I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

However, the third condition for the sublimation of fitness has not yet been met, so it cannot be sublimated.

"I can handle this fire dragon with my current strength, but it would be safer if Shadowflame were to level up another level."

"Let's level up Shadowflame first. We should use our divinity when necessary, and earn more later. Anyway, there are still quite a few dragon species we haven't killed."

Xue Jing thought for a moment and then clicked on the upgrade option in [Shadow Flame].

【Shadowflame Lv6 (Divinity required for upgrade: 49/2000)】

above the sky.

The fire dragon, circling endlessly, scanned its surroundings with its vertical pupils, its eyes filled with rage as it searched for that annoying little insect.

It wasn't very patient; after searching for a while, it gave up on this inefficient approach.

Then, its mouth began to emit a faint, flame-colored glow.

"Roar--!!"

Accompanied by the sound of a dragon's roar, a huge pillar of blazing dragon breath was spewed from its mouth and swept across the ground.

"Boom boom boom——"

Wherever the fiery dragon's breath passed, rocks melted and trees evaporated, as if an eraser had scribbled across a piece of paper covered in writing, carving a huge ravine into the mountainside.

One breath after another was unleashed from the dragon, wreaking havoc on the entire mountain, leaving behind magma formed from melted rocks and soil.

The large rock where Xue Jing was hiding was melted when the dragon's breath inadvertently swept past.

He himself, however, has vanished without a trace.

After the fire dragon had thoroughly plowed the entire surface of the mountain, it looked at the mountain in front of it, which was covered with lava and had turned into a large, reddish cake, and was somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that the little bug was accidentally burned to death?

I can't find it anywhere.

The fire dragon stopped flapping its wings and controlled its bio-force field, slowly floating down to the mountain peak.

Its fiery feet gripped the lava, and it used its keen nose to sniff out the scents.

Aside from the pleasant smell of coke and sulfur, there was really nothing else.

It seems that the little insect has been melted into dust by its powerful flames.

The fire dragon proudly exhaled, and two streams of flame shot out from its nostrils.

With a flap of its enormous wings, it was about to take flight.

And it's right there in the blind spot where it can't see.

A shadow was moving silently, slowly climbing up its back along its right foot that was on the ground.

Just as the fire dragon flapped its wings and took off, it lifted off the ground.

From the shadow on its back, a figure is slowly rising.

Full-body jet-black armor, with sharp bone spurs at every joint and on his back, and the only part of his body exposed was a pair of indifferent, silver-white divine eyes, making him appear both ferocious and magnificent.

The quietly burning black flames adorned the armor, as if the entire body was releasing waves of dark energy, like a pitch-black knight who had emerged from the underworld to protect the beautiful Queen of the Underworld.

"Hidden Shadow..."

Xue Jing narrowed his eyes slightly.

The moment Shadowflame reached Lv6, he instinctively learned this new way of using Shadowflame.

It can hide in the shadows and move within them.

"Unfortunately, it seems that because it involves transforming the physical body into a shadow, this technique consumes a lot of energy, and..."

He glanced at the Shadowflame Gauntlet on his right hand, which was being repaired.

"Can't be immune to damage..."

"However, its concealment is top-notch."

Xue Jing raised his hands above his head.

Black flames quietly gathered and burned in his hands, transforming into a jet-black spiral spear.

After reaching Lv6, the weapons formed by Shadow Flame far surpassed their predecessors in both the refinement of their appearance and the strength of their materials.

The silvery-white pupils turned into vertical pupils.

Within the unobstructed view, faint lines and dots appeared on the back of the fire dragon.

Spiral indentations spread across her arms, extending to her chest and neck.

Today, his physical strength is sufficient to withstand three times the output of a whirlwind.

With the added power of twins, it becomes six times stronger!

"call out--!!"

The spiral spear spun, minimizing air resistance, and shot out like a meteor, piercing the back of the fire dragon below.

The hard, burning scales were easily pierced, as if they were being pierced into a piece of butter, penetrating deep into the body without any resistance.

"Roar--!!"

Amidst the piercing cries and roars of pain, the fire dragon struggled frantically, flying wildly through the air.

Xue Jing gripped the spiral spear that was piercing the fire dragon's body with both hands, and twisted the handle once.

