As the tornado and its nine-colored vortex dissipated, two colossal figures slowly emerged.
On one side stood a massive black creature, and on the other, a nine-colored being.
The black creature towered nine hundred meters tall, its colossal frame adorned with enormous black skeletal wings. Its bones were exposed, crisscrossed with constantly appearing black patterns.
It possessed a pair of black and white eyes, and its head was entirely bone, devoid of flesh, a truly colossal Bone Dragon.
The massive Bone Dragon's wings were composed of black and white bone, as was its head. Furthermore, black patterns flickered with light across its colossal body.
The dragon race had many branches, such as elemental dragons, and Bone Dragons were one of them, masters of spatial power. Chen Tian was curious as to what could have transformed an elemental dragon into a Bone Dragon from its very origin, or if they were Bone Dragons to begin with.
Beside the Bone Dragon stood a nine-colored unicorn of similar size, its four pairs of nine-colored wings slowly unfurling. At the base of each wing were four nine-colored halos. Two nine-colored phoenix coronets were embedded on either side of its head like headdresses. In the center of the coronets was a nine-colored horn, a dragon horn, though it now resembled a unicorn's horn.
Its conical, slender horn was like a drill, etched with winding nine-colored stripes.
Below the nine-colored body were four colossal dragon claws, not the feet of a unicorn. These claws were enveloped in nine-colored energy, and the central part of its body, its belly, was surrounded by red and blue light.
Chen Tian and Xie Mie had now reverted to their true forms. They slowly opened their mouths, and nine-colored and black-and-white vortices appeared at their lips.
Simultaneously, they unleashed two beams of light, the nine-colored beam resembling a rainbow, and the black-and-white beam like the intersection of night and day.
Their beams collided, weaving back and forth, utterly indistinguishable in their prowess. Immense explosions erupted, and the nine-colored radiance and black-and-white light projected a fleeting image.
Chen Tian, gazing at the image above, was stunned. Then, countless bone spikes rained down. Xie Mie would not miss this opportunity; the opponent was distracted. This was his chance.
The black patterns on Xie Mie's entire body began to flash, and from above the bones, countless black bone spikes materialized, instantly encasing Xie Mie's form in a protective layer denser than a hedgehog's quills.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
A torrent of black bone spikes, like a ferocious storm, surged towards Chen Tian. Chen Tian, seeing the dense barrage above, realized it was too late to defend as the spikes were already upon him.
The entire sky was obscured as if by black storm clouds, the dense bone spikes forming a vast, dark canopy that covered the heavens.
They descended, and Chen Tian unfurled his wings. Instantly, the nine-colored rings on his four pairs of wings detached, moving to the front of Chen Tian. They converged, and a circular shield formed before him.
The countless black spikes struck the nine-colored circular shield with the sound of steel nails hitting steel, emitting a sharp clang.
Behind the shield, Chen Tian unfurled his four pairs of wings, which detached from his body and spun at high speed, forming nine-colored blade energy.
The nine-colored wings rotated like disks, and Chen Tian launched an immediate attack. Four pairs of nine-colored blade disks flew out, slicing through the countless black bone spikes in their path.
Seeing this, Xie Mie's black-and-white eyes flickered. The space around the nine-colored wings became chaotic, like a precision cutting machine. The nine-colored wings were instantly disrupted and stopped spinning.
Chen Tian, witnessing this, willed his wings to return to his body and the rings to their bases. Their gazes locked.
Instantly, their figures transformed into two streaks of light, one nine-colored and the other black-and-white, erupting with ultimate speed.
They engaged in close-quarters combat. For beast races, their bodies were their greatest strength, far more robust than humans.
Chen Tian and Xie Mie unleashed their ultimate speed, their forms a chaotic blur of black-and-white and nine-colored light colliding in the sky.
The resulting explosions and impacts reverberated throughout the heavens.
As Chen Tian and Xie Mie collided once more, Xie Mie's Bone Dragon claw lunged directly towards Chen Tian's head.
Chen Tian's dragon horn on his head began to spin like a drill, instantly deflecting the Bone Dragon's claw. Simultaneously, Chen Tian fiercely bit down on Xie Mie's bone.
"Crack!" A bone-chilling sound echoed as Chen Tian's bite left deep fissures on the Bone Dragon's claw. Xie Mie cried out in pain and then executed a tail swipe. His massive bone tail struck Chen Tian's body.
Several nine-colored scales detached from Chen Tian's body as he was sent flying backward.
Chen Tian regarded Xie Mie, acknowledging that this Lord-level boss could make such swift and damaging judgments.
