Refining spirit pills for these flood-dragons was second nature to Quinn Shepherd. Each flood-dragon needed a different kind of pill, so he had to make a wide variety, but Quinn quickly produced them all and fed his pack of tagalongs until they were completely full.
He had expected that once the flood-dragons were full, they would scatter in all directions. To his surprise, they still kept running after him.
His plan was to control one flood-dragon to speed ahead while the others ran wild, hoping the Dragon-Keeper Lord would chase after his dragons and buy him some time.
But these flood-dragons recognized only him as their food master, refusing to leave no matter what. It drove him crazy, but there was nothing he could do.
"The Dragon-Raising Codex only records how to tame dragons, not how to drive them away."
Quinn blinked and could only resign himself to his fate.
Beneath his feet, the fire flood-dragon charged at full speed along the underground dragon vein, moving two or three times faster than before. Quinn had to admit—even flood-dragons, as powerful as they were, were far stronger than any human body, especially in endurance. After running twenty or thirty thousand li, its speed hadn’t dropped at all.
"Dragons really are incredible. Of course, the Dragon-Qilin is an exception—that guy’s a disgrace to dragons."
Quinn genuinely admired this. Even Libationer Barrett’s blue ox, with its blue dragon bloodline, had terrifying stamina. It once carried him and Lynn Ling all the way from the Loulan Golden Palace in a mad escape—its endurance was truly jaw-dropping.
Quinn glanced at the round, pudgy Dragon-Qilin beside him and was certain—this guy really was a disgrace to dragons. The Dragon-Qilin would be panting after running just two or three hundred li at full speed, and after a slow five thousand li, he’d collapse like a dead pig and snore away.
"At this pace, I’ll be back in the Everpeace Empire soon!"
Quinn was full of confidence—once he returned to Everpeace, he could either head to the capital and fire up the Solar-Shooting God Cannon, or go find Grandpa Blind, Butcher, and Village Chief. Then he wouldn’t have to fear the Dragon-Keeper Lord anymore.
Just then, the Dragon-Keeper Lord’s voice exploded in his ear: "Little brat, where did you run off with my dragons?"
A chill ran down Quinn’s spine, sweat pouring off him. He whipped his head around, but saw no sign of the Dragon-Keeper Lord.
"He’s using long-distance transmission!"
Goosebumps prickled Quinn’s skin. Could it be that the Dragon-Keeper Lord had already taken the Dragon Nest?
"That Dragon Nest is massive—how could he collect it so quickly? For a god, lifting it isn’t hard, but shrinking it down to pendant size and carrying it off, that’s the real challenge."
Quinn’s scalp tingled. To refine that enormous Dragon Nest down to the size of a jade pendant in such a short time would require truly monstrous cultivation—almost unimaginable for a Six Directions realm practitioner like him.
No wonder the Dragon-Keeper Lord was a god of High Heaven. To take the Dragon Nest and wear it on his person in such a short time—Quinn had never seen such overwhelming power.
Quinn steadied himself. The fire flood-dragon beneath him was finally starting to slow down. After running twenty or thirty thousand li, its pace had dropped a little, but it was still astonishingly fast and its stamina seemed endless.
Quinn made a snap decision—his flute abruptly changed tune as he controlled another flood-dragon, leaping up to land on its back.
The Dragon-Qilin jumped over too, landing on the dragon’s back. Instantly, the golden flood-dragon surged forward, speeding up again.
"Heheheh, little brat..."
The Dragon-Keeper Lord’s voice continued to echo. He was using his magic to send his voice far ahead—Quinn had seen this kind of great transmission before from Libationer Barrett. But Barrett could only transmit a thousand li; the Dragon-Keeper Lord must still be two or three ten-thousand li away.
Quinn could feel the voice closing in fast—the Dragon-Keeper Lord was running while speaking, and with every word, the gap between them shrank by about a thousand li!
"You stole my dragons, but I don’t blame you. If you come back, I’ll still treat you well and let you keep being my dragon-tending boy. You should know, I admire your talent... Wait! Something’s off!"
The Dragon-Keeper Lord’s voice turned startled and cried out, "I can sense the True Dragon Lord moving rapidly through the Dragon Nest!"
Quinn’s chest burned hot—the Imperial Disc had already unfurled into the Dragon-Jade Ring, wriggling nonstop as if it too sensed the Dragon Nest!
"Heheheh, little brat—the True Dragon Lord is heading the same way as you. No wonder you’re running. So the True Dragon Lord was on you all along!"
His voice was a mix of joy and rage: "So the True Dragon Lord has been right under my nose all along! You’ve got guts, daring to bounce around under my eyes for so long. If you escape with it, my reputation as the Dragon-Keeper Lord will be ruined!"
Quinn muttered, "I wasn’t bouncing around—I was perfectly well-behaved by your side..."
Suddenly, a series of strange whistles pierced the air, sharp enough to cross twenty thousand li. The flood-dragons running with Quinn all stopped, some hesitating.
The golden flood-dragon beneath Quinn slowed as well, turning to run toward the source of the whistle.
Quinn immediately blew his golden flute, trying to control the golden flood-dragon, but it ignored him. Gritting his teeth, he jumped from the dragon’s back onto the Dragon-Qilin and shouted, "Fat Dragon, go!"
