Dragon Canon

Chapter 87: Returning Southward with the Wind (2)

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On the edge of the prairie, Wei Yuan swung his spear sideways and dumped a skewered rider to the ground. Seven or eight bodies were already lying motionlessly around him.

The warhorse let out a fiery snort—literally—out of its nostrils before stepping forward, flaming hooves leaving behind patches of charred earth in its wake.

When a brawny Liao barbarian stepped out and saw this, he immediately flew into a rage and leaped into the air, bringing his saber right down on Wei Yuan! The saber boasted a five-chi-long blade and a three-chi-long hilt. It was quite a sinister-looking saber to say the least. Wei Yuan could tell that his strength was a tad greater than your ordinary centurion as well. When he looked around, he spotted at least eight people like him!

Wei Yuan did not try to dodge the descending blade. He simply thrust his spear straight at his enemy. His weapon reached his enemy first even though he attacked second, piercing his chest instantly!

Momentum was still carrying the saber downward, though, and it struck Wei Yuan squarely on the shoulder. It cut through his shoulder armor, his battle robe, and his flesh. It was ultimately stopped in its tracks by his bone.

More and more Liao barbarians were crawling out of their tents and running toward him, shouting. Even the weakest among them was on the level of an ordinary Liao squad leader of a cavalry unit, or a human who had completed the Body-tempering stage.

Urging his horse forward, Wei Yuan faced all of their attacks head on. Every time a Liao barbarian attacked him, he would retaliate with a spear strike of his own. He dodged none of the attacks. He took dozens of saber wounds in just the blink of an eye, but also left behind a trail of ashes and corpses in his wake.

In Wei Yuan’s eyes, this picturesque lakeside paradise was saturated with yellow clouds; so thick they resembled rippling water. Every movement he made drained his Dao energy relentlessly. Were it not for the resistance provided by the otherworldly fortune he had accumulated over the years, even he would have completely run out of energy and collapsed by now. That was why Wei Yuan did not hesitate to trade injury for life, killing the most number of enemies in the shortest amount of time possible.

In just the blink of an eye, only the Liao youngster and his two centurion-level subordinates were still standing before Wei Yuan. He had only been observing so far, not wanting to step into battle just yet. Satisfied with what he saw, he nodded and said, “You’re powerful, but you are also too young. You are just a fledgling hawk, and you cannot defeat me. Why not join me? I will ask the preceptor to grant you a Liao tribesman’s body. In the future, you will become my finest hunting hawk! I will take you hunting everywhere beneath this boundless sky! With you by my side, my hunting grounds will extend far beyond Agula!”

Wei Yuan did not say a word. He simply dismounted and strode toward the Liao youngster, the blade of his spear dragging across the grassland. Suddenly, he leaped forward and thrust his weapon straight at the Liao youngster’s solar plexus!

The Liao youngster’s pupils contracted to pins. Technically speaking, there was nothing special about this spear thrust whatsoever. It was simply fast and strong beyond his expectations!

The Liao youngster had imagined a lot of scenarios, but he never imagined that Wei Yuan would launch a suicide attack right from the get go! It was already too late to take evasive action, so he let out an earthshaking roar and grabbed the spear shaft with one hand. At the same time, he brought his battle axe down on Wei Yuan’s head.

The Liao youngster was unbelievably strong, but he was still no match for Wei Yuan, whose physical prowess equaled that of several Bright King Hall Heaven-tier Dao Foundation cultivators. The shaft scraped against his palm with a shrill, metallic screech as it thrust forward. When the blade pierced his bronze-toned skin, its very tip was actually bent by the flesh that was as hard as iron. Still, the spearhead ripped through skin and flesh before lodging itself between his ribs.

Wei Yuan bent his arm to block the descending axe. The outcome wasn’t surprising. Despite his prodigious toughness, the golden battle axe nearly severed his forearm before continuing downward. So, Wei Yuan jerked his head aside and allowed the blade to cleave into his left shoulder. It cleaved about halfway into his shoulder before finally getting stuck.

The Liao youngster had already reached the spirit nurturing stage of the Dao Foundation stage. He was just beginning to nurture his own Avatar. That was why it caught him off guard to trade injuries with Wei Yuan. In terms of physique, the young human was far superior even compared to him, the young chieftain who had astonished the entire Agula tribe with his physique since childhood.

