Dragon Canon

It was late at night. Xuanwei Six, the newly built city on the northwest side of the realm of Qingming, had already fallen aslumber, with only a few lights scattered here and there.

A new encampment had sprung up on the city’s outskirts. It was where the newly arrived members of the Cui Clan were staying. Though it was well past midnight, a light was still shining from the large tent at the center of the camp.

Wei Yuan lifted the tent flap and stepped inside. He found Cui Yu bent over a desk with a tall stack of books piled beside him, writing furiously.

“Aren’t you going to rest yet?” Wei Yuan approached the desk and casually picked up a book, flipping through it.

The book was a detailed registry of the Cui Clan’s scions. It recorded not only their lineage and relatives, but also the results of their foundation and aptitude tests, their cultivation history, and even every major and minor event of their lives. The record was so exhaustive that even a capital offender about to be executed would probably not be treated with such scrutiny.

Cui Yu rubbed his face and said, “Training begins tomorrow. I need to go over everyone’s dossier and sort them into two categories: those who can die and those who cannot. A few of them are useless, but spoiled by their clan elders—whether or not they can establish a Dao Foundation is secondary to their safety. I plan to station these people in the rear. They can participate in training, but will be withdrawn during combat.”

“You really do think of everything, Senior Brother.” Wei Yuan handed him a piece of jade paper and said, “I just obtained a Body-tempering stage cultivation method from Senior Uncle Yu of the Mastercraft Hall. The Dao Foundation it cultivates is a ball of mundane fire. Senior Uncle Yu said that the advantage of this method is that it’s exceptionally easy to cultivate, with a very low barrier to entry. The difficulty of forging this Dao Foundation is the lowest of any Body-tempering stage cultivation method he has ever seen.”

Cui Yu replied instinctively, “What good is a ball of mundane fire? To stoke a furnace and smelt iron?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he gasped in surprise and looked up at Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan maintained a straight face as he continued, “For our latest batch of cultivators preparing to forge a Dao Foundation, provided that their physical constitution doesn’t clash with the element of Fire, I’m planning to make them all switch to this cultivation method. This way, we may end up with a couple more Dao Foundation stage cultivators.”

“But the Dao Foundation they’ll be cultivating is mundane fire. It’s easy to form, but way harder to solidify. It’s going to take at least eight to ten... years....”

Cui Yu stopped mid-sentence as realization dawned upon him: this Dao Foundation of mundane fire was best suited for tending furnaces and controlling flames, so a long foundation-solidifying period wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Cui Yu tapped the jade paper containing the cultivation method and asked, “But why are you giving this to me? Surely you’re not planning to make my clansmen into your furnacemen, right? I can tell you right now this is unacceptable! No matter how useless they are, they are still bearers of the Cui surname!”

“But if they switch to this cultivation method and get some battlefield experience, their chances of establishing a Dao Foundation will be way higher than normal.”

“That makes sense.” Cui Yu began to ponder[1].

“Have you gotten the casualty index yet?” Wei Yuan reminded him.

Cui Yu only then remembered the matter. He hurriedly rummaged through the mountain of papers on his desk until he found a sealed envelope. He opened it in front of Wei Yuan, read it, and handed it to his sect fellow, saying, “Take a look.”

The letter listed only two names. Everyone else’s fate rested solely in their own hands. Wei Yuan was free to do whatever he wanted to them.

Wei Yuan could not help but wear an odd expression after reading the letter’s contents. “Let me get this straight: they don’t care how many die as long as we produce three Dao Foundation stage cultivators out of this batch?”

Cui Yu nodded. “That’s right. These people aren’t as precious as you think. The ancestor’s resolve is also quite firm this time.”

“I thought many of them are direct descendants? There was even one from the eldest branch.”

“He’s also the only one, and he’s on the list. As for the other fellow, I suspect that his family spent a fortune and pulled some strings to buy his safety. Truth be told, there are plenty of worthless people in my clan, and it’s easy for a large clan to have numerous offshoots. Take my father, for instance. He’s more restrained than most and firmly believes it isn’t right to spread the immortal clan’s bloodline willy-nilly. Despite this, I still have three brothers and seven sisters.

