New Hunts and Evolution Concepts

Xingyan's greatest fear did not come to pass.

A week had passed since he defeated the Mudfish Dragon and ate it all. Xingyan had been on edge for the entire week, terrified that he would wake up one morning to find his skin or shell secreting slime, or that he would transform from a fire-element dragon into one that spewed mud.

Or perhaps his shell would start to fall off, replaced by scales like a fish's, or he'd grow pectoral fins, ventral fins, and so on. Fortunately, none of these dreadful changes occurred.

There wasn't even a hint of change; it wasn't a case of insufficient quantity or quality from eating only one Mudfish Dragon.

The Mudfish Dragon he ate seemed to have transformed entirely into pure Life Energy, making Xingyan's body stronger and more solid, but that was all.

If there was any change at all, it was that as Xingyan's body continued to grow taller and larger, the mineral secretions that had never fully covered his body became even sparser due to his expanding physique.

From a distance, he looked like a spotted dog, or rather, a spotted dragon. Patches of ore were scattered intermittently across his shell. To be honest, it was a bit ugly... at least, Xingyan thought it was ugly.

But there was nothing he could do about it. This was something he could only fix once he found a mineral vein later. Xingyan believed that as long as he ate enough, everything would be fine.

What comforted Xingyan was that his guess about his body seemed correct: his body wouldn't change blindly, but would evolve according to his will.

This was a good thing.

Yes, when he first transmigrated, Xingyan was indeed a little dissatisfied that he was just a Dragon Slayer. Even when playing the game, he thought Dragon Slayers were cool and stylish, like Long Sword wielders who could perform Iai. But Dragon Slayers couldn't fly!!

The advantage of aerial units attacking ground units was self-evident. As everyone knows, in many games, there's a legendary player who, despite immense power, is often mocked and turned into a meme.

Groudon.

Because he couldn't fly.

Despite his imposing lore and his role as the creator of all land on Earth, he was constantly ridiculed for his inability to fly.

Xingyan didn't want to become a second Groudon.

A Forbidden Species ridiculed for not being able to fly... he absolutely didn't want that!

Now, with the ability to guide his own evolution after transmigrating, Xingyan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He was dissatisfied with not being able to fly, but that didn't mean he wanted to become something like a Mudfish Dragon, burrowing around underground.

Therefore, his long-term goal was to eat enough large winged dragons of sufficient quantity and quality!

Hey! Brother! Your wings look great, let me eat them!

Let me eat them!!

With fire dancing in his eyes, Xingyan, after eating his fill, was somewhat ambitious as he envisioned the future.

Life as a dragon was somewhat boring. Every day was spent either hunting or sleeping, with no real entertainment activities. He could only pass the time with these daydreams.

Unless one possessed the strength of an Elder Dragon, one should not wander aimlessly in the Great Sand Sea after eating their fill. That was not an activity for ordinary dragons.

This was one of Xingyan's hard-learned lessons. Having adapted to his current life, he had long lost the curiosity he had when he first transmigrated into his favorite game world... he certainly didn't dare to have it now.

Night.

The nights in the Great Sand Sea were relatively quiet. Compared to the Ancient Forest, there were far fewer creatures that were active and hunting at night. However, this did not mean that moving around at night was safer.

He had arrived beneath a giant anthill. The Great Sand Sea was filled with such anthills built by Ant Workers, like countless ant kingdoms, large and small. This was why this area in the game was named the Great Sand Sea by Hunters.

These Ant Workers formed the most basic link in the entire ecosystem of the Great Sand Sea. Xingyan looked up and could see many glowing yellow lights flickering on the surface of the anthill, like countless twinkling stars.

It was quite beautiful, and it even illuminated the surrounding wasteland a bit brighter, though not to the level of daylight.

Xingyan knew the cruelty beneath this beautiful facade. Those glowing yellow lights, like stars, were actually Shining Winged Insects and their larvae. The Shining Winged Insects were circling this anthill because they were preying on the Ant Workers living there.

