Chapter 366: True Dragon Master

The Eternal Peace Kingdom truly suffers from many calamities. First, there was widespread war and disorder, then natural disasters struck, followed by a joint attack from the Barbarian Di and Wolf Mountain Kingdoms. Now, the Dragon Herder has emerged to claim the main dragon vein.

Qin Mu sighed, feeling that Emperor Yanfeng's reign must be utterly exhausting, constantly forcing him to clean up his messes.

The Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon I built would be perfect for killing this Dragon Herder. However, the cannon's platform is still in the capital, and Emperor Yanfeng isn't here either...

Qin Mu was suddenly taken aback. He had never been a citizen of Eternal Peace; why should he risk his life for the Eternal Peace Kingdom?

When he emerged from the Great Ruins, it was for experience, to improve himself, not to protect the Eternal Peace Kingdom. Had his original intention unknowingly changed?

Not long ago, he had even harbored animosity towards Eternal Peace, believing they treated the people of the Great Ruins as outcasts and slaves. When did he change his self-perception and start treating Eternal Peace's affairs as his own?

Shouldn't he be focused on gaining experience?

Shouldn't he be fighting for the right to survive for the natives of the Great Ruins?

Had he perhaps come to regard Eternal Peace as another home, unknowingly treating its matters as his own?

He examined his inner self, finding the truth both cruel and interesting. The complex changes in the human heart surpassed even the reforms, surpassing the changes in divine arts and dao techniques.

Qin Mu reflected on his heart and felt at ease. As the Human Emperor, he wasn't acting for the Eternal Peace Kingdom itself, but for the people living on this land. If Emperor Yanfeng lacked virtue or ability, he would replace him. If the Imperial Preceptor's reforms failed, he would implement them himself.

Even if Eternal Peace's reforms were excellent, if Emperor Yanfeng were to invade the Great Ruins and enslave its people, he would eliminate him.

Qin Mu blinked, thinking his idea was pure and simple.

“We're here!”

The two flood dragons beneath the Dragon Herder suddenly halted. Qin Mu looked around, slightly startled. They were surrounded by large volcanoes, their craters emitting thick smoke, but not erupting.

From time to time, qi practitioners flew onto the mountains, collecting earth fire, likely to cultivate fire-attribute divine arts.

This was Volcano Prefecture in Eternal Peace Kingdom, known for its numerous volcanoes. Ninety percent of Eternal Peace's volcanoes were concentrated here. Among them was Mount Taibai, Eternal Peace's largest volcano. It was incredibly tall, with a snow-capped summit, yet its crater glowed with molten lava.

The Dragon Herder glanced around, his gaze landing on Mount Taibai, and smiled, “The Dragon's Eye is here!”

The two dragons beneath him ascended, flying directly to the summit of Mount Taibai. The summit was home to a sect. Apart from the three major holy lands in Eternal Peace, other sects had been greatly suppressed, their disciples dwindling due to the proliferation of universities and schools throughout the land.

This sect on Mount Taibai was called the Taibai Sword Sect. Its numbers were few, with only about a hundred disciples on the mountain.

The Dragon Herder descended directly with Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan, arriving at the volcano crater, the heart of the Taibai Sword Sect. The Taibai Sword Sect's experts were alarmed and swarmed out. Seeing the Dragon Herder and his numerous dragons, they were all dumbfounded and dared not move.

A fire flood dragon flew out from beneath the Dragon Herder's feet and burrowed into the volcano. Moments later, a passage was cleared by the flood dragon, and immediately, radiant light shot into the sky, illuminating the heavens with golden brilliance.

Qin Mu looked into the volcano, feeling a little dizzy. He saw that the interior of the volcano was not churning lava, but rather an expanse of shimmering golden dragon scales, extending downwards from within the mountain, to an unknown depth.

The Taibai Sword Sect members were also stunned. The Taibai Sword Sect had been established here for thousands of years, yet they had no idea that the volcano contained such a hidden wonder.

Even knowing it, they dared not move.

“Senior...”

