Chapter 46: The Dragon

Qin Mu reached out, grasped one, and carefully took a tentative bite. It was incredibly spicy, far exceeding the potency of the Butcher's fierce brew. As it descended into his abdomen, a fiery sensation akin to burning spread, causing his Yuan Qi to become abnormally active.

He channeled a bit of his Yuan Qi and surprisingly felt a medicinal power similar to that of a Solid Yuan Pill, capable of enhancing his Yuan Qi cultivation. However, compared to a Solid Yuan Pill, the increase was not significant.

"Is this strange creature a plant or an animal?"

Qin Mu picked up another one. This peculiar being had no eyes, hands, feet, or orifices. It used root-like tendrils to absorb nutrients from the moss, leaving him truly unable to distinguish whether it was a plant or an animal.

He had only eaten one, while the Fox Spirit Child hopped and skipped, eating its fill.

The further they descended, the cooler the air became. After an unknown distance, the murmur of water reached their ears. A stream flowed from the mountain wall, its water crystal clear. Several large, sightless fish resided in a pool at the end of the stream, and these fish also emitted a phosphorescent glow. To pass, they had to traverse the pool to reach the opposite passage.

"These big fish are fierce, very fierce! They'll pounce at the sound of a disturbance, truly formidable!"

The Fox Spirit Child whispered, "I'll throw a stone to lure them away, and we'll seize the chance to rush across!" With that, its claw snatched up a stone and threw it with force.

The stone struck the wall. The several sightless fish in the pool splashed and broke the surface, their tails thrashing in mid-air. Four fish fins unfurled like wide wings, and they howled as they lunged towards the source of the sound!

"Quick, go!"

The Fox Spirit Child led the way, and Qin Mu hastily ran along the pool's edge towards the opposite side. In his haste, he heard several loud booms as the strange fish struck the stone wall, surprisingly biting out several large holes! The incredibly hard mountain stone, in their mouths, was like tofu, made in one piece. If they were to bite a human body, the consequences would be unthinkable!

Just as one person and one fox reached the opposite shore, the strange fish heard their footsteps and vibrated their fins, turning their direction and flying towards them!

"Young master, follow me!"

The Fox Spirit Child vanished like smoke into the opposite passage. Qin Mu also hastily squeezed in. The passage wasn't wide, and the large fish behind them, unable to fly in front of the passage, used their four fins as feet and ran madly inside, chasing after Qin Mu and the small fox!

"Is this still a fish?"

Qin Mu's scalp felt numb. He followed the Fox Spirit Child closely. The strange fish chased them for a distance but couldn't keep up. One by one, they slowly retreated from the passage and returned to the pool to lie in wait.

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. The path ahead gradually widened. After exiting a trumpet-shaped cave, dazzling sunlight suddenly streamed down. Qin Mu looked up and couldn't help but be stunned.

Above him, surging water spread out. Groups of fish swam overhead. He even saw a massive golden turtle, fish as large as small boats, and colossal river beasts.

One large fish saw Qin Mu and the small fox and became excited, opening its blood-filled mouth and lunging towards them. However, it struck an invisible water wall and was bounced back.

The large fish shook its head, seeming somewhat puzzled, and swam away, swinging its tail.

"Surging River, this is the bottom of the Surging River!"

Qin Mu's expression was strange. "The Surging River is directly above us, yet the water isn't falling down and flooding this place..."

He looked ahead, his heart stirred. A dragon pillar appeared before him, thick and several tens of *zhang* high, standing erect on the riverbed. The top of the dragon pillar met the river water. The ground beneath their feet was paved with white jade, and a path extended forward. Dragon pillars stood in great numbers on both sides. A hundred *zhang* ahead, a cluster of palaces appeared.

These dragon pillars surrounded the palace group, likely supporting the river water and preventing the great flood from reaching here. However, many palaces had already collapsed. A major change must have occurred here, leading to its ruin.

The Fox Spirit Child hopped and skipped to the ruins of a palace. Qin Mu saw a mottled mural on the collapsed half-wall. It depicted a dragon-headed old man hosting a banquet. The guests of this dragon-headed old man were all strange creatures, including a turtle-backed old man, a snake-tailed woman, a monk, and humans.

*Splash.*

A pillar fell, almost crushing Qin Mu and the small fox.

The Fox Spirit Child came to the center of the half-collapsed great hall and said, "I found those ancient books right here."

