The Bone Dragon, attacked by the Metal Creature, flailed and crashed, trying to shake off its relentless assailant.
Despite being deformed by the Bone Dragon's massive force, the Metal Creature quickly recovered, clung tightly to the Bone Dragon's head, and voraciously gnawed through its skull, absorbing the energy of the magical dragon crystal.
The Bone Dragon, as if intoxicated, staggered and frequently crashed to the ground.
It was unable to dislodge the Metal Creature, which only absorbed more energy during the struggle.
Eddie rushed over but couldn't get close. Suddenly, the Bone Dragon collapsed, its bones scattering, its spinal column snapping, its wing membrane dissipating into smoke, and its leg bones shattering.
All that remained was its huge skull, which fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Eddie reached to grab the Metal Creature, but the Bone Dragon's skull exploded, revealing a black sphere of light shooting towards Eddie.
He was about to destroy it with his innate sword energy, but then he noticed the sphere curiously merging into the red object in his hand.
A puff of black smoke rose, and the deep red object gradually transformed into a dark purple crescent blade.
The crescent blade, once incomplete, now featured a small purple flame-like sphere filling the gap, while the other broken side sprouted sinister bone spikes with a skull-like black sphere embedded in it.
This transformed crescent blade, now dark purple with complex and mysterious patterns, seemed almost alive under Eddie's gaze.
Using his perceptive eyes, he realized the larger purple sphere was the core of the Fire Lord, which had chosen to attach itself to the reshaped crescent blade for protection.
The smaller black skull sphere was part of the Bone Dragon's magical dragon crystal, which had also opted to merge with the crescent blade, abandoning its original dragon form.
In fact, had the Bone Dragon not escaped swiftly, the Metal Creature would have drained its energy within a minute.
The Metal Creature, drooling with greed, eyed the transformed crescent blade in Eddie's hand. Annoyed, Eddie kicked it away.
The crescent blade, now infused with the Fire Lord's Core of Molten Fire and the Bone Dragon's Skull Crystal of Magical Dragon, had undergone a metamorphosis, transforming into a 'living' demonic blade.
Both the Core of Molten Fire and the Skull Crystal were severely damaged and required substantial energy to recover.
Eddie speculated that if the blade absorbed more energy, its quality and power could be further enhanced. Even at its current state, the crescent blade had evolved into a silver-level demonic weapon.
Eddie wondered if integrating another powerful monster's core crystal could elevate it to a golden-level demonic blade.
The newly transformed blade, although just a level higher, was significantly superior in quality to the original.
A gentle swipe of its edge easily cut through the previously indestructible eggshell, showcasing its extraordinary power, akin to a legendary sword from another world.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Eddie named the blade 'Ashes,' reflecting a touch of his whimsical nature.
The Ashes was significantly smaller than the original crescent blade, being about a third smaller after the transformation.
Eddie thought he could easily wear it on a belt with a clip. The remaining crescent blade, however, due to its size and length, could only be carried on his back.
Following his victory over formidable foes, Eddie's mid-tier bronze summoning book leveled up again.
Eddie estimated that no one else on Dragonrise Continent had experienced such a rapid advancement of their summoning book after a single battle.
However, the coveted storage blank page he yearned for did not appear after the upgrade.
Eddie had learned from Ina about this secret feature: some summoners' books gain a blank page for storing items after leveling up.
The storage capacity varied based on the individual's aura, typically no more than five types of items and with limited space, suitable for storing small, valuable objects.
Eddie longed for such a storage page, but it remained elusive.
Dimensional storage rings did exist on Dragonrise Continent but were considered holy relics, so rare that even Emperor Jun Wuyou of Daxia couldn't obtain one.
Despite the absence of a storage page, the ancient laws granted Eddie's life guardian beast 'Phantom' a second special ability: 'Reshape'.
Reshape allowed Phantom to absorb the body and energy of similar beasts after taking over a new host, reshaping its body.
The success depended on the strength and will of the target.
Eddie didn't fully understand the purpose of Reshape yet.
Was it just for altering appearances?
As a combat laborer, Phantom didn't need to be attractive, so reshaping seemed superfluous.
However, Eddie wouldn't mind if Phantom could look a bit nicer.
