Chapter 368: Imminent Catastrophe
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan walked forward. What connected the sixth dragon's vein and the main dragon's vein was actually a huge gate. On its two sides, there were numerous dragon-shaped reliefs.
They looked vivid and lifelike, interesting and appealing, like true dragons. Not only were they in all kinds of shapes and denoting different breeds, they were also no inferior to Hundred Dragons Portrait.
Great Thunderclap Monastery's treasure only had a hundred types of heavenly dragons, but there were as many as a thousand types here. Dragon-shaped reliefs of all sizes surrounded a huge dragon that was coiling and raising its head upwards, looking straight at the people outside the wall. Some of the dragons were dancing in the air, some were crawling on the ground, and there were some which were sprawled on the floor hibernating.
There were also some dragon-shaped reliefs that were staring at the ground as though there was something interesting below. There were also big dragons looking at small dragons playing around, some of which had even climbed onto the whiskers of the huge dragon. They were hanging down and frolicking in all kinds of poses.
The huge dragon was sculpted to be formidable and terrifying. It possessed the air of a divine dragon yet it also had a wild and savage side to it. Its gaze stared directly at the people that had come to the place, making it hard for anyone to look back at him.
'This huge dragon is the true dragon lord? If I could comprehend it, my comprehension to Thunderclap Eight Strikes might just reach their extreme point, and I could probably even create new divine arts!'
Qin Mu's heart was greatly moved. Old Ma was skilled in sculpting, Deaf was skilled in painting, and Mute was skilled in smithing, so they had taught Qin Mu numerous things.
He could admire the beauty of the reliefs of the thousand dragons, but he could see much more than just that. The reliefs of the gate and the others had been sculpted with a hatchet. Qin Mu could almost see a god wielding a huge hatchet and moving its heavy frame as though it was as light as the wind. The unwieldy tool became the finest brush, both coarse and wild, letting the god scrawl freely and willfully. This resulted in a set of world-shaking hatchet skills that the god could use to his heart's content.
"Strange, strange!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's voice came from the other side of the gate, sounding very anxious. It seemed that he had encountered something he didn't understand.
Qin Mu walked through the tall gate and was slightly stunned. Below his feet was an empty abyss while in the surroundings was thick magma running down the four walls while giving off world-shaking rumbles!
They were in a straight and circular hole. It was so perfect that it seemed like it had been sliced out. But there was no main dragon's vein that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had expected.
He lifted the golden cauldron and flew to the center of the abyss. He examined the true dragon lord inside his treasure while looking around at the same time, the perplexed look on his face growing stronger and stronger.
"That's not right, the dragon's vein of the true dragon should be right here, so why is it gone? Could it have been moved away by someone? Or has it already transformed into a true dragon and flown away?"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was fretful and uneasy. He immediately descended at a rapid speed, going towards the bottom of the huge hole.
Qin Mu immediately rose into the sky and jumped onto the dragon qilin's back. Fatty Dragon flew down while stepping on auspicious clouds. Long Jiaonan also flew up then descended downward. After some time, they finally came to the bottom of the huge cavern.
The two of them trembled as they looked at their surroundings in a daze. They saw lava flowing down on the walls of the cavern, washing down on the brilliant gold underground space!
They were in an extremely vast space. Magma poured down from above and pounded against the ground which was made of metal. The whole surroundings were densely packed with black gold essence, some of it in pillars and some in huge rocks that looked extremely luxurious.
Strange writings, runes, and pictures appeared on the black gold, sometimes glowing and sometimes dimming as they flowed continuously.
The group could feel extremely terrifying auras around, which were both powerful and cryptic. A dragon's roar which was brutal and formidable could be faintly heard as well.
'Strange, these writings and runes seem slightly familiar, I seem to have seen them somewhere before…'
Qin Mu was bewildered. He went next to one of the black gold essence pillar and examined it in detail; the writing was indeed familiar.