The Taibai Sword Sect's sect master boldly stepped forward, just about to speak. However, the Dragon Herder ignored him completely. The large dragons beneath his feet carried him, Qin Mu, and Long Jiaonan into the volcano.

“Sect Master, these people have trespassed into our sect's forbidden area!” a middle-aged man quickly asked, “What should we do now?”

The Taibai Sword Sect's sect master's expression flickered uncertainly. He said, “I recognize that young man; he's the Heavenly Devil Cult Master. This old devil actually brought an incredibly terrifying expert and keeps so many dragons! The Holy Land of the Devil Cult truly lives up to its reputation; it indeed has deep foundations. Our Taibai Sword Sect is no match for them, so what else can we do? Of course, we'll report them to the imperial court!”

The sect members were all stunned. Report them to the imperial court? That's too humiliating!

“If we report to the imperial court, the Emperor and Imperial Preceptor won't ignore it.”

The sect master rose and said, “I will go to the capital to lodge an imperial complaint, and demand that the Emperor makes the Heavenly Devil Cult give our Taibai Sword Sect an explanation!”

Inside the volcano, Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan followed behind the Dragon Herder. They saw that the underground space was extremely vast. The walls of the mountain were covered in shimmering golden dragon scales. Qin Mu reached out to touch one; it was incredibly hot, like lava, yet not lava.

“This might be the main dragon vein. The concentrated dragon qi underground here is almost ready to transform into a divine dragon and fly away!”

The Dragon Herder exclaimed in surprise, “This dragon vein is even better than the nine mountain ranges in Eternal Peace's capital.”

Qin Mu asked curiously, “Dragon Herder, have you been to the nine dragon veins in the capital? What's it like there?”

Although he had been to the capital many times, he had never visited the mountains there. The capital was encircled by nine dragons, making its dragon qi exceptionally rich and unusual. People living there enjoyed longevity, and cultivation yielded twice the results with half the effort. The Imperial College and the Imperial Palace, in particular, were places where dragon qi highly concentrated.

“The dragon veins in Eternal Peace's capital are nine yellow dragons,” the Dragon Herder explained. “I went inside the mountains, and these nine yellow dragons have hollowed out the mountains, transforming into yellow dragon qi with scales and claws.”

“However, those nine dragons are still qi; they haven't fully formed. But this fire dragon here is already about to take shape.”

Qin Mu didn't understand. Long Jiaonan touched a dragon scale and asked, “Grandmaster, do you mean these dragon scales on the dragon vein are real scales, not just imprints?”

“Of course, they're real dragon scales.”

The Dragon Herder explained, “Flood dragons aren't true dragons; they're just large snakes that absorbed dragon qi and transformed. True dragons are born from qi, formed from dragon veins. Among all creatures in the world, some are oviparous, some viviparous, and some ovoviviparous, but true dragons are born from qi. Qi gives birth to true dragons, which then give birth to offspring, either viviparously or oviparously. You've been to the Great Ruins, haven't you? There are many Dragon King ruins there. Why does the Great Ruins have so many Dragon Kings? It's precisely because the Great Ruins once had hundreds of dragon veins, with flourishing destiny, leading to the dragon veins transforming into true dragons!”

Qin Mu was deeply shocked. Hundreds of dragon veins, flourishing destiny, and dragon veins transforming into true dragons!

He had indeed seen hundreds of Dragon King temples in the East Sea Basin of the Great Ruins! Not only that, there were Dragon King temples in the Surging River, and shrines for well-dwelling Dragon Kings and the like!

Could all these Dragon Kings be true dragons?

“The true dragons formed from the Great Ruins' dragon veins submitted to... hehe!”

The Dragon Herder seemed to have some reservations and did not elaborate. He said, “Currently, the Eternal Peace Kingdom having merely one or two dozen dragon veins is still a minor matter. However, to prevent future troubles, we must find the main dragon vein. Otherwise, if Eternal Peace is allowed to grow too strong, it might very well become another catastrophe. Finding the main dragon vein and nipping it in the bud—that's the proper course of action.”

