Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Ring of Restraint

This newly arrived Crystal Winged Dragon was far stronger than the one under siege. Its wings stretched nearly twenty meters, and the radiance shimmering over its body was far denser and more profound.

The besieged Crystal Winged Dragon let out a faint, feeble cry.

The one that had come from afar heard it and immediately answered with an enraged shriek. Its immense cry carried an invisible gale as it struck first toward the five-person team, only to be halted just before it reached them by an unseen barrier. Even so, the barrier trembled violently, seeming on the verge of collapse.

Lando understood at once. This must have been the method they used to restrain the first Crystal Winged Dragon, and it was also the reason they had relaxed their guard around him and Leia.

The five exchanged a glance, a trace of viciousness flashing across their faces. Then they held nothing back any longer. Clearly, they had already resolved to kill the badly wounded Crystal Winged Dragon.

The arcane mage with healing abilities said to Lando, “Friend, help us hold off the newcomer. We’ll split the spoils equally!”

“Fine.” Lando did not care much about the spoils; he had only stayed here to exchange information with them. Now that another ninth-rank crystal creature had appeared, it suited him perfectly.

He murmured a warning to Leia, and then vanished with a flash. When he reappeared, he was already before the Crystal Winged Dragon. A steel-blue light rose over his fist, and an uppercut sent the charging beast flying askew into the sky.

The tremendous force also drove Lando backward. He nearly slammed into the barrier, but a gentle wind wrapped around him and quickly dispersed the recoil.

Flashing again, he appeared above the Crystal Winged Dragon. By then, the beast had recovered from the sudden ambush. Azure light surged over its body, and countless wind blades shot toward Lando. Yet as they neared him, an invisible force weakened them by more than half, and the remainder was dispersed by the wind flowing in circles around him.

Lando struck once more, smashing the Crystal Winged Dragon down to the ground. Before it could even struggle to rise, another massive fist crashed into its head, this time carrying a violent shockwave. The proud, furious creature that had arrived moments earlier was instantly knocked unconscious.

Seeing that his opponent had already fainted, Lando withdrew the corrosive water he had condensed in his hand. He had originally planned to make it suffer a little if it was still conscious, but this was just fine.

Lando’s series of actions left the five people inside the barrier staring in dumbfounded silence. They looked at the Crystal Winged Dragon before them, which had already breathed its last under their ruthless assault, then at the one outside, which had been knocked unconscious. One of them turned to the teammate with healing abilities and said, “Looks like we killed ours too fast.”

“...”

“Hello, I’m Jens Jupanki from the Beast Paradise. These are my teammates...”

Hearing the arcane mage with healing abilities introduce himself, Lando could tell this squad was clearly centered around him.

“Hello, I’m Lando from the Silver Tower, and this is my senior, Leia.” By now, Leia had already hurried over to Lando’s side, looking up at him with eyes full of stars and admiration, which he found extremely satisfying.

After a moment’s thought, Jens said hesitantly, “Um... could you let us have this Crystal Winged Dragon?”

Lando chuckled inwardly. That was precisely why he had spared the dragon, but he refused outright. “No. I’m keeping it for my senior.”

Then he turned to Leia and said, “Senior, go kill this Crystal Winged Dragon. That way your companion crystal can advance by a huge step.”

“Oh, okay!”

Seeing Leia roll up her sleeves and move forward to finish off the dragon, Jens said helplessly, “Fine, fine, name your price. I’ll pay it, all right?!”

A shameless burst of laughter came from one of his teammates.

Lando stopped Leia, who was truly about to deal the fatal blow, and smiled without speaking.

Leia: ?

“I can help you modify pets. Of course, I’ve also got some ready-made ones on my side. Once we get out, aside from Wangji, you can pick any one you like.” He paused, then added, worried Lando might not understand, “Those little cuties are all stronger than the Crystal Winged Dragon here, and each one has its own unique ability.”

Lando released Leia’s arm, signaling her to continue, and then said with a faint smile, “Not enough.”

Leia:?!

“That’s already a very high price. Don’t get greedy!”

Lando’s smile faded. “I have my own standards of value. This really isn’t enough. Besides, given the general strength of arcane mages at our current point of descent, having a ninth-rank assistant should be worth far more than that.”

He was not trying to deceive them. Though he still had not figured out the system’s rules for extracting souls, in general the stronger the target, the greater the chance. Take the dead Crystal Winged Dragon, for example; it had yielded him a purple soul. If he was lucky, the one beside him might produce a purple one too.

Jens frowned and thought for a moment, then took out a black translucent ring. “As you’ve probably already noticed, I have a talent for subduing pets. This binding ring was developed based on my talent, and I infused it with my talent’s power. It can forcibly subdue a creature as a pet. Of course, there are drawbacks. First, the creature’s intelligence can’t be too high. Second, even after it’s subdued and you can order it by force, its feelings toward you still remain. If you want it to truly work for you willingly, you’ll still need to treat it well after taming it.”

Lando took the ring and asked with interest, “How do you use it?”

“Just place it over the head of the creature you want to subdue. If it succeeds, a black bead will condense. Whoever holds that black bead is its master.”

Lando nodded. It was clear Jens had put real effort into this. Tools that did not require the user to be personally involved were very difficult to trap, so they were usually easy to sell. If it had been something that required even a sliver of his own spirit, Lando would have refused without a second thought.

He casually tossed the ring onto the Crystal Winged Dragon’s head. Seeing no reaction, he shook his head helplessly. “As expected, it doesn’t work.”

Jens’s face darkened. “Of course not. A magical creation of this level cannot be used in the Crystal World!”

“Five!”

Jens froze, then shook his head repeatedly. “Impossible. At most... two!”

“Four. No less.”

“...”

In the end, the two reached this deal with three binding rings.

“I don’t want your pets, but if I ever have a pet I want to modify in the future, you’ll help me once for free.”

“Agreed.” Jens considered it, then added, “I can help you, but if the modification fails, I won’t be responsible for compensation.”

“Relax.” Lando gave a meaningful smile.

Though Jens still felt a bit uneasy, he could not worry about that now. He quickly walked over to the sleeping Crystal Winged Dragon and activated his talent.

There was no special effect at all. Before long, the Crystal Winged Dragon woke up.

At first it looked dazed, then it saw Jens. Its gaze quickly cleared, and it leaned close to him, nuzzling affectionately.

“This level of intimacy...?!”

Lando looked at the newly acquired binding ring and immediately felt it was no longer so appealing.

Noticing Lando’s expression, Jens said with a grin, “This is an ability inherent to my talent. There’s nothing I can do about it. I still haven’t figured out the principle behind it, so the binding ring doesn’t have this ability for now.”

“...”