130: Chapter 130 Dragonborn Form

The light of Tianshu descended upon the valley.

There was no sound, no vibration—only a blindingly white light.

Millions of fierce beasts were reduced to nothingness in an instant.

The ground collapsed, cracks spread, and the sound of chains snapping echoed from deep underground.

"Crack—crack—crack—"

It sounded like a thousand-year-old sheet of ice shattering in spring; one sound after another, becoming denser and more violent.

And then—

"Roar—!!!"

A heaven-shaking roar exploded from beneath the earth, and the shockwave from the sound blew away all the debris for miles around!

A massive rift opened in the earth, and a dark red light gushed out from the crack, as if underground magma had finally found an exit.

A thousand-meter-long body burst out from the ground!

Dark red scales shimmered with a metallic luster under the sun. Six giant arms pushed off the ground, and the spines rising from its back stood up one by one, like a row of sharp swords planted in the earth.

Earth Roar!

A Rank 7 Earth Dragon!

The king trapped underground for twenty years had finally broken free from its shackles!

It let out a long howl to the sky, its voice shaking the land for a hundred miles. A huge gap was torn through the clouds, and sunlight poured down from the opening, illuminating its scarred yet still majestic body.

And on its broad back, a youth lay quietly.

Lin Mo.

The shockwave from Tianshu had knocked him unconscious, and his body had fallen uncontrollably into the depths, landing right on the back of the Earth Roar.

The Earth Roar lowered its head, looking at the unconscious human on its back.

It felt it.

The aura of the Azure Dragon.

The aura of lightning.

These things gave it an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"So that's how it is."

An ancient voice echoed from beneath the ground, carrying a sentiment that spanned a millennium.

"The successor of the Azure Dragon... has finally appeared."

It fell silent for a moment.

It should have left.

With its Rank 7 Dragonborn body, the world was vast—where could it not go? Now that its shackles were broken, it could completely return to the mountains and forests, back to the world where it belonged.

But it did not leave.

Because it saw what was on Lin Mo's body.

It lowered its head, revealing a unique scale beneath its neck.

The Reverse Scale.

It was larger and brighter than the surrounding scales, glowing with a faint golden-red light. Like a sleeping heart, every pulse contained a thousand years of power.

Then, it did something no one expected.

It did not remove the Reverse Scale.

Instead, it injected all of its essence blood into the scale.

"Boom—!!!"

A golden-red light soared into the sky!

That light was so brilliant that it gushed directly out of the subterranean rift, illuminating the entire basin and the sky dozens of miles away!

In the distance, Chu Tianye and the others had just crawled out of the ruins when they were blinded by this light.

"What is that?!" Old Liu exclaimed.

No one could answer him.

Within the light, the Earth Roar's body was shrinking.

Its thousand-meter-long body dissipated in the wind like sand.

Dark red scales peeled off one by one, turning into a sky full of red light particles, dancing like fireflies.

Its six giant arms withered, the spines on its back snapped, and those eyes that had once torn through heaven and earth were slowly losing their luster.

But it did not stop.

It injected all the remaining power in its body into the Reverse Scale.

And the Reverse Scale was pressed against Lin Mo's chest.

The golden-red light bored into Lin Mo's skin, his muscles, his bones, and his soul.

It wasn't a transfer of power, but a gift of life.

A Rank 7 Earth Dragon was using its entire life to ignite another life.

Lin Mo's body began to change.

Cyan-gold scales spread outward from his heart, covering his arms, chest, and back. Every scale shimmered with a cold, metallic luster.

On his back, a row of sharp bone spurs pierced through the skin like two parallel blades.

Lin Mo's hands began to transform, with sharp claws extending from his fingertips, each strong enough to tear through steel.

His eyelids quivered, and then he suddenly snapped them open—

Dark gold vertical pupils, like two balls of burning flame!

[Ding—Dragonborn Form activated!]

[Physical Defense +500%!]

[Elemental Immunity 99%!]

[Dragon Might: Suppresses all creatures with bloodlines lower than the Dragon Race!]

[Dragon Race Memory Inheritance: Obtained partial Dragon Race combat instincts!]

[SSS-Rank Hidden Dragon Emerging from the Abyss Adaptation Rate: 100%!]

[Spirit Consumption Reduction: 70%!]

Lin Mo stood up from the back of the Earth Roar.

But the Earth Roar could no longer support him.

The thousand-meter-long beast had now shrunk to less than a hundred meters.

Its scales had almost entirely peeled off, revealing the grayish-white skin beneath, like a dying old tree.

Only two of its six giant arms remained to barely support it, and the spines on its back had all snapped, leaving only a row of jagged stumps.

Its eyes were cloudy and dim, like two lamps about to go out.

But it was still smiling.

"It is done," the Earth Roar's voice came, as weak as a wisp of smoke, yet carrying a sense of relieved peace.

Lin Mo looked down at the Earth Roar, his dark gold vertical pupils contracting violently.

"You..."

"Don't make that face," the Earth Roar's voice boomed directly in Lin Mo's mind, carrying a hint of teasing.

"I didn't have much longer to live anyway. My body was broken long ago. Even if I hadn't helped you, I wouldn't have lasted much longer."

It paused.

"Rather than rotting underground, it's better to... do something meaningful."

Lin Mo's throat tightened.

"Why did you help me?"

The Earth Roar lowered its head.

"I could have left. With my Rank 7 body, the world is vast—where could I not go?"

"But then what?"

Its gaze turned toward Lin Mo, its cloudy eyes reflecting the youth's dark gold vertical pupils.

"Then I would find a place where no one is, grow old in loneliness, and die in loneliness, my bones rotting in the soil, remembered by no one, known by no one."

"Kid."

The Earth Roar's voice sounded in Lin Mo's mind for the last time.

"Do me a favor."

"What favor?" Lin Mo's voice was so raspy it didn't sound like his own.

"Help me reclaim the glory of the Dragon Race!"

The last scale peeled off, turning into a red light particle and flying toward the sky.

The Earth Roar's body completely dissipated.

There were no bones, no remains—only a sky full of red light particles, like a thousand-year snow, fluttering and scattering in the wind.

Those light particles circled in the air for a long time, as if taking one last look at this world. Then they drifted in all directions; some fell to the earth and seeped into the soil, some floated toward the mountains and vanished in the shadows of the trees, and some flew into the sky, merging with the sunlight.

And one particle, a very, very small one, landed in the palm of Lin Mo's hand.

Lin Mo stood where he was, looking at the spot where the light particle had disappeared in his palm, silent for a long time.

In his dark gold vertical pupils, something shattered, and then something else reconsolidated.

He looked up toward the distant horizon.

"Safe travels," his voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.

"Leave the rest to me."

He leaped up, his dark gold figure streaking across the sky and disappearing into the afterglow of the setting sun.

Behind him, the sky full of red light particles still danced in the wind, like a silent farewell.

In the distance, Chu Tianye and the others crawled out from the ruins just in time to see the final scene.

A Rank 7 Dragonborn beast had turned into a sky full of light rain, dissipating between heaven and earth.

A youth covered in golden scales stood in the rain of light, like a deity.

"That... that is..."

Old Liu's voice was trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence.

The wind blew through the valley, swirling the red light particles like a funeral twenty years late.

Those light particles drifted further and further, scattering more and more, finally disappearing at the edge of the horizon.

...