# 206
Chapter 206: A Terrible Loss
Thick storm clouds seemed to split heaven and earth into two layers.
Beneath the clouds—murky sky, torrential rain, a muddy mountain slope, a village reduced to ruins, soldiers braving the downpour to rescue survivors, and in the distance a neon-lit city glowing through the storm.
Above the clouds—
Cold moonlight spilled across the pitch-black cloud tops. The tranquil sky held only a single bright moon illuminating everything, like an other-worldly paradise detached from mortal cares.
The joys and sorrows of the human realm seemed to have nothing to do with this place.
Yet at this moment, in this world, a man and a dragon faced each other.
ROAR—!!
The dragon’s roar rolled across the firmament. A blinding pillar of flame tore through the air and shot straight at Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye’s figure flickered; the next instant he stood above the earth dragon, black army coat flapping, Straight Blade in hand, slashing toward the dragon’s spine.
“Separated from the earth, your strength really drops.” Lin Qiye spoke calmly.
He had shifted the battlefield into the sky not only to keep the shockwaves from endangering Instructor Hong and the others, but for one more important reason—it was too strong while on the ground.
Although he now carried the soul of the Night Goddess, that didn’t mean he possessed true divine power. Limited by his own cultivation, he could barely draw out one percent of Nyx’s night divinity.
He wasn’t sure of his exact current realm, but he guessed it was peak “Sea” or just entering “Infinity”. In a sense, he was now the same rank as the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon.
Of course, Lin Qiye bearing a god’s soul was far stronger than any “same-rank” opponent.
But that didn’t mean he could take the enemy lightly. Luring the dragon off the ground to his own home field was the best tactic.
Under the night, Lin Qiye ghosted onto the dragon’s back and drove the Straight Blade deep into its spine!
A patch of darkness erupted from the wound and spread at terrifying speed!
Agony made the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon howl; its tail whipped toward its own back, but Lin Qiye had already vanished. At the same time the dragon felt a freezing power gnawing at its body from within!
[Corrosion of the Deepest Night]!
Under that darkness, a third of its blazing runes dimmed instantly.
In the sky Lin Qiye looked down coldly. He opened his left hand and intoned:
“[Judgment of the Night Lord].”
The black coat seemed to merge with the dark vault; a dozen gigantic black spikes stabbed down from the heavens, piercing the dragon’s body like lightning!
Wings, torso, claws, spine—pinned by those night spears, the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon was locked motionless in mid-air, a sinner crucified and awaiting the Night Lord’s sentence.
It struggled and writhed; blood streamed from the wounds, yet it could not move.
Lin Qiye trod the night and walked to the dragon’s head.
“[Fall of a Thousand Stars].”
High above, every twinkling star suddenly blazed. A thousand streaks of light tore across the black sky, burning bright tails as they shot through the atmosphere toward the earth!
A meteor storm to shake the soul!
Of course these were only star-shadows, not true meteors, yet Lin Qiye could feel that at full power the ability would summon real ones…
In other words, if Nyx were at her peak she really could pull cosmic debris down upon the world!
That was power befitting a “god”.
Even illusory falling stars were more than enough for this Flame-Vein Earth Dragon.
The burning meteors slammed into the dragon with devastating force; shockwaves exploded outward, star-fragments and flames filling the sky, the dragon’s form swallowed by fire!
The very air quivered!
Lin Qiye hovered quietly, gazing down with sovereign majesty in his eyes.
When the flames and starlight faded, the night spears had vanished, and the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon… was a mangled wreck.
Its torn wings could no longer keep it aloft; its broken body bled flesh and gore. Dull eyes fixed on Lin Qiye, filled with terror at the nightmare it saw.
Dying, it fell through the lightning-laced clouds back into the rain-drenched world.
Rain sluiced over its ruined hide; hope flared in its eyes as the earth rushed up—if it could only touch the ground again, it could survive!
The thought had barely formed when a blinding white slash dropped from the clouds like a thunderbolt, piercing its skull!
Thunder rolled in the distance.
That single blade fell from sky to ground like heavenly punishment—and took the dragon’s head.
The Flame-Vein Earth Dragon’s life was extinguished.
BOOM—!!
Its huge carcass smashed into the mountains, raising a cloud of dust.
On a nearby peak Lin Qiye straightened, gaze calm as he watched the corpse. Blood dripped from his crimson-stained Straight Blade.
A familiar warmth flowed from his palm— the dragon’s soul.
“A peak Sea Realm dragon corpse—prime summoning material. Can’t waste it…” he murmured, stepping toward the body.
Suddenly he grunted and collapsed, legs giving way.
A mighty soul left his body; weakness and exhaustion flooded him, as though he had been hollowed out.
Nyx’s form faded into the air, her voice soft beside his ear.
“Your body and soul have reached their limit. Any further and the damage will be irreversible. You need complete rest. Do not bear my soul again for at least half a year…”
When she vanished, Lin Qiye went utterly limp. He tried to rise but had no strength left.
His hair shrank to normal, skin darkened back—he was once again the old Lin Qiye. All changes had come from hosting Nyx; with her gone, he reverted.
The rain faded, the world dimmed, and consciousness slipped away like a fleeing bird.
“My dragon corpse… what a terrible loss.”
With that final mutter he lost awareness entirely, lying weak among the mountain trees.