Nie Yan rode the Dark-winged Dragon, swiftly flying towards the direction of the Heart of the World.
There were large flying creatures active throughout the airspace nearby, so he had to be extremely cautious.
As the Dark-winged Dragon drew closer to the Heart of the World, the colossal fortress of the Heart of the World slowly came into Nie Yan’s view. The closer he got, the more awestruck he felt by its grandeur, as it resembled a massive interstellar carrier.
The Heart of the World was built from layers of stone, already covered with various vines, making the ancient fortress, weathered by time, appear even more dilapidated.
According to ancient records, the last divine war occurred nearly 100,000 years ago.
This Heart of the World was a remnant from that era.
Only about a hundred yards away from the Heart of the World, Nie Yan directed the Dark-winged Dragon to fly close to its stone walls, searching for an entrance while cautiously avoiding the flying creatures occasionally passing by.
A giant golden eagle flapped its wings and flew past not far from the Dark-winged Dragon. Nie Yan quickly made the Dark-winged Dragon cling to the stone wall of the Heart of the World, grabbing the vines, folding its wings tightly, and remaining motionless.
The golden eagle was dozens of times larger than the Dark-winged Dragon. Compared to it, the Dark-winged Dragon was like a child. The eagle circled around, darkening the sky, and each flap of its wings created gusts of wind that nearly blew the Dark-winged Dragon away.
It was a level-nine creature!
So this was the might of a level-nine creature. The comparison between the Dark-winged Dragon and this golden eagle immediately revealed the vast gap between them.
If one day he could ride such a colossal mount, that would be impressive indeed. Even hundreds or thousands of level-three or level-four flying mounts would stand no chance against a level-nine flying mount. Nie Yan’s gaze fell on the Dark-winged Dragon. It definitely had great potential for improvement; perhaps one day it could evolve to level nine.
The golden eagle circled around the nearby sky.
Nie Yan held his breath, and even the Dark-winged Dragon dared not breathe heavily.
After inspecting the area, the golden eagle found nothing. To it, the Dark-winged Dragon was simply too small to warrant attention. It flapped its wings and flew away.
Seeing the golden eagle gradually disappear into the distance, Nie Yan finally exhaled in relief. After confirming safety, he cautiously directed the Dark-winged Dragon to take off again.
The area was full of danger. If discovered by a powerful flying creature, it would be extremely perilous.
Taking advantage of the absence of large flying creatures nearby, Nie Yan urged the Dark-winged Dragon to swiftly pass through. The entrance to the Heart of the World was just ahead, dark and deep inside, its destination unknown.
Nie Yan commanded the Dark-winged Dragon to accelerate. As they were about to reach the entrance, a dragon-like creature slightly larger than the Dark-winged Dragon suddenly sprang from behind a protruding rock, charging fiercely toward it.
As its claws were about to strike the Dark-winged Dragon, Nie Yan quickly directed it into a sudden dive and narrowly evaded the attack.
Nie Yan looked toward the flying creature—it was a gold dragon, its entire body covered in golden scales, a level-seven creature. Its body was only slightly larger than the Dark-winged Dragon’s, but it was far more powerful.
Seeing the Dark-winged Dragon evade, the gold dragon ferociously attacked again. Nie Yan maneuvered the Dark-winged Dragon to continuously dodge, narrowly escaping danger after danger.
For these creatures, even a difference of one level created an insurmountable gap. If they were to engage in battle, the Dark-winged Dragon would be completely helpless.
The gold dragon was slightly faster than the Dark-winged Dragon, making it extremely difficult for the latter to evade. Several times, it nearly sustained serious injuries, but fortunately, Nie Yan reacted quickly enough to issue timely dodging commands.
During the skirmish, the gold dragon suddenly slashed its claws toward the chest of the Dark-winged Dragon, lightning-fast.
No good, he couldn’t dodge this time. Nie Yan’s heart sank.
The sharp claws of the gold dragon scraped across the chest of the Dark-winged Dragon, producing a tearing sound as a wound was carved open, spewing blood.
The Dark-winged Dragon was no match for the gold dragon.
The Dark-winged Dragon let out a pained cry and began plummeting downward. Nie Yan felt his body being forcefully pulled down. He was about to crash into a protruding rock on the wall of the Heart of the World. If they collided, he would either die or suffer severe injuries. Nie Yan quickly pulled the Dark-winged Dragon upward, adjusting its flight direction. The Dark-winged Dragon barely stabilized itself, narrowly avoiding the protruding rock.
The gold dragon behind him roared and attacked once again. If this continued, the Dark-winged Dragon would eventually be destroyed!
Nie Yan’s nerves were stretched to the limit. As he saw the gold dragon diving down from above, Nie Yan quickly maneuvered the Dark-winged Dragon sideways, narrowly avoiding the attack and passing by the gold dragon.
Missing its strike, the gold dragon was preparing to turn around.
Nie Yan spotted the gold dragon’s back directly to his left front. Without hesitation, he leapt forward and landed on the gold dragon’s back.
Feeling something land on its back, the gold dragon thrashed violently, trying to shake Nie Yan off.
Nie Yan immediately used the skill from the Ring of the Crawler. His hands transformed into suckers, firmly adhering to the gold dragon’s back. No matter how violently the gold dragon thrashed, it couldn’t shake Nie Yan off.
During the violent thrashing, Nie Yan’s arms endured tremendous force. His gaze fell on the gold dragon’s back. Its scales weren’t fully intact. There was a healed wound on its back, where all the scales had fallen off and were regrowing.
Nie Yan took out a bone spike and stabbed it into the gold dragon’s back.
With a “plop,” the bone spike pierced in, splattering blood all over Nie Yan.
Nie Yan twisted the mechanism on the bone spike, and it firmly lodged into the flesh of the gold dragon. The gold dragon screamed in pain, thrashing violently. The more it struggled, the deeper the bone spike penetrated, rapidly tearing open a wound on its back, continuously spewing blood.
The bone spike had inflicted a minor wound on it!
As the gold dragon continued to struggle, the Dark-winged Dragon above had already recovered. Under Nie Yan’s command, it dove down from above, its steel claws fiercely grabbing the gold dragon’s neck, tearing open two massive wounds. This strike from the Dark-winged Dragon inflicted a deadly injury on the gold dragon.
The gold dragon shrieked in agony, attempting to counterattack, but Nie Yan would never allow such an opportunity. He pulled out another bone spike, suddenly lunged forward, and stabbed it forcefully into the wound on the gold dragon’s neck.
With a “plop,” the bone spike pierced through the gold dragon’s trachea at its throat.
Suffering such a severe injury, the gold dragon couldn’t even emit a scream anymore and was already on the brink of death.
These two bone spikes proved highly effective, completely crippling the gold dragon.
The Dark-winged Dragon gripped the gold dragon’s neck tightly, while Nie Yan jumped onto its head. With the Zennarde Sword in hand, he split open the gold dragon’s head and retrieved a crystal core the size of a fist. This crystal core was entirely amber-colored, radiating a transparent golden glow, clearly distinct from ordinary crystals.
This was a high-grade dragon crystal!
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