Chapter 77: The Awakening Dark Dragon!

Under 1,300 times normal gravity, walking still proved somewhat difficult. With no other choice, Rod had to use his combat energy to resist. As he moved forward, he could clearly sense that sensation growing stronger—the pulsing of his armor becoming more distinct and intense. He could even feel its tremors and faint murmurs. Never having encountered such a situation before, Rod was utterly confused about what was happening and what could possibly excite it so much.

“Kid, hurry up! There’s something ahead!” Just as Rod was puzzled, the voice of the Xuanyuan Sword Spirit came through once again at just the right moment.

A hint of excitement appeared on Rod’s face. The Xuanyuan Sword Spirit, gone for months, had returned? This was absolutely the best news he could have! Its return would surely help him a great deal and solve many problems.

“Yes, over there! I can sense it. It seems related to this set of armor you’re wearing. There might be unexpected gains!” Ignoring Rod’s reaction, the Xuanyuan Sword Spirit continued to urge him on. It too seemed anxious and excited at the moment.

Hearing the Sword Spirit’s urging again, Rod frowned slightly, his heart pounding. This was the third time such a thing had happened since he first encountered it—once when facing the Dark Dragon and once with this armor. Both times, it had brought him significant benefits. What about this time? What kind of gains or outcomes would it bring? With these thoughts, Rod was filled with anticipation.

He accelerated, pushing his combat energy to its limit. At the same time, he extended his mental power outward. In an instant, the area within nearly a kilometer came into view in his mind. He saw nothing unusual. As for the slight fluctuations, he didn’t pay much attention—they were likely the life forces of the magical beasts in the forest.

Guided by the sensations from the armor, Rod rushed forward swiftly. At this point, he no longer spared any combat energy, focusing solely on speed, fearing some unexpected event might occur.

It wasn’t long before he reached the foot of a small hill—a mound about dozens of meters high, suddenly rising from the flat forest landscape, looking quite strange. Perhaps due to the gloomy environment here, it had gone unnoticed until now. Rod felt helpless—this place was truly eerie.

Upon reaching the foot of this hill, the armor’s sensitivity soared to an unprecedented level, trembling visibly, with a clear sound of friction audible! To Rod’s surprise, the armor even emitted a faint dark light, appearing like a dazzling luminous object.
“A treasure has been found!” Rod murmured to himself. Indeed, all these signs were enough to prove the uniqueness of this armor—it was by no means ordinary; nothing ordinary could exhibit such properties.
“It’s right above. Be careful; there’s a strong energy here—probably a magical beast! Don’t be careless!” Xuan Yuan’s warning in his mind calmed Rod down.
He gripped the Dark Dragon in his hand, took a deep breath to steady himself, then carefully began to climb upward. At that moment, Fen Tian also sensed Rod’s change and suddenly grew quiet, cautiously moving ahead to clear a path for him.
The hill wasn’t far; in an instant, they reached the top. Yet, to Rod’s disappointment, there was nothing here except for some unknown plants and grass—nothing but emptiness, visible at a glance.
But the feeling from the armor was unmistakable; there must be something here. Rod was now stuck in confusion.
After scanning the area thoroughly, still seeing no signs of anything, he took another deep breath to stay calm, fearing he might have missed something. Suddenly, a glint appeared in his eye: “Below. That’s it. At this point, there’s only one possibility—something is beneath our feet. If there is something, it must be inside this hill.” Staring at the ground beneath him, Rod murmured with determination.
“Even if you hide deep, I’ll dig through the earth to find you today!” Since he still hadn’t seen the magical beast mentioned by the Xuan Yuan Sword Spirit, Rod became even more convinced of his guess. Xuan Yuan had witnessed countless things over thousands of years; his judgment could surely not be wrong.
With that thought, he swung his sword downward without hesitation.
The Dark Dragon, with a howling momentum, dragged a long streak of dark light that crashed down on the hill.
“Boom…” The deafening roar echoed throughout the forest, causing the entire hill to tremble and shake. Sand and stones flew, dust filled the air, and a crack spread rapidly at eye level, then branched out in all directions like a spider web across the entire hill. The power of a holy-grade warrior’s full-force strike was truly remarkable.

