Chapter 1 No One Noticed

Nie Yan was wearing a black cloak, so no one noticed him. There were too many people around, and it was a bit noisy. No one could hear what the beast trainer and Nie Yan were saying.

Some people from the Mage Alliance were chatting nearby. These people had excellent equipment and were probably elites of the Mage Alliance.

Several casual players were buying pets. A warrior from the Mage Alliance held a flying mount egg in his hand, talking to the beast trainer.

This group of people must have come to hatch a flying mount.

"Are you sure? What kind of flying mount is it?" a Mage Alliance mage asked from the side.

"It's a Wind Serpent."

"What a pity. Wind Serpents are relatively low-level flying mounts, but they're still not bad. It wasn't for nothing that Guild Leader Kuangfa spent so much money buying it from Angel Corp."

"Where did Angel Corp get so many flying mounts?"

"It seems they got them from the Gryphon Woodlands. After the Gryphon Woodlands opened, their people went there several times. Thousands of them were wiped out twenty or thirty times before they managed to get a few flying mount eggs, which they sold to us through the Century Financial Group's efforts."

"Is exploring the Gryphon Woodlands that difficult?"

"Of course. What kind of place do you think the Gryphon Woodlands is?"

They chatted in low voices.

The beast trainer gently stroked the egg. A small snake hatched, with a pair of transparent wings on its back, constantly flapping and hovering in the air. It was very small, a miniature version of the Wind Serpent Tang Yao had encountered before. This Wind Serpent, like the Underworld Thunder Eagle, could freely change its size. Players who didn't know much about flying mounts would never have guessed that this little snake was a powerful flying mount.

"It's hatched," a Mage Alliance player said in surprise.

They teased the Wind Serpent and chatted for a while before heading out of the pet shop together.

Nie Yan watched their backs disappear through the pet shop door, lost in thought. Angel Corp was willing to transfer the flying mount to the Mage Alliance, which must be for many reasons. It seemed the Mage Alliance had really spent a lot. But a Wind Serpent like that was like an ant compared to Nie Yan's Darkwing Dragon. Even if the Mage Alliance managed to get a few flying mounts, Nie Yan could still make them lose miserably.

Seeing that there were fewer people around, Nie Yan said to the beast trainer, "Mr. Beast Trainer, please help me hatch my pet."

Nie Yan traded all the crystals and the Darkwing Dragon egg to the beast trainer. "This is a dragon egg?" The beast trainer glanced at Nie Yan in shock, paused, and carefully took the Darkwing Dragon egg. He began to concentrate on hatching the dragon egg, extracting the energy from the crystals and slowly injecting it into the dragon egg.

The energy from the crystals was slowly absorbed by the Darkwing Dragon hatchling, and one crystal after another cracked into useless fragments.

Nie Yan could clearly feel the life pulse inside the Darkwing Dragon egg becoming stronger and stronger. A life was rapidly growing, it trembled and began to move, constantly hitting the shell.

*Bang, bang, bang,* heavy muffled sounds rang out one after another.

This powerful life rhythm made Nie Yan couldn't help but feel excited.

A new life was about to be born.

The beast trainer brewed for a long time. Under his guidance, with a *crack*, a tiny crack appeared in the Darkwing Dragon egg. Soon, cracks spread out like spider webs.

At this moment, the players walking by looked over, curiously watching the dragon egg in the beast trainer's hand. It was the first time they had seen such a huge egg, and they were all curious about what kind of creature was inside. Judging from the beast trainer's expression, he looked very nervous, and some sweat had already seeped out on his forehead.

"What is that thing?"

"I don't know, maybe a flying mount. Two people came to hatch flying mounts just now. Flying mounts are becoming more and more common."

"It's probably just some ordinary stuff. Wearing a black cloak doesn't make you a master." A player looked jealously at the huge egg in the beast trainer's hand, probably feeling like sour grapes at the moment.

Nie Yan didn't pay any attention to what those people were saying, but kept his eyes fixed on the dragon egg in the beast trainer's hand. A feeling was welling up in his heart, becoming stronger and stronger.

The black cloak hid Nie Yan's face. The players next to him couldn't see how expectant and nervous Nie Yan was at this moment.

Flying mounts were an unattainable dream for many people. In his previous life, Nie Yan could only watch others use flying mounts from afar, filled with envy. And now, he finally had the opportunity to own his own flying mount.

With a *crack*, the eggshell shattered, and the Darkwing Dragon's head stretched out from the eggshell. It gnawed off some of the eggshell, slowly opened its eyes, and looked around at the world. Its eyes were pure black, lively and sharp. After a while, it flapped its wings and flew up.

