Chapter 366 — A Unique Skill

Long Jiaonan lunged at him and snarled, "You little brat, this state I'm in is all your doing! " Shen Mu raised a hand and Buddhist radiance blazed out; they traded one hard blow, both bodies shuddering violently, and in an instant Long Jiaonan's lovely hair came loose and drifted down in tangles, exposing patch after patch of bald scalp, while the skin of her face suddenly sagged.

Shen Mu's blood and qi churned; he was about to strike when he abruptly paused, and did not attack her. Out on the Eastern Sea, Long Jiaonan had nearly died beneath the joined assault of Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang; she had strained every sinew to shed her skin, but it had cost her her own life-force, and though the Dao Master had carried her away, she had not yet recovered. Now, trading that one hard blow with Shen Mu, her wig came off at once and her taut skin went slack.

Long Jiaonan noticed too that her hair had been knocked loose; with a shriek she began snatching and scrabbling, gathering up strands from every side and pressing each wisp back onto her head, but the hair had already scattered, and how could it stick?

"Sister Long, your allotted lifespan is nearly spent. If you do not fight desperately, you may still live a few decades like any ordinary person. But if you raise a hand against me again, I will not kill you; I need only wound you once, and you will have no chance at all of surviving.

" Shen Mu shook his head. "There is no longer any possibility of you taking revenge on me in this life.

Why insist? " Long Jiaonan cried fiercely, "You are the one who reduced me to this! And now you come with your cold comfort!

" "You ruined yourself, and your father the Dragon King ruined you as well; it has nothing to do with me. Fastening on me is nothing but finding someone to vent your spite on. " Shen Mu studied the thick, sturdy legs beside him and raised his head to gaze up. The god was looking downward, but not at them; he was surveying the mountains and rivers, the geography of Jingping Kingdom.

Clearly this god did not hold them in his heart at all, deeming them no threat whatsoever, their greatest use merely to raise dragons for him.

Shen Mu steadied himself and weighed the possibility of fleeing with the Sky-Skimming Divine Legs, then dismissed the thought.

The Sky-Skimming Divine Legs were swift indeed; at full burst he could exceed the speed of sound more than fourfold, but he could sustain it only briefly, half a quarter-hour at most before his vital essence was spent and his flesh exhausted. And judging by the pace of the two flood dragons beneath the god's feet, though he might gain some distance, catching him would be no difficult matter.

Besides, that useless lump Long Qilin had gone limp as a puddle and could not stand up at all; if he had to carry Long Qilin as he ran, the distance he could cover would be limited. Long Qilin was simply too fat and too heavy! "Raising dragons, is it?

I raise Fatty Long every day; this is easy work for me! " Shen Mu sat down; beneath his backside was the body of a flood dragon, broad and wide. With a skill to rely on, he feared nothing at all.

If he could raise Fatty Long, could he not raise other flood dragons? "How should I address you, Senior? " Shen Mu called out loudly. "You may call me Lord Dragon-Keeper. " The god surveyed the mountains and rivers, his voice rolling like thunder: "I am a god of the Upper Heaven.

So long as you serve my dragons well, I will spare your lives, and not only spare them: I will carry you out of this foul world, up to the Upper Heaven, to enjoy blessings by raising dragons for me. " Long Jiaonan's eyes lit up.

"Patriarch! " she cried.

"I am a disciple of the Dragon-Taming Sect; the Dragon-Taming Sect is the sect you founded!

" Shen Mu gave a sudden shudder.

"I'm finished! This Lord Dragon-Keeper is the founder of the Dragon-Taming Sect! " He could not help regretting having asked Lord Dragon-Keeper his name; now that Long Jiaonan had claimed kinship, he was a dead man!

He had half a mind to slip away, but he only kicked Long Qilin; the fat creature still lay sprawled on the dragon's back, his sinews weak and aching, unable to rise.

"I have a skill, I have a skill!

" Shen Mu steadied himself and consoled himself inwardly. "The Dragon-Taming Sect? " The two flood dragons beneath Lord Dragon-Keeper's feet halted. The towering god lowered his head and looked at Long Jiaonan, astonished.

"I did found that sect once, but that was long ago. Founding the Dragon-Taming Sect was a passing whim; afterward I went up to the Upper Heaven and paid it no more heed.

You are a disciple of the Dragon-Taming Sect?

And the one who called you his son just now, who is he? " Long Jiaonan was both startled and delighted; she flung herself down in a kowtow, knocking her head like a pestle pounding garlic.

"That is your disciple's father, the present Sect Master of the Dragon-Taming Sect! " "His cultivation is pitiful, to think I flicked him flying.

He will not die. " The twin dragons beneath Lord Dragon-Keeper's feet began to fly downward.

"Since you are a disciple of the Dragon-Taming Sect, I will not make things hard for you.

You seem to have damaged your vital essence; I give you a Mystic Water Dragon Pearl to nurse yourself with. It cannot restore your looks to what they were, but it can replenish your true essence and prolong your life. " A bright orange pearl flew down from above; Long Jiaonan caught it in haste and kowtowed again and again. "Patriarch! " she cried fiercely. "This man is the mortal enemy of our Dragon-Taming Sect; it was this wretch who annihilated our sect!

" Shen Mu shrank his neck and shook his head. "Miss Long, do not smear an innocent man's name.

With my cultivation and strength, could I really destroy your Dragon-Taming Sect?

The Dragon-Taming Sect is a vast holy land, its experts as numerous as the hairs on an ox, every one of them mighty in divine powers, extraordinarily handsome, and every one a fine dragon-raiser. How could I have the means to destroy them? " Lord Dragon-Keeper sized him up: plainly a simple, honest, artless youth, far more reliable in appearance than Long Jiaonan. "This weak, chicken-like, honest child, could he destroy the sect I founded?

Is it that you are too weak? " Long Jiaonan gnashed her teeth. "This wretch summoned a demon god and killed my whole household, old and young!

" Shen Mu's looks were honest and loyal; stammering, he protested, "When did I ever? I studied medicine from childhood and am honored as a divine physician; day to day I do nothing but mix medicines and raise Long Qilin, feeding him till he is fat and sleek. How could I summon a demon god to harm people? You not only slander me, you. .

. you slander me! " Long Jiaonan was enraged; she sprang over and seized him by the throat, her voice shrill and desolate.

"You are the leader of the Nether Demon Sect, your belly full of wicked schemes for harming people, a demon among demons! " Shen Mu could not catch his breath, his eyes rolling up white.

Suddenly Lord Dragon-Keeper flicked a finger and sent Long Jiaonan tumbling head over heels. She pitched headlong to the ground, and only then noticed that they had already landed: the two flood dragons beneath Lord Dragon-Keeper's feet had brought them to the bank of the Jin River. "Was it you who fed this qilin-bred dragon until it grew so fat? " Lord Dragon-Keeper lifted Shen Mu onto his palm and looked him up and down, smiling.

"Fed very well, very well indeed. I admire you.

" Shen Mu faced him directly, his heart clenching.

This Lord Dragon-Keeper was enormous; his face alone stood far taller than Shen Mu's whole body, and his face too was covered in dragon scales.

The protruding brow ridge was not wrapped in scales but had grown two eyebrows shaped like wings in flight. "Senior.

.

. " Shen Mu said, plucking up his courage, "I studied medicine from childhood, and my medical skill is passable.