This should be his limit, the Liao youngster thought to himself. He readied himself for one last persuasion. There were plenty of fearless southern sheep out there. If one died, then so be it. To lose a fledgling hawk was a different story, though. A good hunting hawk was worth an entire small, battle-hardened tribe.

However, before he could say anything, he accidentally met Wei Yuan’s eyes, those dark, bottomless eyes that seemed to connect to another world.

Dozens of black qi disappeared from Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness at once, and Outlawed by Heaven and Earth cycled furiously. As cold, brutal killing intent surged out of his body, more profound patterns appeared on the surface of the lodged spear. Then, an unmatched strength propelled it to cut through the offending rib bone blocking its path, explode every organ that dared to stand in its way, and emerge through the Liao youngster’s back!

Aghast, the two Liao subordinates tried to come to their young chieftain’s rescue. Instead, Wei Yuan snatched the golden axe from the Liao youngster’s hand and stabbed them both to death with its shaft.

The spear that had pierced through his body felt as heavy as a mountain. His knees shattered audibly as they hit the ground with a resounding thud. For the first time, panic dominated his features as he cried out, “Don’t kill me! If you kill me, father will find out immediately! There’s no way you’ll be able to escape our realm then! If you let me go, I can grant you the status of a Liao warrior and free you from your lowly roots! You can join our tribe as—”

Wei Yuan pulled out the spear and swung it, sending the young chieftain’s head into the air. He caught it before it would fly out of his reach, and set his gaze on the largest tent. Then, he stepped inside.

One last speck of light was glimmering inside the tent. Settling his gaze on the human head on the tray, Wei Yuan paused for a moment before walking toward it. Slowly and carefully, he lifted it into the air.

Copious amounts of blood flowed down Wei Yuan’s arm, hand, and the human head. It spread across Fang Hetong’s face and became mixed with his blood.

Wei Yuan stepped out of the tent, and the lakeside paradise in front of his eyes suddenly popped like a bubble. The prairie and the trees were still present, but the small lake had disappeared all of a sudden. Instead, a jade bowl filled with clear water and a bed of multicolored fine sand appeared in front of him.

Wei Yuan picked up the jade bowl and wordlessly calculated the distance he needed to travel to return to the human realm. When he departed, the only thing he could think of was getting back Fang Hetong’s head. However, his primordial spirit had recorded every moment. Now that he was recalling his journey, he suddenly realized that he had traveled a whopping one thousand and one hundred li to reach this prairie. In other words, he had ventured a thousand li into the Liao realm without thinking!

Wei Yuan put Fang Hetong’s head and the jade bowl into his backpack. He hung it beside his horse and got ready to return.

It was at this moment yellow clouds erupted from the horizon. Then, a titanic, snow white hawk burst into view, its wings big enough to blot out both the sun and the sky!

“You dare harm my boy? You will wish that you were dead. I will refine your primordial spirit for eternity!”

A deafening roar boomed in the sky before it was further empowered by the world itself. Yellow clouds surged in from every direction like the ocean and transformed into shackles, attempting to pin him in place. Then, the titanic hawk let out a piercing screech, and a gigantic bird’s foot—each talon ranging at least ten zhang long—fell straight toward his head!

Wei Yuan remembered its presence. It was none other than the Northern Liao Avatar who had fought against a human Trueman above Bao Yun’s stronghold. At the time, the Northern Liao Avatar had unleashed four arrows in a row, shooting down a flying vessel and trading injuries with the human Avatar from ten thousand zhang away.

The giant foot was a mountain on its own. To say its descent was unstoppable would be an understatement!

There were many immortal legends out there, but there had never been a precedent where a cultivator who wasn’t even in the Dao Foundation stage yet capable of putting up a fight against an Avatar. From the moment he entered the range of an Avatar, there was no way he could survive no matter what.

As if that wasn’t enough, thick yellow clouds were enveloping the foot. The world itself was empowering the Avatar.

Wei Yuan chuckled bitterly in his heart. He felt that this world was rating him too highly.

He was just about to shut his eyes and die when suddenly, a blue sword qi shot out of his forehead and transformed into a drizzle. As fine as the water droplets were, they somehow stalled the foot and prevented it from falling! Not only that, they were rapidly spreading along the foot until they enveloped the hawk’s entire body!

Wherever the rain spread, yellow clouds melted away like snow. At the same time, Zhang Sheng’s silhouette appeared amidst the drizzle, hands clasped behind his back and eyes looking straight at the titanic hawk in front of him, fearless. At that moment, Wei Yuan understood what a Heart of Invincibility was.

