TL Note: Everyone, I went back to look at my previous chapters for mistakes and saw I made some for the honkai faction discount back in chapter 115, I have fixed those.
When using the War Domain, those pulled into it don't perceive anything unusual; the only thing they might notice is the difference in the number of people present.
When Stormterror realized that suddenly only it and Chen Luo remained on Starsnatch Cliff, it looked around warily.
Perhaps because the connection between the Abyss magic cast by the Abyss Mage and Stormterror was severed after entering the War Domain, Stormterror's violent aura had weakened considerably.
"Roar!"
Even so, Stormterror didn't have a good opinion of Chen Luo, who had tricked it.
Stormterror struggled to tear apart the black-red net covering its body but found the threads extremely tough—impossible to shred easily.
Feeling furious, Stormterror roared again. Instead of tearing the net, it lunged directly at Chen Luo, intending to shred him with its claws and teeth.
Chen Luo sidestepped a few paces, coldly watching as Stormterror fought against nothing but air.
If it were a normal Stormterror, Chen Luo wouldn't be surprised if his Herrscher of Sentience ability worked on it, but it shouldn't have taken effect this quickly.
Unfortunately, its mind was already confused. The pain from the toxic blood corrosion had made Stormterror lose its reason. Coupled with its rage, it didn't take long for Stormterror to fall into an illusion.
While Stormterror, wrapped in the black-red net, fought the "Chen Luo" in its imagination, it didn't notice that the net touching its wounds was faintly glowing black.
There was no reason why Abyss magic could corrupt Stormterror, yet Chen Luo's Herrscher of Corruption power could not.
However, Chen Luo didn't intend to control Stormterror like the Abyss Mage did; he just wanted it to calm down quickly.
The power of the Herrscher of Corruption, while Stormterror wasted its strength thrashing and clawing, eroded it through the Abyss Mage's established corruption channel and gradually drained its stamina.
Meanwhile, Chen Luo took this opportunity to place his only healing-specialized Teleport Waypoint above Starsnatch Cliff.
Although Chen Luo could simply use the Teleport Waypoint to return to reality now, wait about ten days, and then come back for Stormterror—by then, the toxins would have been cleansed by the Waypoint—
He could also adjust the time ratio between the War Domain and the outside world; for example, setting one day inside to equal one minute outside. Then, waiting just over ten minutes in the real world would be enough to cure Stormterror.
But leaving a dragon alone on a cliff for over ten days might cause it some psychological problems.
Chen Luo's War Domain appeared to replicate the entire surrounding environment, but the size of that environment had limits.
For a human like Chen Luo, this range was indeed quite vast, but for a flying dragon, it was merely a larger cage.
Although a dragon might sleep for half a month, what if something went wrong and the commission couldn't be completed?
Would Chen Luo have to give this dragon psychological counseling?
So, it was better to first remove the poisonous thorn on Dvalin's neck and then treat it. That should shorten the process to about one or two days—maybe even less than one.
Then Chen Luo looked at Stormterror again.
Stormterror was currently in a state of violent fury. Due to the restraint of the giant net, whenever it tried to take off, the net would automatically tighten, preventing it from spreading its wings and pulling downward, so Stormterror could only engage in close combat with the "illusory Chen Luo."
At the same time, while eroding it and draining its stamina, Chen Luo used his Herrscher of Sentience ability to drive it into deeper rage.
To put it bluntly, the current Dvalin had already gone berserk. The Herrscher of Sentience's special Heart Demon ability completely restrained Dvalin.
Just slightly stirring its negative emotions could make Dvalin sink into uncontrollable rage.
Seeing this, Chen Luo couldn't help but taste Stormterror's negative emotions through his Heart Demon ability.
The result nearly made Chen Luo vomit.
It wasn't that Stormterror's negative emotions were inedible, but the taste was far too strange.
Dvalin's current state was affected by both the dragon's toxin and Abyss magic. Therefore, its negative emotions were a chaotic mix of conflicting sensations.
The taste of the "seasoning" far exceeded the taste of the "ingredients."
It was like wrapping vinegar in dumpling skin, then dipping the vinegar-filled dumpling in even more vinegar—most people couldn't stomach it.
The mental shock to Chen Luo's mind was no less than Shenhe's killing intent or her malignant aura.
