Dragon Canon

The next day, when Wei Yuan reentered the temple, he ventured deeper into a new level, where he discovered several large halls. The halls had been hewn out of the rock, and several torches emitting a faint green glow stood within them. Fueled by yin qi, these torches had been burning for who knows how many years, yet not a single one had gone out.

Niches were carved into the walls of the halls. A few contained skeletons, but most were empty. The other halls were much the same.

It seemed that these halls had originally been burial chambers for the dead, but now most of the corpses inside had transformed into undead monsters.

Wei Yuan sensed the pearl of blood qi inside his chest and, seeing no unusual activity, felt slightly relieved. He remained extremely cautious about the pearl the elderly woman had given to him, sealing it within the wound on his chest. After a night of regeneration, it had been completely encased and isolated from the outside world.

The elderly woman hadn’t mentioned these burial chambers, nor had she mentioned that many of the undead monsters were actually villagers from this very village—their own ancestors.

After passing through four burial chambers, another large hall came into view ahead. In the very center of the hall stood an altar, upon which a ferocious idol was enshrined. A skeleton lay face down on the offering table, a long sword piercing its back.

The long sword had rotted beyond recognition and lost all of its mystic energy over the long ages. Judging by the skeleton, the victim was most likely a human, but there were some features that were different from those of a typical human. For instance, Wei Yuan spotted several bones protruding from its ribs, resembling a child’s arms. It was unclear whether this was a congenital trait or the result of incomplete development.

Furthermore, there were several extra segments on its tailbone, forming what appeared to be a short tail over one chi in length.

After examining the corpse, Wei Yuan turned his gaze to the idol. It wasn’t large. It possessed a surprisingly black exterior and extraordinarily ferocious features. It looked as if it were about to devour everything in the world. It exuded a powerful aura of bloodlust, slaughter, and destruction, yet it was also intertwined with an indomitable, ever-renewing force.

Wei Yuan could not discern its origin from its appearance, but when his perception touched it, the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree within his Dao Foundation suddenly reacted, showing a strong yearning for it.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then reached out and pinched the statue, breaking off a small piece. The statue was made of clay, and the lacquer coating its surface had long since peeled away. When he pinched off a small clump of earth, it carried an unusually intense stench of blood and yin qi.

With a thought, Wei Yuan transferred the piece of clay into the Great Realm instantly. It then transformed into a puff of powder, drifting toward the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree’s location and sinking into the ground upon landing.

Like a traveler in the desert who had finally found water, the Bay Laurel Immortal Tree frantically absorbed the yin qi and the blood qi from the soil. Its vitality and spirituality began strengthening at a visible rate.

In fact, every immortal plant in the Great Realm had stirred the moment this piece of clay appeared in the Great Realm. The Bay Laurel Immortal Tree was simply the fastest to act, and it was able to draw all of the clay toward itself.

Fortunately, the idol stood three chi tall, and Wei Yuan had only taken a tiny fragment. Without hesitation, he tore off one of the idol’s arms and sent it into the Great Realm.

The blood-soaked clay turned into rain, showering the immortal plants. This time, the rain fell evenly—no plant received more or less than the other.

Suddenly, the idol opened its eyes!

They were a pair of brutal, blood-red eyes. The instant one beheld them, an utterly terrifying surge of mystic energy would rush into their sea of consciousness. An ordinary Dao Foundation stage cultivator would have their sea of consciousness shattered on the spot and die, and even an Avatar-stage cultivator would suffer severe injuries!

But Wei Yuan was blind at the moment. His eyes could not see anything.

Unfortunately, the Dao Foundation stage warrior had seen the statue’s eyes and went mad, so Wei Yuan had no choice but to erase his sentience. Though it had lost its sentience, the Dao Foundation stage warrior remained usable—it had simply reverted to its former state where Wei Yuan had to divert a portion of his attention to control it.

The madness in the Dao Foundation stage warrior’s eyes lasted only an instant before all light of sentience faded from them. Then, in complete silence, it swung its shield and smashed the idol’s head to pieces!

At the same time, Wei Yuan also struck out with his fist, breaking the idol’s torso.

As the idol shattered into pieces, a thick surge of blood qi shot skyward, swirling madly within the hall. But try as it might, it could not escape the confines of the hall no matter what!

Dozens of faces faintly emerged from the surge of blood qi—some panicked, some filled with hatred, and some overcome with extreme terror. It tried to flee, but the Red Lotus Bodhi—now reduced to nothing more than a stump within Wei Yuan’s Dao Foundation—suddenly exerted a powerful pull, drawing it gradually closer to Wei Yuan. ℴ

The blood qi struggled desperately, yet it was still drawn into the Great Realm and absorbed by the Red Lotus Bodhi. The immortal plant instantly surged with vitality, sprouting branches and unfurling leaves, as several new shoots emerged from its charred wood stump.

The surge of blood qi had harbored numerous vengeful spirits, and each one was quite powerful in their own right. However, the Red Lotus Bodhi was their bane, and it mercilessly purified each and every one of them.

After the Red Lotus Bodhi revived, a ring of fertile soil also appeared around it. The earth’s spirituality increased once more, and this time, three Dao Foundation stage warriors attained sentience all at once.

But this entire sequence of events had happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Wei Yuan realized what had happened, he was already drenched in cold sweat.

