Dragon Canon

The monster’s spit caused Wei Yuan only a momentary sting and another patch of scorched earth in the Great Realm.

Unfazed, Wei Yuan had the faceless warriors hold off the guardians surging toward him like a tidal wave, while he descended underground. Moments later, he brought the entire miniature world crashing down.

The scene before him shifted once more, and Wei Yuan found himself standing on a square paved with white jade. Standing in the center was a swordsman clad in coarse cloth. His hair was disheveled, and his beard was unshaven for who knows how long. He wielded a sword that was nine chi wide and as thick as a door panel.

The moment Wei Yuan appeared, the swordsman slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of pupils with sword qi swirling within them!

Wei Yuan’s hair stood on end instantly; he knew in that moment that he had encountered a formidable foe!

Without a word, he shot an immortal sword into the sky. A flash of white light filled the air, and Pure White’s sword intent enveloped the entire area.

Then, Wei Yuan pointed at the swordsmen and sent over a hundred immortal swords flying toward the swordsman like a flock of birds. The swords were of every quality imaginable—some were White Drizzle, some were Fake Suns, some were Worries, and more.

Suddenly, a figure holding a sword appeared above the swordsman’s head. The Avatar wore simple robes and was barefooted. His figure was indistinct, but that was because all of his radiance and splendor were concentrated upon his sword!

The swordsman raised his broadsword and slowly traced a circle in the air. His movements appeared slow but were in fact swift; before Wei Yuan’s swarm of immortal swords had even reached halfway, the circle was already complete. All one hundred or so immortal swords instantly lost control, plunging one after another into the invisible circle. The swordsman then brought his massive sword forward and thrust it into the swarm of flying swords.

In that instant, Wei Yuan felt as though he had endured ten thousand years of vicissitudes. Every immortal sword seemed to have lost their spirit within the flow of time, severing their connection with him.

Freezing in mid-air, they shattered and crumbled into nothing the next moment. The plain-clothed swordsman had actually annihilated his one hundred or so immortal swords in a single strike!

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan finally recognized the technique the swordsman was using. It was none other than the Xu Clan’s exclusive secret technique, the Myriad Vicissitudes Sword. Who on earth was this swordsman, and how did he know this sword art?

None of the Xu Clan elders Wei Yuan had encountered previously had been taught this sword art. Had they known even a single move or technique, they likely would not have perished as swiftly as they had.

Wei Yuan’s scalped prickled. This was a formidable foe; one unlike any he had ever faced!

The plain-clothed swordsman did not pause for a moment. Keeping his sword near his waist, he spun once in place before swinging the blade, unleashing a surge of sword qi as fierce as the raging sea!

Wei Yuan instinctively dropped to his knees and stretched his hand forward[1]. Instantly, more than ten layers of square cauldrons appeared before him, stacked one upon another. Although the square cauldrons could only hold for a brief instant against the raging tide of sword qi before being shattered, as the old ones were destroyed, new ones sprang out. Wei Yuan managed to hold out for three breaths straight before the cauldrons finally could not keep up with the rate of destruction, and what was left of the sword qi struck him.

A thousand-zhang-long scar suddenly appeared in the Great Realm, cutting deep deep into the earth by more than ten zhang. The sword strike had landed not far from the jade hill and nearly grazed the edge of the fertile soil.

I mustn’t defend passively! Wei Yuan leaped to his feet, and with a wave of his hand, rained down hundreds of objects on the plain-clothed swordsman—cauldrons, bells, pagodas, and two or three dozen assorted flying swords.

In response, the plain-clothed swordsman crossed his sword before his chest. A flash of light streaked across the massive blade, growing brighter and brighter until the entire sword shone like the rising sun, its brightness surpassing even Wei Yuan’s Pure White sword intent!

But unlike Wei Yuan, the plain-clothed swordsman wasn’t trying to dazzle his opponent. Instead, he was executing a secret technique—this was evident from the fact that the massive sword’s power was surging rapidly.

It was one of the three ultimate lethal techniques of the Myriad Vicissitudes Sword: Paint The Sky Open!

This technique required a special immortal sword. When unleashed, it unlocked the immortal sword’s true power. It was incredibly famous.

As the massive sword came unsealed, the jumble of objects Wei Yuan had hurled froze mid-air, then clattered to the ground and vanished into nothingness.

A sharp pain shot through Wei Yuan’s consciousness as his Dao Foundation suffered damage, but this amount of pain was nothing to him. He was now holding two thrusters in his hands. Using their thrust, he pushed himself sideways and dodged a dazzling sword beam the size of a torrent.

The sword beam was ten zhang wide and three hundred zhang long. It would have been near impossible for him to dodge it had he not used the thrusters.

When Wei Yuan landed on the ground, he dropped off the saber-and-shield warrior. He then ran circles around the plain-clothed swordsman to buy time. The moment the saber-and-shield warrior appeared, he crouched low, hiding his entire body behind his saber and shield, and charged toward the plain-clothed swordsman like a bull.

The saber-and-shield warrior possessed late-stage Dao Foundation stage cultivation. His full-force charge was ultimately potent enough to catch the plain-clothed swordsman’s attention.

