Chapter 97: The Dark Dragon’s Transformation

The massive black dragon shadow grew closer and closer. Its overwhelming pressure made it hard for Rod to breathe; it felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing his throat, leaving his face completely red from the strain.
“Damn it!” cursing violently, Rod, unwilling to die at the hands of this black creature, used his extensive combat experience to turn around mid-air by leveraging backward momentum. He unleashed all the remaining combat energy in his body and swung a sword fiercely at the illusory dragon figure.
As his combat energy was drained, sudden heavy gravity pressed down on Rod’s chest, causing him to spew blood that splattered everywhere.
“Break free!” With stubborn defiance, a hoarse roar erupted. At that moment, the Dark Dragon finally merged with the black shadow. Everything happened so quickly and suddenly—within the blink of an eye, they merged together. There was no expected roar or collision, no intense struggle. Instead, the Dark Dragon and the black dragon shadow fused, entangling and devouring each other. The Dark Dragon now seemed to have its own life, acting like a black hole that kept swallowing the black dragon shadow. As for the shadow, it showed signs of panic upon contact with the Dark Dragon, as if it had consciousness and tried to escape but was tightly trapped by it.
A cold sensation in his hand made Rod feel pain. He released his grip, and the Dark Dragon broke free, floating in mid-air while Rod continued to fall backward. Everything appeared eerily strange—the Dark Dragon and the shadow in the air seemed to have their own lives, entangling with continuous chirping sounds.
Though the scene before him was shocking, Rod didn’t have time to overthink it. Having escaped danger, he let out a sigh of relief and fell rapidly downward under the pull of gravity.

A moment later, he felt as though he had entered a soft embrace. There was no pain or impact as he had expected; it was warm, with a faint fragrance, and very comfortable. Struggling against exhaustion and the pressure of gravity, Rod spat out more blood. His vision gradually blurred—the intense battle and injuries were making his consciousness fade. With his last bit of strength, he raised his head and was shocked to see that he wasn’t on the ground but in someone’s arms. It was Lilith, who had been watching from the side the whole time.

“Damn you, bitch!” Rod cursed weakly before falling into a deep sleep. At the same time, the severely injured Fen Tian rushed at Rod without hesitation, his gaze filled with anger toward Lilith. Clearly, he also believed that Lilith was responsible for Rod’s miserable fate.

He opened his mouth to attack Lilith, but due to his lack of strength, she sent him flying with a single slap, causing him to scream in pain.

“If you don’t want to die, stay back! No one can stop me from killing him—neither can you. I wouldn’t have waited until today if I wanted to kill him!” With a cold snort, she looked at Rod in her arms, his pale face and clenched fists, then sighed and gently placed him on the ground.

At this point, Rod’s face was deathly pale, and his body was covered in wounds—most from the fierce battle earlier, and some from being unable to withstand the pressure of gravity. Without the aid of his combat energy, his body was rapidly collapsing under the weight.

“Hey, why go to such extremes?” With a sigh, a hint of pity flashed in Lilith’s eyes. She quickly moved her hands, creating a mark on his palm before throwing it forward. Instantly, a light barrier appeared and slowly covered Rod on the ground. Moments later, an energy shield formed around him! As the shield appeared, Rod’s rapidly deteriorating body stopped collapsing and began to recover slowly. Though it was slow, careful observation showed improvement. This energy shield was something Lilith had created to help Rod resist gravity.

I had brought Rod here before just to take care of some matters. I never expected there to be such hatred between him and Sognar. I originally wanted to see just how strong this guy really was and whether Sognar had improved over the past thousand years. Who would have thought it would end up like this! That move was too fierce, forcing Sognar to use his ultimate skill. Even so, Sognar didn’t gain any advantage at all, which shocked her greatly. Truly, he is the descendant of that person.

“Stay quiet over there. He’s fine now!” Lilith said slowly to Fen Tian, who had returned and was staring at her menacingly. She paid no attention to Fen Tian’s anger and threats instead turning her gaze to the sky. There, the weapon in Rod’s hand, Dark Dragon, was still clashing with the Dragon Fury unleashed by Sognar! As time passed, the shadow of Dragon Fury grew weaker, gradually being drawn into Dark Dragon as if to be consumed. As the shadow faded, Sognar, lying helplessly on the ground, kept spewing blood, his face growing increasingly pale. It seemed that being consumed by Dragon Fury had left him with severe consequences, and his condition was not much better than Rod’s.

