Dragon Canon

Before Wei Yuan arrived, Fang Hetong had relied on the walls to keep himself safe, and his bow and crossbows to catch the enemy unawares. This forced the Liao to abandon their forces and enter the village on foot. The Liao was weaker if they weren’t on horseback, and a timely Establishing Merit temporarily boosted the militia’s strength to that of a regular frontier army. Besides that, everyone was fighting with all their might and even sacrificing their lives to push back the Liao cavalry. That was the only reason they were able to repel the invaders again and again.

But tonight, Wei Yuan’s surprise attack had netted them eight kills and even the squad leader’s head. This was the only time they had properly routed the enemy.

This was also the first time Wei Yuan had fought against the foreign races for real. The mountain giant he had faced during the minor exam was just a cripple, and his seniors were supervising the battle. His life had never been in danger. Naturally, the pressure he felt between now and then was completely different.

Although the Palace of Absolute Beginning had established a tight defense line across the two commanderies, the Liao were hardly puppets that they could manipulate at will. They moved like the wind and struck wherever they chose. The Palace’s defenses prevented Avatar-stage enemies from invading and slaughtering at will, but Dao Foundation stage adversaries could still appear at any moment. If someone was really unlucky, they might even encounter a powerful foe who was in the late-stage of the Dao Foundation stage. Should such a clash occur, the only recourse was to send a distress signal and hold the line until reinforcements from the Palace showed up.

But of course, not every outpost was as frail as Wei Yuan’s. Some outposts looked vulnerable on the outside, but really harbored formidable strength. They were capable of devouring even enemies in the late-stage of the Dao Foundation stage whole. With hundreds of outposts lined up across the two counties and no real way of finding out which ones were truly weak, not even the Liao barbarians dared to test their defenses lightly.

As for the possibility that a large force might sneak past their defense lines and launch a devastating surprise attack… such an assault could never happen while a True Lord was keeping watch.

Meanwhile, Fang Hetong had recovered enough strength to produce a pill bottle. He hesitated for a long time before pouring out a pill and consuming it. It was clear from his pained expression that it wasn’t an easy decision. Then, he summoned a couple men with strong bodies and normal eyesight to haul the dead bodies back into the village. As a Liao warhorse would automatically return back to where they came from once their master had died, there were only two horse corpses outside.

While the militia soldiers were hauling the bodies, Fang Hetong and Wei Yuan were standing watch on the walls. In fact, this was a highly risky endeavor. If another Liao scout cavalry squad showed up, it was entirely up to their mood whether they would shoot the defenders guarding the walls, or kill the militia soldiers hauling the bodies for revenge. But despite the risks, none of the men Fang Hetong had ordered to carry the bodies looked resentful or unwilling.

It took eight men to carry the two warhorses. A Liao tribesman took four men to carry as well. It took a fair amount of time and energy before the dozen or so men were finally able to haul the bodies back to the village.

It was at this moment the distant curtain of darkness had stopped churning completely, receding. Soon, Wei Yuan could see fifty li away again.

Fang Hetong sensed the same thing and said, “It looks like the Liao won’t be attacking again tonight. I’ll keep watch. Would you like to catch some rest?”

Wei Yuan recalled something and replied affirmatively, “I have an array I need to set up. I’ll be counting on you until I’m finished, Teacher Fang.”

He had been wrapped up in all sorts of matters upon arriving at Flying Sand Village. That was why he had nearly forgotten to set up a fengshui array and pray for blessings.

Wei Yuan got off the walls and circled around the entire village once, inspecting every nook and cranny. Then, he returned to the ancestral hall and confirmed that it was the fengshui node for Flying Sand Village and the surrounding region.

All disciples of the Palace of Absolute Beginning had certain standards and procedures they needed to follow during an operation. Altering the battlefield’s fengshui to pray for blessings and avoid disasters was one of them.

Wei Yuan pulled away an incense table in the ancestral hall and grabbed a small box from the military provisions he had received prior to the battle. Inside the box were several talismanic papers and spirit objects of Five Phases. A few array discs lay underneath the box as well. When combined, they formed a small and specific fengshui array.

Wei Yuan arranged the array discs in the proper manner before placing the spirit objects in their respective positions. Then, he plastered the talismanic papers on various corners of the room. Finally, he injected a wisp of Dao energy. With this, a mini fengshui array was formed.