While supporting the flat side of the blade, the plain-clothed swordsman planted his broadsword into the ground. The saber-and-shield warrior tried to circle around the massive sword, but no matter how he ran, he only drew closer and closer to it. Finally, he slammed violently into the blade with a thunderous clang!

The plain-clothed swordsman stood immobile, while the saber-and-shield warrior staggered backward. With each step he took, his equipment fell away one by one, followed by parts of his body. Finally, his whole body disintegrated into a pile of fragments.

Wei Yuan felt as if a small piece of his heart had disappeared. He realized then that the saber-and-shield warrior originating from Song Chao had been completely annihilated.

However, the saber-and-shield warrior’s all-out strike ultimately wasn’t futile. The plain-clothed swordsman’s aura had diminished slightly. It was a small decline, but it gave Wei Yuan a glimmer of hope.

Wei Yuan kept running and dropped another faceless warrior. A ring of light bloomed before the faceless warrior, and a torrent of Water Blades immediately shot straight toward the plain-clothed swordsman[2].

The plain-clothed swordsman traced a circle in the air with his finger. The water jet shot into the circle and vanished, its destination unknown.

The Rushing Water Blade unleashed by the faceless warrior was naturally different from Wei Yuan’s; its power was only equivalent to the full-force strike of an ordinary Dao Foundation-stage cultivator. The Water Blades contained within the water jet were also basic and couldn’t be empowered with particles of Metal Blade. That was why the plain-clothed swordsman was able to send them away without even drawing his sword.

As long as there’s a reaction, that’s enough! Wei Yuan circled around to his opponent’s rear and summoned another faceless warrior, then another, then one more. In the blink of an eye, five faceless warriors appeared and unleashed a total of five Rapid Water Blades at the plain-clothed swordsman.

The plain-clothed swordsman remained composed, tracing five circles in succession and diverting all the water currents away. But this time, none of the faceless warriors ceased their spellcasting.

Diverting the Rushing Water Blades drained the plain-clothed swordsman’s mystic energy. Although it had an unassuming appearance, the Dao spell he was using to divert the Rushing Water Blades was remarkably high grade—Avatar level to be exact—so it consumed even more energy than a Rushing Water Blade.

Of course, the faceless warriors’ activity and spellcasting all drew upon Wei Yuan’s Dao energy. Thus, this was a contest of energy reserves between Wei yuan and the plain-clothed swordsman.

Noticing that the plain-clothed swordsman’s aura was waning once more, Wei Yuan continued to run at full speed while dropping several faceless warriors along the way. This time, they were all equipped with HFSLs. They took aim at the plain-clothed swordsman and fired wave after wave of Armor-piercing Blue Drizzles at him.

Wei Yuan didn’t fire a unified volley because he knew it would be futile. The plain-clothed swordsman could simply obliterate all of them with the sword technique he had used at the very beginning of their duel. On the other hand, splitting up the firepower into waves could effectively prevent the plain-clothed swordsman from finding an opening to counterattack.

The plain-clothed swordsman flicked his finger against the blade, causing a ringing as thunderous as the great bell echoing across heaven and earth. Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness shook, and his consciousness short-circuited for a brief moment. Every Armor-piercing Blue Drizzle had fallen to the ground before he knew it.

The plain-clothed swordsman immediately raised his broadsword horizontally. Flames ignited along the blade as he slowly thrust it into the void in front of him.

At first glance, the sword strike looked unremarkable. The flames burning on the blade looked like ordinary fire, yet they carried a sense of twilight and impending doom. A desolate atmosphere filled the world, and the plain-clothed swordsman cast a long, lonely shadow on the ground—even though there was no sun in the sky.

Embers of the Former Dynasty—it was also a renowned sword technique of the Myriad Vicissitudes Sword.

Suddenly, sparks of smoldering embers appeared around Wei Yuan. His battle armor inexplicably cracked and shattered, and several sword marks appeared seemingly out of nowhere within the Great Realm. Wei Yuan felt the sword intent approaching him from all directions including the void, the past, and even the future—it was impossible to defend against.

Several wounds suddenly appeared on Wei Yuan’s body. Had his physical body not been so formidable, he would have been sliced into seven or eight pieces already.

The plain-clothed swordsman withdrew his sword and started walking toward Wei Yuan, dragging the blade behind him.

Suddenly, he materialized beside Wei Yuan, brushing past him. At the same time, the blade of the massive sword sliced across Wei Yuan’s body—a completely inexplicable occurrence.

The blade swept diagonally across Wei Yuan’s body, carving a terrifying gash from his shoulder to his hip. The attack had nearly split him in two, exposing rows of jade-colored ribs and internal organs!

Before Wei Yuan could react, several sections of his intestines fell out, and the plain-clothed swordsman had already returned to his original position.

Gripping his sword with both hands, he turned his back on Wei Yuan and hoisted the massive blade onto his back. It did not take a genius to figure out that, if he brought his sword down as he turned, the attack would surely split the earth and cleave the heavens!

Facing certain death, Wei Yuan didn’t even bother to close the gaping wound in his torso. He waved his hands repeatedly and summoned hundreds of faceless warriors, each wielding an HFSL. Countless Armor-piercing Blue Drizzles flew toward the plain-clothed swordsman from all directions!

