Chapter 482: Flying Mount – The Nether Thunder Eagle!

With a crack, the black giant egg in Tang Yao’s hand cracked with web-like fissures. Then the shell shattered into pieces, and a black eagle appeared before Nie Yan and Tang Yao. It was still small, just the right size to stand steadily on Tang Yao’s arm.

Nie Yan looked at the Shadow Thunder Eagle. It looked exactly like a regular eagle, with completely black feathers that were smooth and pure in color.

The Shadow Thunder Eagle flapped its wings slightly, then used its sharp, pointed beak to preen its feathers. Its eyes were clear and sharp, giving it a lively, intelligent look.

“I think I’m starting to like this guy,” Tang Yao said, stroking the Shadow Thunder Eagle’s head. The eagle closed its eyes, seemingly enjoying the attention, and kept nuzzling against Tang Yao’s hand. A piece of meat appeared in Tang Yao’s hand, normally used for feeding his ghost wolf. The Shadow Thunder Eagle stretched its head out, pecked the meat, and swallowed it in one gulp.

“It’ll probably take some time before it grows up,” Nie Yan remarked. The eagle was still very small and might not have much combat power yet. It would need time to grow.

“It can grow larger and become a giant flying mount!” Tang Yao replied.

Nie Yan hadn’t realized that. Did flying mounts not have a growth period?

“I’ll take a closer look at its attribute page,” Tang Yao said. The Shadow Thunder Eagle’s attributes were complex and required in-depth study. “Its agility and strength are balanced. Agility increases flight speed, and strength boosts attack power. Which attributes should I focus on?”

“That depends on how you plan to develop it. As a mage, I think you should focus on agility for the Shadow Thunder Eagle,” Nie Yan replied. Tang Yao’s attack power was already unique. If the eagle had a relatively fast movement speed, it would form a perfect mobile artillery platform.

After a moment’s silence, Tang Yao said, “That sounds pretty good. I’ll follow your advice—agility as the main focus and strength as a secondary.”

“There are still some things you need to figure out on your own. After all, I haven’t had any experience with flying mounts,” Nie Yan said. He himself only had a superficial understanding of flying mounts.

“Flying mounts have different tiers, from tier one to tier nine. Each time they advance a tier, their power increases several times,” Tang Yao explained. He had studied some information about flying mounts and compared it with the Shadow Thunder Eagle’s attribute page.

“What tier is the Shadow Thunder Eagle?” Nie Yan asked. He genuinely didn’t know. At the time he assassinated Cao Xu, flying mounts had just been introduced, and few people had them. Back then, flying mounts were something far beyond Nie Yan’s reach.

“It’s tier one. All newly born flying mounts start at tier one. Their tier will gradually increase later. This Shadow Thunder Eagle can grow larger. Let’s go outside and test how it works,” Tang Yao said. He was still unfamiliar with many aspects of flying mounts, but with more exposure, he would gradually understand.

“I’ll come over later to check,” Nie Yan suddenly remembered that there was also a ranking list for flying mounts. All flying mount pets would be included in this ranking, although the names of the owners wouldn’t be displayed. This ranking was for the entire Lawful Good Light faction. He checked the flying mount ranking and found Tang Yao’s Shadow Thunder Eagle listed.

At that moment, Tang Yao’s Shadow Thunder Eagle was the only one on the entire flying mount ranking.

“The summoning time for a flying mount is five minutes, and the recall time is also five minutes. If it dies, unless you have a resurrection crystal or something similar, you can’t revive it,” Tang Yao explained. This setting was a bit unsettling. If a flying mount died in battle, it would be very difficult to revive. The recall time was too long, and in intense battles or dangerous situations, it would be hard to recall the mount in time.

“It seems flying mounts have life cores,” Nie Yan suddenly recalled.

“Yes, flying mounts do have life cores. If they die, you can cut open their skulls and find a life core inside. Flying mounts consume these to increase their tiers,” Tang Yao explained. He now understood the game mechanics of flying mounts. As more flying mounts appeared, anyone wanting to level up their mount would have to continuously hunt other players’ flying mounts to obtain their life cores.

Nie Yan and Tang Yao were chatting when they heard voices near the door. A group of more than twenty players entered the pet shop, making a lot of noise.

“Min Yue, I heard the most expensive pets in this shop cost several ten thousand gold coins,” a level-50+ rogue said to a warrior wearing silver-white armor beside him.

“Several ten thousand gold coins? That’s nothing. My team can earn several thousand gold coins a day by raiding the Golden City. If we get good gear that sells for several hundred or even a thousand gold coins, that’s no problem,” the warrior named Min Yue laughed heartily.

This warrior was level 66, wearing a level-65 dark gold set, at the same level as players like Shao Bing.

After Min Yue spoke, the surrounding players showed envious expressions.

Min Yue felt quite proud. Among this group, he was the most successful, so he couldn’t help but want to show off.

