Chapter 367 — Lord of Dragons
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
"Jingping Kingdom truly is a land of many calamities. First there was war and chaos, then natural disasters descended, then the Mandi Kingdom and the Langjuxu Kingdom joined forces to attack, and now a Dragon-Rearing Lord has appeared to claim the primary dragon vein. " Shen Mu sighed inwardly.
Being emperor was truly exhausting for Emperor Yanfeng, and it left Shen Mu to clean up his mess again and again. "That Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon I built would be just the thing to shoot down this Dragon-Rearing Lord—only the cannon platform is still in the capital, and Emperor Yanfeng is not here either.
. .
" Shen Mu suddenly froze. He had never been a man of Jingping.
Was it worth risking his life for Jingping Kingdom? When he had walked out of the Wasteland, it had been for tempering, for self-improvement—not to protect Jingping Kingdom. Had his original purpose changed without his noticing?
There had been a time when he had loathed Jingping Kingdom, believing it treated the people of the Wasteland as castoffs and slaves. When had he changed his self-perception, taking Jingping's affairs as his own? Should he not be tempering himself?
Should he not be fighting for the right of the Wasteland's natives to survive?
Had he come to regard Jingping Kingdom as another home?
Had he, without realizing it, taken Jingping's affairs as his own? He examined his own heart and found the truth cruel and fascinating: the complex shifts of the human heart surpassed any reform, surpassed any change in Daoist arts and divine powers.
Shen Mu reflected on his heart and felt at peace. As the Human Emperor, he did not act for Jingping Kingdom but for the people of this land.
If Emperor Yanfeng lacked virtue and ability, then he would replace him. If the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping failed in his reforms, then Shen Mu would carry them out in his stead. Even if Jingping's reforms were excellent, if Emperor Yanfeng invaded the Wasteland and enslaved its people, then Shen Mu would kill him. Shen Mu blinked, finding this thought pure and simple.
"We've arrived! " The two flood dragons beneath the Dragon-Rearing Lord's feet halted abruptly.
Shen Mu looked around and was slightly startled: great volcanoes surrounded them, their craters belching thick smoke, though none were erupting.
From time to time, qi refiners flew up the mountains to gather earth fire, presumably to cultivate fire-element divine powers.
This was the Volcano Commandery of Jingping Kingdom, famed for its many volcanoes; ninety percent of Jingping's volcanoes were gathered here. There was also Mount Taibai, the largest volcano in Jingping Kingdom, its peak towering and capped with white snow, while its crater blazed with molten rock. The Dragon-Rearing Lord glanced around, his gaze settling on Mount Taibai, and he laughed: "The dragon's eye is here!
" The twin dragons beneath his feet soared into the air and carried him straight to the summit of Mount Taibai.
At the peak was the seat of a sect. In Jingping Kingdom, apart from the Three Great Holy Lands, all other sects had been greatly squeezed, their disciples thinned by the great and lesser academies of every region. The sect atop Mount Taibai was called the Taibai Sword Sect, sparsely populated, with only a hundred or so disciples on the mountain. The Dragon-Rearing Lord descended directly with Shen Mu and Long Jiaonan, arriving at the crater at the heart of the Taibai Sword Sect.
The sect's experts were alarmed and swarmed out.
Seeing the Dragon-Rearing Lord and his dragons, they were all struck dumb and dared not move. A fire flood dragon flew from beneath the Dragon-Rearing Lord's feet and burrowed into the volcano. After a moment, a passage was opened by the flood dragon, and at once radiant light shot into the sky, bathing the heavens in gold. Shen Mu looked into the volcano and felt dizzy.