"Snake, stay here for a bit. When Stormterror starts to wake up, give it a good smack and make it go back to sleep," Chen Luo said, summoning the giant serpent phantom behind him once more.
Although he could give mental commands to Snake, Chen Luo preferred speaking out loud — it helped confuse his enemies.
When people assumed he had to speak to direct Snake, that's exactly when they got caught off guard and thoroughly beaten.
Well, a win's a win — one sucker at a time.
Chen Luo didn't know when Stormterror would wake up, and he didn't feel like waiting around. So, he opted for the more "efficient" method: let Snake keep Stormterror asleep until it was fully healed.
As long as the dragon didn't wake up before then, there'd be no awkward explanations to make.
Perfect logic.
After giving his instructions, Chen Luo summoned the Bar Door and stepped through.
[Ding! Task Completed]
[Dragon of the East]
Reward: 550 Primogems + Random Reward
"Huh? Task completed?"
Chen Luo, who had been zoning out in the bar for about a minute, immediately pushed open the nearby door when the system prompt appeared.
He had entered the bar specifically to use the time dilation between the bar and the War Domain to accelerate Stormterror's recovery, so he'd stayed right by the entrance.
By his estimate, one minute in the bar was about a full day in the War Domain.
Just as he stepped through the door—
Thud!
A loud crash echoed through the air.
Chen Luo looked up to see Snake retracting its massive tail and turning toward him.
"…Alright, you can come back now," Chen Luo said, already guessing what had happened.
He had received the task completion notification and rushed to open the door — but even that short delay mattered, since the time difference was so huge.
In other words, the moment Stormterror was fully healed… Snake had immediately followed orders and smacked it right in the head.
By the time Chen Luo arrived, the deed was already done.
With the order given, Snake dissolved into mist and vanished.
Chen Luo looked down at the massive dent in the ground beneath Stormterror's head and fell silent.
…How many times did Snake hit it, exactly?
Still, it wasn't a big deal. From what he could see, Stormterror looked almost brand new — from its claws to its feathers, everything had grown back.
For a second, Chen Luo even had the urge to trim its nails again, but after thinking about it, he decided to resist that… tempting idea.
He looked at the sleeping dragon, then at the crater under its head, thought for a moment, and began weaving a massive net of threads.
Better move it to a different spot — that way, when Stormterror woke up, it wouldn't notice the suspicious pit it had apparently created with its own face.
This time, when Chen Luo dragged Stormterror, he noticed it felt lighter — proof that his Infinite Snake had indeed gained a small boost in power after devouring a bit of Durin's poisonous blood and Stormterror's flesh, though the improvement was modest.
Mostly because the amounts were too small. If he'd had more… the power-up might've been quite impressive.
Unfortunately, Durin was long gone, and Stormterror couldn't exactly be killed.
"I wonder if this thing eats Honkai beasts…" Chen Luo muttered. "If it does, I could take it for a walk in the Honkai world."
Then again, Honkai beasts were made of pure energy, not flesh and blood. So… probably not appetizing.
After dragging Dvalin to a new location, Chen Luo sent out several threads and used the Herrscher of Corruption's authority to gently stimulate the dragon's body.
A deep rumble echoed through the air.
"Roooaaar…"
Stormterror's huge eyes, each larger than Chen Luo's entire head, slowly opened.
"Human… are you the follower who stands beside Barbatos?" Dvalin raised its head, its voice booming like distant thunder.
Chen Luo smiled calmly. "So, Dvalin — how do you feel now? Much better, right?"
"Huh?" The dragon's expression actually creased in a surprisingly human-like frown.
Then it began to check its condition — and to its shock, the thorn embedded in its neck was gone, the lingering poison from Durin had vanished, and the pain that had plagued it for so long had completely disappeared.
For the first time in ages, Dvalin felt… truly at peace.
"By the way," Chen Luo added casually, "I'm not Barbatos's follower — I'm his friend."
"Was it you… who healed me? What exactly happened? I only feel a headache, and my memory after meeting Barbatos is… blank."
Dvalin tilted its head slightly, confused but visibly relieved.
"Yeah, I was the one who healed you," Chen Luo explained. "My treatment method was… let's say a bit rough. You were corrupted by that Abyss Mage at the time, so you weren't cooperating much. During the process, you got hit on the head and passed out for a while. You don't mind, do you?"
The memory loss was unexpected, even for Chen Luo.
It wasn't his doing — most likely, it was a side effect of being smacked in the head too many times.
Still, this worked out perfectly.
If Dvalin didn't remember the "treatment," that saved Chen Luo the trouble of explaining why it involved multiple concussions and a restraining net.
"The treatment was a bit rough, you say? That's fine. I don't mind," Dvalin replied solemnly. "Though I am not human, I understand reason — and I can tell right from wrong. Since you are a friend of Barbatos, allow me to offer my gratitude."
The massive dragon lowered its head slightly — a gesture of respect.
To Dvalin, if the method had simply been "rough," that was an acceptable price for being healed.
After all, it felt completely restored now… aside from a mild headache.
"You're welcome, really. It was just a small effort," Chen Luo said, a bit embarrassed by the dragon's politeness.
"If you ever need my help," Dvalin said, "come to Stormterror's Lair and find me. But… the flow of wind around this place feels strange."