"True dragon lord is indeed not here, not here…"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign was already annoyed and was checking on the gold dragon when he suddenly let out a deafening shout, "There's only a dragon nest. Who dug away the true dragon lord?"
'The true dragon lord has been dug away?'
Qin Mu was stunned. He looked at the huge underground dragon nest. It was very wide, with black gold essence everywhere. However, from the pillars' arrangement, there should have been a huge dragon entrenched there.
The center of the dragon nest was empty, presenting a ring-shaped space. Of course, that area was extremely huge, with the circumference of over a dozen miles.
The huge dragon's vein didn't seem to have been finished absorbing the dragon qi to become the divine dragon when it got dug out and brought away.
"The true dragon lord had been refined into a dragon jade!" Dragon Rearing Sovereign walked around the area, his face turning black. He said coldly, "However that person still miscalculated. He didn't expect for me, Dragon Rearing Sovereign, to come here, and didn't foresee that he couldn't leave the dragon nest of the true dragon lord behind!"
'The person who kept away the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord had really refined it into a dragon jade? 'Qin Mu cried out in astonishment in his head. 'Whoever has that great magic power?'
Dragon jade was a kind of jade pendant that portrayed a coiling dragon. The shape was that of a circle, but there was a gap. From the shape of the dragon nest left behind, the dragon's head and tail weren't connected, which was the shape of a dragon jade.
However, the material in the dragon nest was black gold essence, while dragon jade was made of jade.
On top of that, the biggest a dragon jade could be was the size of a palm. How could a true dragon lord that was over a dozen miles long be refined into a dragon jade that was the size of a palm?
Qin Mu soon saw why Dragon Rearing Sovereign said it was a dragon jade.
The god peeled off a layer of black gold essence from one of the black gold pillars, revealing the jade inside.
Qin Mu raised his head and examined it in detail. The magma around them contained molten black gold essence and when it washed over the dragon nest, it covered the jade and gave it the color of gold.
The dragon nest that Dragon Rearing Sovereign had mentioned was made solely of fine jade. The dragon's vein of the true dragon nest should have been nurtured to completion, absorbing the dragon qi coming from Great Ruins and Eternal Peace Empire.
However, someone had found it before it had matured and become a true dragon. They refined it into a dragon jade and brought it away.
No wonder then that there was such a huge abyss in that place. The person who had taken away the dragon jade had to have found the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord and dug through the ground to find the dragon nest!
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body trembled, and fire flood dragons instantly peered out from his clothes. As they shook their bodies, they transformed into huge flood dragons and spewed out intense fire in all directions, smelting all the black gold essence around them.
Melted gold flowed all over the dragon nest continuously, which made Qin Mu sigh in pity.
After the black gold essence flowed away, more jade mountain rocks were revealed. They reflected the light from the magma, and multicolored lights gradually shone from the crystal-like jade whose luster was much gentler than that of crystals.
"The person who took away the true dragon lord must have left the dragon nest to continue absorbing the dragon qi here. When accumulated was large enough, he would come to take the dragon nest and use it to nourish the true dragon lord. This way, both the dragon nest and the true dragon lord could be protected!"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign laughed continuously and looked at the dragon nest below that was gradually showing its shape. He said arrogantly, "However, it's useless! They didn't expect me to be a step faster than them to take away the dragon nest! They took the true dragon lord away to refine it into dragon jade, but I will control the dragon nest to restrain the dragon jade. Once I collect it, I will be able to sense the direction of the dragon jade. Once I find it, the dragon's vein of the true dragon lord will become complete!"
Qin Mu touched his chest, and the jade pendant on his chest became scalding hot, so much so that he felt uncomfortable.
There were two jade pendants hanging around his neck. One had been passed down from his ancestors—the jade pendant from Carefree Village—and the other was Emperor's Disk, which Cripple had stuffed into his hands some time ago.
Emperor's Disk was currently giving off heat which left Qin Mu somewhat uncomfortable.
