Dragon Canon

It was only after he took refuge in the cave that Wei Yuan had a chance to survey his surroundings.

The cave wasn’t very large and only a few zhang deep. Wei Yuan easily manifested a boulder and sealed the entrance. The boulder itself possessed a concealment ability, so there was no danger of it being discovered. Finally, he allowed himself a sigh of relief.

When that will had descended moments ago, it had carried a message: any powerful being traveling under the cover of night would provoke the hostility of this Heaven and Earth and be mercilessly destroyed. This message had appeared directly within his primordial spirit and required no written words to be understood by any intelligent rance.

Exactly how fierce this hostile will of Heaven and Earth was, the great shamanist of the Liao had already experienced it firsthand last night. If even a World Ruler had struggled to resist it, Wei Yuan had no desire to experience it himself—nor could he afford to.

Hiding in the cave and finally able to catch his breath a little, a wave of indescribable exhaustion suddenly washed over Wei Yuan. He nearly blacked out on the spot.

After fleeing nonstop for an entire day with his nerves on edge the entire time, he felt as though his mind and spirit were completely drained.

However, it was not yet time to sleep. His mind raced once more as he pondered a way to escape. He had already used his hidden traps of flying swords once, and it was unrealistic to expect his enemies to fall for it again. Moreover, they were so weak that they only managed to inflict minor injuries upon the Liao chiliarch. They certainly wouldn’t stand a chance against the powerful pursuer currently hot on his heels.

The woman suddenly said, “Tomorrow, when the first rays of sunlight break through, the creature roaming the snowy mountains will grow drowsy, though they won’t have returned to their lairs just yet. That will be your only chance to escape. Your cultivation level isn’t high, so it probably won’t pay much attention to you, but the Liao group chasing you will certainly catch its eye and perish should they dare to chase you. You’ll have about an hour to flee.”

Wei Yuan paid no heed to the woman and went about setting up an array on the ground, hoping to finally remove the Blood Tracking Mark plaguing him this whole time.

After the array was complete, when Wei Yuan had just set down a few spirit objects, the woman picked one up and placed it in a different position, saying, “This place may appear to be yin and cold, but it actually harbors the hidden danger of subterranean fire. Placing an object of supreme yang in this spot would create an excess of yang energy. Instead, it should be placed in a yin position to restore balance.”

Her words illuminated Wei Yuan. He adjusted the arrangements as the woman had suggested, and sure enough, the array was immediately completed, and its efficacy was increased by at least 30%.

Wei Yuan was just about to thank the woman the way he had thanked her in the past two days when his body suddenly stiffened, and he froze in place. A powerful perception had suddenly emerged within his body, and another space unfolded right before his eyes. It was a towering, vast, and ancient hall, permeated with an atmosphere of antiquity and decay.

Seated on a high throne at the far end of the hall was a figure clad in an ancient robe from a bygone dynasty. He examined Wei Yuan with great interest and said, “I didn’t think I’d have to wait this long to find you. But it was all worth it. Your physical body is truly a rarity; it is destined to serve me. It has not been in vain that I’ve spent thousands of years hidden from the light of day.”

Wei Yuan could now see everything within the hall again, so he realized that his primordial spirit had actually been pulled into some sort of bizarre space. For instance, the injuries covering his physical body wasn’t reflected on his primordial spirit. The hall bore some resemblance to the Realm of Coldbelow, but its scope was limited to this single chamber.

“Who are you?” Wei Yuan asked.

“You’ve been carrying the Origin Blood Pearl I left behind for so long, and you’re asking me who I am? Heh. I suppose I should thank you for your caution in sealing me inside your body and preventing me from coming into contact with the undead. If not for that, it would have cost me a fair amount of blood qi to pull you in. This blood qi could all be used to enhance the cultivation level of this physical body, so every bit saved is every bit gained.”

Wei Yuan’s heart gave a start, and he exclaimed, “You’re an ancestor of the lost clan!”

The man let out a laugh, then rose to his feet and stepped down from the high platform one step at a time. The cool, clear light streaming down from the hall’s ceiling illuminated his face, and Wei Yuan could now see his features clearly.

He appeared to be in his middle years, with a short beard. He could have been described as “graceful as jade”, were it not for the excitement and greed that twisted his features, giving him a cold, frenzied expression.

He slowed his pace as much as possible, delaying the moment he reached Wei Yuan’s side, and said, “Back then, Emperor Huii[1] appointed Zi Ping as the Great Heavenly Master and charged him with the duty of choosing the sites and sealing the nodes to bring peace to the realm. However, he was an incompetent ruler throughout his life and failed to discern the treacherous intentions Zi Ping harbored. He drained the national treasury and sent extraordinary individuals to all corners of the world to seal the nodes, when he could have used that money to train elite troops and recruit talented individuals instead. It was truly laughable. Haotian’s downfall was well deserved.

