Chapter 124: The Ascendant’s Domain

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Massive purplish-red flames erupted as the Violet Thunderwing Steed unleashed its Violet Blaze, slamming again and again into the golden invulnerability shield surrounding Marcus. Each impact shook the air violently. Although the golden light held firm, no one could mistake the terrifying destructive power contained within those flames. Compared to the earlier Thunder Flash, this attack was even more overwhelming, as if the Steed had poured everything it had into this final assault.

From a distance, the sight was almost surreal. A blazing sphere of purplish-red fire burned fiercely, devouring the space around it, while at its very center stood a Pegasus wrapped in radiant gold. Flame and light collided endlessly, yet somehow the figure within the inferno remained standing.

“Still trying to erase me in one shot, huh?” The thought cut through Marcus’s fear, replaced by a hot, searing wave of pure dominance.

That sudden, overwhelming feeling drowned out everything else. He forgot the danger he was in, forgot that his invulnerability would only last three seconds. All that remained was a furious determination, sharp and absolute, spreading outward like a tide. He would tame the Violet Thunderwing Steed. It would kneel before him. There was no other outcome he would accept.

The dominance roaring through him swallowed all reason. He no longer cared about the power of the Violet Blaze or the deadly moment waiting just seconds away. Driven by instinct and will alone, he forcefully activated the Taming skill once more, slamming it onto the Steed without hesitation. In his mind, failure simply did not exist.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The third second of his invulnerability collided head-on with the second wave of the Steed’s Violet Blaze. For that brief moment, Marcus remained unharmed, but then the golden light flickered and vanished completely. The three-second protection was gone.

With no shield left, he could only watch as the third and final wave of purplish-red flames surged toward him. There was no time to dodge, no chance to retreat, and more than that, the overwhelming dominance consuming him would not even allow the thought of escape.

Was he really about to die here? Was the top expert of Dominion, the man ranked first across the four major leaderboards, about to be trampled to death by a Steed?

’No!’

Marcus’s roar wasn’t just sound; it was an eruption. An even more intense wave of dominance exploded from his heart, a palpable, overwhelming aura bursting from his body to envelop him. It had no color, no visible form, but its presence was absolute; the pressure of a king, a ruler surveying his domain.

The Pegasi following behind the Steed felt it instantly. Their bodies stiffened as the pressure washed over them, forcing them to stumble backward. None of them dared to meet Marcus’s gaze. Instinct alone told them that the being before them was no longer just a player.

At that exact moment, just as the final wave of Violet Blaze was about to engulf him completely, the system’s voice rang out.

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, on comprehending the Advanced Skill The Ascendant’s Domain. Reward: 500 Reputation, 2,000 Gold Coins.”

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, on a successful Taming attempt. You have acquired the Mythic Mount Violet Thunderwing Steed.”

The last second.

Marcus felt a chill run down his spine as realization struck. He had escaped death by the narrowest margin possible.

The system’s confirmation arrived at the exact instant the Violet Blaze swept through his position. The purplish-red flames passed directly through his body, dispersing harmlessly, as if he no longer existed within their reach.

“Ding! Player Stonehaven, your Mount Space is full. Your Mythic Mount Violet Thunderwing Steed cannot be placed in Mount Space. Would you like to ride the Violet Thunderwing Steed now, or place it in your Inventory?

Every player possessed three Pet Storage Slots and one Mount Storage Slot. Pets could only be placed in Pet Slots, and mounts could only occupy the Mount Slot. If all slots were full, newly acquired Pets or Mounts could still be placed into the Inventory, and they could be used immediately regardless of storage limitations.

Creatures stored in their proper slots could be summoned or switched at any time. However, those placed in the Inventory could not be summoned directly and had to be transferred into a Storage Slot first.

There was also a far more dangerous downside. If a player died, whether in PvP or to monsters, Pets or Mounts stored in their slots had only a ten percent chance of dropping or betraying their owner. Those left in the Inventory, however, had a terrifying eighty percent drop rate. For this reason, while the Inventory could technically hold an unlimited number of creatures, using it for Pets or Mounts was extremely unsafe.