Chen Tian then detached the phoenix coronets from his head. They shot out like projectiles.
The fearsome nine-colored coronets attacked Xie Mie from both sides. Xie Mie responded by merging his Bone Dragon wings, enveloping himself, and began to spin.
A conical phantom appeared, and above the rapidly spinning Xie Mie, a drill phantom materialized, emitting a low hum.
The coronets bounced off the spinning drill-like body, then returned to Chen Tian's head.
The high-speed spinning black drill phantom then aimed its tip at Chen Tian, unleashing a rotating storm and black light that rapidly shot towards him.
Chen Tian remained unfazed. Countless nine-colored lights and rays converged on the unicorn horn atop his head. The nine-colored lines on the horn began to spin, and the horn itself rotated.
Chen Tian then lowered his head, aiming his horn at the black drill phantom. With a resounding impact, the horn launched itself forward.
The nine-colored unicorn horn was delicate, but its rapidly spinning nine-colored lines expanded, forming a colossal nine-colored drill.
The two drills collided, sparks flying, the entire sky erupting like fireworks, nine-colored and black-and-white sparks. It would have been beautiful at night.
The nine-colored drill, the nine-colored light, pierced the heavens.
Skill: Nine-Colored Radiant Drill.
As the two drills clashed, they were initially evenly matched. But as time passed, the nine-colored drill gradually gained the upper hand, mercilessly crushing the black drill.
A nine-colored beam of light streaked across and returned to Chen Tian's head with a drift.
The center of the colossal Bone Dragon was as if pierced by something, a massive hole appearing. Its body then faded into starlight.
"No, impossible! How could I possibly lose? Impossible!"
An explosion rang out, and the Bone Dragon's entire body disintegrated.
A black vortex appeared where the Bone Dragon had exploded, and a voice that instilled deep fear in Chen Tian emanated from it.
"Destined one, for slaying my clone, a great sin. Death is bestowed!"
Black tendrils emerged from the black vortex, forming a black spear that shot directly at Chen Tian.
Chen Tian attempted to defend, but the speed was too great. The black spear pierced Chen Tian in an instant, less than a second.
The vortex then slowly shrank. This was the last will of Xie Mie's clone, a channel connecting to its true body. Now that this clone was destroyed, it could not hold for long.
After being impaled by the black spear, black patterns began to appear all over Chen Tian's body, instantly transforming into countless black chains that bound him.
Then, the chains vanished. Chen Tian instantly reverted to his human form, looking at his body with confusion. What had happened? Why had he automatically reverted from his dragon-phoenix state?
Chen Tian looked at his body, then opened his sleeves. On his skin, patterns of black chains covered his entire body.
"Player has been afflicted with the Seal of the Evil Dragon's Third Son: Dark Seal. All attribute abilities have been sealed."
Chen Tian was surprised by the electronic voice. A seal? Did this game even have such buffs?
He then opened the panel for the Dark Seal.
Dark Seal: Dark chains formed by unknown dark energy, eroding the player's abilities and sealing all attributes and skills, rendering the player comparable to a mortal. Duration: three months.
"Congratulations, Player, on completing the quest: Gain quest reward: Hidden Profession King of Ice and Snow, one exclusive skill enhancement card, ninety million experience, three hundred attribute points."
"Congratulations, Player, on completing the hidden quest: Slay Xie Mie's Clone. Gain quest reward: Hidden Profession Technician, three ability enhancement cards, thirty million experience, six hundred attribute points, three drops of Dragon Blood, three Dragon Bones, one Dragon Yuan, Dragon Race Ability: Space Mastery."
"Congratulations, Player, on slaying the Lord-level boss and gaining fifty-six million points."
"Ancestral Dragon Body has absorbed Dragon Blood and Dragon Bones, complete reinforcement. All Dragon race abilities have been enhanced. Congratulations, Player, on gathering Dragon Blood, Dragon Yuan, Dragon Bones, and Ancestral Dragon Body. Now converging within yourself...!"
"Congratulations, Player, on condensing Dragon Physique and Dragon Soul. Dragon race professional abilities can be used within any profession."
Chen Tian listened to the electronic voice in his mind. The rewards were excellent, but with all his attributes and abilities sealed, what was the point?
Chen Tian opened his panel and saw that, as expected, all information was marked with a black 'X' by the chains, rendering it unusable.
However, two items remained unaffected: the Shapeshifting Ball and the exclusive skill "Cover the Sea with a Sky of Tides." Everything else was unusable.
