Mobius's Active Honkai Reaction Form cost a staggering 8,000 Crystals — though after the discount, it came down to 3,600.
The Herrscher of Sentience's modified Herrscher physique was also 8,000 Crystals, but that price dropped to 2,592 after discount.
Technically speaking, the Herrscher of Sentience doesn't have an Active Honkai Reaction form and can't unleash an ultimate move, but her Herrscher physique is still an absurd power boost. It grants a massive increase to base attributes and, more importantly, allows her to invade another person's sea of consciousness directly with her true form — something almost unheard of. Naturally, that makes it an extremely valuable ability.
After all those purchases, Chen Luo's 50,000+ Crystals had dwindled to just 13,158.
Still, it was money well spent.
With the Active Honkai Reaction activated — that is, after the phantom of the giant snake manifested — Chen Luo's raw strength could now go toe-to-toe with Stormterror himself.
Under normal circumstances, Mobius's true Active Honkai Reaction form shouldn't just be able to fight Stormterror — it could probably flatten him in one hit.
So why did Chen Luo's version, even when fused with the Herrscher of Sentience's physique, feel so... underwhelming?
The answer was simple.
When Chen Luo bought the Herrscher of Sentience's physique, he'd chosen the modified, semi-conceptual version. While it gave a huge boost to his stats, it still couldn't completely match the original Herrscher of Sentience's physical power — essentially, a weaker but safer version of the real thing.
He could have skipped the modification, but that would've replaced his original body entirely with the Herrscher's physique.
And that, in turn, would have weakened the commission reward system, the very mechanic that boosted all his base attributes. A long-term debuff — something he had no intention of living with.
After all, Chen Luo fully believed that one day, through sheer accumulation of commissions and effort, he'd surpass even the Herrscher of Sentience herself.
Plus, there was an even more practical concern:
if he bought another powerful physique later, he wouldn't be able to upgrade from the Herrscher physique unless the current one was semi-conceptualized. Otherwise, the new one would just overwrite it — and all those spent Crystals would go straight down the drain.
So, for now, the safest play was to obediently choose the semi-conceptual route.
The same logic applied to Mobius's Active Honkai Reaction form — though in her case, the weakening effect was even greater.
Because when Chen Luo semi-conceptualized that one, the system gave him an unexpected prompt.
* * *
A pool of toxic dragon blood hovered in midair, glowing faintly. Chen Luo raised his hand — and behind him, a phantom emerged.
A massive dark-green serpent, vast enough to make the air ripple, yet strangely mesmerizing in its elegance. Its beauty was serpentine, dangerous — and eerily reminiscent of Mobius herself.
Beautiful, yes. But also lethally dangerous.
That serpent form was one mode. The other was a half-human, half-snake appearance — similar to Mobius's own transformation.
The difference wasn't great, but Chen Luo deliberately kept his version restrained, forming it into a simpler, pure serpent shape. The less people thought of Mobius, the better.
At his signal, the phantom snake opened its jaws and swallowed three-quarters of the poisonous blood. The rest drifted back to Chen Luo's hand, and he casually stored it away — no container needed.
As the serpent digested the blood, its body began to stretch and change subtly, scales glimmering darker with each pulse.
And then the system message appeared:
[Infinite Ouroboros]
You may solidify Mobius's Active Honkai Reaction form into a stand-like guardian spirit.
When this dark-green serpent devours the essence of powerful biological entities, it will grow and evolve.
Its growth will, in turn, enhance your own physical stats.
Highest growth yield from serpentine creatures; secondary yield from draconic lifeforms.
Not bad at all.
The serpent wasn't just a passive summon — it was a major asset in combat.
And while size isn't everything, sometimes it is an advantage.
After a moment's thought, Chen Luo decided to stick with this semi-conceptualized version. It was practical, safe, and scalable.
That was why, when he saw the Bloodtainted Greatsword absorbing dragon blood earlier, he'd immediately pulled it out — no way was he letting the sword hog all that juicy essence.
He turned, smiling faintly at the hovering serpent behind him.
"Ah, my dear Snake… when will you surpass Mobius's Active Honkai Reaction? Don't let me down."