Qin Mu walked closer. Inside this ruined great hall was a hidden stone chamber built into the wall. The stone door had fallen down. This stone chamber was only discovered by the Fox Spirit Child. The stone chamber was now empty; its contents had likely been taken by the Fox Spirit Child.

"Walking further ahead, there will be great danger!"

The Fox Spirit Child pointed towards a majestic door ahead, saying nervously, "It's terrifying!"

Qin Mu looked towards that door. He could vaguely discern a palace behind it, which was still relatively complete and hadn't collapsed. However, strangely, it seemed covered by a layer of water mist, making it difficult to see what exactly was inside. The palace felt as if it floated in the water mist, appearing and disappearing.

"There's a terrible fellow inside..."

The Fox Spirit Child's voice trembled slightly. "You'll feel its aura as soon as you reach the edge of the door. You'll go limp, unable to even crawl..."

Qin Mu walked forward. The Fox Spirit Child mustered its courage and followed behind him. As they reached the edge of the door, Qin Mu suddenly felt an extremely strong killing intent rush towards him, causing alarm and trembling. It was like half the sky being suddenly covered by dark clouds in broad daylight, obstructing his path. Within the black clouds, an extremely huge and terrifying giant beast seemed to be staring at him!

Sacred, solemn, inviolable majesty, combined with fierce, ferocious bestiality – this was the great terror the Fox Spirit Child spoke of!

Qin Mu took a long, deep breath, steadied his body, and his mind quickly returned to normal.

"God Firmament Heavenly Eye, open!"

Yuan Qi array patterns interwoven in his pupils, forming another layer of double pupils, and he looked through the mist behind the door.

Beside him, the white fox's bones had already gone limp. It lay on the ground, its belly pressed to the earth, slowly and laboriously crawling back the way they came, struggling to turn around.

Qin Mu picked it up. The small white fox lay limply and said, "Don't grab me, I want to die, my heart is beating so fast..."

"You won't die. The things in this Dragon Palace are dead."

Qin Mu laughed and said, "Guess what I see?"

The Fox Spirit Child didn't answer. Its four limbs slowly moved in the air, and its tail swung back and forth, as if wanting to crawl away, unwilling to stop here for even a moment.

Qin Mu laughed and said, "I see the Surging River Dragon King!"

"Ah—"

The small white fox let out a soft sigh and fainted, its four legs stiffening. Qin Mu waited for a moment, and the small white fox quietly opened one eye, secretly glancing around. Qin Mu probed, "Surging River Dragon King."

The Fox Spirit Child's four legs stiffened further, and its eyes closed again.

"The Surging River Dragon King is dead."

Qin Mu laughed and cried, "Only bones are left. This Dragon King has been dead for who knows how many years. I see its dragon bones in the mist."

The Fox Spirit Child hastily opened its eyes. "Dead?"

Qin Mu nodded and said, "Now you can rest assured, right? Will you come in with me?"

The Fox Spirit Child hastily shook its head. Qin Mu was helpless and had to put it down, but he saw the white fox still crawling weakly outwards, its belly pressed to the ground. Qin Mu picked it up again and placed it on his shoulder. He stepped into the mist. The small white fox was extremely nervous, its entire snowy white fur bristling. Its claws dug into Qin Mu's shoulder. It stared with wide eyes ahead, utterly terrified, not daring to move an inch.

Qin Mu walked into the mist. The Fox Spirit Child held on even tighter, its furry tail standing straight up.

The mist was dense, year-round, but strangely, upon entering, there was no sense of moisture. As Qin Mu walked through it, he saw tiny water droplets floating within the mist, quietly suspended, unmoving.

Then, in the mist, he saw many broken jade stones also floating in the air. In addition, there were fragments of spirit weapons and remnant bones, all quietly floating, seemingly weightless. When he had looked from outside the door just now, he had only seen the dragon bones and hadn't discovered these things.

"There must have been a fierce battle here, even the corpses of experts and spirit weapons were shattered! What exactly happened here? Did it happen before the Great Ruins disaster, or after?"

Qin Mu's scalp suddenly ached. It was the Fox Spirit Child, half-dead from fright by a skull floating in front of them. It jumped onto his head, digging its claws into his scalp, its back arched high. The small white fox trembled, causing Qin Mu's scalp to also shake.

"Dragon ah—"

The white fox let out a sharp cry and quickly moved away from Qin Mu's head, lying on his back. Its four claws were hooked tightly around his waist on either side, like a white backpack Qin Mu was carrying.

————Cottage Pig suddenly wants to design a Fox Spirit Child backpack, but doesn't know how to draw pictures. Cries and runs off~