Chapter 131: The Three-Star Sacred Lotus

Nightmare Dragon Steed:

A Super Divine Mount. Created through a Fusion Stone, an artifact crafted by the Goddess of Dreams, this creature was born from the union of the Nightmare King and the Five-Element White Dragon. It does not merely inherit the Nightmare King’s overwhelming might; it also possesses the White Dragon’s mastery over the elements, wielding both Light and Dark attributes in harmony. Its growth potential borders on limitless.

Level: 0

Health: 1,000 | Mana: 1,000 | Attack: 1,000 | Defense: 1,000

Movement Speed: 20 (Increases by 1 every 10 levels)

Talents:

Prismatic Horn: Grants complete immunity to Dark and Light magic while absorbing 50% of all incoming elemental damage.

Dragon-Steed Leap: At Level 30, the Nightmare Dragon Steed can tread upon the air itself, galloping through the sky as though it were solid ground.

Dragon’s Ascension: The steed transforms into a Prismatic Divine Dragon. All attributes increase by 30%, and it gains the ability to cast any Dark, Light, or Elemental magic. (Cooldown: 2 days. Available at Level 70.)

Roar of the Dragon-Steed: Emits a thunderous cry that reduces enemy attributes by 10% and plunges enemy mounts into chaos.

Skills:

Dark Flame Wave: An offensive skill. The steed exhales a wave of dark energy, dealing 150 Dark damage to all enemies within a three-meter radius. (Cost: 100 MP.)

Dragon-Roar Critical Strike: An active skill. The steed surges forward at triple its movement speed, delivering an attack equal to three times the rider’s power. Critical hit effects are increased by 50%, with a 5% chance of instant death, along with knockback and stun effects. This skill is exclusive to the Knight class. (Cost: 50 MP. No cooldown.)

Note: The Nightmare Dragon Steed supports dual riding starting at Level 10.

Marcus stared at the glowing interface, his heartbeat pounding so loudly he was sure he could hear it. A Super Divine Beast. Even at Level 0, its attributes were obscene. Immunities to both Light and Dark, elemental absorption, a transformation skill, and the ability to run through the sky as though gravity were optional. Any one of these traits would have been absurd on its own. Combined, they felt almost unfair.

His eyes lingered on the skills, especially Dragon-Roar Critical Strike. As a Knight, this was practically made for him. Triple movement speed, damage scaling off his own power, boosted criticals, crowd control, and even a chance at instant death. Grinding monsters was no longer going to be a slow, methodical process. It was going to be a slaughter.

And this was only the starting point. The thought of what the steed might unlock as it leveled made his fingers itch.

“Hell yes,” Marcus muttered, unable to stop the grin spreading across his face.

The dual-riding feature at Level 10 was the icing on the cake. He would power-level the steed as fast as possible so he could ride together with Lily. As for his old Violet Thunderwing Steed, that could go to his sister Amber. She had always been a menace in her own way, and a flying mount suited her temperament perfectly. Besides, once this new steed reached Level 30, he would rule the skies without needing wings at all.

Satisfied for the moment, Marcus shifted his focus to his updated skills, starting with Fusion.

Fusion: A High-Grade Hidden Support Skill. Allows the user to fuse two or more pets into a new, more powerful entity. The more pets involved, the lower the success rate. (Base success rate: two pets, 10%; three pets, 5%; and so on.)

Current Rank: Intermediate (0/30,000). Success rate for pets under Level 5: 30%. Levels 6–8: 10%. Levels 9–10: 5%.

Marcus sucked in a breath through his teeth. The skill itself was monstrous, but the success rates were brutal. At Intermediate rank, using it recklessly would be no different from feeding pets into a shredder. Unless he pushed it to Grandmaster, Fusion was something he would have to handle with extreme caution.

Next came Desperate Strike.

Desperate Strike: Grandmaster Tier. An active skill that consumes 10% of both Health and Mana. The user hurls their weapon at the target with perfect accuracy. Damage is calculated as Attack x 5, while critical hit chance is increased by 50%, with a 10% chance of instant death. Range: 1 to 10 meters. (Cooldown: 30 seconds.)