The serpent flicked its tongue in silent response.
"But thinking about it," Chen Luo muttered, "I guess I'm basically a Stand User now, huh? I've got an invisible guardian spirit behind me that ordinary people can't see. Totally fits the definition. Probably…"
He trailed off, watching as the serpent's growth slowed.
Of course, if he switched it into the half-human, half-snake form, it could also unleash flurries of punches — an "ora ora" barrage, so to speak.
"…Yeah. Not suspicious at all," Chen Luo sighed.
As the dark-green phantom finished digesting the dragon blood, its scales deepened to a nearly black hue, and its massive body grew even longer.
"Oh, right," Chen Luo said suddenly, snapping his fingers. "Before Dvalin's wound heals — go and suck some more of its blood."
The phantom snake glided obediently to where the wounded Stormterror lay on the ground. Then, without hesitation, it bit down, tearing out a chunk of flesh.
"ROAAAR!" Dvalin's agonized roar shook the air — right before Chen Luo casually smacked it across the snout and knocked it out again.
"Wait… did I just tell it to suck a little blood?" he said blankly, watching his overly enthusiastic summon.
"…Forget it."
Dvalin, whose bleeding had been relatively minor moments ago, was now gushing like a burst dam. Chen Luo sighed, pried open the dragon's massive jaws with both hands, and muttered,
"I hope this works on dragons too."
Then he shoved an entire Tricolor Dango, stick and all, straight into Dvalin's mouth.
"ROAR!"
Another weak groan escaped the dragon.
"What are you roaring about now?" Chen Luo said, smacking its nose again.
And then he saw it — a gaping chunk missing from one of Dvalin's wings.
His serpent had bitten off a piece of it.
"…???"
Chen Luo just stared, face full of question marks.
Chen Luo recalled what the system had said about his new "Snake."
It could automatically devour any biological material useful for its own evolution.
But then… why the hell did it eat Dvalin's wing?
"Wait—don't tell me you're planning to fly?"
The words had barely left his mouth when his eyes widened in disbelief.
The enormous dark-green serpent behind him suddenly spread a pair of translucent Anemo wings, beating them once — and shot straight into the sky.
"…Holy crap, it really flew?!" Chen Luo shouted, looking up in pure astonishment.
A faint surge of energy rippled through his own body as he spoke — his physical stats ticking upward again.
"This thing is so cool."
Honestly, who wouldn't want a flying serpent that doubles as a mount — and happens to look uncannily like Mobius?
That's what "infinite" truly means.
[Infinite Ouroboros] — terrifying as ever.
Chen Luo couldn't help but feel a strange sense of irony. The Infinite Ouroboros felt even more Mobius-like than Mobius herself.
Wasn't this exactly what she'd always sought?
Infinite evolution. Infinite potential.
"Sorry, Dvalin. I'll make it up to you later."
He glanced at the unconscious Stormterror. Since Snake had stopped biting, that meant there wasn't anything else on the dragon worth eating.
The snake operated in two feeding modes.
The first was full consumption — devouring the target completely for maximum energy extraction.
The second was evolutionary feeding — consuming only the parts that could trigger growth. The latter was meant for creatures you couldn't kill.
Even if Stormterror hadn't been one of his commission targets, Chen Luo wouldn't have the heart to kill him anyway. After all, Dvalin was Venti's friend.
Luckily, the Tricolor Dango's healing effect seemed to be kicking in. The wounds on Stormterror's neck and wings were closing rapidly — at a rate that could only be described as absurd. Within moments, most of the injuries were gone.
Chen Luo frowned, watching closely.
"Judging by the wounds, it doesn't look like it lost a full third of its HP. Why isn't it fully healed yet? Does it have internal damage? Or is it just… too damn big?"
He tilted his head thoughtfully.
Of course, maybe the Tricolor Dango wasn't compatible with dragon physiology.
Or maybe Stormterror had simply taken too much physical trauma for one snack to fix.
"Either way, I'm not a dragon. How would I know?"
He crossed his arms, considering the options.
"But… if Stormterror's HP isn't full, maybe I should give it another Tricolor Dango?"
Then another thought struck him.
"But if I do that and its HP overflows, that's just wasteful…"
He snapped his fingers.
