Dragon Canon

The wolf demons’ search was inefficient, and they seemed to take pleasure in killing. One by one, the fleeing villagers were tracked down and had their throats torn open. They could not die immediately and could only moan again and again.

The village was quite a distance from the back mountain. For the time being, the wolf demons had not yet searched in that direction. Thanks to this, Wei Yuan was able to continue making preparations at his leisure and installing one complex device after another on the ground.

Finally, some wolf demons began searching their way up the mountain path, but they clearly hadn’t detected Wei Yuan or the girl’s scent. They were merely scouring an unknown territory on instinct.

Wei Yuan suddenly leaped down the mountaintop. His spear shot out like lightning, instantly piercing the throats of three wolf demons. He then channeled his strength and flung them backward all the way to the cliff.

The wolf demons howled as they fell down the cliff. It was clear from the sound alone that it was bottomless. In the end, they suddenly let out piercing, mournful cries, as if they had encountered something utterly terrifying at the bottom.

The three wolf demons were a pack, so their deaths did not alarm the other wolf demons. The villagers’ screams were still echoing and far louder than the wolf demons’ death throes after all.

Meanwhile, the young monk’s head was drooping lower and lower. He looked as if he might fall asleep at any moment. Yue Sheng sat quietly before him, waiting for the moment the Pure Land would shatter and fall.

But despite waiting patiently for a while, the Pure Land remained intact. By now, the Buddha statues in the temple were cracked beyond recognition, yet it simply would not shatter.

Yue Sheng raised his head and looked around. “Hmm? Are there still survivors?”

All the wolf demons and warriors had finished their slaughter and were now searching the area. Clearly, some villagers were still alive.

A strange smile appeared on Yue Sheng’s face—it was hard to tell if it was joyful or bitter—as he said, “Finally, something different. Is this what you’ve been waiting for? Come on then. Let’s go see what’s different.”

Yue Sheng bent down, picked up the monk, and slowly made his way toward the back mountain. His subordinates had already searched the area surrounding the village, so the survivors could only be hiding at the distant back mountain.

Hordes of wolf demons began racing up the mountain path toward the summit. When they caught the scent of their fallen comrades, they picked up speed and quickly reached the peak. There, they found Wei Yuan wielding a spear and blocking the path.

The first wave of wolf demons lunged at him in fury, but Wei Yuan impaled them instantly before hurling them off the cliff.

The large pack behind the first wave halted and, driven by their hunting instincts, spread out to surround Wei Yuan from multiple directions. Then, one wolf demon charged forward, leaping high into the air to pounce on Wei Yuan!

A cylindrical tube appeared in Wei Yuan’s hand, and with a loud bang, the wolf demon was blasted away even faster. The tube vanished immediately, and a new one appeared in Wei Yuan’s hand, which he pressed directly against the chest of another charging wolf demon and fired!

A massive hole appeared in the center of the wolf demon’s body amidst a deafening roar, sending it flying backward ten zhang. While the remaining wolf demons were startled and hesitating, Wei Yuan had already pounced on them with lightning speed and sent a few of their numbers flying down the cliff.

And so, with a cylindrical tube in his left hand and a spear in his right, Wei Yuan routed the wolf demons. The tube in his left hand was particularly devastating, shattering a wolf demon’s body with every boom.

In the blink of an eye, the wolf demons were nearly wiped out, reduced to a pile of wolf fur on the ground.

The warriors were clearly more cautious than the wolf demons. Forming tight ranks that were several men deep, they advanced step by step up the mountain. Clad in heavy armor, armed with long sabers, in possession of mystic energy, and advancing in a tight military formation, they were virtually unstoppable. As if that wasn’t enough, the front-row warriors raised massive shields that were clearly glowing with mystic power. Huge shields and large sabers such as these were perfect for breaching defensive positions.

In response, Wei Yuan planted his spear into the ground and summoned two honeycomb cylinders, each filled to the brim with flying swords!

The front-row warriors had barely registered their astonishment before they were turned into pincushions. One after another, the immortal swords trailed beams of light and pierced through the massive shields and heavy armor. It was like the equipment didn’t even exist—after all, even the lousiest immortal sword was still an immortal sword and far beyond the capabilities of these Body-tempering stage warriors could withstand. Simply put, a single flying sword was potent enough to pierce through two of them.

Wei Yuan instantly emptied the two honeycombs, but he wasn’t done. He summoned two new ones and emptied them just as quickly!

In the blink of an eye, Wei Yuan had emptied eight honeycombs. The mountain path was now littered with the corpses of warriors. Not a single one of the hundred-plus golden-armored warriors had survived.

Yue Sheng finally reacted, picking up the monk and walking slowly up the mountain path.

His men had been slaughtered to the last, but Yue Sheng didn’t seem to care at all. He merely watched Wei Yuan with interest. According to Wei Yuan’s estimates, Yue Sheng was probably equivalent to an Avatar, but it didn’t matter even if his estimate was wrong. He only had so many tricks up his sleeve at the moment. If he miscalculated, then he would simply die.

Yue Sheng strolled leisurely to the mountaintop and approached Wei Yuan. Every time he took a step, Wei Yuan would take a step back, until he reached the edge of the cliff and stopped. Behind him stood the girl, and behind the girl lay the precipice.

Yue Sheng finally came to a halt and remarked, “The device you used just now was quite novel. What is it called?”

“The Honeycomb Flying Sword Launcher, or HFSL for short.” Wei Yuan’s naming sense had become very otherworldly as of late.

