Between the options before him, one was an Epic+ skill, and the other was a Legendary skill.

Lin Xun’s special attribute Hive Consciousness had already reached level +8, meeting the activation requirements for both skills.

However, the choice in front of him was not multiple choice, but single choice. He could only choose one of the two skills.

The former was a passive skill that increased evasion ability, while the latter was a life-steal output skill, with a chance to inflict various negative states.

Without needing to think further, he immediately chose the latter.

[You press the tuning station button, stimulating your own Hive Consciousness…]

[You can feel that not far away is a powerful individual with no self-awareness, or rather, only basic awareness. It is absorbing all feed to strengthen itself.]

[The special feed contains extremely complex powerful abilities. Only with conscious guidance can it be absorbed for one’s own use.]

[You use the special attribute Hive Consciousness +8!]

[A powerful consciousness extends tentacles to the hatching pool, guiding it to absorb and comprehend…]

[It instinctively resists you, but under your powerful consciousness, it can only be dominated and manipulated.]

[…]

[The Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon has successfully learned the skill Blood-Drinking Piercing Siphon!]

[The thick flesh membrane in the hatching pool bulges and grows even more robust. The terrifying creature within lets out a deafening roar, and you can sense it is about to break the membrane and emerge…]

There was only an extremely short time left until the Flying Dragon finished hatching.

If Lin Xun wanted to also use the High Priest Shell as feed, he had to make a decision quickly.

He rushed to the edge of the hatching pool and operated the Shell to use the skill Perfect Molting.

[…]

[You cut off all ganglia connected within the container and gradually detach from the container…]

[Molting successful. You have perfectly detached from the container Ascended Exploder High Priest!]

[The roars coming from within the flesh membrane grow more frequent. Seeing that the Flying Dragon is about to hatch, you kick the container named High Priest into the hatching pool and swiftly return to the tuning station…]

The High Priest had three skills. The first was Ascension Mimicry, similar to stealth. The second was a Sluggish skill that reduced the enemy’s dodge probability. The third was heavy artillery output that could attack from long range.

For which of the three skills to choose, he was very conflicted, mainly hesitating between the first stealth skill and the third output skill.

But there was not much time left. There was no time to think more. He could only gamble.

As a flying soldier type for the frontline, the Flying Dragon most likely already had a long-range output method, so choosing the third skill might result in a duplicate.

But if he did not choose the third skill, and the Flying Dragon’s own long-range output method did not reach Legendary quality, that would be a huge loss.

Even if the skills overlapped, choosing the stronger output method was still more profitable.

As for the first skill, Ascension Mimicry, he still had not obtained a summon that could fly while staying hidden.

If the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon truly was a mount-type summon like the Divine Kingdom Giant Dragon, then this mimicry ability would likely extend to the rider as well, just like how a Ninja Master in stealth can hold a weapon and the weapon also becomes invisible.

“Piloting an invisible fighter jet…”

[…]

[You can use your Hive Consciousness to grant the Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon one of the following abilities…]

[1. Ascension Mimicry (Epic+ skill): … requires Hive Consciousness to reach level +4 before it can be activated.]

[2. Chaotic Tentacles (Epic+ skill): … requires Hive Consciousness to reach level +3 before it can be activated.]

[3. Cannon-Launch Hot Flow (Legendary skill): … requires Hive Consciousness to reach level +7 before it can be activated.]

Lin Xun took a deep breath and pressed the first option.

[…]

[The Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon has successfully learned the skill Ascension Mimicry!]

[Suddenly, a sky-shaking roar that made your eardrums sting erupts from the hatching pool. Thick arthropod limbs instantly tear through the flesh membrane. A terrifying creature breaks out, hatching successful!]

[The Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon resembles a hornet. Its size is not as huge as you imagined. It has a streamlined form, giving a feeling of swift, powerful strength.]

[The two pairs of narrow membrane wings on its back spread open, and the fresh red barbed stinger at the end of its abdomen twitches restlessly.]

[At this moment, its massive compound eyes stare tightly at you. Countless hexagonal small eye-faces reflect countless versions of you.]

[You can sense that it has extreme aggression, but for some reason, it does not immediately attack you.]

[Do you want to kill the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon, or attempt to stimulate Hive Consciousness to accept it?]

Lin Xun decisively chose the latter.

He did not pay such a huge price just to raise a BOSS to farm equipment.