"Then I'll just lower its HP a little first! Problem solved."
Besides, dragon blood was excellent material.
Snake's earlier bite had been a bit too enthusiastic; the wound hadn't fully closed yet, though the torn wing had already regenerated.
Watching the blood still pouring from the gash, Chen Luo summoned a breeze and neatly gathered the flow into a hovering pool of crimson.
Then he vaulted up onto Stormterror's neck and checked the system notification flashing in his vision —
Bloodtainted Greatsword: Upgrade Complete.
He pulled it from his inventory and blinked.
The once dark-red blade had transformed completely, now gleaming in silver-white with faint traces of Anemo energy swirling along its edge.
[Bloodtainted Greatsword] (Four-Star)
A dragon-slaying weapon that grows stronger by bathing in the blood of dragonkind.
Incredibly durable. Deals +70% damage to dragon-type enemies.
Having absorbed toxic blood, it now inflicts poison damage and causes wounds that are difficult to heal.
Chen Luo sighed helplessly.
"So it's just… obsessed with dragons, huh?"
He laid the shining sword across Stormterror's still-seeping wound. The blade didn't hesitate — immediately absorbing the blood like a sponge.
Thankfully, the sword didn't require an entire blood donation — just enough to coat itself fully.
And given dragons' monstrous vitality and ridiculous regeneration rate, a little blood loss was nothing.
After a moment, the bleeding had stopped entirely.
Chen Luo, at least, wasn't cruel enough to open a new wound just to farm resources.
That would cross the line from efficient recycling to malicious dragon exploitation.
After soaking up Dvalin's blood, the greatsword's dragon-slaying damage jumped to +75%, and it gained a slight Anemo affinity — lighter in hand, faster to swing.
"Wonder which unlucky dragon this thing's gonna kill next…" Chen Luo muttered, clicking his tongue in admiration.
He couldn't help but wonder — once its dragon-slaying bonus hit 100%, would it automatically ascend to five-star rarity?
If so, great. If it required some annoying breakthrough materials though… he'd rather not bother.
He glanced down at Stormterror again.
"Man, how long has it been since you last trimmed your claws? You're such a slob."
"Well, since I accidentally hurt you earlier, I'll call this… an apology manicure."
His eyes swept over the dragon's body.
"And these scales — some dull, some bright, some crooked. And these feathers, too — completely uneven."
He cracked a grin.
"I promised Venti I'd return a perfectly intact Stormterror, so of course I have to clean him up before he wakes."
"Venti, oh Venti," he said dramatically, "see how good I am to your pet dragon."
Still unconscious and detoxifying, Stormterror snored softly as Chen Luo ran up and down his body, Bloodtainted Greatsword in hand.
Whenever he spotted a scale out of alignment or a feather too long, he neatly sliced it off.
"This one's too dark… this one's too light… this feather's too long… this one's too short… Eh, you won't miss a few, right?"
After all, Stormterror was huge. A few missing scales wouldn't even register.
And Chen Luo, to his credit, didn't touch the reverse scale. He wasn't that suicidal.
Then he crouched, inspecting the dragon's claws — filthy, caked with dried poison and blood. Probably remnants from when it tore Durin apart.
"What's the point of keeping claws this gross? What if you accidentally poison your food? Poor thing's probably had food poisoning a dozen times."
He shook his head sympathetically. "You're too pitiful, buddy."
Still, dragons had insane regenerative powers. Scales, claws — even feathers — would grow back soon enough.
As he worked, Chen Luo tossed another Tricolor Dango into Stormterror's mouth. The dragon's body trembled faintly, then relaxed — its wounds closing almost instantly.
Now, only the detoxification remained before it would be completely healed.
But there was a problem. Chen Luo couldn't stay in the War Domain forever.
If he left Stormterror here to wake up on its own, there was no telling what it might do. If it flew too far, it might even leave the effective range of the Teleport Waypoint, weakening its recovery field.
"…Stormterror probably can't read, right?" Chen Luo muttered uncertainly.
"Well, that leaves only one option then."
He clapped his hands together with mock solemnity.
"Let's just… make sure it doesn't wake up."