . Afterwards, he chanted out an incantation and summoned his Darkwing Dragon .
When the Darkwing Dragon emerged, a wave of darkness energy swept out, causing all the plants in a 10-meter radius to wither and die .
Nie Yan looked up at the Darkwing Dragon, who now stood five meters high . He briefly admired the scales protecting its body . They seemed practically invulnerable .
Nie Yan hopped on its back . The Darkwing Dragon flapped its wings, then shot into the sky, instantly ascending more than several dozen meters in altitude .
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