The Darkwing Dragon looked like a large bird, but it still had many obvious dragon characteristics. It was a pterosaur, pure black all over, with a bulging belly and a pair of strong, powerful claws under its wings. Its legs were thicker, so in addition to flying, its running ability wasn't bad either.

Compared to true dragons, the Darkwing Dragon was slightly smaller in size.

The Darkwing Dragon floating in the air caused quite a stir.

"What is that?"

"Looks like a bird?"

"Is it a dragon?"

The players speculated.

The Darkwing Dragon looked around, its gaze sweeping over everyone, finally landing on Nie Yan. It could feel a sense of familiarity emanating from Nie Yan. It flapped its wings and flew towards Nie Yan, landed on his shoulder, and rubbed its head against Nie Yan, wrapping itself in a pair of fleshy wings.

A strange feeling arose in Nie Yan's heart. He had established some kind of connection with this Darkwing Dragon and could direct its actions.

Noticing so many players watching him, Nie Yan put the Darkwing Dragon into his pet space and walked outside.

Watching Nie Yan's back, the players were still talking about it.

"It should be a dragon, who is that guy?"

Some players then remembered and quickly opened the flying mount rankings, only to see that several more flying mounts had been added to the list. The one at the top of the list was none other than the Darkwing Dragon.

"Damn, it really is a dragon."

"Awesome guy!"

"Could that person be Crazy Thief Nie Yan? I heard Crazy Thief Nie Yan got a top-quality pet egg, but it hasn't hatched yet."

Among all the dragons, the Darkwing Dragon was a very high-level existence. They possessed powerful dark magic abilities, while their melee combat ability was average, but still much stronger than ordinary dragons. At the same time, their magic resistance and physical resistance were also top-ranked among various dragons.

The information searched on the official website left these players even more stunned.

Some players couldn't help but think how cool it would be if they could ride such a powerful Darkwing Dragon when they went out. But with a sigh, they couldn't afford even a single hair of a Darkwing Dragon, let alone the whole thing.

Nie Yan came out of the pet shop and returned to the villa in the center of Hilton Fortress, summoning the Darkwing Dragon.

The Darkwing Dragon flapped its wings and flew up. If it were outdoors, its size could suddenly increase hundreds of times.

Undying Scoundrel and others were doing their own things in the villa. Seeing the Darkwing Dragon flying in the sky, they were all stunned.

"Boss, you hatched the Darkwing Dragon?" Undying Scoundrel asked in surprise, looking at the Darkwing Dragon in the sky.

"Yeah," Nie Yan nodded.

Undying Scoundrel and others quickly opened the flying mount rankings, and found that the Darkwing Dragon, as they had expected, was high above, occupying the first position on the flying mount rankings. This first place was without suspense. The Darkwing Dragon was a powerful dragon! One of the most high-end creatures in *Faith*!

No one knew what the Darkwing Dragon's combat power was, but everyone could be sure that at this level, no flying mount was the Darkwing Dragon's opponent! The Darkwing Dragon was the undisputed overlord of the sky!

The players of the Niu Ren Tribe had more confidence in the upcoming battle for the Realm of Death. They had even gotten a powerful dragon mount, and had both the right time and the right place, so what were they afraid of?

Nie Yan opened the Darkwing Dragon's attribute page and looked at its attributes.

Darkwing Dragon: Flying Mount.

Attack Type: Dragon Breath Physical.

Defense Type: Saint Armor Defense.

Attributes: Health 250,000, Defense 12,000, Magic Resistance 1,000, Poison Resistance 1,000, Physical Resistance 1,000.

The Darkwing Dragon's attributes were very detailed, down to every characteristic. Nie Yan could only get a general idea for now, and would have to study it thoroughly later. But what was certain was that the Darkwing Dragon was extremely powerful, far surpassing ordinary flying mounts. For example, Tang Yao's Underworld Thunder Eagle. Even if three Underworld Thunder Eagles besieged the Darkwing Dragon at the same time, the Darkwing Dragon would still be invincible.

"Boss, send us the Darkwing Dragon's attributes so we can take a look," Undying Scoundrel pleaded, wondering just how strong the Darkwing Dragon really was.

"Yeah, Boss, send them to us so we can see."

Nie Yan looked around. These people were all trustworthy brothers, so after thinking about it, he shared the Darkwing Dragon's attributes.

Seeing the Darkwing Dragon's attributes, Undying Scoundrel and the others gasped. What a fierce fellow!

"1,000 magic resistance, I guess my magic can't even hurt it," Undying Scoundrel said dejectedly.

"It would be a miracle if your magic could hurt it. Take a look at its defense type, Saint Armor Defense! I guess only some large offensive weapons like catapults and ballistae can hurt it," one player praised.