Chapter 1022: Master of the Dragon Rearing Pool

Chapter 1022: Chapter 1022: Master of the Dragon Rearing Pool

That square, well-proportioned Jade Pool, and that magic treasure like Heaven-Lifting Jade Pillars—Shen Mo had already seen both of them in the remnant memory images left by Cao Ren’s Master, Xiang Shengtian.

The former reared a great number of strangely-shaped dragon beasts in its waters, it was undoubtedly the Dragon Rearing Pool; the latter was clearly that pair of jade chopsticks with which, when Xiang Shengtian resisted, she picked him up in one pinch!

With these two iconic magic treasures present, the identity of the unwelcome visitor was practically calling itself out...

At once, Shen Mo poured his vast Mana into the Thousand Laws Robe. With a slight movement of his mind, one Prohibition Lotus after another blossomed in resplendent brilliance, strange immortal aura flowed in waves, shrouding the place where the intruder was Hiding.

Under the fierce effect of ban magic, many of the magical abilities and Skills on this person that concealed her own qi and traces failed one after another. Her figure fell out of the void, then she continuously cast several Escape Skills in succession, and only by relying on an extremely high-grade magic did she manage to steady her body, avoiding a direct plunge from midair into the ground!

Only then did Shen Mo clearly see her true appearance.

Her features were quite delicate; though they could not be called a beauty that toppled cities, they carried a heroic air that seized the heart.

Her petite figure was exquisitely proportioned. She was not clad in resplendent, extravagant feathered robes, but merely used a Cicada Robe Phoebe Belt to cover the key parts. The skin left exposed was not like that of other female cultivators, white jade without blemish, but rather bore the complexion of a mortal woman who labors in the fields, full of vitality and life.

Both feet were likewise bare. Around the ankle of her right foot, a delicate, lovely Bronze Bell was tied with golden thread, yet it did not emit any sound.

Shen Mo had not expected that the Dragon Rearing Pool master who had made him wary for so many years would actually be a female Immortal, and one with such an appearance, so different from others. He could not help but think of the wild mountain girl dwelling in the unformed lands within Green Cloud Cave!

However, the vast and terrifying qi on this woman proved that she was indeed a True Immortal, and moreover one at the very peak among Human Immortals, already not far from the Realm of Earth Immortals.

At the same time, the information probed by "Insight into All Beings" also fed back into Shen Mo’s heart.

"Su Qingtao..."

"Oh? Fellow daoist knows me?" The female Immortal like a mountain wild girl showed a faint, half-smiling expression on her face, and her eyes, bright as the Stars, looked toward Shen Mo.

Strictly speaking, Shen Mo had never personally seen this Dragon Rearing Pool master, and thus had no way of knowing her surname and given name, but he had had two indirect encounters with her!

The first was in the remnant memory images left behind by Xiang Shengtian.

This female Immortal named Su Qingtao, though her real body resided in the Universal Realm, scattered the method of cultivating the [Transforming Dragon Curse] throughout the Lower Realm. Through this Curse she gathered dragon breeds containing True Dragon Bloodline, and by means of a mysterious method similar to Dreamland called the Dark Blue Zone, step by step nurtured them into Mixed Dragon.

When these [Transforming Dragon Curse] cultivators manifested the True Dragon aspect, she would cast her arts to seize them all, treating them as delicacies and cultivation provisions to enjoy, and those she could not finish eating she would continue to rear in the Dragon Rearing Pool.

Xiang Shengtian and his disciple Cao Ren were precisely victims who had cultivated the [Transforming Dragon Curse].

The former had repeatedly attempted to escape the tragic Fate of "mutating into a dragon and being eaten," and had even created the [Reverse Dragon Curse] that suppressed Dragon Transformation. Relying on a mouthful of Dragon Reversing True Qi, he dragged out time and cultivated up to the peak of the Golden Core Realm, yet in the end he still could not withstand the chopsticks Su Qingtao extended with her responsive body. In helplessness he directly rammed his head to death against the Dragon Rearing Pool.