The spear instantly transformed inside the fire dragon's body, blooming like a lotus flower, with countless black thorns constantly protruding from the spear, piercing the fire dragon's interior in a chaotic mess.

"Roar--!!"

The group from this country, who were resting by the stream, suddenly heard a mournful dragon roar that could shake the earth.

All the accompanying Daruka immediately trembled and prostrated themselves on the ground, making a gesture of absolute submission.

"That's... a Flame-Crying Dragon?"

The middle-aged man stared in astonishment at the fire dragon that was flying and struggling wildly in the sky.

"This is one of the Dragon God's strongest offspring. What happened? It seems to be... screaming in pain?"

The middle-aged woman beside him stared wide-eyed, saying incredulously.

While holding a bowl of water, Renya noticed a figure standing on the back of the Flame Crying Dragon, who looked somewhat familiar.

"That is……?"

She murmured with some doubt.

……

Chapter 156 Dragon Knight, Full Moon Blade Qi, Contact with Xue Jing's Mirror Image (4K)

The fire dragon struggled wildly in the sky, its body engulfed in raging flames, trying to burn Xue Jing on its back to death or throw him off.

However, the intensity of the material activated by the Shadow Flame, which has now reached level 6, is incomparable to that before.

At this moment, Xue Jing covered his entire body with armor, and the flames bursting from the fire dragon's body were not as powerful as the dragon breath he exhaled.

One was stronger than before, while the other was weaker, so the result was naturally different from before. The Shadow Flame Armor firmly blocked the burning flames, melting only slowly, and could even be repaired at any time.

Xue Jing endured the burning sensation as several dark tentacles extended from his armor, binding the fire dragon and securing him firmly to its back, preventing him from being thrown off.

Then, gripping the black spiral spear piercing the fire dragon's body, he twisted it again.

The countless black thorns that bloomed like lotus flowers inside the fire dragon's body returned to their original form with this twist, turning into black flames that burst into flames within the fire dragon's body.

"Roar--!!"

The fire dragon let out an even more agonizing roar and howl, and its internal organs began to be destroyed incessantly, as if a terrifying beast was gnawing at its body.

Even so, after the entire spiral spear had been completely consumed by black flames, the fire dragon was still alive and kicking, its struggles becoming increasingly violent, its vitality astonishing.

Xue Jing was somewhat surprised, but his hands continued moving.

Black energy was drawn from the shadow beneath him, igniting into black flames that transformed into reins, which were then placed around the fire dragon's mouth and neck.

Although he had never encountered the concept of 'riding' before, the fire dragon instinctively understood the humiliating meaning behind Xue Jing's actions at that moment.

It immediately roared angrily, struggling to break free of the Shadowflame reins binding it.

"You beast, you seemed to be enjoying spitting out phlegm just now, didn't you?"

Xue Jing wrapped the reins around his palms several times, then pulled hard.

With bulging veins in his arms and a powerful martial arts style, combined with his physical strength at Fitness Lv10, the double strength from [Twin Power], and the control over the creature beneath him from [Riding], he momentarily overpowered the fire dragon in brute force, pulling its head back.

"Roar--!!"

An angry dragon's roar shook the heavens.

……

On the other side, the group from this country stared at the unusual appearance of the Flame-Crying Dragon on the distant horizon, and they were all shocked.

"There seems to be someone on the Flame-Crying Dragon's body!?"

"Wait, what is he doing?"

"A rope! He put a rope around the head of the Flame-Crying Dragon!"

"Is that a rein? How dare he use the Dragon God's offspring as a mount?"

The crowd gasped in surprise.

"Putting aside that person's disrespectful behavior, how exactly did he manage to sit on the Flame-Crying Dragon?"

"Are they from that country?"

Renia, hiding in the shade of a large tree, holding a bowl of water, stared blankly at the figure on the back of the Flame Crying Dragon on the horizon.

"Oh? I didn't expect the native humans in this border region to be so capable."

A miraculous thing happened: the bowl of water that Renya was holding actually spoke, uttering a childish voice with a hint of surprise in its tone.

"They've actually reached the level of solo hunting of high-risk dragon species."

Upon hearing this, Renia looked down at the surface of the water in the bowl in her hand.