“It is quite normal for the local branches of the Cui Clan to have dozens or even hundreds of offspring. Each family would concentrate its resources on supporting those with talent and leave the rest to fend for themselves, giving them the bare minimum to ensure they don’t starve to death. Occasionally, some families would adopt a survival-of-the-fittest approach to cull the undesirables. The bunch outside my tent is one such example.”

Wei Yuan looked at the letter, frowning. “Are you certain we can act with no regard for the casualties whatsoever?”

“Oh, right. Three people came to see me last night and offered me a decent price. I’ve already promised to keep them alive, though I can’t guarantee they’ll reach the Dao Foundation stage. There were a few others who lacked the funds but still wanted to live. I turned them all down.”

“Fine. Pull those five out and form them into a separate squad. Mix the rest in with the other Body-tempering stage cultivators to be sent to the battlefield. Whoever survives is up to their own luck.”

Cui Yu added meaningfully, “The ancestor does not care for casualties, only results. If you deliver the result she wants, it doesn’t matter even if everyone else dies.”

Wei Yuan nodded. “Don’t worry. I will produce results.”

“As for that kid from the eldest branch of the main bloodline, it’d be best if he could also forge a Dao Foundation. You’ll receive additional payment if you succeed.”

Wei Yuan nodded again. “Have him come see me tomorrow. I’ll give it a go.”

Before leaving the tent, Wei Yuan couldn’t help but ask, “They still bear the surname Cui, don’t they? How could the higher-ups bear to adopt a survival-of-the-fittest approach?”

Cui Yu explained, “Everyone wants talented descendants, so they have no choice but to have more children. When you have dozens of children of your own, aside for one or two who are the most outstanding or likeable, the rest will feel like strangers to you—or worse than strangers, even. After all, strangers at least don’t eat and drink at your expense, or run amok outside under your name and tarnish your reputation. Moreover, sons will eventually produce grandchildren, and grandsons will eventually produce great grandchildren. A hundred years is all it takes for a household of dozens to swell to tens of thousands. No one can afford to support so many freeloaders.

“This is why the Cui Clan maintains multiple corps of suicide warriors, establish a clan army, hold trials, and even wages wars abroad. It is all in part to reduce the number of these freeloaders.”

At dawn, a man walked through the gates of the estate Wei yuan had set up on the city outskirts. This was the same man who, upon disembarking from the flying vessel, had tried to summon Wei Yuan to pay his respects, only switching from arrogance to obsequiousness after he met Cui Yu. Now, standing before Wei Yuan, he once again displayed his arrogance.

Wei Yuan paid his attitude no heed and asked a few routine questions about his cultivation. Once done, he said indifferently, “Your family has already paid me to ensure you survive. I can also guarantee that you’ll establish your Dao Foundation, but it will cost extra.”

The man nearly jumped into the air with surprise and delight when he heard this. “You can really help me establish my Dao Foundation? I’ll pay! I’ll pay whatever it takes!”

Wei Yuan replied, “It’ll be two thousand immortal silver.”

Wei Yuan had carefully considered this price. Going by the Palace of Absolute Beginning’s merit system, an average Dao Foundation stage cultivator was valued at one hundred merits or one thousand immortal silver. So, he doubled that figure.

The young wastrel clenched his teeth and pulled out a finger-sized spirit jade from his sash, slapping it down in front of Wei Yuan. He then declared generously, “You can keep the change!”

“Follow me.”

Wei Yuan pocketed the spirit jade, grabbed the young man, and flew straight to Xu Wenwu’s residence. When they landed, he abruptly noticed that the wastrel’s face was pale, and his body was trembling like a leaf. However, a quick scan with his perception revealed no physical ailments, so he asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“We were flying too fast. I... couldn’t handle it.”

Wei Yuan rolled his eyes inwardly. It was bad enough that he couldn’t form a Dao Foundation, but it turned out that his body was weak as well.

By now, Xu Wenwu had finished his ablutions and was preparing to head out and have a heart-to-heart with the Star Dragon Tree as usual. Wei Yuan dropped the young man surnamed Cui in front of Xu Wenwu and said, “Starting today, he’ll eat and sleep with you. Whatever you do, he’ll do. You can also delegate some of your usual tasks to him.”

Xu Wenwu broke into a grin. “Ooh, I have an assistant now? He looks a bit frail though.”

