Chapter 367: The Depths of the Great Wasteland
"Lord Dragon Tamer's method of calculating dragon veins is truly ingenious."
Qin Mu watched the dragon-shaped qi swimming within the golden vat. Lord Dragon Tamer's calculations seemed capable of locating certain treasured mountains and blessed lands. For instance, the White Moon Sword Sect was built atop a dragon's eye. Though it appeared to be settled on a blessed land, according to the patterns in Lord Dragon Tamer's vat, this place was not a blessed land at all—rather, it was a dire ground where many dragons vied for fortune, feeding back to the True Dragon Lord!
Any sect settled here would likely have its fortune drained, gradually declining and withering away.
"No wonder the White Moon Sword Sect has fallen to its current state," he mused inwardly.
Lord Dragon Tamer withdrew the golden vat, and Qin Mu quickly returned the Dragon Taming Sutra to him. Lord Dragon Tamer shook his head and said, "Keep it for now and study it. As a dragon-raising attendant, you must be thoroughly familiar with the habits of every kind of dragon. This book contains the methods of dragon taming—ponder it carefully. I'll give you two days. How much you comprehend depends on your insight. After two days, I'll take it back."
Long Jiaonan's face instantly turned green. Lord Dragon Tamer had no idea of Qin Mu's terrifying comprehension, but she knew it all too well!
On that desolate island in the Eastern Sea, the Dao Lord had brought the Dao Sect's Fourteen Chapters of the Dao Sword for Qin Mu to study for ten days, and Qin Mu's grasp of the Dao Sword rivaled that of Lin Xuan, the Dao Son!
Though the Dragon Taming Sutra was a divine technique, it wouldn't be harder to comprehend than the Dao Sword—it would only be simpler. The Dao Sword involved mathematical calculations; the higher one's skill in mathematics, the easier it was to understand the Dao Sword. But how difficult was mathematics?
The Dragon Taming Sutra focused more on raising dragons, controlling them, and coexisting with them. Its core technique, the Dragon Control Art, was the unique secret art of the Dragon Taming Sect, containing the method of shedding skin and rebirth.
Although the Dragon Taming Sect was founded by Lord Dragon Tamer, he had not passed down the complete Dragon Taming Sutra. Even the sect master had only obtained a fragmentary version.
Even as a fragment, the Dragon Taming Sect was an extremely formidable school—naturally inferior to the Three Holy Lands, but it still held a fearsome reputation in the martial world. Otherwise, Emperor Yanfeng would not have let the Dragon Taming Sect lead an army alone.
The Yan Kingdom originally had a dragon army, primarily composed of the Dragon Taming Sect.
As the sect founded by Lord Dragon Tamer, even the Dragon Taming Sect lacked the complete Dragon Taming Sutra, yet this scoundrel Qin Mu had obtained it, driving Long Jiaonan mad with fury.
But what could she do? Lord Dragon Tamer, deceived by the boy's honest and simple appearance, trusted him instead of her, leaving Long Jiaonan feeling utterly powerless.
Lord Dragon Tamer paid no heed to her thoughts. In the eyes of a deity like him, keeping Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan by his side was a trivial matter, no different from carrying two ants. Naturally, he had no need to consider what ants might think.
If Qin Mu hadn't been useful, his treatment of him wouldn't have been much better than Long Jiaonan's.
Such was the nature of his station.
He was a god. Nothing could threaten him. A mere ant like Qin Mu certainly couldn't, so there was no need to dwell on it. He only needed the boy to do his bidding, occasionally tossing a small benefit to the little ant to make him serve more willingly.
Even if the ant harbored ill intentions, a flick of the finger would end it.
Moreover, judging by their appearances and conduct, Qin Mu was clearly more reliable. This small human possessed a natural simplicity and honesty, making him far more trustworthy than Long Jiaonan.
Lord Dragon Tamer led them upstream along the river of magma. The farther they went, the deeper they descended from the surface. This magma river was originally buried deep underground, stretching thousands of miles, and its source lay upstream—dozens of miles beneath the earth.
They walked for a long time, the heat growing more intense. Qin Mu looked along the river and saw more and more dragon scales on both banks. Beyond the scales, there was even flesh and blood!
He saw flesh sprouting from the dragon scales, along with long blood vessels. For this enormous dragon vein beneath the earth, these vessels were likely mere capillaries, but to Qin Mu, they were channels thicker than a bucket.
Countless blood vessels branched out in all directions, running along the river.
"Blood is flowing in these vessels!"
He made another discovery. The blood flowing through these vessels was true dragon blood, its movement producing a sound like rushing mercury!
"This dragon vein has grown a heart," Lord Dragon Tamer suddenly said.
Qin Mu heard a faint heartbeat, growing louder and louder, until finally, in the center of a magma lake, they saw the heart.
Like a small hill, the heart was suspended above the magma lake by numerous thick blood vessels, with many more rooted in the lake itself.
With each beat of the dragon heart, the magma in the lake surged upward, washing over the entire heart as if cleansing it.
The heart beat once, then paused. During the pause, the magma splashed back into the lake. When it beat again, the magma churned and flowed upward once more.
Around this magma lake, the walls were covered with massive chunks of diamond, like stalactites or crystal pillars. Besides diamonds, there were golden sands—vast stretches of gold covering the ground, pure golden gravel!
Beyond the golden gravel lay giant gold nuggets, scattered everywhere!
Qin Mu and Long Jiaonan were dazzled.
Though the Yan Kingdom was rich in mines, such abundant deposits had never been seen. With the kingdom's mining capabilities, no shaft could have been dug this deep.