[Ignoring the danger of the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon right in front of you, you close your eyes and silently sense…]

[Your consciousness is not within that enormous black-and-white grid. Instead, it carries a small piece of colorless web of consciousness, separating from the massive grid and existing independently.]

[Within the independent small grid is not only you, but also another even more powerful consciousness. However, that consciousness is no longer active, as if it has fallen asleep.]

[You can feel that the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon before you is a newborn masterless consciousness. Even without anyone guiding it, it is slowly merging into the massive grid.]

[This merging is a subconscious behavior, like an instinct carved into genetic factors. If no one interferes or guides it, before long it will merge into the white grid and become your enemy.]

[You use Hive Consciousness to attempt to guide the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon into your web of consciousness.]

[It instinctively resists your guidance, yet it has no choice but to yield to your powerful will.]

[Very soon, you pull the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon out of the massive grid and draw it toward the web of consciousness where you are…]

[In the end, a new consciousness is added to your web of consciousness, a consciousness that belongs completely to you.]

[The Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon suddenly roars and turns into countless star-like points of light, dispersing and vanishing.]

[You have successfully captured the Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon!]

[The Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon is an attached consciousness entity. It is a mount-type special summon and will not cause summoning conflicts with your regular summons.]

[This summon cannot act or attack autonomously. In a non-mounted state, it only retains the most basic instinctive mobility. Only with your riding (Hive Consciousness control) can it act normally.]

[You can drive the special attribute Hive Consciousness to summon this creature.]

Lin Xun froze.

The Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon was not like the three-headed lion, both a combat companion and a mount summon.

Only in the mounted state could it fly or fight.

“Sigh… it has to be ridden to move. That feels a bit disappointing.”

He opened the panel and checked the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon’s attributes.

[Mount – Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon]

[Mount Level: 80 (-5)]

[Mount Quality: Legendary]

[Mount Equipment: None (Cannot wear regular equipment. Must craft exclusive equipment before it can be worn.)]

[Mount Skill: Ascension Mimicry (Epic+): …]

[Mount Skill: Life Link (Epic+): With this skill, the Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon will use the two tentacles on its head to connect to the rider. Not only can it speed up Hive Consciousness control transmission, it can also achieve a damage transfer state. In this state, 50% of the damage the rider receives will be transferred to the Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon.]

[Mount Skill: Explosive Barbed Stinger (Legendary): Using this skill, the Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon will launch its tail’s regenerable barbed stinger. When the barbed stinger touches an enemy, it will deal explosive massive damage.]

[Mount Skill: Blood-Drinking Piercing Siphon (Legendary): …]

His prediction was not wrong. As a frontline combat flying unit, the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon indeed had long-range attack capability, and it was a Legendary attack skill.

That was not the most important part. The most important part was that it seemed he had lucked into obtaining a skill combination.

The skill called Life Link could share half the damage for the rider, while Blood-Drinking Piercing Siphon could life-steal from the enemy, dealing high damage while restoring its own HP.

“Tsk… isn’t this basically a perpetual motion machine?”

If this set of tactics performed well in actual combat, it meant he could obtain a constant buff effect of 50% damage reduction.

As long as he ensured the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon did not die, the damage reduction effect would become a permanent buff state.

If the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon was beaten to a crippled state, it could use the life-steal skill to recover HP. Even after disengaging to safety, Lin Xun could also use a healer Shell to heal it.

“This flying mount actually seems pretty good.”

Evaluated purely as a combat mount, the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon was undoubtedly an excellent mount.

Lin Xun’s heart itched, and he immediately summoned the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon to ride it.

[You drive Hive Consciousness and summon the Ascended Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon…]

[The massive shadow of the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon gradually shifts from blurry to clear. It roars and appears before you…]

[You leap high and jump onto its back, beginning to ride…]

[Two slender tentacles from the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon’s head reach toward you. You grab them tightly in your hands, like holding reins.]

[You feel flesh between your palm and the tentacles stick together. Consciousness can transmit faster through the tentacles, and you can even sense the life connection between you and the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon.]

[Under your control, the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon vibrates its two pairs of streamlined huge membrane wings, whipping up a gale as it lifts off and flies.]

[Although the space of the hatching pool hall is rather spacious, the dome is not high above the ground. Riding the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon, you quickly fly one circle around the hall and find that its speed is extremely fast, even a bit faster than your sword-riding flight.]

