"The State of Yankang truly suffers one calamity after another — first the chaos of war, then the descent of heavenly disasters, then the alliance of the Barbarian State and the Langjuxu State to invade, and now this Dragon Tender Lord has appeared to claim the main dragon vein."
Qin Mu sighed to himself. Emperor Yanfeng certainly had an exhausting time on the throne, dragging Qin Mu along to clean up his mess time and again.
"That Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon I forged would be perfect for taking down this Dragon Tender Lord, but the cannon platform is still in the capital, and Emperor Yanfeng isn't here either..."
Qin Mu suddenly froze. He had never been a native of Yankang to begin with — why should he risk his life for the State of Yankang?
When he first walked out of the Great Ruins, it was for the sake of tempering himself, of growing stronger — not to protect the State of Yankang. Had his original intention changed without him even noticing?
Once upon a time, he had even despised the State of Yankang, believing it treated the people of the Great Ruins as outcasts and slaves. When had he shifted his self-perception, taking Yankang's affairs as his own?
Shouldn't his purpose be to temper himself?
Shouldn't he be fighting for the right to survive for the natives of the Great Ruins?
Had he, without realizing it, come to regard the State of Yankang as another home — taking its affairs as his own?
He examined his inner heart and found the truth to be both cruel and fascinating. The complex shifts of the human heart transcended reformation, transcended the transformation of Dao and divine abilities.
Qin Mu reflected and found peace within. As the Human Emperor, he was not working for the State of Yankang — he was working for the people of this land. If Emperor Yanfeng proved lacking in virtue and ability, then he would replace him. If the State Preceptor of Yankang failed in his reformation, then Qin Mu would carry it out in his stead.
Even if Yankang's reformation was excellent, should Emperor Yanfeng invade the Great Ruins and enslave its people, then Qin Mu would cut him down.
Qin Mu blinked, feeling that this line of thought was pure and simple.
"We've arrived!"
The two flood dragons beneath the Dragon Tender Lord's feet suddenly halted. Qin Mu looked around and was slightly taken aback — great volcanoes surrounded them on all sides, their craters billowing thick smoke, though none were erupting.
Occasionally, qi practitioners would fly up to the mountains to harvest terrestrial fire, presumably for cultivating fire-type divine abilities.
This was the Volcanic Prefecture of the State of Yankang, famous for its abundance of volcanoes. Ninety percent of Yankang's volcanoes were concentrated here. Among them was Taibai Mountain, the largest volcano in Yankang, its peak towering极高 with snow-capped summit, yet its crater blazed with churning magma.
The Dragon Tender Lord surveyed the surroundings, his gaze settling on Taibai Mountain. He smiled. "The Dragon Eye is here!"
The twin dragons beneath his feet soared into the sky and carried him straight to the summit of Taibai Mountain. The mountaintop was home to a sect. Apart from the three great sacred grounds, all other sects in the State of Yankang had been severely squeezed, their disciples dwindling under pressure from the great academies and schools established in every region.
The sect atop Taibai Mountain was called the Taibai Sword Sect. It was thinly staffed, with only about a hundred disciples on the mountain.
The Dragon Tender Lord descended directly with Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan, arriving at the heart of the Taibai Sword Sect — the volcanic crater. The sect's experts were startled into action, swarming out, only to see the Dragon Tender Lord and the multitude of dragons. They were struck dumb, not daring to move.
A fire flood dragon shot out from beneath the Dragon Tender Lord's feet and plunged into the volcano. Moments later, the dragon bored a passage through, and instantly a radiant light surged skyward, bathing the entire heavens in golden brilliance.
Qin Mu peered into the volcano and felt a wave of dizziness. Inside, there was no rolling magma — instead, a vast expanse of gleaming golden dragon scales stretched from the interior of the mountain downward into unfathomable depths.
The people of the Taibai Sword Sect were equally stunned. The sect had occupied this place for thousands of years, yet they had never known that the volcano's interior held such a marvel.
They knew now, but they dared not move.
"Senior..."
