Dragon Canon

As soon as Wei Yuan entered the room, he was met by a pungent stench of death and blood.

It was a vast hall where more than 30 pregnant young women had been gathered. Sun Yu had just set up a folding screen and placed a couch, preparing to settle in, when the incident occurred. He hadn’t even finished making the arrangements.

The vast majority of the girls in the room were lying quietly, their faces shrouded in the aura of death and their eyes vacant. The wisps of fortune attached to their bodies were fading one by one and keeping them alive, but their physical condition showed no signs of improvement.

Three girls in particular had bellies that were so swollen that they couldn’t even sit up. They could only lie on their beds. Their abdomens kept writhing as if something inside were trying to crawl out. Judging by the size of their bellies alone, it was clear these massive fetuses would likely never be born.

Wei Yuan instinctively sensed that something was wrong. He infused each girl with more wisps of fortune before saying, “I’ll be right back!”

Wei Yuan’s figure flickered and vanished outside the door. He was just about to take flight when he saw Zhang Sheng descending from above while carrying Xu Wenwu in one hand.

Wei Yuan was both delighted and baffled: how did his master know that he was looking for Xu Wenwu and even brought him over ahead of time?

There was no time for explanations. He strode into the house, drew a circle at the center of the room using his sword qi, and placed Xu Wenwu inside. He ordered, “Stay here and do not come out no matter what happens. Otherwise, your life will be in danger!”

At first, Xu Wenwu nearly fainted from excitement when he saw the Xu Clan girls. It was because most of them had their private parts exposed. Why had he transmigrated to another world if not to enjoy multiple wives and concubines? Was it finally time for him to live the high life?

But when he regained his composure and took a second look, his vision abruptly went dark, and he nearly fainted from sheer terror.

His teeth chattered as he stammered, “W-what do you want me to do?”

“Just sit still. You’re our good luck charm,” Zhang Sheng replied.

Meanwhile, the wisps of fortune Wei Yuan had just bestowed upon the girls had once again been completely depleted. This time, he bestowed 10 wisps on each of them in one go. This time, he could see the fortune being consumed one wisp at a time.

The three girls with unnaturally swollen bellies began to twitch unconsciously as the fetuses inside them moved with increasing intensity. Sun Yu placed his hands on their bellies, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t induce labor. On the contrary, his efforts were only causing the girls’ vitality to fluctuate wildly.

Beads of sweat appeared on Sun Yu’s head. He turned around and cried, “It’s no use! The fetuses are just too large—they can’t be delivered!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sharp claw suddenly ripped open a girl’s abdomen from the inside!

The head of a blood-soaked infant poked out of the wound and bared a set of ghastly blue teeth. Then, it[1] bit down on Sun Yu’s hand!

A cry of pain escaped Sun Yu. When he withdrew his hand, everyone was stunned to find that his index finger had disappeared!

The infant swallowed Sun Yu’s index finger in one gulp. Then, it tore the wound wider and crawled out of the girl’s abdomen.

The sight was so horrifying that Xun Wenwu’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. Right as he was about to faint, the sword qi of Blue Rain gently poked him in the primordial spirit and jolted him awake.

Meanwhile, the same thing was happening to the other two girls. Their abdomens had been split open, and an infant had crawled out of each of them. Suddenly, the infant that had been born first—the one that had swallowed Sun Yu’s finger—let out a shriek and leaped several zhang into the air, lunging toward another infant!

The second infant let out a piercing screech that sounded like steel being torn apart. It was just jumping when the first infant tackled it to the floor. The two instantly began rolling and wrestling against each other. They fought like the fiercest beasts, with each leap bringing them at least several zhang into the air. Occasionally, they would crash violently into the roofs and columns and leaving streaks of blood in their wake. In a sense, it was a literal battle through the heavens and the earth.

Wei Yuan wanted to intervene, but Zhan Sheng said, “Let’s wait and see.”

He immediately understood his master’s meaning. Until they grasped the entire sequence of events, they would be just as helpless as they were now should a similar situation arise again.

Just then, the third infant finally crawled out of its mother’s womb. As soon as it appeared, the two infants that were locked in a life-or-death struggle abruptly stopped fighting each other and turned their gazes on the third infant, emitting threatening growls.

The third infant tilted its head back and let out a deafening roar. To everyone’s astonishment, a streak of blue sword light burst out of its mouth and shattered the roof. Thankfully, Zhang Sheng reacted in time and intercepted the blue light with a slender, seemingly intangible sword light before it could shoot into the sky.

Just then, the two infants who had been fighting each other to the death leaped to their feet and pounced toward the third infant together!