“At the time, I was merely a deputy general of the imperial guard. Suddenly, fortune smiled upon me, and I realized that the time had come. I volunteered to join the mission and came to this far-northern land where no one else would dare to go.

“Hmph, Zi Ping’s mastery of the Dao of fortune was ultimately half-baked. He knew that this northern region was one of the geomantic nodes, but did not realize that it was also a dragon’s lair. On the other hand, I am a descendant of the True Dragon. Blessed with fortune and having awakened to my past lives, I naturally sensed this place call from the depths of the mysteries.

“Zi Ping had assumed that me and my clansmen were just ordinary Spirit-Restricted bloodlines and ordered us to activate the array he had set up once we had arrived here. In reality, the moment we activate that array, we’ll merge with it and the earth itself, becoming a living seal, trapped here for all eternity. You must have already seen that array in the ancestral shrine.”

Wei Yuan had already discerned the array’s insidious nature at the time, but he never imagined it had such origins. However, nowhere in the array had Wei Yuan seen a part that was designed to resolve karmic debt. Over the course of thousands of years, he could only imagine the accumulated resentment and karmic debt of the entire clan had to have become utterly terrifying.

This wasn’t the only array of its kind either. Wei Yuan assumed that the mastermind behind it all, the Great Heavenly Master Zi Ping, must have long died with his lineage utterly severed.

The man continued, “But I am a true descendant of the True Dragon! This array naturally cannot harm me. As soon as I arrived here, I discovered the dragon’s lair hidden deep underground. However, there were far too many dangers along the way, and with my cultivation level at the time, it was simply impossible for me to break through all the layers of peril to reach it. So, I turned the tables on them and modified the array, allowing my clan’s descendants to descend generation after generation to explore it. As for myself, I concealed all my blood qi, primordial spirit, and spirituality within this Origin Blood Pearl and used the array’s power to obscure the heavenly mysteries. That was how I was able to transcend the limits of my lifespan and survive to this day.”

Wei Yuan had been patiently and silently listening to the man until this point. Finally, he remarked, “You haven’t spoken to a person in a long time, haven’t you?”

The man growled like he had been poked in a sore spot, “You’re merely a Dao Foundation who hasn’t even awakened your hunting instincts yet! Are you so eager to die? If so, then I’ll grant you your wish!”

Wei Yuan said, “Wait! Even if you are the bloodline descendant of the True Dragon, have you truly not found a single suitable physical body in all these millennia? If you understand the methods of soul possession and reincarnation, surely you also know that after lying dormant for so long, your soul form will gradually dissipate and become weaker and weaker, right? Even if the possession succeeds, you will never be able to break through your original limits.”

The man paused, then blurted out instinctively, “Really?”

It was Wei Yuan’s turn to be surprised. “Really, it’s common knowledge. Do you really not know that?”

The man remained silent.

It wasn’t until a few seconds later that realization dawned upon Wei Yuan: The Palace of Absolute Beginning’s centralized learning curriculum was a system that pooled together the resources of the entire sect to educate its students. Every instructor was a prodigy in their respective fields, and many ancient secrets that had been kept hidden until then were freely taught to them. Previously, the cultivation world relied on master-disciple transmission as well, meaning that the disciples could only learn as much as their master knew. Naturally, it couldn’t compare to the centralized learning curriculum.

The man, seemingly feeling humiliated, added, “This place is a dragon’s lair. It naturally attracts other True Dragon descendants to this place. I’ve been sitting here waiting for a rabbit to run into my trap—and here you are! Once I seize your physical body and devour your primordial spirit, even if my innate foundation is damaged, it’s only a matter of time I recover completely—and perhaps even advance further!

“Once I devour you, refine you into my Dragon Guard, and claim your True Dragon Treasure, I’ll be able to hunt down the rest of my kin. Hahahaha, the path to immortality is right before my eyes!”

“Wait!” Wei Yuan called out again and asked, “What is a True Dragon Treasure?”

The man really hadn’t spoken to a person for a long time. He stopped in his tracks and patiently explained, “Every True Dragon descendant is born with innate fortune[2] and carries a True Dragon Treasure. To others, this treasure appears to be nothing more than an ordinary object, but we True Dragon descendants can naturally discern its extraordinary nature and infinite uses.”

A thought occurred to Wei Yuan. “The elderly woman in the village gave me a bone. Could that be your True Dragon Treasure?”

“That’s right. That bone is actually the bone of a True Dragon. It still contains a trace of vitality. Since you’re also a descendant of the True Dragon, you should naturally be able to tell as well.”

