Dragon Canon

[1]

The shockwaves from the explosion were still rippling outward when Wei Yuan silently materialized about a li away from the epicenter, just in time to intercept the two shamans who had been blown away.

Wielding a pair of long cauldrons, Wei Yuan slammed them viciously toward the female Warlock. In response, she summoned a pair of butterfly daggers to block the attack. As it turned out, the daggers were imbued with exceptionally powerful mystic energy. Not only was Wei Yuan the one being knocked back after a direct collision, the impact had left two deep gashes on his cauldrons. The daggers then flew back to the female Warlock, circling her protectively.

The short daggers were of extremely high grade; at least two major grades higher than Wei Yuan’s cauldrons. Had the cauldrons not been exceptionally thick, they might well have been severed outright.

However, the instant Wei Yuan shifted from advance to retreat, he pointed the cauldrons at the female Warlock. There was a mixed burst of Dao energy from the cauldrons, and the two small four-level pagodas[2] suddenly soared toward her!

The attack was sudden and devastating, and the female Warlock had already been blasted into the air beforehand. If she took this hit as well, she would likely suffer severe damage.

It was at this moment the young Warlock suddenly appeared where the female Warlock was; trading places with her in an instant. The next second, the two pagodas shattered entire chunks of his body and continued onward without pause, destroying a shoulder, an arm, and a thigh. Had this been the Homeworld, then Wei Yuan’s attack wouldn’t be nearly as potent. However, this was the Realm of Coldbelow, and everyone was moving about in their primordial spirits. So far, Wei Yuan had never met a match at his level.

Although his attack struck the Warlock instead of the female Warlock, it made no difference to Wei Yuan who he had struck. Another extra-long immortal sword appeared in his hand, and a streak of white-gold flame suddenly flared up along the blade. Then, he brought it straight down on the Warlock’s head!

The female Warlock darted toward the Warlock like a swallow, snatching him up and narrowly dodging Wei Yuan’s sword.

Another long cauldron appeared in Wei Yuan’s hand. He clamped it under his arm with the opening facing backward. Though the female Warlock was fast, Wei Yuan felt his no slower after he had equipped himself with a propelling cauldron.

It was at this moment the two butterfly daggers reappeared and flew silently toward his lower body.

Caught off guard, Wei Yuan was forced to swing his sword downward, slicing the weapons away. To his surprise, he felt a lot less resistance than he had before. It would seem that the lunar fire was empowering his weapon.

The twin daggers only meant to hinder Wei Yuan, though. They swiftly flew away after being repelled and turned transparent, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

But Wei Yuan, having survived countless life-and-death battles at this point, reacted with lightning speed. He executed a reverse swing with all his might and struck one the daggers before it could dematerialize completely!

There was clear clang, and Wei Yuan’s immortal sword snapped in two, causing a small prick in Wei Yuan’s primordial spirit. It felt like being stabbed by a needle. However, this level of pain was nothing to him.

On the other hand, the struck butterfly dagger dipped slightly. The speck of white-gold flame clinging to its blade had caused it to slow for a fraction—a critical fraction. Before it could vanish, an ancient bell suddenly descended from the sky, swallowing it right up. Immediately afterward, a golden cauldron appeared at the bottom, catching both the bell and the dagger it had just trapped.

The dagger spun wildly, striking the ancient countless times in an instant and slicing it to pieces in the blink of an eye.

However, what awaited it wasn’t freedom, but eight other layers of ancient bells and square cauldrons. Wei Yuan then reached out and shoved it all—the bells, the cauldrons, and the dagger—into his Dao Foundation.

The female Warlock’s angry rebuke seemed to ring from the distance. Too bad for her, he couldn’t understand a word.

Wei Yuan then put away the mark he had set down and stopped pursuing the two Shamans, flying off in the opposite direction.

Moments later, Wei Yuan arrived at a valley filled with jagged rocks. He nodded in deep satisfaction after looking around for a bit. He started digging, and a bottomless pit appeared on the ground in no time at all.

A short while later, Wei Yuan emerged from the pit and carefully restored the surface exactly the way it had looked before. Finally, he set up an array and returned to the Homeworld.

Moments later, the female Warlock appeared at the spot where Wei Yuan had disappeared. Her eyes were filled with hatred, but she didn’t start breaching the array immediately. Instead, she searched the area thoroughly to ensure there were no hidden marks[3]. Only then did she approach the array.

With the help of her special mystic artifact, she confirmed that this was definitely the spot Wei Yuan had left his mark. She then reached out to activate the array.

A passage of text appeared before her:

“There is a cage containing several chickens and rabbits....”

How utterly unoriginal! Grinding her teeth in fury, the female Warlock tapped the entrance to the array and randomly inputted some numbers. Then, she disappeared and reappeared a hundred zhang away.