As it turned out, the idol was an exceedingly treacherous trap. Its eyes were actually a rare curse, and anyone who met its gaze would immediately fall under its spell. It was virtually impossible to guard against. After being steeped in yin qi for thousands of years, the curse had also grown incredibly powerful. Had Wei Yuan seen it with his own eyes, he would likely have gone mad or suffered severe injuries at least.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan was lucky. His blindness had rendered the idol’s trap ineffective.

After the idol shattered, an iron ring tumbled out from within. Wei Yuan immediately sensed the vast amount of yin qi contained within the ring and picked it up.

The moment the iron ring touched his hand, countless images flooded Wei Yuan’s consciousness! In an instant, he felt as though he had lived through another life.

The earliest memory he experienced was of a young girl whose days consisted of nothing but endless, harsh training. Even the slightest mistake would result in severe punishment. The elders in her village said she was a prodigy of the tribe, and that only through such hardship could she grow strong enough to avenge her ancestors.

Unable to bear the endless arduous training and punishment, the little girl tried to run away, only to be captured again and again. She even tried to end her own life once, only to awaken afterward and realizing that she was immortal. When the elders found out, they only grew even more frenzied. Every time she escaped and was brought back, she was beaten until she was on the verge of death.

One day, her blood unexpectedly saved the life of a frail, elderly elder, and from then on, she was forced to bleed every day.

Upon reading this, Wei Yuan instinctively shuddered, as if he were experiencing the little girl’s traumas himself. He could feel her despair, resentment, and fear in their entirety. In the girl’s memories, the sky was always gray and black and perpetually filled with storms and lightning. There was never any sunlight.

A shadow began to form deep inside her heart.

The girl grew a little older. One rainy night, after receiving yet another brutal beating as punishment, the elder decided to utterly humiliate her.

The shadow expanded instantly and nearly obscured her whole heart.

One time, after being seriously injured on a mission, she encountered a young man from the Liao tribe. He saved her, cared for her, gave her an iron ring, and then let her go. Because of this, the shadow in the girl’s heart receded somewhat.

She received another mission. Her target was him.

The girl abandoned the mission, only to return to even more brutal beatings and humiliation. By this point, every single elder had humiliated her without exception.

The girl escaped and tried to find him, but he had already been killed by other assassins dispatched by the elders.

The darkness completely consumed the girl. She returned to the village, killed all the elders, and then unleashed something that must never have been set free. It was a mass of twisted flesh and blood, an eerie dark purple that radiated an indescribable vitality. Though it was only a fist-sized chunk, it seemed to contain an ancient colossus that harbored an entire race within it.

The girl sought to destroy the village that had tormented her since childhood, along with everything around it. But just as the seal on the mass of flesh was about to be fully broken, a sword pierced her from behind.

She turned and saw the young man from the Liao tribe. He was supposed to be dead. At that moment, he was no longer the gentle and considerate young man she knew, but an arrogant monster who looked down on everything from on high.

“Why?”

“Because we share the same blood and origin; because we are both descendants of the same great being. From the moment we were born, we are destined to kill and devour one another. Only the one who slew all their siblings would become the ultimate victor and inherit its legacy!”

“But I... I just want to be... with you....”

“I knew your true identity from the moment I first saw you, but you were too slow to catch on. Or rather, you hadn’t awakened your hunting instincts and didn’t suspect my identity one bit. That is why I deliberately let you go. Only that way could I locate your tribesmen and uncover the part of the natural legacy that belongs to you—this piece of true dragon flesh right before your eyes.”

“But why was there a mission to kill you?”

The Liao youth sneered coldly. “Your clan makes a living by carrying out assassinations; it’s not hard to find a way to contact them. I was the one who issued the mission. Since you failed, they’ll naturally send someone else. You told me your story, so I know you were just one step away from madness. The sight of my corpse would naturally drive you to complete madness.”

An irresistible wave of exhaustion washed over the girl, and the light of life within her rapidly dimmed.

If he wanted her life, then she would give it to him. After all, living only meant eternal darkness, cold, and suffering to her....

The Liao youth picked up the strange piece of flesh, his face contorted with fanaticism. ‘True dragon flesh! I’ve already completed one hunt. With this, the other descendants will surely not escape my pursuit! Hahahaha....”

After his long laugh, he suddenly fixed his gaze on Wei Yuan and said, “... and you, are no exception!”

Wei Yuan instantly broke free from the sea of memories.

The owner of these memories—that girl—was also a member of the Liao race. These memories vaguely matched the murals in the temple as well. Could it be that some great being had indeed left behind numerous descendants, only to have them slaughter and devour one another, with the ultimate victor receiving its legacy?

Such events were not unheard of in the history of cultivation. However, when a being of this caliber was involved, there were bound to be layers upon layers of secrets, and such a being would have left behind countless hidden arrangements to cover their tracks. Unless someone was a direct participant, the truth might never be known until the day the final revelations came to light.

Still, regarding that final phrase the Liao youth had said—“and you, are no exception!”—he had a hunch that those words were truly directed specifically at him.

If the corpse on the offering table really was the young girl from long ago, then she must have been dead for an unimaginable number of years. After all, even her mystic sword had decayed beyond recognition. How, then, had the Liao youth traversed thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of years to see him? And how could he be certain that Wei Yuan was also a descendant?

More importantly, given how much time had passed, was he even still alive? If he were still alive, judging solely by his immense lifespan, he should have already ascended to immortality.