As they walked deeper, they suddenly heard dull dragon roars. Qin Mu's spirit was roused: “Has this fire dragon vein truly transformed into a true dragon?”

Further ahead, he saw that the source of the dragon roars was not a true dragon, but an underground lava river, tens of miles wide. The walls of the lava river were astonishingly covered in shimmering golden dragon scales, dazzling to the eye!

Here, Qin Mu felt an incredibly rich dragon qi.

He had also cultivated the Spirit Family's Nine Dragons Emperor's Art, and his mastery was quite high. He immediately felt that the dragon qi here was almost comparable to that in the capital!

The capital's dragon qi was gathered from nine dragon veins, yet here, with only one fire dragon vein, the dragon qi was so dense. Could this truly be the location of Eternal Peace Kingdom's main dragon vein?

“Strange...” The Dragon Herder frowned, surveying the lava river upstream and downstream.

“Peculiar... the alignment of the dragon vein here seems off...”

The Dragon Herder raised his foot and stepped down from the backs of the two flood dragons. Qin Mu looked at his feet; they weren't human feet, but dragon claws.

The Dragon Herder took out a small golden jar—'small' relative to him, that is. Relative to Qin Mu, this golden jar was large enough to be a pot for cooking two or three people without issue.

The Dragon Herder scooped a jar of lava from the river, then took out some gold powder from his pouch and sprinkled it into the lava, waiting quietly.

Qin Mu leaned closer to look. He saw the gold powder merge with the lava, gradually changing.

The Dragon Herder casually tossed him a golden book and a gluttony pouch. He said, “There's something strange about this dragon vein; it seems to be more than just a simple dragon vein. I need to perform a ritual to examine the hidden trickery within. You first refine a few batches of pills to feed the dragons. The formulas for refining pills are in this book, so don't make any mistakes.”

Qin Mu affirmed, taking the golden book. The book was called the 'Dragon Herding Scripture'. Qin Mu flipped it open and read through it. The golden book recorded methods for raising dragons, as well as various types of dragons, their habits, and methods for controlling them. Only later did it detail what each type of dragon ate.

Qin Mu wasn't particularly concerned with the spirit pills recorded within. What intrigued him were the refining techniques. The Apothecary had taught him numerous types of alchemy techniques, yet some of the refining methods in the Dragon Herding Scripture were ones even the Apothecary hadn't taught him.

“As expected of a god who herds dragons, even his alchemy has so many intricacies. Judging by the formulas and refining techniques for these spirit pills, the Dragon Herder's skill in alchemy is probably only slightly inferior to mine.”

Qin Mu's heart grew wary. He realized it wouldn't be easy to concoct a potent poison to kill the Dragon Herder.

He quietly dismissed the thought and continued to study the Dragon Herding Scripture. Dragons of different attributes ate different spirit pills. For instance, Dragon Qilin was fire-attribute, and Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills were very suitable for him. However, after checking, Qin Mu realized that Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills were not the most beneficial for Dragon Qilin, but for his species, they tasted the best.

For Dragon Qilin, the most beneficial was the Fire Element Divine Yuan Pill, which aided his growth and significantly increased his running speed.

However, the Divine Yuan Pill didn't taste good; it was somewhat spicy.

“No wonder this brute wanted to eat Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, and so many of them!”

Qin Mu's face fell. He glanced at the Dragon Qilin, who was curiously looking around, and with a displeased expression, said, “Servant, come here and help me refine pills.”

Long Jiaonan gritted her teeth, walking forward, wishing she could swallow him whole.

Qin Mu kicked the Dragon Qilin: “Fat Dragon, have you heard of Fire Element Divine Yuan Pills?”

Dragon Qilin said, a little guiltily, “I haven't heard of them.”

Qin Mu snorted, and opened the Dragon Herder's gluttony pouch, which was filled with various spirit herbs. Qin Mu sorted the types, then threw them to Long Jiaonan, instructing her to fetch the herbs according to the formula. He then ordered the Dragon Qilin to breathe fire, while he himself performed alchemy techniques. He displayed a dazzling array of techniques, and quickly refined batch after batch of spirit pills.

Many small dragons on the Dragon Herder's body smelled the aroma. They immediately scurried down from him and gathered around Qin Mu. The largest were only ten feet long, while the smallest were less than a foot. There were dragons of all sizes and colors—blue, yellow, purple, blue, red, green—a strange and diverse array. They craned their necks, watching him.

Qin Mu's scalp tingled. He dared not move. Most of these dragons were flood dragons, but each was incredibly powerful. They could kill him with effortless ease!

The Dragon Herder was performing a ritual, spraying mouthfuls of true essence that slammed into the golden jar, causing the gold powder and lava within to merge and change. He said, “Put the spirit pills in the basin; they'll eat on their own.”

Qin Mu looked at Long Jiaonan. Long Jiaonan quickly rummaged through the gluttony pouch and pulled out a large basin. When she took it out, the basin was a full ten zhang across. It was no longer a basin; it was clearly a small pond!

Qin Mu poured the refined spirit pills into the basin. Immediately, dozens of dragons pounced into the basin, darting around and playing among the spirit pills.

Dragon Qilin looked at Qin Mu with longing eyes, wagging his tail. Qin Mu took out a large washbasin and poured in some Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, mixed with over a dozen Fire Element Divine Yuan Pills.

Dragon Qilin was overjoyed and quickly went to eat. Qin Mu immediately saw the fellow secretly pick out the Fire Element Divine Yuan Pills and stealthily throw them into the nearby lava river.

Qin Mu was furious and roared, “Servant, this brute is picky! Beat him for me!”

Long Jiaonan was enraged. She punched Qin Mu down, straddled him, and started hitting him, shouting, “I've put up with you for too long! I'll beat you to death!”

The Dragon Herder flicked a finger, sending Long Jiaonan flying. She crashed into several dragon scales and was shaken so hard she coughed up blood. The Dragon Herder shook his head and said, “You're still a master; how can you let a servant beat you up? What kind of conduct is that?”

Qin Mu scrambled to his feet, saying with shame, “I'm still in the Six Directions Realm, while she's in the Seven Stars Realm. You also bestowed a dragon pearl upon her; with it, she has immense brute strength. I can't beat her.”

“So that's it.”

The Dragon Herder took out a dragon pearl and tossed it to him. He said, “I can't do anything about a low cultivation realm, but I have plenty of dragon pearls here. Here's a better one for you. The dragon pearl I gave her was a mere trifle, a dragon pearl from a miscellaneous dragon in the Divine Bridge Realm. While this dragon pearl is also from the Divine Bridge Realm, its bloodline is much purer, almost that of a pure-blooded true dragon. If she tries to hit you again, you'll be able to send her flying with a single punch.”

Qin Mu gripped the dragon pearl. Immediately, he felt a wild, untamed power surge within him, his strength increasing almost explosively. He couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Long Jiaonan's face turned ashen. Was this still her grandmaster? He was favoring an outsider so much his arm was practically broken!

“I've already found the hidden trickery within the dragon vein.”

The Dragon Herder held the golden jar, his expression solemn. He said, “This isn't the main dragon vein; it's a branch of the main dragon vein, with a formation of dragons guarding it. Furthermore, this main dragon vein is connected to the dragon veins of the Great Ruins...”

Qin Mu leaned closer. He saw golden dragons swimming in the lava within the golden jar. At the center, encircled by dragons, a massive, ferocious dragon lay coiled, deep in slumber!

“The remnants of the Great Ruins indeed possess world-shaking abilities!”

The Dragon Herder sneered. “They transferred the destiny of the Great Ruins here to Eternal Peace Kingdom, intending to use the destiny of two dynasties to conceive a True Dragon Overlord! Heh heh, I will take this True Dragon Overlord vein, destroying their tens of thousands of years of planning, and see how they wail and curse the heavens!”