A blazing white orb slowly rose in the distance, illuminating everything within several hundred zhang as bright as day. As the female Warlock had already shielded her eyes with mystic energy, it failed to do anything against her. She sneered as the orb futilely worked its magic.

This time, though, there was no explosion after the white light faded. Instead, a wisp of blue smoke rose out of the array. All was still after that.

What’s going on? The female Warlock cautiously approached, closely observing every movement within the array and ready to teleport at the first sign of a Dao energy explosion.

She was fully focused when suddenly, another burst of white light rose from within the array! A piercing scream escaped her throat as she clenched her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face.

But the second the white light appeared, she had also teleported hundreds of zhang away from the scene—far enough for her to avoid any explosion.

But there was none. Only a wisp of blue smoke rose from the array before everything fell still.

Eyes bloodshot, the female Warlock stared at the array from afar, furious enough to grind her teeth to dust. After waiting for a while longer and seeing no movement from within the array whatsoever, she finally flew over and discovered that only a faint trace of Dao energy remained—not even enough to cast another flash of light.

The flames of anger had long been raging within the female Warlock. She raised a foot and poised herself to stomp the array into pieces. But at the last second, she regained her composure and drew a dagger. Then, she hurled it into the array.

Suddenly, a pillar of light shot skyward from the array, followed by a violent explosion! The shockwave was such that the female Warlock stumbled backward several steps before she finally caught herself.

The female Warlock was both shocked and furious. As expected of human treachery—the tiny remnant of Dao energy in the array was, in fact, a trigger for the next array; the explosive array that had been set up directly beneath it! Had she accidentally entered the cave, she would have walked straight into the next explosion and sustained at least severe injuries!

By the time the explosion subsided, all that was left behind was utter ruin; a large crater of scorched earth and vestiges of Dao energy to be exact. As for the mark Wei Yuan had left behind, it was long gone.

Finally, the female Warlock realized that the human must have figured out that she had a way to track down the marks he had left behind. That was why he had set up these traps. The real mark must have been hidden in some unknown location, likely far away from here.

The female Warlock pondered for a moment before taking off in the direction she had come. Considering how cunning the human was, it was highly likely that he had hidden the true mark somewhere farther along this direction. This fake mark was meant to lead her down the wrong direction and miss the true mark completely.

The female Warlock was determined to search in this direction.

She flew off into the distance and vanished in the blink of an eye.

An hour later, she returned to her original spot.

Believing in her theory, the female Warlock had flown a long way along the direction but found no trace of the mark. Thus, she had no choice but to return to the starting point and continue her search in a different direction. However, after several fruitless attempts, she was ultimately forced to give up.

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan had returned to the Homeworld after four hours of exploration. At the moment, he had a small hill of earth and stone stacked up inside his Dao Foundation. He had painstakingly dug it all out and transported it here.

Beside the mound of earth was a large cauldron with an inverted ancient bell inside it. Occasionally, it would emit several muffled clangs.

With such a massive pile of nether soil in his Dao Foundation, the surrounding temperature had dropped dramatically. That was why Wei Yuan didn’t dare to leave it anywhere near the jade hill, and instead deposit it a thousand zhang away.

This pile of earth and soil weighed roughly several hundred thousand catties. At the Palace’s exchange rate of one tael per qian, it was worth tens of millions of immortal silver. Staring at it, Wei Yuan could not help but feel incredibly wealthy. He never imagined that the massive debt that had plagued him for years would be resolved just like that.

Right here and now, Wei Yuan felt that he had become an earth tycoon—or landlord for short!

Of course, Wei Yuan knew that this was merely wishful thinking. Even if he had a method to deliver the nether soil to the Palace of Absolute Beginning, such a massive quantity would inevitably cause its price to plummet. In the end, it might become as low as one tael of immortal silver per one hundred catties—perhaps even less. Digging up the soil would truly become a backbreaking work then, and he’d only be earning a meager wage for his physical labor.

Still, though the uses of nether soil was limited, the demand for quietude energy, a form of worldly origin qi, was virtually endless. Worst case scenario, leaving the soil to rot in his Dao Foundation would still be a win for him. After all, it would gradually be transformed into a part of the Great Realm and become a component of his cultivation.

It wasn’t yet time to rest, though. He still had one important matter to attend to. He left his sea of consciousness, summoned his Big Senior Sister and shifu, and carefully materialized the butterfly dagger.

The second the dagger appeared, it slashed toward Wei Yuan’s lower body immediately!

Zhang Sheng reached out and caught the dagger before it could end his bloodline once and for all. Wei Yuan could not help but stare at it with an ugly look on his face. Just moments ago, he had felt a distinct chill between his legs. The dagger’s target could not have been clearer.

