Chapter 368 — Deep in the Dark Underground

He led Shen Mu, Long Jiaonan and the rest through the waterfall into the next dragon vein, and laughed: "But this is what gives it savor. It was worth descending to the mortal world in person! " This dragon vein too was extraordinary, even a grade higher than the one before; on the four walls of the lava river grew dragon scales, blood vessels, and the grain of muscle, and in some places the organs of a dragon's body had already taken shape!

Had the fire dragon vein not been beside them, Shen Mu would have thought himself inside the body of a true dragon!

"If the host of dragons is already like this, then what must the dragon vein of the True Dragon Sovereign be like?

" Shen Mu was secretly shaken.

They traveled on along this dragon vein, covering more than ten thousand li, until they came upon a third subterranean dragon vein. Shen Mu frowned slightly: they were heading west.

Fire-Mountain Commandery lay in the heartland of Jingping, in its central region; traveling west this far, by his reckoning they must be drawing very near the Divine Severance Mountains. Shen Mu did not know how well Lord Dragon-Keeper knew the geography of Jingping and the Wasteland, but the Nether Demon Cult had always dealt in smuggling, and to reach the Wasteland one had to cross the Divine Severance Mountains—he himself had crossed them, and could judge that the Divine Severance Mountains must be right above their heads! And this third subterranean dragon vein still ran west; farther west, and it would enter the Wasteland!

"It must still be night in the Wasteland now!

" Shen Mu suppressed the pounding of his heart.

Would there be peril in the Wasteland's depths at night?

Would the darkness reach even here?

He could not be sure. But clinging close to Lord Dragon-Keeper could not be wrong; this deity's strength was immense, and even if the darkness could reach this place, his life would be preserved.

They went on, and suddenly the subterranean dragon vein ahead turned dim and uncertain. The depths had been filled with the fierce radiance of lava, but now even that light seemed swallowed by darkness, leaving only a faint glow.

Shen Mu kicked the dragon-qilin.

It too came to its senses and hurried forward, not daring to leave Lord Dragon-Keeper's side.

Seeing this, Long Jiaonan understood at once and hastily drew closer to Lord Dragon-Keeper. "This woman is quick-witted; best to be rid of her early, lest I capsize in a ditch," Shen Mu thought, frowning slightly.

They had not gone far when suddenly a divine statue stood in the middle of the lava river, giving off a faint, ghostly radiance that drove back the darkness around it. "So the old things of the Wasteland have indeed been meddling!

" Lord Dragon-Keeper gave a cold laugh and walked on: "Had I not descended to the mortal world to examine Jingping's dragon veins, you might truly have deceived me! " He held his breath, letting no trace of his aura escape, and passed at a distance from the stone statue, as though afraid of waking it. This lava river was very long.

Shen Mu and the others walked on along it, and at every interval a stone statue stood guard over the dragon vein.

On they went, no one knew how far, until a fourth dragon vein appeared.

This dragon vein no longer belonged to Jingping, but to the Wasteland!

They entered the fourth dragon vein.

Shen Mu reckoned that they had already passed Crimson Dragon City and Hidden Remnant Village, and were drawing ever nearer the heart of the Wasteland. The two flood-dragons beneath Lord Dragon-Keeper's feet were swift beyond measure, faster by no one knew how many times than a fat lump like the dragon-qilin; a journey of a dozen days for the dragon-qilin, those two flood-dragons covered in a day or two.

By the time they entered the fifth dragon vein, the darkness had receded and day had come; by the sixth, Shen Mu was certain they were beneath the central region of the Wasteland! "We are nearly at the True Dragon Sovereign's dragon vein!

" Lord Dragon-Keeper's spirits soared.

He laughed: "How goes your reading of the Dragon-Keeping Sutra?

It is time you returned it to me.

" Shen Mu respectfully returned the Dragon-Keeping Sutra to him and said: "My gifts are dull; I have gained a little understanding, though there are still some points that puzzle me. " "You are honest and simple, with few sly turns in you, and not overly clever; naturally there will be things you find hard to grasp.

" Lord Dragon-Keeper said: "So long as you serve my dragons well, I will explain the Dragon-Keeping Sutra to you, passage by passage.

" Shen Mu was wild with joy. Seeing the look on his face, Long Jiaonan longed to pounce on him and strangle him with her bare hands, so that he would keep that simple, artless smile even in death!

"We have reached the principal dragon vein!

" Lord Dragon-Keeper's spirits soared. He laughed: "Today I shall take these old ghosts' principal dragon vein, and their ten-thousand-year scheme will be ruined in a single stroke.

.

. Wait.

What is this. .

. " A look of bewilderment came over his face.

He stepped out of the sixth dragon vein, glanced around, and his bewilderment deepened.