The two unconscious demon generals, Pest and Wing, ended up as nourishment for the Golden Thorns' offshoots, enriching their growth.
Eddie speculated that even without fully digesting Demon King Hasin's arm, the Golden Thorns would evolve into Thorn Witches within three days, given the nourishment from four high-level demon generals.
He was curious about the appearance of a humanoid Thorn Witch but hoped it wouldn't resemble Phantom's ugliness.
Meanwhile, the ever-unchanging Little Wenli turned into a fragrant rainbow and returned to Eddie's body to rest.
The Metal Creature, realizing Eddie wouldn't let it consume the Ashes, reverted to its bracelet form.
Eddie wasn't sure if it was the absorption of the energy from the Bone Dragon's crystal or something else, but the Metal Creature's transformation ability had significantly improved.
Previously, its transformation into a bracelet was exquisitely beautiful and full of energy, clearly not an ordinary object.
Now, it had transformed into an ordinary-looking bracelet, indistinguishable from those worn by regular mercenaries.
Eddie himself could hardly believe it was the Metal Creature unless he had seen it with his own eyes.
After using a teleportation scroll and carrying the young Nine-Headed Beast, Eddie returned to the Warrior's Guild.
Drenched from the storm and the intense battle, Eddie stood out conspicuously, especially while holding the beast that was larger than a calf.
Some mercenaries first curiously wondered why a water ghost-like figure had teleported back, and then, upon closer inspection and noticing the Nine-Headed Beast, they exclaimed in shock.
"This, this is...?" one of them shouted.
"A cat," Eddie responded with his best poker face.
The surrounding mercenaries fell to the ground in disbelief.
Everyone recognized a Nine-Headed Beast; if this was a cat, then mammoths would be considered mice!
Ignoring the idle chatter of the mercenaries who usually sat outside the guild drinking and talking, Eddie hurriedly carried the young Nine-Headed Beast to a warrior's inn near the auction house, seeking out the leader of the Storm Mercenary Group to negotiate an exchange.
The leader of the Storm Mercenary Group was a young man around 25 or 26 years old. Considering the prolonged adolescence and lifespan on Dragonrise Continent, he was akin to a 17 or 18-year-old on Earth.
In fact, on Dragonrise Continent, it was common for men to marry around the age of 35 to 40, while women tended to marry earlier.
This young leader, trying to appear mature and valiant, had deliberately grown a beard, but his actions and demeanor seemed somewhat out of place to Eddie, like a child trying to act grown-up.
Regardless of how others chose to present themselves, Eddie's focus was solely on exchanging the young Nine-Headed Beast for the Wisdom Fruit and the Resurrection Branch of the Tree of Life.
Eddie was frustrated to learn that the Wisdom Fruit had already been given away, leaving only the Resurrection Branch for exchange.
"What do I need money for?" he retorted angrily.
He had risked his life to capture the young Nine-Headed Beast, only to find out that the Wisdom Fruit was no longer available.
Although Eddie was actually short on cash, having spent his reward and savings on teleportation scrolls and beast eggs for others, the compensation of 300 gold coins seemed laughable compared to the value of the Wisdom Fruit, which couldn't be bought with any amount of money.
The Wisdom Fruit was essential for Yue Bing's War Treant to potentially advance several levels, so Eddie insisted it be part of the exchange.
A girl similar in age to Sophia, standing at the door, suggested not to trade the Nine-Headed Beast and instead to use the Resurrection Branch for her classmate's Winged Rabbit, which could potentially evolve if fed with the branch's life-giving leaves.
The leader of the Storm Mercenary Group was frustrated by this suggestion, seeing the idea of feeding a powerless Winged Rabbit with the branch as nonsensical.
A burly man, likely Forlun's bodyguard captain, tried to persuade Eddie to accept the deal, offering to pay the debt later, as they were from the prestigious Feng family.
He proposed signing an official agreement at the Warrior's Guild, promising to compensate Eddie with either the Wisdom Fruit or up to 2000 gold coins by the end of the year.
When Eddie inquired about the recipient of the Wisdom Fruit, a formidable female swordsman clad in armor and carrying a giant sword entered the room, causing the burly man to retreat and Forlun to become nervous.
Eddie wondered who this intimidating woman was.
She could be a royal princess?