Chapter 371 — Escape Over the Mountains

Refining pills for these flood dragons was second nature to Shen Mu. Each kind of flood dragon required a different spirit pill, and the varieties he needed to concoct were numerous, yet he swiftly produced them all, feeding these tagalongs until they were stuffed full. He had assumed that once these flood dragons had eaten their fill, they would scatter in all directions.

To his surprise, they still followed him wherever he went. His original plan had been to control a single flood dragon and race ahead at full speed while the others ran wild in every direction, giving the Dragon Keeper a chance to chase after his dragons and buy himself some time.

Yet these flood dragons recognized only him as their meal provider, clinging to him with unwavering devotion, driving him to madness while leaving him utterly helpless. "The Classic of Dragon Keeping records only how to subdue dragons—it says nothing about how to drive them away.

" Shen Mu blinked and could only resign himself to his fate. The fire flood dragon beneath his feet sprinted at full power along the subterranean dragon vein, its speed now two or three times faster than when they had come.

He had to admit that dragons, those mighty beings—even flood dragons—far surpassed human flesh in sheer power, and their stamina was terrifying.

After running twenty or thirty thousand li, their speed had not diminished in the slightest.

"Dragons truly are formidable. Dragon Fatty excepted, of course—that fellow is a disgrace to dragonkind. " Shen Mu praised them sincerely. The black ox of the Tyrant Mountain Libationer also carried Azure Dragon bloodline, and its endurance was fearsomely strong as well.

It had once carried him and Ling Yuxiu in a desperate flight all the way from the Golden Palace of Loulan—truly astonishing stamina.

Shen Mu glanced again at the round, rolling Dragon Qilin beside him and felt certain beyond doubt: this fellow was indeed a disgrace to dragonkind. The Dragon Qilin would be gasping for breath after running a mere two or three hundred li at full speed, and after a leisurely five thousand li it would collapse, utterly exhausted, lying on the ground like a dead pig, snoring away. "At this rate, I'll be back in Jingping before long!

" Shen Mu was brimming with confidence. Once he returned to the Kingdom of Jingping, he could either go to the capital and activate the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, or seek out the Blind Elder, the Butcher, and the Village Head—and then he would no longer fear the Dragon Keeper. Just then, the Dragon Keeper's voice exploded in his ear: "Little thing, where have you spirited my dragons off to? " Shen Mu broke out in a cold sweat, his body drenched as if plunged into a bath.

He whipped his head around, but saw no sign of the Dragon Keeper.

"He's transmitting his voice! " Goosebumps erupted across Shen Mu's skin.

Could the Dragon Keeper have already collected the Dragon Nest? "Such an enormous Dragon Nest—how could he collect it so quickly?

Lifting that massive Dragon Nest would be no challenge for a god, but the hard part is refining it down, refining it small enough to carry on his person.

" Shen Mu's scalp went numb.

To refine the Dragon Nest down to the size of a jade pendant in such a short time required immensely profound cultivation.

For a divine ability user at his own Six Harmonies realm, it was almost unimaginable. The Dragon Keeper was worthy of being a deity of the heavens—to have collected the Dragon Nest and stowed it on his person in so short a time, his magical power was beyond anything Shen Mu had ever witnessed! "He must have just collected the Dragon Nest and discovered I'm fleeing with his dragons—that's why he transmitted his voice.

He hasn't arrived behind me yet. I still have a chance to make it back to Jingping. " Shen Mu steadied his mind.

The fire flood dragon beneath him had already begun to slow. It had run twenty or thirty thousand li, and though its speed had dropped slightly, it was still terrifyingly fast, its endurance boundless.

Shen Mu made his decision on the spot. The sound of his flute shifted abruptly. He took control of another flood dragon, leaped into the air, and landed on its back.

The Dragon Qilin jumped over as well, standing on the dragon's back. This golden flood dragon immediately surged forward at full speed, and their pace increased once more. "Heh heh heh, little thing.

. .

" The Dragon Keeper's voice continued to arrive. He was using his magical power to send his voice ahead of him across an immense distance—a great divine ability Shen Mu had once witnessed from the Tyrant Mountain Libationer.

But the Libationer's was a thousand-li transmission, whereas the Dragon Keeper was likely still twenty or thirty thousand li away.

Shen Mu could sense that his voice was arriving with incredible speed. Clearly the Dragon Keeper was transmitting while racing forward at full tilt—even as he spoke, he had already closed the distance between them by a thousand li or so! "You've stolen my dragons, and I don't blame you for it. As long as you return to my side, I will still treat you well and let you continue as my dragon-herding boy.

You should know that I greatly admire you, that I have taken a liking to your talent. . .

Wait! How strange! " The Dragon Keeper's voice carried astonishment. He blurted out: "Through the Dragon Nest I sense the True Dragon Lord moving at incredible speed!

" The Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet on Shen Mu's chest grew hot. The Jade Tablet—the Dragon Jade—had already unfurled and was writhing ceaselessly, as if it too sensed the Dragon Nest!

"Heh heh heh, little thing, the True Dragon Lord is fleeing in the same direction as you. No wonder—no wonder you ran.

So the True Dragon Lord is on your person! " His voice held both joy and fury: "So the True Dragon Lord has been right under my nose all along!

You are bold indeed, to have capered about beneath my very eyes for so long. If you were to escape, would not the lifelong reputation of I, the Dragon Keeper, be ruined by you? " Shen Mu said sullenly, "When did I ever caper about? I was perfectly well-behaved by your side.

.

. " Suddenly, a series of strange whistling cries rang out. The whistles were shrill, piercing through twenty thousand li of space.

The flood dragons large and small that had been racing along behind Shen Mu halted one after another, hesitating. The golden flood dragon beneath Shen Mu's feet also slowed, turning its body, preparing to run toward the source of the whistling.

Shen Mu immediately urged his golden flute, using its sound to control the golden flood dragon—yet the creature paid him no heed. Gritting his teeth, Shen Mu leaped from the dragon's back onto the Dragon Qilin's back and shouted, "Dragon Fatty, go! " The Dragon Qilin immediately surged forward—but just then the whistling abruptly changed.

The Dragon Qilin too stopped in its tracks. The other flood dragons closed in around them. Clearly the Dragon Keeper was using the whistling to control these flood dragons—even the Dragon Qilin had fallen under his control, and they intended to do Shen Mu lethal harm. The flood dragons surrounded him so tightly not a drop of water could leak through.

They raised their heads, turning to look at him from all sides, yet did not strike. Suddenly, one flood dragon extended its long tongue and licked Shen Mu—who stood rigid, not daring to move a muscle—right across the palm of his hand. The whistling abruptly turned violent. From the sound alone one could imagine the Dragon Keeper must be in a towering rage, urging the Dragon-Subduing Art to compel these flood dragons to kill Shen Mu.

Yet not a single flood dragon moved against him. The whistling from the Dragon Keeper grew more urgent, more insistent—still these flood dragons did not obey his command. Cold sweat broke out on Shen Mu's forehead.

He tried moving his shoulder.