The taste was bizarre to the extreme, the benefits were minimal, and the side effects were significant. Only a fool would want to eat that.
"Mobius, beat it up for me!" Chen Luo snapped his fingers irritably.
The massive dark-green phantom behind Chen Luo appeared again and instantly solidified. Its thick, long tail slammed down ferociously toward Dvalin.
Sensing the killing intent, Dvalin began to faintly awaken from the illusion woven by Chen Luo.
This was one sign that Chen Luo's Herrscher of Sentience talent wasn't very mature yet. If you launch a highly lethal attack while the target is in an illusion, they might break free.
But unfortunately for Dvalin, it was too late.
Already weakened from being trapped in the illusion and drained by the Herrscher of Corruption, Stormterror, further weakened by the same corruption, couldn't react in time. It was struck directly and solidly on the head by the giant serpent phantom behind Chen Luo.
The massive impact to its head nearly knocked Stormterror unconscious on the spot. After Chen Luo added another punch, it finally passed out completely.
"Ah, poor Stormterror." Chen Luo sighed, patting the phantom behind him.
Stormterror was pitiful enough already—fighting the dragon Durin, getting poisoned, then recently being controlled and tortured by an Abyss Mage through its wounds.
And now, it had taken a headshot from Chen Luo. One could only say its luck was truly miserable.
Chen Luo snapped his fingers, and the phantom behind him instantly turned to mist and vanished. Then Chen Luo walked to Stormterror's neck, used a levitation spell to fly up, and landed atop Dvalin's neck.
Standing there, Chen Luo looked at the large poisonous thorn in front of him and fell into deep thought.
"This thing… counts as dragon blood, right? And it's two types of dragon blood at once, correct?" Chen Luo suddenly felt he had discovered something intriguing.
Thinking that, Chen Luo took out a long-sealed greatsword from his inventory.
[Bloodtainted Greatsword]
This sword gained the ability to become impervious to weapons after being bathed in dragon blood—but the problem is that this impervious ability only applies to the sword itself, not its wielder.
Although that sounds rather absurd, since the weapon was indeed bathed in dragon blood, it can deal 50% increased damage against dragon-type creatures.
And that is precisely the ability Chen Luo values most.
The only pity is that this greatsword's grade is only three stars.
After thinking for barely half a second, Chen Luo gripped the greatsword and swung it at the poisonous thorn.
The sharp blade, empowered by Chen Luo's immense strength, shattered the thorn in a single strike. The thorn instantly burst apart into a pool of blood that splashed through the air.
Chen Luo raised his hand slightly, and countless gusts of wind swept up the toxic blood, gathering it into a floating sphere.
As the sphere slowly drifted toward him, Chen Luo held the Bloodtainted Greatsword in his hand and plunged it into the blood.
Chen Luo pondered: since bathing in dragon blood once turned it into an impervious Bloodtainted Greatsword, what would happen if it were bathed in dragon blood twice?
After all, it's still a three-star weapon—it should have some kind of potential, right?
But even if it didn't, it wouldn't matter much. A little contact with fresh dragon blood might still have some effect.
Chen Luo could clearly feel that after the Bloodtainted Greatsword was immersed in the toxic blood for a while, the sphere of blood seemed to shrink ever so slightly.
Seeing that, Chen Luo quickly pulled the Bloodtainted Greatsword out of the blood sphere.
After pulling it out, he saw that the sword—its blade now coated in dark, clotted dragon blood—began slowly absorbing the liquid on its surface.
"Hum…"
After a while, all the dragon blood that had coated the blade was completely absorbed, and the Bloodtainted Greatsword in Chen Luo's hand grew faintly warm. Its appearance changed slightly as well.
[Ding!] The Bloodtainted Greatsword has absorbed dragon blood of one attribute. Its grade has increased to three-star top-tier. Quality, sharpness, and attack power have slightly improved. It now deals 60% increased damage to dragon-type creatures.
[Ding!] The Bloodtainted Greatsword has reached its upper limit as a three-star top-tier weapon. It can no longer be enhanced through additional dragon blood.
The talent panel suddenly popped up, displaying the two messages.
"I never expected this Bloodtainted Greatsword to have such a property. Truly worthy of something granted by my talent," Chen Luo said with clear satisfaction.
In Chen Luo's view, anything with a growth attribute was valuable.
