Chapter 378 The Fall of the Gods

Shen Mu, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu had all suffered heavy wounds and lay unable to move. Long Yu's legs had been broken, Mu Qingdai badly wounded and unconscious, Wang Muran's bones nearly shattered throughout his body. As for Shen Mu, the worst wound was the punch he had taken while turned into a shadow—he had nearly been smashed to pieces even in that state. The four lay where they were. Long Yu's neck was crooked and his tongue lolled out; he had wrenched his own neck, the blow he had struck while turning back having nearly snapped it. Helplessly he watched the Dragon Qilin approach, helplessly watched it extend its long tongue and slop it over him. The licking rolled him completely over, and then with another lick his face came round to the front again—and still his tongue had not gone back in.

The Dragon Qilin licked him again, leaving Long Yu drenched all over. His whole body began to itch—the ache and prickle of broken bones knitting anew, severed sinews reconnecting, flesh regrowing. He hurriedly drove his primal qi to adjust his bones, lest they mend crooked. If they mended crooked, even after the wounds healed he would be a twisted, lopsided wreck—that would be disastrous.

Wang Muran, sprawled nearby, watched him being coated in slobber while the Dragon Qilin's great tongue flipped the senior brother over several times like a frying spatula, as if afraid he might burn—and could not help snickering. The young man laughed until his wounds burst open and blood streamed out, the pain bringing tears to his face.

The Dragon Qilin then walked over and stretched out its long tongue. Wang Muran could laugh no longer. The tongue slapped down over his face like an enormous sticky blanket, wrapped him up, and rolled him over.

Having dealt with Wang Muran, the Dragon Qilin gave the unconscious Mu Qingdai a thorough licking, soaking the girl through. The licking woke her, but to spare herself the awkwardness, she could only keep pretending to be unconscious.

The Dragon Qilin headed for Shen Mu. Shen Mu said feebly, "Don't lick me. Senior Brother Long Yu, how are your wounds? There are jade bottles of dragon spittle in my Glutton pouch—take them out and smear some on me, and that will be enough..."

"Lick him! Big Fatty—Big Dragon, you must lick him!" Long Yu shouted in a fluster.

Wang Muran nodded vigorously and called out, "We've all had our turn—are we going to let him off? Big Dragon, lick!"

Mu Qingdai hastily opened her eyes, no longer feigning sleep, and laughed: "Share joy, share woe. Big Dragon, lick!"

Shen Mu's expression changed drastically, and he struggled to crawl aside. The Dragon Qilin raised a paw and pinned down the hem of his trousers. Unable to move, Shen Mu flew into a rage: "Fat Dragon, there's poison on my body! Lick me and within moments the poison will take effect and you'll die, blood pouring from seven orifices!"

The Dragon Qilin hesitated. The other three all laughed: "Who would coat their own body in poison? Fat Dragon, just lick him—if you die of poison, we'll bury you!"

Reassured, the Dragon Qilin licked Shen Mu till he was topsy-turvy, drenched all over. After all, this was its meal-provider, so naturally it had to be more conscientious—it licked Shen Mu with even greater care than the others.

Shen Mu's face turned livid. Flipped back and forth by the tongue like a fish in a pan, he lay motionless, offering no resistance, as if resigned to his fate.

The Dragon Qilin withdrew its tongue, then noticed its licking had mussed Shen Mu's hair. Hastily, carefully, it licked the hair smooth again, glossy and gleaming.

"Enough, Fat Dragon..." Grand Master Qin said woodenly. "Enough, stop licking... all right, all right, it's perfectly smooth now... no more licking!"

Seeing him angry, the Dragon Qilin reluctantly pulled back its tongue, withdrew its forepaws, settled onto its haunches, and crouched beside Shen Mu.

One stray lock of hair fell disobediently over Shen Mu's left eye. The Dragon Qilin hesitated, darting a glance at Shen Mu's expression. His face was black as charcoal. Still it could not help itself—it shot out its tongue and licked the lock back into place.

Shen Mu went berserk.

...

The great deer lay on the ground, the bones of all four legs shattered. Just now, Shen Mu and the others, along with Lord Dragon Keeper, had shrunk into four tiny figures and battled fiercely all over its body, giving it a dreadful time. Fortunately its life was not in peril, but its wounds were truly grave.

The great deer caught sight of the Dragon Qilin healing Shen Mu as well, and hastily curled up its lips and cried, "Yo-yo—Fatty, lick me, lick me!"

"Bah!" The Dragon Qilin sprayed a mouthful of dragon spittle that landed before the great deer, and said with lofty pride, "Rub it on yourself!"

The great deer was furious, but healing came first. It could only shift its body with difficulty and rub its wounds in the spittle, cramping and twitching from the pain.

Watching the deer wriggling back and forth in its spit, the Dragon Qilin felt a great surge of satisfaction: "This damned deer is always undercutting me in front of my meal-provider and showing me no respect. This time, let him learn how formidable I am—let him make a fool of himself before his own provider!"

Fat Dragon suddenly felt that the most satisfying moment of its life was not clinging to the young patriarch's leg to scrounge meals, but this very moment.

Shen Mu and the others gradually recovered some strength and sat up one by one, circulating their primal qi to flush the stagnant blood from their bodies, lest hidden ailments remain. The three from the Little Jade Capital had studied medicine too, and their skill was by no means inconsiderable—but compared with Shen Mu, they could not hold a candle to him. There were many things they failed to do with sufficient care.

Shen Mu drove out the stagnant blood, then mobilized his primal qi to squeeze the shattered fragments of bone out of his body bit by bit. Then he gave a low shout, and his primordial spirit flew forth to survey his limbs and every bone, examining in detail the condition of his physical body and the injuries to his divine treasury.

He examined himself with the greatest care. Then his primordial spirit returned to his body, and he swallowed several Spirit Buddha Pills to quickly restore his spirit and bolster his primal qi. Then, suiting the remedy to the ailment, he refined pills to treat the hidden injuries.

"Primordial spirit!" Mu Qingdai cried out, shock on her face.

Wang Muran and Long Yu were both shaken to the core as well. A primordial spirit was simply not something a cultivator at Shen Mu's realm could forge—they had never dreamed he could manifest one! Although Shen Mu's primordial spirit was still weak, like a faint shadow, it was unmistakably a true primordial spirit!

By forging a primordial spirit at the Six Harmonies realm, Shen Mu could be said to have seized the lead in cultivation; his speed of progress would far outstrip others. Moreover, the primordial spirit was one of the most crucial means of combat after the Heaven-Human realm. To begin engaging with it now was vital to his future rise in strength!

That Shen Mu had just used his primordial spirit to open his inner vision and examine himself was deeply puzzling to them—they had no idea how he had forged it.

"The Human Sovereign is indeed remarkable. I am thoroughly convinced." Long Yu sighed. "To forge a primordial spirit at the Six Harmonies realm and be able to send it out of the body—the Human Sovereign's talent and comprehension truly have no equal in this age!"