Chapter 444: Nemesis
The sun was setting, a crimson orb casting a blazing red glow across the Flame Desert. Qin Mu stood atop the head of the Dragon Qilin, using his own primordial energy to transform it into Vermilion Bird primordial energy, tempering each flying sword one by one and deepening the runic imprints within the blades.
He looked down. Xiong Qi’er had already fallen asleep, tucked inside the Dragon Qilin’s ear. There was no wind there, and the Dragon Qilin had covered his own ear hole with his ear flap, shielding the little girl securely.
“Fatty Dragon really isn’t bad,” Qin Mu thought to himself with silent praise. “This big fatty has a delicate mind. The mixture of Crimson Fire Spirit Pills and Fire Element Divine Origin Pills really does taste awful. Once we find a place to settle down, I’ll help him improve the flavor.”
The Dragon Qilin suddenly spoke up. “Chief, there’s an oasis up ahead!”
Qin Mu looked forward and, sure enough, spotted an oasis. “I wonder if there’s water there. We’ve gone a day without a water source. I can endure it, but I’m afraid Qi’er won’t be able to.”
The Flame Desert was scorching hot, with not a trace of moisture in the air. Even with his Black Tortoise primordial energy, Qin Mu couldn’t condense water. He had never worried about water before, but now that Xiong Qi’er was with him, he had to consider drinking water.
After a while, the Dragon Qilin arrived at the oasis. Several white sheepskin tents were pitched by the lake, and some people in Western Earth attire were lighting a fire to cook. The Dragon Qilin looked around warily and said, “I wonder if Banguo Cuo has fled here. Be careful, Chief. He was badly injured, so he probably hasn’t run far.”
Qin Mu jumped down, lifted the Dragon Qilin’s ear, and carried the sleeping Xiong Qi’er out. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, even if he’s nearby, he won’t dare come. If he does, it’ll be the perfect chance to get rid of him.”
The various turbaned Western Earth tribesmen in the oasis all turned to look at them, their faces changing color dramatically, but they dared not speak.
Qin Mu glanced around. Most of the people here were men, their faces ruddy from wind and sun. There were also some large, two-legged yellow sheep in the oasis, with goods piled beside them—likely traveling merchants.
Although the two-legged yellow sheep were fast and had strong carrying capacity, their gait was very bumpy, so only merchants chose to use these strange beasts to transport goods. Riding them might be rough and uncomfortable, but they could carry more cargo.
“Elder, my little sister is asleep. Could we borrow a tent?” Qin Mu asked an old merchant.
The old merchant quickly nodded. “Please, make yourself at home.”
Qin Mu thanked him and carried Xiong Qi’er into the tent. The desert was cold at night, but the sheepskin tent was warm, and there were thick woolen blankets inside. He covered her with a blanket. Xiong Qi’er, half-asleep, grabbed the edge of the blanket with her little hands, turned over, and smacked her lips—probably hungry, but she didn’t wake up.
Qin Mu stepped out of the tent. The sun had already set, and the campfire by the lake crackled and popped.
“Elder, are you merchants from Western Earth?”
The others glanced at Qin Mu’s face and dared not speak. The old merchant at the lead quickly replied, “We’re from a small country in Western Earth, heading to the Great Ruins to do business. Is this big brother from the Great Ruins?”
Qin Mu couldn’t help but chuckle. Although he was tall, he wasn’t old enough to be called “big brother.” The reason these people seemed a bit afraid of him was probably the flame patterns on his face. They had guessed he was from the Great Ruins because of those patterns.
“I am indeed from the Great Ruins, planning to go to Western Earth.”
Qin Mu took some fresh beef and fruit from his Taotie pouch and offered them to the other man, smiling. “Thank you, Elder, for letting my little sister have a place to rest. If you don’t mind, just call me Xiao Qin.”
