37.1 The Story of the Dragon G.o.d
Xi La De’s gaze held a hint of surprise. “Good. You’re quite talented. The Ice and Fire Magic Source and our summoning technique are equally mysterious, and both possess vast history. But I didn’t kill you because of that, but rather because you disregarded your own personal safety, willing to pay with your life to let my daughter escape. How long have you known Mao Mao?”
Nian Bing forced a smile and said, “About four hours or so. We met each other around noon. You can relax, I only see her as a little sister.”
Xi La De was surprised. “Only four hours? In such a short period of time, you got Mao Mao to trust you. It seems that you are really outstanding. And what about Feng Nu that Mao Mao spoke of? What’s her relationship with you?”
Feng Nu’s beautiful face flashed before Nian Bing’s eyes. He said plainly, “We are friends. You wouldn’t happen to know what the daughter of the phoenix, those four words that Mao Mao just said, mean?”
Xi La De’s eyes twinkled, and he replied, “This is something you don’t need to know right now. If Feng Nu wanted to tell you, she would’ve said so. There is too much dust here; let’s go sit on the side.” While saying this, he gesticulated in the direction that Mao Mao had first escaped to.
Nian Bing let out a silent sigh of relief. Before a mysterious summoner mage, he was under extremely intense pressure. In his mind, Mao Mao had become synonymous with the word trouble. Since meeting her, he had been plagued with troubles nonstop. Right now, he wished for Xi La De to take away Mao Mao the most.
“Lost child, awaken.” The voice full of such magnetism appeared again, releasing another wave of mysterious spirit waves. They were a particular frequency that it seemed like only Mao Mao could perceive. Her whole body shuddered, and she awoke from her stupor. After being stunned for a moment, she immediately locked her gaze on to Nian Bing. “Big Brother Nian Bing, you’re okay.” She ran over to Nian BIng and looked him up and down, her eyes full of concern. Her familiar naughtiness was nowhere to be seen. In this moment, it seemed that Mao Mao had grown up.
Nian Bing subconsciously patted Mao Mao’s head. With a smile, he said, “Relax, I’m fine. Just now, senior and I were just playing around.”
Mao Mao looked at her father with suspicion. Xi La De snorted coldly and said, “Looking at you, it seems that your father isn’t even as important as an outsider to you. Wait until we get home, and you and I will have words.”
Mao Mao blinked, giggling as she replied, “Daddy won’t do that. Daddy loves Mao Mao the most. I already know that I was wrong. If not, you can let Mommy punish me, okay.”
Xi La De laughed. “Her? If it weren’t for her pampering you like this, you wouldn’t be so naughty as to dare to run away from home.” The three people walked over to the side and found a clean spot to sit down. Nian Bing specially picked up the musk gland that had been wrapped in cloth.
Mao Mao giggled and ran to the side. In just a moment, she had picked up the musk deer that had been roasted previously and ran back. “It’s still hot. Daddy, Big Brother Nian Bing, let’s eat together.”
Nian Bing took the musk deer. With a flick of his wrist, the Proud Sky Knife appeared. He took several clean tree leaves and spread it on the ground. A green light flashed in his hands, and piece after piece of musk deer flesh appeared neatly laid out on the leaves. “Senior, Mao Mao, this is a very remote place. You will have to make do with this to eat.”
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this moment, Mao Mao saw that her father seemed to no longer bear any enmity towards Nian Bing. Immediately relieved, she pinched off a piece of to place into her mouth without minding the oils of the musk deer.
Xi La De looked at Nian Bing and asked, “Who did you learn the Ice and Fire Source from? I’m considered to be quite knowledgeable about the realm of magic, but I have never heard of anyone of having this kind of legendary magic. Your magic power seems to be only that of a Great mage, but with the Ice and Fire Source, you can use magic with the power close to a magic scholar. If you hadn’t encountered a rare breed like the golden-backed land dragon, an ordinary magic beast definitely could not harm you.”
Nian Bing smiled indifferently and replied, “If I told you that my Ice and Fire Magic Source was something that I practiced just by fumbling about, would you believe me?”
Xi La De’s brows creased, but he soon nodded his head. He replied, “I believe you. The ancestor of the null people, the mighty saint summoner also used his own wisdom and great strength to create the profound magic of summoning, as well as the auxiliary spirit magic. Ice and Fire Source Magic must have existed before, otherwise it could not be just as legendary as summoning magic. You have been able to brush against the entrance of Ice and the Fire Source, which is a sign that it’s fate. This is another important reason of why I didn’t kill you.”