The sect leader of the Taibai Sword Sect mustered his courage and stepped forward. Before he could speak, the Dragon Tender Lord ignored him entirely. The great dragon beneath his feet carried him, Qin Mu, and Long Jiaonan down into the volcano.
"Sect Leader, these people have broken into our sect's forbidden grounds!"
A middle-aged man hurried over. "What should we do now?"
The Taibai Sword Sect leader's expression shifted between dark and light. "I recognize that young man — he's the Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Cult. This old devil has brought along an terrifyingly powerful expert and raised all these dragons! The sacred ground of the Demon Cult truly lives up to its reputation — their foundations run deep. Our Taibai Sword Sect is no match. What else can we do? Report them to the court, of course!"
The sect members stared in disbelief. Report to the court? How humiliating!
"If we report to the court, the Emperor and the State Preceptor won't ignore it."
The sect leader stood. "I'll go to the capital to file a formal complaint. I'll make sure the Emperor demands an explanation from the Heavenly Demon Cult on behalf of my Taibai Sword Sect!"
Inside the volcano, Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan followed behind the Dragon Tender Lord. The underground space was enormously vast, its walls lined with gleaming golden dragon scales. Qin Mu reached out to touch one — it was scorching hot, like magma, yet not magma at all.
"This may well be the main dragon vein. The convergence of dragon qi underground is so potent it's nearly about to take flight as a true dragon!"
The Dragon Tender Lord marveled. "This dragon vein is even finer than those nine mountain ranges beneath the capital of Yankang."
Qin Mu asked curiously, "Has the Dragon Lord visited the nine dragon veins at the capital? What was it like there?"
Although he had been to the capital many times, he had never ventured into the mountains to see them. The capital was encircled by nine dragons, its dragon qi thick and extraordinary. Living within it prolonged one's life, and cultivation was twice as effective — particularly in the Imperial Academy and the Imperial Palace, where the dragon qi concentrated most densely.
"The nine dragon veins beneath Yankang's capital are nine yellow dragons. I went inside the mountains — these nine yellow dragons had hollowed out the ranges, transforming into yellow dragon qi, complete with scales and claws."
The Dragon Tender Lord continued, "However, those nine dragons are still qi — they haven't taken true form. But the fire dragon here is on the verge of manifesting."
Qin Mu was puzzled. Long Jiaonan touched a dragon scale and said, "Does the Ancestor mean that the dragon scales of this dragon vein are real dragon scales, not mere imprints?"
"Of course they are real dragon scales."
The Dragon Tender Lord said, "Flood dragons don't count as true dragons. They are merely great serpents transformed by absorbing dragon qi. True dragons are born from qi — manifested from dragon veins. All living things in the world are born in various ways: some from eggs, some from wombs, some from both. But true dragons are born from qi. From qi come true dragons, and then from eggs and wombs come their descendants. You've been to the Great Ruins, yes? There are many Dragon King ruins there. Why does the Great Ruins have so many Dragon Kings? It's because the Great Ruins once had hundreds of dragon veins, its fortune so prosperous that the dragon veins transformed into true dragons!"
Qin Mu was shaken. Hundreds of dragon veins, fortune so prosperous that the dragon veins transformed into true dragons!
He had indeed seen hundreds of Dragon King temples in the eastern sea basin of the Great Ruins! Moreover, the Yong River also had Dragon King temples, and there were even temples of well Dragon Kings!
Could all those Dragon Kings have been true dragons?
"The true dragons born from the Great Ruins' dragon veins submitted to the... heh heh!"
The Dragon Tender Lord seemed to harbor some reservation and did not finish. "As for the current State of Yankang, one or two dozen dragon veins is still a modest affair. But to guard against future trouble, we must locate the main dragon vein. Otherwise, if we allow Yankang to grow unchecked, it could well become another catastrophe. Finding the main dragon vein and strangling it early — that is the proper course."
They ventured deeper when suddenly a series of deep, resonant dragon calls echoed through the darkness. Qin Mu's spirit stirred. "Has this fire dragon vein truly become a true dragon?"
