Half an hour later, outside the Enlightenment Temple.
"So, not only did you not take the main pilgrimage path, but you also encountered an avalanche, a cliff, a guardian beast, a dead end, a mountain collapse, a second avalanche, and a Blade of Wind barrier, and then at the very end, you even destroyed a small Whisper Sect hideout!?"
Huo Yan Yang sat on the stone steps outside the temple, staring dumbfounded at the human-shaped creature beside him who looked like he had nothing left to live for, his tone filled with horror and reverence: "You're truly my brother!"
"And I even fought with about twenty-something people here, what were they called... Oh right, Mount Sumir Guardians, and almost died." Cordova rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth as he added, a visible aura of resentment seemingly coiling behind him, sending shivers down one's spine.
His legs were encased in a layer of hard, heavy rock, making him unable to move. His two arms were locked together by countless icy chains that emitted wisps of chilling cold. His upper body, for some unknown reason, had become charred black, occasionally spurting out a spark or two. Even the large amount of pure, natural, and unpolluted runes within him couldn't dispel it. And his punisher staff M2K was spinning wildly in a hurricane not far away, looking like it wouldn't come down for at least fifteen to twenty minutes...
"You deserved it." Huo Yan Yang pouted, looking at the small sparks constantly erupting from Cordova's body with lingering fear, and shrugged: "Sumir is already as tense as it can get. There are at least seven or eight blockades. You old man fought your way up from the back of the mountain, forcibly broke through the Blade of Wind barrier, and then cursed at the top of the mountain after being discovered. It's already merciful that those old seniors didn't kill you on the spot."
A row of heat vents on the back of Cordova's neck immediately spewed out several plumes of mist. He glared fiercely at Huo Yan Yang: "It's all because you didn't explain the situation properly!"
"Who the hell knew you wouldn't take the main path! Who the hell knew you could actually run up from the back of Mount Sumir!" Huo Yan Yang looked at him with disdain, whispering: "And don't you think the path you took was particularly strange? Couldn't you have sent me a message to ask?!"
Cordova looked up at the sky, speechless: "I thought that's how you guys in Sumir tested pilgrims..."
"Bullshit!" Huo Yan Yang almost choked to death on his words, his entire face twisting: "What kind of pilgrimage is that! Even suicide isn't played like this, okay?"
Cordova stiffened his neck and angrily said: "I don't care, you just screwed me over!"
"Do you have any shame!?"
"Heh, kid, don't you dare not believe it, no one in my family, except my mom, has any shame!"
In short, that's basically what happened. The general content can be simply summarized as Cordova triggering a series of unfortunate events by climbing the wrong side of the mountain, then, after enduring countless hardships to reach the summit, he resentfully called out Huo Yan Yang's name for revenge, and was then cooked by the Mount Sumir Guardians who thought he was a Whisper Cultists stealthily invading...
After all, although he was a rune construct with explosive combat power, he was ultimately just a semi-finished product. His so-called strength was only a horizontal comparison within the player domain. Not to mention those top powerhouses renowned on the continent, even any random NPC with the level of a Archmage, Great Ranger, or High-Rank Thief could chop him up, let alone the Guardians who had been nurtured by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon on Mount Sumir for years, and it was a group attack!
"Anyway, you should organize things quickly. Once these statuses on me are gone, arrange for everyone to be checked as soon as possible." Cordova said to Huo Yan Yang seriously after they finished their nonsense: "I now have an Epic growth-type questline. As long as I can find one more Revelation Light and one more Revelation Shadow, I'll be completely rich!"
Huo Yan Yang, however, shook his head: "Wait for it. The Orcs here in Sumir are currently fighting hard against the Evil Cultists. They're smashing heads every day. At most, I can let you get in touch with everyone permanently stationed on the mountain top. They should cooperate, considering your Tian Zhu Mountain's reputation."
"Alright then." Cordova nodded while desperately urging the scorching runes within him to heat up his arms, then smacked his lips and asked: "By the way, do you guys need help? I'm not planning on going anywhere else for a while anyway."
Huo Yan Yang sighed: "It's certainly good to have one more super soldier like you, but it doesn't really make much sense. From the current situation, it's very likely that we'll develop into a tug-of-war with those Evil Cultists. They can't get up to the holy peak where the earth spirits and Guardians are stationed, and it's also very difficult for us to destroy that Whisper City. In short, it's troublesome."