Nian Bing forced a smile. “But it hasn’t been easy to cultivate this. No one has ever cultivated this magic before, so I can only rely on my feeling to figure things out, little by little. I’m still always on the alert because of the possibility for the two extremes of ice and fire elements exploding at any time. Right now, I’m still not clear whether what I’m practicing could be considered to be Ice and Fire Source Magic.”
Xi La De thought over this and replied, “It’s not completely ice and fire source magic. Actually, I had arrived here when you were roasting the meat. I did not appear only because I saw you simultaneously using ice and fire magic to cook the musk deer. Afterwards, when you were facing off against the golden-backed land dragon, I discovered that although your Ice and Fire Source could employ the two kinds of mutually dominating magics to explode together and produce a stronger attack power, it was not true Ice and Fire Source. Because when the magic elements exploded together, you could completely preserve the properties of ice and fire. If not, even if it were the golden-backed land dragon with its super defense, it could not completely resist the attack of the Ice and Fire magic source. Cold then hot or hot then cold is the best method to break through any defense. By expanding and contracting, your attack would have enough strength to break through the strongest defense. Kid, the road you will walk is long. Just like my ancestors, no one can truly help you. Everything relies on your hard work.”
“Daddy, aren’t you gonna eat some? It’s really savory! When we go back you have to make me things to eat, okay? If you have things that are delicious, I can guarantee I won’t sneak out again.” While speaking, she handed a portion of the musk deer meat to Xi La De.
Xi La De took the musk deer that his daughter had pa.s.sed to him and put it in his mouth. By just chewing for a minute, shock appeared on his face. At this time, Nian Bing was thinking over what Xi La De had just said. It was like a wakeup call. So he could strengthen his magic attack power by using the Ice and FIre Source, he had to make these two sharply contrasting magic elements each display their own special properties. As such, it wouldn’t be just a simple addition of explosive power added to his attack; the properties of ice and fire would be completely shown.
A fire-red figure sneakily crept close near the three people. Mao Mao’s eyes flickered and discovered its presence. With ill-humor, she said, “Get over here, Na Na. Just now who knows where you were. Hmph, once you smelt the meat you came running back. You stupid fox, see how I’ll deal with you when we get home.” Her final sentence was learned from how her father had just spoken to her.
The fox Na Na lowered its head and walked next to Mao Mao, saliva flowing out of the corner of its mouth. It looked at Mao Mao with a gluttonous plea.
Xi La De glanced at the fox and said, “Mao Mao, give it a bit to eat. It hasn’t evolved yet, so it isn’t equipped with the ability to attack. You shouldn’t blame it.” Hearing Xi La De’s words, the little fox actually nodded its head, wearing an indulgent expression.
Mao Mao snorted and said, “You little fickle thing. Since I spoil you normally, for punishment you are not permitted to drink Dan Dan’s milk for a month.” While saying this, she took a piece of meat that Nian Bing had cut and tossed it to the fox Na Na. Na Na did not care about punishment at this moment, and used her two front claws to cradle the musk deer meat as she gnawed it away. Under the effect of the Free Wind’s Gentle Hymn, the Proud Sky knife, the musk deer was reduced to bones. Nian Bing tossed the bones over to the fox, and got himself a piece of meat to eat.
Xi La De asked, “Nian BIng, your knife technique is extremely skillful. Could it be that you are a dual pract.i.tioner is martial arts?”
Nian Bing went blank for a moment and then replied with a smile. “No. The road I walk to cultivate magic is already so long, how could I dual cultivate martial arts? If it were like that, I would have no way of catching a glimpse of the peak of any kind of ability.”
Xi La de nodded his head in praise. “Pretty good. As such, the Ice and Fire Magic Source already will consume a great portion of your concentration to research it. You don’t want to be too complicated in your studies because of your intelligence as that has no advantage for you. The knife you just used should be a top-quality wind-attributed magic item. You also have that flame knife. Why would you use them to cut meat?”
Nian Bing smiled faintly and said, “Because they are not only my magic wands, but also my cooking knives! My true profession is that of a chef.” At this time, he did not know why, but Nian Bing had a very favorable impression of Xi La De. Although Xi La De’s face was always cold, his unaffected manner and expression made Nian Bing think of his own father.