When they reached the source, he saw that the dragon calls were not coming from a true dragon but from an underground magma river dozens of miles wide. The walls of the magma river were entirely covered in dragon scales, gleaming gold so brilliantly they dazzled the eyes!
Here, Qin Mu sensed extremely dense dragon qi.
He had once cultivated the Nine Dragon Emperor Art from the Ling family and had attained considerable proficiency. He immediately sensed that the dragon qi here was nearly on par with that of the capital!
The capital's dragon qi came from the convergence of nine dragon veins, yet here a single fire dragon vein produced qi of such density — could this truly be the location of the State of Yankang's main dragon vein?
"Strange..." The Dragon Tender Lord furrowed his brow, studying the magma river both upstream and downstream.
"Peculiar... the trend of this dragon vein is somewhat off..."
The Dragon Tender Lord stepped down from the backs of the two flood dragons. Qin Mu glanced at his feet — they were not human feet but dragon claws.
The Dragon Tender Lord produced a small golden cauldron — small by his standards; relative to Qin Mu, it was large enough to serve as a cooking pot for two or three people. He scooped a cauldronful of magma from the river, then took a pinch of gold dust from a bag and sprinkled it into the magma, waiting quietly.
Qin Mu leaned in to watch. The gold dust merged with the magma, gradually undergoing a transformation.
The Dragon Tender Lord casually tossed him a golden book and a glutton bag. "There's something odd about the dragon vein here — it doesn't seem to be merely a dragon vein. I need to perform a divination to uncover the trickery within. You, refine a few batches of spirit pills to feed the dragons first. The book contains the pill formulas — don't get them wrong."
Qin Mu agreed and took the golden book. It was called the Dragon Tender Scripture. He opened it and read through. The scripture recorded methods for raising dragons, the various types and habits of dragons, methods of controlling them, and at the end, what each type of dragon ate.
Qin Mu was not particularly interested in the spirit pill formulas recorded within. What caught his curiosity were the refining techniques. The Herbalist had taught him many pill-refining methods, a vast array, yet some of the techniques in the Dragon Tender Scripture were ones even the Herbalist had never shown him.
"Worthy of being the god of dragon-raising — even pill refining has so many intricacies. Judging by these formulas and techniques, the Dragon Tender Lord's skill in the Dao of pill refining is perhaps only marginally weaker than my own."
A warning bell rang in Qin Mu's mind. Crafting a potent poison to kill the Dragon Tender Lord would not be easy at all.
He quietly abandoned the idea and continued studying the Dragon Tender Scripture. Dragons of different attributes required different spirit pills. The Dragon Qilin, for instance, was of the fire attribute, and the Crimson Fire Spirit Pill suited it well. But after examining the scripture, Qin Mu discovered that the Crimson Fire Spirit Pill was not actually the most beneficial for the Dragon Qilin — though for its particular species, the Crimson Fire Spirit Pill tasted the best.
For the Dragon Qilin, the most beneficial pill would be the Fire Element Divine Essence Pill, which aided its growth and greatly enhanced its running speed.
But the Divine Essence Pill did not taste good — it was somewhat spicy.
"No wonder this fool insists on eating Crimson Fire Spirit Pills, and so many of them!"
Qin Mu's face darkened as he glanced at the Dragon Qilin, who was looking around with great curiosity. His expression was not pleasant. "Servant, come here. Help me refine the pills."
Long Jiaonan gritted her teeth and walked over, wishing she could swallow him whole.
Qin Mu kicked the Dragon Qilin. "Fatty Dragon, have you heard of the Fire Element Divine Essence Pill?"
The Dragon Qilin said somewhat guiltily, "Never heard of it."
Qin Mu snorted, opened the Dragon Tender Lord's glutton bag, and found it filled with all manner of spirit herbs. He sorted them by type, then tossed them to Long Jiaonan, instructing her to measure out the ingredients according to the formulas. He ordered the Dragon Qilin to breathe fire, while he himself施展 the pill-refining arts, his hands weaving through technique after technique in dazzling succession. Soon, batch after batch of spirit pills emerged from the furnace.