Xu Wenwu was shaking like a leaf, but try as he might, he could not fall unconscious. Every time his eyes tried to roll to the back of his head, the sword qi would poke him in the primordial spirit and force him to stay awake. He had no choice but to shut his eyes tightly and chant the Buddha’s name with all his might!

He had just gone through a few phrases when he realized he had made a mistake—the Palace of Absolute Beginning was a Daoist sect! So, he quickly recited the names of the Dao Founder and the Three Pure Ones and swore countless Vows—all he asked was that he survived this ordeal!

Suddenly, there was a loud thud, and something fell into his arms. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was a blood-soaked infant!

To say he was horrified would be an understatement. A scream unlike anything he’d ever uttered was building in his chest and ready to burst forth when suddenly, another blood infant flew toward him and smacked him in the face! Not only that, it was clutching his head with its tiny hands and feet tightly!

Xu Wenwu fainted instantly, only to be jolted awake by the sword qi. This would repeat three times in rapid succession before he finally stopped fainting.

Both infants were covered in blood, and the one hugging his face felt especially sticky and slimy. Heavens only know if it was blood or something else. In any case, it was all crawling into his nose and mouth.

Xu Wenwu tried to shake them off, but all the strength in his body had vanished, and all he could think of doing was screaming. He struggled desperately to wriggle away, but a line of sword qi was encircling him. As soon as he made contact with the line, he reeled as if he had been seared by a red-hot branding iron.

Fortunately, the third infant came to his rescue. Swooping in and snatching the two bloody infants off Xu Wenwu—one in each hand—and pinned them firmly to the ground. As it clamped its hands around the throats of the two bloody infants, their vitality immediately started surging into its body.

The two infants’ aura began waning rapidly. Wei Yuan furrowed his brows slightly and flicked several wisps of fortune into the two infants, keeping them alive.

The third infant kept absorbing their vitality seemingly without end. Wei Yuan didn’t care and kept channeling wisp after wisp of fortune into the two bloody infants.

As for Xu Wenwu, he was completely paralyzed with terror and screaming incoherently at the three bloody infants.

Wei Yuan had almost infused 100 wisps of fortune into each infant when suddenly, the aura surrounding the third infant shifted, and the blood red tint faded to reveal normal-looking eyes. At the same time, the ground around it suddenly transformed into a shallow pool where cyan lotuses bloomed.

The third infant withdrew its hands, and the vitality of the two bloody infants slowly began to return.

When the third infant raised its head, the first thing it saw was Xu Wenwu’s plump, terrified face. It seemed to be pondering something before enunciating slowly but clearly, “Daddy!”

Xu Wenwu froze for a moment, then resumed his screams. Finally, Zhang Sheng withdrew his sword qi, and Xu Wenwu was granted the freedom to collapse unconscious.

The third infant sat in the water and splashed it with its tiny hands for a bit. Then, it plucked a lotus flower and tossed it toward Xu Wenwu. The moment the lotus touched Xu Wenwu’s body, it melted into him. After this single lotus was plucked, all the other lotuses in the pond withered simultaneously. The water dried up, and the pool vanished just like that.

Zhang Sheng was keeping watch, so Wei Yuan rushed over to Sun Yu’s side and asked, “How’s your hand?”

Sun Yu raised his hand. At the wound where his finger was missing, countless fine strands of flesh were rapidly regrowing and intertwining with one another to slowly form a new finger.

“This little creature seems to possess an innate devouring ability. I lost all connection to my finger the moment it entered its belly, and I have no choice but to regrow it. Still, it’s no big deal. It won’t take long for me to re-temper my new finger to its original state. For now, I need to save these girls!”

Paying no heed to the injury on his finger, Sun Yu gathered the three young women together and began treating their abdominal wounds.

For obvious reasons, the girls’ insides were a complete mess; their internal organs had almost been entirely devoured. Sun Yu administered an Avatar-level treasure pill to each of them, dissolving it with his Dao energy so that the medicinal energy could be directed into every fiber of their bodies. Then, he had Wei Yuan imbue them with fortune.

Thanks to SunYu’s series of miraculous interventions, the three girls miraculously survived. Now, all that remained was to wait for their internal organs to regenerate on their own[2].

Sun Yu wiped the fine beads of sweat coating his forehead and exhaled deeply. He said, “Thank goodness we ultimately managed to save these rare specimens.”

Wei Yuan returned to the three infants. Although the two blood infants had had a great deal of their vitality drained, they were protected by fortune, and their vital signs were now stable. For the time being, their lives were not in danger. Exhausted from the ordeal, they had both fallen asleep.

However, the third infant was sitting on the ground and curiously observing its surroundings.

Wei Yuan reached out to pick it up, but the infant let out a snort of utter disdain and waved its tiny hand. Amazingly, a slender blade of sword qi slashed toward him!

