"The Dragon-Keeper Lord's geomantic arts for calculating dragon veins are truly impressive."
Quinn Shepherd watched the dragon-shaped qi swirling in the golden cauldron. The Dragon-Keeper Lord's method seemed able to pinpoint treasure-rich sites—like how the Whitestar Sword Sect was built atop a dragon eye. It looked like they’d settled on a blessed land, but judging by the patterns in the cauldron, this was no treasure ground at all. Instead, it was a deadly place where a host of dragons competed, funneling all fortune back to the True Dragon Lord!
Any sect that settled here would mostly end up draining its own luck, slowly declining and withering away.
"No wonder the Whitestar Sword Sect has fallen so far," he thought to himself.
The Dragon-Keeper Lord put away the golden cauldron. Quinn hurriedly returned the Dragon-Raising Codex, but the Dragon-Keeper Lord shook his head. "You keep it and study. As my dragon-tending boy, you need to know every dragon’s habits. The Codex contains the arts of raising dragons—study it carefully. I’ll give you two days; how much you comprehend depends on your own talent. After two days, I’ll take it back."
Drake Dandy’s face turned green—she knew all too well how terrifying Quinn’s comprehension was, even if the Dragon-Keeper Lord didn’t!
On that deserted East Sea island, when the Dao Lord handed Quinn the Dao Sword texts for ten days, Quinn’s insights into Dao Sword were not inferior to Lucas Lin’s!
Even though the Dragon-Raising Codex was a god’s own scripture, it wasn’t any harder to grasp than Dao Sword—if anything, it was simpler. Dao Sword involved complex numerology and the higher your skill in that, the easier it was to understand. But mastering numerology? That’s no easy feat.
The Dragon-Raising Codex was more about raising, controlling, and living alongside dragons. Its core technique, the Dragon Command Art, was the Dragon Tamer Sect’s unique skill—complete with the skin-shedding rebirth method.
Although the Dragon Tamer Sect was founded by the Dragon-Keeper Lord, he never passed down the complete Dragon-Raising Codex. Even the sect master only possessed a fragment.
Even with just a fragment, the Dragon Tamer Sect was still a formidable force—though not on par with the three great sacred grounds, its reputation in the martial world was legendary. Otherwise, Emperor Evan wouldn’t have let them lead a whole army.
The Everpeace Empire originally had a Dragon Army, with the Dragon Tamer Sect at its core.
The Dragon Tamer Sect, founded by the Dragon-Keeper Lord, never received the full Codex—yet now Quinn, a total outsider, had it in hand. No wonder Drake Dandy was practically driven mad with envy.
And yet, the Dragon-Keeper Lord trusted this kid just because he looked honest and simple, while he was less trusting of her. Drake Dandy could only feel powerless.
The Dragon-Keeper Lord had no idea what she was thinking. To a god like him, keeping Quinn and Drake Dandy around was as trivial as carrying two ants—no need to wonder what ants might be plotting.
If Quinn wasn’t still useful, the Dragon-Keeper Lord wouldn’t treat him any better than Drake Dandy.
That was just the nature of his position.
He was a god—nothing could threaten him. Quinn was just an ant, no need to worry about him. All he needed was someone to do his bidding, and sometimes it was worth tossing a little benefit to the ant so it’d work even harder.
And even if the ant had bad intentions, one flick of his finger and it’d be dead.
Besides, just by their looks and behavior, it was obvious Quinn was more reliable. There was a natural honesty and simplicity about this little human, making him far more trustworthy than Drake Dandy.
The Dragon-Keeper Lord led them upstream along the magma river, heading deeper underground. The river was already buried thousands of li below the surface, and the source lay dozens of li farther down.
They walked for a long time, feeling the heat intensify. Quinn glanced along the riverbanks and saw more and more dragon scales—and now, even flesh!
He saw flesh growing right out of the dragon scales, along with long, thick blood vessels. For this colossal underground dragon vein, those vessels were just capillaries—but to Quinn, each one was as wide as a bucket.
Blood vessels branched out in all directions, spreading from the river to every corner.
"There’s blood flowing in these veins!"
He made another discovery—the blood coursing through those veins was true dragon’s blood, rushing with the sound of quicksilver flowing at high speed!
"This dragon vein has grown a heart," the Dragon-Keeper Lord suddenly said.
Quinn could faintly hear a heartbeat, growing louder as they walked. At last, in the center of a vast magma lake, they saw it—the heart itself.
It was like a small mountain, suspended above the magma by thick arteries, with roots plunging into the lake below.
With each throb of the dragon heart, magma surged upward, washing over the heart as if cleansing it.
The heart would pause after each beat, letting the magma crash back into the lake, then pulse again, sending magma roaring upward.
All around the lake, the walls were studded with massive diamonds—some hanging like stalactites, some jutting out like crystal pillars. There were also sheets of gold sand and huge blocks of pure gold scattered everywhere!
Giant gold nuggets littered the ground.
Quinn and Drake Dandy were dazzled, utterly entranced.
The Everpeace Empire had plenty of mines, but nothing as rich as this. With the nation’s resources, it would be impossible to dig a shaft this deep.
