Icy flames surrounded the Armored Ice Qilin Horse. Ripples of frost spread from its hooves as it galloped forward, and it looked like a shining entity running across calm water during the night. It was both dazzling and beautiful.

The five of us left behind the old Beast Emperor and charged straight toward the canyon ahead of us. There were wilted leaves and branches everywhere, and a short while later the ground became level and smooth. Pitch black lampstands forged from iron peeked out from between the trees as a decrepit hall entered our view.

Most of the walls had collapsed, and the hall was almost completely in ruins. Even a blind person could tell this place was inhabited since a while ago. The lintel was engraved with the fading words, "Beast Emperor Hall", and it looked like it had been here for several thousand years at least. This was probably where the Beast Emperor used to live a long time ago.

However, the Beast Emperor had devolved into a decrepit old man, and he looked nothing like the emperor he had used to be.

I was trying to puzzle out the situation when Beiming Xue suddenly pointed toward the east. "Big bro, look! What is that thing?"

"Hmm?"

He Yi and I looked in the direction she was pointing in unison. It was there we spotted an ancient, indigo-colored metal statue of a creature that almost looked like a horse, but not quite. The reason I said so was because the "horse" had a horn as sharp as a blade, and a body that was covered in scales. There were even spikes protruding from the front part of its body.

The statue looked a bit red because a magical bonfire was burning beneath it. The temperature was incredibly high, and I could hear a dragon’s roar coming from somewhere for some reason.

I rode up to the edge of the statue and looked at it with a frown. "What is this thing?"

I tried hitting the statue with my sword, but nothing happened.

He Yi observed the statue carefully before saying, "I... feel like there’s something inside this statue for some reason… it feels very unsafe…"

Murong Mingyue also shot it a glance and said, "This is a warhorse-type creature, I think. Its head looks like a holy giant dragon’s, its limbs look incredibly powerful, and it’s covered from head to toe in dragon scales. It even has a cool and wild appearance. It would be great if this horse was a capturable mount, am I right Lu Chen?"

I nodded in agreement. "I guess. It’s still inferior compared to my Armored Ice Qilin Horse though…"

Murong Mingyue pouted. "How is that a fair comparison? Your Armored Ice Qilin Horse is an Earth Rank boss mount, the one and only in the entire server right now! It would’ve taken you ages to find another one like it if Lil Beiming hadn’t given up her own top-tier wristguards for it! Hmph hmph!"

I smiled. "Yes, Beiming is a good sister…"

Beiming Xue asked cheekily, "In that case, how are you planning to reward me, big bro?"

I replied, "We can see some goldfish [1]together after we’re done with Dragonlight Canyon…"

"..." Beiming Xue fell silent for a moment before blinking her eyes in confusion. "Sister Mingyue, what did big bro mean by goldfish? And why does big bro want to see them with me?"

Murong Mingyue thought for a moment before answering, "I don’t know what he means by that either, but I do know that no good can come out of his mouth! Hmph hmph!"

It was at this moment He Yi pulled out her Blade of the Earthen Soul and struck the copper statue with everything she got. However, all she managed to do was wobble the statue a bit.

"What’s wrong, Eve?" I asked.

He Yi pointed her sword at the statue and declared confidently, "I have this feeling that something’s wrong with the statue. As a knight of the light, I can tell that an incredibly powerful evil is hidden inside it. Lu Chen, work with me. Let’s crush this statue together and see what’s inside."

"Oh?" I looked at the statue again. Could she be right? The entire statue was bright red with heat because of the bonfire beneath it. Even if something was inside the statue, it should’ve been burned to death a long time ago, right?

Still, my beautiful guild leader’s order must be obeyed, so I immediately hit the statue’s head with Burning Blade Slash. In the end, nothing happened.

Bang bang bang…

The two of us kept hitting the copper statue, but it was as still as death.

……

A while later, Murong Mingyue glanced to the side and pointed. "Hey look, there’s a giant rock hammer over there. Why don’t you try hitting the statue with it, Lu Chen? It can’t be worse than what you’re doing right now, seeing as you haven’t even breached the statue’s shell…"

I turned around and saw what Murong Mingyue was saying. There was a huge stone warhammer sitting not far away from the statue, and it was apparently usable even though it didn’t count as equipment.

I spurred the Armored Ice Qilin Horse forward and bent down to grab it. To my surprise, it was so heavy that it almost pulled me and my horse down to the ground. God damn, if even I, with my Strength stat, could barely lift this, then it could only be worse for the others.

"Get out of the way, Eve! Here I come!"

I laughed loudly and swung the hammer right at the copper statue. The thing was even bigger than the Armored Ice Qilin Horse, making it basically impossible for me to miss even though the stone hammer was unwieldy as hell. He Yi hurriedly moved back as I struck the statue right in the waist and caused debris to scatter all over the place!

Bang!

A dull but clearly angry noise came from the statue as it rocked like a leaf from the impact. The next moment, the red hot copper on the statue started peeling off on its own to reveal the true entity hidden beneath it. My surprise only grew, however. As it turned out, there was an actual horse hidden inside the statue. It was covered in dragon scales that looked as sharp as blades, and I couldn’t tell if it was alive or dead because its eyes were closed.

It was an indigo-colored warhorse covered in layer upon layer of armor. A sharp horn surrounded by beautiful cyan flames was protruding from its forehead. Besides that, a ring of low-temperature, smoke-like flames was swirling around the warhorse. It was draconic energy. It had to be the "achievement" the Beast Emperor was talking about!