The Dragon-Qilin charged forward, but then the whistle changed again and even he stopped in his tracks. The other flood-dragons closed in, clearly under the Dragon-Keeper Lord’s control—even the Dragon-Qilin was caught, and they were about to attack Quinn.
The flood-dragons surrounded him so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through. They raised their heads, tilting them to look at him, but didn’t attack. Suddenly, one flood-dragon stretched out its long tongue and licked Quinn’s stiff, unmoving palm.
The whistle grew fiercer and more violent. Just from the sound, Quinn could imagine how furious the Dragon-Keeper Lord was as he used the Dragon-Controlling Mantra to urge the flood-dragons to tear Quinn apart.
Yet not a single flood-dragon laid a claw on Quinn.
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The Dragon-Keeper Lord’s whistling grew more frantic and urgent, but the flood-dragons still refused to obey his commands.
Cold sweat broke out on Quinn’s forehead as he tried to move his shoulder. The dozen flood-dragons around him all lowered their heads, their whiskers trembling.
"Mazusa—" The flood-dragons let out strange dragon cries, bowing their heads in submission.
Quinn froze in surprise and glanced down. At some point, the Imperial Disc had slipped out from his chest, its tiny dragon head poking out, lying on his collar.
"Imperial Disc—the True Dragon Lord!"
Understanding dawned on Quinn. The Dragon-Keeper Lord’s cultivation and mastery of the Dragon-Controlling Mantra far surpassed his own, yet the flood-dragons weren’t under his control—clearly, it was the power of the Imperial Disc.
Quinn leapt onto the back of a flood-dragon and shouted, "Smash this dragon vein for me!"
Dragon roars echoed as a dozen flood-dragons shook their bodies, swelling to reveal their true forms. Instantly, wild and primal energies exploded in the tunnel.
The flood-dragons opened their jaws, unleashing terrifying waves of force. With a thunderous crash, the dragon vein’s scale-covered stone walls shattered, rubble collapsing and filling the passage.
The dragon vein tunnel was blocked, magma rising higher and higher, flooding through the vein.
It wouldn’t take long for the magma to flood the passage completely.
Quinn shouted, and the flood-dragon herd immediately charged ahead at breakneck speed. Behind them, lava crashed and tumbled—the rupture of this dragon vein meant the entire vein would collapse!
At last, Quinn burst out of the tunnel before it collapsed, entering another dragon vein and finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"Destroying the dragon vein will slow the Dragon-Keeper Lord down for a while, but not for long."
He urged the dragons onward, following the new dragon vein underground toward the Everpeace Empire.
Mount Whitestar, Whitestar Sword Sect.
A crowd of Whitestar Sword Sect disciples guarded the volcano’s crater tightly, having brought out the sect’s greatest treasure—the Hundred Caskets Sword Formation. One hundred sword caskets, each six or seven zhang tall, ringed the crater.
The Hundred Caskets Sword Formation is renowned among sword schools—a grand treasure left by the sect’s founder. Since the sect’s founding, the hundred caskets have been tempered in the volcano’s fire day and night, growing ever stronger.
The hundred caskets stood like giant black stone monuments, quietly towering and ready to unleash the sword array at a moment’s notice.
Snow blanketed the mountaintop, stretching as far as the eye could see. Though it was a volcano, only the crater was truly warm.
A few Whitestar Sword Sect disciples rubbed their hands for warmth, white breath puffing from their noses. One female disciple muttered, "How did that old demon, the Heavenly Demon Cult Master, know there was a hidden treasure in our sect’s mountain? We’ve lived here so long and never found it, but he shows up and knows right away."
"How would I know?"
The male disciple beside her huddled against a giant sword casket, hiding from the cold. He shook his head and said, "But the Heavenly Demon Cult folks are sly. They probably sniffed out our treasure and came to take it. They really underestimate us—didn’t even bother to say hello. So arrogant."
An elder of the sect said, "Isn’t that just the way of the demonic path? This generation’s Heavenly Demon Cult Master—what a character! He marched into the capital with the emperor and the Imperial Preceptor, and beheaded the crown prince right in front of the emperor. Is there anything he wouldn’t dare? But our Sect Master has gone to the capital to sue him—he’ll win for sure! The treasure here belongs to our Whitestar Sword Sect! With the Sect Master away, we all need to stay alert and guard this place, so that old demon doesn’t escape with the treasure."
The disciples around the crater laughed, "There’s treasure down below, but it must be dangerous too. That old demon’s risking his life for it, but whatever he finds, he’ll have to hand it over to us!"
Just then, the volcano rumbled and shook. An elder shouted, "Disciples! The old demon is coming up—activate the Hundred Caskets Sword Formation, lock him down!"
"Moo—"
Dragon roars echoed from the crater. Suddenly, the volcano erupted—a massive column of magma blasted skyward.
Before the sect could activate the sword array, the volcano’s peak was blasted open by a huge shockwave. The hundred sword caskets flew in all directions like black stone monuments.
Everyone was stunned, not knowing what to do. Then, above the surging magma, Quinn burst out with a dozen flood-dragons.
"Whitestar Sword Sect disciples, abandon the mountain and run for your lives!"
Quinn’s voice rang out overhead: "The big guy’s coming!"
"What big guy?" The sect erupted in anger, but then Mount Whitestar began to shake even harder, huge cracks splitting open as magma gushed out.