This was Nie Yan's first Rank 7 Life Core. Up until now, the highest he'd obtained was a measly Rank 4. It was also elementless, meaning it could be fed to any flying mount without issue.
After extracting the Life Core, the gold dragon was thoroughly dead.
The Darkwing Dragon released its grip on the gold dragon's corpse, letting it fall from the sky and crash into the forest below.
At the same moment, Nie Yan extended his hand and shot out a web line which stuck to the Darkwing Dragon. He leaped forward and swung into the air.
The Darkwing Dragon caught him on its back, then sped off toward the entrance of the World Heart.
As the scent of blood got picked up by the wind, several large flying monsters started making their way over. One of them was the Rank 9 golden eagle from earlier. Seeing them fast approaching, Nie Yan immediately became anxious. The Darkwing Dragon was going to end up as a snack for one of them. He chanted out an incantation and recalled it back into his pet space.
Nie Yan fell toward the walls of the castle. The flying monsters briefly circled around in the air, failing to spot him hiding among the vines, before diving down towards the gold dragon's corpse.
Only after seeing the flying monsters leave did Nie Yan feel safe enough to climb out from his hiding place behind the vines. He breathed a sigh of relief and started making his way towards the World Heart's entrance.
Nie Yan was like a gecko as he quickly crawled along the castle walls. About two minutes later, he reached the entrance.
Nie Yan leaped off the wall and landed firmly on his feet outside the entrance. Looking ahead, the castle's interior was absolutely enormous, the ceiling reaching more than 60 meters high. He felt completely insignificant, as if he had arrived in an ancient cathedral of the gods. Taking a deep breath, he walked forward. No light could enter this place. It was dark and so quiet one could hear a pin drop. The sound of his footsteps reverberated without end off into the distance.
Thanks to his high Night Vision stat, Nie Yan could see that everything within a 50-meter radius of him was completely empty. He continued walking like this in the darkness for a good half-an-hour before spotting a large glowing crystal orb in the distance.
This crystal orb was as large as a small hill, floating five meters high in the air. It radiated a scorching white radiance. It looked just like a miniature sun, emitting energy into the surroundings. This was the legendary World Heart. It was told that all magic and holy energy in the world was birthed from it!
As Nie Yan approached closer, he felt a warm, cozy feeling wash over him as he was bathed in its light. It was as if he had entered another space. A mysterious voice was beckoning him as he unconsciously walked toward the World Heart.
At this moment, a crisp notification jingle rang out.
You have arrived in the castle of the gods and discovered the ancient World Heart. It has floated here since time immemorial. It is more eternal than any living being. Bask in its strength, and experience the calling of God.
Nie Yan's mind appeared to have been transported away, leaping through time and space. Countless scenes flashed past him before turning into a void of nothingness. A voice rang in his head. He didn't know what it was saying, but it sounded exceptionally warm and dignified, eliminating all distracting thoughts.
After who knew how long, another system notification jingle rang out.
Are you willing to accept God's guidance and become a Luminous Dancer, to follow His will and cleanse all sin from the world?
Nie Yan's heart jumped. He could become a Luminous Dancer already?
Nie Yan was caught off guard by how simple it was. Soon, elation flashed across his face, and he unhesitatingly pressed yes.
A dazzling white light radiated out from his body. Motes of dazzling light gathered above his shoulder before merging together.
"Just what's happening?" Nie Yan was shocked. He could feel a life being born within the white light.
A moment later, a palm-sized figure broke out of the white light. Looking it up and down, it was a tiny angel. She looked beautiful and holy with large, bright eyes. Her skin was fair and delicate, and growing on her back was a pair of white wings, which gently fluttered about as she hovered above Nie Yan's shoulder.
The tiny angel stared at Nie Yan inquisitively with her bright eyes, almost as if she could communicate with her expression alone.
"Luminous Dancer Nirvana Flame, my name is Kalenna. I will be your guardian angel from this day forward," said Kalenna. Her voice was pleasant to the ear, like a fresh spring breeze.
"Uh, I see... Well, nice to meet you, Kalenna," Nie Yan greeted back, shock and amazement lingering in his eyes. Her appearance really took him by surprise.
Nie Yan recalled Mistaken Smile also had a guardian angel by his side in the previous timeline. However, he had no idea what for.
Nie Yan checked his character window. His title had already changed from Great Thief to Luminous Dancer. In addition, he'd received three new powerful passive skills.
Holy Healing Aura: Increases the health regeneration of all nearby allies by 300%.
Death and Rebirth: Upon death, revive instantly. Cooldown: two days.
Luminous Evasion (Rank 1): 20% chance to dodge incoming attacks.
All three skills were amazing. Luminous Evasion in particular was quite overpowered. Without even factoring his Evasion stat, one in five attacks would miss him.
As a Luminous Dancer, Nie Yan's stats were increased by another 30%. Furthermore, as the first player to advance to a Shadow Dancer, he could obtain an additional reward from the Thief Association.
Apart from this, Nie Yan discovered his class advancement quest wasn't over yet, actually far from it. He had only unlocked 30% of the power of a Luminous Dancer. A new quest popped up in his quest window.
Path of the Luminous Dancer 5: The undead and demonkin of the demons in the Underground are stirring. Wretched undead and demonkin, always seeking to destroy humanity. Seek out Archangel Tallod.
Reading the quest description, Nie Yan gasped in shock. He actually had to find Archangel Tallod? In the Viridian Empire, the archangel was a godly existence. It appeared the Luminous Dancer class advancement quest wasn't to be looked down on. It was also related to the undead and demonkin of the Underground. Would it somehow influence the main storyline of the game?