The shock of that scene remained vivid in Shen Mo’s memory even now; in his heart he deeply admired Xiang Shengtian’s unyielding will, preferring death to submission!

Before Xiang Shengtian died, he poured all of his own inheritance and broken soul, including the [Reverse Dragon Curse] and Dragon Reversing True Qi, into the Blue Jade Slip.

And for reasons unknown, this inheritance jade slip fell into the Jade Pool Dungeon, where it was dug out from underground by a Spirit Storage Rat adept at treasure-hunting and obtained by Shen Mo. By fortuitous chance it became Cao Ren’s opportunity; and thanks to this, Cao Ren became Xiang Shengtian’s successor across generations, and gained the [Reverse Dragon Curse] and a portion of primal power containing Dragon Reversing True Qi, temporarily suppressing the process of Dragon Transformation.

Through the remnant soul memories left in the jade slip, Shen Mo also for the first time learned that in this world there existed such a celestial being as the Dragon Rearing Pool master—a figure of the Immortal Path whose methods were exalted and whose heart was vicious and ruthless!

The second encounter was in the prophetic scene of the [Chanjue] Destiny.

At that time, Shen Mo was driving the forbidden land manifested from Green Cloud Cave to descend upon the Universal Realm. Just an instant before the Fairyland was about to crash into the Immortal Realm, [Chanjue] suddenly issued a warning, feeding the crisis image back to his heart.

In that image, the Dragon Rearing Pool rose from the Immortal Realm, rammed him into serious injury, smashed off a corner of the Fairyland, and then forcibly abducted Cao Ren!

Thanks to the warning of Destiny, Shen Mo had beforehand locked Cao Ren into the Demon-Suppressing Tower and suppressed all his cultivation, narrowly and perilously avoiding this calamity. Only after Jade Spring Fairy acted to cast spells that interfered with Su Qingtao’s sensing of Cao Ren did he release Cao Ren.

But that was "future events" foretold by Destiny and had not truly occurred. In reality, Su Qingtao had not sensed Cao Ren’s existence, nor had she activated the Dragon Rearing Pool to wound Shen Mo.

It was precisely this experience that let Shen Mo know that the true body of the Dragon Rearing Pool master, Su Qingtao, was right within the Universal Realm!

Of course, because in these two encounters Shen Mo had never directly faced Su Qingtao, he had been unable to use "Insight into All Beings" on her to pry into her details. Only now did he see her true face, and through Destiny learn her true name!

Besides this, Shen Mo also learned more of Su Qingtao’s life story.

She was originally a native of Kunlun Continent. Her homeland lay at the foot of Black God Mountain, where numerous human nations of immortal and mortal mixed habitation were located, and the Su Family Village in which she was born lay in a remote region of one such small country.

More importantly, Black God Mountain was only ten million li away from the dragon’s ancestral land!

Shortly after Su Qingtao’s birth, two True Dragons from the ancestral land for reasons unknown engaged in a fierce battle near Black God Mountain, causing heaven and earth to change color. Torrential rain continued unceasingly for several months, ultimately triggering a world-ending flood. The waters swallowed the entire Su Family Village; her parents and all the villagers perished in this natural disaster.

At that time she was only four or five years old, yet by chance she did not die in the flood. Instead, she was extremely fortunate and was washed by the flood onto an ancient peach tree, thereafter surviving by eating the unripe green peaches that still grew upon the tree.

Later, when the floodwaters receded, Su Qingtao discovered that she could not walk out of this boundless mountain forest, and so she settled down beside the ancient peach tree.

Ten years later, a group of cultivators passed by and took a liking to this ancient peach tree, intending to claim it as their own. Su Qingtao, who had never cultivated before, actually beat this group of cultivators to death with her formidable vitality. Only then did she realize that the green peaches she had eaten all these years were spiritual items of heaven and earth.

Relying on the cultivation methods and magic left behind by this group of cultivators, Su Qingtao formally stepped onto the path of cultivation. Later, by a fortuitous chance, she gained the favor of a True Immortal who transmitted to her an Immortal Law of dragon rearing and dragon eating!