“Ride it.”

The moment the thought formed, Marcus did not hesitate.

“Hahaha…”

He finally had the Violet Thunderwing Steed. A Mythical Mount, no less.

The instant he mounted it, a powerful surge rose through his body, as if the world beneath him had suddenly grown smaller. The Steed spread its massive wings and shot into the sky, carrying Marcus high above Star Lake. From that height, the vast lake below looked dull and insignificant, as though everything beneath him had lost its brilliance.

The dominant aura still clung faintly to his body, and as he rode through the sky, Marcus could not suppress his laughter. His voice echoed across the heavens above Star Lake, filled with unrestrained triumph.

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, on acquiring the Mythic Mount Violet Thunderwing Steed. Please name it.”

“Amethyst.”

The name came to him without effort.

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, for successfully taming the Mythic Mount Violet Thunderwing Steed far above your level. Your Taming skill has greatly improved and has been upgraded to Intermediate.”

“Ding! Congratulations, player Stonehaven, for mastering the essentials of horse-breaking while taming the Mythic

Mount Violet Thunderwing Steed. You have learned the Horse Taming skill, which grants a 10% bonus to the taming success rate for all horses.”

“Hahaha…”

The system notifications came one after another, leaving Marcus momentarily overwhelmed. Two skills had been comprehended automatically, something that rarely happened. His laughter grew even louder as he quickly opened his interface to examine them.

The Ascendant’s Domain

Advanced Skill

Proficiency: Basic (0/10000)

Type: Active

The ultimate skill of a supreme ruler, one who looks down upon all creation. Only players with exceptional dominant presence and talent can comprehend it.

Effect: Upon activation, the player is enveloped in an invisible aura of absolute authority. Causes fear in enemies, reduces all enemy attributes by 10%, increases all player attributes by 10%, and increases the success rate of all auxiliary skills by 10%. Has a 5% chance to inflict instant death on a target.

Duration: 10 minutes

Cooldown: 10 hours

’Monstrous.’

That single word summed up everything Marcus felt as he read through the skill description. Even at the Basic level, the effects were already terrifying. If he ever pushed it to Advanced, he was confident he could solo Divine Beasts that other players would not even dare to look at, much less fight.

Next, his gaze shifted to the auxiliary skill he knew all too well.

The memory of failing again and again while trying to tame the Wild Steed Leader surfaced in his mind, bringing with it a mix of bitterness and relief. Now that Taming had finally been upgraded, Marcus felt an odd surge of emotion, as if the pain had finally been repaid.

Taming

Intermediate (0/200000)

Includes Horse Taming

Grants a 10% bonus to success rate when taming horses

“Oh, hell yes.”

Another brutal skill. The Wild Steeds of the Atlan Plains? Their days were officially numbered. Marcus’s payday had arrived. When fortune decided to knock, you didn’t just answer the door; you tore it off its hinges.

Marcus knew better than anyone how absurdly low the success rate for taming Wild Steeds was. But now, his Taming skill had reached Intermediate and automatically included Horse Taming, granting an additional 10% success rate. On top of that, The Ascendant’s Domain provided another 10% bonus to all auxiliary skills.

Stacked together, these bonuses turned him into the natural enemy of every Wild Steed on the Atlan Plains.

Their fate was already sealed.

“Zephyr Steeds…”

He let out a low chuckle, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

“Heh heh… Just you wait.”

He would wait until he reached Level 40 before settling that score. When the time came, he would hunt the Zephyr Steeds one by one and turn every single one of them into gold coins. With his current strength, taming Level 30 Wild Steeds would be effortless, but their attributes were too mediocre, and the profit simply was not worth it.

He would not let small gains distract him from leveling up and securing greater opportunities ahead.

This was knowing when to advance and when to hold back, not acting blindly or chaotically, but choosing the path that would bring the greatest reward.

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