Just like his Dull Blade.
Thinking of that, Chen Luo also took out his Dull Blade and poked the sphere of blood with it.
Unfortunately, the Dull Blade showed no special reaction whatsoever.
After all, its growth factor isn't tied to absorbing blood or anything like that—it grows with Chen Luo himself. So Chen Luo wasn't disappointed.
The stronger Chen Luo becomes, the stronger the Dull Blade grows. It doesn't even need to be used in combat—though using it in battle likely accelerates its growth.
Right now, Chen Luo estimated the sword's strength was close to four-star level, since he'd made quite a few purchases recently and its growth rate had accelerated.
To be fair, this sword is indeed powerful—but sadly, still not very useful yet.
Four-star weapons are undeniably strong, but the Divine Key is also a four-star weapon, and Void Archive is five-star. Moreover, both of those can transform.
However, the most impressive aspect of the Dull Blade is actually its indestructible nature.
After putting the Dull Blade away, Chen Luo looked at Dvalin. After breaking the poisonous thorn, the remaining toxic blood mixed with dragon blood flowed slowly from the wound, which was now gradually healing. With a wave of his hand, Chen Luo gathered the blood into another wind sphere.
"This is dragon blood—it's incredibly valuable. It'll be useful for crafting puppets in the future, and also…" Chen Luo glanced at the Bloodtainted Greatsword in his hand, then took out a strangely shaped stone from his inventory and placed it atop the sword.
The moment the odd-looking stone touched the Bloodtainted Greatsword, a prompt appeared on Chen Luo's talent panel.
[Do you wish to use the three-star Equipment Enhancement Material?]
"Yes."
As soon as Chen Luo confirmed, the strange stone liquefied and began seeping into the blade of the Bloodtainted Greatsword.
This Equipment Enhancement Material was a reward Chen Luo had obtained from those thirty-something pulls during the gacha in Nagazora City.
Its effect was to allow a three-star top-tier piece of equipment to break through to four-star.
Chen Luo's Dull Blade didn't need it at all, since the Dull Blade can grow on its own.
Chen Luo's other three three-star weapons were: The Demon-Slaying Holy Spear, the Elfen Bow, and the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers.
We won't discuss the first two—they were gifts from others in reality and had limited potential.
The Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers is indeed more powerful than the Bloodtainted Greatsword, but the problem is that it can't use the Equipment Enhancement Stone because it's only at Refinement Rank 2 right now.
Who knows when the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers will ever reach full refinement?
Maybe by the time Chen Luo clears the Honkai world, it still won't be fully refined. So, it's better to use what he has now.
While the Bloodtainted Greatsword was upgrading, the black-red threads that had been fading into nothingness under Chen Luo's command suddenly reappeared.
Under his control, the giant net slowly contracted, all its threads converging toward Chen Luo's hand.
"Leaving Dvalin here isn't a good idea. What if the cliff collapses and it falls?" Chen Luo muttered, tightening his grip on the gathered threads.
After the fierce battle just now, Chen Luo felt the cliff edge wasn't very stable—it might give way at any time. So he decided to pull Dvalin further inland.
Standing before Dvalin, Chen Luo looked tiny—like a small insect in front of a human. That was also why Dvalin had underestimated his strength.
Chen Luo stomped heavily, leaving two small pits beneath his feet. Then, like pulling a massive root from the ground, he gripped the net tightly and began dragging Stormterror step by step away from the cliff's edge.
A lone figure—thin and seemingly fragile—pulling a colossal dragon, moving slowly yet resolutely forward.
It was a scene truly powerful and moving.
Unfortunately, no one else could witness it.
Chen Luo's physical strength had naturally increased as he completed more commissions, but not to this exaggerated extent.
The main reason lay in the two abilities Chen Luo had been debating over yesterday.
At that time, Chen Luo had been wondering:
Should he purchase the Herrscher of Sentience's Herrscher Physique to gain enhanced physical strength and the ability to freely enter the sea of consciousness and alter his size at will?
Or should he purchase Mobius's Active Honkai Reaction, which grants powerful bodily enhancement along with that terrifying serpentine form?
Both had their pros and cons, making the indecisive Chen Luo truly torn.
In the end, he made his choice—
He wanted them both.
Crystals exist to be spent; as long as they bring improvement, that's all that matters.