The rain forced the foot back in the sky, but the giant hawk had more than one foot. Another foot emerged and swiped down with vicious intent, this time ripping apart the rain and cutting through Zhang Sheng’s silhouette as well. As it crumbled, a different figure seemed to emerge from within the image. However, it too was ripped to shreds.

Wei Yuan had long forgotten that Zhang Sheng once sealed a wisp of sword qi inside his body. He didn’t even think it could last this long. That was why he almost mistook the silhouette for his master. In reality, the sword qi contained a wisp of Zhang Sheng’s primordial spirit. Since the sword qi was ripped to pieces, the wisp of primordial spirit was destroyed as well!

Wei Yuan’s heart clenched violently at the sight of its destruction. The next moment, a wall of unholy fury consumed his being!

Black qi began vanishing from his sea of consciousness en masse. At the same time, a gigantic shadow that seemed to hail from the ancient past slowly appeared above his head. Wei Yuan took a step forward, aimed his spear at the sky, and thrust it forward at the descending foot with all his might! The spear clashed against the bird’s foot, and impossibly, a stalemate was held!

A talon alone was over ten zhang long. The hawk in the sky in particular was so big that its wings blotted out the sky. Wei Yuan plus his spear were not even two zhang tall, smaller than an ant compared to the hawk. And yet, the spear somehow blocked the foot regardless of the gap between their cultivation, the obstruction of the world, and even the suppression of the great fate!

It was as if the spear would hold even if the heavens were to collapse for real!

All his life, Wei Yuan had never used the spear with a technique. Speed and strength were all he ever needed. Thus, this was the first spear technique he had ever learned in a fit of despair and rage—Reversal.

A shadow began dyeing the hawk’s foot black. Countless cracks were rapidly spreading up the hawk’s body as well and dyeing its feathers black, causing it to let out a painful screech. As a result, the snow mountain of a hawk had no choice but to withdraw this foot as well. When it withdrew its wings, a huge amount of blackened feathers fell off its body and caused it to let out another bloodcurdling scream. It instantly shrank in size and flew all the way to the horizon. There, it hovered in one place and allowed an endless stream of yellow clouds to gather around it, regrowing its lost feathers.

The titanic hawk had suffered a significant injury on the battlefield earlier. Now, it had taken yet another severe blow. Unable to fight any longer, it had no choice but to rely on the ambient spirit energy to treat his wounds. For now, it was pinned in place.

Wei Yuan looked up at the sky. After giving the yellow clouds flooding toward the titanic hawk a long look, he finally turned around and walked away. However, every time he took a step, he would leave behind a bloody imprint. The titanic hawk’s attack had triggered all of Wei Yuan’s injuries at once. Even with his physical prowess, he was unable to stop himself from bleeding, much less anything else.

It was time to escape.

He wasn’t just going to escape, though.

He waved his hand, and the massive, pure black Liao horse in the distance suddenly launched into a furious whinny, leaping repeatedly as if possessed. Wei Yuan’s perception informed him that this Liao horse’s soul was ten times stronger than that of its ordinary counterpart. It was practically a demonic beast on par with a Dao Foundation stage cultivator. Ferocious and violent, it had repeatedly tried to shatter the black qi attempting to control it. But Wei Yuan remained unmoved. Wisp after wisp of black qi poured into the horse’s body and mercilessly crushed its soul to pieces!

The Liao horse calmed down and cantered over to Wei Yuan. After it stood still, he moved his backpack over to it and picked up the young chieftain’s head and golden axe, hanging them behind its back. After he leaped onto the horse, the Liao steed let out a long whinny, its hooves ablaze as it galloped away like the wind.

The Snow Hawk Cavalry revered white as their sacred color. There was only one black horse within the entire cavalry unit, and it was the steed of their young chieftain, chosen to symbolize his uniqueness. Now, Wei Yuan had taken his horse, his severed head, and his personal weapon. It was a complete and total provocation. He was taunting the Liao, taunting the giant hawk Avatar that spanned the sky, taunting the everpresent yellow clouds, taunting this corner of the Liao realm itself!

Wei Yuan was single-minded when he ventured north, but unrestrained and unleashed when he made his great escape.

Like lightning, he returned southward with the wind.

1. These are two separate chapters with one long title. I decided to split it into two for dramatic reasons. ☜