Chapter 369 — On the Brink of Catastrophe
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu and Long Jiaonan stepped forward, and where the sixth dragon vein joined the principal dragon vein they found a massive gateway, its two sides carved with countless dragon-shaped reliefs. Shen Mu looked all around.
These dragon reliefs were astonishingly lifelike, steeped in antique charm, as though they were true dragons; their forms each differed from the next, and they were of many different breeds, in no way inferior to the Hundred Dragons Painting of the Great Thunder-Cry Temple. That painting showed only some hundred kinds of heavenly dragons, whereas here the dragon designs numbered as many as a thousand.
Great and small, the dragon reliefs clustered around a giant dragon that coiled with its head upraised, gazing straight at whoever stood beyond the wall—some soaring and dancing, some crawling prone, others sprawled upon the ground in feigned sleep. Yet other dragon reliefs stared at the ground, as if watching something intriguing; some great dragons watched the little ones at play, and some little dragons had climbed onto the giant dragon's whiskers, hanging upside down in sport—every manner of form was there. The giant dragon itself was carved with awesome, fearsome might, bearing at once the majesty of a divine dragon and a savage, barbarous ferocity; its gaze fixed straight upon any who came to this place, so that one could scarce meet its eyes.
"Can this giant dragon be the True Dragon Sovereign? Were I able to comprehend the Dao here, I might well bring my understanding of the Eight Thunder-Cry Formulas to its utmost, and perhaps even create yet more divine powers! " Shen Mu's heart was greatly stirred.
Old Huo was skilled in carving, the Deaf Elder in painting, the Silent Craftsman in forging—all of them had taught Shen Mu a great deal. He could appreciate the beauty of the thousand-dragon reliefs, and could even discern more besides: the reliefs of this dragon-vein gateway had been carved with an axe.
He seemed to see a deity holding a great axe, wielding it with the wind, the axe becoming at once the finest brush and the wildest, freely splashing ink, unleashing a world-shaking axe technique in full, exhilarating flow. "Strange, strange!
" Lord Dragon-Keeper's voice came from the other side of the gateway.
The deity's voice was thick with agitation, as though he had encountered something that baffled him. Shen Mu passed through the towering gateway and paused, startled. At his feet yawned an empty abyss, while thick, seething magma poured down the four walls all around, sending up a world-shaking roar! It was a perfectly straight circular cavern, so round it seemed to have been cut out, and it held no principal dragon vein such as Lord Dragon-Keeper had expected.
Bearing the golden vat, Lord Dragon-Keeper flew to the center of the cavern, glancing all about even as he studied the True Dragon Sovereign in the vat, the bewilderment on his face growing denser by the moment.
"Wrong—the dragon vein of the True Dragon Sovereign is right here, so how can it be gone? Could someone have carried it off?
Or has it already transformed into a true dragon and flown away? " Restless and agitated, Lord Dragon-Keeper suddenly plunged downward, dropping toward the bottom of that vast cavern.
Shen Mu at once rose into the air as well, leaping onto the back of the Dragon-Kylin; the Dragon-Kylin trod upon auspicious clouds and flew downward, and Long Jiaonan too took flight and descended, and after a long while they finally reached the bottom of that vast cavern.
The two were shaken to the core, staring dazedly about them. The magma that rushed down the cavern walls fell from above and washed over a subterranean space glittering with golden light!
This subterranean space was enormous. The magma poured down from above and struck the golden floor, and everywhere stood the essence of dark gold—some in pillars, some in great boulders, densely interwoven, utterly lavish.