103: Who says numerical monsters lack skill? I, Zhou Yan, am the first to disagree!

The Qi surged around Zhou Yan's body; the refining process was exceptionally smooth.

That Demon Core seemed almost tailor-made for Zhou Yan; it provided exactly as much as he needed without the slightest resistance.

However, Zhou Yan felt a bit of an itch on his body.

He subconsciously scratched it with a dragon claw, only to feel a soft texture beneath it.

Lifting his claw to look, he found that the dragon claw was already covered in mangled flesh and blood.

Looking back at the panel, his health was plummeting in a straight line, and a new negative status had appeared.

[Unstable Physical Body: Continuous loss of health]

This scene scared Zhou Yan into behaving himself instantly. He frantically clicked on Red Potions to recover health, which finally allowed his body, which had shown signs of melting, to become solid again.

But Zhou Yan realized that continuing like this wouldn't work; the problem was getting serious.

If the consumption continued at this rate, he might turn into a Bone Dragon or even a Dragon Soul.

Then it would be completely over!

After all, while this Dragon Body was nominally a mount, it was actually Zhou Yan's main body. It was impossible for the Dragon Body to be destroyed while he remained unharmed.

Thus, Zhou Yan hurriedly stopped the refining of the Demon Core.

But he wasn't sure if the item had encountered another bug in its real-world application, much like when he healed Mu Qianqiu and the one-time recovery pill turned into a continuous recovery effect.

This time, the Demon Core directly took control, frantically pouring energy into Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan instantly lost control of himself. Lightning overflowed from his body, and dark clouds began to gather above his head.

As that 'dark clouds weighing down on the city' Aura unfolded, Yuan Chenling was so frightened that he immediately fled the covered area, returning to the hillside where he had come from to start long-distance protection.

Zhou Yan himself, being affected by the gamification of data, didn't feel too much pain, but his body—which was judged to be a mount—was extremely uncomfortable.

Under the overlay of these two sensations, while it didn't hurt, it was exceptionally unpleasant, like a mangy snake that had overused its Dragon Horns.

Holy crap!

That thing couldn't have treated the refining process just now as equipping an item, could it!

If it were equipment, he could still unequip it to stop everything, but this wasn't equipment!

If the Demon Core had just been like a submissive little white rabbit, satisfying Zhou Yan's every need...

...then now it was a big bad wolf in rabbit's skin. The moment Zhou Yan wanted to pull away, it exposed its true nature, bluntly stating it wasn't satisfied yet!

Then it ruthlessly injected even more energy into Zhou Yan.

"No, no, stop it quickly!"

[Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage ~ Foundation Establishment Late Stage]

"Stop, stop, stop! It really won't fit anymore!"

[Foundation Establishment Late Stage ~ Foundation Establishment Perfection]

Ahhh, it's going to overflow!!!

The lightning Zhou Yan unconsciously released carried a terrifying Aura and began to destroy the village.

With every bolt of lightning that fell, only a charred crater remained on the ground. Whatever had been there originally no longer existed.

Zhou Yan finally couldn't bear it anymore and let out a great roar.

Except what came out was no longer a human voice, but a world-shaking Dragon's Roar.

The sound rippled outward with Zhou Yan at the center, so frightening Yuan Chenling on the distant hilltop that he covered his head with his paws and lay shivering on the ground.

Somewhere in the Secret Realm.

"Did you hear something?"

Hun Wushang, who was carrying Wang Yao, felt a chill run down his spine and looked in a certain direction.

"I didn't hear anything. You're being too sensitive."

"Instead of discussing sounds, let's first find out what we're supposed to do on this floor."

"Even if we do nothing, at least wake up that good brother of yours. Otherwise, you carrying him like that is too much of a hindrance."

"Don't expect me to do the work of three people by myself."

Hun Wushang really wanted to give Mu Qianqiu a punch, but his upbringing made him endure it.

He didn't say anything more and continued on his way, but he was certain it wasn't an auditory hallucination.

This was the sensory feedback brought by a soul body, which was much more precise than a Physical Body.

Watching Hun Wushang continue on, Mu Qianqiu also narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction Hun Wushang had been staring.

