Chapter 179 — The Returning Elixir Great Tonic Divine Art
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Dragon Qilin slipped into the lake and stirred up wind and waves. On the water's surface, the Daoist came hurrying over, a whisk clutched in his hand; he shook it at the lake below, and countless filaments of the whisk spilled down over the water like a vast fishing net, meaning to snare the Dragon Qilin in the lake.
A thunderous boom.
The lake's surface shuddered violently. The Daoist gave a stifled grunt; the whisk in his hand burst apart, leaving him nothing but the handle. Knowing himself no match for this Dragon Qilin, he turned and fled at once, shouting, "You monsters! You bathe in the imperial Jade Dragon Lake, and you dare strike me? Wait for your heads to be cut off!"
Before long, the scholars of the Imperial Academy came streaming out of the Pure Yang Hall toward the Scholars' Lodge. Today the Pure Yang Hall's lecture had been given by Daoist Lingyun; what the Pure Yang Hall taught was the way of refining qi, and Daoist Lingyun was famed for the depth of his cultivation, having refined his essence to the level of pure yang.
The scholars had not yet reached the Scholars' Lodge when all at once they halted, turning their heads in astonishment, every one of them frozen where he stood.
A red fish came flying through the air, so enormous it beggared belief. Its body was covered in red scales, and horns like a dragon's grew from its head; from years upon years of absorbing the nine dragons' qi of this place, its fish's head had grown somewhat dragon-like, half fish and half dragon, its mouth full of sharp teeth, exceedingly fierce.
Only now this great fish was bound by several strands of essence, unable to move; a demon wind bore it up, carrying it straight toward the Scholars' Lodge, and the scholars stared, eyes fixed.
Behind the great fish came a Dragon Qilin even more immense; it ran as it shook the water from its body, and a white fox stood atop the Dragon Qilin's brow, rousing the demon wind that held up the great fish.
The Dragon Qilin, fox and all, came roaring into the Scholars' Lodge, then flung the great fish with a thud into Doctor Shen's courtyard; the little fox slipped in after it and shut the door.
One scholar murmured, "That fish... it looks like one of the fish kings of Jade Dragon Lake, the Red Dragon Carp. It's the dish the Emperor serves his civil and military ministers at the New Year's feast..."
Another scholar beside him, his face likewise blank, murmured, "Last year my old master was graced by the Emperor's favor and got to taste a mouthful of the fish soup at the Imperial Dragon Banquet. He praised it without end, and to this day he tells me now and then that it is a delicacy such as exists nowhere else on earth... but that Red Dragon Carp was only a foot or so long. This one..."
Before the other scholars could collect themselves, Shen Mu's door opened again. The white fox slipped back out, looked all around, then ran to a mulberry tree, spat out a demon wind that felled it, and, riding the demon wind, turned it into curved blades that chopped the mulberry into firewood and carried it back into the courtyard.
The little fox made several trips, hauling even the trunk back into the courtyard, and then thick smoke rolled up from Shen Mu's yard; plainly the little fox and the Dragon Qilin were building a fire to roast the fish.
The scholars looked at one another. Qu Ting murmured, "That was the Tree of Advancement planted by the Venerable Qingshan of the Directorate of Education in the Azure Yang Hall, the tree planted to urge the scholars on to study and rise..."
Before long, a rich, savory fragrance spread through the Scholars' Lodge.
The scholars' mouths watered; they exchanged glances. This castoff from the Wasteland had brought a fox and a Dragon Qilin that had killed a fish king of Jade Dragon Lake, the lake from which the imperial house drew its water, felled the Tree of Advancement planted by the Venerable Qingshan, and now built a fire to roast the fish?