“Some people came. Let’s go,” Nie Yan said, putting on his Shadowstalker Cloak.

“Okay,” Tang Yao nodded. They weren’t really suited to appear in public and also put on their cloaks.

“Who is that warrior?” Nie Yan asked quietly.

“Seems like he’s from Dark Ranger, a raid leader of a 20-man team. A minor character,” Tang Yao replied. At their level, they naturally didn’t need to pay attention to such small fry.

Nie Yan and Tang Yao walked toward the entrance of the pet shop together.

“What kind of pet is Min Yue planning to buy?” someone nearby asked curiously.

“A rhinoceros with a horn. It suits warriors well,” Min Yue laughed loudly. He looked at the two people approaching him, both wearing cloaks, and couldn’t help but smile. What were they trying to do, hiding themselves like that?

“Good rhinoceroses cost at least 30,000 gold coins,” several surrounding players gasped in awe, feeling jealous.

“Only 30,000 gold coins,” Min Yue said carelessly with a smile. His gaze fell on the Shadow Thunder Eagle on Tang Yao’s arm, and he showed a trace of disdain.

The rogue beside him saw the Shadow Thunder Eagle and mocked, “Is that tiny bird even a pet? How does it attack?”

“I heard some bird pets can fly and peck at people’s eyes,” an arcane mage laughed.

“Peck at people’s eyes? Haha, that’s funny. Once I met a tiny bird pet trying to attack me, but I slapped it and killed it,” Min Yue laughed arrogantly. “How much is such a pet worth? It must be very cheap.”

“Probably around ten gold coins,” the rogue joked.

“Ten gold coins for a pet? Indeed, cheap goods are never good. What can ten gold coins buy? My rhinoceros costs at least 30,000 gold coins,” Min Yue looked disdainfully at Nie Yan and Tang Yao. His voice was loud, echoing inside the pet shop, as if mocking Nie Yan and Tang Yao made him feel proud.

The distant group’s discussion was clearly audible. Tang Yao had a short temper and quickly got angry. “F***, I really want to teach him a lesson.”

“Don’t bother with these people,” Nie Yan said calmly. In his past life, he had seen many people like this.

Tang Yao suppressed his anger, and the two silently walked toward the door.

Seeing Nie Yan and Tang Yao endure the mockery, Min Yue and his group laughed even more arrogantly.

“They probably have never seen a pet worth 30,000 gold coins,” Min Yue laughed loudly.

“Can we ride flying mounts in the city?” Nie Yan asked Tang Yao.

“It seems we can,” Tang Yao replied. He was a bit surprised at Nie Yan’s question but soon understood Nie Yan’s intention.

“F***, you think a pet worth 30,000 gold coins is impressive? Let me show you a pet worth 300,000 gold coins!” Tang Yao sneered.

The two walked to the entrance of the pet shop. Tang Yao muttered some words, and the Shadow Thunder Eagle suddenly grew hundreds of times larger. Standing on the open ground at the pet shop entrance, a fierce hurricane blew past, rushing into the shop and knocking Min Yue and his group off balance.

“What’s going on?” Min Yue was blown so hard he couldn’t open his eyes, looking toward the entrance. The tiny Shadow Thunder Eagle that had been on Tang Yao’s arm was now a massive creature, standing three yards tall, powerful and mighty, radiating immense strength.

Compared to the Shadow Thunder Eagle, every pet in the pet shop was just trash!

In the central square of Karol City, players suddenly caught sight of this colossal creature and erupted in waves of astonished cries.

“It’s a flying mount!” the rogue beside Min Yue exclaimed in shock.

Min Yue was stunned. He hadn’t expected the Shadow Thunder Eagle he had mocked just now to actually be such a powerful flying mount. Then, who was its owner…

Nie Yan and Tang Yao mounted the Shadow Thunder Eagle. Its wide back could carry five people. It flapped its wings, creating a powerful whirlwind, and soared into the sky.

“Is that the flying mount of Crazy Rogue Nie Yan?” the rogue beside Min Yue trembled, realizing they had just mocked the most untouchable person in the city.

“Min Yue, what should we do? We just…” the players around Min Yue panicked.

“They say Crazy Rogue Nie Yan is hard to deal with.”

“Yeah, previously in the Triumph Empire, a player named Liu Rui offended Crazy Rogue Nie Yan and was hunted down to level zero by the Bull Men Tribe. In the end, he had to delete his account and hasn’t appeared since.”

The group grew increasingly fearful as they talked.

Min Yue hadn’t expected to cause such a big problem. Hearing their words, he also felt scared. “We should go apologize to the Bull Men Tribe. If Crazy Rogue Nie Yan is willing to forgive us, we’ll be fine. If not, we’ll have to leave Karol City.” If Nie Yan really wanted to target him, he and his team wouldn’t be able to stay in Karol City anymore.