“What? A chef? A great mage is a chef?” Xi La De looked at Nian BIng with disbelief.
Nian Bing smiled and said, “That’s the truth. My cooking arts are much higher than my magical strength.”
Xi La De grabbed another piece of musk deer meat and did not ask any further. He merely nodded his head in admiration and praised, “Truly, the flavor of the food that you make is pretty good.”
Right at this moment, an intense ray of golden light attracted Nian Bing and the other two’s attention. The golden light came from the direction where the golden-backed land dragon had been trapped by Xi La De’s spirit magic.
Xi La De’s expression changed slightly, seeming to be contemplating something. Rapidly, a faint thread of happiness appeared in his eyes. “This is great. The golden-backed land dragon is actually a variant. You stay here and don’t move. A variant golden-backed land dragon is very frightening. I will go over there and come back. Mao Mao, haven’t you always wanted a strong pet? You will have one now.” While saying this, Xi La De waved his right hand. A red magic hexagram appeared before him and with a flash of red light, a large, green bird approximately three meters in height appeared in front of him. He directly straddled the bird and with a strange cry, the large, green bird immediately carried him aloft, in the direction of the golden light.
Nian Bing watched Xi La De’s chantless use of the summoning technique. He could not help but feel extremely jealous. If he had a summoned beast like that, then wouldn’t it be a lot easier to travel the continent?
“Big Brother Nian Bing, sorry.” Mao Mao suddenly lowered her head to Nian Bing.
Nian Bing was stunned and then asked, “Mao Mao, what’s wrong?”
Mao Mao still kept her head lowered. “I know that it was my fault, but can you forgive Mao Mao?”
Nian Bing smiled. “Silly girl. At my most dangerous moment, you ran back to save me. How could it still be a mistake? So what’s the real problem?”
Mao Mao said stubbornly, “You need to promise to forgive me first, and then I’ll tell you.”
Nian Bing laughed and replied, “Okay, no matter what happened I will forgive you, so tell me now.”
Mao Mao cast her attention to the fox Na Na who was still eating the musk deer on the ground and said, “That golden-backed land dragon was probably attracted by Na Na’s urine.”
Nian BIng smiled and said, “It seems that the power of your precious frox is not small! However, I had already guessed this earlier. That golden-backed land dragon should have been attracted by the scent of the urine, but then when it smelled the musk deer’s fragrance it started to pay attention to us. There’s nothing to it. Why would I be mad at you?”
Mao Mao raised her head to sneak a glance at Nian Bing and said in a low voice, “There’s another thing. Actually, land dragons are extremely gluttonous. Although it was very savage, if we had given it our musk deer, it wouldn’t have paid attention to us. I wanted to see how awesome Big Brother’s magic was, so I tricked you and said that it would definitely attack us. But, but I didn’t think that it was actually a golden-backed land dragon.” With these words, Mao Mao’s head lowered even further, like a girl waiting for her trial. The sight made people feel pity.
Nian Bing was somewhat bitter as he looked at Mao Mao. Now he understood that he had risked life and limb because of Mao Mao’s lie, but could he still blame Maa Mao? Sighing, he rubbed Mao Mao’s soft black hair. “Never mind about it. Just don’t ever play a joke like that again, a joke with life and death! Mao Mao is a good kid, and Big Brother won’t blame you.”
Mao Mao’s head snapped up, and her eyes flashed with relief. “Big Brother, you really don’t blame Mao Mao?”
Nian Bing helplessly nodded but said in his mind: What’s the use of blaming you. Things have already happened. Anyway, you little witch will leave here with your father soon. Why do I need to blame you?
Mao Mao cheered and threw herself into Nian Bing and kissed his face. “Big Brother is the best, Big Brother is the best.”
The moment Mao Mao’s body pressed into his embrace, Nian Bing discovered that Mao Mao was not a kid at all. Her soft, adorable body held a faint fragrance. Although she was not as slender as Feng Nu, under the cover of her large, damaged clothing, she could definitely be said to be a budding flower. He wanted to say something to cover his embarra.s.sment, but the ground suddenly shook. Nian Bing and Mao Mao looked at the direction of the golden light only to see Xi La De riding the green bird in the air, his gaze fixated on the golden light below.