A loud, shrill scream echoed through the air, followed by a tremor that seemed to shake the entire hill. Instead of being frightened, Rod showed delight—his guess was correct; it must be beneath this hill! He quickly darted aside, narrowing his eyes as he watched cautiously ahead. The moment Rod moved, a huge black figure leaped toward where he had stood before. An explosion erupted instantly, shattering the silence of the forest like a thunderbolt. A massive head appeared before Rod, and then the hill began to tremble. The cracks widened rapidly, and with a roar, the entire hill collapsed, revealing a huge cave before Rod. At the same time, a black figure emerged.

Hiss… Upon seeing what was before him, Rod gasped in shock! Its immense power and colossal size left him stunned. He certainly couldn’t match such strength, and the monster before him filled him with dread. “A dragon!” he couldn’t help but mutter. Indeed, it was a giant dragon—a pure black one! Clearly, his earlier attack had awakened the black dragon that had slept in that cave for countless years!

A powerful aura swept across the area, enough to overwhelm Rod. Terror! That was his first thought. Such terrifying strength—this was undoubtedly an adult dragon! His expression changed drastically after making this judgment. An adult dragon’s strength was at least at the mid-stage divine level, maybe even higher! Clearly, this was one such dragon. He never expected to encounter such a creature here.

This was also the only magical beast Rod had encountered since entering this forest—a mature dark dragon, possessing a body stronger than any other magical beast and powerful dark magic. It was considered one of the most formidable branches among dragons.

He clicked his tongue in frustration. Who would have thought his single strike would draw out such a terrifying creature? Could this be the powerful being mentioned by the Soul of the Xuanyuan Sword? It was indeed extremely strong.

Using all his combat energy to resist the overwhelming pressure, Rod struggled to breathe, sweat dripping from his forehead as his face turned pale. Facing the dragon’s icy gaze, he even regretted his impulsive actions. If he had known, he wouldn’t have been so reckless. This creature was beyond his current capabilities to fight.

On the other hand, the appearance of the dragon also allowed Rod to be certain that there was treasure here—dragons were well-known for their love of collecting treasures. Anything that caught their interest, other than gold coins, surely wasn’t something ordinary. At this moment, within this forest, magical beasts within tens of thousands of meters felt a certain presence. Instantly, all of them, no matter what they were doing, changed their expressions dramatically and crawled toward this direction, as if worshipping the return of their king! Then, trembling, many magical beasts voluntarily stepped back beyond those tens of thousands of meters, leaving this king’s domain. “Wretched humans!” A middle-aged man’s voice startled Rod! Seeing the dragon speak, Rod widened his eyes in disbelief—could it talk? For a moment, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. The ability to speak was a trait of powerful magical beasts, and only those at the mid-stage of the divine level or above could possess it. Clearly, his guess about the dragon’s strength was correct. “Wretched humans, I never expected that after a thousand years, you would still be able to enter the Void Space!” Seemingly not intending to act immediately, the black dragon looked down at Rod with a condescending gaze and said in a deep voice, continuing, “To dare disturb the great Sognar’s slumber is unforgivable!” Sognar was clearly the name of this black dragon. Rod, shaken from his shock, inwardly groaned, “It’s all your fault! What should I do now?” He quickly prayed for help from Xuanyuan. “Cough, cough, cough… I didn’t expect this to happen! Damn it, you’re no match for him—there’s no chance. Prepare to run!” Xuanyuan also seemed to sense the terrifying strength of the dragon before him, far beyond those dragons he had seen in Tielan Town. He deeply regretted it; if he had known, he would have given up the treasure, for as long as there were mountains, there would always be firewood. But now, the best option was to flee, hoping to take advantage of the dragon’s recent awakening and lack of movement to escape. Other matters could be dealt with later. “Hm? Black Flame Armor! How do you possess it? Could you be his descendant?” Suddenly, when the dragon saw the armor on Rod’s body, its eyes narrowed in surprise as it asked. “Black Flame Armor?” Rod was puzzled for a moment before realizing it referred to the armor on his body. Black Flame Armor? It sounded pretty good, but unfortunately, it was completely useless!

I wonder if this black dragon would go mad if it knew Rod’s thoughts at this moment—how could the terrifying Black Flame Battle Armor, once famous throughout the three realms thousands of years ago, be reduced by him to something utterly useless? Anyone who heard this would surely be shocked. Perhaps only he could utter such ignorant and ridiculous words.