Dragon Canon

Northern frontier, deep within the plains.

A small squad of riders galloped at full speed like a pack of frost wolves, crossing the vast expanse of land and penetrating multiple defensive lines belonging to both Western Jin and Northern Liao. They were pressing northward.

Late one night several days later, dozens of figures crept toward a magnificent golden tent, unnoticed by the tens of thousands of Liao riders stationed outside. They suddenly stormed into the tent and pounced on a tall, fat, but strong man sleeping among a dozen or so women.

It wasn’t until a blade had pierced his body that the man awoke from his hangover, but it was already too late.

Moments later, a blood-soaked youngster emerged from the golden tent holding a severed head. He raised his head and howled at the full moon. As boundless power surged within him, he transformed into a colossal wolf a thousand zhang in length!

The giant wolf leaped into the air, soaring upward and charging straight into the full moon. To everyone’s astonishment, a distinct silver rim appeared around the moon in the sky!

The youngster’s howls grew ever louder and carried farther until they echoed across 1,000 li. And so every tribe on the western slopes of the Sacred Mountain knew that their Great Khan had returned once more from the realm of the dead!

By the time the youngster stopped his long howl, the ground around him was already filled with kneeling tribesmen. He entered the golden tent once more, rummaged through the collections of the usurping fake Khan, and finally unearthed a skull inlaid with countless treasures. The skull was nearly transparent, and inside, a tiny true dragon was gliding about.

The youngster cradled the skull, gazing at the true dragon gliding within. Although it was no larger than a little finger, this tiny dragon possessed a full set of whiskers and a tail. It was unmistakably a true dragon.

At the youngster’s side, a shamanist[1] so old he seemed ready to die at any moment appeared, along with a woman who was a full head taller than the average Liao man. The woman radiated power from head to toe, with three gold rings piercing through one nostril.

Her eyes had no pupils; instead, they were a seamless, silvery-white.

The old shamanist said slowly, “True dragon qi has already been nurtured within this skull. Are you really going to give it to those people in the southern kingdom?”

A startling light shone in the young man’s eyes as he replied, “Back then, our ancestors had slain even the true dragons of the human race. Why should I fear a mere speck of draconic qi? As the heir to the Silver Moon Khan’s Tent, I must fulfill my promise!”

He handed the crystal skull to the silver-eyed woman and said, “Deliver this to that king and tell him that my promise has been fulfilled. Also, tell him to prepare himself—it won’t be long before I personally arrive to retrieve this object, along with all his concubines and daughters, from his palace!”

......

At the Vajra Zen Monastery, outside the city of Yingdu.

The King of Jin was standing before a pond enclosed by a golden and jade railing and gazing at the full moon in the sky, lost in thought. Tonight’s moonlight was exceptionally crisp and cold, as if it had coated the earth with a layer of silver frost.

The space before him suddenly rippled like water, and the silver-eyed Liao woman stepped out from within. She walked straight up to the King of Jin, bowed her head slightly, and looked into his eyes. She sniffed once and said in a somewhat halting voice, “So... filthy....”

Her tone was stiff, and her voice was vague as if she hadn’t spoken for a very long time. “The Great Khan told me to give this to you. He said he’ll soon take it back with his own hands—along with all your women—from your palace!”

The King of Jin took the crystal skull and said indifferently, “My ancestor founded this kingdom a thousand years ago. It will certainly not fall during my reign. It wasn’t easy for your master to come back to life, so you should advise him to hole up safely in the north—that way, he might scrape by for a couple more years.”

A murderous glint flashed in the Liao woman’s eyes, and she said in a stiff tone, “I’ve changed my mind. I’m taking your head back with me!”

Suddenly, several gleaming, razor-sharp claws extended from her hands. At the same time, the surrounding scenery shifted instantly—from the opulent Vajra Zen Monastery to the snow covered forests of the northern frontier. In the distance stood a snow-capped mountain, and it was unmistakably one of the Nine Sacred Mountains of Northern Liao.

Standing amidst the landscape of the northern frontier, the King of Jin found himself unable to move a single finger, let alone mount a counterattack. The woman had actually reached the level where she could project her Imaginary World in the real world, and in this world she had conjured, she was the sole immortal deity!

The woman lunged toward the King of Jin’s throat. The blades on her fingers could effortlessly sever his head.

It was at this moment several strands of cyan hair appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around the woman’s hand and blades. The silver-eyed Liao woman had already clenched her fist, but the blades remained frozen in place.

It was because the cyan strands of hair had severed all her fingers!

The Liao woman turned her head abruptly. A woman with cyan eyes had appeared in her Imaginary World without her noticing. She was walking gracefully through the snowy forest toward her. To her astonishment, her Imaginary World had absolutely no effect on her.