'Wait a moment!'
Qin Mu blinked and grabbed his chest. The Emperor's Disk that Cripple had given him seemed to have the shape of a dragon jade!
His heart suddenly pounded violently twice. Emperor's Disk was a jade pendant that was carved with numerous cryptic runes, writings, and pictures that were glowing from time to time.
Legend said that Emperor's Disk was a treasure gods had conferred to the Ling Family and it represented the authority and role of the emperor. To steal this item, Cripple had even lost his leg to Imperial Preceptor.
However, after getting the Emperor's Disk, Cripple had studied it for dozens of years and still couldn't figure anything out, thus he stopped paying any attention to it.
Emperor's Disk was useless to him, so he stuffed it into the youth's hands. Qin Mu had planned to return it to him after coming back to the village, but Cripple didn't want to take it back. He had already reattached his leg, so he lacked any interest toward the Emperor's Disk.
Since then, that treasure had always been hanging around Qin Mu's neck, tied together with his own pendant.
'It can't be such a coincidence, right?'
Beads of cold sweat formed on Qin Mu's forehead. Emperor's Disk indeed had some runes, writings, and pictures which were similar to the runes, writings, and pictures around the dragon nest. They were also glowing and flowing from time to time, making him unable to understand them.
'However, this Emperor's Disk of mine isn't a dragon jade; it just looks like one. There is no gap. Maybe the writings and pictures on the Emperor's Disk being similar to the ones in the dragon nest are just due to a coincidence.'
Qin Mu composed his heart, thinking to see how Dragon Rearing Sovereign would take away the dragon nest. However, the Emperor's Disk around his neck became more and more scalding. Soo, it became unbearable.
Suddenly, Qin Mu felt something moving over his chest, and the heart of the youth couldn't help pounding an extra time. He stretched his hand out to touch it.
The Emperor's Disk had split open and become a dragon jade!
Not only that, Qin Mu could even feel the dragon jade becoming slimy, as though it had become a living thing. It felt like a small dragon!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Qin Mu heard the violent beating of his heart which couldn't be suppressed. Bigger droplets of sweat formed on his forehead and his legs also became slightly numb as he almost couldn't breathe.
Dragon Rearing Sovereign took a glance at him and asked when he sensed his nervousness, "What wrong with you, little thing?"
Qin Mu composed himself and said, "I just remembered that I haven't fed the dragons today and was afraid of Dragon Sovereign's punishment, that's why I'm feeling uneasy…"
Dragon Rearing Sovereign smiled and said, "So I see. However, this place is too hot and there's magma everywhere. There's no place to stand, so if you want to refine pills to feed the dragons, it'd be best if you went back up. Don't be so scared of me, I'm easy to talk to."
Qin Mu acknowledged his words, but his legs were still soft. He said, "In that case, disciple shall go up to refine pills."
Dragon Rearing Sovereign's body trembled, and instantly, numerous dragons of all sizes flew out from his clothes. He then passed his taotie sack to the youth and said, "Let your maid follow you to help. Train her well, don't let her be so wild all the time."
Qin Mu immediately hurried the dragon qilin into the air while the group of flood dragons followed behind them to wait for their food.
Long Jiaonan also followed up.
When he came to the gate of the cavern, Qin Mu said, "Maid, you shall stay here, I will go over there to refine pills."
Long Jiaonan sneered and said, "Dragon Sovereign made me follow you as he's scared you will run."
"I will run, I will run? Hahaha, what a joke!" Qin Mu's face was black.
Below the cavern, Dragon Rearing Sovereign started to cast a spell, trying to refine the huge dragon nest to take it away.
"Strange, it seems like the true dragon lord is quite close to here, there's a reaction from the dragon nest…" Dragon Rearing Sovereign said in astonishment. "It seems to not be far away, strange… Let's just take the dragon nest first. Once I'm done with it, I will know where is the true dragon lord!"