"The Aura of Core Formation?"

"Is it someone from the Truth Cult again?"

Yuan Chenling waited on the small hill for a while. Feeling that terrifying Aura vanish, he finally moved the paws covering his head.

The dark clouds had dispersed, the lightning was gone, and even the Boss's massive Dragon Body had disappeared.

After thinking for a moment, he decided he should go take a look.

We Loose Cultivators value loyalty and righteousness above all!

Yuan Chenling's steps were light, and in just a few bounds, he leaped down the mountain.

Because his Divine Sense was obstructed, it was difficult for him to see the situation at the foot of the mountain from above.

This resulted in him only seeing everything clearly once he got close.

The surroundings were filled with giant black craters blasted by lightning. Some houses that had been grazed were on fire, and the ground was full of gullies caused by rolling lightning, with faint arcs of electricity still dancing upon them.

Yuan Chenling swallowed hard, his sense of loyalty wavering for a moment.

Maybe... I'll just take one look at the center of the village. Just one look. If something's really wrong, I'll retreat immediately.

Having made up his mind, Yuan Chenling walked forward cautiously, dodging burnt-out houses and the occasional surge of electric arcs along the way.

But he wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he felt like there were people in these houses, yet he couldn't smell the scent of humans.

Under this eerie atmosphere, Yuan Chenling arrived at the center of the village, trembling.

As soon as he got there, he saw a figure sitting on a large piece of rubble from behind.

Although this back was humanoid, it was only human in shape, yet it truly radiated Zhou Yan's Aura.

[Reference image of the back]

"Bo... Boss?"

Yuan Chenling called out softly, seemingly not quite daring to confirm.

Hearing the voice, that body slowly rose.

At about three meters tall, in the eyes of Yuan Chenling—a lion no bigger than a cat—the pressure was immense.

As the other party slowly turned their head... it was actually a Dragon's Head!

[Reference image of the front]

This scene scared Yuan Chenling so much he slumped onto the ground.

The appearance definitely wasn't Zhou Yan, but these eyes were unmistakably Zhou Yan's.

The Dragon-man walked toward Yuan Chenling step by step. The powerful Aura clinging to his body pressed down on Yuan Chenling so hard he couldn't even manage to flee; otherwise, he would have run long ago.

"Boss, it's me! I'm Yuan Chenling!"

As if terrified that this strange Boss would kill him, he hurriedly spoke, trying to awaken whatever bit of humanity might still remain in the Boss.

But seeing the other party getting closer and closer, Yuan Chenling completely panicked and shouted repeatedly.

"Boss, don't kill me, don't kill me!"

The Dragon-man simply walked up to Yuan Chenling, picked him up, and gave him a shake.

"Cough, cough. One, two. Testing, testing."

Hearing this strange voice, Yuan Chenling opened one eye to check the situation.

"Cough, cough. This form... haven't... spoken... before."

"A... bit of... getting used to."

"Not used to it."

"OK, done. I'm used to it now."

Hearing that "OK," Yuan Chenling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Nonsense he'd never heard before—definitely the Boss's style of speaking.

After doing this, Zhou Yan patted Yuan Chenling, brushing off the excess black ash from his body; shaking him just now had also been for this purpose.

Being covered in charred blackness made the obsessive-compulsive Zhou Yan feel a bit uncomfortable.

[Zhou Yan]

[Realm: Core Formation Early Stage]

Looking at his panel and his current form, Zhou Yan recalled the experience just now. It was truly a close call; he had almost crashed and burned.

However... Zhou Yan clicked on the panel details to check.

[Health: 500k/500k]

[Mana: 100k/100k]

[Divine Ability: Water Manipulation, Lightning Manipulation, Cloud Walking, Dragon Might]

I knew my luck had turned!

From now on, I'm going to stop complaining about mechanic-heavy monsters; now, I, Zhou Yan, will stand up for stats.

Stat-based players are those with weak mechanics, who need high skill, have rigid abilities, and single-minded combat styles.

I suggest improving the treatment of stat-based players!

Just as Zhou Yan was rejoicing, the voice of the panel rang out in his mind again.

“Ding, main quest objective rea... Error... ched... Error!”