The woman’s head was covered in cyan hair that cascaded to the ground like a waterfall. Once on the ground, the strands seemed to take a life of their own, swiftly winding their way across thousands of zhang and wrapping themselves around the Northern Liao woman.

With just a simple tug, the cyan strands sliced the Northern Liao woman’s body into countless fragments. Only her head remained intact as it fell squarely in the cyan-eyed woman’s hand.

The cyan strands of hair retracted and vanished, and the cyan-eyed woman turned bald once more. She glanced at the severed head in her hand; the face still bore traces of its final moments of shock and terror.

“This is useless. Send it back.” She waved her hand and parted the space in front of her. Then, she tossed the head into it.

Before the golden tent in the northern frontier, the Liao woman’s head suddenly appeared and landed right in front of the youngster!

The youngster blanched when he saw the head. His beard and hair began to flutter and turn silver, and fire blazed in his eyes. He suddenly pointed toward the sky, and the phantom image of the full moon descended from the heavens and entered his body instantly.

The youngster drew the curved saber hanging at his waist and slashed forward with all his might, unleashing a blade of light as fierce as a raging tidal wave! The blade of light surged forward several zhang before suddenly vanishing into thin air.

At the same time, a surging blade of light over ten thousand zhang long appeared within the Imaginary World, which had not yet dissipated. Spanning the entire horizon, it split into two streams—one striking toward the cyan-eyed woman, and the other the King of Jin!

The cyan-eyed woman said calmly, “The catalyst has been retrieved, and we are even. Please return.”

She held out her hand and curled her fingers like she was picking a flower. A faint cyan glow suddenly shone from her fingertip, and she flicked it out. As her finger snapped forward, a long saber suddenly appeared before her—and her finger struck the very tip of the blade with perfect precision!

Instantly, the blinding sword light vanished without a trace. At the same time, the Imaginary World consisting of a snow forest and the Sacred Mountain of Northern Liao finally shattered, and the Vajra Zen Monastery reappeared.

Next, the cyan-eyed woman grasped at the air. Countless tiny fragments of the Northern Liao woman’s corpse, along with her blood, flew into her hand and transformed into a pill as white as jade. At the same time, two crimson blood veins slowly meandered across the pill’s surface as if they were alive.

She handed the pill to the King of Jin and said, “It’s almost time for our morning practice.”

The King of Jin took the pill, glanced at the distinct silver full moon in the sky, then turned and followed the cyan-eyed woman back to the main hall.

In the pool of gold and jade, a lotus suddenly bloomed beneath the moonlight. Its petals were black.

......

The Realm of Qingming.

Wei Yuan stared at the sand table in front of him. He had been looking at it for two hours straight.

At the center of the sand table lay the Shaman city. At the moment, the boundary of Qingming’s domain was still 90 li away from it. The model of the Shaman city on the sand table was extremely detailed, even including many minute details that couldn’t be seen from outside the city.

Over the past two hours, Wei Yuan had mentally simulated dozens of attacks on the Shaman city, each with a different strategy.

However, Wei Yuan remained deeply dissatisfied with the Shamans’ reactions in these simulations. Only after simulating the siege did he realize how little he actually knew about the Shamans currently inside the city; particularly intelligence pertaining to the Great Warlocks.

At least it was straightforward to ascertain the Shamans’ strength. Wei yuan left his quarters and sought out Yu Zhizhuo, retrieved several steel shells from the warehouse, and mounted them on the railgun array.

This time, Wei Yuan operated the mechanism personally. The steel shell was detected dozens of li outside the Shaman city, and several vicious attacks immediately rose from behind the walls to intercept it. Clearly, the experience of the previous bombardment was still fresh in the minds of the Great Warlocks. They dared not take this lightly and launched all-out intercepts the moment they spotted one.

The steel shell dodged as best it could, but after flying another ten li or so, it was destroyed by a blood-red blade of light. When the blade of light split the steel shell in two, it was revealed that it was empty inside. As it turned out, it was a hollow shell containing no explosives.

Immediately afterward, a second steel shell was fired. The Great Warlocks continued their interception as before, but this time, the steel shell suddenly exploded in midair, scattering all the surrounding sword and saber beam before they could reach it. Inside the city, several Great Warlocks let out muffled groans of pain.

Amid the aftereffects of the explosion, a third steel shell silently cut through the smoke and entered the airspace of the Shaman city. Chaos immediately erupted within the city as civilians and ordinary fighters scattered in all directions, seeking shelter. Soon after, a purple bolt of lightning shot up from the altar and shattered the steel shell.

From this round of probing, Wei Yuan learned that there were currently four Great Warlocks in the Shaman city, one of whom had bided their time until the very end before intervening. They were also a notch weaker than Rock Heart.