"Alright." Cordova shook his neck (the only part of him that could move now), then casually changed the subject: "How many days until New Year's? I've been so engrossed in the game lately that I've lost track of time."
Huo Yan Yang glanced at him: "New Year's Eve is February 1st, so four more days. Didn't Yi Dong tell you on the phone before?"
"I only remembered going to his house for the gathering, I didn't keep track of the days properly." Cordova (attempted to) shrug, then chuckled: "I missed that small gathering you guys had before, I feel like I missed out on a billion!"
Huo Yan Yang nodded seriously: "Indeed, the girls were all very pretty."
"Tsk tsk, suddenly feeling a little excited..."
"Heh."
...
At the same time,
Tian Zhu Mountain, Fifth Outer Mountain, Little Dragon Peak.
Mo Tan, Ji Xiaoge, Jia Deka, and Ya Ya were gathered around Lu Jiang with serious expressions, each of them nervously staring at the gender-fluid shapeshifter. Everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation, except for a certain dog-girl who was zoning out.
As the object of observation, Lu Jiang felt no tension at all. He just nodded to Feimigeer in front of him, then quickly activated his original Slime form, clenching his two small fists and letting out a series of low grunts, as if constipated.
Feimigeer waved his hand, and an invisible force spread out from him, stopping the perpetual wind and snow on Little Dragon Peak, making the environment more suitable for Lu Jiang to perform.
Pfft!
"Oh!"
With a low shout from Lu Jiang, two silver-glowing, slowly flowing, liquid-like dragon wings suddenly unfurled from his back.
"No!" Feimigeer, however, shook his head vigorously and said in a deep voice, "Recall the time you succeeded before, and stabilize the form!"
"En." Lu Jiang pursed his lips, then took a deep breath and began to try and hypnotize himself into being a dragon, muttering to himself: "I have wings... I originally had wings... I was born with wings... I have wings... Wings!"
Two silver lights burst forth from his back. The next second, the pair of wings that had been slowly flowing were now coated with a metallic sheen, as if they were metal wings made entirely of silver.
【You have unlocked the skill: Original Slime - Dragon Wing Form】
"It's done!" Lu Jiang immediately cheered loudly, even starting to skip and dance gracefully in the cold wind.
A hint of relief showed in Feimigeer's eyes. He could already faintly feel the power contained within the dragon wings on Lu Jiang's back. Although not powerful, they indeed carried the aura of a dragon species.
The other four also breathed a huge sigh of relief, genuinely happy for the 'little girl' who practiced so diligently every day.
"Amazing!" Jia Deka stroked his long beard and exclaimed leisurely: "To be able to transform parts of one's body into a dragon form at such a young age, ancient bloodlines are truly powerful!"
Ya Ya blinked, looking at the dragon wings on Lu Jiang's back, not quite understanding but feeling impressed, then happily exclaimed: "Can Lu Jiang fly, woof?"
Ji Xiaoge poked Mo Tan's arm and whispered: "Is she really a boy in real life?!"
"He said he is, so he is." Mo Tan shrugged, glancing at the elf 'girl' who was... yes, dancing gracefully not far away, and sighed: "Everyone has a girlish heart."
Ji Xiaoge giggled: "Speaking of which, you do too, right? Want to try cross-dressing sometime?"
【Cross-dressing?!】
"No, no, no!" Mo Tan, recalling a terrible experience, immediately shuddered, stumbled back two steps, and frantically waved his hands: "Let's skip that!"
Ji Xiaoge stuck out her tongue: "What's the big deal? Mom said Dad used to wear women's clothes too ~ Haha, Dad wearing women's clothes... Pfft... Pffthahahaha... Pffthahahahahahaha ~"
And then the winged girl, who accidentally hit her own low laugh point, couldn't hold it in and started rolling on the thick snow.
Mo Tan watched her laugh uncontrollably, feeling utterly speechless. After a long while, he slowly sighed: "Your dad has a very broad mind..."
"Ahem ~" Feimigeer glanced over here, cleared his throat, and then said seriously to Lu Jiang: "Since you've truly mastered it, let's try flying first."
"Okay!"
The latter nodded vigorously. With a powerful flap of his wings, he shot up seven or eight meters high, then wobbled as he flapped his wings to float in mid-air, like a large, flapping moth that had drunk half a cup of strong liquor (grasp the spirit).