The young wastrel was furious, but he could barely stand on his own two feet at the moment. Thus, he could not mount a retort.

Wei Yuan patted the young wastrel on the shoulder and said, “Work hard. The more work you do, the sooner you’ll establish your Dao Foundation. But if you try to cut corners, you might not succeed even after a full year.”

As he patted his shoulder, Wei Yuan secretly infused a wisp of blue qi into him.

If the young wastrel ate and slept together with Xu Wenwu, he should be able to absorb a wisp of blue qi in two days at most. Three wisps of fortunes could transform even a sow into a demon beast. If he still couldn’t establish a Dao Foundation after that, well, he would have to be the father of all good-for-nothings to be that garbage.

Wei Yuan had carefully mulled over the matter before setting the price of a Dao Foundation at two thousand silver. He could have charged more, but the number of people who could afford it would also have dropped significantly. All in all, he would actually earn less. The Palace of Absolute Beginning had long had experts calculate this and even published several Daoist texts on the subject. Many people had exchanged for them as a matter of course.

These clansmen all bore the Cui surname, but that by no means meant they were all wealthy. Not only were most of them poor, some of them were of illegitimate descent and were so poor they couldn’t even scrape together two taels of immortal silver. Literally, even a gatekeeper of a wealthy household was wealthier than them.

As dawn broke, Wei Yuan arrived at the military drill ground. Over a thousand cultivators were already standing on the vast field, all of them at the peak of the Body-tempering stage, with a small number still cultivating their primordial spirits. The hundred or so new arrivals from the Cui Clan were also among them.

The cultivators had already formed ranks, each holding specially made saber and shield and carrying thick, steel-tube spears at their waists. Upon Wei Yuan’s arrival, several cultivators at the Dao Foundation stage began barking commands. Following the numerical cues, every cultivator repeated three simple actions: firing their spears, charging forward with shields raised, and swinging their swords. They would repeat this over and over again.

After about one ke of practice, a bell rang out across the drill ground. The cultivators began counting down verbally until Life is a Flash was activated!

In an instant, boundless worldly origin qi poured into the drill ground, and a glow began to emanate from every cultivator, their Dao Foundations rapidly taking shape. Every cultivator sat cross-legged and absorbed the sensations of their Dao Foundations within their bodies.

By now, the realm had come up with a system of training for all Body-tempering stage cultivators. Every day during training, Life is a Flash would be activated three times in total. During the first activation, the cultivators would meditate and perceive their Dao Foundations as much as possible. During the second and third activation, they would perform combat training while their Dao Foundations were active.

At first, the Cui clansmen acted somewhat lackadaisically and were reluctant to comply. They paid lip service but secretly resisted every order. However, upon experiencing Life is a Flash, every single one of them settled down and began training earnestly.

Wei Yuan watched them coldly from the sidelines. In truth, these Cui Clan youths had never gone hungry from the moment they were born and so basted decent bloodlines and physical constitutions. If he were to train them seriously and invest some fortune in them, he might be able to make thirty or so Dao Foundations out of them.

But of course, Wei Yuan wasn’t going to do that—it would only devalue his ability. For this first batch, Wei Yuan’s plan was to make six or seven Dao Foundations, or double the Cui Clan’s expected quota. As for those who failed to cultivate their Dao Foundations, they could continue participating in the second session—but only if they paid an additional fee. This way, he could keep running these sessions without end.

If someone still failed to cultivate a Dao Foundation after three sessions, then they were beyond even his ability to save.

But of course, if the rich and capricious spenders insisted on throwing money at the problem, let no one say that he was an inflexible man. Here in Qingming, as long as immortal silver was on the table, a sow couldn’t just climb trees, she could even do backflips or soar to the sky. And if a sow could do that, there was no reason a human couldn’t cultivate a Dao Foundation.

At this thought, Wei Yuan suddenly had a dangerous idea: what if he raised a cat that suddenly learned to do backflips? Who should it show it off to?

As for the cost, karma would decide it for him.

Wei Yuan looked toward the northwest. Last night, another huge army of Shamans and a massive number of civilians and slave laborers had entered the fortified city. A major battle was right around the corner, and it would be the best baptism for these Cui clansmen.

1. Bro, you’re changing your mind far too quickly. 😂 ☜