Dragon-Han Doubts Deepen, The Kun Bears the Maiden Away

Dragon-Qilin eyed him suspiciously, then suddenly felt a wave of bitterness rise in his heart. Sorrow welled up as he said, "Cult Master, you tricked me! I thought you were sacrificing yourself to protect us, letting us escape. But you actually used us as bait, having us lure away these girls..."

Qin Mu made a snap decision: "I'll give you an extra meal."

Dragon-Qilin immediately stopped feeling sad and said to the bewildered Heaven-Guide Venerable and Grace Gongsun, "Cult Master is wise and mighty—he lured the tiger from the mountain, captured this girl to exchange for us. Such clever tactics!"

The water kirin rolled his eyes, thinking, "This guy's shamelessness far surpasses mine. With just a few words, he managed to score himself a meal. Truly the height of disgrace. By the way, what was that scripture of his called again? I should butter him up and borrow it for study—maybe I can get a few more meals in the future..."

He had gotten injured protecting Heaven-Guide Venerable, but the one most seriously hurt was still Grace Gongsun.

The girl had been beaten badly, and even her Six-Directions Primordial Whisk was snatched away by Lila Swallowfeather's attendants.

Lila Swallowfeather's attendants were exceptionally strong—one was at the High Heaven Hall Stage, and the others at the Jade Capital Stage. Although Grace Gongsun was a true god, a demigod born from the core of an Earth-Origin Dao Fruit and wielded the Six-Directions Primordial Whisk, she couldn't unleash its full power.

After a fierce struggle, she was still injured and captured. Even the little sapling in the halo behind her head was drooping and listless.

Seeing that everyone was basically unharmed, Qin Mu finally relaxed and smiled. "Senior Sister Lila, the situation is clear now. You're in my hands—so what should we do next?"

Lila Swallowfeather struggled to suppress her injuries, her breath thin as silk, and said with great difficulty, "Let them go."

The women hesitated for a moment, but ultimately obeyed and released Heaven-Guide Venerable and the others.

Lila Swallowfeather's eyes were swollen to narrow slits, her former beauty nowhere to be seen. She whispered, "What now, Shepherd Heavenly Venerable?"

Qin Mu stuffed several spirit pills into her mouth and said, "These are for healing. Don't worry, they're not poisonous."

Lila held the pills in her mouth but didn't dare swallow them.

Qin Mu smiled slightly and said, "Go ahead and take them. I still have some questions for you."

Lila Swallowfeather kept her mouth shut, refusing to speak.

Suddenly, Qin Mu pressed her throat. With a gulp, Lila swallowed the pills, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead and back.

But as the pills settled in her stomach, she immediately felt thousands of wounds across her body begin to itch, slowly closing up.

"These spirit pills are refined from Bruno's dragon spittle and several other ingredients. Normally, a single pill would cost ten thousand Everpeace coins," Qin Mu said with a smile.

Bruno the Dragon-Qilin was extremely nervous and whispered, "Cult Master, it's dragon saliva! Dragon saliva! If you say it's my spit, no one will buy it!"

Lila snorted coldly. Her wounds stopped bleeding, allowing her to free up some cultivation. She said flatly, "What do you want to ask?"

"First, return the Six-Directions Primordial Whisk," Qin Mu said.

Lila glanced at the women and said, "Give him back the Primordial Whisk!"

One of the women approached, holding the whisk. Heaven-Guide Venerable hurriedly said, "Give me the whisk!"

The woman hesitated, then handed the whisk to Heaven-Guide Venerable. He brought it forward and gave it to Qin Mu, whispering, "Brother, these women are powerful. I'm worried they'll try to ambush you."

Qin Mu accepted the Primordial Whisk and praised, "Well done, my wise brother."

"Are you from the Outer Heaven Court?"

He turned to Lila Swallowfeather and asked with concern, "How is the Heavenly Emperor?"

Lila replied coldly, "The Outer Heaven Court is just a heaven founded by traitors and rebels. Do you think I would pledge loyalty to them? You're mistaken; I have no connection to the Outer Heaven Court. I never expected the Shepherd Heavenly Venerable who shook the Heavenly Court a million years ago to be someone from this era. If the Heavenly Emperor knew, he'd be utterly shocked. I'm curious—how did you travel to a million years ago? And the Qin Heavenly Venerable traveling with you, is he the same as the young Kaihuang from back then?"

Qin Mu laughed, "I ask you questions, but you try to pry answers from me instead. Sister, you're quite mischievous. Earlier you mentioned Dao One and Dao Twenty-Two—how are these divided?"

Lila Swallowfeather's complexion improved slightly as she explained, "The Daos of the world are divided by their domains. Origin-Capital has thirty-six Daos—the first is Dao One, the second is Dao Two, and so on. Youdu has sixty-four Daos, Profound Capital has seventy-two, and the Week-Star constellation has three hundred and sixty Daos. Each Dao is numbered accordingly. The divine arts you use are categorized by which Dao they embody. For example, when you use Heavenly Fire, that's Profound Capital's Dao Two."

Qin Mu pondered, then said, "This way of dividing Daos reminds me of Dao Gate... Do you know a slovenly Daoist?"

"Do you mean Dao Ancestor of Dao Gate?"

Lila Swallowfeather shook her head. "I've heard the name, but never met him."

Qin Mu carefully watched her expression and continued, "Have you ever seen Dao Ancestor of Dao Gate?"

Lila stammered, "I ha— I have seen Dao Ancestor of Dao Gate! What did you give me to eat?"

A look of terror appeared on her face. Her thoughts and consciousness were almost beyond her control. She clearly wanted to say she hadn't met Dao Ancestor, but under Qin Mu's repeated questioning, she involuntarily spoke the truth.

"Bruno's dragon spittle."

Qin Mu smiled gently and said, "I added a few other herbs—it's a sacred healing pill. But these spirit pills have a drawback: they affect your consciousness, causing your thoughts to follow someone else's lead. If combined with certain Youdu demonic arts to influence the soul, they're quite useful for interrogation. Was Dao Ancestor of Dao Gate the one who helped you establish these Dao numbers?"

Bruno the Dragon-Qilin boasted to the water kirin, "That's the use of dragon spittle!"