Finally, after a long while, accompanied by a soft hum and a scream, the shadow disappeared completely, swallowed up by Dark Dragon! After consuming the shadow, Dark Dragon’s black aura surged, instantly transforming it into a several-meter-long beam of light! It resembled a roaring black dragon in motion. Even Lilith on the ground couldn’t help but marvel at this sight. As for Sognar, after Dragon Fury was consumed, he collapsed on the ground, continuously bleeding, his life hanging by a thread—worse off than Rod.

After roaring for a while, the light around Dark Dragon gradually faded. With a soft hum, it slowly landed beside Rod, lying there quietly as if nothing had happened.

Yet if Rod could see it at this moment, he would surely be astonished, for the Dark Dragon had undergone tremendous changes—it was now nothing like the sword it used to be! No longer ordinary and smooth as before, the sword’s surface displayed a terrifying image of a giant black dragon roaring toward the sky. The edges on either side of the blade were no longer as sharp as before; one side had become serrated like a saw, while the other retained its original sharpness. Undoubtedly, this design enhanced its lethality, increasing its attack power significantly. The hilt had transformed into a majestic dragon head. At this point, anyone could see that the Dark Dragon was an unparalleled sword.

“Dark Dragon! It’s you! I never expected you to reappear in this world after a thousand years. You shouldn’t exist!” Upon recognizing the Dark Dragon, a hint of surprise flashed in Lilith’s eyes as she murmured to herself. Then she crouched down, intent on seizing the sword. “Since you shouldn’t exist, let me help you vanish from this world. Your existence only brings disaster; it benefits no one. You can’t give them what they want—only harm them!” With a soft sigh, a pale blue glow burst from Lilith’s hands, and her gaze turned icy as she prepared to strike the Dark Dragon.

“Buzzing…” Sensing danger, the once-calmed Dark Dragon became agitated again, shaking its body violently as it rose into the air once more, cautiously confronting Lilith.

“Has it gained intelligence? It seems that seal is about to be broken. I never thought this little thing would bring you such an opportunity!” With a cold laugh, Lilith vanished from her spot and reappeared beside the Dark Dragon, grabbing it tightly and trying to break it in half.

The Dark Dragon struggled desperately but couldn’t free itself. Its blade had already bent and was on the verge of splitting into two. It groaned in pain! Just then, Fen Tian suddenly appeared and attacked Lilith, seemingly trying to save the Dark Dragon.

“Get lost!” With a cold snort, she cast a water magic spell that wrapped Fen Tian like a monstrous wave, as if to swallow him whole.

“What… what are you doing? Let go of the Dark Dragon!” A weak voice came through. The intense battle outside allowed Rod, who was recovering inside the energy shield, to regain some consciousness. The first thing he saw was Lilith trying to break his Dark Dragon, so he quickly spoke up to stop her.

Hearing Rod’s voice, the Dark Dragon let out a buzzing cry for help, which enraged Rod even more. Not only had it nearly killed him, but now it was trying to harm the Dark Dragon as well—his anger surged instantly!

At that moment, something strange happened to Rod as well. A flash of black light suddenly appeared within him before vanishing into the Dark Dragon’s body. Immediately afterward, the Dark Dragon was engulfed in intense black light, burning like a black flame. This startled Lilith, who instinctively released her grip. Seizing this brief opportunity, the Dark Dragon rushed into Rod’s arms, trembling as if trying to escape Lilith.

“Give it to me! I’ll destroy it today. I won’t allow this creature to exist in this world. That old monster couldn’t bear to part with it a thousand years ago, but I certainly won’t! Hurry up!” Realizing what was happening, Lilith’s face turned icy as she shouted at Rod.

“No! It’s my weapon. It’s been by my side all this time. We have a contract—you can’t destroy it. Whether it’s a demon or a ghost, I only know it’s my most loyal comrade!” Struggling to stand, Rod looked coldly at Lilith and spoke firmly. Thinking back to the hardships the Dark Dragon had endured alongside him over the years—through countless trials and sharing life and death—it and Fen Tian were his most trustworthy friends! He would never hand it over. Even if it meant fighting against gods or demons, he would fight: “The sword lives, the man lives; the sword dies, the man dies!” That was Rod’s final reply.

“I never expected you to be able to form a contract with it and make it recognize you as its master. Heh, seems you’re lucky. But do you really think you can control it like this? Its dragon soul has already recovered by six parts. If it fully recovers, not to mention you, even I won’t be able to do anything about it. Then the city will be filled with bloodshed. Is that what you want to see? Or do you have to wait until you die at its blade’s hand to be satisfied?? ‘The sword lives, the man lives; the sword dies, the man dies.’ I’ll see you dead while it remains alive!” Frustrated by Rod’s stubbornness, Lilith screamed in anger.