Chapter 175 — Martial and Mystic Arts in Mutual Support
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Dragon-Qilin had drunk its fill of water, then looked at Shen Mu.
"Still a little hungry.
. . " "I'll take you to make some pills," Shen Mu said. He led the Dragon-Qilin toward the storehouse, planning to buy herbs for refining Crimson Fire Spirit Pills. Across Jade Dragon Lake, a Taoist priest watched them, taking in the retreating figures of Shen Mu and the Dragon-Qilin, and muttered to himself: "Has the dragon-lion in front of the mountain gate come to life? How did it get here to drink from Jade Dragon Lake? Who is that youth?
Doesn't he know the waters of Jade Dragon Lake are an imperial tribute?
Ah well, so long as it doesn't leap in for a bath, a few sips are nothing to worry about. " When Shen Mu passed the Princes' Court, he saw a crowd of scholars gathered there, cheers ringing out.
He glanced over from a distance. Even scholars from the Scholars' Residence had dashed over, and no small number of divine-ability practitioners from the Divine Abilities Residence had also come, thronging the gate of the Princes' Court in an impassable mass.
Suddenly, with a thunderous boom, a figure was sent hurtling into the air and came crashing down headfirst into the ground. A voice shouted, "Another one beaten!
" Shen Mu was taken aback.
The person whose head was driven into the earth was precisely one of the princelings of the Princes' Court. A princeling was the son of an imperial prince—who would dare strike so viciously? "I'll take you on! " A girl's voice rang out from the crowd.
Shen Mu had already gone some distance when another loud crash sounded, and a girl in green flew out backward, with a crack smashing through the wall of Hanguang Hall not far ahead of him, leaving only her slender legs protruding from the hole.
"Seems like a commandery princess. .
. " Shen Mu turned back toward the crowd, thinking to himself: "That style is rather familiar—it's Senior Brother Bashan's battle-magic technique. " Chancellor Bashan had pioneered a supreme battle-magic art, combining the moves of the martial-arts path with spells and divine abilities, and its power far exceeded that of either martial techniques or spells taken alone. It was exactly this innovation that had allowed Chancellor Bashan to rise among the ranks of sect-master-level experts.
In the world today, no one could surpass his attainment in such battle-magic arts. The only flaw in these arts was that their moves lacked the agility and versatility of pure martial techniques or pure spells, which was also why Chancellor Bashan, despite reaching the height of a sect-master, had been unable to advance a step further. "Could it be sister Yuxiu?
Why is she fighting the princelings and commandery princesses?
" The Dragon-Qilin was so hungry it walked with unsteady steps, its belly flat and empty. Shen Mu suppressed his urge to watch the fight and continued to the storehouse, where he bought the herbs. The storehouse alchemist handed him the herbs and only then noticed the huge beast behind Shen Mu; he gaped at it, unable to look away. Shen Mu set off back the way he had come with the Dragon-Qilin, analyzing the potency of the ingredients on the road, and refined a furnace of Crimson Fire Spirit Pills.
The Dragon-Qilin wolfed them down, but one furnace of pills was not enough to fill it, and it stared at him with longing eyes. Shen Mu had no choice but to refine another batch, and at last the enormous creature was satisfied.
The Dragon-Qilin perked up, walked beside him, and said with an ingratiating smile: "From now on, if there's any need, just say the word. I'm a capable fighter.
" Shen Mu shook his head and headed for the Princes' Court. Snow Fox sneered, "You wouldn't even dare fight an ox, and you call yourself a good fighter?
" The Dragon-Qilin immediately went listless. In front of the Princes' Court there was still an ocean of people, and more had arrived.
A scholar could be heard saying: "Has no one in the Princes' Court been able to defeat her?