This time, Chen Tian was truly troubled. What would happen to his points in the anniversary event map if this occurred?
Chen Tian then checked his ranking and was astonished. He was in the top five. Defeating a Lord-level boss had propelled him into the top five.
Chen Tian was shocked. After all, points in the anniversary event were gained through player PK and exploring the world to defeat monsters. How could Chen Tian have gained fifty-six million points so quickly?
Before Chen Tian lay a blue magic array, the teleportation array to leave this dungeon. However, Chen Tian had no intention of leaving. The most crucial issue now was that all his attributes and abilities were sealed, leaving him completely combat-incapable.
And Chen Tian's seal lasted for three months. He had other quests to complete during this time. There was simply not enough time.
Chen Tian needed to carefully consider his future path before leaving.
Suddenly, Chen Tian thought of something. His mind flashed, and he exclaimed with delight, "Right! I still have that profession I can use!"
Chen Tian opened his attribute panel, scrolled through his professions, and found the one he desired.
"Summoner: A profession that forms contracts with summoned beings and controls summoned creatures to fight. By design, this profession has no attribute values, equivalent to nothing. The Summoner's combat style involves cultivating summoned beasts to fight."
This condition had always been unattainable for Chen Tian. However, with his attributes sealed, he was practically nothing. The Summoner profession also lit up.
Chen Tian clicked on the Summoner profession, and light converged on his head. A colorful magical snowflake imprint appeared on his forehead.
Chen Tian then sat cross-legged. Instantly, the magic array on his forehead glowed, and his body seemed to lose its soul, becoming like wood.
In a time tunnel, Chen Tian advanced, searching for the world of the summoned beast he wished to contract.
To form a contract, a Summoner needed to find a suitable summoned beast and establish an equal contract, enabling the summoned beast to become the Summoner's battle pet.
The time tunnel Chen Tian was in was a passage to various worlds, where he could travel to higher-level worlds to find more powerful summoned beasts.
But his powerful intuition and consciousness told him that none of these worlds held what he sought; he had not encountered a summoned beast that moved him.
He continued to travel through the time tunnel when suddenly, the colorful magic array on his forehead emitted a faint glow, shooting a colored beam towards a corner on the left.
Chen Tian was filled with joy. It had appeared, a summoned beast suitable for him. His figure followed the beam's guidance towards its destination.
Chen Tian plunged into a black vortex. When he reappeared, he was in an endless darkness, the surroundings pitch black, and he could see nothing.
Chen Tian grew confused. Where was this? According to the setting of the Time Epoch world, there was no such world.
Instantly, a colored light appeared before Chen Tian, guiding him to the left.
Although confused, Chen Tian had arrived. It would be a waste not to obtain his summoned beast.
He followed the colored light, which acted like a firefly in the night, illuminating the path.
Following the trace of the colored light, Chen Tian arrived at a massive pit. The light entered the pit.
Chen Tian murmured, "Is it in the pit?"
He then extended his hands and began to dig. After digging for some time, Chen Tian seemed to touch something. He gripped it tightly and pulled the object out of the earth.
Chen Tian looked at the object before him. It was an egg, a black and white, striped egg.
Chen Tian was overjoyed. Lines appeared on his forehead and entered the egg. Soon, a contract appeared before Chen Tian.
Looking at the contract, Chen Tian felt a pang of sadness. This egg had endured so much.
Without hesitation, Chen Tian touched the contract with his finger. He sympathized deeply with this creature and was willing to abide by its terms.
"Contract established. Those who break it will suffer the punishment of burning fire."
A screen appeared before Chen Tian. He paid it no mind; since the contract was established, there was no need to break it.
In the game Time Epoch, Summoners and summoned beasts had to mutually agree to a contract for it to be successful. If either party broke the contract, they would suffer the stipulated punishment.
This was also a restriction imposed by the Time Epoch developers to prevent players from indiscriminately seeking contract beasts and forcing contracts.
Without the summoned beast's consent, a contract could not be formed, which was why few players chose the Summoner profession.
Summoners themselves possessed no abilities or attributes; only their summoned beasts fought. Cultivating summoned beasts required immense time, experience, and money, which most players could not afford.
But Chen Tian was not afraid. He was a "Cold Observer," with great power and virtually no restrictions.
"Crack, crack!"
"Awoo~"
As the contract was established, the shell of the egg in Chen Tian's hand cracked open, revealing a small black and white mouth.
A small figure emerged. Chen Tian picked up the eggshell and fed it to the creature. The little one let out a few cries and instantly devoured the entire shell.