Ya Ya squatted on the ground in a daze, looking enviously at the swaying moth... winged Slime in mid-air, her fluffy tail wagging rapidly behind her.
"Alright, alright, come down for now. You can practice on your own later when you have time." Feimigeer looked up and smiled at Lu Jiang, then, after the latter fell... landed, he said in a deep voice: "I plan to have you try magic, Dragon Language Magic."
Lu Jiang blinked: "Dragon Language Magic?"
Ya Ya, squatting next to him, also tilted her head and repeated: "Woof... Woof Language Magic?"
"There's no Woof Language Magic in this world, and no Dog Language Magic either." Feimigeer looked at Ya Ya, who was lingering there, with a distressed expression, then turned back to Lu Jiang and spread his hands: "Of course, you're not a dragonborn, nor do you have dragon blood, so it's basically impossible for you to use it, but you can try... Oh, Mo Tan!"
Mo Tan had just pulled Ji Xiaoge, who was laughing so hard she was choking, off the ground. Hearing this, he immediately turned around and asked: "What's wrong, Feimi?"
"I'm going to teach Lu Jiang Dragon Language Magic. You have dragon blood, so come and observe too." Feimigeer smiled, then waved to Ji Xiaoge and Jia Deka: "Don't be shy, come and watch the fun."
The Old Mage chuckled and shamelessly strolled over.
"Pffthahaha... Ha... Dad cross-dressing... Hahaha..." Ji Xiaoge, still giggling softly, was also supported over by a helpless Mo Tan.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Feimigeer gently stretched his body (human form). The next second, a pair of enormous ice-blue dragon wings suddenly unfurled from his back.
"The principle of Dragon Language Magic is very complex, but its use is very simple. Because of our bloodline, in most cases, we only need to chant normally. Of course, it has to be in Dragon Language, which Mo Tan, you should know." Feimigeer briefly explained, then flapped his wings in place and said to Lu Jiang in a deep voice: "Lu Jiang, you don't know Dragon Language, so remember my pronunciation later."
Lu Jiang nodded, his serious little face looking particularly cute...
But he was a boy.
"Since you now have dragon wings." Feimigeer stroked his chin, paused for a moment, then smiled: "Then I'll demonstrate a relatively basic 【Wings of Soaring】 first. This Dragon Language Magic can greatly accelerate flight speed and also generate powerful wind pressure. The difficulty isn't very high. Mo Tan, you should also learn it. Although you don't have dragon wings now, it's not impossible for them to grow out."
Lu Jiang and Mo Tan nodded simultaneously.
Feimigeer nodded slightly, then began to chant in a deep voice in Dragon Language: "Laventer... Skar... Psehel... Bisdar... Kare Okelav!"
Buzz!
An invisible dragon's might suddenly spread out. Everyone saw Feimigeer's dragon wings behind him instantly expand by two circles, covered with countless swirling gusts of wind.
"Alright ~" Feimigeer shrugged, gently flapped his wings, which had been amplified by the Dragon Language Magic, creating two gusts of wind that almost made it impossible to stand firm, then smiled at Mo Tan and Lu Jiang: "You two try ~"
Lu Jiang stammered a repeat, but nothing happened.
"Good memory, pronunciation is very standard." Feimi praised him, then spread his hands: "But it has no effect at all. It seems that having only the aura without the bloodline really doesn't work. Mo Tan, you try."
Mo Tan nodded, then quickly repeated what Feimi had chanted earlier. He immediately felt a warmth in his back and also heard a system notification sound.
【You have comprehended Dragon Language Magic: Wings of Soaring 0.5%】
"I feel something, but it seems far from complete." Mo Tan nodded, stating it truthfully in a different way.
Feimi clapped his hands, just about to say something, when he heard a muffled murmur from the side.
"Woof-venter... Woof-kar... Woof-ther Woof... er... Woof-dar..."
Looking at Ya Ya, who was wagging her tail and mumbling, the people around were speechless.
Feimigeer smiled wryly and shook his head: "Impossible, your pronunciation is so unclear, and Dragon Language Magic requires dragon blood..."
Ya Ya blinked: "Woof-re-oh Woof-ra-woof?"
Buzz!!!
"Holy crap!?!"
"Uh!!"
"Huh?"
"Hey, hey, hey!!"
"Woof~!"
Chapter 200: The End