Yue Sheng paused for a second before responding, “That’s a strange name for a mystic artifact, though I must admit it’s quite fitting. Do you intend to use it to kill me?”

Before Wei Yuan could answer, Yue Sheng chuckled. “He’s a variable alright, but it’s not enough. At the very least, his horizons are lacking. Never mind; a bit of novelty is still better than nothing at all. Still, this dream has gone on long enough. It’s always the same—mostly boring, then ending in a nightmare, with me hoping to wake up sooner.

“I’m saddened enough by this dream, so you’ll have to forgive me for not playing around anymore.”

Another HFSL appeared in Wei Yuan’s hand; no one except him knew exactly how many he had. However, Yue Sheng just wanted to end all this as soon as possible. As long as these last two didn’t die, the Pure Land wouldn’t shatter, and the monk wouldn’t perish.

Torrents of flying swords flew out of the HFSLs again and again, so rapid that they were practically in a joined line. In the blink of an eye, Yue Sheng’s whole body was covered in flying swords, but the blades failed to penetrate more than two or three inches into his body, incapable of truly injuring Yue Sheng.

Yue Sheng raised his hand, about to unleash a palm strike that would shatter the Pure Land, when suddenly countless HFSLs sprang from the ground all around him. The flying swords embedded within them were deep blue in color, but their tips bore a hint of pale red—it was unmistakably the aura of an immortal spirit!

These were the new flying swords crafted by Wei Yuan, specially imbued with the sword qi of the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree. Though only the tip was imbued with a speck of its sword qi, it already possessed the power to shatter armor and pierce through the toughest defenses.

Immortal Sword—Armor-piercing Blue Drizzle!

Countless flying swords shot out like meteors, instantly turning Yue Sheng into a hedgehog. Some even pierced right through his body and vanished into the unknown.

The reason Wei Yuan had been bustling about all this time was to set traps all over the mountaintop for Yue Sheng. He had also been holding the HFSL the entire time to trick the enemy into thinking that it could only be used when held in hand. In reality, all of these were part of Wei Yuan’s Dao Foundation and so required no hands-on control whatsoever. He could launch all of them with a single thought.

When the first barrage of flying swords ended, Wei Yuan finally noticed that Yue Sheng was kneeling on one knee, his body bent to shield the monk he was carrying. Not a single sword had struck the monk.

Yue Sheng looked up and asked, ‘Why were there three hundred and sixty-two swords?”

Wei Yuan replied, “... It was a tactical decision.”

Buddhism placed great emphasis on the subtleties of Zen, which was why Wei Yuan had not set up an ambush of 360 swords, which matched the total degree of the macrocosmic orbit; or 361 swords, which would match the total number of intersections on a Go board[1]. He had added the extra sword purely to annoy his enemy.

Yue Sheng hadn’t expected that answer either. He chuckled and shook his head, saying, “So I was fixated on form[2] after all.”

He slowly set the monk down on the ground, carefully laying him flat. Then, he paused, as if recalling past events, and sighed softly, “Back when we first met, when our mystic powers were meager, even minor demons are enough to send us packing. Life was already tough for us back then, yet we still had to take care of that little rascal, Long Zhe[3]. But looking back now, those were actually the happiest days of our life. Life actually became rather dull after we attained our Ariya-phala.”

Yue Sheng sat cross-legged and straightened his back. His movement caused blood to gush profusely out of his body, yet he paid it no mind. He merely glanced at Wei Yuan and said, “There is a lamp before the Buddha, but alas, it shines for but a moment.”

With that, he slowly closed his eyes and passed away right there.

Wei Yuan did not feel relieved. On the contrary, he grew even more tense. Not only did the golden light in the sky not fade, but it was also growing even more intense!

Suddenly, a thunderclap split the heavens, literally. The sky cracked open, and golden light shattered into countless fragments, from which a giant a thousand zhang tall emerged ! His eyes blazed with fury, his entire body a deep golden hue. He wielded a demon-subjugating vajra scepter in his hand. As soon as he appeared, the entire world was instantly bathed in a layer of Buddhist light!

Wei Yuan’s expression grew more grave than ever before. He hoped he was mistaken, but the sheer vastness of the giant’s mystic ability, the overwhelming pressure that seemed capable of obliterating heaven and earth, and the extraordinary Buddhist light illuminating everything in its wake—all the signs were pointing toward the giant’s true identity.

Wei Yuan had assumed that killing Yue Sheng would be the end of it. Even if it wasn’t the case, he had assumed that the next threat would simply be a bigger demon king. Not once did he expect a Vajra Guardian of the Pure Land to show up!

Suddenly, it dawned on him that this Vajra Guardian had not come for Yue Sheng, but for this tiny Pure Land.

A mere mountain village, a hundred or so simple folk, and a monk who worshipped himself—that was all. How could such a place be so intolerable?

The Buddha statue in the temple finally shattered. Its head fell to the ground and rolled with a clatter to the entrance, where it became coated with a layer of cobwebs.

Still, the spider was nowhere to be seen.

1. It’s a 19x19 grid, so there are 361 intersection points. ☜

2. ”Fixated on form” is a Buddhist term meaning being too fixated on the image of a certain concept. For example, a knight is fixated on the concept of fighting fair. Or for example, teachers believe that a student who is terrible at reading books is studying poorly, even though some are much more receptive toward other study methods such as audio or practical lessons. ☜

3. Refer to chapter 230. ☜