Dragon Canon

By this point, the Xu Clan’s secret within the grotto-heaven had been fully revealed. Wei Yuan had also learned some old secrets through Xu Shiqi’s point of view.

When the grotto-heaven shattered, this particular fragment had fallen deep underground, making it difficult to relocate. Its value had also plummeted drastically after the infant with a natural Myriad Vicissitudes Sword Body was born. The tens of thousands of young boys and girls were little more than the living dead, and the Great Treasure Vase Unending Pure Land Reincarnation Array was irreversible once it was activated. Attempting to reverse it would only result in the complete annihilation of the children’s souls, so they could not be moved either.

They were merely tens of thousands of people. In the eyes of the Xu Clan, they could be discarded at any time.

Later, the girl’s resentment somehow transformed into the shadow monster. Xu Shiqi’s mystic body had also ended up in the Profound Heaven Star-Shifting Great Array somehow. Judging from the various arrangements left behind by the plain-clothed swordsman, he both possessed an independent consciousness and could at least recall parts of his past life. Naturally, it was impossible for him to continue serving the Xu Clan.

In any case, the combined might of the girl-turned-monster and Xu Shiqi’s sword-wielding mystic body was enough to give even a True Lord second thoughts, not to mention the grotto-heaven’s destruction had given rise to the void. Every second a True Lord lingered near a patch of void was a risk they might attract an immensely powerful monster residing within its depths, which was why they were unable to visit the grotto-heaven in person.

For all these reasons, the Xu Clan had no choice but to beat a hasty retreat, too slow to destroy even the underground altar.

One of the little girl’s posthumous obsessions was the home she had shared with her mother—the very earthen hut that Wei Yuan had entered to inspect. The other was her final burial site. However, perhaps because she had absorbed the power of the void or for some other reason, she grew powerful enough to slay even ordinary Avatars. That was why everyone the Xu Clan sent into the grotto-heaven fragment afterward—perhaps to assess the progress of its fragmentation—were slain by her.

From these findings, the Xu Clan elder they had encountered earlier had likely concluded that a death trap lay within the grotto-heaven fragment. That was why he had schemed to lure Wei Yuan inside.

Although some details remained unclear, the broad facts were basically apparent.

The most precious item they had found within the grotto-heaven fragment was the White Lotus of Tainted Earth. Although it had only just begun to grow, it could already extend one’s lifespan by 100 years. Even better, extending lifespan was merely a minor aspect of its capabilities.

This plant could not be separated from the pool of tainted water; to remove it, one would need to use an immortal treasure-grade treasure. However, the common practice was to leave it in place and construct a new, sealed herb garden on the spot to accommodate its growth.

Generally speaking, if the existence of the White Lotus of Tainted Earth was known, most sects and noble clans would choose to salvage this grotto-heaven fragment, and the standard practice to do that was to have a True Lord connect their Imaginary World to it, thereby restoring the grotto-heaven.

But in Wei Yuan’s case, he had an additional option. He could transplant it into the Great Realm just as was done with the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree and the Red Lotus Bodhi.

Wei Yuan would need to carve out a Land of Absolute Yin within the Great Realm to allow the White Lotus to continue growing. This was actually quite simple: the poison spewed by the shadow monster was a substance of absolute yin and taint, and what did you know, there were a few patches of earth in his Dao Foundation that had been scorched by exactly that substance. All he needed to do was to put them together.

Transplanting an immortal object like this naturally required the utmost caution. Wei Yuan also stated that this white lotus belonged to everyone collectively, so discussions regarding its distribution would be held after they had left the grotto-heaven. Moreover, the plant had literally just bloomed and far from reaching full maturity. Dividing it up at this stage would be a complete waste of such a priceless treasure.

Wei Yuan only had a rudimentary understanding of apothecary, so Sun Yu and Trueman Chu He teamed up to give him a crash course in apothecary and the relevant arrays. It enabled him to set up arrays across the Great Realm to contain the energy of absolute yin.