Wei Yuan composed himself and said, “I’ve taken this dagger from an opponent I encountered in the Realm of Coldbelow. Though wild and untamed, it possesses remarkable mystic qualities. That is why I’m asking Master and Big Senior Sister to examine it—if you can subdue it, then please do so. If not, then return it to the forge.”

Zhang Sheng scanned it with his perception before commenting, “This dagger is fully sentient. It’s clearly a mystic artifact that has been nurtured for years. However, it feels like its spiritual nature is skewed toward one extreme. Surely there is a corresponding counterpart?”

Wei Yuan quickly replied, “Your insight is as sharp as a torch, Master. Indeed, the dagger was originally a pair, though it managed to escape me.”

Zhang Sheng nodded and said, “The power of these two daggers is much diminished after being split, as is their value. If you run into the other dagger again, it shouldn’t pose much of a threat to you. That said, both daggers possess the ability to traverse the nether, which is a troublesome ability. I’ll teach you a technique shortly. Just channel it through the Immortal Sword Parting Sorrow, and you can drastically reduce the dagger’s speed for a short time, allowing you to deal with it at your leisure.”

Upon mentioning the Immortal Sword Parting Sorrow, Zhang Sheng shot Wei Yuan a glare that could have been conscious or unconscious. Either way, Wei Yuan hurriedly ducked his head and avoided his gaze. Fortunately, his shifu said nothing further.

In truth, the Immortal Sword Parting Sorrow and the Immortal Sword Worry differed only in their cultivation level. Their intrinsic essence and spiritual essence were really one and the same. Thus, while one could say that Wei Yuan was lacking in natural talent, they could not say that he lacked diligence.

After offering his appraisal, Zhang Sheng handed the dagger to Ji Liuli. His Big Senior Sister played with it for a bit before asking, “The original owner of the dagger is female, right?”

Wei Yuan was caught off guard; the question had come out of seemingly nowhere. He nodded, though. The female Warlock’s appearance was unmistakable—she had to be female.

Ji Liuli continued, “The owner’s last obsession was clearly engraved into this dagger’s spirit. She wanted to cut a certain part on you into mincemeat.”

Zhang Sheng looked up and gave him a calm look. Cold sweat immediately rolled down Wei Yuan’s neck.

Ji Liuli smiled meaningfully but mercifully did not continue the subject. Instead, she said, “You now have three options. First, I can erase the spirit’s memories and nurture it from the beginning. Doing so would severely damage its spirituality and ruin decades of hard work. However, it would still be a sentient mystic artifact of impressive grade; one that is rarely seen even among Avatar Truemen.

“Second, you can try and tame it and get it to acknowledge you as its new master. The advantage of doing this is that its power would be fully preserved. The disadvantage is that it is entirely on fate whether or not it will acknowledge you.

“The third is to use it as bait. I can erase this part of its memories and engrave a tracking array on it. Once you’ve returned to the Coldbelow and released it, it would automatically fly back to its owner, acting as a guide.”

Wei Yuan thought that the third method was the best option at first. But upon further reflection, he realized that the dagger would most likely lead him all the way to a certain Shadow Warlock’s kingdom. It would be no different from throwing himself into his enemy’s arms.

After thinking for a moment, he suggested, “How about this, Big Senior Sister: Can you erase this part of its memory and imprint a forced control array on it? All I need is a moment’s control. When I return to the Coldbelow, I’ll release it and let it roam the area for a bit. It will likely draw its original owner and the other dagger to us. When the time comes, I’ll seize control of it and catch the enemy by surprise. Even if I can’t kill the original owner, I should be able to seize the other dagger.

“That’s simple. I’ll add a binding formation so that the moment the two daggers touch, they’ll be bound together and unable to separate for a short time. That way, the two of you can control a dagger each, and resistance will be futile.”

Zhang Sheng also projected a wisp of dark sword intent from his fingertips and threw it into Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness, saying, “Have another Parting Sorrow sword intent. Remember, you should use this sword intent, not the one I gave you before. Now, absolutely nothing can go wrong.”

The dagger, listening hereby, suddenly began to vibrate and whine violently. It was trying to break free and flee!

Unfortunately, it was in Ji Liuli’s grasp. One slap to the blade, and it fell silent immediately.

1. The original Chinese word means “tycoon”, “magnate”, but it makes no sense in English. Hence the change to make it no less funny than in Chinese. ☜

2. Why is it called a cauldron despite being shaped like a cauldron and addressed as one? If you remember, it was explained that even if something is shaped like a sword, if the essence imbued into it is that of a spear, then it is a spear. ☜

3. And now you know how Wei Yuan had returned and caught them by surprise. ☜