The walk back to the hotel felt lighter than Lin Fang expected.

The city was still buzzing after the dungeon alert, patrol drones gliding overhead and emergency broadcasts looping on public screens, yet none of that noise seemed to touch him anymore.

Somewhere deep inside, something had settled. The system upgrade was complete. His link was back. His power, refined and expanded, rested quietly under his skin like a sleeping beast.

For a moment, the exhilaration surged again.

This is real, he thought. All of it.

But Lin Fang kept his face calm. Years of surviving on thin margins had trained him well. Power was dangerous when it showed on one’s face.

They returned to the hotel without incident. At the elevator, Li Liu suddenly stopped and turned to Nebula, hands on her hips.

“You’re staying with us tonight.”

Nebula blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Master…?”

“No Master here. No arguments either,” Li Liu said, already reaching for her wrist. “I know that you are bound to your master and all, but since Fang-Ge only checked into the room with his name, your presence will unnecessarily bring misunderstandings with the hotel staff.”

“Misunderstandings?” As Nebula tilted her head in wonder, Zhi Yan couldn’t help but smirk in silence, watching her timid best friend turn assertive again. She knew that Zhi Yan was just using an excuse. She just didn’t want Lin Fang and Nebula to sleep in the same room because of Nebula’s open flirtatious behavior toward him.

Lin Fang also understood her thoughts, and he nodded. “It’s fine, Nebula. Go with them. Xuan Hei is with me, anyway.”

Nebula hesitated only a second before bowing her head slightly. “As you wish, Master.”

Lin Fang watched them disappear down the hall before unlocking his own door. Only when it shut behind him did he finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

The room was quiet.

Xuan Hei leapt from his shoulder the instant he set his bag down, landing soundlessly on the bed. It turned in a circle twice before curling into a tight black ball, tail flicking once before she went still.

“Good night,” Lin Fang murmured.

It didn’t respond, already asleep.

Lin Fang sat down on the carpet, crossing his legs out of habit. The familiar motion steadied him. With a thought, he opened the system interface. The translucent screen bloomed into existence, clean and responsive.

He scrolled past the notifications he had already skimmed earlier, stopping at Inventory. Two items glowed faintly at the top.

Two eggs.

Lin Fang’s fingers hovered for a second before he selected the first.

Black Dragon Egg Token.

A prompt appeared.

[Summon?]

“Yes,” he said softly.

The token dissolved into motes of dark light. The air in front of him rippled, then folded inward, as if space itself were breathing. A heartbeat later, something small tumbled out and landed awkwardly on the carpet.

Lin Fang saw that the creature before him was no larger than a housecat, its scales a deep obsidian that caught the light like polished stone. Small, folded wings twitched at its sides, and a thin tail curled uncertainly behind it. Its eyes opened slowly, revealing twin pools of dark violet that reflected his face.

The fledgling dragon stared at him.

Xuan Hei cracked one eye open, glanced at the newcomer, then yawned and went back to sleep as if it was nothing worth staying awake for. Indeed, a epic grade is not much worth in the eyes of a mythical grade monster.

Lin Fang laughed quietly as he reached out slowly, letting the dragon sniff his fingers first. It did, then nudged his hand clumsily and made a soft, questioning sound.

“Alright, your name will be Nyx,” Lin Fang said without thinking.

The name felt right the instant it left his mouth.

The dragon chirped again, wings fluttering once, as if acknowledging it.

A system prompt appeared.

*Ding!

[ Name registered: Nyx.]

Lin Fang felt a faint tug in his chest, the bond settling into place. Perhaps, this is the first time he got a monster from a spirit core. It felt different from Xuan Hei or Nebula, although he couldn’t quite express how it was different.

“Welcome,” he said quietly. “You picked an interesting time to be born.”

The little black dragon fledging crawled onto his knee and promptly curled up, warmth radiating through the fabric of his pants.

Lin Fang shook his head, amused, then opened the shop interface and pulled out the growth pills he had prepared earlier. One by one, he fed them to Nyx. The little dragon swallowed them eagerly, scales glowing faintly with each one.

Level climbed steadily.

When the fourteenth pill dissolved, Nyx let out a sharp cry and spread its wings wide. Dark energy pulsed outward in a gentle wave, ruffling Lin Fang’s hair and making the curtains sway.

[ Nyx has reached Level 30.]

The glow faded. Nyx shrank back down slightly, exhaustion overtaking it. It crawled off Lin Fang’s knee and curled up beside Xuan Hei, the two forming a black-and-black heap of fur and scales.

Lin Fang leaned back against the bed, exhaling slowly.

He looked at the remaining egg token still resting in his inventory, fingers tightening slightly.

After Nyx and Xuan Hei both settled into sleep, Lin Fang shifted his attention back to the system interface.

“One more,” he murmured.

The Green Anaconda Egg Token pulsed faintly in his inventory, its emerald glow steady and restrained, nothing like the oppressive presence its adult form once carried.

Lin Fang selected it.

“Summon.”

The token dissolved into streaks of green light that coiled together midair, twisting like a living knot before dropping to the floor with a soft thud. A thick-bodied serpent no longer than Lin Fang’s arm appeared, scales glossy and dark green, its tongue flicking in and out as it lifted its head.

The anaconda stared at him.

Lin Fang crouched down instinctively. “You’re… a lot cuter than I expected. Alright, your name will be Stripey since you have stripes all over your skin.”

The snake tilted its head, then slowly slithered forward, wrapping loosely around his wrist without tightening.

*Ding!

[Name Registered: Stripey]

“That’s good,” Lin Fang said quietly.

He didn’t waste time. Experience had taught him that growth pills worked best when used decisively. Twelve pills vanished one after another into the serpent’s mouth, each causing a brief ripple through its body as mana spread along its scales.

The anaconda grew thicker, longer, its presence more solid, but it didn’t become monstrous. When the final pill took effect, it settled back onto the carpet, coiling neatly.

[ Stripey has reached Level 30.]

Lin Fang exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s… still expensive. But it is worth…”

He opened the Nursery interface next.

Nyx and the anaconda were transferred one after another, their forms dissolving into light before reappearing inside the softly glowing habitat. The system prompted him for payment.

“Hundred coins per day… each,” Lin Fang muttered, tapping confirm. “You two had better grow fast.”

Once everything was settled, the room felt emptier than before. Xuan Hei remained asleep, unaware that two new neighbors had just moved in.

Lin Fang stood up and stretched, joints cracking softly, then returned to the bed and sat cross-legged again. His gaze drifted back to the system, this time toward something he had been putting off.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep