Chapter 371 — Escape Over the Mountains
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Refining pills for these flood dragons was second nature to Shen Mu. Each kind of flood dragon required a different spirit pill, and the varieties he needed to concoct were numerous, yet he swiftly produced them all, feeding these tagalongs until they were stuffed full. He had assumed that once these flood dragons had eaten their fill, they would scatter in all directions.
To his surprise, they still followed him wherever he went. His original plan had been to control a single flood dragon and race ahead at full speed while the others ran wild in every direction, giving the Dragon Keeper a chance to chase after his dragons and buy himself some time.
Yet these flood dragons recognized only him as their meal provider, clinging to him with unwavering devotion, driving him to madness while leaving him utterly helpless. "The Classic of Dragon Keeping records only how to subdue dragons—it says nothing about how to drive them away.
" Shen Mu blinked and could only resign himself to his fate. The fire flood dragon beneath his feet sprinted at full power along the subterranean dragon vein, its speed now two or three times faster than when they had come.
He had to admit that dragons, those mighty beings—even flood dragons—far surpassed human flesh in sheer power, and their stamina was terrifying.
After running twenty or thirty thousand li, their speed had not diminished in the slightest.
"Dragons truly are formidable. Dragon Fatty excepted, of course—that fellow is a disgrace to dragonkind. " Shen Mu praised them sincerely. The black ox of the Tyrant Mountain Libationer also carried Azure Dragon bloodline, and its endurance was fearsomely strong as well.
It had once carried him and Ling Yuxiu in a desperate flight all the way from the Golden Palace of Loulan—truly astonishing stamina.
Shen Mu glanced again at the round, rolling Dragon Qilin beside him and felt certain beyond doubt: this fellow was indeed a disgrace to dragonkind. The Dragon Qilin would be gasping for breath after running a mere two or three hundred li at full speed, and after a leisurely five thousand li it would collapse, utterly exhausted, lying on the ground like a dead pig, snoring away. "At this rate, I'll be back in Jingping before long!
" Shen Mu was brimming with confidence. Once he returned to the Kingdom of Jingping, he could either go to the capital and activate the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, or seek out the Blind Elder, the Butcher, and the Village Head—and then he would no longer fear the Dragon Keeper. Just then, the Dragon Keeper's voice exploded in his ear: "Little thing, where have you spirited my dragons off to? " Shen Mu broke out in a cold sweat, his body drenched as if plunged into a bath.
He whipped his head around, but saw no sign of the Dragon Keeper.
"He's transmitting his voice! " Goosebumps erupted across Shen Mu's skin.
Could the Dragon Keeper have already collected the Dragon Nest? "Such an enormous Dragon Nest—how could he collect it so quickly?
Lifting that massive Dragon Nest would be no challenge for a god, but the hard part is refining it down, refining it small enough to carry on his person.
" Shen Mu's scalp went numb.
To refine the Dragon Nest down to the size of a jade pendant in such a short time required immensely profound cultivation.
For a divine ability user at his own Six Harmonies realm, it was almost unimaginable. The Dragon Keeper was worthy of being a deity of the heavens—to have collected the Dragon Nest and stowed it on his person in so short a time, his magical power was beyond anything Shen Mu had ever witnessed! "He must have just collected the Dragon Nest and discovered I'm fleeing with his dragons—that's why he transmitted his voice.
He hasn't arrived behind me yet. I still have a chance to make it back to Jingping. " Shen Mu steadied his mind.