The two stared blankly. While the Yan Kingdom used Great Feng Coins for currency, gold was still valuable. Diamonds were extremely hard materials for refining treasures; many eminent monks of the Buddhist school used diamonds for this purpose. Diamonds this large would fetch a high price!
"If only I could... what a pity," Long Jiaonan thought.
"I'm rich!"
Qin Mu's heart bloomed with joy: "After I kill Lord Dragon Tamer, all these treasures will be mine!"
"If this were anywhere else, I'd think this fire dragon vein was the Yan Kingdom's main dragon vein. But unfortunately, this is just a decoy set up by those old relics in the Great Wasteland!"
Lord Dragon Tamer ignored the gold and diamonds, sneering, "They might fool others, but not me, Lord Dragon Tamer! When it comes to the Great Wasteland, the True Dragon Lord's dragon vein couldn't be this weak."
He took out the golden vat, examined it, and said, "There's another dragon vein nearby!"
Holding the vat, he swiftly moved to a magma waterfall and laughed, "Here it is!"
Lord Dragon Tamer raised his hand, lifting the magma waterfall, revealing another river of magma on the other side.
"Impressive. I'll need to cross several magma dragon vein rivers to find the True Dragon Lord's dragon vein!"
Lord Dragon Tamer's spirits lifted as he led Qin Mu, Long Jiaonan, and the others through the waterfall into the next dragon vein, chuckling, "But this makes it interesting. Worth descending to the mortal world!"
This dragon vein was also extraordinary, even superior to the previous one. The walls of the magma river were covered with dragon scales, blood vessels, and muscle fibers, and in some places, organs had even formed inside the dragon!
If not for the fire dragon vein beside them, Qin Mu would have thought he was inside a real true dragon!
"If the many dragons are like this, what kind of dragon vein would the True Dragon Lord have?" Qin Mu was inwardly shocked.
They traveled along this dragon vein for ten thousand miles, encountering a third underground dragon vein. Qin Mu frowned slightly—they were heading west.
Volcano County lay in the heart of the Yan Kingdom, the central region. Heading west this far, by his calculations, they should be very close to the Divine Severance Mountains.
Qin Mu didn't know if Lord Dragon Tamer was familiar with the geography of Yan and the Great Wasteland, but the Heavenly Demon Sect had originally been in the smuggling business, traversing the Divine Severance Mountains. Qin Mu himself had crossed them, so he could judge that the mountains were likely directly above them!
And this third underground dragon vein was still heading west. Farther west, they would enter the Great Wasteland!
"Right now, the Great Wasteland is probably still in night!"
Qin Mu suppressed his unease. Would the depths of the Great Wasteland be dangerous at night? Would darkness reach this place?
He wasn't sure.
But sticking close to Lord Dragon Tamer was definitely the right move. This deity's strength was immense; even if darkness enveloped this area, he could keep them alive.
They pressed on. Suddenly, the underground dragon vein ahead grew dim. The magma had originally emitted intense light, but now even that light seemed swallowed by darkness, leaving only faint fluorescence.
Qin Mu nudged the dragon qilin. The beast came to its senses and hurried closer, not daring to leave Lord Dragon Tamer's side.
Seeing this, Long Jiaonan quickly moved nearer to Lord Dragon Tamer as well.
"This woman is too sharp. Better get rid of her early, or she might cause trouble," Qin Mu frowned.
Before they had gone far, a divine statue suddenly stood in the center of the magma river, emitting a faint glow that pushed back the surrounding darkness.
"So those old relics in the Great Wasteland did tamper with things!"
Lord Dragon Tamer sneered and continued forward, "If I hadn't descended to inspect the Yan Kingdom's dragon veins, I might have been fooled by you!"
He held his breath, suppressing his aura, and walked past the statue from a distance, as if afraid to wake it.
This magma river was very long. Qin Mu and the others followed it, with a divine statue guarding the dragon vein at intervals. After traveling an unknown distance, a fourth dragon vein appeared.
This dragon vein no longer belonged to Yan—it was a dragon vein of the Great Wasteland!
They entered the fourth dragon vein. Qin Mu calculated that they had already passed Inlaid Dragon City and the Village of the Remaining Elder, drawing closer to the heart of the Great Wasteland.
The two flood dragons beneath Lord Dragon Tamer's feet were incredibly fast, far quicker than the fat, lazy dragon qilin. What took the qilin over ten days, these flood dragons covered in a day or two.
By the time they reached the fifth dragon vein, the darkness had receded—it was daytime. When they reached the sixth dragon vein, Qin Mu was certain they were deep beneath the central region of the Great Wasteland!
"We're almost at the True Dragon Lord's dragon vein!"
Lord Dragon Tamer's spirits soared, and he laughed, "How is your study of the Dragon Taming Sutra? It's time to return it to me."
Qin Mu respectfully handed the Dragon Taming Sutra back to him and said, "My talent is dull, and I've gained only a little insight. There are still some parts I find difficult to understand."
"You are honest and simple, with few cunning thoughts, and not very clever, so naturally you'll find some parts hard."
Lord Dragon Tamer said, "As long as you serve my dragons well, I will gradually explain the Dragon Taming Sutra to you."
Qin Mu was overjoyed.
Long Jiaonan saw the expression on his face and wanted to leap over and strangle him to death, making sure he kept that simple smile even in death!
"We've reached the main dragon vein!"
Lord Dragon Tamer's spirits soared, and he laughed, "Today, I'll take these old ghosts' main dragon vein and ruin their ten-thousand-year plan! Wait... this is..."
A puzzled look crossed his face as he stepped out of the sixth dragon vein and looked around, his confusion deepening.