Wei Yuan replied honestly, “Not at all, actually. I had no idea.”

The man was taken aback again. He actually didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Wei Yuan added, “I don’t have a True Dragon treasure either.”

“Impossible! Every descendant possesses a True Dragon artifact. Even if it wasn’t with you at birth, you’ll naturally acquire it later on.”

Wei Yuan argued, “You’ve been hiding inside my body for a day now—have you found my True Dragon treasure yet?”

The man froze for a moment before replying, “Actually, no... Do you have any immortal objects on you?”

“I do have some, but they’re all immortal plants. Immortal plants aren’t True Dragon Treasures, are they?”

“Of course not, Our ancestor is the True Dragon, not the Azure Dragon[3].”

Wei Yuan suddenly asked, “So, you haven’t seen another True Dragon descendant before me, have you?”

“... No.”

“That makes it clear—I’m not a True Dragon descendant. You’ve got it all wrong. Here’s the deal: let me out, and we can work together from now on. Once we’re back in the human realm, we’ll look for a True Dragon descendant together. When we find them, their physical body and True Dragon Treasure will be yours, while everything else will be mine. On top of that, you’ll have to do me a favor. How does that sound?”

The man began to ponder.

Wei Yuan wasn’t worried. He waited patiently for the man to arrive at an answer. As long as he could escape this bizarre space, he had plenty of ways to reseal the Origin Blood Pearl, ensuring this old fossil from the previous dynasty wouldn’t be able to escape. Once back in the human realm and after gathering the necessary materials to set up a Soul-refining Array, he would then send this old ghost on his way to hell.

If the old ghost didn’t believe him, Wei Yuan could always swear a heavenly thunder oath. He wasn’t worried that the old ghost wouldn’t take him seriously. Once back at the Palace of Absolute Beginning, Wei Yuan would draw out the tribulation with his physical body and let the Palace’s defensive arrays neutralize it effortlessly. This was why, in recent times, more and more disciples of Immortal Sects had been swearing such oaths—and also why they had become increasingly untrustworthy.

Wei Yuan was certain this old ghost was unaware of current trends.

An old ghost from thousands of years ago—stupid and oblivious to his own foolishness—how could his knowledge and insight possibly compare to that of a student educated at the Palace of Absolute Beginning, the world’s foremost Immortal Sect? A student of the latest education curriculum, the centralized learning curriculum no less?

The figure suddenly let out a sinister laugh and said, “You almost fooled me. You haven’t even awakened your hunting instincts yet, so you naturally wouldn’t know about my identity or the True Dragon Treasure. I don’t know where you’ve hidden your True Dragon Treasure, but once I’ve obtained your physical body, I’ll naturally find out! Haha, that woman outside is also a peerless beauty. It would be great to sample her first before moving onto business!”

The scenery shifted again, and Wei Yuan found himself staring at the sky and the ocean. The man soared into the air, transforming into a floating Kun Whale. It then opened its massive jaws, swallowed Wei Yuan’s primordial spirit in one gulp, and closed its eyes as it slowly refined it.

But its stomach grew larger and larger, as if something extremely heavy were constantly sinking within it! Suddenly, the giant whale let out a mournful cry, its belly split open, and Wei Yuan fell out.

Although the Kun Whale possessed the power to devour the heavens and swallow the seas, swallowing Wei Yuan’s primordial spirit in one gulp was equivalent to swallowing an entire continent. Just manifesting a corner of the Great Realm was already enough to tear its belly apart.

The Kun Whale transformed back into the man, but far from being angry, he was overjoyed. He exclaimed repeatedly, “Incredible, incredible, truly incredible! Your aptitude is truly peerless under heaven! It is my destiny to soar to the heavens! Watch as I annihilate your primordial spirit!”

Before Wei Yuan could react, the man had already transformed into a streak of dark lightning, charging into Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness and appearing amidst the Great Realm.

Suddenly, the girl Yin Yang opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on the man!

Terror instantly gripped the man as he cried out in shock, “You’ve already completed a hunt!? You treacherous junior!”

As he let out a shriek, out in the real world, the Yellow Spring Cauldron in Wei Yuan’s embrace suddenly burst into brilliant light. Countless yin souls surged into the Great Realm, encircling and shielding the man. As it turned out, these descendants’ yin souls had already been refined into yin soldiers, and every single one of them was forced to act against their will, their faces etched with endless agony.

1. Double ii to differentiate from an Emperor Hui in Chapter 11. They are not the same. ☜

2. Oh yeah, all this stuff should supplement what happened in the very first chapter of this novel. ☜

3. I have no. Idea. Whether it’s singular or plural but I’m assuming for the moment that it’s singular. ☜