Chapter 370 — In the Next Life, I'll Repay This Grudge
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
At the sixth dragon vein, before the gateway carved with a thousand dragon reliefs, Shen Mu walked with a host of flood dragons great and small at his back, heads lifted and claws raised, trailing him closely, all of them waiting to be fed.
Long Jiaonan followed behind as well, her gaze flickering, alighting now and again upon the red flood dragon of the Dragon-Taming Sect. This time Lord Dragon-Keeper had sent Shen Mu to feed the dragons, and the red flood dragon of the Dragon-Taming Sect was among them.
The Dragon King's red flood dragon was a patriarch-level being, and well acquainted with Long Jiaonan; though the red flood dragon had been taken by Lord Dragon-Keeper, so long as Long Jiaonan blew upon her jade flute she could still command it.
Shen Mu's eyeballs did not move, but his mind raced, pondering desperately how he might escape.
If Lord Dragon-Keeper took that vast dragon nest, then at the slightest urging he himself, together with the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet, would likely fly into the nest and squat there obediently; and how then was he to explain the origins of that Jade Tablet?
To be torn apart and devoured by the dragons, that was perhaps the more acceptable ending; the crux was, what if he could not die?
If he simply ran now, he could never outrun the flood dragons at his heels, and Long Jiaonan was here besides; were he to flee, the woman would surely strike to kill without mercy.
"Slave-girl, gather the herbs and refine the pills."
Shen Mu tossed the Taotie Pouch to Long Jiaonan, his expression shifting between light and dark.
Though he was somewhat farther from the dragon nest now, the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet hanging at his neck still writhed as if about to come alive, forming some inexplicable bond with the nest; it grew hotter and hotter, as though at any moment it might transform into a dragon and fly off into the nest.
Long Jiaonan swallowed her fury, opened the Taotie Pouch, and sorted the spirit medicines. Shen Mu took out the Darkwater Dragon Pearl and gripped it in his hand, drawing upon its power; at once waves of terrifying force swept through his whole body, pouring into his four limbs and hundred bones, and his strength soared in a straight line!
"No matter what, I must get away; otherwise, once Lord Dragon-Keeper takes the nest, there will be no chance of leaving ever again!"
Shen Mu reached out and seized; a stream of scalding lava rose from the lava river and flew toward him.
"You want me to feed the dragons? Then I'll feed them! And not only feed them, I'll make off with them! I may not be able to outrun Lord Dragon-Keeper on my own, but riding a dragon, that is another matter!"
His vital qi transformed into Black Tortoise vital qi; the lava's temperature fell, yet it did not congeal, and many glittering metals dripped from the molten stream, striking the ground with a ringing clatter.
What congealed was the dark-gold essence within the lava; dark-gold essence required a higher temperature to melt, whereas lava melted at a lower one.
By this method Shen Mu could refine the dark-gold essence from the lava more swiftly, and of exceedingly high purity.
Quickly he gathered enough dark-gold essence and forged a golden flute; by then Long Jiaonan was still sorting the spirit medicines, not yet finished.
Shen Mu put the golden flute to his lips, circulated the Dragon-Riding Formula from the Dragon-Keeper's Scripture, and stirred his vital qi to blow; the sound of the flute arose.
It was his first time cultivating the Dragon-Riding Formula, and the flute notes were still somewhat clumsy; but after trying a few turns of tune Shen Mu grew adept, and several flood dragons of lesser cultivation flew to and fro with his melody, greatly enjoying it.
Shen Mu began to walk, and several more flood dragons moved with him, stirred by his command; gradually, through the flute's sound, he felt the vast, towering spirits of those seven flood dragons link with his own.
Boom!