Both of them stared, dumbstruck. Even though Everpeace’s currency was the Grand Abundance Coin, gold was still valuable—and diamonds were prized materials for forging treasures. Many Buddhist monks used diamonds to refine their sacred tools, and diamonds this size would fetch a fortune!
"If only we could... What a pity," Drake Dandy thought.
"I’m rich!"
Quinn’s heart soared. "Once I take down the Dragon-Keeper Lord, all this treasure will be mine!"
"If this were anywhere else, I’d think this fire dragon vein was Everpeace’s main dragon vein. But it’s just a trick—one of those old schemers from the Great Ruins set this up as a decoy!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord ignored the gold and diamonds scattered everywhere, sneering, "They might fool others, but not me! When it comes to the Great Ruins, the True Dragon Lord’s vein couldn’t possibly be this weak."
He took out his golden cauldron, checked it, and said, "There’s another dragon vein nearby!"
He sped off with the cauldron, arriving at a magma waterfall. Grinning, he said, "This is the spot!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord raised his hand and lifted the magma waterfall, revealing another long river of magma flowing beyond.
"Wow, you have to cross several magma dragon veins to reach the True Dragon Lord’s vein!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord, spirits high, led Quinn, Drake Dandy, and the others through the waterfall into another dragon vein. He laughed, "Now this is more like it. Worth coming down here myself!"
This dragon vein was even more extraordinary—higher in grade than the last. Its magma river walls sprouted dragon scales, blood vessels, and muscle fibers. In some places, there were even organs forming!
If not for the nearby fire dragon vein, Quinn would have thought he’d wandered into the body of a true dragon!
"If all these dragon veins are like this, what must the True Dragon Lord’s vein be like?" Quinn wondered, secretly astounded.
They followed this dragon vein for tens of thousands of li, eventually encountering a third underground vein. Quinn frowned—they were heading west.
Volcano County lay at the heart of Everpeace, but heading west for so long meant they were close to the Divine Severance Mountains.
Quinn wasn’t sure how familiar the Dragon-Keeper Lord was with Everpeace and the Great Ruins, but the Heavenly Demon Sect did a lot of smuggling here, and Quinn himself had crossed the Divine Severance Mountains before. He figured they must be directly beneath those peaks now.
And yet, this third underground dragon vein was still heading west—if they kept going, they’d end up in the Great Ruins!
"It’s probably still night in the Great Ruins right now!"
Quinn tamped down his anxiety. Would the underground be dangerous at night in the Great Ruins? Would the darkness engulf them here?
He couldn’t be sure.
But sticking close to the Dragon-Keeper Lord was definitely the right move. This god’s power was immense—if darkness did descend, he could keep them alive.
They pressed on, but suddenly the underground dragon vein ahead grew dim and murky. The magma’s glow was swallowed by darkness, leaving only faint glimmers.
Quinn nudged the dragon qilin, who quickly caught on and hurried to the Dragon-Keeper Lord’s side, not daring to stray.
Drake Dandy saw this and immediately moved closer to the Dragon-Keeper Lord as well.
"That woman’s too clever—better to get rid of her early before she causes trouble," Quinn thought, frowning.
They hadn’t gone far when a divine statue appeared in the center of the magma river, casting a faint glow that drove back the darkness.
"Just as I thought—the old schemers from the Great Ruins have meddled here!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord sneered and pressed on. "If I hadn’t come down to inspect Everpeace’s dragon veins myself, I might’ve been fooled!"
He held his breath, keeping his aura tightly contained, and walked past the statue from a distance, as if afraid to wake it.
The magma river was long, and as Quinn and the others walked along it, they passed statue after statue guarding the dragon veins. After an unknown distance, they reached the fourth dragon vein.
This dragon vein didn’t belong to Everpeace anymore—it was part of the Great Ruins!
They entered the fourth vein. Quinn calculated—they’d already passed Dragon-Set City and Old Wreck Village, drawing closer to the heart of the Great Ruins.
The two flood dragons beneath the Dragon-Keeper Lord’s feet raced ahead, far faster than the plump dragon qilin. What took the qilin ten days, the flood dragons crossed in just one or two.
By the time they reached the fifth dragon vein, the darkness had faded and it was daytime. When they entered the sixth, Quinn was sure they were beneath the very center of the Great Ruins!
"We’re almost at the True Dragon Lord’s vein!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord, spirits soaring, laughed: "So, how’s your reading of the Dragon-Raising Codex? Time to give it back."
Quinn respectfully handed the Codex back. "I’m not very bright, but I’ve learned a little—though there are still parts I can’t figure out."
"You’re honest and simple, not tricky enough, so of course some things are hard to grasp."
The Dragon-Keeper Lord said, "Just take good care of my dragons and I’ll explain the Codex to you bit by bit."
Quinn was overjoyed.
Drake Dandy saw the look on his face and wanted nothing more than to strangle him—just to keep that goofy smile on him forever!
"We’ve reached the main dragon vein!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord, spirits high, laughed: "Today I’ll claim these old ghosts’ main dragon vein and ruin their thousand-year plans... Wait, what’s this...?"
His face grew puzzled as he stepped out of the sixth vein, glancing around—the confusion only deepened.