The old merchant tried to decline but eventually accepted. “Don’t call me Elder. Men have a low status in Western Earth; only older women are worthy of being called Elders. Young Master Qin, you’re from the Great Ruins. Going to Western Earth might not be wise. This Flame Desert stretches for tens of thousands of miles, burning and blistering all the way, and it’s full of dangers for people from the Great Ruins. You should turn back.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I promised to go to Western Earth. How can I go back on my word? Women are in charge in your Western Earth? In Yan’kang, there are also some female generals and officials. When the National Teacher promoted gender equality back then, it met with a lot of resistance. I didn’t expect you to be even more progressive than Yan’kang.”
The old merchant’s face changed drastically. He quickly said, “Hush! Don’t you dare talk about gender equality, or you’ll lose your head! How could men and women be equal? Women can give birth, but men can’t get pregnant, so of course they’re inferior!”
Qin Mu was stunned.
The old merchant glanced around and lowered his voice. “When you get to Western Earth, don’t say such foolish things anymore. That is, if you can make it there alive…”
Qin Mu was at a loss for words.
“When you reach Western Earth, don’t say you’re from the Great Ruins,” the old merchant said solemnly. “If you do, you’ll easily get yourself killed.”
Qin Mu frowned. “Why is that?”
The old merchant didn’t want to discuss it further.
Qin Mu didn’t press him. He continued using his primordial energy to temper his flying swords. When his cultivation was nearly half-depleted, he took a few spirit pills. One by one, the flying swords were refined smaller and smaller.
“I still can’t manage to refine the swords into flowing liquid like Mute Grandpa did,” Qin Mu muttered.
He grabbed a flying sword and rubbed it between his hands, turning it into a small sword pellet, though it still had some rough edges. He activated the Carefree Sword, and nearly eight thousand flying swords clinked together, merging into a single sword pellet. Though much smaller, it was still about two feet in size.
Only when he could refine the sword pellet down to the size of a fingertip would his treasure-refining skills be considered entry-level, and he could then refine swords like flowing water.
Qin Mu dispersed the sword pellet, held the Carefree Sword, and the nearly eight thousand flying swords whistled over, colliding with the Carefree Sword one after another, merging into the mother sword.
The Carefree Sword grew heavier and heavier. By the time the last flying sword merged into it, Qin Mu’s hand holding the sword was trembling. The sword was too heavy, but he could barely lift it.
He tried to swing the Carefree Sword. Though it moved slowly, the air immediately filled with cracking sounds and a deep hum, as if a mountain were shifting!
The cracking sounds came from the sword’s immense weight, causing the space around it to emit faint bursts of noise!
After swinging it twice, his arm muscles ached. He quickly dispersed the subsidiary swords and stopped messing around. “The Imperial Disk and the dragon-language texts in the True Dragon Nest really aren’t bad. The Nine Dragon Emperor’s Art on them has improved my physical body at an incredible rate! In the past, I could never have lifted this sword! Unfortunately, there are still many dragon-language characters I can’t decipher.”
In recent days, he had been trying to merge the new Nine Dragon Emperor’s Art with the Overlord Body Three Dan Art, and his physical body had progressed rapidly. Before, he had only practiced the body-tempering techniques from the Great Nurturing Demon Sutra. Now, the sheer physical strength he could unleash was stronger than many divine abilities used by cultivators at the Divine Ability realm.
If he used combat techniques like the Thunderclap Eight Forms or the Butcher’s Knife Technique, the power would double!
The enhancement of his physical body had an extraordinary impact on his combat skills.
The Western Earth merchants around them went into their tents to sleep one after another. Qin Mu sat by the lake, and the Dragon Qilin shrank his size, asked Qin Mu for the Dragon Taming Sutra, and lay beside him, reading by the desert firelight.
“Fatty Dragon is working just as hard as Ling’er!” Qin Mu felt gratified.
The Dragon Qilin licked his paw, opened the Dragon Taming Sutra, and read carefully, thinking to himself, “Lord Dragon Tamer wrote the Dragon Taming Sutra. I’ll write a Human Taming Sutra someday…”
Before long, Qin Mu leaned against the Dragon Qilin and fell asleep. The Dragon Qilin also buried his head and dozed off. Though the desert night was covered in flames, the temperature was very low, and the lake had frozen over. But the Dragon Qilin’s body was warm, and flames occasionally puffed from his nostrils.