“No wonder it’s a flying mount.”

With the hatchery hall empty and no targets, Lin Xun could only test the stealth skill first.

He clicked Ascension Mimicry.

[The Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon’s carapace color suddenly shifts. Like optical camouflage, it instantly merges into the surrounding environment, as if it vanished out of thin air.]

[Not only it, but you as well, connected through the tentacles, also merge into the environment and disappear.]

[The Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon’s flight speed slows greatly. It needs to continuously shift its coloration to maintain the mimicry effect. The frequency of its membrane wing vibrations also drops greatly to reduce the gale caused by flapping.]

[Once its flight speed is too fast, it will not only expose its outline, the howling wind it stirs up will also be noticed.]

“Stealth flight worked, but it seems it only worked halfway…”

Compared to true stealth, mimicry was still lacking. The Ninja Master could run as fast as he wanted during stealth with no limitations, but during mimicry he could not move quickly.

After testing the mimicry skill, Lin Xun dismissed the summon, and the Divine Kingdom Flying Dragon vanished again.

[…]

[You look toward the end of the hatching hall. When you circled the hall earlier, you already noticed a tightly closed small door there.]

[Do you want to go check it?]

[You arrive at the end of the hatching hall, but find the small door tightly locked and unable to be pushed open…]

[You possess the Shell of the Ascended Prototype Purgatory Angel!]

[You swing your sharp claws forward. The small door instantly shatters into pieces like cardboard…]

[What enters your eyes is a room that looks somewhat cramped. Looking at its furnishings, it seems to be the Hatchery Lord’s office.]

[You stride inside and search. Very quickly, you find a letter inside the desk.]

[You have obtained Unknown Letter (Document)]

Lin Xun raised an eyebrow and immediately opened the Inventory to view it.

[Unknown Letter (Document)]

[…]

[The matter you have repeatedly entrusted me to investigate has made progress.]

[If you can handle this matter well, it is not impossible for you to enter the Sacred Nest Center and manage higher-level hatching pools.]

[Do you remember Lord Belatu, who betrayed the Desire Wet Nurse on the frontline battlefield before?]

[Now I have received news that Lord Belatu is about to begin the next cycle of life and return to the Desire Wet Nurse’s side to continue serving.]

[Praise the merciful and generous Desire Wet Nurse. Even if a child is lost for a moment, she cannot bear to be overly harsh. Oh, our great Desire Wet Nurse…]

[…]

[…]

[Your opportunity comes from Lord Belatu!]

[Belatu betrayed the Desire Wet Nurse on the battlefield and then died. As a result, its mask was damaged and ruined.]

[If you can find the mask master who lives in seclusion in Stink Bug City and have Lord Belatu’s mask remade…]

[Heh heh, not only can your wish be fulfilled perfectly, you might even gain the lord’s favor and enter the Angel Mother Nest, to manufacture and tune those angels who stand high above.]

[I know where the mask master lives in seclusion, but if you want to move it to craft a mask for you to present to the lord, it will definitely cost an enormous price.]

[Even if you use all your wealth, it is still far from enough to exchange for the mask materials and the mask master’s fee.]

[I have come up with a good idea for you. These years, haven’t you secretly skimmed quite a lot of the feed delivered from the Fungal Plant Factory?]

[Don’t deny it. I know you would definitely do this sort of thing.]

[If you can use the skimmed feed to secretly manufacture a Flying Dragon, note, it must be that kind of newborn idiot Flying Dragon!]

[Give the Flying Dragon to me, and I can give you a token that will make the mask master have no choice but to take action.]

[After you have the token, you can obtain a mask from the mask master for free, and thereby complete your wish.]

[I await your news. Once you finish manufacturing the Flying Dragon, burn the letter, and I will come to trade with you.]

[…]

[After reading the letter’s contents, do you want to burn the letter as it says?]

The letter was unsigned. Lin Xun did not know who the sender was.

But this item was clearly the key to triggering the follow-up plot, and the plot also involved the friendly big shot Belatu who had already been stomped to death by the Desire Wet Nurse.

According to the letter’s content, Belatu was about to begin the next cycle of life, meaning that after Belatu rebelled and died in battle, the Desire Wet Nurse had already started preparing a new clone body.

Now Belatu’s clone body was about to be finished, returning to the Desire Wet Nurse’s embrace…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep