Chapter 444: Nemesis

The sun was setting, casting a fiery red glow over the Flame Desert. Qin Mu stood on the Qilin Dragon's head, refining flying swords by transforming his vital qi into Vermilion Bird vital qi, deepening the runic imprints on the blades. He looked down to see Xiong Qi'er fast asleep, nestled in the Qilin Dragon's ear. It was a sheltered spot, free from wind, and the Qilin Dragon had even covered its earhole with its own ear, protecting the little girl very securely.

"Dragon Fatty is truly something," Qin Mu secretly praised in his heart, "This big fellow is quite considerate. The Blazing Fire Spirit Pills and Fire Element Divine Vitality Pills certainly don't taste good when mixed. Once we find a place to stop, I'll help him improve the flavor."

The Qilin Dragon suddenly exclaimed, "Cult Master, there's an oasis ahead!"

Qin Mu peered forward and indeed saw an oasis. "I wonder if there's water there," he said. "I can manage a day without water, but I'm worried Qi'er won't be able to." The Flame Desert was incredibly hot, with no moisture in the air. Even by using Black Tortoise vital qi, Qin Mu couldn't conjure water. He had never worried about water before, but now with Xiong Qi'er by his side, he had to consider their hydration.

A moment later, the Qilin Dragon reached the oasis. They saw several snow-white sheepskin tents pitched by a lake, and some people in Western Lands attire were starting a fire and cooking. The Qilin Dragon vigilantly scanned their surroundings. "I wonder if Bain Kuotuo managed to escape here, Cult Master. Be careful," he said. "He was severely wounded, so he shouldn't have gotten very far."

Qin Mu jumped down, gently lifted the Qilin Dragon's ear, and carefully brought out the sleeping Xiong Qi'er. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm here. Even if he's nearby, he wouldn't dare approach. If he does, it'll be a perfect opportunity to get rid of him."

The turbaned foreigners in the oasis all turned to look at them. Their faces changed dramatically, but they dared not utter a sound. Qin Mu glanced around, observing that most of these people were men, their faces deeply reddened by the wind and sun. The oasis also had several large, two-legged yellow sheep, alongside which were various goods, indicating they were likely itinerant merchants. Although these two-legged yellow sheep were fast and had strong carrying capacities, their ride was very bumpy. Only merchants would choose such beasts for transporting goods. Despite the rough and uncomfortable ride, they could transport a greater volume of goods.

"Elder, my younger sister is asleep. May we borrow a tent?" Qin Mu asked, approaching an old merchant.

The old merchant quickly nodded and replied, "Please, make yourselves at home."

Qin Mu thanked him and carried Xiong Qi'er into the tent. The desert night was very cold, but fortunately, the sheepskin tent was warm and contained some thick wool blankets. Qin Mu covered her with a blanket. Drowsily, Xiong Qi'er tugged at the blanket's edge with her small hands, rolled over, and made two smacking sounds with her mouth—she was likely hungry but hadn't fully woken up.

Qin Mu stepped out of the tent. The sun had already set, and the bonfire by the lake crackled merrily.

"Elder, are you merchants from the Western Lands?"

The other merchants looked at Qin Mu's face, too intimidated to speak. The leading old merchant quickly said, "We are from a small country in the Western Lands, heading to the Great Ruins for trade. Is this big brother from the Great Ruins?"

Qin Mu chuckled to himself. While he was somewhat tall, he wasn't so towering as to warrant being called "big brother." The fear in their eyes was likely due to the flame patterns on his face. They had also deduced his origin from the Great Ruins because of those same flame patterns.

"I am indeed from the Great Ruins, and I plan to visit the Western Lands." Qin Mu took out some fresh beef and fruit from his Taotie pouch and offered them to the merchants. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Elder, for providing my little sister with a place to rest. If you don't mind, please just call me Little Qin."

The old merchant, unable to refuse, accepted the gifts. "I dare not be called Elder," he said. "Men hold a lower status in the Western Lands; only older women are addressed as Elders. Young Brother Qin, you are from the Great Ruins, and traveling to the Western Lands might be quite dangerous. This Flame Desert stretches for tens of thousands of miles, scorching hot all the way. Moreover, it holds many perils for people from the Great Ruins. You should really go back."

Qin Mu shook his head. "I promised to go to the Western Lands; how could I go back on my word? So, women are in charge in your Western Lands? The Yongkang Kingdom also has some female generals and officials, but when the Imperial Advisor promoted gender equality, he faced considerable resistance. I didn't expect your land to be even more progressive than Yongkang."

The old merchant's face drastically changed. "Silence!" he hastily whispered. "You absolutely mustn't speak of gender equality, or you'll be beheaded! How could men and women be equal? Women can give birth, but men cannot get pregnant, so of course they are inferior!"

Qin Mu was taken aback.

The old merchant glanced around nervously, then whispered, "When you arrive in the Western Lands, you must not utter such foolishness again. That is, if you manage to reach the Western Lands alive..."

Qin Mu was left speechless, a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"When you reach the Western Lands, do not say you are from the Great Ruins." The old merchant stated solemnly, "If you admit you are from the Great Ruins, you will very easily be killed."

Qin Mu frowned. "Why is that?" he asked.

The old merchant was reluctant to elaborate.

Qin Mu didn't press the matter. He continued to temper his flying swords with vital qi, taking spirit pills when his cultivation was nearly half depleted. One by one, the flying swords grew smaller and smaller under his refinement.

"I still can't refine swords to flow like water, the way Grandpa Mute does." Qin Mu grabbed a flying sword and rubbed it between his hands; the sword transformed into a small sword pellet, though it still retained some edges. He then activated the Worry-Free Sword, and eight thousand swords clanged together, forming a single sword pellet. While significantly smaller, this pellet was still two feet square. Only when he could refine a sword pellet to the size of a fingertip would his artifact refining skill truly be considered rudimentary, allowing him to essentially refine swords as fluidly as water.

Qin Mu dispersed the sword pellet, then grasped the Worry-Free Sword. Nearly eight thousand flying swords whizzed toward it, colliding one after another and merging into the mother sword. The Worry-Free Sword grew heavier and heavier. By the time the last flying sword merged into it, Qin Mu's sword-wielding hand trembled slightly; the sword was incredibly heavy, yet he could just about lift it. He tried to swing the Worry-Free Sword. Though it moved very slowly, crackling bursts and a low humming vibration immediately filled the air, as if a massive mountain were shifting. The crackling sounds were due to the sword's immense weight, which subtly warped and popped the very space around it!

Qin Mu swung it twice, his arm muscles aching. He quickly dispersed the sub-swords, no longer bothering with the strenuous exercise. He thought to himself, "The Dragon-script characters on the Emperor Disk and in the True Dragon Lair are truly remarkable. The Nine Dragons Emperor's Art inscribed on them has astonishingly boosted my physical strength! Before, I could never have lifted this sword. It's just a pity that many of the Dragon-script characters remain undeciphered."

In recent days, he had been attempting to merge the new Nine Dragons Emperor's Art with the Hegemon Body Three Elixir Art, and his physical progress had been astonishingly rapid. Previously, he had only cultivated body refinement techniques from the Grand Creation Demonic Scripture. Now, the raw power he could unleash with his physical strength alone surpassed the divine abilities of many practitioners. If he were to employ combat techniques such as the Eight Thunderclap Forms or the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Art, their power would practically double! The enhancement of physical strength significantly amplified his combat techniques!

The surrounding Western Lands merchants gradually retired to their tents to sleep. Qin Mu sat by the lake, while the Qilin Dragon, having shrunk its size, asked Qin Mu for the Dragon-Rearing Sutra. It then lay beside him, reading by the desert's firelight.

"Dragon Fatty, this fellow, is as diligent as Ling'er now!" Qin Mu thought, very pleased.

The Qilin Dragon licked its paw, opened the Dragon-Rearing Sutra, and read it carefully, thinking to itself, "The Dragon Rearing Lord wrote the Dragon-Rearing Sutra; I, too, should write a Human-Rearing Sutra…"

Before long, Qin Mu leaned back against the Qilin Dragon and drifted into a deep sleep, and the Qilin Dragon, too, rested its head and fell asleep. Though the desert night was filled with fiery hues, the temperature was surprisingly low, causing the lake surface to freeze. However, the Qilin Dragon's body remained wonderfully warm, its nostrils occasionally spouting small flames.

In the latter half of the night, from amidst the flames outside the oasis, Bain Kuotuo emerged, spinning up from beneath the ground. He gazed at the sleeping Qin Mu, then hesitated, uncertain whether to quietly approach and ambush him right then. Qin Mu's breathing was steady and deep; he seemed utterly unaware.

Bain Kuotuo deliberated, about to make a decisive, fatal move, when he suddenly noticed that with each of Qin Mu's breaths, wisps of dragon qi continuously streamed out from his Taotie pouch, resembling tiny swimming dragons entering his nostrils. Startled to see Qin Mu's hand also resting inside the Taotie pouch, Bain Kuotuo abruptly changed his mind. His body rotated, and he silently sank back into the ground.

"Was he discovered?"

Qin Mu opened one eye, his gaze darting around, then closed it again. He withdrew the hand that had been in his Taotie pouch and continued to sleep soundly while drawing in dragon qi from the True Dragon Lair. This time, he was truly asleep. Wisps of True Dragon qi were absorbed into his body, transforming into his vital qi and significantly boosting his cultivation. His rapid cultivation progress in recent months was entirely thanks to the True Dragon Lair and the Emperor Disk. This was why even Bain Kuotuo, who had been reborn more than ten times, hadn't been able to leave him far behind. Even more critically, he frequently engaged in dual cultivation with Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang, which greatly strengthened his primordial spirit. This enormous benefit was why Bain Kuotuo, despite reaching the Seven Stars realm, hadn't been able to significantly widen the gap in their cultivation levels.

At dawn, Xiong Qi'er woke up, complaining of hunger. Qin Mu prepared her a lean meat porridge with minced meat and green vegetable leaves, then made some pastries. Afterward, he refined several improved spirit pills and had the Qilin Dragon taste them for feedback.

"My Human-Rearing Sutra will definitely be a great success!" The Qilin Dragon declared confidently, "The Cult Master believes he has mastered the Dragon-Rearing Sutra, but he doesn't realize that everything is within the grasp of my Human-Rearing Sutra!"

As the caravan prepared to depart, the old merchant bid farewell to Qin Mu, reiterating his warning: "Young Brother Qin, you must never say you are from the Great Ruins, or great calamity will surely befall you!"

Qin Mu thanked him, then stood on the Qilin Dragon's forehead as they set off westward. Behind them, the sound of bells from the yellow sheep's necks jingled as the beasts, laden with goods, ambled on their two legs eastward towards the Great Ruins.

The Qilin Dragon traveled swiftly, but even by evening, they still hadn't reached the Western Lands. As they passed a large mountain range in the desert, Qin Mu cast a few glances. The Qilin Dragon had already sped past the mountain when Qin Mu suddenly commanded, "Dragon Fatty, go back!"

Confused, the Qilin Dragon promptly turned back.

Qin Mu surveyed the area, noting that the mountain was extremely majestic but devoid of flames. He ascended into the air and quickly reached the summit. The mountaintop was vast, covered in ruins, where one could vaguely discern the remnants of its glorious past. There were also wind-dried skeletons buried in the sand. Qin Mu examined them and discovered they belonged to giants of exceptionally robust build. He approached a pillar and ran his hand over it. Several thick, broken chains hung down from its side.

"Cult Master, what's wrong with this mountain?" the Qilin Dragon asked, flying over on fire clouds.

Qin Mu raised a hand and pointed into the distant desert. "Look over there," he said.

The Qilin Dragon looked in the direction he indicated and saw a dark, spherical object in the desert, weathering the wind and sand.

"That is a Sun Ship," Qin Mu stated. "A dead Sun Ship." He descended, his expression as calm as still water. "Let's go," he said.

The Qilin Dragon observed his expression and, without another word, continued westward with him. Not long after, they encountered a second massive vessel, a heavily damaged Moon Ship, also completely ruined. Soon after, they found a third enormous ship lying overturned in the desert, this Moon Ship utterly shattered, evidently having endured incredibly fierce warfare.

Qin Mu suddenly realized, "The Myriad Gods Natural Art is the bane of Sun Ships and Moon Ships!"