With the appearance of the spatial rift above the Dark Witch Tower, every player on the scene suddenly found themselves unable to move their bodies. Everything around them seemed to freeze in that single moment.
"What kind of monster is inside that thing?"
The terrifying pressure caused Shen Yin and the others standing near Chen Yuan to tremble with fear.
They could feel that this horrifying pressure was not coming from the spatial rift itself, but from some kind of creature within it — a sense of oppression unlike anything they had experienced since entering the Divine Realm.
They didn't doubt for a second that if the creature inside the rift stepped out, they would perish in an instant.
After the group had been frozen in terror for a few moments, the two Shadow's Claw members standing at the center of the magic circle began to scream — the kind of blood-curdling screams that made one's skin crawl just hearing them.
"Chen Yuan, didn't you say they'd be fine?" Shen Yin turned to look at him, her expression turning ice-cold.
Both of them were top-tier experts of their Shadow's Claw, and among the rare players who had reached second-class. If they were crippled as a result of this, it would be no small loss.
"Relax, they'll be fine. In fact, once the ritual is over, they'll feel better than they ever have before. You could even call them the strongest players in the Divine Realm!" Chen Yuan watched the two Shadow's Claw experts writhing in agony and couldn't help but smile as he explained.
Shen Yin had no idea what he was talking about. Just as she was about to press him for a clearer explanation, the two people within the magic circle suddenly began to change.
They had already been tall, broad-shouldered men, but now their bodies began to swell grotesquely. Every muscle ballooned outward like an inflating balloon, and within seconds their human forms were unrecognizable. A pair of dark gray wings burst from their backs, and silvery-gray scales spread across their entire bodies.
In barely six or seven seconds, two living players had become two massive dragons well over ten meters tall, letting out earth-shaking roars that echoed throughout the entire Dark Witch Tower.
"Dragons?!"
Shen Yin and the others were stunned speechless.
Facing these two dragons, they could tell that these were nothing like the half-dragon creatures they were familiar with. Although their level was modest — only 56, the same as their original player levels — the pressure stemming from a difference in life form was unmistakable. The two dragons before them were not some kind of lesser dragonkin. They were true dragons.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call them proper dragons, but the Evil God has granted them new life. Their life form may not quite reach the level of true dragons, but they're on par with Primordial Species. You can call them Evil Dragons." Chen Yuan gazed at the two Evil Dragons that had taken shape, his excitement evident. "These are nothing like those lowly evil demons. Evil Dragons were originally players — somewhat similar to your Dark Corruption, but far more thorough and far more powerful. They are now third-class, possessing strength and vitality that surpass even third-class NPCs."
"Of course, my power is still incomplete. I'll need more resources to unseal it. Once I've fully mastered this power, they'll become even stronger still!"
"Evil Dragons, huh?" Shen Yin stared at the two dragons that loomed like small mountains, her heart pounding with astonishment. "No wonder the Beast Emperor thinks so highly of you — he's willing to invest so much in cultivating you."
Dark Corruption was something she knew all too well.
But Dark Corruption only enhanced a player's combat power. It didn't produce any fundamental change.
Yet the players who had transformed into Evil Dragons had undergone a qualitative metamorphosis. Not only had their class jumped up by a full tier, but their very life form had been elevated to the level of Primordial Species. In other words, these players now wielded the power of third-class Primordial Species. The implications were terrifying.
Third-class Primordial Species were already incredibly difficult to deal with — their power was simply too overwhelming for current players. Fortunately, monsters' combat intelligence was generally poor and they knew very few skills, so a well-coordinated player party might still stand a chance. But replace that Primordial Species with a skilled player — one controlling this power not through some indirect means, but as though it were their own true body —