The upgrade was terrifying. What had once been a solid, situational skill had turned into a lethal opener. Higher damage, longer range, and a cooldown cut cleanly in half. In most fights, he could cripple an opponent before they even managed to close the distance. The only drawback was obvious enough. He was going to need a lot of spare weapons.

The haul from Star Lake had gone far beyond anything he had expected. It reinforced a lesson Marcus had learned the hard way. When things look their worst, that is often the moment you have to push harder than ever. Endure long enough, and the payoff can be breathtaking.

“Fortune favors the stubborn,” he murmured with a crooked smile. If he had given up after those dozens of failed attempts to tame the Wild Steed Leader, none of this would exist.

With that thought, Marcus turned his attention to the true source of the chaos that had drawn everything here. The glowing blue lotus at the heart of the lake. Two Divine Beasts had fought to the death over it. Whatever it was, it had to be something extraordinary. Now that those beasts had been fused into his mount, the lotus no longer had any claimants but him.

“Let’s go,” Marcus said.

The Nightmare Dragon Steed stepped forward, its movements light and elegant. Its hooves skimmed across the surface of the lake, producing soft, crystalline taps as it carried Marcus toward the center.

As he approached, the blue radiance began to pulse. The light that had flooded the entire lake suddenly drew inward, spiraling back toward the lotus itself. The change was so abrupt that Marcus barely had time to react before the glow vanished completely, swallowed by the petals.

Up close, the lotus looked less like a plant and more like a work of art carved from sapphire. Every part of it, from the delicate petals to the stem and even the roots visible beneath the crystal-clear water, shimmered with a translucent blue sheen. It felt less like something that had grown and more like a spirit born from the lake itself.

Marcus activated Insight.

Three-Star Sacred Lotus: A legendary treasure nurtured by the natural energy of Star Lake for three thousand years. It begins as a Nine-Star Lotus. After one thousand years, it condenses into a Six-Star Lotus. After another thousand years, it reaches its final, fully matured form as a Three-Star Sacred Lotus. It is now ready for harvest.

’Three thousand years.’ Marcus felt his pulse spike. This was not merely rare. It was the kind of treasure players talked about for years, the kind that might only appear once in an entire server’s lifespan.

He did not hesitate. Reaching out, he activated his Herb Gathering skill.

“Ding! Congratulations! You have harvested the Three-Star Sacred Lotus. Your Herb Gathering proficiency has increased.

“Ding! Congratulations! Your “Herb Gathering” skill has reached Advanced Rank.”

Marcus froze. “No way.”

The sheer energy contained within the lotus had forced his skill to jump from Intermediate straight to Advanced in a single action. His hands trembled slightly as he opened his inventory and pulled up the item’s description.

Three-Star Sacred Lotus (Saint-tier Herb): A peerless treasure of the Dreamland Continent. Only one exists. Upon consumption, the user gains a Three-Chambered Heart and a Triple Constitution. This allows the user to multiclass into three different professions simultaneously and summon three clones, each possessing the user’s full capabilities.

For a moment, Marcus nearly forgot how to breathe. This was it. The kind of reward that rewrote the rules of the game. He could remain a Knight, keeping his massive health pool and ironclad defense, while also branching into Assassin. A high-defense Knight with the burst damage and evasion of a top-tier Assassin was nothing short of a nightmare.

“The only one in the entire game,” he whispered, his eyes burning with excitement.

Already, he was reaching to consume it, his mind racing through countless builds and possibilities, when his gaze snagged on the fine print at the very bottom of the description.

“Wait…”

The elation evaporated in an instant. His stomach twisted as he read the final lines.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

The emotional high of the past hour collapsed like a house of cards. Marcus threw his head back and roared at the empty lake, his voice echoing across the water.

“Are you kidding me?!”

It was the oldest trick in the book. One line was all it took to drag him from the peak of triumph straight into despair. Marcus stared at the screen, torn between punching the air and punching himself.

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