After having the knowledge drilled into his mind, Wei Yuan realized that the lifespan extension provided by the White Lotus of Tainted Earth actually came with numerous limitations. For example, its so-called ability to increase one’s lifespan by 100 years was merely theoretical. For example, if a cultivator originally had a lifespan of 1,000 years, but had consumed various elixirs that burned away their lifespan in pursuit of a breakthrough, leaving them with only 300 years remaining, then taking this medicine would only extend their lifespan by 30 years, not 100.

There was a flurry of activity, but Wei Yuan ultimately managed to store the White Lotus of Tainted Earth within his Dao Foundation and secure it properly. It had been planted several hundred li away from the jade hill and surrounded by a flawless mystic array. The mystic array was intricate, elaborate, and surrounded by rippling streams of light. It was clear at first glance that it was of extraordinary quality.

So far, this was the immortal plant Wei Yuan had given the utmost attention and care. Back in the day, all he did for the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree was to stick it into the earth, even pulling it out to check if it had sprouted from time to time. There was a bit more ceremony when the Red Lotus Bodhi arrived, but again, it wasn’t much. It could not compare to the meticulous care he had given to the White Lotus of Tainted Earth at all.

Wei Yuan found himself wondering if he had neglected his immortal plants in the past. Should he treat them better from now on?

By this time, Sun Yu had already used his perception to roughly scan all of the young boys and girls. He said, “There are a total of forty-seven thousand of them, ranging in physical age from twelve to fifteen. I foresee I’ll have my work cut out for me teaching them[1].”

Sun Yu questioned a few of the young boys and girls. They had lived together since childhood. They had been sent underground after spending the first few years learning to read and cultivating to the Body-tempering stage. Beyond that, they knew nothing.

For obvious reasons, the children were naive and had no sense of shame. Not only did they find it perfectly normal to be naked, they were quite curious about everyone else’s clothing. Besides that, they possessed an instinctive dependence and obedience toward Wei Yuan. In the years before they lost their memories, they had long since learned the value of absolute obedience. Anyone who dared to resist had been severely punished and beaten, and some had even vanished without a trace.

In Wei Yuan, they sensed a power that filled them with a shuddering fear and left them completely incapable of any thought of resistance.

Looking at the tens of thousands of young boys and girls before him, Wei Yuan felt a great deal of pressure. He decided that once he returned, he would exchange for a batch of books on karma to figure out exactly what karmic obligations he had taken on, what he could and couldn’t do, and ideally, cultivate one of two secret techniques of karma—just in case.

All these young boys and girls had been reincarnated through Wei Yuan’s Dao Foundation. Thus, he knew their soul forms inside out. He immediately singled out 47 with notably powerful souls and assigned each one to lead a squad of 100 children. Wei Yuan didn’t have time to come up with names for them, so he simply numbered them from Wei One to Wei Forty Seven[2].

After the squads were divided, he gave them their very first task: dismantling and digging up the place. They were to remove everything that could be removed from the plaza. It was because the plaza’s surface was made of Cyan Jade Icestone, a middle grade array material. They had the numbers anyway, so Wei Yuan had them pry up all the valuable bricks and haul them out one by one.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan had brought 1,000 cultivators with him on this expedition and prepared a large quantity of tools. From the beginning, he had come here with the intention of dismantling the entire grotto-heaven for his own purposes. Since the Xu Clan had been so “kind” as to leave behind a priceless, intact array that had taken at least a century to construct, he saw no reason not to pack it all up.

After that, Wei Yuan left the grotto-heaven fragment and set up a few ambushes around the entrances. Sure enough, his men killed over a dozen Xu Clan scouts and captured six. After that, they stopped sending people over to die.

On a related note, the environmental changes within the small valley had been solely caused by a leakage of energy from the grotto-heaven. Now that the yin qi was completely gone, it would gradually return to its original state.