I walked up to it and lifted a piece of copper from its skin, revealing the dragon scales beneath. The flames had literally burned the scales into the warhorse’s skin and fused a dragon’s blood into its flesh. This meant that the creature in front of me was none other than the legendary dragonhorse!

Words couldn’t describe my current feelings right now. The Beast Emperor had embedded a wild horse with dragon scales, stuffed it inside a copper statue containing a dragon’s soul, and barbecued it alive with draconic energy. Just how hardcore was he to come up with such a beastial method, as fitting as it was for someone called the Beast Emperor? I had to admit that the warhorse looked extremely handsome though. Appearance-wise it wasn’t too far behind my Armored Ice Qilin Horse, and technically, they were the same kind of creature except that my mount had absorbed a qilin’s soul, while this one had absorbed a dragon’s blood. They both had their own strengths!

However, it looked like the Beast Emperor’s experiment had failed because I could literally smell its cooked flesh from where I was. Apparently the fire was too much for the horse to bear, and the fake barbecue turned into a real one...

The corner of my lips curling upward, I hit the horse’s back with my sword before saying, "Peel away the scales and find the meat within? This is literally the horse version of the Beggar’s Chicken, haha! Is there anyone who wants a bite? Just give the word, and I’ll cut a piece of meat for you…"

Beiming Xue whined, "Big bro, your taste is so hardcore!"

Moonlight Stone nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, we can’t possibly eat this…"

Before I could say anything else, Murong Mingyue suddenly widened her eyes and shouted, "Back off now! That horse isn’t dead yet!"

I hurriedly moved in front of Beiming Xue and backed a few steps away from the creature. "How do you know that?"

"Are you dreaming or what? Its name just appeared!"

"Wah!" we all exclaimed in surprise.

As Murong Mingyue said, a name was gradually appearing above the warhorse’s head. After I activated Dark Pupils, its stats immediately entered the party channel—

Dragonlight Armored Horse (Earth Rank Miniboss)

Level: 180

Attack: 3340~5280

Defense: 6000

HP: 11,000,000

Skills: Hoof Trample, Armor of the Wild, Dragonblade Pierce

Introduction: The Dragonlight Armored Horse is the fusion between a warhorse and a dragon’s soul. It is the result of a lifetime of research of the genius tamer, Beast Emperor. He had procured refined souls from magical springs as fuel, forged shells from the Rainbow Bronze, and trapped a warhorse inside it for refinement. He successfully infused it with the power of the holy giant dragon and made it even more impenetrable than ever. Influenced by draconic power, the warhorse became an incredibly violent creature that wants nothing but to tear everything in front of it to shreds.

……

Swhoosh!

The warhorse finally opened its eyes, and the merciless red behind its eyelids caused even my heart to skip a beat. This thing was a Level 180 Earth Rank miniboss, and I was almost certain that it was even harder to kill than even the Dragon Girls.

"Attack!"

I charged the mob and swung my sword at the same time He Yi launched her skill. Faster than both of us, the Phantom Wolf King struck the Dragonlight Armored Horse in the head, only to cause a shower of sparks. It looked like the mob’s Defense was as formidable as it was described!

"Roar roar…"

The Dragonlight Armored Horse suddenly raised its front hooves and let out a mighty neigh. The next moment, lightning surrounded its hooves, and it hit the ground with a devastating stomp. Lightning arced all over the place, and both He Yi and me were within its skill range. Pain wracked my body as my HP dropped—

18929!

Holy shit, it was an AoE attack! It was similar to my War Crush except that it was one hit instead of three.

The Dragonlight Armored Horse acted like a wild, untamed horse. It kept charging all over the place and hitting my armor with its horn again and again. Luckily, I had Murong Mingyue to heal me, so the battle wasn’t as dangerous as it could’ve been. It was a pleasure to fight while her Pool of Life was healing me from beneath my feet.

Suddenly, the Dragonlight Armored Horse lowered its head and stabbed He Yi’s shield three times in a row. There was so much force behind the strike that she and her horse were sent skidding seven or eight meters away from the point of impact. Worse, the horn strike had literally pierced through her shield and dealt some serious damage to her, deleting almost 50k HP from her health bar in an instant. Even I had to admit that it was some impressive damage!

"Steady!"

I shouted and seized the threat with Burning Blade Slash. At the same time, I summoned a body double and coordinated with the Ironwing Dragon and the Phantom Wolf King to increase my DPS even further.

A few minutes later, the fearsome Dragonlight Armored Horse finally died under our assault and dropped two Purple Crystals. Although it hadn’t dropped any equipment, the experience it gave was very impressive.

……

"Next!" I declared with a smile.

We walked forward for a bit and saw another horse statue. Now that I knew what to do, I simply grabbed the nearby stone hammer and hit it once.

Its shell fell apart, and another Dragonlight Armored Horse appeared in front of us.

However, Beiming Xue suddenly pointed a finger at the mob with her mouth agape. She exclaimed in deep astonishment, "Big… big bro, look, it’s a Rare mount…"

1. T/N: referring to an incident where a middle-aged man tried to bait little girls into following him to the rooftop by offering to show them the goldfishes he kept and rape them. After that the term "goldfish man" became synonymous with pedophile.