In the middle of the night, Banguo Cuo emerged from the flames outside the oasis, spinning up from underground. He looked at the sleeping Qin Mu, hesitated, and wavered. He couldn’t decide whether to sneak up and assassinate him now.
Qin Mu’s breathing was steady, showing no awareness.
Banguo Cuo hesitated repeatedly. Just as he was about to make up his mind to strike, he suddenly noticed that as Qin Mu breathed, wisps of dragon energy continuously flew out of his Taotie pouch, like tiny swimming dragons drilling into his nostrils.
Banguo Cuo also saw that Qin Mu’s hand was inside the Taotie pouch. Startled, he suddenly changed his mind, spun his body, and silently sank back underground.
“Did he notice me?”
Qin Mu opened one eye, his pupil darting around, then closed it again. He pulled his hand out of the Taotie pouch and continued drawing dragon energy from the True Dragon Nest as he snored away, this time truly asleep.
Threads of true dragon energy were absorbed into his body, transforming into his primordial energy and boosting his cultivation.
Over the past few months, his cultivation had relied on the True Dragon Nest and the Imperial Disk, which was why his progress had been so fast. Even Banguo Cuo, who had been reborn over a dozen times, hadn’t managed to leave him far behind.
Of course, the more critical factor was that he often engaged in primordial spirit dual cultivation with Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang, strengthening his primordial spirit immensely. That was why his cultivation hadn’t fallen behind Banguo Cuo, who had entered the Seven Stars realm.
At dawn, Xiong Qi’er woke up, crying that she was hungry. Qin Mu cooked some lean meat porridge with minced meat and green vegetables, made some pastries, and then refined several improved spirit pills for the Dragon Qilin to taste.
“My Human Taming Sutra will surely reach great success!” the Dragon Qilin thought confidently. “The Chief thinks he’s mastered the Dragon Taming Sutra, but little does he know, he’s completely under the control of my Human Taming Sutra!”
The merchant caravan prepared to set off. The old merchant bid Qin Mu farewell and warned him again, “Young Master Qin, never say you’re from the Great Ruins, or great disaster will befall you!”
Qin Mu thanked him, stood on the Dragon Qilin’s forehead, and headed west. Behind him came the jingling of bells from the yellow sheep’s necks, as the flock carried goods on their two legs and trotted east toward the Great Ruins.
The Dragon Qilin was fast, but by evening, they still hadn’t reached Western Earth.
As they passed a large mountain in the desert, Qin Mu glanced at it. The Dragon Qilin had already run past it when Qin Mu suddenly said, “Fatty Dragon, go back!”
The Dragon Qilin was puzzled but turned back.
Qin Mu looked the mountain up and down. It was extremely towering, but there were no flames on it. He soared into the air and soon reached the summit. The mountaintop was vast, covered in ruins and broken walls, hinting at its former glory.
There were also some wind-dried bones buried in the sand. Qin Mu examined them—the dead here were giants, unusually large and sturdy.
He walked over to a pillar and touched it. Thick, broken chains hung down from its side.
“Chief, what’s wrong with this mountain?” The Dragon Qilin stepped on fiery clouds and flew over.
Qin Mu raised his hand and pointed into the distance of the desert. “Look over there.”
The Dragon Qilin looked in the direction he pointed and saw a black sphere appearing in the desert, standing firm against the blowing sand.
“That’s a sun ship. A dead sun ship.”
Qin Mu got off the ship, his face expressionless. “Let’s go.”
The Dragon Qilin glanced at his face and didn’t dare say more, carrying him westward. Before long, they encountered a second large ship—a battered moon ship, also damaged.
Then they came across a third ship lying overturned in the desert. This moon ship had been through an extremely brutal battle and was in terrible shape.
Qin Mu suddenly realized something. “The Myriad Spirits Natural Divine Art—it’s the nemesis of the sun ships and moon ships!”