Dismantling a grotto-heaven was a massive undertaking as a matter of course, so Wei yuan urgently mobilized another ten thousand men to the site. First, they widened the roads. Then, they carved out waterways to connect the scattered ponds and lakes and allow flat-buttoned boats to navigate them.

These boats had a draft of less than three chi and could carry a ton of weight. However, each Cyan Jade Icestone brick weighed three to four hundred catties, so a single boat could only carry at most a few. It would likely take months to transport them all back to Qingming.

Nearly 50,000 young boys and girls worked tirelessly for eight days straight. Only then did they manage to remove every single brick from the plaza. Transporting them out of the grotto-heaven was yet another massive undertaking.

After consulting with Yu Zhizhuo, Wei Yuan decided to replace these children with several thousand commoners and take them back to the realm first. Yu Zhizhuo would remain behind to oversee the operation. They were going to lay down some tracks and set up mine carts in the inclined shaft, and that was a task that absolutely required the supervision of a disciple from the Mastercraft Hall.

Using mine carts to transport the Cyan Jade Icestone bricks was far more efficient as a matter of course. It was at least dozens of times faster than relying solely on manual labor.

Thus, on the ninth day after entering the grotto-heaven fragment, Wei Yuan took tens of thousands of children back to the realm of Qingming.

It was the first time any of them had seen the world outside the grotto-heaven, so they were curious about everything. However, obedience remained their top priority; no one even said a word as they hurried along the way.

After walking a short distance, Wei Yuan suddenly turned back to look at the still-gloomy valley.

Once upon a time, a family could have led a peaceful, uneventful life here. However, they were struck by misfortune and spent the rest of their lives in pure misery.

If Xu Shiqi hadn’t been born with innate wisdom, if he hadn’t been the reincarnation of a certain figure, perhaps he wouldn’t have gone through all this. Just as was often seen in the history books, the commoner was innocent only until the jade ring in his possession was found[3].

But upon reflection, Wei Yuan felt that the historians were spouting nonsense. How did it make sense for the commoner possessing a jade ring to be guilty of any crime? Shouldn’t it be those who sought to seize it from him? Alas, such was the power held by those who wrote history. They had inverted truths and falsehoods with their brushes, openly and covertly striving to make it seem as though the commoner was the one at fault.

Looking back at the long procession following behind him, Wei Yuan suddenly felt that only a period where a commoner possessing a jade ring could openly display it, trade it, and exchange it for what he needed without fear of oppressions by the powerful or being swindled or robbed, was worthy of being be called a golden age!

In the valley, within the grotto-heaven, the little girl had been reburied. Xu Shiqi’s physical body had been destroyed, leaving only the remnants of his massive sword and its hilt. The demon’s corpse on the lotus pillar had also been removed and burned to ashes using true fire by Trueman Chu He. It was then buried alongside Xu Shiqi’s remains and the girl’s body.

When the demon’s corpse was removed, its body—which had withstood countless tribulations before—had suddenly disintegrated upon contact with the fire, with all of its attachments and resentments gone like the wind. At that moment, Wei Yuan had felt a sense of relief in both body and spirit; a sign that some of his karma burdening him had been resolved.

The family was finally reunited. In time, the grotto-heaven fragment would crumble completely, and they would vanish forevermore.

Wei Yuan sincerely prayed that they would never enter the cycle of reincarnation again.

The newly reborn children were all in the peak of the flesh-tempering stage. It took them only half a day to journey over a hundred li and enter the realm of Qingming.

Wei Yuan had already chosen a spot north of the central peak. He intended to build a new city there specifically for them to live in. Wei Yuan estimated that it would take at least a year or two for them to acquire enough knowledge to interact with outsiders, at which point they could finally and gradually integrate into human society.

Over the course of the next few days, Wei Yuan was so busy he felt as if he’d shedded an entire layer of skin. And what was he doing? He was dealing with the daily needs of tens of thousands of people, of course.