When Wei Yuan channeled his Qi Viewing Spell, he saw a clear, narrow beam of light shooting out of the array discs and into the sky. As invisible ripples spread to the surroundings, clear light shone against some of the invisible, grayish black qi in the air and slowly pushed them away. He nodded. This was a sign that the array had taken effect.

If Wei Yuan’s cultivation was higher, and he used the Heaven’s Eye, he would see that hundreds of light dots were rising throughout Ganning and Bianning and becoming interconnected like a singular entity. The dazzling starlights illuminated all of heaven and earth and pushed back the yellowish brown or grayish black qi that originally resided in this region at least tens of li away.

The array discs, talismanic papers and spirit objects all came from the Heavenly Mysteries Hall. It was they who made the first suggestion to set up a fengshui array as well. A fengshui array was always useful on a battlefield, but how effective it actually was was a matter of debate. That was why it wasn’t a mandatory procedure at the beginning. However, the Palace’s disciples realized over time that, if everyone around you had set up a fengshui array, but you hadn’t, then your area would naturally become a place of bad fengshui. Naturally, it was highly possible that bad things would happen in this area.

Take Wei Yuan for example. If he didn’t set up a fengshui array, then he might run into a powerful enemy in the future. For example, he could have run into a Dao Foundation centurion instead of a Body-tempering scout captain. The centurion might even be an elite among his peers. Although setting up a fengshui array when everyone else had done the same thing meant that he wouldn’t enjoy any benefits whatsoever, he had to do it anyway to avoid the downsides of bad fengshui.

This was the conclusion the Truemen of the Heavenly Mysteries Hall had arrived at after studying numerous battlefield cases. Consequently, they incorporated the deployment of fengshui arrays into the mandatory battlefield regulations, requiring every disciple to adhere to them.

Not long after the procedure was implemented, other sects realized that their casualty ratio was noticeably greater when fighting alongside the Palace of Absolute Beginning. Their elders weren’t just for show, and they quickly figured out the truth after delving a little into the Palace’s fengshui arrays. Thus, they too required their disciples to set up a fengshui array when setting foot on the battlefield.

Due to the widespread popularity of fengshui arrays, the demand for the Heavenly Mysteries Hall’s talismanic papers, array discs and spirit objects had increased by leaps and bounds. Naturally, their prices had skyrocketed in response. The hall grew immensely wealthy overnight, and their money-robbing prowess came to equal that of the Mother Nature Monastery, whose order log was filled until three hundred years later, and firmly overshadow the Mastercraft Hall.

In any case, Wei Yuan inexplicably felt better after setting up the fengshui array. It would appear that the reason the Flying Sand Village encountered a night raid tonight was because he had forgotten to set up the fengshui array. According to Fang Hetong, the night raids in the past were carried out by single squads of seven or eight only. But this time, twenty of them had shown up at once, and a captain was mixed within as well.

On a related note, there were powerful prodigies who intentionally did not set up a fengshui array to draw in powerful enemies and use them as whetstones. In fact, it was quite the popular practice in the past. This lasted until a fair amount of prodigies had died, and people came to realize that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Since then, only a handful of people still engaged in such practices.

Wei Yuan leaped onto the wall and gazed northward. After he had set up the fengshui array, the darkness of the night receded another ten li. Now, he could see sixty li away.

It was at this moment torches were lit up, and many men were woken up from their slumber. They then started processing the Liao corpses under the dim lighting. The bodies were stripped, and the equipment were neatly sorted. Every personal effect was removed as well. Soon, the nineteen Liao corpses were left with nothing but their underwear.

The two warhorses were butchered, and their harnesses and equipment were set aside. Their meat alone was enough to feed three hundred men for ten days.

Wei Yuan grabbed a random horse saddle and found it to be unusually heavy. It was forged from animal bones and lined with iron. The seat was carved out of thick leather, and a pair of horse belly guards hung on either side. They were also constructed with leather foundations and studded with iron plates. This armored saddle alone weighed between three hundred and four hundred catties—too heavy for human warhorses to bear, but perfectly suited for Liao steeds.

As human warhorses could not use the saddle, it wasn’t worth much money. One could only take it apart and sell it as raw materials.

Next, Wei Yuan grabbed a quiver and inspected the arrows it contained closely.