Forced to Be a Villain: Starting With My Brain Extraction System Chapter 148: Extracting the Brain of a Dragon!

"Damn... how unlucky. I almost lost my life."

Lian Yue had assumed the silhouette turned to ashes amid the ferocious black flames swirling around him, yet a feeble voice abruptly resounded, shattering her belief.

"But still... a bone dragon? In such a secret realm, nonetheless. Who would have thought?"

The silhouette muttered once more, utterly disregarding Lian Yue’s wounded and ragged state right behind him.

Instead, his attention fixated on the colossal beast looming directly ahead, bellowing in fury.

Though lifeless and devoid of emotions, Lian Yue sensed the profound rage of the dragon pulsing via its pitch-black blaze. It resented Zhiran dismissing its strike as insignificant.

’Who is this guy? How did he emerge unscathed from such devastating blows?’

Shock gripped Lian Yue so tightly she overlooked activating the teleportation talisman clutched in her palm.

The assault, which she scarcely survived thanks to her bloodline, got shrugged off effortlessly by the man ahead.

Remember, the creature facing her was a dragon, undead or not.

Its dark fire carried the authentic essence of dragon breath—a superior force impervious to ordinary defenses.

Hence, even a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator would struggle fiercely to protect themselves, much less stay untouched.

She herself escaped only due to her Phoenix flame.

"Roar!"

As Lian Yue reeled in astonishment and Zhiran brushed off his robes, the bone dragon’s fury intensified.

Dark energy twisted through its frame, with black flames dancing over its bones and flickering from within its fissures.

The surrounding atmosphere warped and sizzled as the fires writhed and spiraled, hurling ghostly shadows throughout the chamber. Each shift of the dragon sent tremors rippling across the floor below.

Perhaps sensing a mightier foe, it unleashed its full might right away, aiming to slay him with lightning speed.

’Oh no!’

The scorching heat drained the color from Lian Yue’s cheeks as she desperately channeled her leftover mana into the talisman.

She felt certain that unleashing such an attack would kill her via the mere shockwave.

"Tch... so troublesome. Can’t you let me take a breather?"

Yet amid the peril, the black-robed man stayed utterly casual, displaying only mild irritation.

Right when Lian Yue pondered his next move, he vanished from sight in an instant.

’Where’d he disappear to?’

His vanishing act proved so swift her divine sense failed to track him. Even so, that move struck her as strangely familiar.

"Allow me to grant you eternal rest. Being enslaved doesn’t befit a proud dragon, right?"

Lian Yue jolted from her daze upon hearing the voice anew. Now, she spotted the man perched upon the enormous bony skull of the dragon, next to its fiery eyes, his palm somehow placed on its cranium.

"What?"

Absurdity escalated as the bone dragon halted its charge abruptly.

Seemed like the man had casually checked its momentum with a mere hand gesture.

But... impossible!

Lian Yue refused to trust her vision while the encircling black inferno on the bone dragon contracted swiftly before vanishing entirely.

Shockingly, the glowing orbs in its sockets dimmed too, like candles snuffed out. The gigantic form, airborne seconds prior, crashed earthward with a thunderous boom.

"Thud!"

The spectacle unfolding was beyond comprehension.

...

---

[A fresh brain with a damaged level of 82% is detected.]

[Do you want to perform extraction?]

---

The mechanical notification buzzed in Zhiran’s mind the instant his hand touched the enormous bone skull.

This explained his fearlessness against the bone dragon.

His system stood out. Dubbed the Brain Extraction System, it could pull consciousness even from brainless undead.

No complaints from him.

Zhiran commanded extraction at once, refusing another strike from the monster.

Previously, he’d endured unhurt thanks to Elder Xueyin’s lingering power, sealed in the Jade Array from Elder Yan Yue.

Scheming though she could be, she proved thoughtful in crises like this.

Naturally, his Physique helped too—without it, injuries might’ve come.

Thrill surged through Zhiran at this find, coinciding with the system’s next alert.

---

[Extraction successful!]

[Congratulations! You gained a deep memory of the Shadow Dragon, Yuheng: Oblivion Flame (Master)]

---

Upon the notification, Zhiran sensed a powerful pull from his palm against the bone dragon.

Astonishingly, every black flame cloaking its body surged into his hand, flowing straight to his dantian.

Not a spark escaped outward.

Swiftly, Zhiran felt the blaze compress into a seed within his dantian, nestling beside his Solar Essence and stirring it faintly.

Notably, since advancing to Foundation Establishment, the Solar Essence from the Blazing Heart Lantern had expanded slightly.

Yet it hadn’t awakened sentience to bond as his spiritual companion. Truth be told, it cowered before his Heaven Devouring flame.

’ Zhiran mused as the bone dragon’s crash reverberated through the hall with a massive thud.

Its enormous frame shattered into scattered bones all over.

Thus, this ancient dragon of untold age achieved true repose.

Its sole legacy: the dark flame seed in his dantian and the enigmatic Oblivion Flame skill at Master level.

Zhiran pondered while eyeing the throne-bound figure in the distant hall corner.

Its garb and command over the bone dragon screamed demonic cultivator versed in necromancy.

However...

Zhiran’s instincts sharpened keenly. Something felt off about the throne occupant.

Notably, it hadn’t stirred when he dispatched the bone dragon effortlessly, as if irrelevant.

Yet... how?

Clearly, no summons remained—the bone dragon was the final one.

Against undead and spirits, Zhiran reigned supreme. He’d claimed a dead immortal’s brain; this was trivial.

Fearless, merely wary.

"Hold on... senior. Stay cautious!"

As Zhiran departed the bone dragon’s remains toward the throne, an anxious call sounded from behind.

Only then did he recall his companion.

Naturally, it was Lian Yue, the sect leader’s daughter.

Zhiran reflected while scanning her wary advance via divine sense.

In his prior life, Divine Cauldron Sect’s initial downfall stemmed from this secret realm venture.

Post-expedition, massive casualties fueled escalating clashes with Black Lotus Sect.

Tensions peaked with reports of Elder Yan Yue slaying Divine Cauldron’s young sect leader.

Initially dismissed as impossible, truth dawned as the sect crumbled without its leader.

A nascent Nascent Soul fell to a Gold Core powerhouse.

Incredibly real.

Lian Yue vanished from sight; most figured she escaped to survive.

Zhiran doubted that narrative.

"Why warn me? Know something about that one?"

Past remained past; now shaped his hand. He brushed aside memories, questioning Lian Yue calmly, amused by her “senior” address.

Revealing his identity would stun her senseless, huh?

Pity—he planned to keep it hidden.