It was like bringing the kids out for a meal.

Just then, Xingyan suddenly lowered his body. He heard a faint sound from a distance.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

To be precise, it was from high above.

A dragon was coming.

Despite flapping its wings rapidly, the sound seemed to approach slowly, with a leisurely feel.

Xingyan carefully avoided the direction of the sound and hid behind the anthill.

Finally, he heard the sound of wings beating the air grow closer, followed by a rustling sound, as if the dragon had already started eating.

The Shining Winged Insects, which had been peacefully preying on the Ant Workers, scattered like startled birds, forming several streams of glowing yellow light and fleeing in all directions in the blink of an eye.

The approaching dragon also seemed to become agitated. It chased after the scattering Shining Winged Insects, stretching its neck as much as possible to swallow them, but this action was proving difficult.

Because it had no neck.

Or rather, it did have a neck, but at this moment, it was submerged by its swollen body, making it impossible to extend and catch all the fleeing Shining Winged Insects.

It looked like a giant balloon, with a long tail hanging below and a pair of wide wings on either side—like a balloon that could propel itself forward by flapping its own wings. No wonder it took so long to fly to the top of the anthill.

It was entirely black, with only two conspicuous patterns resembling monster eyes on the sides of the balloon. Approaching in the dark night, the darkness served as its camouflage.

At the front of this giant balloon was a huge dragon head, with fan-shaped ears similar to a bat's, and a mix of black and white fur.

The intelligence Dragon Slayer was back online. Don't underestimate Xingyan's intelligence network.

Sleepy Floater Dragon.

This is a large dragon species that appears in the Great Sand Sea at night, feeding primarily on Ant Workers, with Shining Winged Insects being a secondary food source.

By simply opening its mouth wide and taking a huge gulp at the edge of an anthill, this creature can inhale a massive amount of Ant Workers in one go.

As a subspecies of the Floating Dragon, the Sleepy Floater Dragon's temperament is generally mild. However, when suddenly startled or attacked, they will retaliate. More often than not, though, they will put on a fierce expression and use the two eye-like patterns on their bodies, resembling those of some terrifying monster, to scare off opponents.

At most, they will secrete a hypnotic substance from within their bodies, mix it with the air they inhale, and then spray it out. Once an enemy is affected and falls asleep, the Sleepy Floater Dragon will seize the opportunity to escape.

It's a pushover.

But it's a pushover that needs to be dealt with.

For his dream of flight and the immense survival advantage it would bring, Xingyan set his sights on the Sleepy Floater Dragons that appeared during this time.

The ability to absorb the essence of creatures it consumes and autonomously evolve by selecting superior traits was indeed a potent ability, granting Xingyan enough power to protect himself even in his Young Dragon stage.

However, everything in the world has its pros and cons. The good part is that with this ability, Xingyan would at least become a brand-new Elder Dragon in the future, and even transcending the ecosystem to become a forbidden entity wasn't out of the question.

The downside, however, is that Xingyan's evolutionary path is entirely up to him to control. This means he needs to carefully select his evolutionary direction, ensuring that the new abilities he absorbs do not conflict with each other, or even hinder him, thereby reducing his combat effectiveness.

Honestly, this is quite difficult, as Xingyan wasn't a biologist in his past life, and the dragons in this world are vastly different from the wild animals he knew.

Perhaps he could eliminate inferior abilities or organs by continuously consuming or preying on creatures with superior abilities?

Xingyan, having never truly experienced such a situation, couldn't say for sure. He could only be as careful as possible.

He wanted to become a unique, high-quality Elder Dragon, not a cobbled-together dragon from the roadside.

It was precisely for this reason that, after careful consideration, and taking into account his current abilities and hunting range, Xingyan set his sights on the Sleepy Floater Dragon.

The body of a Dragon Slayer is incredibly heavy, primarily due to two factors. The first is the large amount of minerals ingested during daily life, which settle on the surface of its tail and within its body. A single, exquisitely forged Sword Tail alone weighs as much as some smaller dragon species.