The sword qi was of an extremely high grade; already touching on the threshold of the Immortal-tier. But of course, Wei Yuan wasn’t about to indulge it. He immediately drew the Crimson Night Slayer of Immortals—a true Immortal-tier Immortal Sword. It was often said that the gap between the pseudo and the true was a vast distance of 108,000 li[3], and that had never been truer for a pseudo-Immortal-tier sword and a real Immortal-tier sword.

With the Immortal Sword in hand, Wei Yuan menacingly brandished it toward the infant’s neck. The little infant instantly turned pale and crawled back a step[4]. Seeing Wei Yuan’s large hands reaching down again, it had no choice but to allow itself to be picked up obediently.

Wei Yuan scrutinized the infant’s features closely. Honestly, there was nothing special about it. At most, he could say that it looked somewhat delicate and pretty. But try as he might, he couldn’t discern even the slightest resemblance to Xu Shiqi. This was confirmed twice over when he looked between its legs and realized in surprise that it was a girl.

Wei Yuan couldn’t help but doubt the vision he had seen earlier. Could it have been a mere coincidence? Was this child actually unrelated to Xu Shiqi?

Wei Yuan was still wondering if Xu Shiqi’s reincarnation had somehow gone awry when suddenly, the infant in his arms kicked out with both legs and sent a transparent stream of urine mixed with sword qi straight at him, drenching him before he could react!

Wei Yuan was furious and wanted to spit back in retaliation, but he also felt that would be rather undignified. Just then, Zhang Sheng burst out laughing and said, “Let me hold her!”

“Careful, this little brat can use sword qi.” Wei Yuan’s shirt now bore not only a wet stain but also several holes, all pierced by the sword qi mixed in the urine. Unfortunately for the infant, his skin was so thick that it couldn’t even put a dent on it.

Zhang Sheng took the infant from Wei Yuan and held her close, examining her carefully. The infant flashed him a sweet smile and even babbled a couple times.

Zhang Sheng chuckled and boasted, “See? The child is quite well-behaved.”

Wei Yuan rolled his eyes and thought to himself, if you really think so, why don’t you withdraw that wisp of sword qi you’re floating behind her skull and see if she’ll spray you with a stream of natural holy water or not?

In any case, enveloped by Zhang Sheng’s sword qi, the infant was very well-behaved and even somewhat ingratiating, which filled the man with joy.

The other two bloody infants were still lying on the ground, so Wei Yuan picked them both up. Not only had they shedded their earlier unnatural appearance, they actually felt weaker than your ordinary infant probably because they had been drained by the third infant earlier. Unlike the third infant, they seemed particularly fond of Wei Yuan probably because he had saved them by bestowing his fortune upon them.

Wei Yuan glanced between their legs again. They were both boys. He shook his head and thought to himself: Xu Shiqi’s luck really is terrible. It’s only a one-in-three chance, and he still got it.

It was at this moment Zhang Sheng channeled his sword qi into the infant girl and exclaimed in surprise, “She’s a natural-born Sword Body!”

Wei Yuan felt a mix of emotions. The child must share profound connections to Xu Shiqi. He just didn’t know if her birth would alert the Xu Clan.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan had put the entire new city under lockdown after returning to the realm. Only specific cultivators from the Palace of Absolute Beginning were permitted to enter, and the security duties were handled by the Xu Clan young men themselves. Thus, only he, Zhang Sheng, and Sun Yu knew about today’s events—oh, he almost forgot Xu Wenwu.

Wei Yuan slapped Xu Wenwu awake. The guy started wailing as soon as he opened his eyes, so Wei yuan had no choice but to cover his mouth temporarily. After he finally calmed down, Wei Yuan pointed at the infant Zhang Sheng was holding and said, “She’s your daughter.”

“Come on, man!” Xu Wenwu was on the verge of tears.

He had never had a girlfriend in this lifetime or the one before. He had originally had a chance when he first came to this world, but he’d become obsessed with novels and spent over half a month just lying around at Lie Flat Inn, wasting precious time. He hadn’t done anything at all, and now he had become a father out of the blue. Seriously?

This was too much even by his standards!

Wei Yuan patted him on the shoulder and said, “She’s a natural-born Sword Body. It’s worth it.”

1. This is one of those English only problems where I struggle to decide what pronouns to use. For now, until the infants settle down and stop acting like Chinese horror monsters, I’m going to use It. ☜

2. I need Sun Yu in my life. My lungs feel worse every year and god knows I need to get my sleep checked.... ☜

3. 十万八千里 basically just means a goddamn wide gap/distance. I thought it would be funnier to translate the idiom literally. ☜

4. Wei Yuan doesn’t care if you have one foot in the grave or you’re just a few minutes old. You will pay him his respect, or else. XD ☜