Given a big enough number, even the most trivial tasks would become massive undertakings. Wei Yuan hadn’t been able to sleep a wink because of this. Although Dao Foundation-stage cultivators no longer required sleep, they still needed to meditate to replenish their mental energy, and he didn’t even have the time to do that.

However, all that hustle and bustle, Wei Yuan was now walking through a new city where there was a dining hall for every few stretches, and every street block had at least two restrooms. Every boy and girl was wearing at least an outer garment as well.

Regarding the matter of restrooms, Wei Yuan owed a debt of gratitude to Xiao Yu. In the city planning guidelines he had left behind, the swordsman had devoted an entire section just to restrooms. Where to build them, how to build them, and how many people each restroom should serve; it was all laid out in great detail.

There wasn’t enough time to build proper houses inside the city. For now, the boys and girls were sleeping in wooden shacks with communal sleeping areas. Speaking of which, some of the boys and girls were lying down in neat, orderly rows. Even when they were resting, it was as if they were arranging a military formation.

At that moment, the evening sky was ablaze with reddish-orange hues; the afterglow of sunset turning the whole world crimson. The city was also filled with noise and warmth. As simple as it was, it was life.

By tomorrow, this city would become even better, and so would the realm of Qingming.

Wei Yuan exhaled deeply, his taut nerves finally relaxing.

Just then, the White Lotus of Taunted Earth stirred, unfurling another petal as a wisp of clear qi soared upward.

The realm suddenly trembled, and thunder rumbled in the clear sky. A violent wind blew as the worldly origin qi within several hundred li suddenly manifested all at once, converging toward the center of the realm. In the blink of an eye, a storm had taken form in the sky!

The Great Realm was shaking as well. With the jade hill at the epicenter, the ground kept churning and spilling vast swathes of fertile soil in every direction. The once-barren wasteland had transformed into a fertile plain teeming with boundless vitality. No spirit plant was needed; the fertile soil was naturally emitting wisps of spirit qi and fueling the growth of every spirit plant within the Great Realm.

The young sprout atop the jade hill had already sprouted new branches and leaves. It was now looking like a small sapling. However, its branches and leaves still looked perfectly identical—it was still just a One Wonder Treasure Tree.

The Bay Laurel Immortal Tree looked unmoved by the storm at first, but it wasn’t long before it could not hide its growth any longer. Its bark split open, and a new branch sprang forth. Amidst its branches and leaves was a new pale red sword qi.

The Red Lotus Bodhi remained perfectly steady, though. It simply replaced the leaf it had shedded and took nothing more.

As the Great Realm continuously absorbed the worldly origin qi, Wei Yuan’s primordial spirit was becoming clear and complete. After everything he had gone through, he had finally finished solidifying his foundation and entered the middle-stage of the Dao Foundation stage.

Inside the jade hill and above the black pool, the withered tree had grown a little more, and the gate had grown larger as well. It was at that moment Wei Yuan suddenly understood the meaning of the words inscribed on the gate: All-Gate of Reincarnation.

1. Wei Yuan probably had no idea that his choice didn’t just save tens of thousands of lives, but also Sun Yu’s. You could tell from his previous reactions that this guy was this close from descending into madness. ☜

2. My guy has 1 actual child and 47k adopted children already at his age. How can anyone compare?! ☜

3. ”A common man is innocent; possessing a jade is a crime.” is an ancient Chinese idiom originating from the Zuo Zhuan , the 10th year of Duke Huan. It originally referred to a commoner inviting disaster due to possessing valuable property.

The anecdote recounts how Yu Shu, fearing ”To be guilty of harboring a treasure,” offered up his precious jade. However, Duke Yu, insatiably greedy, then demanded his sword, ultimately leading to Yu Shu’s campaign against him. The idiom later extended to mean suffering harm due to possessing talents, ideals, beauty, or other distinguishing qualities. ☜