Chapter 372 — The Silent One's Wooden Box

"The treasures buried in our Mount Taibai have come to light, and the sight of it is terrifying beyond words!

" Almost everyone in the Taibai Sword Sect was fleeing down the mountain, yet the sect's three elders did not retreat but advanced, racing toward the volcanic crater at the summit and crying out in harsh voices: "This is the Dark Demon Cult Master's doing — he cannot take the treasures from the mountain himself, so he means to drive us all away and swallow them whole! No one leaves! " Another old woman shrieked: "The Patriarch has manifested! He is magnifying the Taibai Sword Sect, bestowing the treasures of Mount Taibai upon us!

This is an omen that Taibai shall rise to greatness! " "Heaven have mercy!

" A white-haired elder gazed up at the sky and sighed long and loud, then declared in a ringing voice: "Our founding patriarch said this place is a land of dragon prosperity, destined for vast wealth and honor — and now it has come true!

Hear my command, all disciples: today is the day the Taibai Sword Sect soars to glory and surpasses the Three Great Holy Lands! Come back, all of you, and lend your strength to subdue this precious thing! " Hearing this, many Taibai Sword Sect disciples hastily halted, ceased their flight, and turned back. The Taibai Sword Sect had never been large to begin with — one sect master who had gone to the capital to lodge an imperial complaint, three elders remaining on the mountain, a dozen or so mid-level members, and a hundred-odd disciples under their tutelage.

Now most of the sect chose to stay.

They retrieved the sword caskets that had been blasted away, and one after another the black caskets thudded down across the crumbling slopes of Mount Taibai. The massive caskets, several zhang tall, burst open, and in an instant countless flying swords poured forth like long rivers.

High in the air, Shen Mu rode upon twin dragons, the two dragons surging forward at full speed while other flood dragons flanked him on either side, escorting him into the distance. Shen Mu looked back and saw the sky above Mount Taibai filled with clouds of flying swords, their tips pointed downward, suddenly shooting in a furious torrent toward the erupting volcanic crater! Shen Mu's eyes went wide, and he shouted urgently: "Are you all courting death? Why haven't you fled?

" At the summit, the three sect elders sneered in unison: "Trying to trick us into leaving so you can take the treasures for yourself? The Dark Demon Cult Master's heart is truly rotten beyond measure. If we did not know that Mount Taibai is a land of dragon prosperity, we might have been fooled by you.

" Shen Mu sighed and sped away with a whistle.

"The Taibai mountain range sits upon the dragon eye of a dragon vein, but this vein is merely a subordinate vein of the True Dragon Lord. Not only is it not a land of dragon prosperity — it is a land that steals fortune. The Taibai Sword Sect has had its luck siphoned by this dragon vein for so many years that its allotted time has surely run out.

" Shen Mu thought to himself: "Thankfully this sect has only a hundred-odd people.

The calamity it brings will not be too great. . .

" No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Mount Taibai exploded with a thunderous roar.

The vast volcano was torn apart, splitting into four.

In the instant the volcano blew, the Hundred-Casket Sword Formation collapsed utterly, and countless flying swords dissolved in midair, turning to molten iron.

The Taibai Sword Sect disciples did not even manage a groan before they were vaporized. The three sect elders possessed considerable cultivation, but before this terrifying force they were utterly powerless.

They were blasted until they vomited blood, hurled tumbling backward, and the molten iron that had been flying swords, mixed among the shattering rocks, shot toward them faster than any sword could fly. Despair filled the three elders' faces — this molten iron would pierce them through and extinguish every last spark of life! Then they saw a colossal thing rise slowly from the collapsing Mount Taibai. "As the Dark Demon Cult Master, he did not lie to us after all — there really is a big fellow in the mountain.

.

.

" The three elders looked up.

This incomparably mighty god-demon slowly straightened to its full height, and beneath its feet two long dragons — one azure, one crimson — let out earth-shaking roars. Chi chi chi — The three elders' bodies burst apart, riddled like sieves by the molten iron of the flying swords.

Their corpses plunged down together with the tumbling rubble of disintegrating Mount Taibai, buried deep alongside the other Taibai Sword Sect disciples.

The Taibai Patriarch should never have chosen this place for his sect. By now the Dragon Herder Lord's body had grown dozens of times larger than before. His flesh coiled like a great dragon, muscles knotted and bulging, sharp claws gripping the two great dragons beneath him.

The two dragons flew at incredible speed, riding clouds and mist, carrying him in pursuit of Shen Mu — but Shen Mu's figure was nowhere to be seen in the sky.

Several flood dragons still clung to him, hanging from his ears, burrowing into his clothes, their heads poking out and tails disappearing. These flood dragons he had kept to help him collect and refine the dragon nest, which was why he had been able to refine it so quickly. The Dragon Herder Lord's aura blazed to the heavens.

He glanced around in all directions but still could not see Shen Mu.

He reached out and flipped his hand, producing a jade object the size of a table, and sneered: "Little thing, do you think you can escape me? " The base of this jade object resembled a great round table, cut perfectly flat, but upon its surface sat a semicircular dome.

Beneath the dome, the floor was divided into nine tiers, each tier filled with interlocking jade pillars and jade teeth. At the ninth tier appeared a ring-shaped groove, missing a single notch. This was none other than the dragon nest of the True Dragon Lord!

When Shen Mu had first come to the dragon nest, its other parts had been submerged in boiling magma — what they saw was merely the tip of the iceberg. The Dragon Herder Lord had expended tremendous effort to dig this dragon nest out from deep underground and refine it, which was the only way he could carry it with him. The Dragon Herder Lord activated the jade dragon nest, using it to determine Shen Mu's location. Yet Shen Mu seemed to have vanished completely — even the dragon nest could not sense the resonance with the True Dragon Lord.

The Dragon Herder Lord was astonished.

He poured in more magical power and activated the nest again, but still could not sense the location of the Heavenly Emperor Jade Tablet that Shen Mu wore. "He has hidden the True Dragon Lord?

No, no — no matter where he hides it, it is impossible to sever the resonance between the True Dragon Lord and the dragon nest! " He activated the nest again and again, but still could not sense Shen Mu's position.

Beads of sweat appeared on the Dragon Herder Lord's forehead.

Shen Mu had "abducted" more than a dozen of his dragons.

These flood dragons were all extraordinarily powerful — the red flood dragon of the Dragon King of the Dragon Taming Sect was merely a child compared to the flood dragons he raised. Those flood dragons had been nurtured with his life's blood, and each one's battle power was terrifying beyond measure!

If Shen Mu had truly made off with them, the loss went without saying. On top of that, his purpose in coming here was to find the main dragon vein of the Jingping Kingdom.

If he did not eliminate the main dragon vein, how could he face returning to the Heavens Above?