It frowned slightly, glancing around Starsnatch Cliff, its sharp eyes scanning the unusual air currents that twisted through the skies.
Dvalin could feel that the wind on this Starsnatch Cliff was… dead. Completely lacking in vitality.
[Ding! Achievement Obtained (Dragon Tamer)]
[Dragon Tamer] (Three Stars):
Increases favorability of dragon-type creatures toward you.
Increases all attributes by 20% when riding dragon-type creatures in battle.
Generates special intimidation against dragon-type creatures, causing psychological pressure and mental suppression.
Completion Requirement: Gain the friendship of a giant dragon after rescuing or defeating one.
Promotion Path:
[Dragon Tamer] (Three Stars): Gain the friendship of one giant dragon.
[Dragon Tamer Expert] (Four Stars): Gain the friendship of 10 high-level dragon-type creatures.
[Dragon's Reverse Scale] (Five Stars): Gain the friendship of 20 high-level dragon-type creatures.
[Dragon's Reverse Scale] (Five Stars):
Greatly increases initial favorability of dragon-type creatures toward you.
Increases all attributes by 50% when riding dragon-type creatures in battle.
Possesses overwhelming control over dragon-type creatures. All allied dragon-type creatures gain 25% all-attribute bonus. Ordinary or weak dragon-type creatures cannot resist your commands.
When you take damage, it provokes the wrath of dragon-type creatures. The greater the damage, the stronger the attribute increase for dragons under your friendship or command. They may pursue your attackers endlessly, and all pursued targets automatically gain hostility from all dragon-type creatures.
Special Skill: [Dragon Knight]: Temporarily transform a dragon-type creature into your mount. Obedience and duration depend on mutual favorability, strength, and the dragon's resistance level.
"Of course, all 5-star achievements are broken," Chen Luo thought wryly.
In some ways, certain 5-star achievements could easily rival, or even surpass, ordinary 5-star items. But when their special conditions weren't met… they were completely useless.
Chen Luo hadn't bought many 5-star items yet, but he could roughly estimate their value: 10,000 Primogems each. And if 4-star achievements roughly equated to 4-star items, then 5-star achievements must logically correspond to 5-star items.
The downside? Completing them was extremely difficult.
"Actually, your intuition is correct. This looks like Starsnatch Cliff, but it isn't. It's a special space. Don't move for now; I'll take you out. When you feel a pulling sensation later, don't resist — otherwise, you won't be able to leave. I set this up to find a safe place for your treatment. Hope you don't mind," Chen Luo explained as he approached Dvalin.
He placed a hand gently on one of the dragon's claws.
At that moment, a notification appeared: Dvalin had become a friend.
Checking the interface, Chen Luo saw not only Dvalin's abilities but also the option to exchange materials with him. He paused, deciding not to remove Dvalin from his friends list.
After all, dragon blood and claws were excellent resources. Normally, he could request them; in an emergency, he could buy them outright.
"I understand," Dvalin said.
The dragon could subtly feel the difference between this fake Starsnatch Cliff and the real one. It quickly accepted Chen Luo's explanation — and, for some reason, found him much more agreeable.
Well, with a "friend discount" of 22% favorability, who wouldn't?
Moreover, Chen Luo had various achievement bonuses and had just saved Dvalin's life, so its favorability skyrocketed. After all, only after enduring the torment of that cursed poison could one truly appreciate the relief of being free.
It was like finally enjoying spicy food after suffering through a painful mouth ulcer.
Seeing that Stormterror fully trusted him and showed no resistance, Chen Luo nodded and activated the Teleport Waypoint.
He would have preferred leaving through the bar, like Durandal, but… Stormterror was far too massive to fit.
This also made him realize a flaw in the bar: it simply couldn't accommodate giant creatures.
Teleportation via Waypoint was instantaneous. To Venti and the others, it seemed Chen Luo had carried Stormterror away for only a minute or two before reappearing.
The sudden appearance of the enormous dragon startled Paimon, who immediately dove behind Lumine. Seeing Stormterror alive and peaceful, she peeked out cautiously.
"Dvalin, are you alright?" Venti asked sharply, noticing that the poisonous thorn on the dragon's neck was gone and the surrounding wind no longer violent.
"Thanks to your friend, I'm basically fine now," Stormterror replied. "Just a slight headache, but otherwise I feel… better than ever."
"A headache?" Venti's gaze snapped to Chen Luo.
"Don't look at me like that. He was a bit irritable earlier. I tapped his head to calm him down before treatment," Chen Luo explained casually.
"All toxins have been cleared. Other than a minor headache, he's basically fully restored," Chen Luo added, noticing Venti's lingering suspicion.
Am I some violent madman who constantly bashes Stormterror's head? Chen Luo thought indignantly. And of course, he wasn't collecting materials while the dragon was unconscious.
"Thank you, A'Luo," Venti finally relaxed, seeing Stormterror's condition was genuine and Chen Luo's expression sincere.
"Go ahead, catch up with your old friend. I'll handle the Abyss Mage problem," Venti said.
Seeing Venti and Dvalin reunited, Chen Luo wisely retreated to give them space. Even as a mutual friend, some moments were better left undisturbed.
After all… he didn't want to risk the Abyss Mage being torn apart by Senti if he lingered too long.