The second is the Dragon Slayer's body itself, especially the muscles in its legs and hips. To ensure agile movements during hunts and to easily swing its heavy Sword Tail, a Dragon Slayer's muscles must be denser and more robust; otherwise, it would be incapable of engaging in intense combat. These muscles are also extremely weighty.

Xingyan couldn't abandon his formidable offensive power and physiological advantages for the sake of wings. Therefore, to fly, he set his sights on the gas sacs of the Sleepy Floater Dragon—Floating Dragons also possess them, but they inhabit the Coral Highlands and feed on the coral eggs found there, making them inaccessible in the Great Sand Sea.

But it didn't matter; Sleepy Floater Dragons had them too.

According to Xingyan's plan, he couldn't reduce his own weight; in fact, it would likely increase in the future. His bones couldn't be hollow like a bird's to reduce weight. However, he could increase his buoyancy using gas sacs, which would indirectly reduce his effective weight, allowing him to fly when flapping his wings, much like Floating Dragons and Sleepy Floater Dragons.

Simultaneously, these gas sacs could aid him in breathing at high altitudes or be used for direct propulsion to accelerate. At worst, the gas sacs could simply be used as a transitional organ.

This was because Xingyan knew that there existed another type of dragon in this world with a unique method of flight. They also couldn't fly or glide by flapping their wings. Instead, they inhaled and stored large amounts of air within their bodies, then expelled it mixed with Dragon Energy, achieving extremely high speeds—a jet-like flight akin to a shooting star.

Comet Dragon.

Xingyan believed the most suitable and ideal method of flight for him was the Comet Dragon's method of flight.

Regardless of his weight, he would rely on the reaction force of expulsion for high-speed flight. All he needed to do was inhale and then expel—if he couldn't fly, it simply meant his power output wasn't high enough.

Given his uniqueness and the abundance of Life Energy in this world, increasing power output was merely a matter of scaling up.

It was perfect.

But this was also where Xingyan's headache lay. Comet Dragons were Elder Dragons, and they were elusive, fast-flying, and devastatingly destructive Elder Dragons.

Unlike in games where their destructive capabilities were limited for the sake of gameplay, in the real world, a single "cute star flying crash" could obliterate the surface of an entire region. As for the Hunters standing on it... good luck to them.

Therefore, Xingyan couldn't possibly hunt one or even several Comet Dragons in one go. Before that, he needed other means of flight to enhance his combat effectiveness.

For now, it could only be described as a dragon's ultimate fantasy.

The thought of descending from the sky at Comet Dragon speeds and unleashing a single strike filled him with excitement—what about the Shattered Black Dragon or the Black Dragon? Could they withstand such an aerial blade attack?

Extreme physical damage could even break through energy barriers!

Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, Xingyan awoke from his mental fantasy. There was no shame in it; dragons needed dreams.

Lowering his body further, Xingyan stared intently at the Sleepy Floater Dragon that was gradually descending. It was currently inhaling Ant Workers from the anthill with great gusto, along with various small items the Ant Workers were transporting back to their nests, from mushrooms to plants.

Busy eating and inhaling, its altitude was continuously decreasing. Finally, it reached a height where Xingyan could attack.

Blade unsheathed!!

Shing!!

Under the moonlight of the night, Xingyan unleashed a bright flash of light, leaping fiercely from the ground. He then twisted his tail and slashed at the airborne Sleepy Floater Dragon!

He hit it!

"Gurglegurglegurgle!!!"

For a moment, it let out an exceptionally loud roar of pain, sounding like a hiccup. The Sleepy Floater Dragon's cry was rather strange, not matching its round, cute appearance at all; it was very rough.

It had finally noticed Xingyan.

Honestly, Xingyan was already surprised that it had been so carelessly hiding behind the anthill, circling like Qin Shi Huang. The Sleepy Floater Dragon was indeed not very intelligent.

To prevent it from simply floating away, Xingyan's surprise attack had targeted the Sleepy Floater Dragon's wings.