The plain-clothed swordsman began to turn around and lift his sword. By the time the blade reached the highest point, he had already turned halfway around. His movements were precise and measured, neither hurried nor sluggish, yet somehow faster than all the Armor-piercing Blue Drizzles combined!

As the sword reached its zenith, so too did the swordsman’s momentum. Just as the entire miniature world resonated with the sword strike, the massive sword abruptly halted in mid-air!

The pause had come without any warning whatsoever, catching even Wei Yuan off guard. At the same time, every Armor-piercing blue Drizzle abruptly shifted course and flew toward the point where the massive sword was pointing, like moths being drawn to a flame.

After the pause, the massive sword came down with a might several times more ferocious than when it had first risen! For a split second, Wei Yuan even doubted if this grotto-heaven could withstand this strike.

Death wasn’t just breathing down his neck, it was swirling around his nostrils and waiting to turn him into a cold, dead corpse from the inside out. Yet, Wei Yuan grew more composed than ever before. First, he unleashed every ounce of energy he could muster from the Great Realm, then tilted his head just enough to avoid the broadsword striking his sea of consciousness directly.

He knew there was no avoiding this sword strike. The first step of Wei Yuan’s plan was to unleash all seven of his Bay Laurel Immortal Tree’s sword qi in a counterattack. Hopefully, it would be enough to annihilate the plain-clothed swordsman’s physical body. Then, he would use the Red Lotus Bodhi to enhance his own predetermined destiny and grasp at that slim, slim chance at survival. Finally, he would use his Dao Foundation to withstand the blow head on—would the world-ending sword strike cut through the Great Realm, or would the Great Realm ultimately prove it impotent? Either way, he would bear witness from the start until the end.

That was the plan, but when the broadsword came down, the immortal tree’s sword qi... were nowhere to be found!

Wei Yuan was both shocked and enraged. The sword qi was the only counterattack he could think of that could drag this plain-clothed swordsman down with him in mutual destruction. His shifu and Big Senior Sister were still in the array; if they encountered this plain-clothed swordsman, chances were they would both perish! He never imagined that the immortal tree would choose now of all times to betray him!

For a moment, Wei Yuan was filled with bitter hatred. If he had known this would happen, he would have refined this wild tree into medicine back then!

At this moment, Wei Yuan could only wait for death to claim him, heart brimming with resentment and defiance.

Just then, deep within the Great Realm, a girl who had been standing motionless for the longest time opened her eyes.

Every wisp of otherworldly fortune flooded into her body like a long whale diving into the ocean, and a glimmer of light appeared in her black and white pupils. When she raised her hand, seven wisps of pale-red sword qi all flew into her palm and transformed into a slender, bright-red immortal sword.

With a single stride, the girl stepped out of the Great Realm and into the real world. After-images trailing behind the blade, her seven chi long immortal sword transformed into a bright red sword beam and pierced through the plain-clothed swordsman, emerging behind him.

The girl sheathed her sword, took another step forward, and returned to the Great Realm. There, she slowly closed her eyes and fell motionless once more.

The blade of the broadsword almost grazed the tip of Wei Yuan’s nose as it missed him, sinking deep into the ground. For the first time, a spark of sentience flashed in the plain-clothed swordsman’s eyes, and he gave Wei Yuan a long look. From the very beginning until just now, he had been nothing more than a cold killing machine. Only now did he seem to possess the spirit of a human being.

Suddenly, he clasped his hands together and detached the hilt of the broadsword. He lifted it as if to hand it to Wei Yuan, but that was the moment his entire body began crumbling into sand.

Wei Yuan lunged forward almost instinctively, catching the plain-clothed swordsman and pulling a transparent, swordsman-like silhouette out of his physical body. He then sent it straight into the Great Realm.

An invisible suction force emerged from the full moon, drawing the swordsman’s silhouette closer. The head of the three-eyed bird then appeared from the shadows and swallowed it whole. It hung there for a moment before spitting something out.

Out of nowhere, a new mental method appeared in Wei Yuan’s mind. It was called—Myriad Vicissitudes Sword (Incomplete).

Before Wei Yuan had time to process his astonishment, he noticed the seven-chi long, bright red immortal sword planted on the ground next to the girl. It hadn’t reverted back to the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree’s sword qi.

Could it be... had it actually transformed into an immortal sword?

With a single touch of his perception, Wei Yuan knew the name of the immortal sword: Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals.

This was a natural treasure; named by Heaven and Earth at its very birth.

Glancing at the Myriad Vicissitudes Sword Canon, then at the Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals, Wei Yuan, who had just moments ago had been bracing himself to take a heaven-splitting sword strike head-on with the Great Realm, felt that this turn of events was a little too sudden. Hell, his heart was pounding so hard that it was aching painfully.

He looked down and realized that his chest and abdomen had been sliced open, and there was a deep gash across his heart—so deep that it had nearly been cut in two. That would explain the pain.

1. TACTICAL CROUCH! ☜

2. Guy is endlessly creative when his life is in danger. XD ☜