If this was the extent of their defenses, then they stood a good chance. But just in case, Wei Yuan decided to give the Shamans another push and see what other trump cards they might be hiding. So, he loosened his control over the Qingming and allowed it to expand its domain rapidly, advancing toward the Shaman city at a rate of ten li per day.

Since Wei Yuan had advanced to the middle-stage of the Dao Foundation stage, the nurturing power of Qingming had also increased. It could now extend over 200 li, which was just enough to envelop the entire Shaman city.

After putting some pressure on the Shaman city, Wei Yuan accompanied Yu Zhizhuo to the armament workshop to inspect the latest improved shell-type ammunition.

At the moment, the armament workshop had expanded to several times its original size. For starters, four massive furnaces stood within its compound and produced over 20,000 catties of molten iron daily. Seated around each furnace were four Dao Foundation stage cultivators who had cultivated the Immortal Sword Fake Sun. They were fully focused on refining their Dao Foundation and advancing their cultivation.

To Wei Yuan’s surprise, he spotted Ren Suxing.

At the moment, Ren Suxing was holding up a piece of newly forged cuirass and inspecting it with his perception. After confirming that there were no flaws, he tossed it into a nearby crate. As a peak Dao Foundation stage cultivator, a single sweep of his perception was enough to detect even the slightest flaw. Holding a small, glow-red hammer in his hand, he fixed any minor defects he discovered on the spot while tossing those he couldn’t repair into the scrap pile to await re-smelting.

Ren Suxing’s cultivation was profound, so each piece of cuirass remained in his hands for no more than three breaths. He was able to manage nearly all nearby iron forging machines singlehandedly.

“What’s he doing here?” Wei Yuan asked.

“He originally came to forge iron, but he didn’t have a Fire element Dao Foundation, and his perception turned out to be pretty good. So, I had him inspect the cuirasses. He’s been doing this for a while now, and to be honest, our output has gone up quite a bit since he joined us, hehe.”

Although Wei Yuan was puzzled by Ren Suxing’s willingness to take on such a basic and repetitive work, he figured it was a good thing and so said nothing. He then followed Yu Zhizhuo into the warehouses and inspected the newly manufactured ammunition.

True to his status as a high cultivator of the Mastercraft Hall—and a bit of bad influence from Sun Yu—his senior uncle had somehow taken the new ammunition to a whole new level of insidiousness and malice.

Moments later, Wei Yuan emerged from the warehouse and immediately convened a meeting with the cultivators of the Palace of Absolute Beginning.

Once everyone had gathered, Wei Yuan declared, “We have a fleeting opportunity that may slip past us if we don’t grasp it now. Although Big Senior Sister hasn’t returned yet,I’ve decided to mobilize our forces today and launch an attack on the Shaman city tomorrow!”

After that, Wei Yuan began laying out his offensive plan eloquently and in detail while pointing at the model of the Shaman city on the sand table from time to time. He now understood the joys of strategizing on paper and holding meetings completely.

Meanwhile, Fei Yutong and a senior brother from the Skyblue Hall were discussing some cultivation challenges under the setting sun. Suddenly, the senior brother looked toward the central peak. Fei Yutong followed his gaze and saw several beams of light streaking toward various parts of the domain.

Fei Yutong said, “I wonder what important matter they’re discussing now.”

The senior brother let out a short laugh and replied, “Everyone who’s qualified to participate in the meeting is a member of the Palace of Absolute Beginning. There’s something I must say, though. Cui Yu, Wang Yu, and Hsu Yi came just a little earlier than us and their cultivation level is on par with ours, yet they get to attend every single meeting, while we haven’t been invited even once despite having been here for so long. If I didn’t know better, I would think that we’re the outsiders. Sometimes, I wonder if the oh-so-mighty Realm Lord still considers us fellow disciples.”

Fei Yutong didn’t think much of it. “Senior Brother Wei must have his own considerations. Besides, it is a fact that we still need more training.”

The Senior brother replied off-handedly, “This realm belongs to the Skyblue Hall, not just him alone.”

1. NOT to be confused with Shamans. This is the part where I confess I got COMPLETELY CAUGHT OFF GUARD by the author. It’s an actual fucking shaman, 萨满. In my defense this appears for only like the next few chapters, then there’s 1 instance at around chapter 805, and then nothing, so like... sorry I fucked up. =.=”. I may consider replacing it with “witch doctor” instead depending on how the story goes (the latest raw chapter is finally about the Liao, like frfr we’re diving deep into that hole), or maybe I’ll replace the Shamans with IDK the Voodoos instead? But god that would be such a massive term replacement project it’s not even funny =.=” nah I don’t think I’ll do that. Ugh.

For now let’s stick with shamanist, lower caps. Remember, shamanists and shamanism has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SHAMAN RACE even though they sound the same. I’m so sorry! ☜