Many tiny dragons perched on the Dragon Tender Lord's body, and upon smelling the fragrance, they scrambled down and gathered around Qin Mu. The largest was only about ten feet long; the smallest was less than a foot. Dragons of every size — green, yellow, purple, blue, red, green — a bewildering variety of species, all craning their necks to watch him.
Qin Mu's scalp tingled with unease. He didn't dare move. Most of these dragons were flood dragons, but every single one was immensely powerful — killing him would be effortless, requiring not the slightest exertion!
The Dragon Tender Lord was performing his divination, blasting mouthfuls of true essence into the golden cauldron, causing the gold dust and magma within to merge and transform. "Place the spirit pills in a basin. They'll eat on their own."
Qin Mu looked at Long Jiaonan. She hurriedly rummaged through the glutton bag and pulled out a large basin. When she extracted it, it was fully a hundred feet across — barely a basin at all, more like a small pond!
Qin Mu poured the refined spirit pills into the basin. Immediately, dozens of dragons dove in, burrowing through the pills, playing and frolicking.
The Dragon Qilin gazed at Qin Mu hopefully, wagging its tail. Qin Mu took out a large washbasin, poured in some Crimson Fire Spirit Pills mixed with a dozen or so Fire Element Divine Essence Pills.
The Dragon Qilin was overjoyed and hurried over to eat. Qin Mu immediately noticed the creature secretly picking out the Fire Element Divine Essence Pills and sneaking them into the nearby magma river.
Qin Mu flew into a rage. "Servant! This picky eater is sorting his food — beat him!"
Long Jiaonan was furious too — but she punched Qin Mu to the ground, straddled him, and began pounding away. "I've been putting up with you for too long! I'll beat you to death!"
The Dragon Tender Lord flicked a finger and sent Long Jiaonan flying. She crashed into several dragon scales and was shaken so hard she vomited blood. The Dragon Tender Lord shook his head. "You're supposed to be the master. How can you be pummeled by your servant? What kind of bearing is that?"
Qin Mu climbed to his feet, embarrassed. "I'm still at the Six Harmonies stage, while she's at the Seven Stars stage. And the Dragon Lord gave her a dragon pearl — with that pearl, her brute strength is overwhelming. I can't beat her."
"I see."
The Dragon Tender Lord produced a dragon pearl and tossed it to him. "I can't help with your cultivation level, but dragon pearls — I have plenty of those. Here's a better one. The pearl I gave her is a trifle — the dragon pearl of a mixed-blood dragon at the Divine Bridge stage. This one is also from the Divine Bridge stage, but its bloodline is far purer, approaching that of a true dragon. If she hits you again, you'll be able to send her flying with a single punch."
Qin Mu gripped the dragon pearl and immediately felt a surge of savage, primal power flooding through his body, his strength rising almost to a berserk level. He was overjoyed.
Long Jiaonan's face turned ashen. Was this still her Ancestor? His loyalties had swung so far outward they were about to snap off!
"I've uncovered the trick within the dragon vein."
The Dragon Tender Lord held the golden cauldron, his expression grave. "This is not the main dragon vein — it's a branch of the main dragon vein, guarded by a host of dragons. Moreover, this main dragon vein is connected to the dragon veins of the Great Ruins..."
Qin Mu leaned in. Inside the golden cauldron, golden dragons swam through the magma. At the center where the dragons converged, a great dragon coiled, ferocious and savage, slumbering deeply!
"The remnants of the Great Ruins truly possess heaven-reaching and earth-piercing powers!"
The Dragon Tender Lord sneered. "They've transferred the fortune of the Great Ruins to the State of Yankang, hoping to use the combined fortune of two dynasties to gestate a Lord of the True Dragon! Heh — I'll claim this Lord of the True Dragon vein and reduce their tens-of-thousands-of-years grand plan to ruins. Let's see them cry and wail!"